Pretties+Work-Paige

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=Prereading= Scott Westerfeld wrote the Uglies series because he says in a question and answer part of his website " We are definitely heading toward a world in which lots of people will get to decide how they look. That will change what we think of as beautiful, and what beauty means to us. So some people stay the way they look, because that's cool or radical. Some won't change because they're rich and powerful...Other people will try to outdo each other, and manipulate themselves in ways that we don't consider remotely pretty right now...So thinking these thoughts, I wanted to write a future in which these technologies were fairly common. And in my future, the local government forces you to have an acceptable face—that is, a certain kind of pretty face. Sort of like now, when adults try to control how teenagers dress, cut their hair, use make-up, and get tattoos or piercings..." which I believe to be true! He was also inspired by Ted Chiang's excellent story, Liking What You See: A Documentary. Westerfeld, Scott. "Uglies Trilogy." //Http://www.scottwesterfeld.com/books/uglies.htm//. Scott Westerfeld. Web. .

Kels10. "Is Being Pretty Really the Most Important Thing?"// Barnes and Noble//. Barnes and Noble, 21 Oct. 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2009. [].

Saecker, Tasha. "From School Library Journal."// Amazon.com//. Amazon. Web. []. = = = = =Section 1=

Vocab!
1. Bogus- used by pretties to mean anything bad or broken-"Yes, "semi" was definantly a bogus word." page 4 2. Sullen- showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve- "Tally didn't have the strength to explain that she'd really meant her hangover, which was sprawled in her head like an overweight cat, sullen and squishy and disinclined to budge." page 4 3. Crim- a clique in New Pretty town; short for Criminal- "Last night, she and Peris had gone skating with a bunch of other Crims, trying out the new rink hovering over Nefertiti Stadium." page 4 4. Aloft- high up; far above the ground- "The sheet of ice, held aloft by a grid of lifters, was thin enough to see through, and was kept transparent by a horde of little Zambonies darting among the skaters like nervous water bugs." page 4 5. Horde- a large group, multitude, number, etc- "The sheet of ice, held by a grid of lifters, was thin enough to see through, and was kept transparent by a horde of little Zambonies darting among the skaters like nervous water bugs." page 4 6. Schizoid- of or pertaining to schizophrenia or to multiple personality- "The fireworks exploding in the staduim below made it glow like some kind of schizoid stained glass that changed colors every few seconds." page 4 7. Bubbly- happy- " Bubbly, huh?" page 8 8. Bloodies- bloody mary; alcohal drink- "Shay had breakfast in tow: lobster omelettes, toast, hash browns, corn fritters, grapes, chocolate muffins, and Bloodies -more food than a whole packet of calorie purgers could erase." page 6 9. Purger- to rid of whatever is impure or undesirable; cleanse; purify- "Shay had breakfast in tow: lobster omelettes, toast, hash browns, corn fritters, grapes, chocolate muffins, and Bloodies-more food than a whole packet of calorie purgers could erase." page 6 10. Bash- party- "The bash was now in Valentino Mansion, the oldest building in New Pretty Town." page 16

Pages 4-7
"She collapsed back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling, feeling the room threaten to spin a little. It didn't seem fair, having to get worked up over half a word. "Make it go away," she said. The room misunderstood, and slid shut the wall over her closet. Tally didn't have the strength to explain that she'd really meant her hangover, which was sprawled in her head like an overweight cat, sullen and squishy and disinclined to budge. Last night, she and Peris had gone skating with a bunch of other Crims, trying out the new rink hovering over Nefertiti Stadium. The sheet of ice, held aloft by a grid of lifters, was thin enough to see through, and was kept transparent by a horde of little Zambonies darting among the skaters like nervous water bugs. The fireworks exploding in the staduim below make it glow like some kind of schizoid stained glass that changed colors every few seconds. They all had to wear bungee jackets in case anyone broke through. No one ever did, of course, but the thought that any moment the world could fall away with a sudden crack kept Tally drinking plenty of champagne. Zane, who was pretty much the leader of the Crims, got bored and tipped a whole bottle onto the ice. He said that alcohol had a lower freezing point than water, so it might send someone tumbling down into the fireworks. But he hadn't poured enough to save Tally's head this morning. The room made the special sound that meant another Crim was calling."Hey." "Hey, Tally." "Shay-la!" Tally struggled up onto one elbow. "I need help!" "The party? I know." "What's the deal with semiformal, anyway?" Shay laughed. "Tally-wa, you are so missing. Didn't you get the ping?" "What ping?" "It went out hours ago." Tally glanced at her interface ring, still on her bedside table. She never wore it at night, an old habit from when she'd been an ugly, sneaking out all the time. It sat there softly pulsing, still muted for sleeptime. "Oh. Just woke up." "Well forget semi anything. They changed the bash to fancy dress. We have to come up with costumes!" Tally checked the time: just before five in the afternoon. "What, in three hours?" "Yeah, I know. I'm all over the place with mine. It's shaming. Can I come down?" "Please." "In five?" "Sure. Bring breakfast. Bye." Tally let her head fall back onto the pillow. The bed was spinning like a hoverboard now, the day just starting and already wiping out. She slipped on her interface ring and listened angrily as the ping played, saying that no one would be admitted tonight without a really bubbly costume. Three hours to come up with something decent, and everyone else had a huge head start. Sometimes, it felt like being a real criminal had been much, much simpler. Shay had breakfast in tow: lobster omelettes, toast, hash browns, corn fritters, grapes, chocolate muffins, and Bloodies-more food than a whole packet of calorie purgers could erase. The overburdened tray shivered in the air, its lifters trembling like a littlie arriving at school, first day ever. "Um, Shay? Are we going as blimps or something?" Shay giggled. "No, but you sounded bad. And you have to be bubbly tonight. All the Crims are coming to vote you in." "Great, bubbly." Tally sighed relieving the tray of a Bloody Mary. She frowned at the first sip. "Not salty enough." "No problem," Shay said, scraping off the caviar decorating an omelette and stirring it in."

Essay
Scott Westerfeld uses language to create a tone of distress in this passage from Pretties. Distress means great pain, anxiety, or sorrow, which is what I believe Tally is feeling in this passage. She acts like she is drowning her pain in alcohol, which she is only 16 and is a little young to be drinking in our world. Of course, in Pretties when you get the pretty operation they probably change that, so you can have alcohol, because at all the parties all the pretties have alcohol. Tally always has hangovers and this is because she drinks too much alcohol. I believe Shay sees right through that though. Shay always knows how to make Tally feel better, which is why they are best friends! Scott Westerfeld has a special way of writing, too.

Scott Westerfeld uses words that are fun to create a nice, funny tone. But in this passage, he uses words and phrases like "feeling the room threaten to spin a little" and "The bed was spinning like a hoverboard now" to create a bad, painful tone. Some of the words like bubbly and ping are fun words, that make you giggle inside your head when you read them. Other words, like missing, adding the -la or -wa to the end of a name sound wrong, but funny in that reason. He is also really good at making you feel a certain way by using his words.

He uses detail in his words to mold you emotions like silly puddy or play doh. That is something he is very good at. The way he uses detail in his setting, the time, what the characters are thinking, and the types of words he uses you can just tell if you're supposed to feel happy, sad, mysterious, scary, intense, or fun by using sentences like "Can I come down?" "Please." "In five?" sounds like she is frantic and scared or just bored. He is just a very detailed person! He is also really good at painting pictures in your head.

When ever I read Pretties, Scott Westerfeld uses his details and words to paint a picture in my head, which is also called imagery! I can just imagine Tally, Shay, Zane, Peris, and the specials. He describes them so much it's so easy for my brain to make the connection and paint a picture in my noodle. It amazes me, because I would love to have this ability in my writing as well as him. He says stuff like "Shay had breakfast in tow: lobster omelettes, toast, hash browns, corn fritters, grapes, chocolate muffins, and Bloodies-more food than a whole packet of calorie purgers could erase." I can see the whole table full of food! It makes me hungry to visualize it too! It all looks like so much food, and like Tally says, way more food than a whole packet of calorie purgers could erase! Scott also uses comparison to create a certain tone.

When Scott says things like "Make it go away," she said. The room misunderstood, and slid shut the wall over her closet. Tally didn't have the strength to explain that she'd really meant her hangover" he is comparing the closet with her hangover, which the room misunderstands for the other. He creates a tone of sadness and pain with this short comparisson because it sounds like Tally is in a lot of pain at the time, which she is. Then Shay comes over and gives her even more alcohol, which won't help in the long run, but it does temporarially. He is a great writer.

All in all, Scott Westerfeld is great at creating the certain tone/mood he wants at the time. He can use a mixture of detail, imagery, and comparisons to create a specific mood or tone, which we recieve through his words and phrases. He is really good at that and I wish my writing could be more like that. I know if I look up to Scott and follow his amazing gramatical skills, I might be able to write that well some day!

Letter
Dear Mrs Morgan, I am currently reading the second book to the __Uglies__ series, __Pretties,__ written by Scott Westerfeld. He is an amazing author who has (besides the __Uglies__ trilogy and __Extras__ the compainion novel) written __Leviathan__, __Peeps__, __Midnighters__, __The Risen Empire__, and __So Yesterday.__ He has a very nice style of writing, including using words like "__Bogus__- used by pretties to mean anything bad or broken" and "__Bubbly__- happy" to hold your attention. Some of his words that aren't made up, yet are complex are "__Horde__- a large group, multitude, number, etc", "__Sullen__- showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve" and "__Aloft__- high up; far above the ground". He also uses words that mean the same thing as the real word, but look different. like "__Crim__- a clique in New Pretty town; short for Criminal", "__Bloodies__- bloody mary; alcohal drink", "__Schizoid__- of or pertaining to schizophrenia or to multiple personality", "__Bash__- party" and "__Purger__- to rid of whatever is impure or undesirable; cleanse; purify". He said on his blog he wrote this novel because this is what he predicts the future to be like! I believe this is a Utopia for Westerfeld, because he wrote it by his words.

I love the book. It is a really good book and it describes sometimes how I feel! I can definantly connect with the book. How Shay is feeling, how Tally is feeling, sometimes even Zane. Another thing I definantly connect in the book with is Zane's wack-o headaches. Sometimes I get migranes, but they aren't regular migranes. Half of my vision blurrs out and my head hurts SO bad! I can't remeber things and my brain doesn't work properly when this happens. One time, I was with Aubrey when one happened, and I was rolling on the floor in pain and I asked her what a stapler was. I was serious. Zane gets terrible headaches too, just like me. In the book Tally is struggling over who to love, Zane or David. I am friends with 4 different groups of friends, and I am not sure which one to spend the most time with. Tally is wanting to spend more time with Zane, like the way I want to spend more time with one of my friend groups.

The first section also has a big meaning to me. The way one little costume could make Tally remember so much at the Valentino Mansion bash is amazing to me because Tally had forgotten and pushed away so many memories of The Smoke and the Specials. When Croy showed up wearing a Specials costume, Tally remembered a lot from the Smoke, and a lot about the Specials! Sometimes I will see something, and it reminds me of a great, or a terrible memory. For example Whenever I see my bracelet that has "Chubby Bunny" on it, I remember stuffing my mouth full of mini-marshmallows and trying to say chubby bunny with Aubrey, but it comes out all jibberish and sounds more like "uhhee uhhee" and laughing so hard we had to spit out the marshmallows.

=Section 3!=

Vocab
1. Orb- a sphere or globe- "She could see the dark orb of the balloon above." page 237 2. Pursuit- to follow close upon; go with; attend- "She guessed that Peris was headed upward to throw off the pursuit ." page 237 3. Plummeting- to plunge- "His change of heart stung her, but she didn't have time to worry about it, not while plummeting toward the earth." page 237 4. Groundcar-a car that drives on the ground in __Pretties__- "It was like riding in her parents' groundcar as a littlie, her hand stuck out a window."page 238 5. Battering-to beat persistently or hard- "The board struck the water like the flat of a giant hand, catching Tally's body with another battering jolt, an explosion of light and sound filling her head." page 239 6. Whitecaps-a wave with a broken and foaming white crest- "The river raged around her, the swift current kicking up whitecaps in every direction." page 240 7. Saturated-soaked, impregnated, or imbued thoroughly- "The riverbank was slippery with mud, the ground saturated by the rains and the swollen river." page 242 8. Inlet-an indentation of a shoreline, usually long and narrow; small bay or arm- "Tally waded to shore in a small inlet, sturggling through branches and reeds in the hip-deep river." page 242 9. Vitality-exuberant physical strength or mental vigor- "Tally couldn't remember feeling so tired since becoming a new pretty, as if the river had sucked away her body's vitality ." 10. Utterly-completely- "And yet here she was, utterly alone."

Pages 245-246
"So, there was this beautiful princess. She was locked in a high tower, one whose smart walls had clever holes in them that could give her anything: food, a clique of fantastic friends, wonderful clothes. And, best of all, there was a mirror on the wall, so that the princess could look at her beautiful self all day long. The only problem with the tower was tat there was no way out. The builders had forgotten to put in an elevator, or even a set of stairs. She was stuck up there. One day, the princess realized that she was bored. The view from the tower-gentle hills, fields of white flowers, and a deep, dark forest-fascinated her. She started spending more time looking out the window than at her own reflection, as if often the case with troublesome girls. And it was pretty clear that no prince was showing up, or at least he was really late. So the only thing was to jump. The hole in the wall gave her a lovely parasol to catch her when she fell, and a wonderful new dress to wear in the fields and forest, and a brass key to make sure she could get back into the tower if she needed to. But the princess, laughing pridefully, tossed the key into the fireplace, convinced she would never need to return to the tower. Without another glace in the mirror, she strolled out onto the balcony and stepped off into midair. The ting was, it was a long way down, a lot farther than the princess had expected, and the parasol turned out to be total crap. As she fell, the princess realized she should have asked for a bungee jacket or a parachute or something better than a parasol, you know? She struck the ground hard, and lay there in a crumpled heap, smarting and confused, wondering how things had worked out this way. There was no prince around to pick her up, the new dress was ruined, and thanks to her pride she had no way back into the tower. And the worst thing was, there were no mirrors around out there in the wild, so the princess was left wondering whether in fact she was still beautiful...or if the fall had changed the story completely."

Essay
Scott Westerfeld uses language to create a tone of happiness until the end in this passage from __Pretties.__ When he is talking about what the princess sees out of her window, I get the idea that he wants us to be happy, which I am thinking about if I were the princess, looking out at this beautiful view. It would be happy for me, because I always do get happy when I see great, pretty views of nature. It reminds me of happy things, like that song These Are a Few of My Favorite Things from the sound of music. Some of my favorite things are chocolate, flowers, and macaroni and cheese. The field of flowers reminds me of big, fluffy marshmallows, right out of the fire for making smores, which is one of my favorite desserts!

Westerfeld can make you see this tone of happiness with his use of language. like when he says words like "lovely" and "beautiful" and "wonderful" I think lovely, beautiful, and wonderful thoughts! He uses language like that to make you think those words. He is very good at that too. He also says phrases like "And, best of all, there was a mirror on the wall, so that the princess could look at her beautiful self all day long." it makes you want to be that beautiful too, kind of like you're jealous that the princess is so beautiful, and you want to be that beautiful.

Westerfeld also uses detail to make you receive the tone of happiness! The way he describes the view from the window in the tower is very happy sounding. The way he says "gentle hills, fields of white flowers, and a deep, dark forest" is so detailed, it really makes me think happy thoughts. That's what every writer wants to possess, the skill of making you feel a certain way with the detail he uses, and boy, Westerfeld really has that ability.

Scott also is very good at using imagery to get the tone of happiness across. How he says "gentle hills, fields of white flowers, and a deep, dark forest" I imagine light green rolling hills, meadows of white daisies, and the forest of the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in the part where Hagrid, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Malfoy and Hagrid's dog go into the forest searching for the hurt unicorn. I imagine all of that from just one little line of 11 words!

Scott uses comparison such as him saying in the beginning of the passage he says the princess looks at herself in the mirror all day, then she begins to look out of her window at the great scenery more and more, until she doesn't look in the mirror anymore, just out of the window. He is comparing Tally's dream with all that just happened. In her dream he is comparing her conceited self who is always looking at how beautiful she is, and the new girl, who is looking at the beautiful things in life, and not just herself anymore, until the point where she wants to be with the beauty and jumps out of her tower with a parasol.

The big picture of this passage is to tell people to not look at just yourself, but be with the nature of the world, the natural beauties of the world, and just stop and look around, and be thankful for all you have, and don't worry about what you don't have. Like if you aren't the prettiest person around, if you have a loving family that loves you no matter what, you shouldn't dwell on not being pretty, you should be happy you have a loving family, while some don't even have a mother or a father, or any siblings. Just remember that, and be thankful for what you do have.

Letter
Dear Mrs. Morgan,

Individual Work
1. I would not want to be forced to have the surgery. I would still want to think for my self, even if I am an ugly. I probably wouldn't know what the surgery's effects (not being able to think for yourself) were until after the surgery took place, and I never thought on my own, or all of my thoughts were bubbly. If I were a pretty, I would want to think my way out of it like Tally! 2. One time, I camped out in my backyard. That night at about 3 AM, we were awoken to a GIANT thunderstorm. There was lightning and thunder and it was POURING down rain. We had to pack the GIANT tent up and run inside, hoping not to get struck by lightning because of how tall the tent was when we carried it in. I would give the advice to the Smokies, be prepared for everything. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, even hurricanes! You never know what is going to happen out in the wild, and whatever does happen, will be ten times worse in the wild. 3. All of the boys definantly impact Tally's decisions in a HUGE way. They are all her best friends, and Zane and David are her crushes. I think Peris has made the biggest impact on Tally's life in this book, because they have been best friends forever and now they get to be back together again with Shay and Zane and the other Crims too! 4. Obama and Dr. Cable are very much alike. They are both strong leaders, but like the leadership a bit too much. They both get mad easily and have made some bad decisions for their city/country. We should not have much more pollution, because that is a big part of what killed the "Rusties" and we shouldn't cut so many trees down. I would want to live in the Smoke the most because everyone there are friends together, who love being with each other and wouldn't do anything bad to each other intentionally. I would most want to own a hoverboard. They sound so amazing, just fly around everywhere with magnetism. It sounds like so much fun to hoverboard! I loved the suffixes -wa and -la! I would be Paige-la since there is no "l" in my name. I also liked the word bubbly. I actually use that word now too! 5. Tally's flaw/weakness is talking about David or the Smoke or the specials. She hates it so much her head starts to throb! Shay hates talking about Tally and David together. It makes her extremely mad and jealous. David doesn't like talking about his dad dying. No one would! Zane hates talking about going to the doctors to check his headaches. 6. Dr. Cable is definantly the antagonist. She is always getting in Tally's way and gets very annoyed very easily. When she put the cuffs on Zane and Tally she was seeming evil to Tally, but good to the city. I think she is trying to gain power. 7. If the Uglies series was made into a movie, I think I should play Tally, Dakota Fanning should play Shay, the boy in little manhattan should play David (sorry, I forgot his name), Taylor Lautner should play Zane, Justin Bieber should play Peris, and Tina Fey should play Dr. Cable. The movie should take place in the Amazon Rainforest in the Smoke parts and Rome for the other parts. Kenny Ortega should be the director! 8. I like Tally, she is just like me, trouble makers. She ends up a Special in the end and get really mad at everything you say. 9. I see Tally going everywhere, traveling all over the world. Helping wherever help is needed. Shay would be in Diego, but a nice Special. Peris would probably end up with Shay somehow (like a couple)! New Pretty Town would probably be destroyed in two years. Diego would too.