Lit Circle Reflection

   The rubric that I scored for myself was very close to the way Mrs. Harpers' rubric was graded for me. Although, on some parts I rated myself as a five and on the teacher's rubric I earned a four. I felt like I got the points that I deserved. What I needed to work on most was the depth of discussion. I attempted to improve this for the second discussion by bringing up more informational points, topics for discussion, and having deeper thoughts.  I feel that I was successful the second round because my discussion question was more thought out than before and my information about the chapters was useful to others in the group. The discussion that my group had was deeper and I feel like we ended up learning more about the book than we had known before. My group is working very well together. I believe that we need to improve on equal participation. We as a group can achieve this by making sure that we all share and participate by asking each other questions and maybe start sharing in a way that we all have to speak by using a circle pattern rotation of speaking. Overall, I thoroughly enjoy the Lit Circles I feel that I have a better understanding of the book.

     A leader that has made a major impact on my life is my three day event coach Gina Miles. Everytime she coaches me she pumps me up to try harder, give it my all, and do the best I can do. She tells me how much potential I have and really gives me a lot of constructive criticism. Over the past four years, during school breaks including summers I have had the opportunity of staying at her house and living with her. She is honestly like a second mom to me. She has two incredible children Austin and Taylor and her husband Morgan is very positive and supportive.  Austin and Taylor are both amazing and treat me like their older sister, we have gotten so close over the years. I am really so lucky to have them in my life. Gina Miles won the individual silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in three day eventing. She has really influenced and encouraged me in my riding and my expectations. Many people have called me Gina Miles’ prodigy which is honestly one of the greatest compliments from a horse person. I love having her as my main coach although I wish she lived closer. She lives in San Luis Obispo in a small town, called Templeton. She is the head trainer of her own company Gold Medal Equestrian. She is sponsored by some major Equestrian related companies, Professionals Choice, Devecoux French Saddles, Platinum PerformanceHorse Supplements. Everything she does from the way she speaks to her daily routine all speaks to a champion. She is orderly, methodical and has high expectations of those around her. In order to run and manage your own group and business it requires a lot of time, responsibility, logical reasoning and courage. She is a beautiful and courageous rider, she always puts the horses well being first. One of my favorite memories I would have to say was when Gina Miles just got back from the Olympics 2008,she was a guest speaker at our Pony Club, I was 10. I was able to get an individual lesson with her and after hear her Olympic journey, I had a spark go off throughout my body that I wanted to be an exceptional rider like her, and I am on my way to meet my greatest potential. When I ride beside her it is one of the most powerful feelings in the world. I feel like we could be Joan of Arc or Queen Elizabeth I going into battle.  One of my favorite quotes said by Gina Miles is “If you want to ride for fun ride a carousel” it just shows and tells how serious she takes the sport of three day eventing.

     In the novel, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding main character Ralph is elected as a leader of the boys. Ralph shows his athleticism as a leader by building shelters and thinking of ways to be rescued off the island so they portay to be savages. On the other hand some of the other boys on the island are more intrigued that there are no adults to tell them what to do so they are portrayed to be more savage like, whereas Ralph gets down to business and takes initiative as leader to lead the boys to civilization and to get rescued off the island.  He pursues to reach civilization although that is soon shut down. As time unfolds Ralph's power as leader starts to take a turn. Ralph loses his power he is now abandoned and has no control over the boys of the island. 

     Comparing Gina Miles to Ralph, they both share outstanding leadership qualities but also have very many differences as leaders. Gina is more intelligent than Ralph is in Lord Of the Flies. The way that Ralph tries to run his group does not always turn out in success and a large majority of the time. As a coach Gina Miles gets immediate response and results. She also has a lot more experience as a leader rather than Ralph who is very young, which this is most likely his first time being a leader of this large of a young boy group without the assistance of an adult. Gina is the type of person that gets it the job done and doesn't mess around whereas Ralph has problems controlling his group. Both Gina and Ralph show similar leadership qualities their results definitely do vary amongst each other.  

                          

A Rude Awakening

Young and innocent Vivienne, a small town girl, who loves horses is given a scholarship to study and ride at an Elite Academy far from home. Betrayal, mean girls, and naughty boys all take part in this dramatic murder mystery. 

The relationship between a horse and their rider is an unexplainable. The feeling of harmony between the two is as intense as any human relationship. Silent Harmony, a young adult fiction novel, written by Michele Scott, tells the story of a unique relationship between a horse and very talented rider. Main character, Vivienne Taylor is accepted with a full scholarship into an elite equestrian academy on the coast. Vivienne has been given a gift of extrasensory perception, the ability to communicate telepathically with all horses. Vivienne has psychic abilities and understands how the horse is feeling and even thinking. After arriving and meeting the horse Harmony, her new mount, Vivienne oddly is unable to read Harmony’s thoughts. She feels uneasy as she has been able to communicate with every horse she has come across. Vivienne knows that there is something wrong, as the days pass by with no form of communication coming from Harmony. Death is lurking, and who and why are questions at the top of Vivienne’s clairvoyant mind.

I found this novel to be a thriller with all of the excitement in every page. I expected a run of the mill, typical girl loves her beautifully perfect horse but what i found was a challenging and exciting murder mystery. The relationship between the horse and the rider proved to be very true and believable to me. For example she was bucked off her horse which hasn't happened since she was seven on a pony because of her strong connection with horses, “Tristan hands me the reins. “You okay?” he asks” (78). Vivienne is very relatable and has an inspiring motivation coming from a humble background with an Olympic dream. I have connected to Vivienne because I too share the same long term goal. Her drive and determination has been proven throughout the book to make her successful thru her progressive riding career. The author cleverly used excellent imagery and character development. The author built the story to climax in the most exciting way.

The way that the teens are portrayed in Silent Harmony stand true to how teens act today throughout the novel, for example, “Take your tired old mean girls thing and go somewhere else” (103). The students at Fairmont Equestrian Academy take things for granted and  have high expectations with the lifestyle that they are given. In Danville, the youth is very fortunate to have large estates, new cars, play on elite sports teams and have high expectations for grades. In high school bullying and jealousy do occur often. In the book Silent Harmony and reality, both show examples of social classes in young adults.  

I feel that the author did a wonderful job with how she explained horse related inferences and her research was spot on. I felt so engaged in this book always wanting to read more and more. Most of the chapters are from Vivienne’s point of view in the first person although a few chapters were in the third person from other characters. Which made the story a bit challenging to follow as to who was speaking their story.

Aside from the horse aspect, Vivienne struggles to fit in being the new, small town scholarship girl. Not only does she have to deal with not being able to communicate with horse for the first time but she also deals with the people around her like the privileged boys and girls who look down to her. But they are all just jealous inside so they act pompous towards Vivienne. While being at a prep school with a well known riding program she struggles with homesickness, school’s wealthy drama queens and kings, rough competition in the sport of three-day-eventing. Vivienne soon comes to find out that her new horse Harmony belonged to the school’s vet, who recently died in an accident, feels that the horse’s peculiar behavior may be from witnessing this accident killing the vet. As Vivienne and Harmony start to form a bond, Vivienne realizes that the vet’s death was not at all an accident but a calculated murder. Which leads to them tracking down the killer of the schools vet .

I am truly excited to read the next book in this series. I actually had an opportunity to meet and come to know the author. The picture I have posted to this entry was commissioned by her personal photographer and may possibly be used in her next book. Madeleine Moore as Vivienne Taylor!

Scott, Michele. Silent Harmony. Las Vegas, NV: Skyscape, 2013. Print.

What stood out to me the most in the chapter Three The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall For Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men by Malcolm Gladwell, was how people could be so easy to make assumptions by physical appearances. First impressions definitely play a major role in how one might view another person. The takeaway in this passage is to not be easy to judge others by their appearances because appearances can be very deceiving for example in the chapter how Warren Harding looked like a confident powerful leader but really he was not dependable and went down in history as one of the worst presidents in American history. This chapter can be brought into our discussion because even though we try not to base our opinions on looks but our brain automatically basis things on outward appearances, height, color of skin, athletic build, male vs. female. We should look to character traits rather that looks such as responsibility, loyalty, trust worthy, positive mental attitude, and compassion. I took the race test and my results were little to no automatic preference between African American children and European American children. I feel that my results came true to what I think that I am not a very bias person especially between races. Therefore, I was not surprised with my results because I feel that we are all created equally no matter what color of skin. I think being brought up in California we are more exposed to different races being extremely successful. We have a more open attitude  even between sexes so many mothers are just as successful as their husbands. When it comes to youth and different races I think music really shapes our attitudes towards young black men. The lyrics to songs are pretty sketchy vs someone like Taylor Swift who talk about every girls thoughts. At the end of the day we (Danville Youth) are smart enough to know much of the music though is really provocative so that typical white suburban kids like us will buy their music. The interesting thing for example Drake one of the most successful singers/rappers was brought up very similar to most of us, pretty affluent. I think we are headed towards a society that is more and more accepting and I think that is a good thing.

To me good writing is more than the content of the literature. The length does not matter what matters is, the energy, the visual that brings you to know each character, the feeling of bringing you to that particular time and place. Good writing lures you out of your life and into another. I feel writing is good when it speaks and feels as if the writing is talking to you, and almost nudging you onto to each page, chapter after chapter, the good writing will become almost an addiction. Whereas mediocre writing can become a chore, and you can find yourself easily distracted. You reread sentence after sentence and there is no life. A kind of going through the motions type reading. You know it's bad when you are into the first few chapters and the slow start is now becoming chore reading. Good writing will bring scenes popping into your mind and characters almost become friends or family or even visioning yourself as one of the characters, that's when you know you have been grabbed. You feel as if you and the author are "High Five-ing". I know I'm in a good book with good writing when I feel this heightened sense of intrigue and will strive to read until my eyes can no longer stay open.

The feeling of bitter sweet when you finish a book is priceless. The bitter is a feeling of disappointment perhaps even sadness that the end has come those long nights spent reading, the visual of each character journeys end.  The sweet is the victory of accomplishing that good read,  you have read every page, paragraph, line, word. That "awe" feeling just feels so fresh and rejuvenating,  you want to share with everyone how excellent the book was and even find out more about the Author. Sometimes before picking up another book you feel like you just have to live with the story a bit before feeling ready to start another journey and relationship with yet another piece of literature. Good writing is an understatement. I want to read nothing but the best writing! Sure there are good books out but reading the best keeps you wanting more. I love the feeling of being engaged in a good book. I feel the reason for many young adults, not reading and loving it, is that they have not found what they love and most of the time at school we are forced to read "Good Books" that are more of a chore than an enjoyment or an excitement. On the schools behalf we have to understand as students that books are most likely chosen to appeal to a broad range of students or particular Authors. The schools is limited. That is why I try to find time to supplement my reading with books that I find "Good". The temptation for most kids is to read minimal as they have heavy academic school schedules. If they could just read even one good book, with great writing I think they could be hooked. They could use reading as an escape and really enjoy the journey of a well written book that truly captivates.

I chose to bring an exert from the book The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Why one might ask? I believe that this piece of literature is loaded with material that leaves you wanting more and more. For example,  I chose to pick this as there are numerous complex sentences, imagery, great description, excitement, the feeling of emotional connection and being led on without control. This sentence stood out to me "And the moon rose higher, the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutton sailors' eye a fresh, green breast of the new world." To one that piece had some nice description and painted an image in ones head. The romantic in me loved also fell in love with F. Scott Fitzgerald written word as narrated  "No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart." That was really the definition of Jay Gatsby the main character, to me. In his life and his love his dream for himself was as big and as grand as he could create.  As many sentences are good the best really standout and make a difference to the reader.

Introduction to Madeleine Moore

Being the eldest of four children has its peaks and valleys. The peak is everything for me is a first for our family, first car, first to go to high school and no hand me downs. The valley is that, the expectations for me are set at a high bar, strict on grades, strict on character and I completely understand I am setting the tone for my 3 siblings. I have come to the realization that to much who is given, much is expected. I have everything you could possibly dream of. My parents are a great team, our lifestyle is super fun, we even have an estate vineyard on the front of our property. I truly live a dream California life. 

I am a competitive Eventer and ride at the Preliminary level of eventing.  My horse's sire, Windfall has the most successful bloodlines in North America. My Trainer is Gina Miles, the 2008 Beijing Silver individualist in Eventing. I have often been referred to as Madeleine Moore, Gina Miles Prodigy and that is the ultimate compliment I could receive as I aspire to live up to her achievements. 

My inspiration comes from my parents but ultimately the Bible brings me great peace and answers so many questions. I find at each stage of my life I can flip to any page, any Bible story and come to peace with decisions I made or neglected to make.  My favorite verse is from Philippians 3:14, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

My writing goals are to more easily be able to translate and expand on what an author is trying to express to the reader.