Hey guys,
this is really my last post now! Our teacher asked us to write down our 3 favourite entries. It's been quite difficult for me to choose them, but here they are:
1. 19th of June, 2016 : NYC campaign against teenage-pregnancy
2. 06th of May, 2016 : Chapter n°2
3. 29th of May, 2016 : Chapter n°6,7&8 - the trip to Hastings
I hope you liked reading this whole blog! I really enjoyed creating it!
Maike
Mittwoch, 29. Juni 2016
Review (fav quotes, annoying things,...)
Hey guys,
actually this is my really LAST POST. I'm through with reading the book, I already worked on the last task and now it's the end of my reading log.
I thought about ending this blog with my favourite quotes of SLAM and two optional tasks. One task we were given on the 8th of June and it's about presenting you situations/things I really enjoyed in SLAM or something that annoyed me. The second one is the latest optional task - it's about finding five adjectives which describe the novel.
I'm gonna start with my favourite quotes:
p.15, ll.4-6 - because I can identify with this :)
Something that annoyed me:
Like I already told you in some posts before, I don't like the whole wizzing-thing. Overall I don't really like Tony Hawk's part in the story. On the one hand it's really weird that Sam talks to a poster of his idol, but on the other hand I can also relate to him a bit. Probably everybody has something or someone to talk to and to talk about worries and everything. And I don't mean a living person. I accept that Sam does this. What I can't understand and what I feel annoyed of is, that Tony Hawk has such a big impact on Sam's life. Often Sam says that if Tony Hawk is frustrated, he wizzes Sam into the future. How can a poster be frustrated? How can a surreal person have such an impact on a living person?? Am I the only one who feels like this? Or are there other people out there who feel annoyed or confused by this aswell?
Because I don't want people to think that I don't like the book or that I only think negative about it, here is something I really enjoyed:
Teenage pregnancies are a difficult topic. If I think about it there comes this situation up to my mind where there's a teenage mum with its little child. The father's not living with them and barely cares for his child. What I like about SLAM is that Sam developes during the story. At first he runs away to Hastings, because he's scared of the whole situation. At the end he's shocked about reading that he might loses touch with his son. You can really see that he cares about his little boy and that he definitly wants to stay in touch with him! I'm glad that Sam developed like this - I really enjoyed reading this!
Five adjectives to describe the novel and the last weeks working with it:
Interesting, entertaining, amusing, strange, informative
That's it! :)
THANK YOU everyone for reading my posts! I really enjoyed putting everything down here and I'm convinced that I'll miss it someway!
Have a nice day!
Maike
actually this is my really LAST POST. I'm through with reading the book, I already worked on the last task and now it's the end of my reading log.
I thought about ending this blog with my favourite quotes of SLAM and two optional tasks. One task we were given on the 8th of June and it's about presenting you situations/things I really enjoyed in SLAM or something that annoyed me. The second one is the latest optional task - it's about finding five adjectives which describe the novel.
I'm gonna start with my favourite quotes:
p.15, ll.4-6 - because I can identify with this :)
"Who doesn't talk to someone in their heads? Who doesn't talk to God, or a pet, or someone they love who has died, or maybe just to themselves?"p.25, ll.10f - because it's a really nice way to show how much you love someone:
"And when she laughed, I could feel some part of me flip over."p.183, ll.12-15 - just because it's SO TRUE:
"It's just that there comes a point where the facts don't matter any more, and even though you know everything, you know nothing, because you don't know what anything felt like."
Something that annoyed me:
Like I already told you in some posts before, I don't like the whole wizzing-thing. Overall I don't really like Tony Hawk's part in the story. On the one hand it's really weird that Sam talks to a poster of his idol, but on the other hand I can also relate to him a bit. Probably everybody has something or someone to talk to and to talk about worries and everything. And I don't mean a living person. I accept that Sam does this. What I can't understand and what I feel annoyed of is, that Tony Hawk has such a big impact on Sam's life. Often Sam says that if Tony Hawk is frustrated, he wizzes Sam into the future. How can a poster be frustrated? How can a surreal person have such an impact on a living person?? Am I the only one who feels like this? Or are there other people out there who feel annoyed or confused by this aswell?
Because I don't want people to think that I don't like the book or that I only think negative about it, here is something I really enjoyed:
Teenage pregnancies are a difficult topic. If I think about it there comes this situation up to my mind where there's a teenage mum with its little child. The father's not living with them and barely cares for his child. What I like about SLAM is that Sam developes during the story. At first he runs away to Hastings, because he's scared of the whole situation. At the end he's shocked about reading that he might loses touch with his son. You can really see that he cares about his little boy and that he definitly wants to stay in touch with him! I'm glad that Sam developed like this - I really enjoyed reading this!
Five adjectives to describe the novel and the last weeks working with it:
Interesting, entertaining, amusing, strange, informative
That's it! :)
THANK YOU everyone for reading my posts! I really enjoyed putting everything down here and I'm convinced that I'll miss it someway!
Have a nice day!
Maike
Samstag, 25. Juni 2016
Essay about working with SLAM
Hey guys,
today you'll get to read an essay which we had to write about several question e.g. which skills we did improve while reading "Slam" or which skills still need improvement.
The novel "Slam" written by Nick Hornby has been the first book I read in English. At the beginning I've been very sceptical of reading this book and about creating a blog while reading. I thought about not being able to understand the book. I didn't know how big my vocabulary actually was and how I would get along with the book. Many people said that it isn't fun reading an English book and having to translate every second word. I was a bit worried that this would be my case.
Now I know that I shouldn't have been so sceptical because it's been really cool! The book is written in a way that is really good to understand for non-native speakers. I've always been curious how the story would go on and what would happen next! I liked writing my blog entries more and more. It's also something I've never done before, but I'm at a point where I even think about creating a blog related to another topic.
I think the last weeks working with the novel helped me in many ways. At first there's my vocabulary. I'm sure that with every book or text I'm reading, I can improve it because there are always words I don't know which enrich my vocabulary. Reading the first chapters of "Slam" there have been sentences I didn't understand right away and I had to read them twice or three times to get it. I just wasn't used to read in English. It's the same with writing. Of course we write texts or letters in our English lessons, but for me it's been something different writing these blog entries. At the end of the novel I've been able to read and write faster and there were less things I didn't understand. We analyzed a lot and the more often I did it the better and easier it was for me. The first analysis of Sam has been pretty difficult for me and it was hard finding the right adjectives to describe him, but I improved my skills on that now! I don't think that I'm perfect in reading and writing now and I think everything still needs improvement, but for now I'm "proud" of the improvement I did while reading the novel!
today you'll get to read an essay which we had to write about several question e.g. which skills we did improve while reading "Slam" or which skills still need improvement.
The novel "Slam" written by Nick Hornby has been the first book I read in English. At the beginning I've been very sceptical of reading this book and about creating a blog while reading. I thought about not being able to understand the book. I didn't know how big my vocabulary actually was and how I would get along with the book. Many people said that it isn't fun reading an English book and having to translate every second word. I was a bit worried that this would be my case.
Now I know that I shouldn't have been so sceptical because it's been really cool! The book is written in a way that is really good to understand for non-native speakers. I've always been curious how the story would go on and what would happen next! I liked writing my blog entries more and more. It's also something I've never done before, but I'm at a point where I even think about creating a blog related to another topic.
I think the last weeks working with the novel helped me in many ways. At first there's my vocabulary. I'm sure that with every book or text I'm reading, I can improve it because there are always words I don't know which enrich my vocabulary. Reading the first chapters of "Slam" there have been sentences I didn't understand right away and I had to read them twice or three times to get it. I just wasn't used to read in English. It's the same with writing. Of course we write texts or letters in our English lessons, but for me it's been something different writing these blog entries. At the end of the novel I've been able to read and write faster and there were less things I didn't understand. We analyzed a lot and the more often I did it the better and easier it was for me. The first analysis of Sam has been pretty difficult for me and it was hard finding the right adjectives to describe him, but I improved my skills on that now! I don't think that I'm perfect in reading and writing now and I think everything still needs improvement, but for now I'm "proud" of the improvement I did while reading the novel!
I don't think there's much you could improve on analyzing "Slam". Every topic we disgussed has been related to the story. Maybe we could have talked about parent's reactions to pregnancy announcements in general. I would be interested in the fact whether parents usually react like Annie or rather like Robert. All in all creating a blog has been a cool variety, even if it's been muuuch more work than preparing for a class test, but I can definitly recommend this kind of work!
You'll hear from me soon!
Maike
You'll hear from me soon!
Maike
Freitag, 24. Juni 2016
Chapter n°18-20 - the happy end
Hey guys,
as I started to write this new post right now, I thought about this post being one of my last ones about the novel because it has only got 20 chapters. I almost through with telling you how our story is going to end. I'm sure I'm really going to miss the weekly blog post writing...
However, let me tell you what this post's about:
I'm going to write about the last three chapters of "Slam".
Chapter 18:
It kind of shocked me aswell that so many teenage fathers won't stay in touch with their children! Because of this I googled about this in general. I just wanted to know more about this topic. About how many fathers are staying in touch with their children and this is what I found:
What do you think about this statistic? I'm very interested in your opinions!
Chapter 19:
Chapter 19 is written like somebody else asks Sam questions about his life and he answers them. He talks about his sister Emily, about how he's doing at college and he explains his relationship to Alicia. After a long time they have sex again and for Alicia it seems like they are back together, but Sam ends the conversation about their relationship with the words:
Sam is wizzed into the future again. Sam and a girl called Alex meet Alicia and Carl at a Chinese restaurant. Alex is Sam's girlfriend and Carl's Alicia's boyfriend. They are talking about Roof and Emily and everything seems to be fine. But it's just a look into the future for Sam and there's a long way before getting to this point but like Sam says:
I really like getting a look into Sam's future at this point. I think it would be different if the novel would end with Alicia and Sam still trying to get on with Roof and the whole situation. I like that we get to know how their future is looking like. Even when Sam isn't there yet, he's got the possibility of living a good life. A life that he can truly enjoy.
I hope you like the last chapters as much as I do :)
Maike
as I started to write this new post right now, I thought about this post being one of my last ones about the novel because it has only got 20 chapters. I almost through with telling you how our story is going to end. I'm sure I'm really going to miss the weekly blog post writing...
However, let me tell you what this post's about:
I'm going to write about the last three chapters of "Slam".
Chapter 18:
"That's the great thing about it [the Internet]. Whatever your problem is, it's on there somewhere, and it makes you feel less alone." (p.232, ll.3-5)Sam is using the Internet to find out some statistics about teenagers and pregnancy. First he's blessed because his situation is ways better than what other teenagers tell about theirs on the Internet. He finds a statistic about how many per cent of teenage fathers lose touch with their child after fifteen years (it's 80%) and he's shocked. It makes him so upset that he runs to Alicia's home right away and "fights" for not losing touch with Rufus one day. It ends with Alicia and Sam arguing and Andrea calming them down.
It kind of shocked me aswell that so many teenage fathers won't stay in touch with their children! Because of this I googled about this in general. I just wanted to know more about this topic. About how many fathers are staying in touch with their children and this is what I found:
"One million men, 10.3% of all fathers and 5% of all men, don't live with their children." - the guardianThe statistic refers to the UK. I'm not able to compare the numbers to the ones from other countries, but only thinking about the situation in the UK makes me kind of sad. (Does this sound strange?) Why are 10% of all fathers not living with their children? It's one father out of 10!
What do you think about this statistic? I'm very interested in your opinions!
Chapter 19:
Chapter 19 is written like somebody else asks Sam questions about his life and he answers them. He talks about his sister Emily, about how he's doing at college and he explains his relationship to Alicia. After a long time they have sex again and for Alicia it seems like they are back together, but Sam ends the conversation about their relationship with the words:
"We live in two separate worlds that are not uniting. I don't want this to be an ugly separation. I think we should both be dedicated to creating the best possible life for Roof. Try and make it as easy as possible for him." (p.249, ll.12-16)Chapter 20:
Sam is wizzed into the future again. Sam and a girl called Alex meet Alicia and Carl at a Chinese restaurant. Alex is Sam's girlfriend and Carl's Alicia's boyfriend. They are talking about Roof and Emily and everything seems to be fine. But it's just a look into the future for Sam and there's a long way before getting to this point but like Sam says:
"I could do it, though. I could see that. I wouldn't be sitting here now if I couldn't do it, would I?" ( p.254, ll.27-29)Talking about my favourite chapter I said that I don't like the chapters in which Sam is wizzed into the future. After reading chapter 20, the last chapter of the novel, I have to change my statement a bit:
I really like getting a look into Sam's future at this point. I think it would be different if the novel would end with Alicia and Sam still trying to get on with Roof and the whole situation. I like that we get to know how their future is looking like. Even when Sam isn't there yet, he's got the possibility of living a good life. A life that he can truly enjoy.
I hope you like the last chapters as much as I do :)
Maike
Sonntag, 19. Juni 2016
NYC campaign against teenage-pregnancy
Hey guys,
today's post is about the following task out teacher gave us: We are asked to write a letter to the NYC Human Resources Administration, telling what we think about their campaign and how they could improve it.
We were given some posters and we could decide whether we want to talk about all of them or only about one. I chose this one:
Dear NYC Human Resources Administration,
recently I saw a poster of your campaign against teenage-pregnancy.
On the one hand, I think it's important starting campaigns like this and making aware of how negative teenage-pregnancies can affect the teenager's lives. Teenager's are still kind of children and need their childhood. A pregnancy can take all of this away. It makes the teenagers take responsibility which is mostly too much for them because they can't really care for themselves. How should they be able to care for a child?
On the other hand, I'm not sure whether these posters will affect what they should.
The poster I recently saw is the one with the little girl on it. Her expression is sad and she seems to be worried. Next to her is the sentence "Honestly Mom...chances are he won't stay with you. What happens to me?".
In my opinion it's clever putting the picture of a little girl on the poster. The campaign is there for making teenager's think twice about getting pregnant. The girl on the poster shows what it's all about - it's exactly what teenagers should avoid.
The text next to the picture is very suitable aswell. Teenagers are young, which means they can't be in a relationship for many years. I would describe teenage-relationships as something the teenagers want to experience and want to have fun, but generelly they don't last many years.
For me it's strange thinking about finding a partner while being 16 or 17 years old and being sure to spend the whole life together. That's the problem with teenage-pregnancies because once the child is born, the parents don't know what to do. Staying together just for the good of their child? Or seperating and letting the child grow up with only one parent?
Because of that I think that the question "What happens to me?" is so right. I can imagine that most teenagers don't think about this question when they're being intimate or when the girl's pregnant. I'm sure this poster makes some teenagers think about it!
In my opinion there are three different groups you could put teenagers in.
One group are the caring teenagers. They are aware of what could happen and they think about important things twice. Then there's another group that maybe could be reached by such a campaign because it definitly shows what the future could look like and I'm sure they don't imagine their future being like this. Like on the poster: Having a child, seperating from the partner and not knowing how to carry on with the child.
The third group of teenagers is why I'm not sure that these posters will affect what they should. These teenagers do whatever they want to - no matter whether they read such a poster or not. It won't make them think about anything. It's just a made-up sentence and why should the future be like this? It can also be another way.
I also thought about whether there's a way to improve the campaign. I'm not sure whether there's anything that makes every teenager be aware of what a teenage-pregnancy does with their lives, but maybe more teenager's could be reached by showing them facts. Showing them facts and statistics how it could affect THEIR lives. Your campaign seems to show what happens with the child or how the child's life will be, but it could be that showing facts about their life maybe reaches them more. It could also be that showing them pictures of teenage parents with their babies while they have to renounce to go to a party or to do something with friends, would make them be aware of the consequences. They wouldn't be able to do those things because they've got a child. I think something like that could scare them off.
It's good that there are campaign's which try to "save" the teenager's lives, if you see it in a way that a pregnancy can "destroy" it. I'm convinced that there are teenager's out there who will be more carefully after seeing this campaign. I think especially some teenage girls will think about it because very often you can hear a teenage girl say: "Oh, how cute is this baby?" and I'm sure nobody wants to give birth to a child who could have disadvantages because its mother gave birth to it in a very young age.
Best regards,
Maike
today's post is about the following task out teacher gave us: We are asked to write a letter to the NYC Human Resources Administration, telling what we think about their campaign and how they could improve it.
We were given some posters and we could decide whether we want to talk about all of them or only about one. I chose this one:
Dear NYC Human Resources Administration,
recently I saw a poster of your campaign against teenage-pregnancy.
On the one hand, I think it's important starting campaigns like this and making aware of how negative teenage-pregnancies can affect the teenager's lives. Teenager's are still kind of children and need their childhood. A pregnancy can take all of this away. It makes the teenagers take responsibility which is mostly too much for them because they can't really care for themselves. How should they be able to care for a child?
On the other hand, I'm not sure whether these posters will affect what they should.
The poster I recently saw is the one with the little girl on it. Her expression is sad and she seems to be worried. Next to her is the sentence "Honestly Mom...chances are he won't stay with you. What happens to me?".
In my opinion it's clever putting the picture of a little girl on the poster. The campaign is there for making teenager's think twice about getting pregnant. The girl on the poster shows what it's all about - it's exactly what teenagers should avoid.
The text next to the picture is very suitable aswell. Teenagers are young, which means they can't be in a relationship for many years. I would describe teenage-relationships as something the teenagers want to experience and want to have fun, but generelly they don't last many years.
For me it's strange thinking about finding a partner while being 16 or 17 years old and being sure to spend the whole life together. That's the problem with teenage-pregnancies because once the child is born, the parents don't know what to do. Staying together just for the good of their child? Or seperating and letting the child grow up with only one parent?
Because of that I think that the question "What happens to me?" is so right. I can imagine that most teenagers don't think about this question when they're being intimate or when the girl's pregnant. I'm sure this poster makes some teenagers think about it!
In my opinion there are three different groups you could put teenagers in.
One group are the caring teenagers. They are aware of what could happen and they think about important things twice. Then there's another group that maybe could be reached by such a campaign because it definitly shows what the future could look like and I'm sure they don't imagine their future being like this. Like on the poster: Having a child, seperating from the partner and not knowing how to carry on with the child.
The third group of teenagers is why I'm not sure that these posters will affect what they should. These teenagers do whatever they want to - no matter whether they read such a poster or not. It won't make them think about anything. It's just a made-up sentence and why should the future be like this? It can also be another way.
I also thought about whether there's a way to improve the campaign. I'm not sure whether there's anything that makes every teenager be aware of what a teenage-pregnancy does with their lives, but maybe more teenager's could be reached by showing them facts. Showing them facts and statistics how it could affect THEIR lives. Your campaign seems to show what happens with the child or how the child's life will be, but it could be that showing facts about their life maybe reaches them more. It could also be that showing them pictures of teenage parents with their babies while they have to renounce to go to a party or to do something with friends, would make them be aware of the consequences. They wouldn't be able to do those things because they've got a child. I think something like that could scare them off.
It's good that there are campaign's which try to "save" the teenager's lives, if you see it in a way that a pregnancy can "destroy" it. I'm convinced that there are teenager's out there who will be more carefully after seeing this campaign. I think especially some teenage girls will think about it because very often you can hear a teenage girl say: "Oh, how cute is this baby?" and I'm sure nobody wants to give birth to a child who could have disadvantages because its mother gave birth to it in a very young age.
Best regards,
Maike
Samstag, 18. Juni 2016
Chapter n°13-17 - Rufus' birth
Hey guys,
I'm back with a new blog entry about chapter 13-17 and about the song "Everything to me". I hope you're looking forward to reading it :)
Chapter 13:
Annie tells Sam that she's pregnant aswell and they're thinking about the future of the two babies.
Alicia gives birth to "Rufus". Sam and Andrea are with her at the hospital. Sam's description of the "giving-birth-situation":
I can understand Sam's reaction somehow. His girlfriend is giving birth to their child and it's a very big thing. It suits to Sam very much that he's describing the situation like this because he's often a bit strange, e.g. when he's talking to Tony Hawk's poster. So I didn't really wonder about Sam describing the situation like a battlefield "where bombs explode", haha.
Chapter 15:
Sam moves into Alicia's house and Alicia and him take Rufus (nickname: Roof) home for the first time.
Sam lives the day he already visited once as he was wizzed into the future.
He goes to college this day and has a fight with another boy who is telling Sam Rufus might be his son and not Sam's. Because of this Sam doubts Alicia and thinks about this boy being right. At the end it emphasizes that Rufus is definitly Sam's son. The whole situation makes Alicia feel angry because it seems like Sam isn't trusting her.
Sam's dad meets Sam at a restaurant and wants to tell him that his life with Alicia won't work out. He talks about how it has been with Annie and how their relationship didn't work out because they only cared about the baby and not about themselfes anymore.
The song "Everything to me":
The song "Everything to me" is written by Mark Schultz and deals with the topic adoption.
Mark Schultz once met a woman who didn't grow up with her biological parents. She told Mark her story which made him think about this topic and which made him write a song about it.
The woman told Mark that her mother had three options: she could have an abortion, she could keep the child or she could give the child away. She said her mom carried her nine months with pain, but at least she decided to give her child away, just to give her child a better future than she ever could. The woman is able to understand why her mom did this - because at least it's been the best for both.
The first impression while listening to the song is that it's a sad song. If you watched the music video, you saw the young mother giving birth to her child and giving it away immediately. For me it seemed like the mom had made a mistake by giving the baby away, although she only tried to do the best for her child.
The video wants to show that adoption isn't always a bad thing.
Of course many people would immediately say that it's wrong letting a baby grow up with foster parents and not with its biological mom because it doesn't seem right giving a baby away from its mom.
But if we think about the fact that some mom's are not able to raise a child or even to care about it. It doesn't matter whether it's because she's an alcoholic or whether she's just too young and it's too much responsibility for her. In such cases it's good that there's the possibility of giving the child a good future with parents who really care for the child and who are able to give it a good future.
Alicia is a mom now. Her baby Rufus is born.
At the beginning of pregnancy Alicia had the same oportunities as every other women. The three options I wrote down above. Alicia has been sure to keep the baby and to take all the responsibility from the beginning.
I think it's pretty brave to do this. I mean, I could NEVER imagine being pregnant at 17 and honestly, I wouldn't know what I would do.
It's tough wanting to get the baby even if you know that you mostly have to give up your whole life you had before.
Let's see how Sam and Alicia get on with this situation. There are three chapters left in our novel to find out!
See you soon :)
Maike
I'm back with a new blog entry about chapter 13-17 and about the song "Everything to me". I hope you're looking forward to reading it :)
Chapter 13:
Annie tells Sam that she's pregnant aswell and they're thinking about the future of the two babies.
"They'll be friends, won't they? - I hope so. They'll be the same age, anyway." (p.188, ll.33-35)Sam and Alicia are working out how they carry on when the baby's born.
"I enrolled in a sixth-form college, and Alicia decided to take the year out (...)." (p.190, ll.31f)Chapter 14:
Alicia gives birth to "Rufus". Sam and Andrea are with her at the hospital. Sam's description of the "giving-birth-situation":
"It seemed more like a place where bombs explode and legs came off and old ladies dressed in black started screaming." (p.201, ll.4-6)Andrea and Annie argue about the baby's surname, until Alicia's dad and Mark come in and meet their grandchild for the first time.
I can understand Sam's reaction somehow. His girlfriend is giving birth to their child and it's a very big thing. It suits to Sam very much that he's describing the situation like this because he's often a bit strange, e.g. when he's talking to Tony Hawk's poster. So I didn't really wonder about Sam describing the situation like a battlefield "where bombs explode", haha.
https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2013/11/28/10/39/newborn-220142_960_720.jpg
Baby Rufus <3
Chapter 15:
Sam moves into Alicia's house and Alicia and him take Rufus (nickname: Roof) home for the first time.
"Here we are, Roof. Mummy and Daddy. This is your whole family." (p.209, ll.27f)Chapter 16:
Sam lives the day he already visited once as he was wizzed into the future.
He goes to college this day and has a fight with another boy who is telling Sam Rufus might be his son and not Sam's. Because of this Sam doubts Alicia and thinks about this boy being right. At the end it emphasizes that Rufus is definitly Sam's son. The whole situation makes Alicia feel angry because it seems like Sam isn't trusting her.
"If that's how little you trust me, then everything's pointless, isn't it?" (p.219, ll.22f)Chapter 17:
Sam's dad meets Sam at a restaurant and wants to tell him that his life with Alicia won't work out. He talks about how it has been with Annie and how their relationship didn't work out because they only cared about the baby and not about themselfes anymore.
"Is he breathing? Has he pooed? Does he need changing? That's all we ever said. We never looked at each other." (p.226, ll.33f, p.227, l.1)
The song "Everything to me":
The song "Everything to me" is written by Mark Schultz and deals with the topic adoption.
Mark Schultz once met a woman who didn't grow up with her biological parents. She told Mark her story which made him think about this topic and which made him write a song about it.
The woman told Mark that her mother had three options: she could have an abortion, she could keep the child or she could give the child away. She said her mom carried her nine months with pain, but at least she decided to give her child away, just to give her child a better future than she ever could. The woman is able to understand why her mom did this - because at least it's been the best for both.
The first impression while listening to the song is that it's a sad song. If you watched the music video, you saw the young mother giving birth to her child and giving it away immediately. For me it seemed like the mom had made a mistake by giving the baby away, although she only tried to do the best for her child.
The video wants to show that adoption isn't always a bad thing.
Of course many people would immediately say that it's wrong letting a baby grow up with foster parents and not with its biological mom because it doesn't seem right giving a baby away from its mom.
But if we think about the fact that some mom's are not able to raise a child or even to care about it. It doesn't matter whether it's because she's an alcoholic or whether she's just too young and it's too much responsibility for her. In such cases it's good that there's the possibility of giving the child a good future with parents who really care for the child and who are able to give it a good future.
Alicia is a mom now. Her baby Rufus is born.
At the beginning of pregnancy Alicia had the same oportunities as every other women. The three options I wrote down above. Alicia has been sure to keep the baby and to take all the responsibility from the beginning.
I think it's pretty brave to do this. I mean, I could NEVER imagine being pregnant at 17 and honestly, I wouldn't know what I would do.
It's tough wanting to get the baby even if you know that you mostly have to give up your whole life you had before.
Let's see how Sam and Alicia get on with this situation. There are three chapters left in our novel to find out!
See you soon :)
Maike
Samstag, 11. Juni 2016
My favourite chapter
Hey guys,
today's post will be about my favourite chapter of the novel and about some questions to Nick Hornby, the auther of "Slam".
It's been hard for me to choose my favourite chapter because there are many situation I don't like really much. In my opinion the chapters were Sam is wizzed into the future aren't that cool. It's unrealistic seeing exactly the things which will happen in the future. So I was sure about choosing one without the wizzing-thing.
At least I decided to take chapter 2 as my favourite chapter.
In chapter 2 there happen a lot of things. But because I've already written a blog post about the content, I will just let you know the reasons why I chose it.
Chapter 2 starts with Sam talking to Rabbit about Annie. Rabbit is Sam's friend and they're often skating together. He's good at skating but he isn't that clever. Conversations with him are always pretty strange which makes the whole situation very funny. I like that, because even if it's a serious topic, it ends up being funny because of his strange way of speaking haha.
What I also like about this chapter is the conversation between Sam and his mum. It's something I've already written about aswell: the teenager-mum connection.
I like reading or hearing about teenagers and their connection to their mums because it's unique and nobody has the same as you do!
Do you remember Sam and Alicia meeting for the first time? At Andrea's birthday party?
This also happens in chapter 2. It's the start of the whole story and I like that it's not like you mostly imagine a boy and a girl meeting for the first time.
You'd probably imagine they'd meet at school or outside but not on a birthday party from your mother's friend. I like that it's not a "common" place to start a love story.
It's also not a "normal" start. I don't imagine starting a love story with ignoring each other and being unfriendly. But it's cool that the love story of "Slam" doesn't start like you imagine it to which makes it much more interesting!
Chapter 2 is my favourite chapter because there's much to laugh about and there happen important things aswell! It's the start of Sam's and Alicia's love story - the main topic of the book.
Sam's life is full of funny, nice and serious things. Maybe there aren't sooo many funny situations, but when Rabbit appears it's always funny and your only thought is how dopey he is! These situations are the contrast to the ones which Sam can't laugh about.
I think chapter 2 shows this contrast pretty good which is another reason for me choosing this one.
Everybody has once probably got one book in which something hasn't been clear and where you would've liked to ask the author something. Our task has been to think about those questions:
I would like to know why Nick Hornby chose London as the location of the story and most of all why did he choose exactly THIS story? I mean, why would you write aboout teenage-pregnancy? Did he experience it himself? Or some of his friends?
Are there some experiences in the story that he made himself? Some details that he took out of his own life, e.g. the divorce of the parents?
Is there any reason for writing about the "wizzing-thing"? Would he like to be able to see what the future is like and that's why Sam is able to?
Is Nick Hornby an admirer of Tony Hawk aswell? Could it be that he likes Tony and because of that the skater playes an important role in Sam's life?
Is there any reason for letting Sam and Alicia meet at a birthday party of a mother's friend? Why did the mums "connected" Sam and Alicia? Why didn't they meet any other way?
Why did Nick Hornby create such a silly boy as Rabbit? Has he got stupid friends aswell or did he think it would be funny having one character who is always talking rubbish?
I think that's all I'd like to ask Mr Hornby.
Have a nice sunday!
Maike
today's post will be about my favourite chapter of the novel and about some questions to Nick Hornby, the auther of "Slam".
It's been hard for me to choose my favourite chapter because there are many situation I don't like really much. In my opinion the chapters were Sam is wizzed into the future aren't that cool. It's unrealistic seeing exactly the things which will happen in the future. So I was sure about choosing one without the wizzing-thing.
At least I decided to take chapter 2 as my favourite chapter.
In chapter 2 there happen a lot of things. But because I've already written a blog post about the content, I will just let you know the reasons why I chose it.
Chapter 2 starts with Sam talking to Rabbit about Annie. Rabbit is Sam's friend and they're often skating together. He's good at skating but he isn't that clever. Conversations with him are always pretty strange which makes the whole situation very funny. I like that, because even if it's a serious topic, it ends up being funny because of his strange way of speaking haha.
What I also like about this chapter is the conversation between Sam and his mum. It's something I've already written about aswell: the teenager-mum connection.
I like reading or hearing about teenagers and their connection to their mums because it's unique and nobody has the same as you do!
Do you remember Sam and Alicia meeting for the first time? At Andrea's birthday party?
This also happens in chapter 2. It's the start of the whole story and I like that it's not like you mostly imagine a boy and a girl meeting for the first time.
You'd probably imagine they'd meet at school or outside but not on a birthday party from your mother's friend. I like that it's not a "common" place to start a love story.
It's also not a "normal" start. I don't imagine starting a love story with ignoring each other and being unfriendly. But it's cool that the love story of "Slam" doesn't start like you imagine it to which makes it much more interesting!
"(...) who did she think she was, sitting there pouting and looking the other way?" (p.24, ll.29f)After the birthparty Sam is talking to Rabbit and again they're having a stupid conversation.
"What was she doing at the party? - She lives there. (...) - She lives at a party?" (p.37, ll.22-24)I like Rabbit haha. He's so stupid and talks rubbish without recognizing it :D
Chapter 2 is my favourite chapter because there's much to laugh about and there happen important things aswell! It's the start of Sam's and Alicia's love story - the main topic of the book.
Sam's life is full of funny, nice and serious things. Maybe there aren't sooo many funny situations, but when Rabbit appears it's always funny and your only thought is how dopey he is! These situations are the contrast to the ones which Sam can't laugh about.
I think chapter 2 shows this contrast pretty good which is another reason for me choosing this one.
Everybody has once probably got one book in which something hasn't been clear and where you would've liked to ask the author something. Our task has been to think about those questions:
I would like to know why Nick Hornby chose London as the location of the story and most of all why did he choose exactly THIS story? I mean, why would you write aboout teenage-pregnancy? Did he experience it himself? Or some of his friends?
Are there some experiences in the story that he made himself? Some details that he took out of his own life, e.g. the divorce of the parents?
Is there any reason for writing about the "wizzing-thing"? Would he like to be able to see what the future is like and that's why Sam is able to?
Is Nick Hornby an admirer of Tony Hawk aswell? Could it be that he likes Tony and because of that the skater playes an important role in Sam's life?
Is there any reason for letting Sam and Alicia meet at a birthday party of a mother's friend? Why did the mums "connected" Sam and Alicia? Why didn't they meet any other way?
Why did Nick Hornby create such a silly boy as Rabbit? Has he got stupid friends aswell or did he think it would be funny having one character who is always talking rubbish?
I think that's all I'd like to ask Mr Hornby.
Have a nice sunday!
Maike
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