Entry two July 7th: Looking For Alaska

As I mentioned in my previous entry, there are three main characters in the story Looking for Alaska. Each character, Miles, the Colonel, and Alaska, have a purpose of being in the story and they all have a reason for being known as a main character. Just like probably every other teen in the world, they all desire to be something and want to have something they might have to work for. For the main character Miles he desires to find himself and works to find the importance of who he really is. He does this by having a fresh, new start at a boarding school in Alabama, away from his few friends and little family back at home in Florida. Another main character, the Colonel, also has a desire for things. The Colonel desires to be the best at everything he can. He wants to be known by everyone as the risky teenage boy who doesn’t care what others think and what trouble he gets into. A third and final character is Alaska. Alaska, as I said before, is mysterious and confusing to others. She desires to be strong. Alaska deep down has a lot of pain in her life but she knows how to hide it. She wants everyone to see her as the tough girl that can get through anything, no matter how hurtful it is. These three characters all have something in common and that is the desire to want or to be someone or something.

A big theme I have noticed that is beginning to develop in this story is finding who you are through experiencing new things. The character Miles is looking to find himself and this is something that teenagers struggle with every day, finding who you really are. Every character by the end of the story finds something about themselves that they didn’t already know. They find themselves through the experiences they have encountered throughout the whole story. Another theme that I have noticed developing in this story is the meaning of life. Throughout the whole story there are a lot of ups and downs for each character. Each character somehow finds a way to get through their downs, although it might get difficult. In order to get through life, you have to have an idea of what life means and that death is inevitable. This theme is important because it can help the reader know the importance of life and how it can get you through it.

Almost every story is written differently. The way that the book Looking for Alaska is structured is that the author decided not to use chapters and instead he split the book into before and after. The before part of the story begins with "One Hundred and Thirty-six Days Before" and the after part ends with "One Hundred and Thirty-six Days After." This is important because it helps the reader be able to see what events led to the main event of the story, kind of like a timeline. This story has many big events and using the before and after method helps the reader be able to point out those events. In my opinion, I think the author structured this book in the most unique way he possibly could.

Entry one July 7th: Looking For Alaska

The book I am doing for summer reading is called Looking for Alaska written by John Green. There are three main characters in this story and their names are Miles, also known as Pudge, Chip, also known as the Colonel, and Alaska. Miles is a quiet and smart student at his new school which is also a boarding school. He wants two things at his new school. One is to get away from everyone at his old school so he can discover himself and the other is to get the girl he really likes, Alaska, to like him back. One other main character is Chip, but he prefers to be called the Colonel. The Colonel is roommates with the new student Miles. The Colonel is a very chilled, laid-back, and social guy. He is friends with everyone and doesn’t really worry about getting into trouble. A third main character is Alaska. Alaska is also very social and has many friends just like the Colonel. Alaska’s friends would describe her as being mysterious and a “tom-boy.” Though she currently has a boyfriend during the beginning of the story, she’s friends with all the guys and understands them more than the average teenage girl. These three different characters do a great job of making the story Looking for Alaska come together.

The setting of this story is at a boarding school in Alabama called Culver Creek where high schooler’s go to school and also live on their own on the school campus.

The conflict for the audience of the story is person vs self. One of the main characters, Miles, is trying to find himself throughout the whole story. Before he came to Culver Creek, he was just a lonely boy in his home town at his old school. He is trying to discover who he is and the importance of himself. If Miles were to explain it he would say he is searching for his “Great Perhaps.” In the story he quotes a poet, Francois Rabelais. Francois Rabelais’ last words were, “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” Miles then says, “That’s why I’m going. So I don’t have to wait until I die to start seeking a Great Perhaps.”

So far, I am only about half way through the story. As I stated above, Miles is in search to find himself and who he really is. Based on that, I predict that eventually and towards the end of the story Miles figures out who he truly is and the importance of himself. I also predict that Miles will get the girl he wants, Alaska. Based off the title of the story, I predict that something crazy happens to Alaska. The title is Looking for Alaska so I predict that Alaska somehow goes missing. Did someone take her? Or did she do something to herself like run away or possibly suicide? I guess I will just have to keep reading!

A connection that I made to this story was that the main character Miles is trying to find himself. Since Miles is a young teenage boy, this can relate to many teenagers in this world who are lost in who they are. In my opinion, teenagers have a lot of pressure going on in their life. It’s the stage right before becoming an adult and figuring out who you might want to become and what you might want to do with your life. So the fact that Miles is searching for himself can help relate to many teenagers in the world today.