top 10

1. Max- Max is the main character of the book and leader of the group. She and her group are human avian hybrids, which means they have been genetically engineered with wings and superhuman strengths. Max’s goal in the book is to save the world from a company called ITEX who is trying to kill regular humans and replace them with the human hybrids.
2. Fang- Fang is Max’s right hand man. He backs her up and is older than everyone in the flock. He wears black a lot and is like a ghost. He will be one place then a second later he will be in another. He is good at being sneaky and he’s excellent at not being noticed. Fang has a blog that he writes his daily accounts in and in the end of the book he gets millions of kids all over the world to revolt against ITEX by posting his life and how he needs help on his blog.
3. Climax- The climax of the book is the final fight of the book where max has to defeat Omega to save the world. Omega is another superhuman with all human qualities times 400. He is faster, stronger, and smarter than Max. They have to fight to the death and max wins because she found his weakness.
4. Germany- The climax happened in Lendeheim, Germany at one of the ITEX buildings. In this building they were running cruel tests and turning Normal humans into human hybrids. Max fought Omega here and found out all the information she needed about her life and family she didn’t know she had. Also a big part of the book happened when they had to fly over the Atlantic Ocean.
5. An important part of the book was when max found her mom- Ever since Max could remember she hasn’t had a mother and in the book her personal mission is to find her. After awhile she started to think she was just lab grown like the others. But Jeb tells her that Dr. Martinez was her mother but she didn’t believe it. Later after the big battle with Omega she took the head of ITEX high into the air and interrogated her and found out that Dr. Martinez was her mom and had donated an egg to the science program. At the end of the book they are living together as a family.
6. An important part of the book was when- Max and her half of the flock separated from Fang and his half- When the flock escaped from being captured by ITEX they added a new member to the flock. Ari a 7-year-old kid that had been genetically mixed with wolf DNA and avian DNA and put on steroids for his whole life joins the group. In the past Ari had almost killed Fang so when he joined the group Fang wasn’t too happy and didn’t feel safe. So he took half the flock that voted to go with him and left.
7. Recombinant DNA- This word is important to the book because its what the scientists at ITEX call mixing different DNA structures together to make the human hybrids. Recombinant DNA creatures are scheduled to take over the world to make it a perfect place. But Max defeats Omega then destroys ITEX for good.
8. Plot- The plot of the book is scientists that mix DNA from other creatures with humans have been trying to take over the world and kill all the humans that are sick, weak, unintelligent, etc. This plan is known as the by half plan because they plan on killing half the population and replace it with better super humans that they have created in the lab. But Max, Fang, Nudge, Iggy, Gassy, and Angel are all lab made recombinant DNA results that were human until the lab scientists added wings to them. With their wings tucked close to their body they look like regular humans, which enables them to walk around in public. These flying bird kids have a mission to stop this by half plan and save the world from corruption.
9. Resolution- The resolution to the story is after the climax when Max defeated Omega and found out who her mother was. The resolution to the problem of the scientists destroying the world is that Max saved the world and found out who her mother was. After all of this happened she flew to Arizona to live with her new family. But she couldn’t just desert her flock so she let them come and live with them to all as one big happy family.
10. An important part in the book is when- The scientists switched from there first weapon of morphing human wolf hybrids with wings called erasers that were used to try and hunt down the flock, to the new “flyboys” which were instead of living creatures robots with wings that were in the shape of erasers. They were more efficient, easier to take care of, and harder to kill. This made it harder for Max and her flock to win the fights between the flyboys and flock. This almost lead to them being killed multiple times but they made it out alive.

Week 7 post B

"Dr. Martinez really was my mother."(390)- This quote is a major part of the puzzle of the book. Ever since Max can remember she has never had a mother or known of who her mother was. In the book along with the quest to save the world she is on a self mission also to find out who her mom is. She had met Dr. Martinez once before because she needed someone to fix up her gunshot wound and liked her a lot. Then as she is talking and interigating the head leader of the human hybrid company ITEX she finds out that Dr. Martinez is actually her real mother and that she had donated an egg to the scientific research company. Now in the end of the book max and the flock along with Jeb and Dr. Martinez are all living in one house as a family.

week 7 post A

Vocab:
inadequate: deficient, poor, scant, scanty, scarce, sparse, in short supply
Humvee: a modern military vehicle.

Figurative language:
"He weighed so much it was like a brick wall crumbling down on top of me."(370)- simile
"And i was standing here like a scarecrow."(400)- simile
"It was like a Norman Rockwell painting."(403)- simile

Quote:
"Omega was out cold but not dead."(375)- This is significant to the book because Max had to defeat Omega (another human hybrid) to save the world from getting destroyed. She defeats him and the world is now saved somewhat.

Theme:
the theme was that Max was in a major battle with Omega.

week 6 post B

"I'm your father, max. said Jeb simply."(321)- This quote is a huge shock for the whole flock. Jeb raised the flock and taught them everything they know. The flock knew he wasn't their father but they acted like it. Now Jeb re-appears after a few years of trying to kill them and tells the flock that he is Max's father. This changes the whole story because the flock dispises him for trying to kill them and deserting them and now he wants to be friends with them again. Now the flock has to make a very important decision on to take his apology or not.

week 6 post A

vocab:
Dank- disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.
Shackle- a pair of fetters connected together by a chain, used to fasten a prisoner's wrists or ankles together.

Figurative language:
- "Looking at us curiously, as if we were a zoo exhibit."(302)- simile
- "He just looked like a mistake."(302)- simile
- "I felt the damp heat of nudge's hand tighten on mine, felt my feathers brushing the cold stone floor."(322)- imagery

Quote:
"You're willing to sell children to a foreign government so they can use us as weapons?" (312)- this quote is significant to the book because it is describing the situation they are in right now. There are scientist who are wanting to trade these human hybrids to china as weapons.

Theme:
A rising theme is the possability of a major fight coming up.

week 5 post B

"The time of the Re-Evolution is here!"(251)- This quote is a turning point in the book because the thing that they don't want to happen is now happening. The re-evolution is a plan that the bad guys have to make a perfect world by killing all of the useless people and keep the healthy ones that can contribute to society. Max's job was to prevent this from starting and it has started. She now is doing everything in her power to get an army together and take on the bad guys to stop the re-evoltuion. But this is a hard task because first she has to destroy all the headquarter buildings of the company that is doing this.

week 5 post A

vocab:
claustrophobia- The fear of being in a small space
Picturesque- unusual and vivid

figurative language:
"The sadness about my mother was like crying your guts out."(267)- simile
"Im like a damsel in distress."(286)- simile
"You write like a drunk monkey but you'll get there."(287)- simile

Quote:
"But i am your mother, Max."(260)- This quote is significant to the book because Max grew up not knowing her mother and now she meets her and she is one of the people trying to kill her.

Theme:
The theme of everyone banding together to defeat the bad guys is the emerging theme.

week 4 post B

"And just to set the record straight, I left him. A split second after he left me."(183)- This quote is a big changing point in the book for the flock. After Max let Ari into the group Fang didn't want to be around anymore because Ari had tried to kill him before. So Fang made the decision to leave the flock and go his separate way. But before he left he wanted to know if anyone wanted to go with him and 2 other members of the flock did. So the flock was split into two, which is not good because they need to stick together to finish their mission that they were assigned. Now Fang and his two other flock members are in california and Max and her three members of the flock are in europe.

week 4 post A

vocab:
redundant- exceeding what is necessary or normal.
dissemination- to disperse throughout.

Figurative language:
"Us.... on a plane. That seemed so wrong, somehow. Redundant."(188)"Isnt that redundant?"(189)- irony because they were thinking the same thing.
"Flying west without Max was like flying with one wing missing."(190)- simile.
"The building was gloomy like a dark cave."(212)-simile.

Quote:
"The opposite of wherever Max was going."(191)- This is a big part in the book because the flock just split up.

Theme:
danger aproching seems to be the rising theme.

week 3 post B

"We're shutting down all of our recombinant-DNA experiments. All of the lupine-human blends have been retired, and it's time to retire you too."(122). - This quote is a huge climax in the book. The bad people are going to terminate the flock. The bad people are the ones that made them the human-bird combination and now that the flock is useless they are going to kill them. The bad people also killed all of there other experiments too. So now the flock is in a sticky situation and they have to get out of it before they end up being killed.

week 3 post A

vocab:
Recombinant(118)- an organism, cell, or genetic material formed by recombination.
conundrums(124)- a confusing and difficult problem or question.

Figurative language:
"My blood turned to icy slush in my veins."(119)- metaphor
"They were hung in rows on metal hooks, like raggedy coats in a closet."(131)- simile
"It was like looking up and seeing a trains headlights coming right at you, and your feet just can't move off the track."(133)- simile

Quote:
"Everything you have experienced for the past five months has all been a dream"(117)- This is significant to the book because they bad people are telling the flock that everything within the last 5 months had been a dream. And that the whole thing had been a test to find out how they would react in certain situations.

An emerging theme in the book is that they will get caught then they will escape and then they will get caught again and escape again.

activities 1 blog

1. Forum snowboards vs. rome snowboards. This debate occurs at snowboard shops and places were you snowboard. The purpose it serves is to find out which board is better. yes it helps arrive at a better decition because you end up with a better board. It is an unstructured debate. It effects the decision process because in the end one of the people will change their minds on which board they are going to perchase.

week 2 post B

"Angel was missing."(67)- This quote is a major turning point for the book. With angel missing they have lost a family member but also there is a problem with this. A few chapters ago the brother of angel (fang) was typing on his blog when he found a comment reading "One of you is a traitor, one of the flock has gone bad."(18). This flock member was angel. with her being gone from the flock the bad people took her 6 year old mind and brain washed her into being a bad guy. They wanted her and not the others becasue angel has a special power to control minds and she is able to make the rest of the flock fly in for termination by the bad guys.

week 2 post A

Vocab:
saccharine (70)- sweetness or sugar like
bemused (71)- to make confused

Figurative language:
"Nudge felt like her own breath had turned to a chunk of concrete in her throat."(58-59)- This is a simile because it is saying her breath is like something.

"Ones wing was broken almost off, and the other appeared to be missing a leg."(49-50)- This is imagery because it gives you an image in your head about what the thing looks like.

"But the thought was gone, sliding away like jell-o off a hot car hood."(83)- This is a simile because it is saying that the thought is sliding away like something.

Quote:
"Angel was missing."(67)- This quote is significant to the book because one of the "flock" is missing and was taken by the bad guys. This later will cause problems for the flock possably.

Theme:
an emerging theme in the book is that the flock is running into more and more trouble.

week 1 post B

"One of you is a traitor. One of the flock has gone bad."(18)- This quote is significant to the book because it gives a possible forshadow to what might happen in the book. This event in the quote shows that one of the main characters is going to have to find out who this traitor is in their "flock". This quote is also significant to the book because one of the problems these kids have in the book is that they can not trust anyone. If they trust someone to much then they run the risk of being found by the bad guys or they could be trusting the wrong person who then in return does something bad with that trust. If there is a traitor in their flock then they could be in serious trouble. Maybe even death.

week 1 post A

Vocab words:
schizoid (31)- denoting or having a personality type characterized by emotional aloofness and solitary habits; mad or crazy.
Ominous (34)- giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious.

figurative language:
1. "Thanks to your plan, we can't spit without being spotted and recognized." (35)- This is figurative language because it is refering to one of the characters plans that resulted in the group getting spotted and now everyone is on the lookout for them so they cant do anything without people finding them.
2. "We'll be like cavemen, trying to weave clothes out of plant fibers." (40).- This is a metephor because it is saying that they will be like cavemen under certain conditions.
3. "The knowledge that she could rise up from the ground anytime like an angel." (44)- This is a metephor because it is saying that she feels like an angel.

Quote:
"We can't last on the run much longer. I say screw the mission. Let them blow up the world. We can find a place to hide out where no one can find us, and we can just. . . live." (36). This is significant to the book because it basically describes the whole story of each book in the series. This is a group of humans that have been genetically engineered to have wings so they can fly. They are constantly on the run and have a mission to save the world. They are getting tired of running (as said in the quote) and want to forget about everything and just live someplace safe.

Emerging theme:
One emerging theme in the book is the constant struggle with the people trying to get rid of the hybrid bird human kids.

my new outside reading book

title: Maximum Ride by James Patterson
year published: may 2007
Book is fiction
Number of pages: 405
This book is chanllenging for me because its longer than most books i read and ill have to read more often for longer periods of time.
I chose the book because i read the book before it in the series and this is the sequal so i have to read it. Also the book before it was very entertaining and intresting so hopefully this one is to.

week 5 post #2

Tampa had drafted some key players and was ready for the next season. They made it all the way to the NFC championship and then lost but they had the best defense anyone has ever seen. They were using a cover 2 defense were the corner backs and safteys would cover woever came into there zones. But ther key to there defence was gor the lineman to control there gaps and pass rush well. After all the years of having the staff together two of the defensive staff decided it was time to move on and one went to the jets and the other went with the rams. Tampa got Simeon Rice through a free agent and he was an allstar player. He didnt play with the intesity and determintation fo a good player but the the coaches changed that after he joined Tampa. They pushed him harder and harder until he played like they wanted him to. Tony Dungy added a new family member through adoption, Jordan, and he had a problem with his nervous system he couldnt feel pain. Jordan could run head first into a wall and not cry or feel the pain at all. They decided to add another through adoption named Jade and she joined the family a day before september 11, 2001. During a practice after the game against the philadelphia eagles Tony got the message that his mom has died from diebetes. He was sad because he had lost his mom but happy because she was in a better place. Tony had gotten the news papaer and saw that there was an article on him getting fired if he didnt win the playoff game. He didnt win the game and then 2 days later was fired by the team owner. Tony took the news just fine. He believed that god had a new place for him to go and had opened a different door. Tony's next job was with the colts as head coach and they werent doing to well.

week 5 post #1

i commented on Greg Weber's blog and Zach Worthy's blog

the sea inside post #3

There are two different camera angles and techniques that stood out the most through the movie. When you were traveling in the car with people they would use close up eye level shots to make u feel like ur sitting next to them and to make you feel like your apart of the conversation and intamite with the characters. Also they used trucking to make you feel like your in the car while the trees are passing by the car window. The second camers technique they used was when Julia left the room to get cigarettes and had a heart attack. When Ramon was screaming for manula to come and help the camera zoomed out and the picture faded into black to make you feel like you are losing something. Also it resembles Julia fading away from life.