Dear Mrs. Zrihen,
Today I finished reading the book The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. I was wondering what book I should do for the reader's journal when The Blind Side, the movie, came up on TV one day. Since I had seen the movie I decided to read it and compare it to the book.
When reading this book I used many strategies to help me better understand what I was reading. Before reading I remembered what I knew about the book, the movie, and about Michael Oher. I also set a purpose for reading. My purpose was for my readers journal and to reread the book for my own entertainment. While reading, I came across a quote that really stood out to me:
"Don't worry where I am, I'll tell you when I get there."This quote really stood out to me because you learn throughout the book that that was Michael Oher's attitude about life. He didn't think too much about how to do certain things and was known to have the power to forget things he didn't like. Also while reading, I reread the quote and thought about what it meant. After reading I compared and contrasted the movie to the book. I also thought about the literary elements to make sure I fully understood the book.
I was able to identify many nonfiction elements in this story. The genre is biography because it tells the story of another persons life. The topic of this story is Michael Oher and the main idea is Michael Oher's life. The main idea is implied because it isn't clearly stated in the book. Another title I would give this book is "Michael Oher: From Homelessness to NFL Star". This is a good title because it explains the book. I think the essential message in this book is that Michael Oher believed he could do something and with help from family he was able to. One cause and effect from the book is that the Touhys took in Michael and helped him which caused him to achieve his fullest potential. I could compare the life Michael had before meeting the Touhys, to many lives of young children without a home. The text features in the book were title, photograph, headings, and subheadings. The title, The Blind Side didn't really help me because if I hadn't seen the movie I would have never guessed what the title meant. The photo, however, helped me a lot because it showed a picture of Michael in his football uniform next to Leigh Ann Touhy, the mother who took him in. This gave me an understanding of what the book might be focused on. The headings and subheadings before every chapter helped me get an understanding of what each chapter was about. The pattern of organization was chronological order because the book is told in the order in which the experiences occurred. The author's purpose is to inform because he is talking about another person's life. The author's perspective is unbiased and the point of view is third person omniscient. Some figurative language I found was: "He looks as big as a bear." which is a simile and "Everything happens for a reason." which is a cliche. To check validity and accuracy I used my memory from the movie.
Some new vocab words I found were, "eviction" which means to vacate premises. "Abhorrent" means horrible. "Marvel" is like a miracle. "Blithe" which means happy. "Gargantuan" means very big. "Lilt" means an accent. While reading I also made connections. I couldn't make comparisons to myself and the book but I contrasted how different the life of Michael Oher and my life are. I have read many biographies throughout my life but never one quite like The Blind Side. However, I could compare this book to the world because kids do suffer with homelessness and other things Michael went through.
In conclusion, I loved this book and rate it 10 out of 10 stars. I recommend this book to everyone!
Sincerely,
Bailey Levy
