This week we focused on close readings. I learned that authors deliberately place words and quotations where they are for specific reasons. For example, in the novel “Paper Towns” by John Green there is a quote that I absolutely love that says "Here's what's not beautiful about it: from here, you can't see the rust or the cracked paint or whatever, but you can tell what the place really is. You can see how fake it all is. It's not even hard enough to be made out of plastic. It's a paper town. I mean, look at it, Q: look at all those culs-de-sac, those streets that turn in on themselves, all the houses that were built to fall apart. All those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm. All the paper kids drinking beer some bum bought for them at the paper convenience store. Everyone demented with the mania of owning things. All the things paper-thin and paper-frail. And all the people, too. I've lived here for eighteen years and I have never once in my life come across anyone who cares about anything that matters." You can not even begin to pick just one this to love about this passage. It’s all beautiful- from the paper towns to everything that matters. Now, how he can describe how a place is un-beautiful in such a beautiful way is beyond me. But, the way he points out all the ugly things being beautiful is, to me, the most interesting thing. By using short sentences and repetition John green captures the mood that Margo and Quinton are feeling that all of this is so obvious and urgent to be noticed. Most of the emotions I felt in the novel weren’t felt through the plot but through the poetic wording and phrasing. When he says “All those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm.”  He is saying that everything is a system, a mold, everywhere; everything's enslaved by time, by deadlines, by concrete goals, and by tradition. Its normalcy, status quo,  and cookie cutter people. They think “don't-screw-up-or-try-anything-different, everything's-been-laid-out-and-that's-how-it-is-and-should-be” It's so stiff. When he says “all those paper people living in their paper houses” its his way of saying that everyone in the town is the same and they all live in these seemingly perfect houses with perfect families that are actually ready to crumble. “I've lived here for eighteen years and I have never once in my life come across anyone who cares about anything that matters." Basically that quote sums up the entire book  John green is really really good at saying what he means indirectly and straightforward at the same time. I think it is truly amazing how a writer can be so cautious and deliberate of what they say. It like every single word and period is deeply thought about. I really like close readings but mostly because I’m obsessed with words. Oh yea, and books. Books are wonderful.