The Mystery Of The Ivory Charm: The Charm Of The Mysteries

 Novel Review:

The Mystery Of The Ivory Charm 
by Carolyn Keene

     The mystery of the ivory charm... very interesting. The 13th book of the famous Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene has taken some inspiration from Indian culture as Nancy Drew and co. unravel the mystery of the exquisite ivory charm and help an Indian boy to seek his true origins. While following clues to help the boy find his real father, Nancy learns about an eerie abandoned house. She is harassed by its strange owner, Anita Allison, and the fiendish Rai.

     In my humble opinion, Carolyn Keene packs the every aspect of what a mystery novel should have in this novel. It has its own charm that makes the reader to beg more clues. Keene cleverly gives a bold story line that is consistent throughout the novel and the characters of the novel are both loving and memorable. For example, the protagonist, Nancy Drew is great at connecting the clues she acquires and able to handle any situations regarding the difficulties of the situations. In one part of the novel, when one of her friends has a hard time in exposing the truth from Anita Allison, Nancy amazingly come up with a plan by convincing her that she can "see" her pasts. By using the information of Anita Allison from a missing document, she manages to force her to confess her wrongdoings. 

     All in all, I would recommend this novel because of the reasons above. The good story line really captivates my attention and it is worth the reading.
     

   For a children literature, this novel sure has a lot of interesting words that can improve our vocabulary. Anyway, here are a few of them;

Intrigue

o   Meaning: A secret plan.

·   E.g.: A novel of intrigue and romance is my favourite.

Perplex

o   Meaning: To confuse (someone) very much.

·   E.g. :  Questions about the meaning of life have always perplexed mankind.

Contrite

o   Meaning: Feeling or showing regret for bad behavior.

·   E.g.: Darren apologized, though it was clear he was hardly contrite.

Vocab Log 5

  1) Trudge

Meaning 1:   Walk slowly and heavy with heavy steps, typically because of exhaustion or harsh conditions.

                                         E.g.:  I had a hard time yesterday to reach my new apartment because i had to trudge up the stairs.

Meaning 2:   A difficult or laborious walk.

                                         E.g.:  Sam began the long trudge back.

  2) Notoriety

Meaning:    The state of being famous or well known for some bad quality or deed.

                                          E.g.:    She achieved instant fame and notoriety with the release of his film.

   3) Gratify

Meaning 1:    To make ( someone ) happy or satisfied

                                          E.g.:    A guilty verdict would gratify the victim's relatives.

                    Meaning 2:    To do or give whatever is wanted or demanded by (someone or something)

          E.g.:    He's only concerned with gratifying his own desires.

  4) Jeopardize

Meaning:    To expose to danger or risk

                                          E.g:    Jerry was warned that a continued decrease in his sales performance could jeopardize his chances for a promotion.

   5) Stolid

Meaning:    Having or expressing little or no sensibility

                                         E.g.:    The stolid detective spoke to the witness in a precise, unequivocal mann

X-Men: Apocalypse; A 2 hours 27 minutes apocalypse

 Movie Review:

X-Men: Apocalypse by Bryan Singer

Personal ratings: 5/10

     The X-Men movie franchise is ready for 2016 with its newest movie; X-Men Apocalypse.It is a sequel to the 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past and completes the trilogy of the X-Men soft-reboot starting with X-Men: First Class in 2011. Here’s some little facts about this franchise; the “X” in X-Men actually came from the first letter of the second name of the founder, Professor Charles Xavier.

     From my perspective, the movie is mainly about the battle of the X-Men against an ancient mutant, Apocalypse who awakens from a deep slumber and plans to take over the world. Plus, the evil dude recruits four powerful mutants,his so-called Four Horsemen of Apocalypse which give the heroes a pretty hard time.
     However, there is one thing that I’m not satisfy with the movie.(Mild spoilers ahead) Near the end of the movie, the all so mighty Apocalypse is defeated easily by Jean Grey when she releases her full power to rid of him for good. Sure every superhero movies always end with the good guys winning but this movie gives the expression that the “most powerful mutant from ancient times” is just a joke. In addition, he has more mutant powers than the heroes combined yet he does not show all of them so maybe that’s the reason I’m not satisfy.

     Anyways, that’s just my opinion but thanks for taking the time to read this post guys.

"Wait, did I forget something..."

    Oh yeah, here are three interesting words I found while watching the movie;

Apocalypse

o   Meaning: A sudden and very bad event that causes much fear, loss, or destruction.

·   E.g.: His book tells of an environmental apocalypse.

Famine

o   Meaning: A situation in which many people do not have enough food to eat.

·   E.g. :  The famine affected half the continent.

Catalysm

o   Meaning: Something that cases great destrction, violence, etc.

·   E.g.: The country barely survived the cataclysm of war.

Vocab Log 4

1. Ideate

    Meaning: To form an idea
        E.g.: Jocelyn ideate new activities to use in the classroom in an education seminar.

2. Zeroth

    Meaning 1: Being numbered zero in a series
        E.g.: Most buildings lack a zeroth floor.

    Meaning 2: Relating to a zero.
        E.g.: In my zeroth life I was a physicist.

3. Dally

    Meaning 1: To act playfully; to deal lightly
        E.g.: He and Cameron dither and dally, avoiding their work for as long as possible.

    Meaning 2: To waste time
        E.g.: Voters do not want leaders who like to dally.

4. Ramshakle

    Meaning 1: Appearing ready to collapse
        E.g: The yard was sectioned off by a ramshakle wooden fence.

    Meaning 2: Carelessly or loosely constructed.
        E.g.: Xavier regrets his action of purchasing the ramshakle building.

5. Reminisce

    Meaning: To indulge in the process or practice of thinking or telling about past experiences.
        E.g.: Justin met up with some of his college buddies to reminisce about old times.

As usual, Thanks for improving your knowledge and stay awesome.

Vocab -Log 3

1)    Rue

Meaning: Regret, sorrow.

E.g.:  I rue the day I agreed to this stupid plan.

2)   Nomenclature

Meaning: A name or a system of names or naming

E.g.: The nomenclature, “tuxedo” derives from the fact that the jacket first became popular in the resort area of Tuxedo Park, New York.

3)   Braggart

Meaning: A person who brags a lot.

E.g.: My rich uncle is a braggart who constantly boasts about his possessions.

4)   Hubris

Meaning: A great or foolish amount of pride or confidence.

E.g.: After their years of arrogant hubris, the guardian swine have been brought low.

5)   Urbane

Meaning 1: Polite and confident
.

E.g.: Zeke is an urbane man.

Meaning 2: Fashionable and somewhat formal

E.g.: This is the first time I am going to an urbane ball.

As usual, Thanks for improving your knowledge and stay awesome.

Vocab-Log 2

     1)    Quincunx

Meaning: An arrangement of five things in a square or rectangle with one at each corner and one in the middle

E.g.: The sculptures in the square were arranged in a quincunx with the outer ones marking the perimeter and the middle one serving as the centerpiece.

2)   Eminently

Meaning: To a high degree, very

E.g.: The candidate is so eminently qualified that it is dificult to imagine why she would not get the position.

3)   Subpoena

Meaning: A writ commanding a person designated in it to appear in court under a penalty for failure.

E.g.: Subpoenas have been issued to several of the defendant's family members ordering that they testify at trial.

4)   Writ

Meaning: A document from a court  ordering someone to do something or not to do something

E.g.: He was served with a writ.

5)   Palooka

Meaning 1: An inexperienced or incompetent boxer.

E.g.: Though often reckless, Mickey was never a palooka and learned from every opponent he faced in boxing.

Meaning 2: oaf, lout

E.g.: In the second debate, he expected to face a bunch of exhausted patsies and dazed palookas, but instead faced able, bright and thoughtful candidates.

 

Thanks for reading here's a thumbs up!!

Summer Camp; The Opposite of Innocent Expectations

Movie Review:

SUMMER CAMP

By Alberto Marcini

Personal Ratings: 8/10

                

                Ah summer…When we imagine summer camp, the sweet sunshine, happy laughter and canoes on lakes are the ones usually popped instantly in our head. If that’s what you thought of this movie, you’re deadly wrong as this one is ABSOLUTELY THE OPPOSITE because it’s actually a horror movie with an innocent title. It’s like any other horror movie where there’s gore and all the main characters die but it is quite unique from other movies in this genre.

The three counselors doing their best to survive in a twisted summer camp..

                I really like this movie because it is done not like any other zombie themed horror movies. The idea of the story is about four camp counselors trying to survive from each other when one of them becomes infected with some kind of virus from a genetically modified mushroom. The infected are like nightmarish agile zombies that intends to kill any non-infected they see and once they found their target, there’s no stopping them. However, unlike any other zombie movies where the infected are permanently inhumane, this movie has an interesting plot twist where the animalistic infected ones becomes sane again after some amount of time. The hell-like experience doesn’t end there because after one of the camp counselors recovered from the effects of the virus, another one becomes infected. This kind of effect gives off a fresh cat and mouse game impression in a horror movie.

                All in all, I would really recommend this movie to you horror movies lover because the tensions and suspense are horrifically constant throughout the film.

As for the interesting words found in movie, here they are:

  Ferocious

o   Meaning: Savagely fierce, cruel, or violent.

·   E.g.: Gracie’s dog suddenly become ferocious because it is infected with rabies.

  Canoe

o   Meaning: A light, narrow boat with pointed ends and no keel, propelled with a paddle or paddles.

·   E.g. :  Zack could not reach the other side of the lake because his canoe is broken after extensive use.

 Virus

o   Meaning 1: An infection or disease caused by a virus.

·   E.g.: After playing in the dirty water, Cindy caught a virus and became ill.

o   Meaning 2: A harmful or corrupting influence.

·   E.g.: The virus of greed is slowly spreading among the young citizens of Denmark.

o   Meaning 3: A piece of code that is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data.

·   E.g.: All the data in my laptop is corrupted because of a virus.

Vocab-Log 1

   1)           Eldritch

Meaning:   Weird and sinister or ghostly.

                                         E.g.: My computer just suddenly created an eldritch sound                       when I was alone in my house yesterday.

    2)      Erudite

Meaning:    Having or showing great knowledge or learning.

                                          E.g.:    Norma is lucky to have Jason as his erudite son.

       3)        Abnegation

Meaning:    The act of renouncing or rejecting something.

                                          E.g.:    Katy’s abnegation ice cream and cookies is due to her                    strict Olympic team training.

      4)       Dauntless

Meaning:    Showing fearlessness and determination.

                                          E.g:    Only the most dauntless one will be selected to join the          very dangerous expedition.

          5)        Candor

Meaning:    The quality of being open and honest in expression.

                                          E.g.:    A man of refreshing candor is the choice of many                              women for an ideal future husband.