Finale

     The post that I thought best exemplified my ability to analyze complex characters was in my post 'The Ranger's Apprentice-characterization'. I thought that this post demonstrated my ability to analyse complex characters because I talked about all of the traits that the character had, and how all of those traits were essential for him to occupy his role in the story. I gave examples from the book of how the character strongly  demonstraited these particular traits I talked about, and how they were neccesary for him to have his role he had in the story.

    Next trimester, I would like to instead of reading just one book and almost finish another one, to read one book, but not as quickly as I read my first book, so that I can better analyze the writing within it, and to take a deeper understanding of things like the theme, and better understand the setting as well. But I would like to finish a second book as well. My goals for writing for next trimester consist of me using more complex writing techniques, like personification, using more comparisons to help the reader better understand what I am trying to convey, and also to simply write more than I did this trimester, because I know that I should have written more, and written things that more engage the mind and makes the reader think about society and the world around him, and also about themselves, and how they might need to change their perspective on a certain idea or concept.

About the author

     John Flanagan, the author of The Ranger's Apprentice started writing a series of weekly short stories to encourage his son Michael to read. Will, the main character was actually based off of his son. He has a lot of the same qualities as his son, and does the sort of things that his son likes to do: climbing, archery, throwing knives at trees. He doesn't try to pretend to be Halt, Will's apprentice master, but a lot of the conversations that go on between Halt and Will are based on exchanges between him and Mike when he was a teenager. He even incorporated some of the short stories that he wrote into the first book of the series. He now has written a total of 12 books in The Ranger's Apprentice series.

Theme of The Ranger's Apprentice

      While I was reading The Ruins of Gorlon, the first book of The Ranger's Apprentice series, I noticed that there wasn't very much of a moral to the story. Overall, I thought the book predominantly was written for entertainment, and not so much for any other reason. But I thought that there was still a theme to the story.

     Near the end of the book, Will's master, Halt, was in deep trouble and had already done everything he could to stay alive. He was being chased a troll-like creatures, the Karkala. All who have ever fought such monsters say they literally emanate fear, and if you look at one of them in the eye, you would be instantly paralyzed  by fear.
   
     Will and his company of 2 other knights had finally found where the Kalkara had chased Halt to, and could see one of the Kalkara in the open. The two knights had started to engage this humongous monster in combat, when Will remembered something he had heard, that they were vulnerable to fire. He reacted quickly, because even two fully armored knights didn't stand up to the Kalkara. He pulled out one of his fire arrows, lit it and aimed for the Kalkara. Right when it touched it, it spread like it had touched gasoline, and it burned up within a matter of seconds. His bravery and quick thinking had saved his master and the two knights.

The Ranger's Apprentice-Charactarization

      Will, the main character in The Ranger's Apprentice is a pretty weird kid, but he has a lot of the things that is perfect for a ranger. He is very curious, sneaky, very good at not being seen, brave, quick to react to things, and a hard worker. The author purposely gave a strong amount of these characteristics to Will because it would be essential for him to have these things to be a ranger of Araluen.

     When Halt, the ranger's master of Redmont fief gave a note to the Baron, which contained information about Will, except Will did not get to see what was written on the note. Will was naturally very curious to see what Halt had wrote, so that night he snuck into the Baron's quarters in an attempt to catch a glance to see what about him was written on the note. But Halt was expecting this and caught Will red-handed sneaking into the Baron's quarters. But this only made Halt want to make Will his apprentice, because it showed him how he had the qualities of a ranger; curious, sneaky, and also a very good climber.

The Ranger's Apprentice-Setting

     In the Ranger's Apprentice, the setting is constantly changing and shifting. At the beginning, the setting was in a wooded fief, with a castle surrounded by the town, which also contained many farms. But later on in the story, the main character had to travel on a dirt trail to his destination by horse, which was heavily surrounded by trees. When he arrived at his destination, he then had to travel through an enormous plain to his next destination. The book ended when he returned back to his homeland, Redmont fief, and he attended a huge dinner dedicated to him because he saved his master's life. Near the end of the book, winter had began and there was lots of snow throughout the entire kingdom covering the ground.

The Rangers of Araluen

      Since Will wasn't accepted to any other master, one master stepped up to recruit him. He was the ranger of the Redmont fief. He had been paying attention to Will, noticing how well he was at sneaking, and not getting caught, how he was fast, and light on his feet. He had been hoping that no other master would accept him, because he wanted him as his apprentice. The Rangers of Araluen are the eyes and ears of the kingdom. They spy on the kingdoms' enemies, eliminate possible threats, and in result of their constant lookout for threats to the kingdom, they saved Araluen in battle and throughout history many times. The ranger of Redmont fief, Halt, has taken an interest in Will and hopes to apprentice him.

The Ruins of Gorlon-Continued

    In my book The Ruins of Gorlon, Will is expected to be accepted as an apprentice to one of the masters of the arts when he reaches the age of 15. He is 14, and his 15th birthday is coming up. He isn't exactly on the master's good side. To them, he is known as a sneak, and some of the masters say they have even caught him climbing onto their windows and stealing things.

     While Will doesn't deny these things, he is still anxious to get an apprenticeship to the battlemaster. He has dreamed of joining battle school his whole life, and when the battlemaster didn't accept him, he didn't know what to do. Working in one of Redmont's fields was never what he wanted to do, and now he desperately needs an apprenticeship to another master.

The Ruins of Gorlon

         My book, The Ruins of Gorlon by John Flanagan, is the first book to the Ranger's Apprentice series. There are many, many more books to the series, and so I am just getting started. It's about this orphan, named Will, who lives in Redmont fief which belongs to a kingdom made up of 50 fiefs, and was united under one king a long time ago. The kingdom is called Araluen. As an orphan, when he reaches the age of 15, he is expected to become an apprentice of one of the masters of the arts of Redmont fief. A few of the arts include the baron's cook, the battlemaster, and the ranger. And when Will reaches the age of 15, if he is not accepted by one of the masters, then he will become a farmer in one of the fields of Redmont. Not a really great job that everyone wants. So before he reaches the age of 15, he must keep working hard to impress the masters so he may one day be accepted. And right now, he's not really on their good side.