Dear Reader,
My book is called The Maze Runner. In this book you will find a mixture of a conversation, a thank you note, a drawing with a caption, and also an eye-witness account. All this will tie into the theme that I chose for the book, which is Courage. I chose courage for this book because you will find throughout the book that courage is showed in many different situations and different ways of dealing with a type of situation that involves courage. Courage is the willingness of doing a certain type of thing without any fear being involved in it. And yes, I do believe that shows up various amounts of times throughout the book among the Gladers, kids involved, and also the Maze itself.
Sincerely,
Costa Poulias
“Thomas watched as Minho tried desperately to get him back on his feet, then, finally giving up, started to drag the boy across the stone floor by the arms. But they were still a hundred feet away. The right wall was closing fast, seeming to quicken its pace the more Thomas willed it to slow down. There were only seconds left until it shut completely. They had no chance of making it in time. No chance at all. Thomas turned to look at Newt: limping along as well as he could, he’d only make it halfway to Thomas. He looked back into the Maze, at the closing wall. Only a few feet more and it’d be over. Minho stumbled up ahead, fell to the ground. They weren’t going to make it. Time was up. That was it. Thomas heard Newt scream something from behind him. The rods on the right wall seemed to reach like stretched-out arms for their home, grasping for those little holes that would serve as their resting place for the night. The crunching, grinding sound of the Doors filled the air, deafening. Five feet. Four feet. Three. Two. Thomas knew he had no choice. He moved. Forward. He squeezed past the connecting rods at the last second and stepped into the Maze. The walls slammed shut behind him, the echo of its boom bouncing off the ivy-covered stone like mad laughter.”
Repetend
“Courage is the discovery that may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.” –Tom Krause.
Dear Thomas,
I, Alby, wanted to thank you for rescuing my life. Your courage from jumping into the maze was incredible. And even when Minho left you that you guys should split up, the way you pulled me up using your back and the ivy on the walls was extraordinaire! I don’t know how much I weigh, but I seem heavy enough. The fact that surprises me is that you strapped my arms and legs about 30 feet high alongside of the wall attached to the ivy. I can’t even image the excruciating amount of pain that must have given you. And yet, not one Griever found me all night and I was able to receive the serum and go through the changing. I thank you with the courage you had for lifting me up the wall; therefore, I grant you the freedom to attempt to become a runner, the dream you always said you wanted to be. But also you broke the most important rule by entering the maze, so you shall be punished in some way. You’ve proved yourself, Thomas. I appreciate your efforts.
Sincerely,
Alby
Repetend
“Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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| This picture shows Gally, a protagonist in the story, throwing a knife which was intended for Thomas, but then Chuck diving in front of him to save his life. |
Repetend
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" -Vincent van Gogh
Chuck was a kind, young kid who was sent to the Glade before Thomas had arrived. When Thomas had arrived he became so scared because he didn’t know where he was at, or who he was surrounded by, or even his first name. But Chuck here was kind enough to show him the place and be his buddy. Chuck was short with long curly blond hair and a bit of a chubby stomach. He was the person who made Thomas feel good about himself when he entered the Glade, made him comfortable, brought him food, answered all of his questions. To Thomas, Chuck was a symbol towards himself and also towards the Glade. What he did was very brave, and he had the courage to do so. He will be in our memories forever.
Repetend
“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” –Robert Cody
Reflection
I chose each one of these genres for my theme, Courage, because they all fit in within each other, they were easy to use for my story, and the genres give people examples of different ways courage can be shown. The genre I chose in group one was a play-by-play account for when Thomas, the Newbie, stepped into the maze to save his friends, Minho and Alby. He knew they wouldn’t be able to make it to the Glade in time till the doors shut entirely close. So his braveness and courage made him step into the maze, even though he didn’t know what to do, and help out Alby who was passed out by being stung by a Griever. The second genre I chose for group two was a thank you note from Alby to Thomas thanking him that if it wasn’t for his courage then he would probably be dead by now. This shows that when you make an action, you stand out because of it. The third genre I chose for group three was a drawing with a caption showing that Chuck is stepping in front of Thomas in which a knife is about to be stabbed into him. Chucks courage provided Thomas to live on with life and solve the last pieces of the puzzle. Chuck was a brave and courteous young kid. My other choice of a genre was an obituary for Chuck’s death. Some of the difficulties and experiences I had with this project were being able to find the correct quotes for a repetend after a specific genre is being described. Also I feel like inserting everything on the blog will be a pain, when you can be creative and create a scrapbook or whatever of your choice. All for all, I thought this project was really easy and fun.
Works Cited
Tom Krause. “Tom Krause Quotes.” 24 March 2011. <http://thinkexist.com/>.
Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Quotations about Courage.” 1998. 24 March 2011.
Vincent van Gogh. “Courage Quotes.” 25 March 2011.
Robert Cody. “Death and dying quotes.” 25 March 2011.
