Fighting Words :)

Well.. i know its kinda late but better late than never right?
Anyways a couple of weeks ago my class went to Fighting Words in Dublin ( which was set up by Roddy Doyle ). It was a creative writing workshop, our whole class worked together to write a short story. I really enjoyed it and everyone worked well as a team! :)
Day well spent!! We didn't get to finish the story, so now everyone does their own interpretation on an ending!
I think everyone had a good day :)
Bye x

Drama Competition :D

Well this week we went to the Drama Competition in Mullingar :)
Its was great fun... my group were doing an interpretation of Seamus Heaneys Mid Term Break!
I was in charge of lighting and sound this meant that i got to go up to the light and sound room at the back of the theatre! It  was so much fun, i got to control the light and sounds for my play and i also had to help out with the light and sounds of another groups play :D i would love to do it again lets hope we get through to the final!! or another group from our school!!
bye for now :)
Niamh x

We are now coming to end of our first week in school. To be honest it seems like we never left for the holidays.... although i do greatly miss the holidays A LOT!!  i had a great holiday with the family :)
Even though we have only been back a week a lot of things have happened or are going to happen. For example we got our pictures taken today :/ i hate pictures!! i always laugh or else my eyes are closed :L:L
Tomorrow we are going to the Young Scientist Exhibition!! i am really looking forward to this mainly because some of my friends are in it!! Best of luck to them and i hope they WIN !! :D Also next Monday my class and I will be going to a creative writing workshop not really sure what to expect but I'm sure it will be great! :)
Bye for now,
Niamh x

And the nominees are......

I recently found out about The Edublog Blog Awards :) .
And i wish to nominate Catriona Eves blog for Student award :). Her blog is very creative, interesting and it is clear that a lot of effort is put into her blog!! :)
I also wish to nominate Sarah Kellys blog for best new blog :)
And finniallly i wish to nominate #edchatie for best twitter hashtag

Niamh x

Book Review for English :)

Hellooo :) Well for English this week we have to write a book review on a book from a list or as we call it  'The List' ( i think when you say it like that it makes it seem really cool or something but that could just be me .... )


The book I am reviewing is drum roll please ........ 
                                            The Book Thief By Markus Zusak :)


Firstly, I would like to start off by saying that I LOVED this novel. In my opinion a great book is a book that make you feel, that makes you feel like your part of the story, a part of the characters. The Book Thief is one of those books. I loved it the minute i started reading it. I could not put it down! . I felt different emotions from each character, i felt their sadness, happiness, joy, and anger. The story made me smile, laugh and even cry.


Now i should really tell you what this book is about, but don't worry i wont say too much.:)
This is the story of The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger. However it is narrated by Death, who visits the Book Thief three time throughout the novel. Liesel is a nine year old girl who is living with her foster family on Himmel Street. It is based around 1939, Nazi Germany. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street and what  happens when the bombs begin to fall. 


Characters: Throughout this novel you meet the most beautiful characters. You meet the most charming, innocent children and  the most heart warming fathers and friends. And you meet people who have a tough outer shell but who are just as beautiful in the inside. It is extremely difficult to pick a favourite character, but I will go with one of my top  :).I've decided to go for the main heroin of the story, Liesel. From the beginning of the novel till the very end we see her struggles, her restrictions, and her changes form girl to women. We see how she copes, how she always has hope and most of all we see her heart. The beautiful relationships that she forms between Rudy, Papa and Max . She is a truly remember-able, strong and loving character.


Style of writing: Markus Zusak in my opinion has created a master-piece. Not only is there a great story line and fabulous characters but his style of writing is really superb!  The first thing you notice when you begin to read this novel is that it is narrated by 'Death' and it works brilliantly! This original input makes the novel very different, a character such as 'Death' adds a unique view to the story.  Zusak takes a different approach than most authors when he tells this story through the eyes of a child, Liesel. This gives a new perspective to the story. The book has the innocence, humour and love that a child has and that sense of unawareness of the great troubles of the world especially during this time ( 1940s) . This innocence and childlike story-line is what makes this novel beautiful and masterfully told. I also like way that it show the hardship of Germans living in Germany, and how it is highlighted that not everyone in Germany agreed with what was going on during this time.


Relationships: At least once in this review I  HAVE to talk about Rudy and this is my perfect opportunity. The relationship that i loved most has to be the relationship between Rudy and Liesel!!
It starts a friendship. A friendship that gets stronger and stronger throughout the novel.  A friendship built on trust and loyalty. In the novel we see many adventures that these two embark on. When things get hard they work together to keep each other going... even if it means stealing from the rich to feed the poor or even sometimes a book or two. 
The other main relationships in my opinion is the one between Liesel and Max ( a Jewish fist fighter) and Liesel and her foster father. Both relationships develop in their own ways by music, love, understanding, trust but most importantly books.


Cultural Context: This story is based during World War 2. A tough time to live in for people in and out of Germany. For the poor people of Himmel Street it was a struggle every day to feed your family. Jobs were scarce and businesses were loosing customers every day. Towards the end of the novel we also see the seriousness of the bomb raids and how it affected many peoples lifestyle and lives. This is a time that many people wish not to talk about and hopefully never happens again. 


I hope that you enjoyed my review and if you haven't read this book yet than you better get cracking!!! It is truely a read you must not miss out on !! :D


Bye for now :)
Niamh 
xx  

Shakespere who?

Yesterday well it was a great day :)
We went to Dublin for and English Trip with a splat of History in their too :D
First of all we went to the W.B Yeats exhibition, to be honest i wasnt to bothered about it at first but i have to say it was very interesting and quite cool. Aswell as all the facts about his life there were pieces of his work ( poems etc...)  and ther was even a lock of his hair, his glasses and his noble prize!
Afterwards we went to the National Museum and it was soo cool! We first saw the Bog Bodies which were found in parts of Ireland. There bodies had been preerved because no air could reach them in the bog so they are in could condition even though there like a thousand years old!!
We walked around the Museum for a while, I loved it because im really interested in really old history!
Finally at 2 we went to the Abbey Theater to see Sean O'Caseys " Juno and the Paycock" We had read the play in class beforehand but i was SOO much better watching it in the Theatre....... i admit i was close to tears at the end :'(  "Th' whole worl's in a terrible state o' chassis! "
Everything about it was brilliant the set, the actors, the music everything!
It was a great day overall :)!
 Slán go foill :D
Niamh xx

I Love You Food :)

Okay first of all i have to put this out there : FOOD IS MY LIFE!
I can eat anytime, with anyone, anyplace as long as it good :)

I always talk about food and i have to say its my awkward conversation topic...... yes when i am stuck in a very awkward place with awkward people the only topic I can ever think about is yes food!

the funny thing is now that i have to talk about food i cant think of anything to write about ....(long pause while i brainstorm about food)
Hmm.... all this thinking of food is making me hungry :P :L

People often say that i have very weird eating habits ... but i don't think their weird at all for example i like to have banana with my mams curry but ONLY my mams curry and mashed banana sandwiches and ham and cheese in croissants... now really how is that weird ?? i probably have allot weirder ones but my brain at the moment is like a mashed potato i cant think.... :L

Now i am just cant stop thinking about how much i want toast right now
So im gonna go now and eat :)
Hope you kinda enjoyed my blog for Blog Action Day

Thank you and goodnight :)

Niamh xx