Sophie Lau > Recent Status Updates

The bamboo describes that the Glassmakers "sp[oke[ with great agitation," and they seemed to argue nonstop at each other, with no cooperation in sight (Burke 248).

After arriving at the Glassmakers' camp, they held a funeral for Roland, who had died on the way to the camp. The Glassmakers had an absolutely insulting way of holding a funeral, they cooked Roland in preperation to eat him, and the humans had a painful reaction: "There was nothing in my stomach but bile, bitter yellow slime, spasm after spasm" (Burke 215).

As a new set of characters makes contact with a new intelligent species, they soon learn how cruel and different they act towards their companionship: "It was the Glassmakers'. They were making us march too fast" (Burke 210). After one of the people in the human party fell off a cliff from walking too fast, the others soon realized that the Glassmakers were not what they thought they were.

I think that the author of my book wanted me to feel that even though terrible things can happen to you or others, and things feel uncomfortable, life continues on and doesn't stop for anything.

Make up for week 2/20-2/26

A character named Jersey was found to be the murderer of Pax, and she describes the impulses she felt towards killing: "I grab a broom and beat Bram until he's bloody, his bones break, I knock out his teeth, smash his face..." (Burke 169) This description of an uncontrollable urge to kill reminds me of a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder although she doesn't want to hurt others.

Make up for Week 2/13-2/19
Tatiana, the main character in this chapter, thinks about the bamboo in the city supplying fruit that made them "smarter or more honest, but [he seemed] to be content to give [them] fruit that usually [made them] a bit more alert and sometimes [cured their] illnesses--that keeps [them] balanced." (Burke 160) She feels a sense of distrust towards the bamboo and its power over the city.

The point of view in my story has shifted from a comedic man with good genes, to a woman who is trying to understand why a citizen of Pax had died. Murder in this story was very uncommon, as they had only moved to their new planet recently, and ideas of survival overpowered thoughts of killing. I'm really interested to see where this story leads and discover the story behind this mystery.

My research taught me about how plants communicate and react to various situations. Plants are able to adapt to more or less resources, can change color based on the chemical balances within them, and other skills. The scientists in this book claim that "...the bamboo made vitamins and other chemicals to keep us healthy. If it could create those, she said, it could create whatever we could ask it to do." (Burke 129)

I want to research about how plants can communicate/react to different situations. In this story, a special bamboo species is described attempting to communicate with humans, and it seems to be highly intelligent and capable to communicate. By growing more of itself, changing colors, and possibly changing its' chemical structure, it can change to fit the situation.

The bamboo in the story becomes more sentient, and craved "...to know what plant on which sphere trained [the humans]." (Burke 114) The bamboo's point of view in the story is shared, giving me more insight on how the two species interact and attempt to communicate.

I’ve begun to really get into this story, and every chapter, (each is about ~40 pages long) there is a different narrator following the story. I am on the third chapter, and the character right now is very sarcastic, but has very interesting experiences. I think his viewpoint brings out a completely different angle to this story, and I would definitely recommend this book to fans of sarcastic humor.

An example of compare and contrast in my book was a character's comparison of two foreign plants on their new planet, and he claims that "snow vines... ...are less intelligent" and "Bamboo... is very intelligent" (Burke 76). The character, Octavo, uses the plants' intellect to contrast them.

Sylvia becomes more confused about the hierarchy of parents: "Bryan made a show of standing to speak in spite of his stiff joints, as it we owed him something for chronic bursitis and his drooping skin with scars where skin cancer had been removed" (Burke 55). She believes that the children shouldn't have to stay silent and be forced to hide behind their parents' ideas, but be open to all ideas.

Despite leaving Earth to avoid conflict and war, the citizens of Pax, a new planet, found themselves with a familiar issue: ”Plants struggle against each other for survival. They fight… …This is a war, an organized fight” (Burke 38).

I wasn't entirely sure what to research for my book, but I ended up searching how other astronauts are beginning to colonize earth; "The only way for humans to survive is to colonize at least one other planet" (National Geographic).

Sarya finally realizes her title and why received it: "Sarya the Destroyer trembles, her eyes riveted to a sky on fire" (Jordan 389). Having the title of "Destroyer," Sarya is shocked to hear how many people she destroyed. Her presence in the mind of "Observer," a giant hive-mind, has led to questioning where she stands among her species, and I think Sarya's humanity has been questioned because of her growth.

I had a harder time switching to a book with more adventurous and descriptive world building: "In heavier gravity, things fell faster and animals moved faster. We humans were slow and ignorant, still aliens" (Burke 11).