#8 Readers Journal 10/17/11
This week I finished the book, Lady Gaga by Celebrity Books. I was amazed about how much new information I could learn about Lady Gaga.
A quote that really stood out to me was:
“The discography of Lady Gaga, an American pop singer, consists of one studio album, one compilation album, three extended plays (EPs), nine singles (including one as a featured artist), five promotional singles, one video album and eleven music videos. As of August 2010, she has sold more than 51 million singles and 15 million albums worldwide.”
I chose this quote because I found it very interesting. Its significant to the book because it basically gives a summary of what Lady Gaga has achieved.
I used many before, during, and after reading strategies while reading this book. Before reading, I reread some parts to refresh my memory of what I read before. I also reviewed all the literary elements. While reading, I used context clues to identify new words. I also wrote down if any nonfiction elements are changing, but soon realized that they didn’t. After reading, I compared what I knew and what I learn. After that I made a chart (in my ISN).
None of the nonfiction elements changed. The genre of this book is nonfiction and the subgenre is biography because it is a book about someone’s life written by another person. The main idea is Lady Gaga. This main idea is stated because it is the title of the book and its clearly mentioned. Some supporting details I found to support this main idea were “Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28th, 1986), better known as her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American pop singer-songwriter.” This detail is factual because it can be proven. Another factual detail that supports the main idea is “[Gaga] began performing in the rock music scene of New York City’s Lower East Side in 2003…” The last factual detail I identified was “[Gaga’s] album reached number one on the record charts of six countries…” The topic is Lady Gaga’s life.
The essential message of the text is that Lady Gaga is a pop singer-songwriter. One cause and effect I identified was because she released her two songs “Bad Romance” and “Telephone”, she was able to go on her second global headlining concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour. In this book, I compared and contrasted her early childhood to her life now. Some comparisons are that she was always interested in music. She learned to play piano at the age of four and began performing at open mike stands at the age of fourteen. Now, she’s a worldwide pop sensation! I contrasted her money situation from her early childhood and her life now. When she was younger, she didn’t grow up in a wealthy family; however, now she makes millions of dollars.
While reading I identified the same five text features from before, plus one more. I identified a photograph, a title, headings, subheadings, bullets, and a chart. The photograph helps readers get a clear image of who or what they are reading about. The title usually tells the reader the main idea of the book. The headings and subheadings help the reader understand what each section and chapter will be about. Charts usually give the readers information they need throughout the book. The bullets organized information and help me understand it. The pattern of organization is chronological order because it explains the life of Lady Gaga in order fro when she was born. The author’s purpose is to inform readers of Lady Gaga’s life. The author’s perspective is unbiased. The author’s point of view is third person. It was hard to identify figurative/descriptive language because the author was being very exact and clearly stated the facts about Lady Gaga.
I used the same text feature, the chart, to help me identify the validity and accuracy. It stated that Lady Gaga’s website was www.ladygaga.com. This was very accurate information. I also used prior knowledge about Lady Gaga to help me check the validity and accuracy.
The new vocabulary words I encountered while reading this book were, aggregation, garnered, blasphemy, medley, and androgyny. I used context clue number five, inference, to help me understand the meanings of these words. Aggregation means to unite or add up. Garnered is to win something. For the word blasphemy, I had to use a dictionary to find the meaning. It is a noun that means disrespect for religion. The definition of medley is a musical sequence of different songs. Androgyny is another word I had to look up. It is a blending of masculine and feminine.
I made many connections to the book. Text-to-self connections I made were from me to Lady Gaga. At an early age, we both had a love for music. Of course, I’m not going to be a pop star like she is; however, I love to listen and play music. I related this book to other biographies I read, like Helen Keller and Anne Frank. They are similar because they both explain someone’s life. This book relates to the world because Lady Gaga is a world sensation and almost everyone across the globe has heard of her.
I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to any one who is interested in new information about Lady Gaga. I rate it a 10 out of 10 stars.
Sincerely,
Bailey Levy
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