LEVEL 1 ENGLISH WIDE READING LOG #2

Paragraph 1 

Brief plot overview 

The Novel City of Ashes follows a 15-year old girl, named Clarissa Adele Fray. In the series first novel, City of bones, Clary appears to be a normal human or a “mundane” as they call it in the book. Throughout she learnt that everything she was taught to be imaginary; vampires, werewolves, fairies were actually real and everything she knew was a lie. And the only thing protecting the mundans from the demons were Shadowhunters, humanlike creatures with the blood of angels. With this, Clary learns that she is a shadowhunter. The focus of text in the first book which carries on throughout the second book, is that Clarys biological father, Valentine, who is a disgraced shadowhunter who seeks revenge on the world by eliminating the world of all domonic presents. Which includes vampires, werewolves, fairies and more; he seeks to do this by collecting a series of ‘mortal instruments’ which the heroes, the shadow hunters, fight to prevent him from acquiring. 

Paragraph 2 

Characters you found interesting and why

A character I found interesting in the text ‘City of Ashes’ was Jace. This is because I found myself hooked with how the author expressed him as a conserved character but with loads of depth and meaning to him.  I noticed he experienced the most drama, the most action as he is recognized as one of the best shadowhunter out of the main characters, and the most change out of anyone in the book. From the beginning, Jace is put in an uncomfortable position when he is basically banished from the Institute, forcing him to figure out who he wants to become and who he really is. From this he is presented in a way that he was still a developing character that is a bit broken, which made me more interested and got me hooked to find out how he would become further into the series. I think the author presented Jace in this mysterious way because as it did to me, it makes the readers question how he is and what he will do next. As Jace stands up for what he thinks is right, even though it is against the rules. “I don’t do what I’m told, but I might do what you want if you ask me nicely.”  So this makes the story more thrilling but also reflects on what kind of person Jace is. In society, people tend to act on what they believe is right, even if they are standing alone. For example some politicians. ‘Initiative is doing the right thing without being told.’’ This is a well known quote that I believe connects with the text and Jace personally because all throughout the story he takes action and drives to achieve something he trusts is the right thing to do. For example when he leaves the place that the inquisitor was imprisoned him in, to visit the seelie court to find help to take down the villain of the story; who is conveniently his father, which he just found out. Jace was a character that I really found interesting because of how the author expressed him, which was mysterious and with a charismatic aspect to him.  

Paragraph 3 

Messages you took from the text(s) and why 

The message that I took from the text was how family doesn’t always have to be the ones who you are related to. From the start of the text, it is obvious that family is a big concept that has a huge meaning and importance for most of the characters. This is shown with the Lightwoods and Jace, Clary and Luke. All these characters, who are not related, express strong family bonds with each other throughout the whole novel, even when everything is going wrong for them. This message could reflect that the author may be adding a concept of her own life and incorporated what she has experienced into her story which could be why the families in the story aren’t connected by blood but by unconditional love and that “they are the ones who stand by each other and would do anything for another.”  Throughout the novel Clary struggles with the knowledge that Valentine is her biological father, as he commits unspeakable atrocities and seeks to use his own children for his own gain. But because she grew up with Luke not Valentine, she sees Luke as her father. This is shown in this line  “Family is more than blood. Valentine isn’t my father. Luke is.” I think this message gives an awareness into society because it shows that the people who stand beside you are family and it doesn’t alway have to be with relatives.  I felt as if this message would connect really well with people who have struggles with their own relatives but have strong connections with friends and their families. 

Paragraph 4 

Challenges that characters had to deal with and your response to these 

During the text, all the characters had to face an accumulation of challenges and had to find ways to get through these challenges. Throughout the text Clary had to deal with the new knowledge of being a Shadowhunter, she struggles with this especially as the one person who would help her through it was trapped in a coma for the duration of the book, her mother. This struggle is understandable because if my mother was stuck somewhere and is the one person who would help and explain everything that is going on, it would be very hard on myself. Clary also has to deal with the fact that the portrayed villain in the text is her father. And that he is determined to raise a congregation of demons and start a full-scale war.  Which it is all up to Jace and Clary, his own children, to stop him. On top of all this Clary and Jace are dealing with romantic feelings for each other. But it makes it very complicated as they have just found out that they are siblings. “Something inside Clary cracked and broke, and words came pouring out. ‘What do you want me to tell you? The truth? The truth is that I love Simon like I should love you, and I wish he was my brother and you weren’t, but I can’t do anything about that and neither can you!” The reason that Jace and Clary can’t get together is because of society and the pressure that it is known that siblings do not have romantic relationships. But it is hard for them as they didn’t grow up together so they don’t see each other as siblings, and according to some research siblings that are raised in close contact for the critical first few years will not be attracted to one another. So in Jace and Clarys’ case they weren’t raised together and only met in their late teenage years. I felt every captivated with this concept of the book and am excited to find how their relationship evolves. And also how the author resolves the challenges that Clary and others face throughout the series. 

Paragraph 5 

Discussion about the title of the text(s) and why it was appropriate 

My response to the title of the text “City of Ashes” is that it refers to a chapter of the book when the Silent City and the silent brothers are destroyed. Although the term ‘City of Ashes’ was never used in the book, I can only assume that it is what the Bone City will become without its gardiens. In ‘City of Ashes’ I also found that the Silent City there was a new purpose for the city and that was to be a prison. Jace was keeped there for the main reason of being Valentines son, but I personally thought that was unfair because Jace isn’t his father and has the right not to be punished for his father’s crimes. The title of this text is definitely appropriate and if I were to change it I wouldn’t, it fits with the text and the series as it shows that the author is creating a pattern with the books and their titles. For example, ‘City of Bones’ ‘City of Glass’ ‘City of Lost Souls’. So a pattern is shown with the repetition of ‘City of…’ I think the repetition creates an effective pull on the readers and entices them to read on. 

Paragraph 6 

Who would you recommend this/these stories to and why

I would recommend this story to teenagers. I believe that this style of writing and story line would hook in teens. From the mythical characters to the demon fighting warriors to normal struggles of being a teenager is perfect action, romance, mystery novel for teens to get captivated in. Usually in society teenagers are classified under young adult fiction when looking for books to read, the mortal instrument series including “City of Ashes” would fit under this category perfectly. So for teenagers, I reckon that this book would be perfect for teens who love a action pack book with lots of different genres expressed throughout the whole novel.