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A big idea or motif in the book is about fate. Fate is a recurring word in the book. Different meanings and beliefs come up about the word. Fate seems to be a very important idea in Natasha life. The authors describes fate by saying " Fate has always been the realm of the gods, though even the gods are subject to it. In ancient greek mythology, The Three Sisters of fate spin out a person's destiny within three nights of their birth" (200). This is saying that fate is almost like how your life is planned out. Natasha seems to believe in that idea that everyone's life is a plan which is the fate and that maybe Daniel and Natasha meeting each other and falling in love can be considered fate. Another part of Natashas thoughts about fate is because of her mother. Her mother tells her things like things happen for a reason and everything has fate.

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In Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is Also a Star the minor characters, Daniel and Natashas family members play a role of causing more conflict for the main characters.  One of the minor characters in the story is Charlie. Charlie is Daniel’s older brother who is a big problem and impact especially to Daniel because they do not get along at all. After Daniel and Charlie recently got in a fight you would think that they would not want to help each other out. However this is not the case.  Although later in the story after Natasha and Daniel have a fight and split up, Charlie ends up coming around for Daniel.  When Natasha goes looking for Daniel and finds Charlie instead. Natasha says to Charlie “Do you have his cell phone number? Please help me.” (Yoon 256). After they have a conversation Charlie ends up giving Natasha Daniels number and Natasha and Daniel can now reunite.  This goes to show that even though Charlie may not have a good relationship with his brother his good side comes out and he still cares about him.  This creates a huge impact for Natasha and Daniel because without him they may have been split apart forever.

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Nicola Yoon, author of The sun is Also a Star uses the craft technique tension to develop the theme that in life, love can be so powerful but it also may bring the greatest heartbreaks and conflicts to people's relationships.The main characters Daniel and Natasha have become deeply in love but Natasha is being deported from America and all Daniel cares about is her and being with her. As Natasha is about to leave him to get ready to get on the plane he demands to Natasha and says “I’m going with you to your house, and then we are going to take a cab to the airport, just the two of us. Then I'm going to watch you get on the plane and feel my heart get ripped out of my chest…” (Yoon 305-306). This is providing the tension of their relationship and showing how powerful their love is for each other.  They may be ripped apart from each other and because they love and care about each other so much it gets in the way.

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In Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is Also a Star  symbols like the word fate and Natashas headphones are used to create a greater meaning to the character and to sort of tell about their background.  The author made it so the reader could tell that there was an importance to the headphones.  They were given to her from her father and she charishes them becuase she is sure that her father does not love her anymore. s she was crossing the street and not paying attention her life was saved by a boy (Daniel) she just met.  She fell to the ground and broke her headphones.  After Daniel trying to apologize for breaking them and saying he will replace them. Natasha explains that “ Even if I let him, new ones couldn't replace these”(Yoon 64). It was almost as if she really did not care about having headphones she more cared about those specific ones because it is one of the few things shad had that was a positive thing about her father from the past.  It probably had some special symbolism to her about her dad when he still loved and cared for his family.

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In the book The Sun is Also A Star the author, Nicola Yoon shows multiple sides of the character to better create them as a person and to really get the reader to notice both their flaws and the things admired about them. The character Natasha is very determined but also does not think very highly about herself. A time where Natasha shows that she is determined is when she decides to go try to convince someone to stay in America. Natasha explains “I'm going to the United States Citizenship and Immigration services building downtown manhattan to see if someone there can help me . We are undocumented immigrants, and we’re being deported tonight” (Yoon 5). Natasha is doing this on her own without her family because she cares about this so strongly and is just that determined to stay in America.  Her brother on the other hand wants to leave America but right now Natasha cares about what is best for her and what she will be happy with.  She talks about how she doesn't believe in things like love and doesn't think highly of herself. She says to herself “I'm not a satellite. Im space junk, hurling as far as I can from him” (Yoon 65).  This shows Natasha putting almost as if she is putting herself down. She really should be more positive about herself, especially in this hard time in life that she is going through.  This goes to show that Natasha has two sides and she has strengths and flaws just like anyone else would.

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In the book The Sun is Also a Star the author Nicola Yoon intentionally uses stereotypes to help develop who the characters are and their personalities.  Although Natasha breaks the stereotype because she is actually a good kid and very smart. People would think that because Natasha is from a more poor country, in US illegally and she is colored that she would not be the way she is.  In the text Natasha says to Daniel “Please. Words on paper.Can you use the scientific method on it? Can you observe it, measure it, experiment with it, and repeat your experiments? You cannot...Study it under a microscope? You cannot”(Yoon 76). This shows her going against the stereotype because she is actually very smart and full of knowledge. She is all about science and proving things to be true with evidence. Also she is not as tough as you would expect her to be.

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An example of narrative technique in the Sun is Also a Star is simile. On page 138 it says "He's laughing loudly now and rubbing his palms together, like a villain detailing his plans for world domination" (138). The author uses this technique to help the reader paint a picture in their minds of what is happening or how the characters are seeing things. In this case it is almost describing how Natasha is picturing Daniels laugh or how she would describe it.

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GolfDashBlog | Accelerate Your Golf Performance

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Visualization can be one of your secret weapons in your golf game. But are you even using it? or even know how to use it effectively. Here's a few ideas to get you thinking (I mean visualizing!)

Most of us have heard the well-known Jack Nicklaus statement that,

"I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality."

So what's he getting at? Why would he say that? Simple really. Because he practiced visualization. The key word here - practiced. That is, he did it over and over again.

Funny, I have become re-interested in visualizing in my golf game as I practiced it in the last round I played. After not picking up a club for 4 weeks (was on vacation) I decided to just relax and start "seeing" the shot I wanted to hit.

That day I shot a pretty easy 81 on a fairly difficult golf course and missed a number of really makeable putts. Did it have anything to do with visualizing shots? I truly believe it did as most of the shots I hit were the shape I was seeing in my mind.

Here's a couple ways to increase your visualization and mental golf training skills:

Make it part of your pre-shot routine - I started kinda doing this on a whim - just for the fun of it. I would stand behind the ball pick out my (very specific) target and visualize the ball landing there. I would also see the general shape of the shot. A slight fade, more of a draw, whatever shape you feel would work best for the shot.

See the end result - this is pretty important. I was becoming so "ball-bound" and focused on mechanics that I forgot about where I wanted the ball to go! By focusing on the end result you kinda turn over the mechanics to your brain which really knows how to produce that shot. Try moving your focus "out-there" and not on yourself. It will surprisingly free up your golf swing.

See positive golf shots - this goes along with the previous point. You don't want to visualize hooking the ball into the lake or topping it or whatever. See the shot you want to hit. See the best shot you ever hit on that hole. That's what you want in your mind before you swing. If you have hit great shots on the hole before in previous times you've played - see those, but keep that as your final "picture" before moving the club physically.

Practice visualizing off the course - when you are in a very relaxed mood try to practice your visualization skills. There's also the famous story of Major Nesmith who was a POW in Vietnam and to pass the time he visualized playing 18 holes in his mind every day. It took him over 5 hours every day to play this round. He imagined every detail from tying his shoes, to picking up his bag to feeling the direction of the wind. When he was released 7 years later and finally found himself on a "real" golf course he shot 5 strokes better than his previous best score!

Get creative - the wonderful thing about visualization for golf is that you can even be creative about your visualizations. For example, when I was visualizing my golf swing last round I even visualized the club at impact - how I wanted my shaft leaning forward and really compressing the ball, then finishing into a wonderfully smooth follow through. It really gave me a funny kind of confidence knowing I'm seeing/feeling the "perfect" contact for that particular golf shot. Have fun imagining different, unique views, images, etc.

There's no one right way - there's no right (or wrong) way to visualize. Some people see pictures in uber detail other visualize more overall general pictures, some have a more kinesthetic "feeling" rather than a super detail-rich image. It varies. Just use a little healthy experimentation to feel what's right for you.

The mind is pretty powerful at visualization. Are you using it to your best advantage in your golf game? Let me know if you already practice golf visualization tips (or techniques) and if any of these ideas were helpful.

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Visualization in Golf - GolfDashBlog | Accelerate Your Golf Performance

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Visualization can be one of your secret weapons in your golf game. But are you even using it? or even know how to use it effectively. Here's a few ideas to get you thinking (I mean visualizing!) Most of us have heard the well-known Jack Nicklaus statement that, "I never hit a shot, not even ...