- A one-paragraph STAARS analysis of some portion of the text (15 points)
- A one-paragraph personal response through which you defend an original controlling idea or thesis using specific details cited from the text (10 points)
- A rating out of 5 stars for your novel (5 points)*
As always, please review the instructions on the STAARS process that you have been given multiple times already this year. Especially review "Attitude" and the proper format for the commentary paragraph (TEAR). Please cite your evidence from the text properly with a page number in parentheses followed by a period, ex: "This is an in-text citation" (1).
Also, please be sure to comment on THIS POST rather than creating your own or commenting on one created by another student. That way, you can benefit from reading everyone's responses and it's all in one place when it comes time for me to harvest the comments for grading. As always, please see me with your questions or concerns.
Thank You,
Mrs. Siragusa
*New!
Julie Ryan
ReplyDeleteSiragusa
English H 4AC
2 May 2010
S-subject: Sexist traditions
T-theme: Even though men have treated women like objects and put them down, women joined together to stand up to the sexist traditions and gain equality.
A-audience: women
A-attitude: revolutionary, objecting, radical
R-rhetorical strategy: symbolism
S-evidence: “Why not? Say Shug. You do all the work around here. It’s a scandless, the way you look out there plowing in a dress”(p146).
“Well, say Grady, trying to bring light. A women can’t git a man if peoples talk. Shug look at me and us giggle. Then us laugh sure nuff. Then Squeak start to laugh. Then Sofia. All us laugh and laugh”(200-201).
The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a epistolary novel that focuses on the theme that even though men have treated women like objects and put them down, women have joined together to stand up to the sexist traditions and gain equality. Walker uses symbolism, an action or object that has a significant or greater meaning, to emphasize this theme. In the novel, Shug tells Celie, the main character, that she should start wearing pants because she is the one doing all the work, not her husband. “Why not? Say Shug. You do all the work around here. It’s a scandless, the way you look out there plowing in a dress”(p146). During the early 1900’s, the period that the novel takes place, it was uncommon for women to wear jeans. This shows that even though women were expected to dress a certain way, Shug and Celie broke the sexist traditions by wearing jeans. Celie wearing jeans symbolized equality to men because she also did the same work in the fields that men did. In The Color Purple the women joined together to stand up to men to gain respect and equality. “Well, say Grady, trying to bring light. A women can’t git a man if peoples talk. Shug look at me and us giggle. Then us laugh sure nuff. Then Squeak start to laugh. Then Sofia. All us laugh and laugh”(200-201). In the conversation Grady is trying to use that fact that if women try to gain equality and stand out they wont be able to get a man. All the women laugh in their faces, because men treat women horribly so not getting a man isn’t a priority. The women joining together to express their feelings for how men treat them symbolize women trying to gain equality. It symbolizes how women could also speak out, not just men.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker shows how women fought for equality by joining together. The novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver also shows similar goals by women joining together to give each other strength to go against men. In the novel men are described as people who look at women as objects. The main character Taylor helps Lou Ann speak out for her feelings against the bar with obscene pictures of women displayed in it. This relates to The Color Purple because in the novel men raped women and saw them just for making children and doing housework. The Color Purple and The Bean Trees both represent equality for women.
ReplyDeleteI rate The Color Purple by Alice Walker a 5/5 stars because it is a great novel that emphasizes sexism against women, and how women went against it to gain equality.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCarson Reber
ReplyDeleteEnglish H 4AC
Siragusa
5/14/2011
S - Sacrifice
T - What happens in real life doesn't always live up to your expectations and can crush your dreams and plans.
A - Anyone
A - misery, frustration, hopelessness, love
R - symbolism
S - "Mattie came forward, the colour of the cherry scarf in her fresh lips and cheeks." (53)
“They drew their seats up to the table, and the cat, unbidden, jumped between them into Zeena’s empty chair.” (83)
“If I’d ‘a’ listened to folks, you’d ‘a’ gone before now and this wouldn’t ‘a’ happened,” she said; and gathering up the bits of broken glass she went out of the room as if she carried a dead body… (128)
The novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is a tragic romance where Ethan’s hopes and dreams are crushed by reality. Symbolism throughout the novel shows Ethan’s hopes and dreams crushed by reality. All his life, he has put his dreams aside to take care of others. His life has become colorless. He gave up his dreams of college and getting out of Starkfield to take care of his father, his mother, Zeena, the barren Frome farm, and finally a twisted Mattie. When his mother died, Ethan married Zeena because hers was the first voice he had heard and he couldn’t stand the thought of being alone through another winter. He figured they would sell the farm and leave Starkfield, but he quickly realized that Zeena took such good care of his mother because she was a self-centered hypochondriac, who would never willingly leave Starkfield, and he was miserable. Then, Zeena’s cousin Mattie Silver came to take care of her and brought color back to Ethan’s world. Her red scarf and red ribbon both symbolized her health and love of life – the opposite of Zeena. “Mattie came forward, the colour of the cherry scarf in her fresh lips and cheeks.” (53) Red is a color that represents color, health, and life. Mattie was alive and Ethan was drawn to her joy of life. Red also is symbolic of death and Ethan sees the red sun rise over the fields on the day that Zeena is sending Mattie away. During Ethan and Mattie’s dinner together, the cat symbolizes Zeena. “They drew their seats up to the table, and the cat, unbidden, jumped between them into Zeena’s empty chair.” (83) The cat, watching over Ethan and Mattie when Zeena is not there, manages to shatter Ethan’s dream of a night with Mattie by breaking Zeena’s prize pickle dish. The shattered red pickle dish is symbolic of Ethan and Mattie’s shattered dreams and Ethan and Zeena’s shattered marriage. “If I’d ‘a’ listened to folks, you’d ‘a’ gone before now and this wouldn’t ‘a’ happened,” she said; and gathering up the bits of broken glass she went out of the room as if she carried a dead body… “ (128) Once the pickle dish breaks, nothing is ever the same for any of them.
The imagery in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton contributes to the feeling of isolation and hopelessness in the novel. Ethan is isolated from the other people in the town by his nature – he is a private person who is uncomfortable with other people. The name of the town – Starkfield, implies a place that is harsh. The stormy winter weather also adds to the harshness and isolation. Ethan is described as bleak and unapproachable and his farm is barren. Ethan has to work hard to make a living from the farm.
I give Ethan Frome 2 stars because it is depressing. Nothing works out for Ethan.
TEAR Paragraph
ReplyDeleteSubject: Neglection
Theme: Adolescent teenagers have a hard time growing up and it is best if they have support through this difficult and emotional time where they can talk to their parents and have support. When teenagers’ parents are not around it can cause them to feel alone and confused because no one is teaching them about the adult world. Since they have to grow up on their own they continue the trend of neglectful parents because they were not able to learn any better which causes them to be lost adults in our society.
Attitude: Loneliness, Confusion, Psychotic, Anger
Audience: Young Adults
RS: Characterization
Textual Evidence: “Two days after my twelfth birthday, I was wandering lonely as a cloud like in a poem we read in English, out at the railroad tracks, thinking about my birthday and how my mother arrived home late because she got involved with some guy at a bar and drank too much and forgot to buy the birthday cake.”(88)
“He remembered dark nights, her long black hair enveloping him, her lips trailing across his flesh … my darling, Eric… my darling…”(196)
Adolescent teenagers have a hard time growing up and it is best if they have support through this difficult and emotional time where they can talk to their parents and have support. When teenagers’ parents are not around it can cause them to feel alone and confused because no one is teaching them about the adult world. Since they have to grow up on their own they continue the trend of neglectful parents because they were not able to learn any better which causes them to be lost adults in our society. Tenderness by Robert Cormier explores how two different teenagers deal with their parents’ neglect and how they try to comfort one another because all they really want is for their parents to love them. Neglection can cause teenagers to feel lonely, confused, anger, and psychotic at times. They don’t know how to love or to hold healthy relationships because they were never taught how to do this. Through characterization young adults and adults are able to learn and see how Lori and Eric deal with the extreme loneliness and the feelings of not being wanted by anyone. Lori has learned from her neglectful mother that she should use her body to get people to love her. While her mother is off drinking at bars and meeting new men, Lori has to deal with her “fixations” where she becomes obsessed with different guys until she kisses them. Her mother’s neglection causes her to reach out toward crazy people to make herself feel better which is what her mother does too. Lori feels bad about her mother when she describes, “Two days after my twelfth birthday, I was wandering lonely as a cloud like in a poem we read in English, out at the railroad tracks, thinking about my birthday and how my mother arrived home late because she got involved with some guy at a bar and drank too much and forgot to buy the birthday cake.”(88). If her mother had paid a little more attention to Lori then maybe Lori would have never ran away from home, gotten involved with a serial killer, and accidently died in the lake. Eric also had a neglectful mother who stopped paying attention to him and went off with her boyfriend Harvey who did not like Eric very much. Eric became so upset that he eventually killed his mother and Harvey for not loving him properly. In fact he killed three other girls who looked like his mother because he missed his mother so much. He was a confused teenager who only thought that he could get the feelings of love if he treated his girls tenderly like what his mother used to do with him. Eric shows his pain when he remembers, “He remembered dark nights, her long black hair enveloping him, her lips trailing across his flesh … my darling, Eric… my darling…(196) If Eric’s mother had paid more attention to him his serial killer tendencies might have been saved if his mother showed Eric that she loved him once in a while in a healthy way. Cormier shows that neglectful parents can really mess up a child, which shows how humans need to be loved in order to live a healthy adulthood.
ReplyDeletePersonal Paragraph
ReplyDeleteLori and Eric are lost souls in the Robert Cormier’s thriller novel Tenderness. They both are forced to search for the meaning of tenderness and what love means to them. Throughout the course of the novel, Lori believes tenderness to be the gentleness of someone’s touch. When she makes out with the married guy that gives her a lift, she thinks that he loves her for a minute when he is touching her. When her mother’s boyfriend touches Lori she also thinks this to be love. She uses her body to get men to fall in love with her, but what she does not understand is that the men are in love with her body and not her personality. Love and tenderness are not the same thing, which is what she learns from Eric. Eric never touched her. He did not even touch her to kill her. Before she dies she learns that she truly did love Eric because he liked her for her mind and personality and not for her looks. If he did like her for her looks, he would have killed her “tenderly”. Eric’s definition of tenderness is the weakness of the body. So when he kills one of his girls he likes to feel their weak body in his hands which desperately turns him on. He thinks that killing someone and feeling the tenderness is love, but it is just his way of hiding his pain towards his mother’s neglect after she used to sexually abuse him. When he is with Lori, Eric is very confused because he does not want to kill Lori. He actually likes Lori and wants to make her happy by buying her clothes and taking her out to restaurants. He never truly admits this, but he really does care for Lori, so when she dies it actually makes him feel like a monster when he is in jail versus when he killed all of the other girls. Tenderness must mean the search for love because Lori and Eric always associated the word while they were trying to find a place where they belonged and were loved. The sad thing about this book is that the characters never found love which happens in life and they will always have to settle with just feeling tender toward people.
Rating Sentence
ReplyDeleteI think that the novel deserved to be a five because Cormier develops his characters very well and shows how troubled teens do not always have happy endings because life is not always such a happy place. By using this writing strategy, the reader learns more about human nature and life which will cause the reader to grow more as a person.
Chloe Bond
ReplyDeleteEnglish H 4A/C
Siragusa
5/15/2011
s-subject: rasism, sexism
t-theme: If you stick together you can get through the hardest of times.
a-audience: women
a-attitude: depressing, sympathetic, radical
r-rhetorical strategy: foreshadowing
s-textual evidence: "I won't leave, she say, until I know Albert won't even think about beating you." (p.74).
"And I read my fortune right away. It say, because you are who you are, the future look happy and bright." (p. 248).
The epistolary novel, The Color Purple, by Alice walker supports the theme that if you stick together you can get through the toughest of times. This is supported throughout the novel by the author's use of foreshadowing. For example, "I won't leave, she say, until I know Albert won't even think about beating you." (p.74). Shug sticks to her word and stays and in the end takes Celie with her to Memphis to live where Celie starts a business making pants.
Celie is finally happy for a while. Another example of foreshadowing is, "And I read my fortune right away. It say, because you are who you are, the future look happy and bright." (p. 248). In the end, Celie and Albert become friends and put the past behind them and come together because of their love for Shug. When Celie reads her fortune it foreshadows to the reader that the end will be happy for Celie and it is. Her sister comes home and the whole family is happy and appreciating everything. The Color Purple compares to the novel The Bean Trees because in The Color Purple there is struggle between man and women and black and white. In The Bean Trees there is struggle between immigrants and the immigration law. In both novels the characters fight the struggles of society by sticking together.
The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker shows that women who stick together will eventually achieve equality and that there are hard times in life but can be overcome by believing in God and believing in yourself and friendship. In The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, the people who stuck together achieved many things and they worked together to figure out a plan that would help them achieve their goals. In both of these novels the characters worked together to fight the evils of society.
ReplyDeleteI rate The Color Purple a 4 out of 5 stars because it was a very depressing book until the end.
ReplyDeleteAbigail baker
ReplyDeleteSiragusa
English H 4 A/C
15 May 2011
S-subject: Rebirth
T-theme: From the ashes of a fallen civilization can a new one arise. Audience: Late teens to adult
A-attitude: Disbelief, dark, denial
R-rhetorical strategy: Symbolism
S-evidence: “There was a sily damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. He must have been first cousin to Man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again.” (163)
“Only the man with the Captain’s hat and the sign of the phoenix on his hat, at last, curious, his playing cards in his thin hand, talked across the long room.”(26)
The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a Dystopia novel about how America’s people are controlled by ignorance and have been shut out to knowledge, and practically brainwashed to think nothing of society as it is today. Books are burned, and people who once were college professors are hunted down. The book is about how we as a people can be easily controlled and blinded by authority, believing everything we are told. It also is about rebirth, and how from the ashes, a clean slate can be created, and mistakes can be corrected. “There was a sily damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. He must have been first cousin to Man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again.” (163) The phoenix is a universal symbol of flame, life, death and rebirth. It is an immortal bird that is reborn from is ashes, so it never truly dies. When the war exploded into full blast, Guy’s home city, along with most likely many more, were razed to the ground. This is more of a good thing than bad, as it cleansed America and possibly the world of the twisted beliefs it clung to and paved the way for the healing process. For people to return and teach others about knowledge, about how foolish that society was to burn books and to even kill for fun. “Only the man with the Captain’s hat and the sign of the phoenix on his hat, at last, curious, his playing cards in his thin hand, talked across the long room.”(26)
The captain of the firemen, or book burners, had a helmet that had a phoenix on it. They probably used that symbol for the fire the bird was known for, along with calling their trucks Salamanders. The phoenix however, may have been hinting all along to the restoration that would soon come to the world, and of how in time society would rise again in its past glory.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury tells of a twisted society where anyone attempting to fight it is met with terrible backlash. It is like The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver in a way because both Guy Montag and Taylor Greer fought their respective authorities, which was a battle that was practically impossible to win. But with the aid of allies and friends, Guy’s being Faber who first started his transformation into a rebel, and Taylor’s friends Estevan and Esperanza, both were able to win their conflict. Guy was able to evade the law and not be put to death for his crimes, living to see his people restored to the way it was before the book burning began. Estevan and Esperanza posed as Turtle’s true parents to “legally” give guardianship of Turtle to Taylor, knowing she was better off with her than in an orphanage. They both overcome staggering odds and see their missions through to the end.
ReplyDeleteI would give Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 5/5 stars. It is an eye opening book that teaches us of what can happen if ignorance rules us, and how it is never impossible to achieve something, even against the odds.
Trevor Brudz
ReplyDelete4A/C
15 May 2011
STAARS Analysis
S – Determination
T – Many people throughout the world are faced with many challenges during their days. Some strive to be the best and complete their tasks with passion. Determination keeps hope alive, and allows us to become better than we already are.
A – Passionate, vital, and earnest
A – Anyone
R – Symbolism
S – “He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach” (pg. 25).
“Twice, though, he had felt faint and dizzy and that had worried him. ‘I could not fail myself and die on a fish like this,’ he said. ‘Now that I have him coming so beautifully, God help me endure. I’ll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys’” (pg. 87).
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a novella that utilizes the theme of determination. In this novella, determination is what gives Santiago hope and a brief period of luck. Hemingway also uses symbolism as a literary technique to further convey his message. While sleeping, Santiago dreams of lions on the beaches of Africa three times throughout the novella. “He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach” (pg. 25). This passage is symbolic of Santiago’s childhood and it appears to be one of his brief moments of solitude and happiness per say. Hemingway uses imagery to express the meaning of the beaches to Santiago. There is also another example of symbolism throughout Hemingway’s novella. On page 70, the author tells the reader of a great arm wrestling match that Santiago took part in that lasted about twenty-four hours. This match could be symbolic of the battle that Santiago had with the marlin which lasted five days and was extremely strenuous. “Twice, though, he had felt faint and dizzy and that had worried him. ‘I could not fail myself and die on a fish like this,’ he said. ‘Now that I have him coming so beautifully, God help me endure. I’ll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys’” (pg. 87). Santiago would also win this battle and kill the 18-foot marlin but his toils were futile since sharks ate the fish as Santiago desperately attempted to save his prize. This effort by Santiago was very strenuous and could not have been accomplished without the determination that he possessed. With this determination, Santiago was able to overcome enormous odds and kill the fish and Hemingway’s use of symbolism helped convey his message. This novella could also be compared to The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho not only by the protagonists sharing a common name, but that they both possessed determination in their efforts. Whether it be traveling thousands of miles through the Sahara to the great pyramids of Giza, or catching a glorious marlin, none of these attempts would have been possible without the determination they both possessed.
Personal Response:
ReplyDeleteIn The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago calls himself unlucky because he has not caught a fish in eighty four days. This luck ends though after he catches the marlin on the eighty seventh day. Even afterwards he still clings to this idea of unluckiness and would actually end up losing almost all of his prize. During his toils, he regrets not bringing Manolin and is very ill-prepared. He managed to get through the difficulties and capture the fish with determination. When he returns, Manolin awaits him and looks up to him just as he always had. The young boy says that he will be Santiago’s luck for the next time he goes fishing towards the end of the novella.
I would give this novella 3 out of 5 stars because I feel that it is a decent novella yet it has few literary techniques to further captivate the reader. The story behind Santiago itself is captivating and this novella would fit all ages and be interesting for anyone.
ReplyDeleteMolly Lomondo
ReplyDeleteEnglish H 2AC
Siragusa
5.16.11
Subject: War
Theme: During the gruesome, harsh and unforgiving times of war it is important to remember the significance of life. When looking in the face of death a person must realize their memories are the most important thing. As life continues and moments pass a person will always have their memories allowing these moments to never end.
Attitude(tone): Anti-war
Audience: Anybody
Rhetorical Strategy: Symbolism
Textual Evidence:
“She was back on Tralfamadore, taking care of the baby, but the magazine, which was called Midnight Pussycats, promised that she was wearing a cement overcoat under thirty fathoms of saltwater in San Pedro Bay” (204).
“Birds were talking. One bird said Billy Pilgrim, ‘Poo-tee-weet?’” (215)
In the science fictional novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnecut expresses that during the gruesome, harsh and unforgiving times of war it is important to remember the significance of life. When looking in the face of death a person must realize their memories are the most important thing. As life continues and moments pass a person will always have their memories allowing these moments to never end. He does this through the use of symbolism. By giving an object or idea that represents a deeper more meaningful concept. “She was back on Tralfamadore, taking care of the baby, but the magazine, which was called Midnight Pussycats, promised that she was wearing a cement overcoat under thirty fathoms of saltwater in San Pedro Bay” (204). Kurt Vonnecut often describes many instances of death in his novel. In this passage he pairs the idea of death with the Montana taking care of their baby. The baby represents the idea of rebirth, supporting the author’s idea that death is not the end. “Birds were talking. One bird said Billy Pilgrim, ‘Poo-tee-weet?’” (215) As Billy observes the ruins and destruction of Dresden he hears the voice of a bird. Although Billy looks around and believes life in Dresden is gone the bird signifies that it is not the end. It’s “Poo-tee-weet” represents that with death comes a new light and life is not over. While Kurt Vonnecut describes the effects of war he also gives the reader a sense that death does not mean life is over.
I would give Slaughterhouse-Five a 5 out of 5 because I feel Kurt Vonnecut has a unique and interesting writing style. The time travel and interaction with aliens Billy Pilgrim experiences demonstrates an unusual but fascinating point of view on the devastation of war.
ReplyDeleteIn the science fictional novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnecut expresses through the experiences of Billy Pilgrim how thin the line is between life and death. He does this through symbolism. Kurt Vonnecut using the symbol of Billy’s blue and ivory feet. While waiting for abduction and also while writing his letter about Tralfamadore Billy is described as having blue and ivory feet. The dead-like colors of his feet suggest the unstable line between life and death. Throughout the novel the narrator says “so it goes” after he describes the death of something or someone. This gives the idea of death such a casual sense and shows how unexpected death can be. Kurt Vonnecut also uses these symbols to represent not only the casualty but equality between a one person’s death and another.
ReplyDeleteSteven Lewis
ReplyDeleteSTAARS Blog
Date: 5/15/10
Class: 2AC
Subject: Curiosity
Theme: Curiosity fuels a teens life and teaches valuable lessons that would otherwise go unlearned.
Attitude: Wise yet humorous
Audience: Young teens
Rhetorical strategy: Symbolism
Textual Evidence:
“Tom, Tom, we’re lost! We’re lost! We never can get out of this awful place! Oh, why did we ever leave the others?” (Pg.247)
“And now a drenching rain poured down, and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground.” (Pg.140)
In the bildungsroman novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain writes through he book with a common occurrence of curiosity with the main character Tom Sawyer. Through this character Twain shows that valuable lessons are learned through the minds simple curiosity that often arises through young teens, and that without this sense of pondering these lessons would not be learned. Twain uses symbolism to accurately and sufficiently get this point to the reader. “Tom, Tom, we’re lost! We’re lost! We never can get out of this awful place! Oh, why did we ever leave the others?” (Pg.247)
Towards the end of the novel and as a final “adventure” Tom and his lady friend Becky get lost in a cave and are stuck there in the dark without any direction for three days. The cave symbolizes Tom going through maturity and facing the struggles life may have for him in the future. Tom goes into the cave still somewhat a little immature and childish, however in the cave when Becky had lost all hope Tom kept his composure and comforted her. Upon finally being discovered Tom comes out of the cave slightly changed in gaining a sense of maturity. The cave was a symbol of a boy becoming a man, and Tom learned how to be mature, how to treat a woman, and what to do when times get tough. Earlier in the book Tom and his two friends Joe and Huck decide to leave their homes and become pirates and live on their own island. This seems to be a good idea until about after a week the crew is experiencing feelings of being homesick. The crew is longing to go home, however Tom convinces them to stick around for a few more days. On their last day on the island a hurricane strikes and ruins their camp, this furthermore feeds their feelings of homesickness. “And now a drenching rain poured down, and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground.” (Pg.140) The storm symbolizes the dangers of being 100% dependent, especially as a young teenager. The storm is the final straw that sends the boys home and shows Tom that you cant leave a happy life without being surrounded by your family. This is not to say that a vacation away or some times of peace ad tranquility wont hurt but in life in general you need your family to lead a happy life. Without these experiences Tom may have been immature for a much longer time and learned how to be mature in a much harder way, and may have resented his family for a much longer time rather than appreciated and valued their company. Twain shows through these two symbols and many others that curiosity often teaches lessons that we otherwise could not experience and learn.
I would rate The Adventures of Tom Sawyer a 6/10
ReplyDeleteThe por's were that it is a fun read and pretty adventurous
However the book is a long read that goes through at a slow pace and the authors word choice is very redundent and does not show variety in his arsenal of words. Other than that it is a great boook and i reccomend it to any teen from 12 and up.
The Pro's ** NOT por's
ReplyDeleteDavid Steves
ReplyDeleteSiragusa
English Honors 2AC
STAARS for A Man Without A Country
by Kurt Vonnegut
Subject: World issues
Theme: If you are not free thinking, honorable, and compassionate then you are no better than a machine that does whatever it is told.
Audience: Adolescent and older
Attitude: humorous, intriguing, and inspiring
Rhetorical Strategy: Allusion
Evidence: “Mr. Hapgood, here you are, you’re a graduate of Harvard. Why would anyone with your advantages choose to live as you have?” Hapgood answered the judge: “Why, because of the Sermon on the Mount, sir.” (Page 14)
“They have taken charge of communications and the schools, so we might as well be Poland under occupation.” (Page 101)
The novel A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut is what would be considered Vonnegut’s memoir that discusses a wide variety of topics from humor to the decrease in fossil fuels that the world is experiencing. To help bring his points home to the reader, Vonnegut uses allusions to connect the reader with what he is talking about. This is an example of the rhetorical strategy, “Mr. Hapgood, here you are, you’re a graduate of Harvard. Why would anyone with your advantages choose to live as you have?” Hapgood answered the judge: “Why, because of the Sermon on the Mount, sir” (Page 14). Mr. Hapgood was testifying about a picket line he was involved in. When the judge referenced where Hapgood had graduated from college he was inquiring that Hapgood was a very intelligent and “high standing citizen.” But the kind of person that the judge is speaking of is a complete contradiction to someone who follows the Sermon on the Mount which talks about treating everyone kindly, being respectful, and doing the right thing. Hapgood was an intelligent man but he was also a man who stood up for what he believed was right. This is an allusion because the Sermon on the Mount is a religious text that contains the teachings of Jesus which most of the population is Christian or some denomination of it. Another example of this strategy is, “They have taken charge of communications and the schools, so we might as well be Poland under occupation” (Page 101). This is allusion because, back during World War Two and during the Cold War, Poland was being occupied by a foreign country. During the Cold War when the Russians were occupying Poland the forced the citizens to learn communist teachings and listen to communist broad castings. In a way, the American government is doing the same thing because they teach us “Democracy” and have us watch “American” news. The “Democracy” that we are being taught is “do what we say or we will invade your country” and the “American” news we watch is “Iraq has WMD’s but not really, we just want their oil.” The allusions, such as these examples, are used throughout the novel to help the reader connect with what Vonnegut is trying to tell them. The novel A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut is similar to Profiles In Courage by John f. Kennedy because both of them are inspiring novels about how to act, and how to be good human beings.
The novel A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut shows how society today has completely different values than what is needed. Our morals and values have been so messed up by money, drugs, and fossil fuels that we would destroy our own planet in the process of obtaining them. An example of this would be, “Before we attacked Iraq, the majestic New York Times guaranteed that there were weapons of mass destruction there” (Page 87). The United States entered Iraq in the belief that they had WMDs when in fact we entered to get more fossil fuel before there was none left. We started a war, one that has gone on for ten years and cost many lives, just for oil. The morals of the American people have definitely been screwed up if we fight a war just for oil. Sometimes it is not just for oil, sometimes it is because another country does not have the same beliefs as us, and they are not being hostile at all but we invade them anyways just so we can make them do what we want. A Man Without A Country is the most modern statement, “change our morals and values or it won’t end well”, that has been said for a long time. This statement needs to be read and acted upon because this world will not always be as “green” as it is now, and our grandchildren will have to live in it.
ReplyDeleteI rate A Man Without A Country 5 out of 5 because it is a great novel with a great message that is delivered with humor and down to earth thinking.
S- humans vs. machines
ReplyDeleteT- In our growing society it is hard to decipher the difference between humans and machines
A- warning, cautionary, wise
A- everyone
RS- characterization
Evidence-
"Dear Sir, poor sir, brave sir," he read, "You are an experiment by the creator of the universe. You are the only creature in the entire Universe who has free will. You are the only one who has to figure out what to do next - and why. Everybody else is a robot, a machine." pg. 259
"Their imaginations insisted that nobody changed much from day to day. Their imaginations were flywheels on the ramshackle machinery of the awful truth." pg. 147
"As for myself: I had come to the conclusion that there was nothing sacred about myselfor about any human being, that we were all machines, doomed to collide and collide and collide." pg. 225
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut is a science fiction novel which uses satire and black humor to discuss issue that normally would seem horrible to others. One issue that Vonnegut discusses is how in our growing society, it has become increasingly hard to decipher the difference between humans and machines. Vonnegut uses the rhetorical strategy of characterization and the thoughts of the characters in order to support this theme. When Vonnegut states, "Dear Sir, poor sir, brave sir," he read, "You are an experiment by the creator of the universe. You are the only creature in the entire Universe who has free will. You are the only one who has to figure out what to do next - and why. Everybody else is a robot, a machine,"Their imaginations insisted that nobody changed much from day to day. Their imaginations were flywheels on the ramshackle machinery of the awful truth." By comparing human body parts to machinery, he makes it clear that in our growing society it is hard to even tell the difference between the anatomical structures of humans and machines. Although Vonnegut criticizes society, he even regards himseld as having machine like qualities when he states, "As for myself: I had come to the conclusion that there was nothing sacred about myselfor about any human being, that we were all machines, doomed to collide and collide and collide." From this we can infer that even Vonnegut finds it hard not to get caught in acting like a machine by disregarding feelings, and moralsin order to conform with the rest of society.
Personal response:
ReplyDeleteIn today's society it is hard, at times to distinguish a difference between humans and machines. Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Breakfast of Champions, is a good reminder of how if we conform to society then we may become robots that just go through the motions of living. Vonnegut talks about how today there is a horrible lack of communication and understanding of what the words we use really mean. People only hear by sounds and what they like to hear. Because of this, Vonnegut says that all words and sentences are lost and become "music and melodies." Vonnegut goes as far as to compare our anatomy to that of machines when he states, "Their imaginations were flywheels on the ramshackle machinery of the awful truth." Through all of this we can infer that by disregarding our own opinions, imaginations, and true self we will conform to society and become a robot.
question:
ReplyDeleteIf you were to pick up Kilgore Trout's book and read the words, "You are an experiment by the creator of the Universe. You are the only creature in the entire Universe who has free will. You are the only one who has to figure out what to do next- and why. Everybody else is a robot, a machine."
What would your reactions to this statement and why do you think that Dwayne Hoover believed these words whole heartedly?
S: Censorship
ReplyDeleteT: There is a difference between knowledge and ignorance. Individual thoughts and understanding is key to a working society, and censorship causes major social and political riffs. In a controlled society the only thing kept private is your own thoughts, and that’s only if you keep them private.
A: Disgusted, offended, and disenchanted
A: Young adults
RS: Symbolism
Textual Evidence: In the beginning of the novel fire is something meant to cause destruction, and in the end it was a source of heat for Montag and the other refugees.
Pg. 3 “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.”
Pg. 154 “Perhaps her had expected their faces to burn and glitter with the knowledge they carried, to glow as lanterns glow, with the light in them. But all the light had come from the campfire.”
T: There is a difference between knowledge and ignorance. Individual thoughts and understanding is key to a working society, and censorship causes major social and political riffs. In a controlled society the only thing kept private is your own thoughts, and that’s only if you keep them private. This is proved true in Fahrenheit 451, a science-fiction novel by Ray Bradbury.
E: In Fahrenheit 451 fire plays an important role. In the very beginning fire was an object meant to cause destruction, and that brought joy to Montag, but at the end he realized that fire plays a vital role in survival. It provided heat and a source of cooking for Montag and the others.
Also every time Bradbury mentions technology they are described as something disgusting, such as insects.
R: This is a good book because it shows the horrors of censorship and what television does to books. Where is the line to draw with censorship? Is there one? When is it right and when is it wrong?
Personal Response:
The main subject in this book is censorship and the destruction it causes to people and society. Censorship is a dangerous thing because where do you draw the line between good and bad censorship? There is a lot of symbolism and allusions in this book, and a lot of references to the bible, and religion. The ending of the book doesn’t really tie up any loose ends though. The whole book is kind of confusing, but if someone pays attention to little details, they should be able to understand it.
I rate this book a possible 4 out of 5 because Bradbury doesn’t tie up the loose ends. He never explains what happens to Clarisse, or Millie, or anyone else in the city. There a lot of aspects Bradbury never explains. Such as the seashells or the little green bud Montag had in his ear. He never tells you what exactly the mechanical hound is or what it does. He leaves it to you to figure out on your own.
I rate A Farewell To Arms a 4.5 out of 5 because Hemingway ends the novel with the reader dying to know what happens next. Overall I loved the story, other than the relationship between Catherine and Frederic is very different than the typical love story.
ReplyDeleteEmma Gira
ReplyDelete2A/C
5-16
Subject: Awareness
Theme: All humans are machines, programmed by a higher power. The only difference between humans and the machines they create, is the awareness that all humans posses within themselves.
Attitude: satiric, pessimistic, and critical
Audience: “Meat machines”
Rhetorical Strategies: Metaphor, paradox
Textual Evidence: “…there was nothing sacred about myself or about any human beings, that we were all machines, doomed to collide and collide and collide. Sometimes I wrote badly, which meant I was a writing machine in bad repair. I no more harbored sacredness than did a Pontiac, a mousetrap, or a South Bend Lathe.”(225)
“It is a picture of the awareness of every animal. It is the immaterial core of every animal- the ‘I am’- to which all messages are sent. It is all that is alive in any of us- in a mouse, in a deer, in a cocktail waitress. It is unwavering and pure, no matter what preposterous adventure may befall us. A sacred picture of Saint Anthony alone is one vertical, unwavering band of light. If a cockroach were near him, or a cocktail waitress, the picture would show two such bands of light. Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred in any of us. Everything else about us is dead machinery.” (226).
STAARS
All humans are machines, programmed by a higher power. The only difference between humans and the machines they create, is the awareness that all humans posses within themselves. This is a major theme in the science fiction novel _Breakfast of Champions_ by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut conveys this message by using an extended metaphor throughout the novel. The metaphor explains how there is “nothing sacred about myself or about any human beings, that we were all machines, doomed to collide and collide and collide. Sometimes I wrote badly, which meant I was a writing machine in bad repair. I no more harbored sacredness than did a Pontiac, a mousetrap, or a South Bend Lathe.”(225). This describes Vonnegut’s idea that we are all made to do certain tasks, his task is to write. Throughout the story, Vonnegut drills into the readers head this idea, but shortly after he states this passage, one of his characters contradicts him. This creates a paradox for the reader, changing what they were beginning to think was true. The artist, Rabo Karabekian, explains the symbolism of a piece of his art work, and this symbolism contradicts Vonnegut. “It is a picture of the awareness of every animal. It is the immaterial core of every animal- the ‘I am’- to which all messages are sent. It is all that is alive in any of us- in a mouse, in a deer, in a cocktail waitress. It is unwavering and pure, no matter what preposterous adventure may befall us. A sacred picture of Saint Anthony alone is one vertical, unwavering band of light. If a cockroach were near him, or a cocktail waitress, the picture would show two such bands of light. Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred in any of us. Everything else about us is dead machinery.” (226). This explains how the unwavering core and awareness of humans is what makes humans different from machines. This contradiction proposes a question for the reader. Are humans just machines? Or is every human sacred in their own way? This option for the reader enhances Vonnegut’s story and further engulfs the reader.
The novel, _Breakfast of Champions_, by Kurt Vonnegut explores the concept that ideas can cause diseases or bad ideas, themselves, are diseases. This is first evident in chapter one when the main character, Kilgore Trout, states that “Ideas or the lack of them can cause disease.” (15). Throughout the entire novel the other main character, Dwayne Hoover, is becoming insane due to “bad chemicals” inside him. These bad chemicals are causing Dwayne to become very impressionable, and when bad ideas are introduced to Dwayne, he becomes crazy and unreasonable. Vonnegut also explains how impressionable humans, naturally, are when he states that “human beings could be as easily felled by a single idea as by cholera or the bubonic plague. There was no immunity to cuckoo ideas on Earth.” (27). This is later exemplified when a statement of Kilgore’s turns “out to be the first germ in an epidemic of mind-poisoning.” (77).
ReplyDeleteVonnegut’s strong views on the importance and power of ideas are apparent throughout the novel.
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars due to the fact that I enjoyed the messages that Vonnegut was trying to convey, but I did not like the fact that he interacted with his characters while still acting as a higher power.
Cody DeToy
ReplyDeleteS: Conflicts/Wars
T: During times of conflicts where there is so much death, destruction and hate, it'd be nice for one to reflect on the beauty and happiness of life and prosperity in the world.
A: Anti-Conflict
A: Anyone
RS: Characterization
Textual Evidence: " The American was astonished. He stood up shakily, spitting blood. He'd had two teeth knocked out. He had no harm by what he had said, evidently, had no idea that the guard would hear and understand.
"'Why me?'" he asked the guard.
The guard shoved him back into ranks. "Vy you? Vy anybody?'" he said." (79)
".....Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds.
And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?"
Wars and conflicts are seen as unnecessary blood spilled or a conflict with no meaning. During times of war there are many signs of hate and discrimination towards others, " The American was astonished. He stood up shakily, spitting blood. He'd had two teeth knocked out. He had no harm by what he had said, evidently, had no idea that the guard would hear and understand.
"'Why me?'" he asked the guard.
The guard shoved him back into ranks. "Vy you? Vy anybody?'" he said." (79)Yet, after they are done, there can be something learned from that. Hope is there in many ways,".....Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds.
And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?" (17).
I rate Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five a 2/5, I found this book to be very boring and confusing.
Yelena Odeychuk
ReplyDeleteSiragusa
English H 4AC
15 May 2011
Subject- Loneliness
Theme- Elderly people tend to be lonely and alone most of the time and try to be friends with anyone.
Attitude- Empathetic, sincere, solemn
Audience- Everyone
Rhetorical Strategy- Characterization
Textual Evidence- “He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself” (841).
“’I wish the boy was here,’ he said aloud and settled himself against the rounded planks of the bow and felt the strength of the great fish through the line he held across his shoulders moving steadily toward whatever he had chosen” (846).
The Old Man and the Sea, a fictional tragedy by Ernest Hemingway, is a novella exploring how elderly people tend to be lonely and alone most of the time and try to be friends with anyone. This novella is about loneliness and it is written for everyone. The author’s tone is empathetic, sincere, and solemn. Throughout the novella, Hemingway uses the rhetorical strategy of characterization, which is how the author conveys to the reader the character’s personality and values. The old man goes fishing in the sea by himself for a few days and is very lonely. In the book it says, “He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself” (841). The old man is all alone so he starts talking to himself and also to the fish he caught. He considers the stars and the birds friends, too. We perceive the old man differently because of this and other things he does. It is said in the book, “’I wish the boy was here,’ he said aloud and settled himself against the rounded planks of the bow and felt the strength of the great fish through the line he held across his shoulders moving steadily toward whatever he had chosen” (846). The old man always mentions how it would be easier to fish if the boy was with him. He also says he wishes the boy was with him so he could see some things. The theme is more clear based on the characterization of the old man.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway supports the idea that you can get through anything if you work hard enough. The old man goes fishing alone in the middle of the sea by himself and stays there for a few days. He struggles a lot and gets a lot of injuries and cuts. He does all of this just to catch and hold onto a fish that ends up being eaten by sharks. If this is how the man suffers to catch a fish then you can do anything you put effort into. He goes eighty-four days without catching a fish but on the eighty-fifth 85 day he doesn’t give up but he goes fishing again. The old man has confidence and doesn’t lose hope and that is how he ends up catching the fish. He doesn’t let the pain stop him and this is a major idea in this literary novella that anyone can apply to their life.
ReplyDeleteI would rate this book 3/5 stars because it didn't have much action and was boring at times. It was also difficult to follow at times but it had some good themes and symbolism.
ReplyDeleteBrittany Keyes
ReplyDeleteSiragusa
English H 4AC
May 16, 2011
Subject: Death
Theme: Even in death, the world moves on.
Attitude: Surrealistic, yet powerful
Audience: Adolescents & up
Rhetorical Strategy: Motif
Textual Evidence: "And even if the wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death." (4).
"When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is 'So it goes'." (27)
Slaughterhouse Five, a anti-war science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut gives its reader a peek into Mr. Vonnegut’s mind. Inside, we find that death occurs at every corner of the world. He explains that Tralfamadorians see the world in four-dimensions, and it’s in one of the dimensions that they see how when one dies, they visit all of their happy memories. Vonnegut tells that "When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse; all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is 'So it goes'” (27). The phrase “So it goes”, follows every time Vonnegut mentions an aspect of death. He uses this to point out that everything dies at some point. Once it dies, yes some will pause, but only briefly and then keep moving on with the world. Vonnegut uses the war to point out their horrors. As he talks about the murders war brings, he also brings up that, "And even if the wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death." (4). With this, he proves that whether it be war, massacre, or illness, death is going to happen, and there is nothing that can be done to stop it.
Throughout Kurt Vonnegut’s anti-war novel Slaughterhouse Five, He expresses the reoccurring theme that free will does not exist. Billy Pilgrim, the novels main character claims to be unstuck in time. He relives memories of the past and future. He even knows the exact minutes at which he will die, yet he does nothing to stop it. Free will can be described as the ability to change a matter within your life. Billy knows this exists, but he also knows that there is nothing that he can truly do to stop future events from occurring. Billy also uses his knowledge that he has learned on Tralfamador, to gain comfort in the fact that you can not change your fate, but once you do die you will seek out our happier memories and relive them.
ReplyDeleteI would give Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 2 out of 5 stars, because I found the novel to be very narrow-minded. Billy Pilgrim turned out to be a rude imbecile. He was ridiculously awkward around people, and probably should be locked into a mental hospital for a longer period than the last time. I hated the science fiction aspect of the novel too. I found it repulsive to think of aliens putting naked humans under glass domes, and observing them like they were animals at a zoo. I found that Kurt Vonnegut has an imagination, that must be far to out of my grasps, for I was confused by many aspects of this novel, and repulsed by the other half.
S-Manipulation
ReplyDeleteT- After being interrogated or convinced, one can be made to do or say something that is not right, true, or who they really are, especially when they are without any support of family or friends.
A- Teens
A- Loneliness, innocence, helplessness, frustration
R- Characterization
“He liked the company of younger kinds. They paid attention to him, listened to him, laughed at his jokes” (13).
“He usually sat alone in the cafeteria and felt alone even when others were at the table. The other students seldom talked to him or asked him his opinion about anything” (13).
“But if you said you did it, maybe you could do it, maybe you could do something terrible like that. Maybe deep inside in the secret place of yours you really knew that you could do it” (152).
The Rag and Bone Shop is a fiction novel written by Robert Cormier. A 12-year-old boy named Jason Dorrant gets accused of killing 7-year-old Alicia Bartlett when he is innocent. After being interrogated or convinced, one can be made to do or say something that is not right, true, or who they really are, especially when they are without any support of family or friends. Robert Cormier writes, “He liked the company of younger kinds. They paid attention to him, listened to him, laughed at his jokes” (13). Jason did not have any friends in his life besides Alicia, and now that she was dead and upset and thinking he was helping with the investigation, he told the investigators what they wanted to hear and was manipulated into falsely admitting that he was guilty. “He usually sat alone in the cafeteria and felt alone even when others were at the table. The other students seldom talked to him or asked him his opinion about anything” (13), says Cormier. Once again, he was alone and had nobody he could talk about anything with and so he was easily convinced to do things. Cormier says, “But if you said you did it, maybe you could do it, maybe you could do something terrible like that. Maybe deep inside in the secret place of yours you really knew that you could do it” (152). After constantly being questioned, Jason admitted to a crime that he did not commit. When the real criminal was caught, Jason began to believe that if he was willing to admit to something like murder, then he believed he may be able to commit such a crime. He never thought about this type of thing before the idea was put in his head after constant questioning. People’s thoughts can change after being influenced and when not having the support of family or friends.
S-Approval
ReplyDeleteT-Everyone looks for approval from a higher figure.
A-hysterical, scared, unaware
A-Young adults
RS-characterization
"The boy cracked after thirty-two seconds. But thirty-two seconds of the fingers can be a lifetime, Miro knew. He was, in fact, surprised that the biy resisted that long a time" (196).
"He shriveled inside his clothes, his face was flooded with shame inside the mask. He wished he could cover his eyes, to escape Artkin's anger" (161).
In After the First Death by Robert Cormier, Cormier effectively uses characterization in order to show that everyone looks for approval from a higher figure. This can be seen when Ben is used as the messenger between the hijackers and the police. "The boy cracked after thirty-two seconds. But thirty-two seconds of the fingers can be a lifetime, Miro knew. He was, in fact, surprised that the boy had resisted that long a time" (196). The fingers is some kind of torturing technique that the hijackers had learned in their "classes." It is not completely explained as to what fingers is, however it seems incredibly painful as the terrorists are only trained to withstand five or six seconds. This shows how Ben wants the approval of his father, as his father has sent him on this mission, Ben believes that he has this secret information that the terrorists should not know and tries to be prideful in his father and country and not tell them the information. One of the hijackers, named Miro, also feels as if he needs the approval of Artkin, essentially his father figure. "He shriveled inside his clothes, his face was flooded with shame inside the mask, He wisheed he could cover his eyes, to escape Artkin's anger" (161). At a different part in the novel, Miro explains that he never knew is actual father, therefore he views Artkin as his father. In this case, Miro has let Artkin down as had a lapse of mind and Kate, the driver of the hijacked bus, nearly made an escape, completely ruining the hijackers plans and Miro did not follow his orders. Miro is completely embarrassed as he gets scolded by Artkin in front of Kate and want to curl up into a ball it seems after the scolding, and decides to stay awake throughout the night. The theme of the story causes the reader to wonder upon an entertaining question, how many times a day does the reader seek the approval of someone?
The novel The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier, shows the flaws with the criminal justice system. Cormier says, “And in a blazing moment, Trent knew irrevocable that the boy was innocent, knew in the deepest part of his being, past all doubt and deception, that Jason Dorrant had not murdered Alicia Bartlett” (131). Even though Trent knew that Jason was innocent, he wanted to get paid and get the senator to stop bothering him about putting someone in jail for the murder. He still got Jason to falsely confession knowing that he was innocent and that the confession was a lie. People do things that they think will benefit themselves even when they know it’s wrong and they should not be doing it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteS: Social inequaity
ReplyDeleteT: Although people may come from different social statuses, they all remain the same despite all of the differences they may have. Just because a person has money and lives on a different side of town, everyone is still human and deserves the same respect.
A: Empathy, anger, sadness
A: Young teens
R: Foreshadowing
S: "Soda turned him over gently, and I nearly got sick. Someone had beaten him badly." (Page 32)
"And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us, now carried in his back a six-inch switchblade. He'd use it, too, if he ever got jumped again. They had scared him that much. He would kill the next person who jumped him." (Page 34)
The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, is a coming of age novel which focuses on the struggles and social inequality between two young groups, the Socs and the Greasers. This novel focuses on the theme that although people may come from different social statuses, they all remain the same on the inside despite all of the differences they may have. Hinton uses foreshadowing to emphasize this theme. Ponyboy, the main character says "Soda turned him over gently, and I nearly got sick. Someone had beaten him badly." (32) Four months prior, the Socs had beaten up Johnny, Ponyboys best friend. They beat him so badly, he has not been the same since. On page 34, Pony says "And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us, now carried in his back a six-inch switchblade. He'd use it, too, if he ever got jumped again. They had scared him that much. He would kill the next person who jumped him." This foreshadows when the Socs jump Pony and Johnny. The on-going turmoil between the two groups gets so far as a Soc being killed. When Pony meets a Soc named Cherry Valance, they talk about watching sunsets. And Ponyboy says "It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset." (Pg 41) This is a very important quote because Pony realizes everyone is exactly the same despite where they come from. They are all human regardless of how different their worlds are.
I would rate this novel with three stars because although it was very interesting and entertaining, I felt that it was a pretty straightforward book. There was not a lot to interpret from the book and think about because most of it was stated right in the reading. The end was very surprising though which helped make the book more interesting.
ReplyDeleteS: Self-discovery
ReplyDeleteT: When things seem to be getting crazy in life you may have to step back and discover your true self.
A:mother's and wife's
A:lonelines, frustration, unwanted
R: characterization
S:"I broke our promise I ducked out of our commitment. I probably hurt her feelings all the time. But Sam wasn't even listening."(pg.25)
"And the children didn't know she was missing with their jumbled seperate schedules, they might not notice for days."(pg. 40)
Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler is a fictional story that shows how a mother and/or wife sometimes feel like they are not wanted in their families life. Anne Tyler uses the literary element of characterization to help show how Delia felt throughout the novel. We learn that Delia is ignored and no one appreciate what she does. Anne Tyler states,"I broke our promise I ducked out of our commitment. I probably hurt her feelings all the time. But Sam wasn't even listening."(pg.25) THis is the first sign that we learn that Delia is ignored. She talks to her husband and no one listens to her. She'll do things for them and they don't apperciate all the things they do to her. Delia states,
"And the children didn't know she was missing with their jumbled seperate schedules, they might not notice for days."(pg. 40)
Her kids do not seem to care about her. Since they do not appreciate her she decides to run off and go live in a town by herself so she can figure out what she wants in life and then maybe her family will start to appeciate her and not make her feel like a nobody.
Throughout the novel After the First Death, Cormier explains the idea that everyone needs approval from their superiors. This can even be seen through the bus driver Kate, "The gun had gone off. She was caught again between inhale and exhale. The pain...wow...breath-caught dying mommy and daddy I can't breathe and nobody to tell me if I was bra..." (211). This is near the end of the novel and is the last dying thoughts of Kate, the late teens bus driver. She throughout the hijacking wants to know if she is being brave, or having the approval of her parents or her uncle, whom she is subbing in for. Brave is the word that she could not finish, as he last dying thoughts are thought of whether or not she made her parents proud.
ReplyDeleteAfter the First Death would receive 4/5 stars, as it was a very entertaining novel. It was interesting to compare two writings of Cormier, The Chocolate War and After the First Death. It was interesting to see how in both he often uses similes to get a point across and also used many difficult words in both novels. It was an entertaining plot, however was very confusing at the end, as the reader may be unsure as to what actually happened to Ben and his father.
S: Sports
ReplyDeleteT: Sports can serve a role as something meaningful in one's life. But once sports are out of the picture, one must find something else to fill the void sports leaves.
A: Lost, pessimistic, confused
A: Mature teens and older
RS: Imagery
Evidence:
"Rabbit knows the way. You climb up through the little grades and then get to the top and everybody cheers" (pg.6)
"...and then you're out, not forgotten at first, just out, and it feels good and cool and free. You're out, and sort of melt, and keep lifting, until you become like to these kids just one more piece of the sky of adults that hangs over them in the town, a piece that for some queer reason has clouded and visited them. They've not forgotten him: worse, they never heard of him" (pg.7).
"I get this funny feeling I can do anything, just drifting around, passing the ball, and all of a sudden I know, you see, I know I can do anything.' It puzzles him, yet makes him want to laugh, that he can't make the others feel what was so special" (pg.56).
STAARS
Sports can serve a role as something meaningful in one's life. Sports give a person the feeling of meaningfulness. But once sports are out of the picture, one must find something else to fill the void sports leaves. John Updike alludes to this in his novel _Rabbit, Run_. He shows this idea through the use of imagery to convey thoughts and feelings through the use of the senses. "Rabbit knows the way. You climb up through the little grades and then get to the top and everybody cheers" (pg.6) This climb explains what Rabbit went through throughout school as he moved up into different levels of basketball all the way to varsity. He mentions the excitement involved as he plays at the highest level with everyone cheering him on. He goes on to say, "...and then you're out, not forgotten at first, just out, and it feels good and cool and free. You're out, and sort of melt, and keep lifting, until you become like to these kids just one more piece of the sky of adults that hangs over them in the town, a piece that for some queer reason has clouded and visited them. They've not forgotten him: worse, they never heard of him" (pg.7). The imagery involved in this quote shows the feeling of being infinite. The feeling of being on top, being as high as anyone can be, being above the world. And then everything becomes melted together. As age catches up to him he seems to melt into the background with every other adult. His accomplishments get put in the background and his notoriety seems to vanish. Now the kids don't recognize him besides being another adult that seems to hang around the basketball hoop in the back alleys. He is always a quick trip away from basketball as he hasn't yet filled the void sports left when they stopped playing a prominent role in his life. "I get this funny feeling I can do anything, just drifting around, passing the ball, and all of a sudden I know, you see, I know I can do anything.' It puzzles him, yet makes him want to laugh, that he can't make the others feel what was so special" (pg.56). This quote occurs when he is eating with his old high school basketball coach, a friend of his coach, and a prostitute his coach hooks him up with. As he explains what it was like being a dominate athlete it occurs to him that none of them can connect on the same level. None of them share the same occurrences. Reality seems to strike him; None of them seem that interested in what it was like playing basketball at a high level, possibly exempting his coach. It may start to sink in that the meaning of basketball in his life is not so prominent as it once was. The void basketball left in his life still hasn't been replaced. As the story moves along Rabbit looks to fill the void through sex and religion, yet he never seems to be able to replace the passion he feels towards sports.
In S.E Hintons novel The Outsiders, she expresses the theme of social equality although society makes it difficult to believe that everyone is the same. The main character in the novel, Ponyboy Curtis is a young but mature teenage boy who struggles to understand societys logic of separating the "Socs" and "Greasers" in social status. In the beginning of the novel, Ponyboy is angry at the fact that Socs are rich kids who do not have a worry in the world, but Greasers must work for everything they have and they have it a lot more rough where they come from. Ponyboy shows growth as the novel progresses because in the closing of the novel he says "Socs were just guys after all. Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too." (Pg 118). He realizes that despite societys beliefs, everyone is the same.
ReplyDeleteI would rate this novel 5/5 stars. I loved this book a lot. Even though this novel was published in 1967, I believe it still relates to society today. This novel shows so much growth in such a young teenage kid, and I think a lot of teenagers would understand this book. It kept moving from beginning to end and always kept me wanting to read more.
Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler makes you realize how important it is to appreciate people and not to take them for granted because one day they may be gone. Sam states, Was there anything that would, you know. Would persuade you to come home?" After Delia is gone for a long time he realizes that he misses her but when he sends her a letter he can't describe to her how he felt and if Sam would of just told Delia to come home it would of showed her that he cared about her. It is important to make sure you let people know that you care about them.
ReplyDeleteI would give this novel a four out of five stars. I liked the book but at some points the novel became boring and i just could not believe some of things Delia was doing like how she could take care of another kid and not even miss her own kid.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNate Montfort
ReplyDeleteCall of the Wild by, Jack London
Subject- Dominance
Theme- Survival of the fittest
Attitude- Loneliness, Anger, Starvation
Audience- Young Adults
Rhetorical Strategy-Narration
S-Evidence-
“Buck watched them apprehensively as they proceeded to take down the tent and load the sled.” (Ch.5)
“As Buck slid along with the obscureness of a gliding shadow, his nose was jerked suddenly to the side as though a positive force had gripped and pulled it.” (Ch. 7)
Personal Response
In the novel, The Call of the Wild, Buck is forced against his will into the harsh world of dog sledding. He is regularly beaten and forced to work long hours with little breaks. Buck works alongside several other dogs who have resorted to their most primal state. They kill anything that threatens them and are often forced to fight one-another for food. If a dog shows any sign of weakness, it is instantly preyed upon by the other dogs and eventually left to die by its' owners. Only the strongest, most dominant dogs were able to survive in the harsh environment. By retaining a powerful sense of dominance over his fellow dogs, Buck was able to survive the experience and thrive in his new environment.
I rate The Call of the Wild a 4 out of 5 stars. Although the book was a very easy read, I found the storyline very entertaining and truthful. It describes the harsh realities of the world that many people tend to overlook.
S: Censorship
ReplyDeleteT: In an ideal society, rules and regulations are needed to keep order and balance. However, when harmless activities such as reading become prohibited, society becomes filled with opposition and chaos.
A: Numb, Objective, Restrained, Chaotic, Detached
A: Young adults and over
RS: Symbolism
Textual Evidence: “One time, as a child, in a power failure, his mother had found and lit a last candle and there had been a brief hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions and drew comfortable around them, and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might not come on again too soon…” (7).
“He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other” (24).
“Perhaps her had expected their faces to burn and glitter with the knowledge they carried, to glow as lanterns glow, with the light in them. But all the light had come from the campfire” (154).
“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind” (58)
Fahrenheit 451by Ray Bradbury is a novel exploring a modern society with censorship against the liberal arts of literature, history, sociology and many others. The author sends the message that whiles rules and regulations may be beneficial in society, a line is drawn when simple things such as reading is prohibited, and thus causing a society filled with violence, chaos and opposition. Words used to describe the novel include chaotic, in which the society faces the chaos of opposition and war, and detached, in which the main character, Guy Montag, was unaware of the truth and the benefits of literature and books. The audience of this novel could vary. While it is a good novel for high school students, it also sends a message to adult readers, warning them about how society should not become. Bradbury is able to get his messages and points of view across through the use of symbolism. One of the main symbols used throughout the novel is fire, which is featured heavily throughout the novel. Throught the novel, fire is used to burn things not needed, such as books. The following quote shows how society views literature: “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind” (58). This shows that for whatever reason, books are viewed as weapons, possibly destroying people’s minds, which, in our views, is completely false. Another symbol in the book is the river, which represents cleansing and rebirth, as shown in the following quote: “He tossed his own clothing into the river and watched it swept away” (139). Montag’s clothing represented his old identity, as a destroyer of old knowledge, and the new clothing representing his new one, as a champion of old knowledge.
Throughout the novel _Rabbit, Run_, John Updike instills the idea that fear itself can drive someone's thought process and alter their decision making. "Your fear trills like an alarm bell you cannot shut off, the louder the faster you run, hunchbacked, until distinctly, with a grasp of the clutch, a near car shifts gears, and the stumpy white posts of the guard fence dawn behind the pine trunks" (pg.17)" This is a memory Rabbit has while going to pick up his child. It seems to end up foreshadowing the end of the novel where Rabbit tells of his wife and runs away from Rebecca at a funeral. This isn't the first time Rabbit decides to run away from his problems, as fear seems to be the most prominent emotion he deals with. "So this road of dread is a lovers' lane" (pg. 32). As Rabbit is lost driving towards Florida his fear intensifies as he drives down this particular road. This is ironic as the road is a "lovers' lane" which scares him while he is going through a troubling time trying to flee what he thought was love. As he reaches the end of the road he decides to turn north, back towards home. This fear of running from his problems ends up driving him back home. Fear is the deciding factor in Rabbit's actions and thoughts. John Updike uses Rabbit as an example as to how fear can control thought processes of an individual and lead to decisions that may or may not end up being regrettable.
ReplyDelete_Rabbit, Run_ receives 3 stars and here is why:
+ The plot behind the story is intriguing and kept me wondering what would happen next.
+ John Updike keeps the reader guessing. Nothing in the novel is telegraphed.
- Although the story is good, it is stretched out to the point that some may get bored wading through all the details as they may just want to get on with the story.
- Updike's writing style can be hard to follow at times. He tends to overkill when he explains details or past experiences and said experiences can be lost in translation.
Overall the story had potential to be a great novel yet Updike's delivery of the plot dwindles its meaning. He draws it out like he needed to reach a page quota and some points in the novel are hard to get through but it ends up being a good novel.
Stephan Ouelette
ReplyDeleteSTAARS for Huckleberry Finn
5/16/11
S-Honor
T- The aspect of honor is tossed around among different people and generations.
A-Supportive, wise, earnest
A-Northern/Southern U.S Citizens during Post-Civil War times.
RS-Irony
"I waited til I reckoned he had got a good start;then I out with my saw,and went to work on the log again. Before he was t'other side of the river I was out of the hole"-Huck Finn
"Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on-s'pose you'd a done right and give Jim up."-Huck Finn
"The Adventures of Huckleberry" by Mark Twain is a fictional story. It deals with an adolescent boy who finds out what the true meaning of honor is in a time of racism and discrimination. The aspect of honor is tossed around between different peoples' and generations. Mark Twain uses the rhetorical strategy of irony. "I waited til I reckoned he had got a good start;then I out with my saw,and went to work on the log again. Before he was t'other side of the river I was out of the hole."(Page 34)This was said by Huckleberry Finn after he had just managed to get away from his father that had enslaved him against his will. His father was a drunken, old, decrepit man that wanted Huck for his new found fortune. Huck managed to get away from the log cabin and start his own life as an free man. Along his journey Huck meets up with Jim,a negro slave, who Huck has known from his previous life with Miss Watson. Jim has also just escaped. After traveling with Jim for many miles down the Mississippi River Huck thinks to himself,"Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on-s'pose you'd a done right and give Jim up."After almost giving up Jim to two white slave hunters Huck has a self vs. self problem. He knows there is honor in doing the "right thing" and return stolen property,aka Jim, but he knows there is more honor in preserving Jim's freedom. The ironic part of the whole scenario is the hypocritical thinking that Huck has. Even though he also escaped from a slavish lifestyle he blames Jim more than himself for breaking the law.
Personnel Response
Huck Finn's idea of honor and dignity changes over the course of this novel. Mark Twain shows the reader that honor is not always the so called "right" thing to do. In the end of the story Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Jim are all freed from there demons. Huck's Pa was killed and put into the river, Tom Sawyer got to be in his big adventure, and Jim was finally freed. Even though they all broke about every law in the country they all could be seen as honorable heroes.
Rating
I rate "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" with a 5/5. It was a gripping and interesting account of Post Civil War America. Even though it was fictional it still dealt with the controversy of slavery in the eyes of an adolescent boy. The story had a happy ending where everyone got what they wanted that deserved it and that is why I liked it .
Personal Response
ReplyDeleteFahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury tells the story of a society discouraging knowledge from one of the world’s oldest inventions: writing. The heavy censorship crosses the line of liberties human beings should all have. In this case, censorship has negative effects on society. Even possession of a single book will cause firemen to burn the book and perhaps the house holding them, as quoted in the follow: "The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all and struck the kitchen match against the railing" (40). This woman was willing to sacrifice in order to hold her beliefs and was not willing to continue to live in a society where he behaviors and actions would be viewed as wrong and against the law. A friend of Montag’s wife said “I’ve always said poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings, poetry and sickness; all that mush!” (101). This quote shows the ignorance presence among this society. Poetry is not supposed to be hurtful; it’s supposed to be a form of art, possibly inspiring. If books were common in this society, people would realize the true meaning and value of literature. Books and words bring knowledge, so therefore, without books, knowledge in society decreases.
I would rate this book 3 out of 5. While it is sometimes hard to follow, it helps warn us all about the dangers of censorship and corruption in society. Bradbury sends a message that speech should be allowed, no matter how dangerous. It is up to us form our own opinions on this matter.
Subject- Survival
ReplyDeleteTheme- Survival reigns over all other things when your life has been turned upside down. If one doesn’t meet the expected requirements, their chance of staying alive is slim to none.
Attitude- Captivates, Intrigued, Mystified
Audience- Teenagers to young adults
Rhetorical Strategies- Symbolism
“That club was a revelation. It was his introduction to the reign of the primitive law, and he met the introduction halfway” (page 20). The club symbolizes Bucks first encounter with the harsh realities he is to face in the future.
“The dark circle became a dot on the moon-flooded snow as Spitz disappeared from the view. Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good” (page 61). Buck defeating Spitz in this final fight symbolized Buck stepping up and finally conquering the wild beast he had come to face in the beginning of his adventure.
Jack London’s adventure novel, The Call of the Wild, shows how the need to survive can outweigh that of almost all other things. Jack London used symbolism, or the use of characters, words, objects or specific events to represent multiple levels of meaning, to show how much of an effect the need of survival has on something. “That club was a revelation. It was his introduction to the reign of the primitive law, and he met the introduction halfway” (page 20). The club symbolizes Bucks first encounter with the harsh realities he is to face in the future. If Buck were to have acted differently in this situation he could have either been fatally wounded or killed. Since Buck had realized that he was beaten but not broken he kept the will to do what he needed in order to survive. “The dark circle became a dot on the moon-flooded snow as Spitz disappeared from the view. Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good” (page 61). Buck defeating Spitz in this final fight symbolized Buck stepping up and finally conquering the wild beast he had come to face in the beginning of his adventure. With this victory, Buck took over the role of leader in his new found pack of dogs that would ultimately lead to his survival. If it wasn’t for Buck’s victory here Spitz would have killed him on the spot. The way survival affects Buck in The Call of the Wild is completely different to that of Chris McCandless in his Alaskan adventure in the novel Into the Wild. Chris went into the Alaskan wilderness for many reasons one which may or may not have been to test his survival skills, while Buck was forced into the Alaskan wilderness through force. Chris’ need for survival would ultimately get him killed in the end while Buck’s need for survival would end up being his savior.
Personal Paragraph
ReplyDelete“This was what the onlooking huskies had waited for. They closed in upon her, snarling and yelping, and she was buried, screaming with agony beneath the bristling mass of bodies” (page 27). Why did the Huskies only want to aid in destroying the weak? The saying “you’re only as strong as your weakest link” might have come into play here due to the harsh nature of the huskies current surroundings but even to go as far as to kill because of it doesn’t make any sense to me. If this fight had instead ended with a severe bite or something rather similar both dogs would have been able to live but instead it went as far as to have the other dogs watching jump in and aid in decimating Curl who had already fallen. To me one of the lowest things you can do is to gang up on one weaker individual having no reason at all to inflict pain upon this lonely soul. If only one of the other dogs had stuck up for Curly maybe she would still have been alive. In the end this just goes to show that the society around us has a bigger impact on our decisions than we think and that in fact there is power in numbers, whether it is used for good or evil.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London gets 4 out of 5 stars
Audrey Hayward
ReplyDeleteSTAARS
S: intellectual freedom
T: Everyone is entitled to his or her intellectual freedom
A: anyone
A: inspired, determined
R: symbolism
S: “How inconvenient! Always before it had been like snuffing a candle. The police went first and adhesive-taped the victim's mouth and bandaged him off into their glittering beetle cars, so when you arrived you found an empty house. You weren't hurting anyone, you were hurting only things! And since things really couldn't be hurt, since things felt nothing, and things don't scream or whimper, as this woman might begin to scream and cry out, there was nothing to tease your conscience later. You were simply cleaning up. Janitorial work, essentially. Everything to its proper place. Quick with the kerosene! Who's got a match!” (134)
"’You weren't there, you didn't see,’ he said. ‘There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing.’" (141)
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, a “firefighter”, by the name of Guy Montag, struggles with his beliefs. Being a “firefighter”, during this futuristic period in which he lives, requires not the stopping of fires, but the starting of them. Montag’s job requires him to burn all books. During his day in age, it is illegal to possess books, and the law therefore strips citizens of their intellectual freedom. For years Montag has been going along with this, seeing books as just material things-nothing more. Recently, Montag’s been reconsidering his career after seeing a woman burn in her house alongside her collection of books at her own will. Montag states "’You weren't there, you didn't see. There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing’" (141). After this traumatic experience he realizes that there must be more to books than just words on a page. Montag’s ignorant co-worker states “How inconvenient! Always before it had been like snuffing a candle. The police went first and adhesive-taped the victim's mouth and bandaged him off into their glittering beetle cars, so when you arrived you found an empty house. You weren't hurting anyone, you were hurting only things! And since things really couldn't be hurt, since things felt nothing, and things don't scream or whimper, as this woman might begin to scream and cry out, there was nothing to tease your conscience later. You were simply cleaning up. Janitorial work, essentially. Everything to its proper place. Quick with the kerosene! Who's got a match!” (134). Montag is aware that this is not the just thing to do. These quotes represent that books represent a man’s life of experiences. Once Montag realized how meaningful books were, his views became clearer. He understood that everyone deserves to be intellectually free, and that no one has the right to ban books or limit a person’s knowledge.
Ruby Stettner
ReplyDelete2AC
5/16/11
Subject: Greed
Theme: When one who is poor comes in to a great deal of wealth this person can become fearful and suspicious and no longer trust those close to him. This will most likely lead to his downfall.
Attitude: Suspicious, fearful, and devoted.
Audience: Anyone
Rhetorical Strategy: Symbolism
Textual Evidence:
“The killing of a man was not so evil as the killing of a boat. For a boat does not have sons, and a boat cannot protect itself, and a wounded boat does not heal ”(62).
“And the pearl was ugly; it was grey, like a malignant growth. And Kino heard the music of the pearl, distorted and insane”(89).
The Pearl, is a fictional novel by John Steinbeck that shows how when one who is poor comes in to a great deal of wealth this person can become fearful and suspicious and no longer trust those close to him. This will most likely lead to his downfall. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck uses the literary technique symbolism, which is when objects, characters, figures, and colors are used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. In the novel Kino’s canoe is a means of making a living for him and his family. Also it shows Kino’s devotion to his heritage and to his culture. When Kino goes against his heritage it leads to the destruction of his canoe, and in a way the destruction of his ties to his culture. The pearl in the represents how greed can ultimately lead to a persons downfall. In the beginning of the novel the pearl is described as beautiful and it fills Kino and his family with hope, but towards the end of the novel the pearl is viewed as malignant due to the fact that Kino’s greed has caused the pearl to become distorted in his mind. Steinbeck’s use of symbolism in the novel has helped to give the novel more depth and also helps to show that when greed becomes overpowering it leads only to destruction.
The novel The Pearl investigates how greed can corrupt and become overpowering. In the novel a poor diver named Kino finds “the pearl of the world”. In the pearl he sees a new future for him and his family, but as the novel continues he looks into the pearl he sees the man he has shot and killed and also his now dead son, which indirectly was his fault. Kino in a way becomes obsessed with the pearl to the point where he becomes suspicious of his friends and family. He also endangers his family when others in the town try to steal the pearl from him on multiple occasions.
I would give The Pearl 4 out of 5 stars because it is a sad book, but it teaches a good lesson about how you should be happy with what you have.
Eric Brawn
ReplyDeleteSiragusa
English 4AC
May 16, 2011
S-Humanity
T- In the darkest times, humanity can band together and find comfort and hope in each other.
A-Everyone
A-Family, struggles, togetherness
RS-Metaphor
Textual Evidence- “Says he foun’ he jus’ got a little piece of a great big soul” Pg. 570
“The storyteller grew into being, so that people gathered in the low firelight to hear the gifted ones. And they listened while the tales were told, and their participation made their stories great.” Pg. 444
Commentary- Metaphors in The Grapes of Wrath greatly enhance the meaning of this novel, just like metaphors in Of Mice and Men help the author get the theme across to the reader.
The novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is about a family that has to deal with the trials and tribulations of moving west during the dust bowl. The theme of the novel is that in the darkest times, humanity can band together and find comfort and hope in each other. Steinbeck uses two different metaphors to get this theme across to the reader. Tom Joad is talking to his mother and tells her about something that Casey had told Tom. “Says he foun’ he jus’ got a little piece of a great big soul” (Pg. 570). Casey and Tom both realized that they were just all small part in humanity as a whole, and that gave Tom hope that everything would work out. Another way Steinbeck uses a metaphor to get the theme across is when he talks about people coming together along side the road. “The storyteller grew into being, so that people gathered in the low firelight to hear the gifted ones. And they listened while the tales were told, and their participation made their stories great.”(Pg. 444) This shows how people banded together looking for comfort in each other doing very difficult times. The stories themselves were not great, but it was something everyone needed, so they became great.
I rate this novel 3 stars
Tommy Jenkins
ReplyDeleteEnglish 2AC
Siragusa
5/16/11
S- Power of Family
T- Family is the most powerful thing, and the power of family can get someone through any problem. Without family, life would be much more difficult and could possibly not be able to get through the hard times.
A-Wise, and Inspiring
A-Anyone
R- Characterization
S- “And still the family stood about like dream walkers, their eyes focused panoramically, seeing no detail, but the whole dawn, the whole land, the whole texture of the country at once.” (pg. 204)
“In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream.” (17.2)
In the Novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, family and the power of family is shown, and the fact that families can get through any problem is proven in multiple ways. Family is very powerful and can possibly help someone get through anything possible. Without family, life would be much harder, and possibly would not be able to get through the hard times. Steinbeck uses characterization to show how family is needed and how everything is better with the ones you love around. “And still the family stood about like dream walkers, their eyes focused panoramically, seeing no detail, but the whole dawn, the whole land, the whole texture of the country at once.” (pg. 204) This shows how family is so important, and helps them see the whole picture and not only the little things. If the family focused on the little “details”, then they may not be able to make it through the hardest times. This statement characterizes the family and explains how Tom and Casy find the farm and have the dream of getting it together, and have to do work together to make it through the hard times, and finish their dreams. “In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream.” (17.2) This shows characterization since it shows how everyone comes together in times of need and how when people come together, things work out in the way it was supposed to. Everyone must work together to finish something and families must work together to make things work out in the best way possible.
Personal Response
ReplyDeleteFamily is the most important thing is shown, and family can get you through any problem possible. Tom needs the people around him to help him finish his dream. When the Wilson’s and Joan’s decide to travel together, they become one large family and act like it. Even though they faced rough times, like the car breaking down in the dessert, ma decided to stick together instead of moving on. Family sticking together allowed the Joan’s to make it through the hard times, like the hard times Tom faced in the cave, and his mother having to bring him food. She does that because she cares for him, and only wants to see him succeed.
I rate this book a 3 out of 5, since some of the book was kind of boring, and others were very exciting. Even though this book was long, it was still s very interesting book.
Tim Latina
ReplyDeleteSubject: Censorship
Theme: There is a right to have knowledge in our life. Just because one group doesn't like a certain work or the fact that the characters are not real it doesn't mean it shouldn't be denied to the people.
Attitude: Evil, Amusement
Audience: Young-Adult
Rhetorical Strategy: Characterization
Textual Evidence: "Colored people don't like _Little Black Sambo_. Burn it. White people don't feel good about _Uncle Tom's Cabin_. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer in the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book? Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag."(page 59)
"Books aren't people. You read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody!"(page 73)
_Fahrenheit 451_ is a science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury. It chronicles a week in the life of a firefighter, Guy Montag, who burns books insted of putting out fires. He later decides to start reading instead of burning. Bradbury uses the strategy of characterization to get us to learn why people are the way they are now. Montag wants to know the real reason why Firemen burn. Beatty tells him straight to a t why they burn. "Colored people don't like _Little Black Sambo_. Burn it. White people don't feel good about _Uncle Tom's Cabin_. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer in the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book? Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag."(page 59) This tells us that because people are so sensitive on a subject that they don't want anything to do with it so they just wish it all away and the best way to do that in book form is by burning the book it is in so as if it has never existed. We also have another reason this time by Montag's wife Millie. "Books aren't people. You read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody!"(page 73). This tells us that people don't read because they can't see the people. This is why the tvs are so popular. It is because people can see what is going on and can talk to the people who are in the shows.
In the novel _Fahrenheit 451_ it shows us how censorship can take control over the human population. just because one item is banned by one group of people then another thing is banned on so on and so on until the whole population thinks that something is wrong and they can't form their own opinions on anything anymore.
I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I give it this because he never brings back up any important plot points like Clarisse and what really happened to her and explain what the "family" is or even what the hound is. All in all it is a good read for people who like sci-fi or his other works.
Gabrielle Zaccour
ReplyDeleteMrs. Siragusa
English H 4A/C
16 May 2011
s- Sexism
t- Women are treated poorly and have a standard that is supposed to be reached; fighting for what you want will bring you freedom
a- Women
a- Confessional and Objective
rs- Symbolism
Textual Evidence-
“It’s a scandless, the way you look out there plowing in a dress. How you keep from falling over it or getting the plow caught in it is beyond me.” (p146)
“The Olinka do not believe girls should be educated. When I asked a mother why she thought this, she said: A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband can she become something.”(p155)
In Alice Walker’s award winning novel “The Color Purple” it had used the theme of women being treated poorly and has a standard that is supposed to be reached; fighting for what you want will bring you freedom. Walker has used symbolism in her epistolary novel to express sexism and the theme to her readers. The protagonist, Celie, had to play a role of a woman in the early 1900’s which was no easy job. Women of this time had responsibilities like keeping up the house, taking care of the kids, and to satisfy their husband. This is resembled in today’s society but not to the extreme as in Walker’s novel. “It’s a scandless, the way you look out there plowing in a dress. How you keep from falling over it or getting the plow caught in it is beyond me,” (p146) is a good example of this sexism. This quote shows that women had to on top of all their prior responsibilities had to help in the fields. This is when the symbolism of women wearing pants comes into the picture to show that she has to do the work her husband doesn’t even do. Shug had started a movement by wearing pants. Women were not educated in the early 1900’s because it was frowned upon. Olinka was a culture that had believed in only educating the men and not their women. Nettie had come upon this when she was part of a missionary culture in Africa. An example is, “The Olinka do not believe girls should be educated. When I asked a mother why she thought this, she said: A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband can she become something,” (p155). Walker’s quotes this because it symbolizes the women being dependent of the man and having no rights to have the choice of education. Women and men do not have the same equality in the roles of society. This is still seen today in the work places although it is strongly said that is not. It is an example of the Glass Ceiling Salary. The glass ceiling salary is often seen in the minorities and women’s eyes, it is the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from being able to advance in the corporate ladder, no matter the achievements and qualifications of the person. Women and minorities need to fight to get what they desire.
Personal Paragraph
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, there is a controversial issue having to do with abiding the law. Some believe that it is important to do what is right, even if it breaks the law. Others expect citizens to 100% follow the rules no matter if they agree or disagree with them. I personally think it is more crucial to do what one believes in, even if it contradicts the law. This is the same issue found in the movie Boondock Saints, where two brothers murder many corrupt men that the police have a hard time convicting. People do not know whether to praise or punish these brothers. Again, I stand on the side that supports doing the just thing; even if it breaks the rules and laws.
Rating
I think that the book Fahrenheit 451 deserves four stars out of five because the overall concept and theme was very unique and inventive. However, I have read better books, so I cannot give it a perfect score of five.
“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker had showed women fighting for what they believed what was equal and right. The women showed they were equal by wearing pants and they were just as strong as a man. In comparisons to Barbara Kingsolver’s “The Bean Trees”, it was very similar because Taylor had fought for Turtle in the end when she knew she couldn’t leave her in a foster home and she was truly the only one who could really care the way she did. In both novels women fought, and to fight will bring you freedom and reassurance that will bring you eternal happiness because you know you believed in something. Fighting for what you want will bring freedom and happiness.
ReplyDeleteI rated “The Color Purple” with a 5/5 because it shows young women to fight for equality. Sexism needs to be expresssed in a more serious matter.
Laura Wright
ReplyDeleteEnglish Honors 4A/C
Siragusa
5/16/2011
S-Subject: Sexism, Racism
T-Theme: Even during the hardest of times you can find a positive outcome, if you stick to your guns.
A-Attitude: Radical, Violent, Upsetting
A-Audience: Women
R-S- Rhetorical Strategies: Imagery
Textual Evidence:
“Shug Avery standing upside a piano, elbow crook, hand on her hip….Her mouth open showing all her teef and don’t nothing seem to be troubling her mind…. Lord, I wants to go so bad. Not to dance. Not to drink. Not to play card. Not even to hear Shug Avery sing. I just be thankful to lay eyes on her.” (26)
“Why not? Say Shug. You do all the work around here. It’s a scandless, the way you look out there plowing in a dress”(p146).
The Rhetorical Strategy of Imagery helps to enhance the meaning in the novel by giving us details of how things actually occurred and helped explain them to show whether it was a positive or negative experience in Celies life. One example of this is when Celie describes when she was raped and how she was in pain and did not want it to happen. Barbra Kingsolver also uses Imagery to help develop situations in novel the Bean Trees, this includes the way she describes the way the bean trees and wisteria vines look.
TEAR Paragraph:
The Color Purple is an Epistolary novel by Alice Walker. It supports the theme that during the hardest of times you can find a positive outcome, if you stick to your guns. “Naw, I say. Mr ____ can tell you, I don’t like it at all. What is it like? He get up on you heist your nightgown round your waist and plunge in. Most times I pretend I ain’t there. He never know the difference” (Page 77). This quote is a great example of how imagery is used in effectively in The Color Purple because it gives you a sense that Mr. ____ is treating Celie as an object, not a person. She obviously doesn’t enjoy how he takes advantage of her, yet she feels as though she cannot do anything about it. Throughout the novel you begin to understand what Celie goes through between being an African American and a Woman during this time. “Who you think you is? he say. You can’t curse nobody. Look at you. You black, you pore, you ugly, you a woman. Goddam, he say, you nothing at all” (213). This quote shows how Mr. ____ treated Celie with both racism and sexism. He was attempting to degrade her with his rude words. This shows that he truly did not love her and that he only used her to work for and to have sex with him. The Rhetorical Strategy of Imagery helps to enhance the meaning of this quote because it shows us that Celie is both a woman and an African American and that she was treated with disrespect due to who she was.
Brittney Champagne
ReplyDeleteSTAARS Essay
Period 4 AC
S - Terrorism
T - With terrorism happening all over the world, it is easy to see terrorism happening in our own country. As history progresses, terrorism seems to become more familiar and relatable, and Robert Cormier is able to show readers what goes on in the minds of these “freedom fighters.” Cormier shows the result of brainwashing and manipulation can have on a human being and the person one can become to justify their animal-like behaviors.
A - inhuman, sadistic, brutal, puzzling
A - young adults
RS - characterization
“Our duty is to let the people know the war exists, that the world is involved in it, that no one is free from war until our homeland is free” (119).
“The education received in the school was intense and concentrated. You are here to learn what you need to know to survive and what you must know to gain back our homeland. He taught the use of weapons and explosives. Combat: with knife guns, and hands” (124).
After the First Death, a psychological thriller by Robert Cormier, is an analysis of how people can be brainwashed and manipulated to commit acts of terrorism, which was becoming extremely relevant during the cold War when Cormier was writing. Throughout the novel, Cormier uses the literary device of characterization to help show the theme of this novel. Once Artkin had decided that the female bus driver, Kate, was allowed to live, Kate began to question another hijacker, Miro, why they were hijacking a bus and hurting young children. Miro explained, “Our duty is to let the people know the war exists, that the world is involved in it, that no one is free from war until our homeland is free” (119). They have been training and bombing multiple cities leading up to this bus hijacking, trying to get the attention of the American people about what they believed was a cover up of the capture of their homeland. These terrorists used violence and intimidation in their pursuit for political gain and will stop at nothing to get what they want, no matter how many lives will be spared. Cormier displayed his opinions through the character Kate, showing his disgust and hatred for how these men were able to do something so cruel and inhuman. To show what these men go through and are exposed to, Miro explained, “The education received in the school was intense and concentrated. You are here to learn what you need to know to survive and what you must know to gain back our homeland. He taught the use of weapons and explosives. Combat: with knife guns, and hands” (124). Ever since Miro has been a young boy, he has been surrounded by these men in the camps and knows nothing other than the mission they have drilled into his brain. His job is to sacrifice his life for the life of his country before the age of twenty-one. Cormier shows the terrorists way of life, which to Americans may think is insane and sadistic, however most of these men know nothing else. Through the character Miro, Cormier shows the destruction these “freedom fighters” can have on another country and the lives that can be easily sacrificed through the act of terrorism.
Brittney Champagne
ReplyDeletePeriod 4AC
I would rate this book, After the First Death, by Robert Cormier a 5 out of 5 stars. Using flashbacks and flash-forwards, Cormier was able to leave the reader at the edge of their seat until the last page. Also Cormier left plenty of room for interpretation and questions, however, only in the places that best fit. The novel was an easy read and I would recommend it to all.
Robert Cormier in the suspenseful thriller, After the First Death, shows the destruction terrorism has both on the receiving and giving end. Through the character Miro, Cormier shows us the effects radical terrorist groups can have on an only sixteen year old boy. In the novel Cormier explains, “The law of averages would settle the question; he knew that he would be dead before he reached the age of twenty or twenty-one” (26). How can a boy grow up knowing he will sacrifice himself at only a young age for a country he will never see? Growing up Miro knows nothing about women, emotions, and common things children learn at a very young age. Terrorism has hurt Miro for at the end of the book Miro results to killing two people in a matter of minutes only to start his new life of only more pain, destruction and death. On the other side of terrorism, a hostage named Kate is saved to take care of the children on the bus only to be left with all the emotions and scars the children are not aware of. At the end of the book, however, when Miro is running away from the troops he has to kill Kate because that was what his job on the mission and he must always follow orders. As Kate is dying her last thoughts were, “The pain... wow... breath-caught dying mommy and daddy I can’t breathe and nobody to tell me if I was bra...” (221). Kate was sacrificed for the only reason that Miro did not have any more uses for him. She was killed because she was a substitute bus driver on a hijacked bus that resulted in none of the demands and exposure of the government they hoped for to be released. Kate had no part in the government or what the men were after, however she was killed for criminal to flee away. In result not only has Kate been killed, but her mother and father have to live with the sorrow and pain of losing their young daughter. Miro knew he was going to die at a young age yet Kate thought she had her whole life in front of her. Cormier shows that the results of terrorism are never positive for either party and in the end, terrorism only continues and more lives are to be lost with hostile interactions.
Personal Response:
ReplyDeleteBoth the Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Bean Trees by Barbra Kingsolver share a controlling idea of working to be treated equally to men. The novel The Color Purple is about Celie who has been disrespected by Mr. ____ and has also been raped by a few men. Throughout the novel you understand how she is working along with her friends to have equal rights to men and be treated with respect. Also in the novel The Bean Trees there are instances where the women felt as though they were alone. In the novel Taylor is given a baby and has no help to raise her, but she ends up doing a good job at it. Lou Ann also has a baby Dwayne Ray with her husband Angel, but then he divorces her and leaves her alone to raise their child. In both novels the women are able to rise above their feeling of being alone with their strong personalities and help of their friends to feel as though they are equal to men.
I rate this novel a 5 out of a 5 because it is an excellent novel to read and is a very well written. It also has a good lesson to teach women never settle for anything.
Connor Moore
ReplyDeleteEnglish 4AC
Siragusa
5/16/11
S- Trust
T- You cannot trust everyone in this world. People will lie to you, sometimes for good and sometimes not. Sometimes knowing the truth is not the best thing.
A- Troubled, unsure, betrayed
A- Teenagers
R- Characterization
S- "When he and Mr. Grey finally came upstairs from the cellar, my father glanced at me in a strange way, suspicious. But he didn't say anything. I found that I didn't want to say anything." (113)
"A: Is it because there's something so terrible there that one part of me doesn't want to know about it?" (84)
In I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier, Cormier uses the rhetorical strategy of characterization to show how little Adam trusts the people around him. In the novel, Adam has many meetings with a "psychiatrist" named Brint, who pushes Adam to reveal specific parts of his past in hopes to help him. In the quote, "When he and Mr. Grey finally came upstairs from the cellar, my father glanced at me in a strange way, suspicious. But he didn't say anything. I found that I didn't want to say anything." (113), Adam had a flashback of something that happened to him as a kid. Adam has the personality where he doesn't want to deal with confrontation, even when he is suspicious of his fathers actions. Mr. Grey is what Adam names him because he doesn't know this man and his father calls him Grey. He has no idea what they talk about when he comes over but Adam does not trust his parents. He tries to remember these types of memories in hopes of revealing parts of his past that have always been a mystery. One specific quote that shows that is, "A: Is it because there's something so terrible there that one part of me doesn't want to know about it?" (84). Adam almost believes that his past was so terrible that his mind chose to forget about it and now he truly does not remember. Since Brint keeps asking Adam about his father, Adam begins to be suspicious of Brink and starts to believe that he is not a psychiatrist, yet someone from the mafia out to get his father for specific reasons. This creates more doubt in Adam's mind about who he can trust and even his own identity.
Personal Response:
ReplyDeleteI Am The Cheese is a bildungsroman novel about a young boy struggling to put the pieces back together in his scrambled puzzle of life. Adam Farmer is a troubled young man and he has had some things happen in his past that were not pleasant and he decided to block them out. Now when he tries to recall situations in his life, he cannot and he does not know who to trust. "A: But it's as if you're searching for certain information-these specifics you're always talking about-and this information seems to be more important than anything else about me." (170) is a quote that shows how Adam does not completely trust Brint. Brint keeps asking Adam to talk about his father and who he was running from, which makes Adam believe that Brint is just trying to find out information and he is not a psychiatrist. After learning certain things Adam's parents have lied about, Adam does not know who to trust anymore.
I rate I Am The Cheese 3 stars because I think it was a very good and detailed novel when describing the character and what goes on in his head. I did not give it 5 starts because I feel that the novel was too boring and mostly dialogue between Adam and Brint.
People seek love for many different reasons, often because they are running from something and seek a place of solace. In the novel A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway, the characters Henry and Catherine provide two different reasons for seeking love. Catherine was previously engaged but she explains, "He was a very nice boy. He was going to marry me and he was killed in the Somme." (18). She is trying to distance herself from the tragedy of losing someone so close to her, meeting Henry gives her the perfect opportunity. By being with him, Catherine becomes distracted from the past and eventually falls deeply in love with Henry. Henry is also trying to distance himself, but instead of an old lover, he's running from the talk of war. In a conversation with an elderly gentleman, Henry is asked to talk about the war but he declines saying he would rather talk about, "Any thing else" (260). He eventually abandons the war and puts it behind him , focusing on Catherine and the love they share. Their love is genuine, yet simple. Hemingway ends the novel by showing just how fragile and temporary love is.
ReplyDeletePersonal Response:
ReplyDeleteIn Intruder in the Dark, the controlling idea is racism. The entire book outlines racism by following the story of Lucas a black man accused of killing a white man during the 1940's. As he is accused of this crimes he has to deal with the situations that surround him and the hate of the people who are racist. The book shows how racism really affected society as a whole and how it affected individual people. Throughout the novel you get a better understanding of what some people had to go through during that time period.
I give Intruder in the Dark a 4 out of 5 because it is a very good story that highlights a very serious issue going still going on today.