Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Blog #2 - Heart of Darkness
i thought it was very interesting that near the beginning of the book, there is definitely forshadowing that once people step into this area of Africa - they slowly change. the doctor hinted this when he creepily talked about how the changes that come from this part of the land are usually inward - and it didnt sound like a good thing. as well as saying that most people dont come back. after marlow meets the brick maker and immediately didnt like him, he talks about how he HATES lies - he said it is EXACTLY what he hates and detests in the world. there is a flavor of mortality in them. yet he said he would lie for Kurtz against the brick maker. he would sacrifice his morals. what he believes in already. ALREADY something is changing in him and he doesnt even realize it. something in the darkness is getting to him where he would change what he believes is right... what could happen next, for he is not even IN the darkness yet....
Blog #1 - Heart of Darkness
This book is very confusing so far. It certainly is dense.
The key point i want to talk about though in this first blog is Marlow's ignorance. He has experienced a good deal in this novel so far- traveling to his new job, meeting new people, becoming introduced to this new land. However, his ignorance is very present. i dont know what the "darkness" truly is yet, for i dont know what is going to happen in the book. But Marlow is on this journey for adventure. he just wants to see more of the world - work his new job - but most of all experience this new "adventure." Obviously though, he is not a man who has seen much - i mean maybe, but not really seen other parts of the world - because immediately, in his first couple sightings of seeing black slaves - he calls them creatures. animals. crawling on "all fours." drinking water from the river. the first time he sees the natives' suffering in the forest - near the very beginning of his arrival in Africa, he completely distances himself. he looks at them and describes them with animal characteristics. they are not human in his eyes. the reason why i write about this is that i am just interested to see marlows change in perception throughout the novel, because as we get more into the novel, the more we travel into the "heart of darkness." or in other words - truly the heart of this suffering- of what he saw in the forest, and worse. will marlow eventually recognize these natives as humans? will he understand and empathize with them? or will the darkness distort his thinking and his mind as it supposedly does most people, and distance him even more to the fact that these are human beings.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Eveline
This story is about a girl named Eveline who was raised in a family with an abusive father and a mother who passed away when she was young. During this story, she is basically deciding to leave this family - leave her father - leave this abusive setting. and go live with a man named frank and start a new life. and she finally has the chance that she is waiting for - but suddenly - she changes her mind.
level 1 - why does eveline want to leave?
level 2 - why does eveline strive for life more than love?
level 3- why did eveline not leave with Frank? what happened?
i thought this was a pretty good story - well written i thought. it flowed. it wasnt confusing, like some of the other stories have been. i dont know really what to say about it either tho. it felt sort of dry to me. i mean yes, here is this girl - she is tired and worn out and she is reflecting on her past - on the good times. she is sitting in reflection because she is about to move on to a new life. this reflection helps the reader understand her story and what is taking place in this girls life.
we learn that there used to be "good times," when her brothers and her would play in the field - when her mom was still alive. but then after her mom passed away - her dad became really abusive to the family - made her give him her money that she worked for - do ridiculous things. she was so unhappy and he made her feel like she cant deserve happiness.
but here - she is saying that she does. and she is going to live this life - that this man Frank, who she may not even love at all, will give her a life, a house, etc. he wants her. and she goes on and on in this story abotu how she doesnt care that she is leaving this town, this family. and how she is so excited etc. etc. she deserves this. yet right at the end of the story - her body shuts down. she cannot go. does she really believe those things she was saying. she obviously is not strong enough to move on with her life. yes, she was hurt. but really? are u really going to stay. i just think the ending is dumb. like - the girl needs to get over herself. and stop justifying every thing in her life - cuz obviously she is justifying the fact that she has an abusive father - but sometimes he can be nice. i dont care anymore. it was a good story. i thought. i liked it. just the charactor didnt make me too happy. but since the author got a reaction out of me means that it was a well written story.
level 1 - why does eveline want to leave?
level 2 - why does eveline strive for life more than love?
level 3- why did eveline not leave with Frank? what happened?
i thought this was a pretty good story - well written i thought. it flowed. it wasnt confusing, like some of the other stories have been. i dont know really what to say about it either tho. it felt sort of dry to me. i mean yes, here is this girl - she is tired and worn out and she is reflecting on her past - on the good times. she is sitting in reflection because she is about to move on to a new life. this reflection helps the reader understand her story and what is taking place in this girls life.
we learn that there used to be "good times," when her brothers and her would play in the field - when her mom was still alive. but then after her mom passed away - her dad became really abusive to the family - made her give him her money that she worked for - do ridiculous things. she was so unhappy and he made her feel like she cant deserve happiness.
but here - she is saying that she does. and she is going to live this life - that this man Frank, who she may not even love at all, will give her a life, a house, etc. he wants her. and she goes on and on in this story abotu how she doesnt care that she is leaving this town, this family. and how she is so excited etc. etc. she deserves this. yet right at the end of the story - her body shuts down. she cannot go. does she really believe those things she was saying. she obviously is not strong enough to move on with her life. yes, she was hurt. but really? are u really going to stay. i just think the ending is dumb. like - the girl needs to get over herself. and stop justifying every thing in her life - cuz obviously she is justifying the fact that she has an abusive father - but sometimes he can be nice. i dont care anymore. it was a good story. i thought. i liked it. just the charactor didnt make me too happy. but since the author got a reaction out of me means that it was a well written story.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
A good man is hard to find blog
eek. well. creeper creeper is right. actually i didnt so much get the creeper impression - just weird. like i feel like i missed something.
so this story was about how this family was taking a road trip down to florida - a grandmother, her son, her daughter in law, and her two grand children. and along the way - they come to a car crash. From this crash they come into contact with this serial killer on the loose - that being The Misfit.
level 1: why was the grandmother hesitant about going on this trip
level 2: what caused the car crash in the first place?
level 3: did the Misfit really kill his father? What caused the Misfit to be this way?
so this story - lets just say the grandmother got on my nerves a whole hell of a lot. i liked the story though - it wasnt boring, it didnt ramble on - the charactors were individuals and certainly Bailey and the grandmother were round charactors - made the story much more interesting. plus, it was suspenseful. and it gave an inside look on what was going on inside the charactors head a bit - particularly the grandmother - gave us an inside perspective on the story, and helped us be with them more in the moment. i dont know though - the correlation and long talk about Jesus and what not confused me - i just dont get truly the purpose. Was the Misfit right in the head? What was the purpose of the last line. he acted like, by talking to the grandmother, that having no morals and no values and whatever and killing people is pleasurable. he enjoys it - the revenge, burning peoples houses down etc, but at the end of the story - when bobby lee laughed and said oh fun! when the misfit said the grandmother shouldve been shot every day of her life - the misfit was saying that is no pleasure. was what he was putting off to the grandmother a front? was the misfit actually unhappy - what was his deal. i really dont have the answers. it was confusing. was the grandmother out of her mind. of course, we all know that everyone was killed - that is a given though.
so this story was about how this family was taking a road trip down to florida - a grandmother, her son, her daughter in law, and her two grand children. and along the way - they come to a car crash. From this crash they come into contact with this serial killer on the loose - that being The Misfit.
level 1: why was the grandmother hesitant about going on this trip
level 2: what caused the car crash in the first place?
level 3: did the Misfit really kill his father? What caused the Misfit to be this way?
so this story - lets just say the grandmother got on my nerves a whole hell of a lot. i liked the story though - it wasnt boring, it didnt ramble on - the charactors were individuals and certainly Bailey and the grandmother were round charactors - made the story much more interesting. plus, it was suspenseful. and it gave an inside look on what was going on inside the charactors head a bit - particularly the grandmother - gave us an inside perspective on the story, and helped us be with them more in the moment. i dont know though - the correlation and long talk about Jesus and what not confused me - i just dont get truly the purpose. Was the Misfit right in the head? What was the purpose of the last line. he acted like, by talking to the grandmother, that having no morals and no values and whatever and killing people is pleasurable. he enjoys it - the revenge, burning peoples houses down etc, but at the end of the story - when bobby lee laughed and said oh fun! when the misfit said the grandmother shouldve been shot every day of her life - the misfit was saying that is no pleasure. was what he was putting off to the grandmother a front? was the misfit actually unhappy - what was his deal. i really dont have the answers. it was confusing. was the grandmother out of her mind. of course, we all know that everyone was killed - that is a given though.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Rocking Horse Winner Blog
this story was about a very poor family, and a boy who wanted so much to have money for his family, or what his mom called "luck." so this boy would ride his lucky rocking horse - and the rocking horse would basically tell him the winner of the derby - and the boy would win so much money.
level 1 what showed that something was wrong wtih the christmas mentioned in the story?
level 2 why was the mom not so happy that she recieved a thousand pounds for her birthday?
level 3 why did the boy die at the end of the story? what was the moral of the story?
i didnt like this story at all. it was completely uninteresting and just carried on and on. it was also confusing. the way the story started was interesting though - i didnt like it so much because it started out really simple - there was a woman. blah blah. and then it switched to there was a boy yadada. right after that i did not know the boy and the woman were related - and then the style of the whole story changed. it wasnt as simple and concrete as the first few paragraphs.
it was just an interesting choice of story - like charactors of the boy and the mom remained constant for the most part - but there were so many other names it felt like - Oscar, Bansha (i forget what it was), the uncle, Daffodil- all these different horses and the boys "partners." And then all of a sudden at the end of the story he died. like what? i mean yea, he won all this money for his mom and still, she did not appreciate it. even if she doesnt know its from him - she does not appreciate the money - the whispers dont go away. and the boy gets so into these races and winning this money that he must have exhausted himself to the point of him dying - the moral of the story being that money isnt everything? that one should not care so much about money? idk i didnt really get it, nor did i like it.
level 1 what showed that something was wrong wtih the christmas mentioned in the story?
level 2 why was the mom not so happy that she recieved a thousand pounds for her birthday?
level 3 why did the boy die at the end of the story? what was the moral of the story?
i didnt like this story at all. it was completely uninteresting and just carried on and on. it was also confusing. the way the story started was interesting though - i didnt like it so much because it started out really simple - there was a woman. blah blah. and then it switched to there was a boy yadada. right after that i did not know the boy and the woman were related - and then the style of the whole story changed. it wasnt as simple and concrete as the first few paragraphs.
it was just an interesting choice of story - like charactors of the boy and the mom remained constant for the most part - but there were so many other names it felt like - Oscar, Bansha (i forget what it was), the uncle, Daffodil- all these different horses and the boys "partners." And then all of a sudden at the end of the story he died. like what? i mean yea, he won all this money for his mom and still, she did not appreciate it. even if she doesnt know its from him - she does not appreciate the money - the whispers dont go away. and the boy gets so into these races and winning this money that he must have exhausted himself to the point of him dying - the moral of the story being that money isnt everything? that one should not care so much about money? idk i didnt really get it, nor did i like it.
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