Monday, November 2, 2009

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The Christians gain new support from the outcasts of the tribe. The church is growing, and so is the concern among Okonkwo and the elders. Okonkwo insists that the church be removed through violent actions while the elders decide that it is best to ignore and ostracize the converts. One of the outcasts who had recently joined the church was bragging about killing the "sacred royal python". Later it is found out that he has been killed. This reassures the elders and Okonkwo that the Gods are acting in their favor against the church. How is the church gaining so many followers? What is the main reason of dissent against the Christians?

Sunday, October 25, 2009

TFA Chapter 8

During Chapter 8 Okokwo acts as a "shivering old woman" because he is emotionally rattled from his earlier actions. Even though he is acting like a women, Okonkwo continually expresses his desire that Ezinma were a boy instead of a girl. When he visits Obierika he suggests that Ezinma is the only of his children who is "manly" enough for him. This attempt to support masculinity in his children could be something that he wishes his father would have done for him. He later rationalizes that he was so shaken up about Ikemefuna's death because it happened in a very dull time. There was not enough going on in the village to keep Okonkwo's mind off it.

What impact does Okonkwo's desire to have "manly" boys have on his character.
How does Okonkwo's view of the elderly couple's death support his skewed view of what a man should be like?

Monday, October 5, 2009

A Day in the Life of Robert

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. He has to get the vibrating phone before that annoying sounds goes off again. The phone is put on the ground because it’s the only sound that will get Robert up. He groggily turns the alarm off and zombie walks into his shower. He rinses away the tiredness and cleanses his body of the night’s slumber. Robert was smart last night because he pre-packed his bags so he could squeeze that extra five minutes of sleep in the morning. Grabbing a Powerbar and heading out the door, he’s off to school. Rob must fight off the urge to zone out and swerve into the curb. A swift walk is necessary to get to class on time avoiding yet another detention. He slyly sits down into his respected chair and tries to refocus. It is an easy class to glide through and just count down the clock. Now comes the best part of the day; a morning free where a must needed nap in the library can take place. The thirty minutes of rest makes the morning bearable. The rest of the day goes on with the best parts being music and lunch. Robert would be able to tell more about the different parts of the day if it all weren’t just a blur bizzing by his head. Now comes sports; a time where you get to work as a team and enjoy exercise in great Autumn weather. Two hours where Roberts can break away from anything else that is troubling him. Two care-free hours that he gets to release any type of emotion and “leave it all on the field” feeling refreshed and clear-headed. Driving home from the field, music has never sounded so good. The windows have to be down to get every part of the breeze. Pulling into the driveway, a different part of the day is underway. Clothes have to be thrown into the washer, dinner must be ordered or made, and homework is just beginning. It’s not easy for Robert at school. Nightly assignments or readings take up a large majority of his nights. Important games, shows, or even just family dinner must take a back road some nights because the load is just too much. Once all the work is done effective part of the night; a choice is to be made: there’s still some good TV on, go to bed earley, or some internet surfing and chatting to do. It depends on Robert’s mood; both are options every night and there’s not much variety. Eventually, Robert ends up falling asleep with the TV on and waking up to the same day tomorrow.

Monday, September 14, 2009

A Hot Suit

It is a horrible fate to be stuck doing the same routine day in and day out. School is a large portion of most peoples early years. Wasting all that time sitting in the same chairs letting information go in one ear, and out the other. This time is spent so that you can grow and have the knowledge to do what you love when you are older and be good at it. The old saying that I heard from a Sam Adams commercial is that if you find something that you love, you won’t work a day in your life. This is a lot easier for young people to do. Some people get stuck in a long career with no logical way out. Similar to a man’s commitment to his family and salary, Spiderman feels a commitment to the citizens he serves. His suit is one that cannot be burned and one he could never fully leave. I will never let myself be trapped in a suit that I do not want to be in. At this point I wish I can finish my education and get into a job that I love and can not help but love doing. I do not want to ever have to work a nine to five job. I understand though that part of developing into the life I want to live is roughing through suits that I do not want to wear. I may have to work a nine to five job for a while in order to get where I want to be in life. But I never want it to get to the point where I need to burn my suit. Every stage of life should be enjoyed. Without bearing through the long hours and hard work we would not be able to appreciate a relaxed Sunday on the patio. Without the rain, a sunny day would be the norm. At the same time, if the suit you are wearing is not making you happy you have to get out and switch to a suit that will make you happy. (350)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

You Gotta Fight for Your Right to partAAYYYY!!

Antigone has a very strong devotion to her beliefs. She not only knows the right thing to do, she refuses to let anything get in the way of her doing the right thing. This devotion to a cause is very rarely seen. This loyalty to morals is often linked with the Free French during World War II. The struggle for Antigone to do what is right even though there were harsh punishments if she were to be caught is strongly linked to the opposition of the Nazi occupation of France. It was only a matter of time before the people of France got the courage and strength to take back what was theirs. The leaders of the Free French galvanized their people with the story of Antigone. Many forms of Antigone were written and performed in France during this time. It is common for literary characters to be parallels into real life situations. Not many parallels have been made to historical American figures; but, two people in American society who have embraced this devotion are Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi started the non-violent tactics that were later used by Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement. Gandhi is so renowned for this that the UN declared October 2nd, his birthday, “The International Day of Non-violence”. Gandhi was very active in rights and independence movements in many different countries. Martin Luther King is much more like Antigone because they both saw a cause worth fighting for and they both did not stop until their goals had been reached. His Montgomery Bus Boycott was a long tough road for him to walk; but he stuck to his beliefs and was in it till the end. It was not only Dr. King who was employing this steadfast method. Many were staging sit-ins all across the South. The members of the sit-ins knew they would be physically and verbally beaten but they also knew that the cause was more important than the repercussions. Nothing could stop this group from reaching their goal. Their determination rivals that of Antigone when she knows that must bury her brother and give him the righteous path to an afterlife with the gods. Both Antigone and the civil rights activists faced persecution and pain. Creon can be linked to the police officers that were ordered to break up the civil rights marches. They both opposed the competition with force and harm. Hoses and dogs could not keep the marchers from reaching their goal, and execution could not keep Antigone from honoring her bother. 428

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Most Memorable Books

1. Holes, Louis Sachar– First book that I truly enjoyed reading. And it made a great transformation into a motion picture.
2. Eragon, Chris Paolini – My favorite fantasy book
3. Goodnight Moon – My parents would read this to me at night when I was little
4. Any Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling – the most entertaining series I’ve ever read
5. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer – Great series I read when I was younger; great robbery and spy stories. (when I googled how to spell his name, I found that there are new books in the series and I’m pumped to read em!)
6. Supernaturals, Eoin Colfer – Greatest futuristic book! It had such a cool underground guerilla group in it.
7. The White Fox Chronicles, Gary Paulsen – Had to have read this book a million times. By far the most graphic and suspenseful book I read when I was young.
8. Moneyball, Michael Lewis – Opened my eyes to a new side of baseball.
9. Ball Four, Jim Bouton – Gave me the behind the scenes for the majors.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Life of Pi

Life of Pi is a tale of a shipwreck told to an anonymous man who immediately jumps into the shoes of Pi and listens to the entirety of the adventure. It is a fantasy story that has a large shipwreck, zoo animals on a boat, and an unlikely survival; it’s the perfect setting for imagination and exaggeration to take over. The entire style of changes in Part Three, it turns from imagination and exaggeration into an interpretive assessment of the stories told. In the ending of the book; Pi tells his two interviewers two stories and asks them, “Which do you like better?” The same question is directed to the reader but after finishing the book the reader realizes that there is one more question to be asked, which story is the true story? After reading the two-word Chapter 97 “The story” it puts the readers and interviewers on the same page. We had both just finished being told or reading the story with all the animals. Anyone with an imagination, including myself, enjoyed the entire story with Richard Parker and the other zoo animals on the raft. We all went with the storyline and enjoyed the reality of food-finding while also there were obnoxious animals staying in a small space with a human and Pi is one of the two who stay alive. However, the two interviewers are more skeptical of the boy’s story. They ask him if he is telling the truth. Pi then retells the story but switches out the animals for more believable human characters. The interviewers admit that they enjoyed the first story more but believed the second story. How easily the animals were switched out for humans poses the question if a tiger was ever even on the boat with Pi. The tiger easily could have been a physical representation of a different side of Pi. Pi the vegetarian would have never survived stranded at sea. He needed a lion at side to catch and kill fish, to fend off the other blind castaway, and to manage staying alone for two hundred and twenty-days at sea. But if the characters are all made up, what is to stop the story from being a huge exaggeration of the series of events. After all, they never found a lion running through the streets of Mexico. It is hard to deny that he was lost at sea for a long time, but there is not any other kind of evidence. We as the reader must determine whether or not we are being fed a lie about man-eating islands or if we should take it in and accept the story, and that bananas can float... after our own test in the sink of course. (456)