Book Post

For this last blog post on All The Light We Cannot See, I want to talk both about the Sea of Flames and my opinion of the book. First of all, the Sea of Flames is a small stone that has incredible value as it has heavy historical significance. So my question is why did the museum owner give the stone and its copies to employees instead of people who would be better fit for the job? It made me mad seeing as the stone was nearly lost tons of time because, honestly, I don't believe Marie's father was the right person to give the stone to. Also, at the end of the book, the stone is thrown into the water by Marie. WHY?!?! The stone was so sought after and it has no real significance to her, so why throw it away and not sell it? It just makes me mad when an author tries to make a character so perfect that they turn down obviously free spoils of war. No one in the real world would have thrown away that much money so why would the author make her do it? Over all this book was a nice read and I would recommend it as an airplane book but something you should spend a lot of time analyzing? Not really.

Reading Question

1. This book is set during World War II, which some would argue was due to the failure of the ideals of Western civilization (consider what you are learning about in IHSS). Do you agree? Why or why not?

I disagree that WW2 was due to the ideals of Western civilization because of how it came along. World War Two, from my eyes, started with Germany invading Poland and declaring war on France and the UK. From there, all the other countries started to join in based on need or because they wanted to take the opportunity to take land from other countries. One such place was Japan trying to take Asia, or Russia that only got into the fight for political reasons. Thus I think that Germany was the feather that broke the camels back and that, though the west was in a bit of a bind politically, it was less ideals and more money, politics and power that started the war.

Reading Question

1. This week, on Thursday, we learned about imagery. Find an example of imagery in the book, quote it, and explain how it appeals to your senses.

My quote of imagery is actually the same one I used in class, mostly because it is one of my favorites. It is on page 121 and is the scene where Marie and her father are eating breakfast with Madame Manec. The quote is "The eggs taste taste like clouds. Like spun gold. Madame Manec says, 'I think she likes it,' and laughs again.... 'How about peaches my dear?'... Seconds later, she's eating wedges of wet sunlight." This piece of text is such a clear description of the textures and tastes of the food that she is eating that when I read it I could taste the food myself. I would love to see more books use such powerful imagery to help move the story along.

Reading Question

Discuss the structure of the novel so far. Why has the author made the chapters and chronology in the way that he has?

I believe that the author has a reason to be skipping around and that if he did it this book would be a lot harder to read. Most of the time the thing that keeps me reading a book is cliff hangers. This book however starts off slow in the parts that are further back in time. So the author decided to skip to times in the future to make you more confused and interested as to how the characters got to that place and what changes happened. This is great because it keeps readers like me engaged and not bored of reading about the, what I consider uneventful, past in the story.

History

The article I read was called A Round Trip Back to Houston, and it was a very interesting read. It was about the boom of bicycles in the 1890's and how a man named Frank Lenz started the interest in bicycles by attempting to circle the globe on a bicycle. The really interesting part is that a ton of the pictures and information about this journey was found by a man in Houston by total accident. The man was walking by a building being demolished and saw the workmen throw a box out of the attic, that split open and had hundreds of photo negatives inside. The man then purchased the negatives and they turned out to be from the journey of Frank Lenz. I though that it was very much a Houston thing that the workmen were going to throw the negatives out without even checking what they were. Overall I found it interesting though because I rarely thing about when bikes where invented and how they became what they are today.    

Reading Question

Do a character sketch of one of the characters in Persepolis. This should include the character's name, age (or ages as the book progresses), gender, appearance, personality, and importance to the plot of the book.

Uncle Anoosh is the brother of Ebi, Marjane's dad, and a big influence on Marjane. He lived in Russia and had had once had a family there before the book started. He is a very kind and soft spoken man when he is around Marjane, and she looks up to him a lot. During the first half of the book he is accused of being a spy and is later executed because of it. This influences the plot a lot because it makes Marjane doubt herself and her belief in God for a while.

Reading Question

Explain the differences between Marjane's personality before she left Iran and when she returned after being in Austria. Why do you think she changed so much? Use specific examples from the book to support your claims. 

I believe that Marjane was a rebellious teenager before she left Iran. She spoke back, wanted to do and wear what she wanted, and even hit her principal getting her expelled from school. She ended up being sent to Australia by her parents because they believed it was one of the only ways to assure her well being. After she had returned from Australia, she was even more shocked my the state of the country. She was so used to some of the liberties Australia had to offer that when they were not available for people in her own country she was horrified. She realized more than ever that the religious groups that were running Iran at that point were disallowing many things she thought were important for every person to have.      

Reading Question

Why is Marjane's relationship with her uncle so important to her?

From what I have read so far, I believe that her uncle was a major inspirational figure to her and that she felt grounded with him around. He helped her to understand her family, the revolution, and anything else she wanted to know. That is why I believe when he died she felt lost and alone, because she felt uprooted and ungrounded now that her uncle wasn't around. She also seemed to lose her faith in religion after his death which may have been because she was thinking that her religion wouldn't allow for her uncle to be killed. This drives a wedge between her and God for what seems to be a long time.   

Blog Post

1. What was the most fun/engaging activity that you did in ELA this year? Why was it fun/engaging?

I think that the response projects are one of my favorite projects of any class all year.

   2. What was the most boring activity that you did this year? Why was it boring?

I don't like the vocabulary quizzes and worksheets.

   3. What was your favorite book this year? Why?

The alchemist was a very inventive book that I enjoyed a lot because I enjoy fantasy and magic.

   4. What was your least favorite book this year? Why?

My least favorite book this year was Maus because, though I like the drawing style, it just wasn't my favorite of the books we've read.

   5. What should I definitely keep the same for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?

You should definitely keep the response projects and maybe even try and fit more books into the curriculum.

   6. What should I definitely change for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?

I think anotating books should be dropped because it takes away from the expirience of actually reading the book.

   7. Is there anything else that you would like to tell me about your experience in ELA? If so - please put it here.

Not really other than I really like this class

Blog Post

What I learned around the world.
Throughout my life I have spent a majority of my time traveling as my mother, instead of spending extra money on frivolous extra toys, cars, electronics, or a mansion, has decided that money is best spent on experiences and learning. She has found that the best way to do this is to travel to different and exotic places and not to stay in the resorts there but instead to go to the places that show how the people there truly live and work. This has led to me going to over +55 countries in my life experiencing hundreds of different cultures and traditions celebrated by thousands of people in different countries. I have stepped foot on every continent (other than Antarctica which I would absolutely love to go to) and met tons of people all over the world and this has allowed me to forma very comprehensive list of peoples and histories not just from reading about them or hearing about them but by experiencing them and exploring their environments. I am now going to talk about some of the things I have learned from the world and its people that may make me seem jaded or it may seem incredibly above my years, I do not know for certain which it will be but as I grow and explore I know I will learn much more than I know right now. I believe that the world is much smaller than it seems and that people are all pretty much the same around the world. Everything is just people trying to do their best and no matter how skilled and calm they may seem there is always something that will rattle a person and there is always the constant that everyone is paying more attention to themselves than to anyone else so being nervous and scared to do or try anything because the other person or people will judge you is exactly how everyone else feels. The other HUGE thing I have learned is that really 90% of life is just showing up, which when I first heard about that I though was dumb but now makes a lot of sense. If you want anything all you have to do is try. Fewer people than you think have to guts to try in the first place so, for instance, if I were to want an internship somewhere if I went in and talked to and administrator there and had lunch with them and told them why I wanted to work there and how much it meant to me unless there were really no open spots, more than likely that person will say yes. Well those are all the "wise words" I can come up with for now so be sure to leave a comment! (well you do kinda have to as well so yea)

Blog Post

Very recently I finished constructing my desktop computer and as such the process of which I made it is a quiet easy one. I ordered all the parts nececary, used one of the products manuals (the motherboard manual so I would know where to plug stuff in) to put everything together, installed Windows 7 Ultimate, and started using it. The major issue it sturred with me is I have some of the best parts on the market and now have a very fast computer that I paid close to $750 for. Yet the same type of computer with software pre-installed and pre-assembled costs close to $1,500 or more. So why is it the people will pay for such a thing? The real reason is that they are blinded by the fancy jargon and the notion of dealing with electroincs when in reality it is a very simple process that is just muddled so that people become scared to do it themselves. The entire process is just pluging wires in the right place and with 15 minutes of instruction a person who knows nothing about computers can do it. That is why the companys that want to make money off of these things use odd words and complicated processes to make aproaching the subject seem like harder than its worth and so people pay hand and foot for really nothing they cant do themselves.

Reading Question

Choose any topic of interest that we have discussed in class (or not discussed, if you have a new one)  in relation to The Great Gatsby and explore it further. Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

For my blog post, I would like to address the surreal nature of the book The Great Gatsby and how a simple and boring story of love and loss takes a turn for murder and madness. From the start of the book there has been an air of no responsibility and carefree fun that all of the characters have, almost as though anything that is being taken seriously is just a first world problem and that by the end no matter what happens the worst that will happen is people will walk away with their feelings hurt. Then as the book progresses you start to realize how much greed and madness the world they live in contains. The book end with greed and lust overtaking many of the characters and driving them to kill each other or themselves. This ending left me with a bad taste in my mouth about the book and how it was written as it seems to have nothing profound to its ending except for the knowledge that bad things happen.

Reading Question

1. Describe  what happens when Myrtle is killed in chapter 7. How did it happen? Who was to blame? Use textual evidence.

During chapter 7 Myrtle is killed by getting hit by a car. After going to the city the whole group of Tom, Nick, Jordan, Gatspy, and Daisy head home. Daisy and Gatspy are in Gatspy's car and Tom, Nick, and Jordan are in Tom's car. Myrtle and Wilson are going to move because Wilson has found out Myrtle is cheating on him but doesn't know with who. Myrtle runs out of the house after an argument and runs into the street only to get hit by a car. After she is killed later on Nick asks Gatspy if they ran into anything on the road. This is when it is revealed that Daisy was driving the car and was responsible for the accident but Gatspy is going to take the fall because he thinks that would be the chivalrous thing to do.  

Reading Question

1. Having learned something about the Lost Generation in class, find a passage in this week's reading that reflects the feelings of many people after WWI. To what extent does this passage represent the worldview of the Lost Generation? Please copy the passage as part of your answer.

The statement I thought related to this was on page 36 and was of Myrtle talking about a huge list of physical possessions the she HAS to get: "My dear," she cried, "I'm going to give you this dress as soon as I'm through with it. I've got to get another one tomorrow. I'm going to make a list of all the things I've got to get. A massage and a wave, and a collar for the dog, and one of those cute little ashtrays where you touch a spring, and a wreath with a black silk bow for mothers grave that'll last all summer. I got to write a lost so I don't forget all the things I got to do."

I belive that this fascination with objects and shopping is one of the many feelings people had after the war because after having seen and been in situations with so much death and despair people felt a lack of emotions being ok and that frivolous things you can't touch and use are useless. I think this is displayed here with her need to purchase and buy more and have a new dress and all of that.

Blog Post

Do you think that the American Dream is specific to The United States in some way? Explain why or why not?

I believe that the American dream is something that first came around in America due to Americas capitalistic economy and the ability for anyone to start their own busyness and spend their money how they want. Having this freedom means that all you require is hard work and determination and you can get far in life. I believe other countries that have adopted capitalist economy's now have their own American dream but because America has been the center of attention when it comes to starting new for so long there is very little recognition for other countries that are capitalistic that allow hard work in exchange for success.