Super Duper Blog Action

About Me

2011-08-03T16:24:00.001-07:00

Garden Party

2011-07-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

The Story Significance

Mansfield's short story reveals her virulent dislike of class differences, where a workman can't talk to a upper-class girl in a certain tone.

How Does It Signify

When comparing the Sheridan family and Jose's servant crew, an acute similarity occurs in that the two different inanities function in the same way. Mrs. Sheridan gives orders to her children and Jose gives orders to her workers all in interest of the garden party. Mansfield is trying to show that these two groups are alike, yet a huge gap in class exist. Laura begins to realize this class distinction, and feels guilty for all the excess she enjoys. She tries to help, but this only brings her the even more upsetting realization that she can't change the rigid class system. I think Laura parallels to Mansfield's own personal thoughts, and expresses her emotions through this character.

Comparison

I got the stories significance, but I took the HOW in a different direction than the examples. But for being a senior in high school, and the examples being college graduates I think I did relatively good.

The comparison of Laura and Persephone only gave me more reason to believe every story is connected and that an original story does not exist.

Archetype

2011-07-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Archetype is the basic beginning story format of any literary work.

The Hero Who Can't be Kept Down

In the Lurking Fear the journalist has a myriad of horrible things happen to him. First, his partners are killed when investigating a house. Second, a friend is killed by lightning when investigating a crime scene. Finally, the journalist has a near death experience when sneaking around the mansion, but escapes his fate. After all this, the journalist does not retire on his investigation, and finally finds the solution to his questions. This short story is a prime example of a hero who will not give up from his task.

The Scar

2011-07-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

The scar on Harry's forehead describes the reason Harry Potter is Harry Potter. The scar is his signature on the wizard world, making him famous and incredibly popular. Rowling also uses the scar to foreshadow that Harry has survived one fight but more trials are coming upon him. The scar shows that he is emotionally sensitive, because any time hatred is directed at him it burns. The most important idea of the scar is the connection to the past. It always reminds Harry of his parents, like when he sees his parents in the mirror and great happiness overwhelms him. But it also reminds him of Voldermort, and that he will have to face him some day, bringing great stress and turmoil to his life. Even though at first glance the scar is only a imperfection, his character can really be summed up in a scratch.

Except Sex

2011-07-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

Donnie Darko

In this movie a strange boy, Donnie, meets a new girl at school named Gretchen. They eventually become a couple, both taking shelter in each other: Donnie from his physiological problems, and Gretchen from her family problems. Donnie has a Halloween party at his house when Gretchen shows up crying because her mother has left. Donnie takes her up to his room, then they kiss, and the next scene is both of them walking down the stairs with smiles on their faces holding hands. This changes Donnie because the root of all his physiological problems is the feeling of loneliness, and after this act he finally feels connected with someone. Earlier in the movie Donnie is told by Frank, and imaginary bunny, that the world is going to end in 28 days, which happens to be six hours away during the party scene. Frantically, Donnie tells Gretchen to follow him, and they go to Grandma Death, an old scientist that believes in time travel. Upon arriving two school bullies appear, knocking down Donnie and punching Gretchen unconscious into the middle of the street. Then a car comes down the road, running over Gretchen killing her, and as the driver steps out Donnie sees Frank. Overwhelmed with losing someone he finally connected with, he shoots Frank, something that Donnie would have never originally done.

Political

2011-07-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Animal Farm

In this book, Orwell clearly wants the reader to notice the parallel between the Russian Revolution. Old Major has a dream which arouses all the farm animals to overthrow the owner of the farm. Just like Lenin urged lower class Russians to overthrow the Czar. Once that task was complete all the farm animals gave power to the pigs, and a struggle for power occurs between Snowball and Napoleon. Napoleon wins the fight and expels Snowball from the farm. In Russia the struggle for power occurred between Troshkey and Stalin, which Stalin won and banished Troshkey from Russia. Then Napoleon abandons all of Old Major's original ideas treating the animals worse and worse, and finally the pigs become just like humans. Stalin abandoned all of the original ideas upon becoming dictator, and killed many of his own people. Orwell wanted to show, in a simple way, that tyrants base their ideas on liberty and equality, but they only turn into hypocrites.

It's Rain

2011-06-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

The Lurking Fear

The unnamed main character is a journalist that travels to Temptest Mountain to investigate the Martenese Mansion. Three of his companions are killed, all of which occurs during a rainstorm. During these storms the description of the landscape is incredibly vivid, creating a nasty environment for the journalist. According to Foster's theories, I think that the journalist becomes "stained" by the mystery of the mansion, because of his companions deaths. This controls him turning the case into a game, either he will find the cause or the cause will kill him. After uncovering the secret in the last scene, rain is still falling. Therefore, applying to Foster's cleansing idea also, because the journalist found the source and can now carry on with his life.

Or the Bible

2011-06-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Blood Meridian

In this book, the main character, the Kid, is an orphan, that eventually rides the western plains as an outlaw. In a shoot out at a church revival, the Kid is connected with the Judge. Both characters part in their own ways, but meet later in the novel. The Judge always seems to be right at the heels of the Kid, but never makes any major effort to stop the Kid. Therefore, the Kid builds on his pile of wrong, with the Judge waiting until the pile becomes outrageous. Stories of Satan in the Bible are very similar to this plot. Mainly because the Devil hardly ever pounces on the victim of sin, but lets them slowly fall into more sin, then the victim is all his. Since I made a connection that the Judge was the devil and the Kid a normal person, the book almost became a moral debate.

Intertextuality

2011-06-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Intertextuality is the interaction between new and old works of literature.

Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings

When I read Harry Potter, I always felt like I had already heard the same exact story. This frustrated me because I felt like Harry Potter was not original, but yet the book was selling in incredible numbers. Then I finally saw the connection to the Lord of the Rings, in which the story line to Harry Potter is almost identical. In the two works a hero is present: Frodo, who is trying to destroy all evil in the middle earth, and Harry, who is trying to destroy all evil from the wizard world. The connection between the two main characters is so strong the intertextuality explanation could stop there, but many more similarities exist. Gandolf and Dumbledore, both wizards helping their young hero to accomplish their task. Voldermort and Sauron, both the evil beings, both waiting to gain power, both waiting to take over the world. The Order of the Phoenix and the Fellowship of the Ring, both a group of powerful people protecting the hero on their journey. Many more connection can still be made! Unlike Foster's suggestion to making the reading deep, all I could think is Tolkien got robbed from his great stories. Therefore, discouraging me to finish the Harry Potter books.

Maximum Ride and X-Men

In this connection the characters are not that alike, but the story line contains similarities. In Maximum Ride a group of children are changed into "human birds." In X-Men some form of radiation turns humans into mutants. The groups both have a main leader, Professor X, which trains the mutants telling them that their power can be used for good, and Jeb, who is also a professor that watched over the flock. Therefore, in both cases a group of mutants is trying to save the world from a villain: in X-Men the villain is Magneto, and in Maximum Ride the villain is the School. Both of these villains are trying to gain control of all mutants, so they can take over the world.

Reading Assignment 1

2011-06-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Wall (Pink Floyd's Movie)

The Quester

In this movie, Pink, is the main character, living his boyhood years in a suburb in England. His father was drafted into the army for WWII, and died during combat, therefore, creating resentment in Pink's life. At school Pink is ridiculed for his strange behavior in poetry, which is discredited by his teacher. Also, Pink is always with his mother: at church, the park, and never alone when at his house.

A Place to Go

Pink leaves to become a rock star.

Stated Reason to Go There

Pink leaves, which starts to create his alter ego. His mom drives him away, because she won't let him make decisions for himself. When he wanted to marry, his mom gave a disappointing look, and tried to guilt trip him out of the decision. Pink finally realizes that he needs to actually live his life.

Challenges and Trails

He finally marries, but since he is out touring with his band, his wife grows apart from him. She turns out to have an affair, and this sends Pink even further to his alter ego. One night Pink loses conscious before his concert, and his manager finds him injecting drugs so he can play the show. This is the final brick in the wall, sending Pink into magnificent hallucinations, convincing his mind that he is a dictatorial power. Then, his mind goes into a trial in which all his life connections are represented in strange ways, resulting in the judge demanding the wall to be torn down.

Real Reason to Go

I think Pink left for his father. He loved his mom, married, became famous, trying to give his soul rest from the large gap from fatherly love. Pink did all of these things to the best of his ability, but in his mind he still felt that he failed.

Teacher Argument

2011-03-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/27/how-to-raise-the-status-of-teachers/restructure-teacher-compensation I disagree with Michael J. Petrilli in the main points of his online response. He states that the problem of teacher respect is a low salary, but I think the problem boils down to the respect raidiating from the students. In the classroom students text, fall asleep, talk, and allow their minds to wander away from the teacher's instruction. Therefore, the student's grades plument, along with test scores, and their moral in the classroom. Hence, the people in the community observe the lack of educational exellence, rashly assuming that the educators are not properly teaching the unrespectful students. In the past decade, responability of education has been lifted from the students and parents, and been harshly placed on the teacher. The students are not driven by their parents to excell in school, so any type of failure is blamed on the lack of teaching. The standard of morals have shifted in our society, so now any failure is passed onto the nearest associate. Some may say that it is not the parents responibilities to make their children improve in their schooling. But in the 1950's students were pushed by thier parents to succeded in school, and the overall values of the time period were high; now students are not driven by their parents, and the values are extremly low. Is the problem now how can our society fix the moral problem?

Great Gatsby Analysis

2011-03-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

Fitzgerald's hopeless criticism portrays his subtle attack on American ideas and lifestyles in the 1920s at the top of the industrial revolution.

Fitzgerald enlightens that a possible "orgiastic future" should be born on this "green breast," but that future "recedes before us." By applying these powerful words, especially for the 1920s, reveals an incredible, heart-pounding, breath-taking, future awaits, but only to traverse further away from that heightened feeling. In essence stating, that we all obfuscate how great the future can be by letting it fall into a "vast obscurity."

Fitzgerald views America's cities as "dark fields of the republic" that have "vanished" the natural life, "eluded" mother nature's "breast," made "shadowy" human relations. He is being virulent, condemning Americian culture, for the monopolistic ideas of the time period, to obtain the biggest and best of everything, chastising them for stealing the "fresh," "green," "enchanted," "new world," and creating a battlefield of industry. With this depressing view, his difference of ideology is present, especially towards the urbanization habitits of Americans. He also falls into the pitifully category as another author the bashes America for its great accomplishments.

Fitzgerald thinks we "beat on," only to be "born back ceaselessly into the past." Therefore, instead of progressing forward, we progress backwards, with the same occurrences just in different times and places. The hopeless air is felt in this last sentence, because he thinks that we really never progress into the future, giving a feeling of why even try.

This passage by Fitzgerald shows his strong feeling of no hope, by allowing the future to receded before us, having the feeling of everything is the same, and even by attacking his own country. Even though he realizes all the horrible things, America had plenty of positives, especially as being a world power. Why did he dislike his own country so much?

3rd Nine Weeks Books

2011-03-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

I read 4 books, the equivalent of 6 books.

Blood Meridian- 342
Alice in Wonderland- 102
The Lurking Fear- 56
Running Out of Time- 184

The Lurking Fear was a great read, especially since it was a short story. This story grabbed my creative, messed up, side of my brain, because the author did not go into great detail. Therefore, he left the look of the monster up to the reader, which actually kept me awake at night. The story was about a reporter that was researching a "haunted" house, which he soon found out that it really was haunted. I enjoyed this book because it was so simple, yet really compelling.

Quote about Buying

2011-02-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.

-John Ruskin (1819–1900)

He has a house payment, three car payments, cable payment, phone payment, internet payment, gas payments, loan payments, but he enjoys to show these possessions to the town. These possessions throw him into an eternal cycle of work, work, work then pay, pay, pay. While bringing him a high reputation around the town, he can barley keep up with his own life, sending him into this "weariness" that can only be cured by more "possessions."

Ad that Gives some Music

2011-02-24T11:15:00.000-08:00

http://goldcoverage.musiciansfriend.com/content/MF/en/Generic/Index

This advertisement is by the company Musiciansfriend, a website that sells musical instruments such as: guitars, drums, keyboards, etc. They have a gold coverage system for protection of any instrument they sell, which provides product coverage, customer care, speedy repairs, and replacements, all for around one hundred dollars. Each time a consumer tries to purchase an item the computer automatically asks about gold coverage. Therefore, Musicianfriend uses a technique of repetition and the sense of reassurance of protection.

At first, the deal seemed too good to be true. Then, I started to think about the different amounts of spending I would be doing with and without gold coverage protection. I also realized that I would be very careful with a guitar or musical instrument, so I really would not need this protection. Therefore, I did not purchase the gold coverage, it was just too much money for something that was useless.

An Imagination

2010-12-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

Is there anything better than sneaking out around sunset in the winter wind, with a friend plodding across the horizon outlined as a shadow, just as a gunshot reflects of a cold eardrum the friend hits the ground in a hard, steady, fall, as the victor shouts? No! This is the works of a child's imagination, so large, that a wintered war battle ground can be recreated. The freedom, the possibilities, the excitement, can not be matched by any other source. Whether the scene be a war or race car speeding around a turn, all imagination trips help a child grow producing an expanded mind.

The City of Thieves is a book that occurs during WWII, presenting the story through the eyes of a Russian boy, Lev, who has to save himself from death by finding a dozen eggs. One night when sitting on top of his building with his fire crew, a German pilot floats down onto their road. Wild with excitement, the group jolts down the stairs ready to examine this German pilot. Upon finding the pilot they realize he was dead, and began to loot his possessions such as: a steel German knife, a flask of unknown liquor, and clothing items; this whole time Lev knew the group was in trouble of possibly being caught by the police, because of curfew limits. Right on cue the police jeep swerves around the corner onto their street. Stopping abruptly, Russian police units chase the group, and one of the members falls on some ice. Lev then makes the decision to turn around and save the member, but in the process he is captured by the police.

This excerpt from the book took me back to the days of imagination in my back yard, pretending to be in this same exact situation. Lungs pumping, heart beating, hair flying, just everything about my childhood imagination was amazing, but now that I am older I have entered into the boring world of "adulthood." Now, the ability of my mind to actually put me in these scenarios is sadly becoming harder and harder. Eventually, this ability will disappear completely. Do you want to grow up? Would you go back to that age where nothing mattered? This book makes me desire my childhood back. Maybe this feeling is felt by many, maybe this feeling pertains only to me, maybe near the end it will resurface, maybe this mind will grasp the feeling of a child's imagination.

12 Sentance Story

2010-11-30T10:12:00.001-08:00

I was siting on top the driveway, with a set face of determination as the wind blew back my hair, with a fast heartbeat thudding in my ears, with a smooth encouragement from my older cousin, with a fast pedal the wind grew louder. This happen to be the first time I had rode a mountain bike with brakes on the handles; since I was on a large hill this made the situation even better! My cousin, a wild trickster, taught me how to use the bike and he suggested I ride the bike down the big hill. A young boy of seven thought, “Well I can ride it in the grass, on the road, across the dirt, through the rocks, and over the water. Why not down the big hill?” I climbed the hill very lofty. Quite the contrary! I pedaled the bike with all my might and then I pedaled backwards to stop the wheels and I saw a white brick wall approaching fast. The house shuddered, as all was still. In my mind, black I saw spreading. Who was yelling my name? I was slowly coming back, but little by little, then step by step, jump by jump, and finally all at once. The bike was fine, along with the house, also with the boy, the only item left behind, even though not tangible, is my everlasting caution of bikes.

An Old Friend...

2010-11-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

Feeling that cool breeze run down my neck, feeling the crinkle of brown leaves beneath my Nike swooshes, feeling the fading sunlight lightly kissing my cheeks, with an unfamiliar sound delicately touching my ear. Off in the distance, a delicate yellow blob was hidden behind a tree, carefully keeping a delicate distance. When I stepped closer the blob stepped away, when I stepped away the blob stepped closer, when I bent down the blob bent down...had I gone insane? Upon curiosity, I retraced the trail I had so delicately remembered the next day, standing there shaking, was a yellow dog. Wild with excitement, I delicately slipped away, returning with food, but the dog had disappeared. Where did he go? I never saw him again, but those couple of days meant a lot in a young boys life.

In the book, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, the same instance happens with Edgar, the main character. This short section brought back those memories of so much excitement, so much that I could not pay attention in school. For some reason, the fascination of a stray captures the mind of young kids; when Edgar first spotted the stray he devised a plan to make the dog his by carefully putting food at the edge of the woods, staying out late on the porch watching for him, even to the point where Edgar could not sleep. Paralleling exactly to my story, the stray never came to get his food by the edge of the woods, and Edgar eventually forgot about the wild fascination.

The reason-even though many exist-of fascination, might be, because-especially in a small town like Edgar's-of the first understanding that other things live outside a boys own world-only consisting of school, parents, friends-but to loose the other outside connection-whether pen pal, animal, letters-can show a the first signs of heartbreak-in a subtle way- to a younger child.

3 Books I'd like to Read

2010-10-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

The first book, Fahrenheit 451, attracts me, because the book looks like a old, crinkled, scroll that could unlock secrets to my life.

I, Robot is the second book I would enjoy to read. The only reason I want to read this book is because of the crazy movie.

City of Thieves is the third book that looks interesting. Nelson brought my attention to this book, and he told me the book is very interesting.

Indepedent Reading 2nd 9 Weeks

2010-10-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Benioff, David. City of Thieves: a Novel. New York, NY: Viking, 2008. Print. (258)

The City of Thieves, written by David Benioff, captured my emotional side like no other book has done before. This is the only book that has ever made me come close to crying, and the strange thing is I don't know how the author accomplished this astonishing feat. The story is about a Russian boy named Lev, which gets arrested for trying to loot a dead German soldier. Instead of being killed he receives the opportunity to find eggs with a X-Russian soldier, Kolya, and they travel to Leningrad "a city of ghost and cannibals." To me this is the most gruesome part of the book, making my stomach turn, but I am not going to give this part away. After escaping Leningrad they travel behind German lines for the slim promise of eggs, meeting a sniper named Vika. Slowly becoming skilled fighters, Lev takes on a chess game against a Einzatsgruppe commander, in which they plot to kill to finally receive their eggs. Lev happens to lose everything through out the story. The City of Thieves is one of the best books I have ever read, and I suggest the book to anyone.

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret: a Novel in Words and Pictures. New York: Scholastic, 2007. Print. (534)

The invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, is one of the coolest books I have read, because of the odd format: a huge picture book. When looking at the pictures the author expects the reader to make their own tiny story plots, giving the book another interesting affect. Son of a clock maker, Hugo, is 12 years old and lives inside a train station. After his father died, his uncle Claude takes him in, and Hugo becomes the time keepers apprentice of the station. Eventually his uncle does not return, so Hugo is left to take care of the time by himself, with only his father's automaton keeping him companion. Hugo has constantly been stealing toys from the station toy booth to fix the automaton, and finally the owner catches him. Instead of turning Hugo into the police the owner makes him work. After many events Hugo finds out that the owner is George Melies, one of the first pioneering magicians, but George can't decide if he should return to magic because of a promise. I highly suggest this book, so read it to find out if George Melies returns to magic.

Wroblewski, David. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: a Novel. New York: Ecco, 2008. Print. (566, but you said it would count as 3 books)

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle was a great book, especially for any dog lover, because at the heart of the

story are the Sawtelle dogs. David Wroblewski gets into your soul with his book, and I did not enjoy him

being there one bit. Edgar is the son of Gar and Trudy, which Trudy has already experienced two

miscarriages, so he is there miracle baby. After many doctors, the Sawtelle's come to find out that Edgar is

mute, and they have to learn sign. Edgar grows up around dogs, and learns how to do basic chores around

the house. His basic chores all change, when one day, he finds his father in the barn on the floor dieing.

The death is mysterious and the doctors conclude that Gar had an aneurysm. Changing life dramatically,

Trudy becomes sick so Edgar has to take on all of the work in about a week. Claude, Gar's brother, starts to

help out on the chores, and he becomes "involved" with Trudy. Also, Edgar finds a syringe that he thinks

Claude used to kill his father, and test his suspicions by a dog fight in front of a potential buyer. This scene

makes Trudy mad; getting in a fight with Edgar, he becomes angry, and in this anger he kills their vet. So

fearing for his life, Trudy sends Edgar away into the woods with some of his dogs. His initial plan is to go

to Canada to join a commune, but through several events he decides to return back home. The ending of the

book is the most dramatic ending I have ever read, so I am not going to give it away. Not to leave anyone

hanging, the end involves a note, the police, two deaths, fire, poison, and blinding. The Story of Edgar

Sawtelle moved my imagination in a plot twist, but in was too many words.

Independent Reading

2010-10-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have the same reading habits I've always had, which is to read when I have time. Lately, finding time to read has been really hard to find, because of all the homework, jobs, and extra-circular activities that I participate in through out the day. I like to read, but I do not have time. I wish I could change that statement, but I can not.

I am not playing a balanced reading diet. I like classic, so I read classic. Why spend time reading a genre that does not apply to me? Classics are deep and analytical which is why I enjoy to read them. Yes, I am thinking my inking, which is very difficult for me to apply myself to consistent inking. Inking does not exercise my brain, the process actually slows my thinking and involvement in the book. Taking my mind out of the book to write something down that has already been processed in my head.

I would like to improve my reading habits, but that is going to be very hard to obtain. I plan on reading more classics.

Socratic Seminar Reflection

2010-10-11T10:14:00.001-07:00

Socrates had a vision, in which common people would come together to share complex ideas, not only to associate with people, but to learn about the subject. Socrates thought that talking, and actually listening provides the best form of education. I agree, although I think the brain is largely visual, if the structure of the image is not explained, most people do not fully comprehend what the picture is portraying. When discussing an idea, people can receive a deeper understanding of the subject by listing. Therefore, when people listen for long enough, eventually they can join the conversation making their understanding even deeper.

The seminar actually did deepen my understanding of Brave New World, even though my philosophy did not change, more interesting ideas circulated inside my head. These new ideas that aroused ranged from simple to complex. The first idea is that game engineers could possibly "mind wash" gamers, which I think is already being done. Another idea that occurred to me, is the idea that our society is moving closer to the society in Brave New World, which is a scary thought. Many of my ideas were challenged. The most controversial of mine was that T.V. watching is a pointless time waster, and most people think differently. I could thourthly prepare for this discussion, because I was on a plain with nothing to do, so I took my time. Since I took time on preparing I understood the book much more, which helped me better understand where Huxley was coming from in his writing.

Not to brag, but I felt like I did really well on this seminar, one of my strong points is public speaking. The most difficult thing to do was keep the conversation going, because some people did not feel like talking. Therefore, unnecessary pressure was put on people who felt prepared. I liked the seminar because I enjoy talking and exchanging ideas. There are not such things as "do overs" in real life, so why have one in a seminar, if something went wrong that is the person's fault. I learned that I can get my point across, while influencing what the other person will say back to me. I think the format of the Socratic seminar is excellent, I would not change anything.

Overall, I really enjoyed the seminar. This process allowed me to learn new ideas and concepts, that by writing a book review I would have not comphrended. I think that our class should do one seminar a nine weeks, because we can have intellectual conversations opening our minds to complex lititure.

Online Journals that Count as a Book

2010-10-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

I have 5 on this one, and 5 on the Brave New World page.

Whelehan, Barbara. "When-should-you-apply-for-social-security.html: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance." Yahoo! Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News. 8 Oct. 2010. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. .

This article is about Social Security, which mostly gives the reader basic information about when to draw benefits. At at 62 the amount of monthly income from Social Security is 1,100 dollars, and at 70 the amount of income is basically doubled to 2,369; therefore, the writer is pointing out that drawing later in life is a wiser choice. The last paragraph pertains to taxes, and surprisingly if a person makes over a certain amount of money the government is allowed to tax the Social Security. I do not think this source is biased, because the writer, another American, is just trying to help the fellow American. The information is very factual, so the point of arguing with the article goes out the door. This article is very helpful, especially since everyone has to plan on retirement, and Social Security is a big part.

J, David. "How to Be Friendly - WikiHow." WikiHow - The How-to Manual That You Can Edit. 10 July 2010. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. .

Even though I am already friendly most of the time, I could improve my friendliness towards other people. This article gives pointers on how to improve any friendship, or create a new one. There are five steps that can easily improve the relationship such as: smile when you see people, learn to speak small talk, talk about positive topics, have a sense of humor, and break your worst habits; all of these steps might seem natural, but how often to people smile at each walking down a hallway, not often. After the steps, the article moves into tips, the two most important are never be rude, which will always affect a relationship, and do not be shy, which can be hard to do also. This article helped me, because the realization of small things that seem to not make a difference, actually can make a huge impact.

National Marriage Resource Center. "Your Relationship: Healthy or Unhealthy? : TwoOfUs.org." Home : TwoOfUs.org. 11 Mar. 2010. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. .

This article is about the indicators of a good relationship, which pertains to marriage, college, or high school relationships. The goods the article talks about are good communication, commitment, trust, fairness, and respect, all of which play a vital role in any relationship. The most important to me is commitment, if the two people in the relationship are not committed to one another why even be in the relationship anyway? The signs of an unhealthy relationship are disrespect, jealousy, abuse, and violence, any could break a great relationship into pieces. Therefore, couples need to be aware, and watch out for signs like these, fixing them as soon as they arise. To me, this article helped with my personal mindset, which will hopefully change my behavior.

SixWise. "Clothes Psychology: What Your Clothing Tells Others About Who You Are and Who You Want to Be." Healthy Family - Health and Wealth, Home Safety, Health, Relationship, Growing Family. 23 June 2009. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. .

Today in society the way people dress, for some reason, impacts everything in that persons life, from their social status to their job. This article explains the different ways to dress, and how the clothes affect the moods of the day, such as: skimpy wear, flashy dresser, or the goth; all of which have a specific details to a persons life. After all the types of dresser, there are ten tips that can improve the way a persons day is spent. A few tips the article gives are wear clothes that make you feel good, wear clothes that flatter your image, and have fun with your clothing. Depending on how I feel when I wake up in the morning depends on what I wear, and I think that is the same for many Americans. I usually use black as an indicator that I do not feel good, or I do not want to communicate with people on that certain day. Unfortunately, everyone is judged by their clothing.

Sinclair, Kevin. "Key Facts About Your Guitar." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. 20 Nov. 2009. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. .

This article is very interesting to me, because I am a guitar player myself. The guitar was first originated in Rome around 40 A.D., commonly refereed to as the lute. The most guitar like instrument, the lute, has six strings, and was mainly used on Viking ships. The Vinaccia family built the oldest surviving string guitar, dating back to 1779, with Vinaccia's signature on the guitar. After talking about the history of the guitar, the author moves into terms, or guitar lingo. He describes the headstock, nut, fretboard, frets, truss rod, neck, and strings, going into very light detail. For a starting out guitar player this is a great article, because the history and design is included, without boring details. For me this article was a light read, because I already know all of the history and terms of the guitar, but this article could possible make a kid get into guitar.

Independent Reading Books

2010-10-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Cook, Robin. Shock. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2001. Print. (338)

Shock creates a sense of high intensity, falling into the category of a medical mystery, that keeps the reader guessing until the very end of the novel. Cook puts great emphasize on the characters in his book; giving the reader the thought that his characters are the most important part of the story. Deborah and Joanna, the two main characters, apply for egg donations at the Winegate clinic, and upon doing so the two ladies will receive 45,000 dollars, taking the money without a thought. After receiving the money they use the money to go to Italy, finishing their PHD reports for Harvard, and when the girls return to Boston they want to receive information about their eggs. The clinic disclosed the information, so Deborah formulates an insane plan which Joanna does not agree with; during this part of the novel the character appearances are huge, because Cook is referencing to a few types of people in real life. Where as Deborah, the more daring, outgoing, girl wants to sneak into the Clinic, and get the egg results; when Joanna, the more traditional, shy, girl agrees with the Clinic that the information is private. Shock was a great read and kept me entertained through out the entire story, I suggest scientific people to read Shock.

Heller, Joseph. Catch 22. Paris: Grasset, 2006. Print. (453)

Catch 22 creates humor in about every situation, even though the story takes place in World War II, creating a large scale paradox. Heller creates all of the humor in not necessarily the characters but the mindset of the characters, because most of the soldiers are perfectly sane, but come to the conclusion that they are insane. The main character Yossarian, a bombardier, shows the perfect case, because of any little occurrence that happens to his body he directly checks himself into the medical ward; therefore, he does not have to risk his life flying missions. Catch 22 is extremely strange in the way Heller decided to write the book, because the plot is not in order, jumping back and forth in time, so describing the plot is hard to explain. An example of this weird writing style is a chapter called the Texan, when Yossarian was in the medical ward and a "soldier in white" was placed in his ward, and that chapter described the relations of the Texan and the "soldier in white." Two chapters later the chapter is named the Soldier in White, and the story line in the two chapters is the same, so I stopped reading and thought I was having De ju Vu. Heller's theme, I think, says that even through times of trouble people need to find the humor in the situation. Catch 22 is an amazing read, and I suggest the book to everybody.

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print. (259)

Brave New World is incredibly deep on the philosophical level, making questions arise on almost every single page. The society is a lab created one, which means that all the humans are created in test tubes and not naturally, the whole idea of family has been forgotten. The society also has a caste system, in which none of the workers are unhappy, because of a hypeandia, or sleep teaching. Bernard is the main character that live in London, can never find happiness because he actually thinks, unlike all the other people who are mind washed by the society. Bernard takes a trip to a savage reservation in New Mexico with Lenina to observe life before the society changed everything, which is where John is inserted into the story. John comes back with Bernard to London, and is referenced to as the savage, making Bernard popular. Before this incident Bernard was not accepted by society, because he was strange; since they did not accept him he hated the people, but as soon as he tasted the popularity he joined right in with the crowd. When Linda is in the hospital and dies, John has a mental breakdown, knocking Bernard off the pedestal. Brave New World is witty and deep, I suggest this book to smart people.

Pink's Abundance

2010-09-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

Pink's snobbish lulling excerpt constitutes a strong condemnation on the reader that will affect the acceptance of the passage they are reading. The first instance that appears is the paragraph that states, "Placed premium...on more R-Directed...beauty, spirituality, emotion...no longer enough to create a product that's reasonably priced..." Pink uses diction in this section because he take R-Directed thinking, which most people apply just to art or music and nothing practical to every day life, point out that a lot of items purchased today is affected by the R-Directed thinking that goes into the product. When Pink does this he places stress on the fact that he is not blabbing about unimportant "textbook" ideas but that the concept is real and can be applied. Second, is the paragraph that deals with not being fulfilled anymore, "The paradox of propriety...living standards have risen...satisfaction haven't budge...liberated by prosperity not fulfilled by it." Pink once again uses details here but this time he put a little figurative language with an understatement. I feel that this has been the problem with America for a long time now and he should have stated more about the subject. Therefore, the snobbish tone comes in because Pink makes the reader feel like they are doing wrong but he has never once fell into this trap. Then he brings the reader back in softly because Pink could have expressed this paragraph much stronger than he did. Pink's level of snobbishness surprised me but kept me reading with subtle changes in his text.

P.S.

Mr. Pink, I suggest the deletion of the word it. You could heighten your writing much more without the word. And that would also be a grammar no-no.

Coke Ad

2010-08-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

The advertisement places a man in dress clothes, on a stool, in the slums, with a gun in his hands. The only feature on his face is a nose and in a shed behind him a little girl cowards in the darkness. This advertisement is about cocaine addiction and what the effects have on everybody. The advertisement was also printed by the Colombian government, which is strange because Columbia is the drug capital of the world. The advertisement indirectly states some very powerful facts, that are absorbed subliminally.

The use of ethos is not directly apparent in the ad. The designer of this ad put one man in dress clothes, applying the sense of ethos. At first, the having the well dressed man in the ad does not make a whole lot of sense. Since the man is in dress clothes and the advertisement is for the Colombian government, the ad is implying that the man is in high power. The common person in Columbia does not dress nicely because they can not afford the material. Therefore, the man is sort of a celebrity because he is in high power, which probably means he is a government official.

This advertisement did not apply logos, there are two main reason for that fact. First, the average person in Columbia is uneducated and they would not want to read something, even if they could. Therefore, less writing is better and the more powerful the picture the better. Second, if a person is using drugs all the logic they had has gone away. In their case they just need something that guilt's them into quiting, which this ad does.

Pathos is the biggest tool used in this advertisement because the image is very powerful. Terrorist kidnapping is a big problem in Columbia and in the image a little girl is cowering in a dark shed. This probably hit some parents hard because this had happened to their child. Other parents are probably afraid of their child being kidnapped and this photo would raise anger. The man in dress clothes has basically become the terrorist because he has financed the terrorist group by buying the cocaine. Which would strike anger into government officials because they want to stop the terrorist and buying of drugs.

This cocaine ad is very powerful and strong. The image strikes hard to the heart, bringing out deep emotions. The creators of the ad used pathos as a huge part, ethos and logos never really were used as a major part.

Think Inception

2010-07-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

"Dreams feel real when your in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange." The movie Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is a mind blowing experience taking the plot deeper with each scene of the movie. This movie is one of the most insane and confusing movie I have ever watched but underneath all of the insanity there is an amazing underlying theme. A person can make any reality they want to see and perceive, but that person has the choice to pick the right reality to live inside.

Cobb, the main character, had to leave his children because of a certain incident that happened in the United States. Therefore, his main goal through out the movie is to get back to his children. When he has come to the conclusion that he will not be able to see them again a Chinese man offers him a job that will clear all his charges. This job involves the almost impossible task of inception, which is planting an idea in someones brain in a dream to make the person think that the idea is their own. To make the job even harder the team has to make three levels of dreams, in order to place the idea into Robert's mind. Robert is the son of Maurice and is about to take over his dad's corporation. The whole point is to make Robert destroy the company and start one on his own.

To find out if Cobb and his team complete the mission I highly suggest watching the movie. Inception was one of the best movies I have ever watched. Also a whole lot more goes on in the movie besides this but the job is the main part of the movie. Cobb also might chose the wrong reality to live in so to find out go watch the movie.

A Deep Rooster

2010-07-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

War is always a tough time, especially if someone you love is fighting. The song, "Rooster", by Alice in Chains represents some of these tough feeling about war. The first time listening to the lyrics of this song, they did not make any sense. After research the song makes a whole lot of sense and is very passionate. "Rooster" is a song about the singers father in the Vietnam war.

The nickname of the singers father was rooster. Therefore, creating a bridge to every time the word rooster appears in the song. In the first verse many key words or phrases stand out to support the war theme. First, he sings that "ain't found a way to kill me yet." This line states that his father is not dead and surviving the war. Second key phrases are "eyes stinging with dripping sweat" and "army green was no safe bet." I have never been to Vietnam but apparently the weather is extremely humid; giving more proof that the war is taking place in Vietnam. Then the army line is self explanatory.

Without knowing the reason or meaning of the term rooster the chorus of this song can get extremely confusing. The first line says "here they come to snuff the rooster" which means that the opposing side in the war is trying to kill his dad. "Yeah here come the rooster" meaning that his dad is about to go crazy on the bad guys. In this part during the song the singer explodes in his vocals. The third line states, "you know he ain't gonna die" then goes on to say, " we ain't gonna die." This part of the song is very powerful because his dad is not going to die. Then the fourth line means that America is going to stay alive. At first this song seems meaningless but underneath the message is very strong.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/rooster-lyrics-alice-in-chains.html

Stairway to Heaven

2010-07-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

The start of life, beginning, and end are all a struggle. This altarpiece shows that; the people are going through three arcs or the three stages of life. Even though struggles exist in our lives at the end glory prevails. This alter piece resides in Notre Dame in Montreal, Canada. The sculptor, Charles Daudelin, attempts to show the life of a person through this piece.

At the bottom of the sculpture people are surrounded by thick weeds and vegetation. This shows that at the begging of life children have trouble choosing right from wrong. The world to them is just a big bundle of objects, without purpose or meaning. Except, weeds usually are bad not producing anything worthwhile. Therefore meaning, that most people will get caught in the weeds never making it to the first arc.

In the middle more people consume the area and weeds also have become sparse. The people reassemble people in church that have stayed strong together. Weather by praying, offering, or missions across the sea. This ban of people show that the church is made by the people. Hardly any more weeds are in the location. This reassembles that the people have made the journey so far but there still is a chance that might slip away from God.

At the top the third arc shows a person with their hands held up towards the face, which is God. The cross refers back to the verse "I am the way no one come to the father excepts through me." The flying bird reassembles the holy spirit, which watches over us at all times. This sculpture means a lot to the christian faith.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2665/3861972532_8380238c40.jpg&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/wallyg/3861972532/&usg=__ONamB-wPzREJtE6pOyM8CFOMrrE=&h=500&w=333&sz=176&hl=en&start=14&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Z9tuX0U4dk474M:&tbnh=130&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcharles%2Bdaudelin%2Baltarpiece%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1

Photo for English

2010-06-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here you go Mrs. Huff.