"Flowers for Algernon" Character Sketch

My first impression of Charlie was a slow, happy man who loved life. Yet, he wanted something more. He wanted to be smart. He wanted to finally impress his hard-hearted mother who never loved him for who he was, a "moron." I can learn much from Charlie, such as to be happy with my life and the the things I am able to do, because even though at first Charlie was not able to write well or have a regular job or go to college, he never once complained. Also, towards the end of the book Joe and Frank realized that their previous actions of mocking Charlie were wrong, so when Charlie was getting ridiculed and beat up by Meyer Klaus, they stood up for Charlie, telling Klaus that he should leave Charlie alone. Charlie's kind heart shines through, especially when he believes that Klaus should not be fired "and have to find another job because he had a wife and kid. And besides how sad I was when I had to get fired from the bakery and go away" (308). His willingness to forgive people for their mistakes and to be kind to everybody regardless of what they had done to him makes Charlie a role model for everyone.

"Flowers for Algernon" Experiences or Memories

In Flowers for Algernon, mentally retarded Charlie becomes more and more intelligent, realizing that people did not treat him like a human before his operation and also, they made fun of him. My stepmom's friend has a younger brother Michael who has a similar condition to what Charlie had. He cannot speak well and take care of himself without assistance. People sometimes give him strange looks but he sees the good in everyone and is optimistic like Charlie, who says he will "have lots of frends where [he] [goes]" (311). Even though they both have fairly low I.Q.'s, they have open and warm hearts, making everyone smile and enjoying their lives to the fullest.

"Flowers for Algernon" Acrostic

Flowers for Algernon (Spoiler Alert!!)

Caring and kind-hearted, the "retarded" Charlie thinks highly of everyone, even though he does not realize that people use him to make themselves look smarter. For instance, Charlie considers Joe and Frank his good friends, yet they pick on him in an attempt to appear smarter. Except for being constantly picked on, Charlie is very fortunate, for he lives in a good home instead of having to live at the Warren Institution and he also has a stable job at a local New York bakery.

Hurt by what his mother did to him as a child, "intelligent" Charlie periodically remembers moments in his childhood, most of them where his mother is beating him for being mentally challenged, kids at his school are beating him, or his sister is getting him in trouble. When he goes to make amends with his mother and sister all is going well until his mentally unstable mother brings out a kitchen knife. His sister apologizes for the rude things she had done as a child, though after Rose (Charlie's mother) brought out the kitchen knife Charlie leaves with tears in his eyes.

Algernon was the only thing that could relate to Charlie, going through similar ordeals of fits of rage followed by laziness and tiredness followed by the loss of motor skills and intelligence. Also, they were both guinea pigs who were experimented with, the doctors priding themselves on calling them their "creations," and treating them like "[they] were the main attraction of the evening, and when [they] settled, the chairman began his introduction. [Charlie] half expected to hear him boom out: Laideezzz and gentulmennnnnn. Step right this way and see the side show! An act never before seen in the scientific world! A mouse and a moron turned into geniuses before your very eyes!" Finally, many people felt sorry for Charlie as he started to mentally deteriorate, saying that they "understood", yet Charlie knew that the only person who understood what he was going through was a mouse.

Rude and self-centered is what the intelligent Charlie had become, primarily focusing on work, work, work. When he first began to "date" Fay, he would drink and go dancing with her. After awhile, he slowly became a hermit, ignoring her and rejecting her invitations to dance. Also, when Alice took care of him while he was becoming retarded again, he did not appreciate the things she had done for him, such as cleaning the house and paying his rent and instead griped and told her to get out of his apartment.

Little by little, Charlie lost his memory and his intelligence. What was painful to him is that he knew he was becoming mentally and physically slower, trying to fight it as much as possible. Although he did not succeed in fighting the declination, when he went back to being mentally retarded he knew that he was a help for the science world, even though he did not quite remember what he did.

In a matter of months, Charlie became a genius who spoke twenty languages and read countless articles and books. More importantly, he learned how the world looked at mentally challenged people and how they looked at him. He realized people were not as nice as they had previously seemed to be, for he realized that Joe and Frank were not his friends, they just made fun of his stupidity.

Elated that he had met someone as frank and independent as Fay, her different approach to life changed Charlie for the better. He learned to not have as many "lines" in his house and more importantly, he learned how to have a really good time. Though dancing was not what he enjoyed, Fay and Charlie would drink and laugh and regularly visit each other. Before Fay, Charlie primarily studied all the time but after he met her, she put some spice into his life.

Acrostic

House, is more than a man in a T.V show. He is an author of The Gun Seller.

"This can't be a *Ucking American, telling me what's wrong with this country."(121)

Gun Seller, a novel like no other. It is extremely tasteful while being tasteless.

"But Hark! My pulse like a soft drum beats my approach, tells thee I come."(299)

The Red Badge of Courage

When I first met Henry I thought he was selfish, and then I find out about him and how he changed his beliefs. He reminds me of a little kid that likes the heroic stories and then matures really quickly and understands the real meaning of courage. “His self-pride was now entirely restored” shows that he has shown his manhood in the book.

The Red Badge of Courage

M any times Henry finds his manhood and thinks of himself as a hero. He thinks of himself of a hero to men and the women will like him.

A n example of Henry having courage is him turning around to come back and fight. That shows that Henry really understood the meaning of courage.

N ot only is Henry courageous but he is also brave.

H enry struggles with his manhood. After he participates in the war, he regains his manhood.

O ften Henry thinks too much about himself. That effects his manhood.

O ver time Henry learns the real meaning to important traits. He learns what courage is and what manhood means.

D uring the Civil War Henry learns what it means to be a man. He learns that a hero is not just about popularity. He learns that it is about doing the right thing.

The Red Badge of Courage

I think that Henry was coward. Stephen Crane is trying to show the reader to have courage or be brave. Henry believes that courage is not very important trait for a human being. He believes it is just in romantic stories. Later in the story he realizes that courage is very important. He realizes that it is not about other people’s opinions. He realizes the meaning of courage around chapter 5. When he was getting ready for battle “He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate”. Another theme is self-infliction. Henry convinced himself many times in the book to do things that were against his will.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Character Sketch)

Francie began as the girl "[that was] entitled to one cup each meal like the rest. If it makes her feel better to throw it way rather than to drink it, all right. I think it's good that people like us can waste something once in a while and get the feeling of how it would be have lots of money and not have to worry about scrounging" (14). Francie begins in the book as a young girl, very innocent to the world except for the community filled with poverty in which she lives. She was very devoted to her studies, reading a book a day and constantly writing. As she grew up she began to realize how much of a problem her father has with drinking and maybe this is why Francie throws away her drink to show that she doesn't have to give into excesses like her father. In the same way, Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea doesn't need all the things that all the other fisherman need. After her father's death and her assault, she was devastated changing her outlook on life forever. Her father was a large part of her and so was her innocence, once they were taken away she stopped believing in G-d which in part changed her day-to-day routine. Throughout the book, you watch Francie go from a young innocent girl to a woman full of both good and bad experiences.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Literary Device)

"The one tree in Francie's yard was neither a pine nor a hemlock. It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looked like a lot of opened green umbrellas. Some people called it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed fell, it made a tree which struggled to reach the sky. It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenement districts." (6) The tree against all odds grows in the middle of concrete with pollution surrounding it and yet it stills survives just as Francie survives all the odds. The fact that the author had this as the begins of the book shows how symbolic the tree is through out the book. As the tree grows, Francie grows, and so the tree is the symbol of Francie surviving the odds such as the fact that Francie's father was an alcoholic. Francie's growth as a person is a theme throughout this novel, and the tree mirrors this.

The Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Theme)

Betty Smith tells of a story of a girl living in poverty. The theme of poverty is relayed throughout the book. Not only is poverty a big theme in the book, but Betty also includes other themes such as class, how gender changes relations, perseverance through hardship, and especially the use to the American Dream. All of these themes are paralleled in the real world. Poverty is very much around especially with the economy these days. In an example where “Sissy was [a] tricycle standing there unattended in front of a stoop. She didn’t hesitate. She took the tricycle, pulled it around to the Nolan house, got the children out and gave them a ride” (116). Where Sissy, Francie’s aunt, took the tricycle just to give the kids the joy of riding on a brand new tricycle. In the society Francie lives in class has to do with everything and in the our society although it doesn’t play as big a role people still care about class more than they care to let on. The representation of the “American Dream” in the book has an underlying effect of the out look on the book. The themes in this book represent the real world.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Shalom Nwakibu
Explore Feelings

The scene that I found the most moving and painful was at the end when Bruno had come into the camp with Shmuel. It started to rain, so they were pushed into a long room. While they were inside " {bruno} took hold of Shmuel's tiny hands in his and squeezed it tightly {and said} you're my best friend. Shmuel... opened his mouth... but Bruno never heard it because at that moment there was a loud gasp from all the marchers who had filled the room. Then the room went dark... despite the chaos, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hands in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go" (212). This event really foreshadows the ending of the war. The quote is important because it shows Bruno as the naive boy that loved his neighbor because of his traits and not his race. Also I thought of Shmuel as the little boy who really never got to experience life, but he did what he could. When this scene ended no one ever saw Bruno again. This hit Gretel really hard, "she spent a lot of her time in her room crying ... because she missed Bruno so much"(215).

Atlas Shrugged

3^rd blog: Theme (spoiler alert)

Ayn Rand has written many books expressing her political views. Her views come through in the heart of this book, during her crowning speech. Her message is not able to be summed up easily. During John Galt’s speech he states, “We are on strike against self-immolation. We are on strike against the creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. We are on strike against the dogma that the pursuit of one’s happiness is evil. We are on strike against the doctrine that life is guilt”(1010). John Galt has stated what he will talk about for the next 50 pages, which makes this the heart of the book. He and a few others are rebelling against the looters that leached their hard work. Self-immolation was the self-sacrifice that the government required for their pawns. The creed that this leader rebel refuses to accept is that of gifts that are given for no reason and positions that are given to the ones not suited for the job. Ayn Rand then writes that he rejects the idea that if you do something good for yourself you are destroying another. Also that if you reach your goal that you are obligated to allow others to reap your rewards. Then the doctrine he talks about is that of the will and the ability to live is something to be ashamed of. Ayn Rand believes that one should earn their own living along with rule themselves. If you’re not able to keep up you are,”…Free to rise as far as (you are) able or willing, but it’s only the degree to which (you) think that determines the degree to which (you’ll) rise”(1064). John Galt states here that you can live for yourself and get were you want to be, by only your own will to do so. Ayn Rand speaks through her characters and leaves her message written in red ink all over the book.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac: Theme

Alejandra Lopez

English 8-6

March 11, 2010

Even though Naomi's story is based on what happened to her after her amnesia accident, I think that it is mainly about finding who you really are, what your made of, and finding what your potential is. I think that the message was effective because everyone does need to find his/ her true self because in the end that is what really matters. There were very few, other possible themes, but one would be finding who your friends really are and see if they truly are your friend or not. Another would also be that not everything has to be 'by the book' "sometimes, a girl needs to lose" (5). That just doesn't directly go to girls but to anyone losing will sometimes take you to the direction that you need to be in just like learning from your mistakes it is okay to lose. I believe that this relates to many other novels and almost everyone's lives because everyone has to find their true self.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac: Explore Feelings

Alejandra Lopez

English 8-6

March 11, 2010

Understanding her Feelings Towards her Boyfriend

Ace Zuckerman was a jock, sporty, popular, "and handsome, I suppose, though in an almost cartoonish way" (48). Even though Naomi was not up in the 'popular' crowd she was still liked by many people. She couldn't understand why she liked Ace in the first place, for her "everything about him seemed too broad, too big. If someone had asked me right at the moment, I would have said, "Definitely not my type."" (49). She finally figures out that the only reason that she liked him was because they were both on the tennis team and were always partners. Out of everything, that was all she could think of that they had in common. I think that this is a frustrating moment to try to figure out why, but, maybe she had just gone out with him for his tennis 'player', not for who he really was.

The Red Badge of Courage

Jeffrey Dietz

Literary Techniques

A quote that I really like is during Henry’s first battle, smoke is everywhere and, “he fought frantically for respite for his senses, for air, as a babe being smothered attacks the deadly blanket” (45). The quote obviously compares Henry to a baby being smothered by a blanket. I think that Crane purposely compared Henry to a baby, because he is trying to tell the reader that Henry, at the moment, is a baby in the sense that he isn’t a veteran yet, and that becomes apparent a few pages later when he runs into the woods fearing his death. Crane says that he is so desperately craving “air”. I think that by “air” he means Henry is craving peace. Not necessarily peace with the Rebel Army, but peace within himself. Henry wants to be able to trust that he can go to battle and not run, but since this is his first battle, he doesn’t know the legitimacy of that last statement. I like this quote because Crane is comparing something so ugly as war to something so innocent as a baby, but the outcome is the same. Death.

The Red Badge of Courage

Jeffrey Dietz

Setting

The Red Badge of Courage takes place during the Civil War, specifically around 1860. We can guess that it is either fall or spring for the season, but we don’t know for sure. The first quote of the book describes the landscape of where they are camped, “The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. As the landscape changed from brown to green the army awakened” (1). Throughout the book Crane does a phenomenal job at painting a picture in the readers mind. The setting is pretty important to the story, because it plays a big role in the style of fighting that is done. Although, it could have been a different place in America where the Civil War was fought, but the way that Mr. Crane describes it really intrigues me. This story would not work in a different time or place, because after all, there really wasn’t another American Civil War. I would definitely not like to be in this setting. I would be like Henry and be scared of battle, I am definitely glad I live in the time period now.

The Red Badge of Courage

Jeffrey Dietz

Character Sketch

Henry Fleming is a young boy who decides to enlist in the Union Army. The Army that is portrayed to him is a grand thing that would give him honor and valor, but he soon realizes it is just long marches, poor food, and poor conditions. The first thing I thought when he was introduced was that he was a timid fellow. Henry was a quiet guy that didn’t say much but listened a lot. The main problem, which he is fighting at the beginning, is the question of whether or not he is going to run in battle. When Henry flees in the first battle he thinks, “He [Henry] had fled, he told himself, because annihilation approached. He had done a good part in saving himself” (60). This quote happens in the beginning of the book when he flees from his first battle. Henry is trying to justify his reason for fleeing, but he realizes later that he shouldn’t have run and he strongly regrets it. It makes me a little angry I guess that he would try to justify such a selfish action, but if I was in his position I don’t know if I could make the courageous decision.

The Help (Spoiler)

Explore Feelings

Shelby Conine

English 8-6

March 11, 2010

The last scene in The Help is when Aibleen gets fired. She reflects on all the things that have happened to her, Minny, and Skeeter. Ms. Leefolt answers the door and Ms. Hilly walks in. Now, Mrs. Hilly knows that the book was written about Jackson, but doesn't want to admit it. She accuses Aibileen of stealing her silver after letting Ms. Leefolt borrow it. Aibileen trys to explain that Ms. Leefolts new child likes to take things, but Mrs. Hilly won't have it. She orders Ms. Leefolt to fire Aibileen. After a plea from Mae Mobbely, Ms. Leefolts daughter that Aibileen raised, and Aibileen's reminder to her to remember what she told her about the difference between blacks and whites and then Aibileen leaves. Walking down the street, she thinks of all the things shes done and what she's going to do with her life. She thinks she'll write, keep writing for the paper, the job she got after Skeeter left, and she figures she'll get some money from the book. It was a sad but liberating scene that exemplifies the horrible mistreatment the black people of the south had to endure. This scene shows that Aibileen had other things that she's always wanted to do, and now she has that chance. She feels that "[shes] free, like Minny. Freer than Miss Leefolt, who so locked up in her own head she don't even recognize herself when she read it. And freer than Miss Hilly. That woman gone spend the rest of her life trying to convince people she didn't eat that pie" (444).

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Chandler Naidu

Character Sketch

My first impression of Gretel was that she was the older sister of a nine-year old boy was was accused of being a "Hopless Case and caused nothing but trouble for him" (3). This reminds me of me and my little brother. We would both describe each other as a Hopeless Case and that we only caused trouble for each other. Gretel always has her blond hair pulled into two braids. This shows that she is a very monotonous person. Bruno always describes her as a "Hopeless Case" and eventually she proves this to be true. She is very mean to Bruno and teases him any chance she gets. She also tries to be older than she is by flirting with Lieutenant Kotler who is much older than she is. Bruno points this out to her face and she gets very angry with him for making her seem childish in front of Lieutenant Kotler. She also gets angry when he enters her room to ask her questions about the new place they are living in. All Bruno wanted were answers and Gretel couldn't have been meaner to him. My first impression of her was extremely wrong, because I thought that it was just her little brother saying bad things about her just because they were related and both annoy each other. Gretel is really a mean, naive, rude, and fake person.

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne

Shalom Nwakibu
Character Sketch

The first impression that I had on Gretel, Bruno's older sister, was that she was a bratty girl that got what ever she wanted. Typical of an older sister "she had some nasty habits...and usually made it clear...particulary any events within {the} world that concerend the two of them" (21). Gretel reminds me of Kay, in the book The Sword and the Stone. They both mistreat their little brothers and think that they are better than everyone else. Based on Gretel's appearance, behavior, and attitude you can truly say that she is like the stereotypical older sister. She cares the most about her appearance and what Lieutenant Kotler, an officer that worked at the camp Out-With, thought of her. But on the other hand, she shows a loving and caring side at times. Like when Bruno needed someone to talk to, even though she could be rude about it, she would listen and answer all of his questions.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac: character sketch

Alejandra Lopez

English 8-6

March 11, 2010

Naomi Porter

My first impression of Naomi Porter was popular, kind, laid-back, and sporty. She did not come off as a mean, shy, or loud person, she was more of a normal 17 year old girl. She doesn't remind me of anyone I know, but she does remind me of a somewhat typical teenager. Even though she has amnesia she seems that she is trying to go through life figuring out who she was, is, and will be. With a boyfriend whom she has no idea why she liked in the first place, a friend whom she later understands was and will always be there for her, and a boy whom she meets with a "questionable past" and "even fuzzier future", she gets through it all discovering new things in her life that she would have been better off with. As well as in school, she is still trying to figure out why she joined yearbook, how she could possibly come up with a photography project due in two weeks, and on top of all of that she joins the musical. Another place she is still trying to figure out everything is at home. Even though she has a mom and a dad she is still confused why her dad and mom are never together, forgetting that her parents are divorced, with her mom already having a new family and her dad having a fiancee. Even though Naomi is recovering from her recent amnesia accident she still acts and seems like a normal teenager trying to get through life discovering new things about herself beyond what she imagined.

The Help

Setting

Shelby Conine

English 8-6

March 11, 2010

The time is during the Civil Rights Movement, the place is Jackson, Mississippi, the season we go for about a year so all seasons. If you know anything about Civil Rights and Jackson, Mississippi, you know this isn't the place to be writing a book in support of black maids. The setting is important because if it were almost anywhere in the Northern half of the United States not many people would've made quite such a big fuss about this book. If I were in Skeeter's position and writing this book, that is precisely where I would not want to be. The danger was too great, your best friends had turned against you, you are no longer accepted in any clubs or public places, and you are living in social rejection. If the story had been set in the present day, in any place, the circumstances would have been drastically different. She would've been under any pressure, the book would not have been such an amazing success, and it would've hardly been noticed. At first she doesn't realize how bad it is in Jackson after being "in the padded room of college" (107), but nows she nows that "things are a little dangerous down here right now" (107).

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Top 10 favorite things

1. Bruno still tries to explore his new house and make the most of their move even though he really hates it.

2. I liked it when Bruno used the old tire and rope to make a swing for his own entertainment. He was bored and decided that all he needed was some rope, a tire, and a tree to have some fun at this horrible place.

3. When Bruno falls off of his swing, Pavel, one of the Jews working in the house, runs to help him and fixes him up. Bruno kept asking if he would need to go to the hospital and Pavel kept telling him that it was just a little cut and that he could fix it. When Bruno asks how he would know because he wasn't a doctor, Pavel replies with "Yes I am" (82). Bruno is then very confused and says, "But you're a waiter... And you peel the vegetables for dinner. How can you be a doctor too?" (82). Pavel then proceeds to tell Bruno about how he always wanted to be a doctor then became one.

4. I liked how Bruno always noticed when one of the adults broke one of the rules that were set for the children. He notes that those rules were obviously not for the adults. Whenever he interrupts one of his parents or another adult he is scolded for it, but when they interrupt each other it seams to go unnoticed.

5. Bruno goes into Gretel's room to ask her what she thought about the new home. She didn't like it too much either, but told Bruno that they would only be there for a couple of weeks. Then he asks her to come and look out of his window and tell him what is going on. She then comes to the conclusion that they are now living on the countryside because the yard looked like a farm with a lot a people working on that farm. Bruno points out that there aren't any animals, and Gretel was then very confused about what she was looking at through Bruno's window, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know exactly what it was.

6. Bruno has a lot of respect for his father, but lost control of himself one time in particular. He is asking his father why they moved to such a horrible place after they had such a good life in Berlin. Bruno starts to interrupt him and say things that he knew shouldn't be said to his father, the authority figure in his house. His father ties to explain to him why his job was so important without actually telling him what his job really was.

7. I like how Bruno and Shmuel have the same birthday, April 15, 1934. This was the start of their friendship.

8. Bruno sneaks out of the house on a regular basis to go visit his newly found friend who lives behind this mysterious gate and he has no idea what it is there for.

9. Shmuel and Bruno are discussing what they want to be when they grow up. Shmuel wants "to work in a zoo" (139). And Bruno tells Shmuel that he "[is] going to be a soldier... Like father" (139).

10. Bruno decides to be a good friend and help Shmuel find his father. This turns out to be not the best decision Bruno could have made, but he was being loyal to his friend and wanted to help him.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Help (Spoiler)

Character Sketch

Shelby Conine

English 8-6

March 11, 2010

My first impression of Ms. Skeeter was that she was nice, non-judgmental, person. Aibileen first describes her behavior as "the kind that speak to the help" (4), which was unusual for that time. She reminds me of myself, I know that sounds conceited, but I truly believe that I try to be nice to everyone I meet. Sometimes, I get really shy around new people, I have a feeling that Skeeter might be the same way. I got the image that Skeeter was a socially awkward person. She is apparently unusually tall and thin with short, blonde hair. She apparently has to keep it short because she "has the frizz year round" (4). In the beginning, she is quite and keeps her opinions to herself. But, as we near the middle and the end, she starts to become more of an advocate for the black help in Jackson, Mississippi. Though she doesn't openly advocate, she starts writing a book with stories from black help and their white mistresses. Some stories are good, some stories are bad, but either way she wants the world to know and this is the perfect time. Martin Luther King Jr. is at his prime right now and when she contacts a publisher in New York with the idea, the publisher likes the idea, but has a short deadline. Many times during the short period she had to write it, Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter thought of quitting, but they prevailed. In the end, after heartbreak, the almost death of a close relative, and threats from the white community, Skeeter gets her book published and a brand-new life in New York. Her attitude throughout the book was "stopping ain't gone save us now" (191).

Going Bovine

Acrostic (spoiler)

Life is something that we take for granted far too often, and that's how Cameron had spent his whole life. After learning that he was dying, he took a journey to find the cure. Along the way he came to a wishing tree and he made a wish. After learning that his whole journey wasn't even real, it was all in his head, we at last learn what he wished for. Four simple words that were possibly the most important words in the book. "I wish to live" (467). Although he died shortly after this, he got his wish. For two weeks, for the first time in his life, Cameron lived.

In the hospital, before he begins his journey, Cameron has an encounter with a midget named Gonzo. Gonzo is constantly worried about anything and everything. He is constantly afraid that something could kill him. Gonzo's worrying comes from the place in Cameron's mind that is deathly afraid of his fate. It's the part of him that is holding him back, but that he needs to stay sane.

Very early in the book, Cameron has his first encounter with the "fire giants." They keep returning throughout the book, along with their leader, the Wizard of Reckoning. He doesn't know who the wizard is under all his armor, but he knows that he's the one who's trying to kill him. It's like his disease eating away, and sometimes it becomes too much for Cameron. In the end, the wizard sheds his armor and Cameron finds himself staring at... well, himself. All along, it was him that was chasing him. He had become his disease and there really was no hope left on this Earth.

In the earlier stages of his journey, Cameron hits a snag when he misses the bus that was supposed to take he and Gonzo to Florida. He begins to feel worse, when he meets the CESSNAB crusaders. They go to a school/ church/ bowling alley where everyone is required to always be happy. They've eliminated anything that could "hurt your happiness." Here Cameron feels like he could give up and stay forever, being happy all the time and never really caring about anything. He is in a place similar to Pi when he found the green island. It seems perfect where he is, but it takes one of CESSNAB's very own to show him the cracks in their seemingly perfect exterior. When he is pulled back to reality, Cameron realizes that he can't stay here and that he has to complete his mission and find a cure.

Not long after his time at CESSNAB, Cameron meets Balder, a viking god trapped in the form of a yard gnome. Balder is invincible and can't be harmed by anything anyone tries to hurt him with. Balder's invincibility mirrors Cameron's fierce will to live. Once he's sure of his mission, he knows he's unstoppable, or so he thought. Towards the very end of the book, Balder is killed by the one thing that can hurt him: mistletoe. When Balder dies, it's all downhill for Cameron. He suddenly finds himself being pursued until at last he meets the Wizard of Reckoning. Before you know it, it's all over.

Going back to earlier in the book, Cameron talks to an old lady while he's still in the hospital. She tells him about how she doesn't want to die there. She says she would rather die in a house by the sea. Cameron thinks about her at different instances throughout the book, and at one point, he is transported to her house by the sea. This does represent Cameron's giving up and allowing death to come, but it is different from what happened at CESSNAB. There he was feeling down about his whole mission, and he found that he would find some satisfaction, but it didn't last. The old lady was present throughout the book, and she represented the part of Cameron, however small, that wanted almost wanted to die. This part of him wanted to just accept his fate and let go.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Chandler Naidu

Setting

The Strange Change

The setting of this book starts off in Berlin. Bruno and his family were happily living in Berlin, Germany; they had their friends, their school, their grandparents, and their everyday lives. Their house was enormous and Bruno loved to explore it and find new things. When they move to this new place far away from Berlin there was "something [that] made him feel cold and unsafe" (20). There were soldiers always walking around. One day Bruno and Gretel looked out the window of their new house, they saw people working and at first they assumed that it was the countryside. They then realized there were not any animals there and then knew it was not the countryside, but something else, something scary, something that they were afraid of.

The Devil and His Boy- Character Sketch

Tanner Hakert

English 8-6

Character Sketch

February 18, 2010

Spoiler

In The Devil and His Boy, by Anthony Horowitz, I found the character James Grimly to be especially interesting. When you first meet Mr. Grimly, you think of him as a priest, or a man who donates all of his money to charity. A few lines down you think, "Wow. How could I ever have thought that." I say he is interesting because your idea of him changes almost instantly after you meet him. You think he is a good person because of his description, "(He) was a tal, fat man, almost round as he was tall. He reminded Tom of a snowman."(58). As you can see, he sounds like a delightful, jolly man. But in reality, he is unlike any character I have ever read about in a book because of the horrible things he does.

Atlas Shrugged

2^nd blog: Explore Feelings

In the second section of the book, Atlas Shrugged, there is a horrible disaster that might not have happened if someone had taken initiative. The people of America were having a lot of problems because of new laws and so one no longer wanted to have responsibility for any thing that happened. The train Comet had slid of the rail inside of the Taggart tunnel and it had to get moving, but no one wanted to take that responsibility. The orders had gone all the way to the top and back all the way to the bottom, “The responsibility that James Taggart and Clifton Locey had evaded now rested on the shoulders of a trebling, bewildered boy.”(603). If you could not weave your way out of the way of the orders it was left to you. This scene of the book frustrated me because everyone was afraid. Some of the people were terrified of what might happen to them if they had to deal with it. When the problem wasn’t directed towards them they would not even try to help “The three men did not answer. They were middle-aged men with years of railroad service behind them. A month ago, they would have volunteered their advice in any emergency; but they were beginning to learn that things had changed and that it was dangerous to speak.”(590). Their poor choose not to do any thing about this problem caused an even bigger problem. The train was pull out of the tunnel by another coal running train so the passengers choked to death and then a different train ran in to them.

Going Bovine

Point of View (spoiler)

The entire book is written from the point of view of the main character, Cameron. This was probably the only way for this book to be told. We see the twists and turns that Cameron's mind takes and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, more commonly known as mad-cow disease, begins to take over his mind. When the trees on a dark country road one night begin "blooming with fire leaves,"(70) and he first sees the "fire giants," Cameron begins to realize that this isn't at all normal. Cameron's journey as he spirals downward into oblivion also entails his coming to terms with life itself. With the help of Dulcie, he begins to realize that some of the simplest thing are worth living for. In the end, we realize that his incredible journey has really been within his own mind and that he has just been dying in a hospital. So, in truth, Cameron's perspective is the only perspective. With a different perspective, we would lose Cameron's inward transformation that occurs throughout the book. It would make his story impersonal, and one of the reasons this book is so successful is the fact that his journey feels so personal. While reading, you feel as though you are with Cameron, hoping that he will make it in time and find the cure. I believe that this book would not be nearly as engaging as it was if it was written any other way.

The Road

Anderson Riddick

Character sketch

Spoilers

The first time we see the son (who is also unnamed) he is very trusting of his father and his decisions. He is thoughtful and nice but you can tell he didn't grow up in the best environment because his dialogue is very curt and simple. Many times during the story when they are searching houses we see him say "Daddy I'm scared" which is probably the most common thing that comes out of his mouth. He often gets frustrated with his father as the story goes one because he refuses to help some people that he believes are leading bandits to them but eventually gets over it because he knows that his dad is right. Overall I believe that the son is thoughtful but naive.

The Road

Anderson Riddick

Acrostic

Ballistic men with no regard for others. They kill with no feelings of remorse and don't care about people's lives. They pillage and kill to their hearts content for their own survival.

Animals that resort to cannibalism in some cases. They lock people in basements and save them until they are hungry. They go crazy and murderous at the sight of a helpless person.

Not afraid to use lethal force. If they see someone who they can kill they do not waste a moment in doing so. They hide in the shadows making them hard to kill

Dreadful villains who salvage and murder. They will not stop at anything to kill someone. If someone tries to run and hide they do not give up until that person is dead and mutilated past recognition.

"If you kill me they will hear, and come to kill you and your son." At one point a bandit threatens to kill the child. The father shoots him in the head when he makes a jump for the child.

Thieves who take everything even if it is unneeded. Even when they aren't hungry they steal all kind of food from helpless people. Even if a man is old and frail they will kill him even if he does not provide any nourishment.

Shocking displays of inhumanity are demonstrated by these merciless monsters. They are obsessed with blood and won't stop at anything to get it. They are not afraid of death because they know that is what awaits them in the end

The Road

Anderson Riddick

Character Sketch

Spoiler

From the first moments of the book The Road we know that the unnamed father is a caring, loving person that is determined to make sure that his son survives although he worried about his own fate. We see him many times in the book prepared to give up because of an unknown sickness that he is suffering from although there are places where the sickness is not mentioned for at least 30 pages at a time leaving the reader to question the severity of it. The father reminds me of Peekay from the power of one because he never gives up and he is very humane. He tries to avoid violence as much as possible but if his son is threatened then he is forced to hurt people which is shown when he says "Look at him one more time and i will kill you" We see this twice in the book and it shows how protective he is. I think is a great man for protecting his son until [spoiler] his death near the end of the book [end of spoiler]

Blood Fever

Grant Matzen

Setting

James goes in the summer to visit his cousin Victor in Northern Sardinia. When he arrived there it was very hot and "there was dust everywhere: on his clothes, under his clothes, in his mouth and ears. Even his eyes felt gritty." This is where James is captured by the Count that lived in his palace in the mountains and James must find someway to get out and he gets in a situation that i would not like to be in. I would not like it because there is dirt and dust every where, it is hot, and mosquitos are overwhelming there. If it were in a different setting then the Count would have to find a different way to torture James because he used the mosquitos to torture him. This was a fitting setting for this book.

Blood Fever

Grant Matzen

Character Sketch

When we first meet James Bond we learn he is apart of the Danger Society. It is apparent that James loves danger. He loves the adrenaline rush and getting into trouble and finding a way out. He reminds me of Finny from A Separate Peace because Finny always finds himself in trouble but somehow gets out of it. When the Danger Society is in jeopardy of getting caught "all the members may have looked relaxed, but they all knew that if they were caught it would be very serous. That was what made these meetings so thrilling." But despite almost getting caught this danger doesn't come close the the danger that James gets in to later in the book.

Blood Fever

Grant Matzen

Explore Feelings

Ftizpaine was not used to anyone standing up to him because his father was an important, powerful man within the school. And suddenly "before the older boy knew what was happening, James punched him hard in the mouth," knocking him into the Thames River and he rescued his friend. This was an exciting scene and it showed how even though James might be small, he is willing to stand up to any challenge. Tony Fitzpaine on the other hand is the son to an important man in England. He thinks he can get away with anything. This scene is leading up to the big boxing match later in the book.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Setting
Shalom Nwakibu
Spoiler

When the book starts off Bruno and his family are living in Berlin, around the date of 1942. The season was probably spring because Bruno would play outside with his friends everyday. But then Bruno's fathers work called for a move to a "{place} that made him feel very cold and unsafe"(20). The window in his room was the thing that made him wonder the most. He was very curious about the people that wore the stripped pajamas and lived behind the tall fence. Their new house was named "Out-With" which was in Poland. This setting is very important because if they had never moved essentially their would have not been the camp "Out-With" which was were the Jewish people stayed. Bruno would have never meet his friend on the other side of the fence, Shmuel. Also, his father would have never become Commandant. I would not want to live in this setting because I would not want to experience the cruelty showed to people like Pavel, the servant. If the story never took place in Poland or Berlin; Bruno's father would have never meet with the Fury and moved to Poland. Probably Bruno and his family would be a formal family that did not know anything about the government; they would not have been as wealthy and important.

Character Sketch

Berry Boeckman

Mrs. Danvers was a cranky, devious, lady who had been Rebecca’s best friend and helper. When the new Mrs. De Winter arrived at Manderley, it seemed that she already decided that she did not like her even before they had met. When they finally met, Mrs. De Winter saw, “someone advance from the sea of faces, someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek-bones and great hollow eyes gave her a skull’s face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton’s frame” (66). Mrs. Danvers had adored Rebecca and resented the new Mrs. De Winter with all her heart, mind, and soul.

The first impression of Mrs. Danvers was a mean, stern elderly lady who had worried and grieved much, for her health seemed to lack just by appearance. The black dress she was wearing was for mourning the death of Rebecca. When Rebecca had died, a part of herself had gone with her, leaving her only a skeleton like body without a heart and without a soul.

Before she even said hello to the new Mrs. De Winter, one could already tell that she was planning how to get rid of her. No matter what it took, she would never let the memory of Rebecca die, and she would constantly remind Mrs. De Winter of that.

Going Bovine

Explore feelings (spoiler)

Throughout Cameron's journey, he has difficulties with accepting life, death, and his own fate. It takes him until the end of the book to finally come to terms with life. This moment where he journey's into death is where he hears, "a note of endings, of beginnings. A note you have to be ready to hear.(480)" I find it ironic that the moment in the book that should be the saddest, is actually filled with peace and a certain sense of happiness. In this moment, Cameron finally begins to understand why everything happened the way it did. We see how he has matured through the whole book. In the last few scenes of the book, there is a storm of emotions running wild. There's excitement and anger and sadness and the whole section is just generally hectic. Then, this scene happens and it all settles out. You feel satisfied and fulfilled even though you know everything isn't as it seems. The book as a whole gives you the idea that life really is worth living and death is a part of life. Rather than the age old end that it always was, this author has portrayed death as a new beginning filled with light, hope, and sometimes even love.

Explore Feelings

Berry Boeckman

spoiler

Mr. De Winter and his new wife had an awkward relationship. He had a major secret and she had no idea about it. She knew that his late wife had died and that this event had devastated him, or so she thought. But then their relationship changed dramatically, Mrs. De Winter would finally know the truth.

The late Mrs. De Winter’s ship had been found in the cove a year after it had “sunk”. Mr. De Winter and Mrs. De Winter were sitting together in the library when she asked if they could start over and have a happy marriage. This was when Maxim told her that they “lost their chance of happiness,” (265) and then told her that Rebecca’s boat had not sunk and that he had killed her and sunk the boat himself.

Mrs. De Winter was not sad, for now she knew that he never loved Rebecca but loved her. “[Her] heart was light like a feather floating in the air. [Maxim] had never loved Rebecca”(274). This news was like the destruction of a brick wall that had been in between them. She was no longer intimidated by the memory of Rebecca.

Theme

Berry Boeckman

spoiler

In Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier, the author teaches us that bad things we do will come back to haunt us. When Mr. De Winter shows little affection for his new wife, it is not because he does not love her but because he is haunted by a horrid memory. The memory of the late Mrs. De Winter, his first wife, whom he had murdered.

The late Mrs. De Winter had been elegant, graceful and beautiful. She was thought to be the perfect person, but Maxim (Mr. De Winter) soon found out after their marriage that that was entirely wrong. She cared about no one and had to have every man fall in love with her, it was a sort of trick. Mr. De Winter would often think about ways to get rid of her. One time he thought about pushing her off a cliff even, for he could not divorce her because it would look bad, so he was stuck and the only way to get out of his horrible marriage was the death of either of them.

One night, Maxim went down to Rebecca’s boathouse with a gun. He had one intention, and that was to kill Rebecca. He shot her and dragged her body to her boat, and sunk the boat. Everyone had thought she had drowned and Mr. De Winter was mourning over her loss, but in reality he was fretting over the thought about someone finding out his secret, that he was responsible for the death of his wife, not the ocean.

A year after Rebecca’s death, a boat got stuck in the cove where Rebecca’s boat lay. In order to get it out, I diver had to swim down and inspect the bottom of the ship, not only did he find the problem, he also found a small sailboat with a body in it, this was the body that had belonged to Rebecca.

It was very hard for anyone to believe that Rebecca would have let her ship sink because she was an excellent sailor and knew what she was doing and the boat was made very well, so Mr. De Winter was put on trial, and got away with it. Then, as he drove home to Manderley, his beautiful, romantic, fairy tale like estate he and Mrs. De Winter notice that, “The sky above [their] heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards [them] with the salt wind from the sea” (380). Mrs. Danvers, the women who helped the late Mrs. De Winter with everything since she was a child, had burned the entire estate down. The late Mrs. De Winters was dead, and took with her the life of Manderley. Maxim had been punished for a murder, with another one.

The Devil and His Boy- Setting

Tanner Hakert
English 8-6
Setting
February 18, 2010

The Devil and His Boy, by Anthony Horowitz, took place in London England. The story took place in the late 1500's, during Queen Elizabeth I's reign. This was made very clear during the book because it is very important in the main plot of the story. I wouldn't like to be living in the setting in the book. This is because London during that time was very crowded with houses and people, making it a perfect place for robbers and crooks. "There were people everywhere, shouting and shoving as they tried to reach the market stalls" (55.) Though I wouldn't like it there, the story has to take place here because most of the characters in the story were real people. So if the story were to be cast in a different place, everything would be different.

Experiences or Memory

Christina Kline

Time seems to slow down when your about to die. Once your skateboard wheels leave the concrete, and you screw up the trick you are already falling. Time seems to slow down. It only takes a few seconds to hit the ground, but it feels like half and hour.

In chapter 7 of The Gun Seller Thomas Lang is riding a Kawasaki along Victoria Embankment in London, "it was after midnight and there wasn't much traffic on embankment. The road was dry and the ZZR needed a gallop, so I eased open the throttle in third gear and replayed some lines of Captain Kirk to Mr. Chekhov in my head as the universe rearranged itself round my back wheel."(97-98) The same thing happens to me when I drop in on the vert pipe, a 15 foot fall. Things fly by and stream back to the tail of my board. Everything is going fine until I olly. My feet leave the board and I hope they find it again. At first time slows a little, as I realized I was going to crash, it only slows about a hour. Thomas Lang gets it right, "Time is a funny thing." He describes a split second motorcycle crash in two pages. His description reminds me of falling on my skateboard.

Explore Feelings- is pain a humorous emotion?

Christina Kline

In the action filled book called The Gun Seller I came across a scene that was filled with violence and humor. This strange combination does create a humorous tone. A struggle between Rayner, a classic bad guy, and the Bond like character Thomas Lang veers off into random thought while the fight continues. Lang most likely suffers from ADD. He can't even keep his mind on a fight. Who in the world would be comparing a man's huge pores to holes in a golf course while he is having his arm broken?

"And God Almighty, what a forehead. Bricks, knifes, bottles and reasoned arguments had, in their time, bounced harmlessly off this massive frontal plan, leaving only the feeblest indentations between its deep, widely spaced pores. They were, i think, the deepest and most widely-spaced pores I have ever seen in human skin, so that I found myself thinking back to the council putting-green in Dalbeattie, at the end of the long, dry summer of '76."

This quote characterizes Lang perfectly. Lang is capable of violence and humor at the same time. The violence makes the humor even funnier because it is such an odd combination. This foreshadows all future events in the novel that relate to combat. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the book. For example, when Lang was kept prisoner he says, "It was the sheer variety of the pain that stopped me from crying out. It came from so many places, spoke so many languages, wore so many dazzling varieties of ethnic costume, that for a full 15 seconds I could only hang my jaw in amazement." This guy is insane. He even personifies pain as speaking many languages and wearing ethnic costumes. Most people would be so focused on the pain they would be unable to think. The dramatic effect does not magnify the emotion. It has the opposite effect. There should be crying and screaming but Thomas Lang is thinking literary thoughts. It is more unemotional which makes the book even more humorous. This seems to be the entire motivation for Hugh Laurie. His novel is extremely humorous and entertaining in a droll British way.

The Devil and His Boy

Tanner Hakert

English 8-6

Explore Feelings

March 4, 2010

Spoiler

During the beginning of the book, The Devil and His Boy, by Anthony Horowitz, Tom is looking for something to d while he is on his Journey. A man, Grimly, asks Tom if he would like to work for charity, but its not the type of charity that Tom was expecting. "They might give a penny to a child shivering with cold But how much do you think they would give to that same child, missing a leg?" (63). This scene is the turning point in Tom's atitude. Tom learns that he needs to be very cautious everywhere he goes because if he isn't, he could die. Tom's change in atitude could have helped him later in the book, but he let his guard down, and it almost got him killed.

Atlas Shrugged

Setting

Atlas Shrugged written by Ayn Rand, is classic book. When read, the reader pictures the scenes as they read them. It is a fictional book and is written about a time when the major businesses and railroads such as Taggart Transcontinental are plagued by a communistic government. It is set in the home of the free America. The main character is a vice president in the railroad business. Her name is Dagny Taggart. She has a brother who stole the praise and adoration from her accomplishments; his name is James Taggart. A problem arose with one of the Taggart Transcontinental best lines, the Rio Norte Line. The line had to get a new track because there had been many wrecks on it. This book was recommended to me by my father, a bookaholic. He said that this was one of his favorite books and even thought it was a tough and long read it was his favorite book. Within the first hundred pages, I too had fallen in love with Ayn Rand’s way of writing and the story line. It has the perfect set up, there was a problem and the characters had to create a solution. The problem had been the Rio Norte Line’s unstable track, and of course, the government was trying to stop their income and profits. I wanted to help the railroad in the fight against this atrocity. This book would have drastically changed if it were put in a different era or place. After her great accomplishment she thought “…from an era when people gathered to greet the first run of a train…that age…was gone; generations passed…”(243). Even though people had stopped coming to see the trains run people came to see her. That is why this time was perfect. It was because it was after every one stopped having that enthusiastic attitude towards the trains. This is why Dagny’s accomplishment better than it would have been if that optimistic attitude were still around.