Monday, December 2, 2013
Online Analysis: Independent Reading Assignment #1, Literary Nonfiction
1.) List the title and author of your text.
2.) Respond to one of the following question in 500 thoughtful words. List your choice in your response.
A. Analyze a central conflict revealed by the author. Explain the conflict and how the author conveys its importance to the reader.
B. Analyze a central theme explored by the author. Explain how the author deals with this theme and its impact on the reader.
C. Analyze the writing style of the author. Describe his or her unique use of literary and rhetorical techniques and devices and how they contributed to the quality of the text.
3.) Reply to a peer's response in 100 words. What interests you about his or her analysis? What resonates with you?
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In Cold Blood: By Truman Capote
ReplyDeleteBy Ronnie Granillo, 12-1-13
Selection: Question C
One of the most interesting aspects of "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote is his great attention to the minds and the story of Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, the antagonists to his novel about a real case in 1959 Holcomb, Kansas. The greater portion of his novel is almost in the perspective of Perry, giving a great deal of attention to the reactions, thoughts, and the very mindset of Perry himself. Capote himself became a part of this case which drives his novel into an even higher level of non-fictional writing. He had interviewed Perry, Dick, and several other characters in the novel on numerous occasions to get a very real sense and a feel for what actually took place during these events. He was so involved in fact that he had eventually formed a sort of friendship with Perry who at all times of these interviews was in prison for the crime of which the story is based on. Capote also goes furthest in depth with Perry who then becomes the most well developed character in the story when Capote dedicates a large chapter to Perry's past and the events that lead him up to the contents of "In Cold Blood." We quickly note that Capote is an extraordinarily descriptive writer, giving vast detail to each of his characters, settings, and situations alike. Before I continue, I'd also like to bring attention to Capote's use of "last" that is rather repetitive near the beginning of the book. He constantly mentions how each of the characters proceed to do a daily activity, for the last time. This quickly emphasizes the inevitable deaths of the characters.
Another fascinating aspect of his writing, as I previously mentioned in my 3rd journal entry, is that Capote set up the last section this book in such a way as to sympathize and to nudge the reader to feel much of the same for these two murderers, and personally I believe that the interactions between Capote and the murderers heavily influenced this standpoint of which this book takes. He very much so uses this book to project his own ideas and opinions, as I said in the same journal entry, he voices his stance against the death penalty using his interviews with the characters strategically, although the real choice is up to the reader.
My final analysis of this work is why Capote chose to write about this particular case in Holcomb, Kansas. As it would seem, Capote said that "In Cold Blood's" purpose was to test the artistic merit of journalism." Capote saw himself as one of few journalist that still took writing seriously. In so writing this book about a crime, he brought up many social issues, and used it to debate issues like the worth of the death penalty. And because of his extensive work to give his novel hard facts and perspectives from the real characters themselves, he has been praised time and again for its insight into the criminal mind in, "In Cold Blood."
What interests me about your analysis is how you say that in the beginning of the book he mentions how each of the characters "proceed to do a daily activity, for the last time"and how you noticed that it "quickly emphasized the inevitable deaths of the characters" I read the book as well and also noticed how he used the book to put in his own opinion about the murder case and how he is not for the death penalty.I also liked how you said that Capote brought up social issues and used that to to discuss the death penalty and the worth of it.
DeleteYour analysis overall is very interesting, where you touched certain points I hadn’t really noticed before in my own reading. I must admit that I agree with you, that Capote’s close interactions with both murderers influenced his perspectives thus creating a sympathetic view for the two characters, but mainly Perry, whom we got to see more about and understand the instability he came from growing up. You could see that Capote isn’t really for the death penalty because of his constant use of pathos emphasizing the many tragedies and inconvenient events Perry suffered.
DeleteI read the book On The Road by Jack Kerouac. There were quite a few themes explored in this book such as; friendship, the American West, adventure, and a traveling life style (freedom) however the theme i would like to foucs on is the contrast between men and woman lifestyle, personalities and desires. The book focused almost solely on men. Sal, Dean, Carlo and the many other friends talked about woman "that pretty little thing" and "getting between her legs" but beside that seemed to have no respect for females at all. I found it absolutely horrid how women were treated. Dean married three times during the book, each time leaving the woman with complete responsibility of the children, his children. Woman were often abandoned in this novel, not only by Dean but by almost every man in the book. Woman were for sex, and once the man became tired of that woman or lifestyle they left even if they were leaving multiple children behind. I was so angry when i read the part of the book where Sal had met the "girl of his dreams" gone home with her, begun raising her children with her but then became bored so decided to leave. In those days as well as these days woman don't have the choice or freedom to simply leave whenever they are bored with a certain way of living. I a sure that plenty of stay at home wives are bored and unsatisfied with their lives, but they grind through it. I don't mean to make a generalization though, there are plenty of fathers, even single fathers who raise their children wonderfully. In the novel the biggest thing is not that they just become bored of a lifestyle, but that for the men woman represented a block on their way to freedom. If endless travel, the pleasure of going wherever you please, whenever, with whoever, the woman and their family life was what stood in men's way. Commitment was not something these male characters wanted to do, nor thought they should have to do. Woman are constantly shown as disposable objects "Hey man there is another girl so throw that one away" (not an actual quote from the text) really? Aren't there more men in the world than woman? Another frustrating aspect of this book was that the main female character was a slut...no other way to put it. She slept around for attention, money, and to get back at her ex. She even called the police and accused him of abuse when he did not touch her just to get back at him. This was a horrible way to represent the female sex. Especially practically the only re-occuring female throughout the entire novel. She was power hungry, money hungry, and a sterotypical sluty girl.
ReplyDeleteAs a girl myself i was not at all happy with the way we were shown in this book, it was offensive and it did bother me. The men got to prance around and do whatever the heck they wanted while they stuck their many exes at home with the kids, what a load of sheeeaattt. I guess i have to take time period into account, but even with that factored in i seems crazy. It crazy to think that women could be treated in such a demeaning mater, and even crazier that they would stand for it. And even when he woman did seem a bit upset with the men and tried to explain it to Sal and Dean the men did not seem at all interested in trying to change or resolve the problems, even if it was their problem to resolve.
-Eva-Maria
Upon reading your entry, I quickly began to agree with your views on the sexist themes and situations of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road." Although I have not read this book myself, I read that Truman Capote, the Author of such books as "In Cold Blood" stated this book, "- Is not writing at all. It's typing." Although writing is a freedom granted to us in America, authors should be aware of the content they put into it. The general feel for the book has been described as, "Morbidly fascinating" by some for it's seemingly favoring the mistreatment of women. I'm certain this book has been ridiculed and criticized by feminist and other groups and/or individuals everywhere.
DeleteThat seems like a very interesting book that sounds like it could have been a controversial book in the time it came out. I think that theme or issue perhaps did have a lot to do with the time period but it doesn’t really sound that shocking since its just as bad now than it was portrayed back then. Only, in my opinion I feel the roles are changed. I see there are more women getting bored and they decide to leave relationships (not including children) and move on to the next single person. However, I could be wrong, but that’s the way that I’m seeing a lot of relationships on the internet nowadays, that the girl gets bored of the relationship and leaves. There was even this kid you and I both know from middle school, Evan, who apparently his girlfriend was telling everyone that he hit her when he didn’t lay a finger on her and I remembered that when you said that the female character did that. It seems like it has become a norm nowadays because we live in a time of “ratchets” and “sluts and bitches” and not so many “players” who “hit it and quit it”.
DeleteWhen reading your analysis and went into just the 6th/7th line I began to immediately picture our present day society and when further reading into your analysis I found it more intriguing. Yes i agree that treatment even for that time period is still appalling. I related your analysis of the book to what we see everyday now and it seems to become normal seeing that attitude of not only men but also women leaving their partners just cause they are bored. I was able to connect with this cause it something I see everyday.
DeleteI agree with you, at the beginning of the book, Dean was described as this adventurous madman, who loved to have a good time, as when it came to Marylou, she was the dumb blonde from Colorado, they way she was portrayed was also downgrading to woman. I also think that it wasn’t all that bad, with how woman appeared to be, Camille stood up and decided to kick Dean out, not caring about the fact that she was on her own with her two children, she decided not to tolerate Dean behaviors and she was also well conscious that Dean no longer was interested in the life they had together,
DeleteI read half of the book and yet I never looked at it that way. It is an incredibly interesting idea and its totally true. Think about it now days how the woman keeps the man from being the wild beast he is inside, that concept is used in thousands of films and television shows these days. The last time i heard a story about a woman taking her freedom was in the film Thelma and Louise. Eva I believe you should write the next great story of a woman finding her freedom. I being a male did not see that side of the story maybe because in this modern society we have been fed the idea that women are keeping us from our freedom, go watch the latest Charlie sheen show and that's exactly what you will hear. I am very glad i read this because for a very long time, this novel was seen as the ultimate tale of freedom, maybe this is why.
DeleteBook: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
ReplyDeleteResponse to: C
Sedaris had this way of writing that engaged people in the beginning with all the dialogue and his thoughts about the many different people he came into contact with. The whole book wasn’t a cohesive story that dragged on and focused on one thing. A lot of the chapters (or essays according to Google) talked about his different jobs and his family’s strangeness. For example, he talked about himself being a substitute english teacher for a bit and he taught a class of about nine students. He would give them strange assignments like make them watch a tv drama series and write about what their thoughts about what the next episode would be about. By the end of the chapter he mentioned how one of the students got mad and asked him how much money he was making to be there and all he remembered was that they all began laughing so loud that he felt humiliated enough to quit. It wasn’t really something I could relate to but I thought it was pretty engaging to know what he would end up doing with the class to show them who’s boss. Like, he would open and close the classroom door so that he can feel he has the power of the door, thus having the power over the students.
In another chapter (this was actually my favorite chapter by far), he mentions his other siblings were raised with a certain way of being and when they moved to this place, the people would talk like hillbillies and their family reacted like they were stupid and they shouldn’t socialize with them. When his younger brother was born, his brother learned the ways of the “hillbillies” and began speaking and acting the way they did and he would speak by saying a cussing after every other word. His brother even gave himself a nickname: The Rooster. He would constantly say that no one can kill the rooster and would call people bitches and he would even call his dad a… mo fo. Even so, his dad loved him very much and thought he was the most articulate and most outspoken child of the bunch. It was a very entertaining piece of work and I feel it contained a certain meaning to it, like, family will always love you no matter who you become.
Sedaris always used (well, tried to use) humor in every chapter which was really good and engaging in the beginning but in my opinion it got really tedious and annoying towards the end because he only spoke about learning French and being in France for the last 10 chapters. But for the most part, his style of writing was humor and he used a lot of mini examples to explain his main purpose of the chapter. All of the chapters seem to have different themes embedded in them and what they all have in common is awkward moments that he’s had to deal with. Overall, the quality was great because of the entertainment that the many stories provide.
to jenny: It sounds as though the book you read was beautifully written and very interesting. Your response made me interested in reading it. I understand how his stories were interesting but how was his style interesting? Did he change perspectives in every story? or were the stories just interesting enough to keep you reading? i find it really funny that you say his humor was annoying. like was it stupid? It seems as though his experienes are vast and worldly, did you learn a lot? i have only read one of his stories and i thought it was very funny...either way though it seems like you enjoyed your book more than i enjoyed mine.
ReplyDeletewell, he didnt change perspectives i guess but the whole book, like i said, it wasnt cohesive so in every chapter there was a different story in a different time in his life so i guess you could say his perspectives did change. no his stories werent stupid, it was just that towards the end, he began ONLY focusing on his times in paris with his boyfriend and how he would learn french with a bunch of people and a really mean teacher and it just got really annoying to have to keep reading his struggle to learn the language when he didnt even seem to have a great interest in it if he didnt take more time in his life to try and learn it. like, he would go back to his home in new york and he would always say he would take a class and when it was time to go visit paris, he never knew anything other than literally the word "bottleneck" and after a while it just gets really boring and not worth reading but the beginning half was really enjoyable xP i wonder if i get extra points for two responses /.\
DeleteChris
ReplyDelete12/3//13
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
A. Analyze a central conflict revealed by the author. Explain the conflict and how the author conveys its importance to the reader.
A central conflict Captoe revels in his book “In Cold Blood” is the conflict of two lives, one filled with hardships and suffering and the other that’s almost near perfect, the lives between Perry and the Clutters and the world of difference between them.
Capote began to show this conflict bit by bit at the start of his book he outlined the life of the Clutter’s, how they were respected and lived a simple normal pleasant life. Capote then began to tell Perry’s life bit by bit as well revealing more as the story progressed. Perry lived a pitiful life, he had a broken family, his mother an alcoholic and a whore, while taken away from his father, then running away with his father and later on in life finding out two of his sibling succumbbed to their weakness and committed suicide. As a result of everything Perry kept going on the road to his own self-demise. On the contrast the Clutters had lives that were almost impeccable they had everything in life that was denied to Perry, a family, a education, a place to call home, and normality.
This conflict, the clashing of two different lives, which led to Perry killing the Clutters not that he wanted to but rather he didn’t even notice the nature of the act he committed. When committing the crimes Perry said “ I knelt down beside Mr. Clutter, and the pain of kneeling—I thought of that goddam dollar. Silver dollar. The shame. Disgust. And they’d told me never to come back to Kansas. But I didn’t realize what I’d done till I heard the sound. Like somebody drowning. Screaming under water.” showing that when he committed the murders it wasn’t out of hatred but rather frustration he had pent up against everything life had denied him, which the Clutter’s symbolized.
Capote conveys this conflicts importance slowly throughout the whole book with the ultimate goal of allowing the reader to see the murder and the murderer with a different view, being able to understand Perry and even feel sympathy towards him. Further evidence to support this shows this is even detective Dewey “found it possible to look at the man beside him without anger—with, rather, a measure of sympathy—for Perry Smith’s life had been no bed of roses but pitiful, an ugly and lonely progress toward one mirage or another.”
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ReplyDeleteMe Talk Pretty One Day- David Sedaris
ReplyDeleteResponse to B.
The central theme that I noticed that was ongoing throughout Sedaris’ book was insecurity. He has insecurities about looks, how smart he is, as well as his abilities. An example of his insecurity with his looks is when he talks about his ex-boyfriends and how he says he remembers them being cuter than him. Sedaris also has the insecurity of his intelligence. It first comes up when he is with his speech therapist and says that no matter how hard he tried he probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce his S’s correctly. He then talks about it again when he gets a job cleaning construction sites. He states that he worked with a guy named Reggie and how he told Sedaris that he shouldn’t be working there because his IQ was too high. After this he decides to go take the IQ test but gets his partner Hugh to join as well. When he gets the results back his IQ was low and said that a cat’s weight was higher than his IQ. While his partner Hugh is close to qualifying for the program Mensa and they encouraged him to try again. Sedaris also has insecurity about his abilities. He talks about it when his siblings, dad, and he are in the car and how their father signs them up each for musical lessons. Sedaris meets with the guitar teacher and says he does not like playing the guitar. I think he thought he was not capable of playing the guitar so he did not try. Also when he moves to New York and has to make certain decisions money wise. He starts to feel self-conscious because he is not like the average New Yorker who has money, owns expensive things and walks around New York with pride. Sedaris talks about his struggle with drugs and alcoholism. I think his insecurities and being self-conscious may be some of the causes for that. In the end he talks about how he is trying to prove that he does not need the drugs and alcohol and can go on with his life. He has a few struggles but he tries to do something else to make up for it. An example of this would be how his hand was used to having a can or glass rose to his mouth and tried different things like tomato juice, soda, grape juice, milk and finally settles with tea. He goes back to college and continues his life. I think the point Sedaris wanted to make is that no matter the obstacles through out life you are able to overcome them and you can become something of yourself. It can take some time and is not always right away but to never give up.
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez
ReplyDeleteA.
A central conflict that happen in the book ,"Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez" the authors first language was Spanish and he felt comfortable speaking it. home. Throughout the book he begins to issue how learning English was something he had to learn due to the people he tend to be surrounded outside of home. Leaning English began to slowly lose his identity and separate him from his life. Becoming fluent in a different language, he soon lost touch between his cultural values that he once held in common with his family. This conflict began to be part of his growth , English had shaped him into someone he didn’t even recognize and felt lost about his culture and identity. His religion became something he soon question and was confused about even though he assisted church for almost 12 years he notice how distance he became. Before his confusing he was a Catholic that would shape him the whole entire day. But soon it changed Rodriguez felt confuse between home and school and there was not an place where he actually felt himself. I would have to say part of the authors argument tend to be coming to a country having to learn new customs. You begin to lose your identity and customs .I began to relate with the authors central conflict and how this conflict began to influence him all the way till today. Overall I have to say the book's conflict was straightforward , every chapter was explaining how the learning of a new language influence every part of his life. His way of writing the essay was different that other books I have read , he seems to write essays in every chapter. Every chapter he seems to leap from his Spanish culture to his new leaning. I could say I have a connection with the author , I have never really felt I have a certain culture. I don’t consider myself American but neither Mexican. I really have no understanding of Mexican culture nor American. I understand how he lost and felt like he slowly lost his identity. Having to learn something new and not being able to understand and all these changes coming in at once beginning to get used to all of this was challenging. He had to start all over and began to understand the American culture and feel good about towards the English language. Something that interest me a lot about the author is shouldn’t he be happy about how the English language helped him as a person and made him the person he is today.
Your book is similar to mine. People began to loose themselves as they began to learn other customs. However, mine didn't have a follow up as to if they felt left out from both sides and not knowing who they are. They did become better people because they learned how to write and speak another language. I agree with you. Sometimes I have a hard time figure who I am. At home I have all these Mexican/Catholic traditions that I don't know much about, only that we celebrate them. On the other hand I am learning the different customs of those who speak English, yet those dont really fit with who I am and so I'm stuck in the middle, not really knowing either side very well.
DeleteIn Cold Blood by Truman Capote
ReplyDeleteC. Analyze the writing style of the author. Describe his or her unique use of literary and rhetorical devices and how they contributed to the quality of the text.
Truman Capote’s book “In Cold Blood”, evolves into a gory story of two murderers, killing four members of a respected family in a small town, which itself evokes a feeling of animosity for the two murderers known as Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Yet throughout the book Capote strongly uses pathos which slowly evolves you and eventually leads you to feeling sympathy for the killers, mainly Perry, as Capote begins to speak of both of the murderer’s past; the “harshness” and struggles Perry underwent growing up. Even though the murder was a very important aspect of the story Capote allows most of the story to revolve around Perry, his thoughts, his troubles, his psychological state. Which like stated before leads to feeling sympathetic towards Perry who underwent a difficult life growing up the moment the career of his parent’s ended. Capote was very successful when using pathos because even though Perry was a cold blooded murderer, there was still a feeling of sensitivity and even “understanding” towards Perry. Capote touches many psychological points for both characters but once again focuses more on Perry. An example would be when Willie Jay made an analyses on the letter Perry got from his sister, or when Dewey said that one of the killers had some sort of emotional attachment for the way the body of the Clutter’s were accommodated, each having a detail of consideration. Capote only having the version of the story from the two murderers, and having interacted the most with Perry and Dick is more prone to not exactly side but be empathetic with them because that is the best evidence to work with. Capote in the beginning of the book begins to foreshadow the death of the Clutters, mainly Mr. Clutter, when Mr. Clutter is buying the life insurance and begins to doubt buying it because nothing ever happens to him. His foreshadowing provokes a type of nerve wrecking excitement as you begin to wonder when the murder will happen and if it will. Yet throughout the story what I found to be the most unique aspect about Capote’s style of writing that allowed the events concurring in the book to come forth more strongly was the way Capote would go back and forth between the characters and how their views. You would get a personal insight of each character in a matter of paragraphs, through his use of description such as the ones used for Nancy, making her look like the perfect girl. In addition to that I found it deeply interesting and I love it when points from the start of the story that might have seemed unnecessary start making sense and connecting with other points throughout the story. Such as the small background details of Perry and Dick and how eventually you began to know more and more about these two characters and how they were involved with the murder. Writing about such a controversial and gory murder case, where there are “no witnesses left” besides the killers (whom are now dead too), is an interesting choice by Capote, because the only people who can recount such events are the ones who committed the crime. Meaning that to some extent the author will even fall prey to bias and be to some extent more compelled to create sympathy for the killers. Overall Truman Capote brought forth an emotion and thought provoking story allowing you to travel through the minds two different murderers who came together and almost committed “the perfect crime”.
1.) Title: Things Fall Apart
ReplyDeleteAuthor: Chinua Achebe
2.) B. In the novel, the nine different tribes must face change in their culture and religion as the Europeans take over their land. This caused the tribes to split in two. Those who saw the advantage of switching their religion to Christianity, they didn’t hesitate to leave their culture behind. Those like the main character, Okonkwo, realized that this new “system” wouldn’t benefit them, so they decided to rebel against it. Many of the people from the tribe thought it would be a disrespect to their ancestors to leave them behind and try something knew. These "weird" looking people are coming to their lands and are not being considerate that they are strangers telling them what to do.
Okonkwo saw the new tradition as "not manly enough" and he didn't want to be seen "weak." Anything that to him meant feminine, he would ignore and not act upon them. Even feelings, he would keep them all inside and demonstrate nothing but being fearless. He also saw to his disadvantage that with these new people around, he wouldn't be able to be at the top in his society. He wanted to get rid of the threat that was preventing him from being more successful. He was in denial that this new religion would bring him better fortune and maybe peace from his past. However, he is still acting like a winning female by trying to get what he wants no matter what.
Throughout the book the point of view is from the tribes side, especially from Okonkwo, which causes the reader to have sympathy towards them as they are loosing their lands and they are helpless in trying to fight the Europeans away. Those who go with the Europeans aren't spoken about much because they are seen as the low, unwanted ones. Most of the ones that transformed to Christians, they were looked down because they really didn't "follow" or were the "ideal" people to be part of the tribe. Even though the tribes customs was about having peace and all, there customs were weird. For instance a wife kept having twins and so everytime they were born, they were killed. To many of them, the logic the tribe had didn't make as much sense as the learnings of Christianity.
However, through out the whole novel, the reader emphasizes how important this old traditions is for the tribe. No matter how unusual and superstitious they may seem, it united the whole trib as one and helped them survive all those years. Although the practice of something new excites them, the fact that their lives may change has them a little off the edge.
I read, On the Road by Jack Kerouac. The central theme of the book that stood up for me was friendship, or as Sal would like to call, his "intellectual friends". Sal starts by talking about Dean. Sal described him as a "madman" "adventurous". Sal hasn't been able to finish his book and decides to go on the road. He initially decides to travel because he's a young writer who hasn't been able to finish his book, and is bored and depressed. He hears that Dean is out of reform school and decides to travel. Through the time Sal is traveling and giving rides from random strangers, he appears to be sad and desires adventures and exploration. From the four journeys they had, Sal realized that his friendship with Dean is destructive. Dean’s Craziness and energy affects others; from leaving his wife and children to go on another journey with Sal, and doing drugs and sleeping with various women.
ReplyDeleteit is only when Sal's group of friends are together that he can truly experience the kind of life they want to live.
Sal, Dean, and Carlo’s, friendship seemed as the male bonding stereotype. Dean wanted to write, he thought he could learn from Sal, and Carlo was the energetic poet. Although they may seem like they have something in common they each seek something different, something that benefits them. Sal is Dean escape from a boring life from his wife; Dean is Sal’s road escape from boredom. Part of Sal wanting to travel is to have something for his book.
The amount of irresponsibly made me angry, all they did was do drugs, smoke cigars, drink and sleep with women. I didn’t think it was so much to fulfill their dream to travel but more to get out of doing or have responsibilities. Sal left the Mexican woman he meat and her kid, promising to come when he knew that wasn’t a priority to him. Dean left his wife and kids, when he had just left Marylou because he had the love of his life. Sal and Dean were both selfish and were looking for something they weren’t going to find, and they tried to find it through all the wrong ways.
It wasn’t until their visit to Mexico, when Dean decided to leave and told Sal he had gotten a divorce and was leaving back to New York and left Sal sick and alone until Stan comes. This is when Sal realizes how selfish Dean really is. Which to me is it when he realized that they never really had friendship they each individual dreams and saw each other as a way to fulfill those dream which in the long run it would be destroyed. How could Dean be a good friend, when he couldn’t be a good husband or Father, and only cared for himself and his desires, and only wanting to accomplish them without caring if people around him got hurt, including his so call brother, Sal.
"THE RIGHT STUFF" by Tom Wolfe
ReplyDeleteResponse to A
The central conflict that Wolfe writes in the book, “The Right Stuff”was that men take their job seriously and that they are willing to do anything, and go through anything, to keep their job. So, the book is about pilots from like the Air Force and it starts off saying how almost all pilots die because they crash. He literally describes each crash. The book is about going to space for the first time. It shows how the journey to space was really dangerous, and it required men that were willing to keep living their lives, knowing that one day they might not make it back home. Later on, the pilots become astronauts they still have to have to have the “right stuff” though. So according to Wolfe, “the right stuff” means to have the strength to accept danger and face it. Wolfe also talks a lot about the wives of these pilots/astronauts. He explains how they have to stay at home and live with the fact that at anytime, a person can knock and inform them that their husbands suffered a crash. I think that Wolfe is trying to explain and let the readers know that men are too male-ish? The pilots/astronauts preferred to die than to request help when they need it. There's a part in the book when he explains how like when they are going down (crashing), a person asks them, if they want help. The pilot always replies no, because if they say yes, they won't have the “right stuff”, and they will be forced to stay behind, and wont be able to be promoted. So the problem is that the men in the book are too proud and won't back down, because they don't want to be cowards. Wolfe really emphasizes this issue by literally writing about all the deaths of pilots/astronauts with specific details, like when he describes the type of man a certain pilot was, then describing the simple mistake he made wrong, which lead to his death. He then describes how that man left his wife as a widow, and left kids behind. He also keeps repeating when the co-workers go to a funeral of another co-worker, and then go to work the next day, like if nothing changed or happened, even though they had spent a long time together, like having dinner parties together. He then, near the end, talks about those actually going to space. There's still a couple of accidents, but it's mainly about all this training that they have to do. Which was for competition, to go to the moon. The training and the tests were extremely hard and , for me, sometimes didn't make sense, like when they have to look at a piece of blank paper, and say what they see. The book was really interesting for me, because I like learning about Space, but it was also a little boring, when Wolfe kept putting examples of deaths of pilots. It was just a book full of facts about the voyage to going to Space for the first time.
I read the fascinating story of freedom and self discovery in the face of tragedy, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. The author takes on multiple topics and themes towards the journey of self discovery, that's why the novel is four hundred pages long. I will note one of the ideas that were mentioned by the author, the idea of ghosts. the author is traveling across America with his son after the son was diagnosed with a mental illness. In one of their travels the son asked the question to his father if he believes in ghosts. The father gives him a long beautiful idea of what he believes are ghosts. Everything we believe and know is a ghost. the law of gravity, before Newton did it ever existed? No it never did, we all accepted to believe in it, it doesn't exist it exist in our minds! everything we ever learned history, astronomy, geography everything we were made to believe is a ghost an invisible thing we all believe in our heads. Its not really there. It on lives in our minds! Upon reading this i was so shocked and amazed that this thought which only took about 4 pages of the book has stuck around in my head for a long time. The idea of us as a society blindly following the ideals that might never actually existed, like ghosts, that were never there but only haunts us in our minds. Not exactly a theme explored by the author just an idea thrown out by the author that i absolutely loved. One of the major themes are the idea of spiritualizing every day life and the conflicts between romantic and classical way of thinking. The idea of spiritualizing everyday life was beautiful to me Taking life a lot less serious and truly sit back and enjoy life. Man was i happy when i read about this. This is what i try to do everyday! I try to expose myself and just open up to the great emotions that are traveling thru the air. The author comes off as naive in the novel yet at the same time that's what it gives him his strength. The idea to expose ourselves and no take life so serious, not to survive bu to live. The author also struggles with the idea of keeping our ideals in a time where ideals are slowly fading away is another theme that will bring me in into the next themes the author touches upon, romanticism and classical way of thinking. A romantic way of thinking is the new way of thinking of giving up the classic way of thinking, and of course classical way of thinking is the old way with all the classic ideals we were raised with. The narrator comes in conflict when he doesn't know what way of thinking he believes in and he then comes to wonder why the world is in always such conflict. because the two ways of thinking collide with each other constantly and the author comes to the conclusion that it will always be like that and he believes that in order to find bliss is to find a balance between the two. Keeping our classic ideals yet be open to new ideas and always search for new ideas. This becomes a major theme of the story and one of my favorite things about it. The writer gives us an idea of what we should sought out to do with life in order for us to find true bliss. We should sought to to find new ideas and to constantly try to find our way into the unknown and to discover the great unknowns of life that can be discovered by getting on a motorcycle and forgetting about the stressful and slaving ways of every day life.
ReplyDeleteMan, o man! I'm not going to lie, but this entry actually wants me to read this book! Mainly because on what's it about. I also tend to not take life as seriously just because I don't want to miss out on these last young, innocent years (more like months) that I have left in my life. I honestly agree that we shouldn't take life as seriously as we do. We have too many people working just to get by and never giving themselves a break.
DeleteAlso, every great idea is only a ghost is just... wow. If you really think about is what other people (most likely dead) thought about and be believe it so well, it has, and will, survive for even more generations to come. This can also lead to how society can believe an idea that may be completely false to others. Man, I really want to read this book now!
I really liked the description you gave of the book and I definitely will consider it over break. I'm familiar with the themes you spoke about from the book. Though I do not agree entirely with the whole "just enjoy life" statements, you learn a lot through those kinds of texts. What really got me interested in the book is when you spoke on the ghosts. I loved that description, though I do not agree with it. The other thing that I found interesting is how all this stuff is connected to motorcycled maintenance. It kind of reminds me of a therapist recommending someone to buy a cat (haha) but I had never really thought of the connection of motorcycles and self-discovery before (at least before hearing Ride by Lana Del Rey). I liked how you talked about the classic ideals and knowing how to keep these while embracing/acknowledging new ideas. That resonated with me the most because as a Christian that is something I have to do a lot ad it really teaches you a lot and makes you a more understanding/empathetic person.
DeleteBook: A Raisin in the Sun
ReplyDeleteAuthor: Lorraine Hansberry
Response: B
In author Lorraine Hansberry's book, A Raisin in the Sun, the central theme that occurs throughout the story is that one must have a sense of individualism and also able to stand up for what you believe. In the beginning, one of the characters, Walter, starts complaining about how his life is nothing but dull. Since he is a black man who is a chauffeur, he feels like his life didn't amount to anything. Walter was going through a mid-life crisis in a way. He was feeling so depressed about his job and his purpose that he attempts to express those feelings, but is being misinterpreted by his family. He tries to get people to listen to him, but no one can really help him because they do not fully understand his situation. Even Beneatha, Walter's sister, feels that she is having a hard time trying to express herself. She has been switching from extra-curricular activities in order to see what she can resonate with. She is meeting with two men, one with money, but no sense of individualism, and the other that has life and an overall sense of individualism. The person that is restricting their ideals is their mother, Lena Younger. She is seen by many in the household as the supreme ruler; what she says goes. She has her individuality, but it interferes with what her two children want to strive for. For example, her daughter wanted to be a doctor, but the rest of her family was saying that if they ever got an abundant amount of money, then she would use it for other means, like providing for the family. She’s not strict just to portray a stereotypical “antagonist” (I wouldn’t even say she is an antagonist), she’s strict for the reason she is trying to take care of the family her way because it has worked out in the past.
Near the end, Beneatha and Walter finally found themselves and also stuck to their ideals from the people that helped them discover themselves. Even Lena changes herself by making she open to her children's ideas. The author wanted the reader to convey that not everyone has to follow what other say you should do. Sometimes, a certain situation takes place in your life in order for you to delve within yourself and search for the true side of you. Along with this, you must be firm in your beliefs and ideals. When Walter was tempted to sell the house that Lena bought for them in Clybourne Park, when he discovered that the money that he gave to Willy was gone , he stood up for what he thought he should do and didn't sell the house. In the end, he was tired of staying at the same level for so long. As all humans do, he needed to progress and move on with his life so that he can amount to something greater.
1. I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac
ReplyDelete2A. There really isn’t a central conflict in On the Road, instead, there are several issues along with different themes but the main conflict was about finding meaning in life and balancing freedom with commitment. This book takes place in the late 1940’s during the time of the Beat Generation. Sal, the main character, is a writer who embarks on travels around the U.S to find himself. What I noticed that kept him from achieving that, in a way, was Sal’s close friend, Dean Moriarty. Sal and dean are opposites. Sal thinks more than he acts and Dean is a very lively person and these qualities are foreshadowing of the main lesson learned at the end. As Sal and Dean travel, they go to parties and hitchhike around the country. The main issue for Sal is his ignorance. A New Yorker who romanticizes the road is disappointed on his first trip when he is left in the middle of nowhere in the rain. The story of On the road can be seen as one in which Sal grows out of himself because he goes on the road and loses some of his ignorance and finds a place to settle. We see a lot of Sal’s ignorance when we read his thoughts in the novel. For example, at the start, Sal would heavily label people of the west by what he had thought of them before. He would have an idea, usually a romanticized one, about where he was going and when he got there, it wasn’t as grand as he had imagined. So he kept going from city to city and at a point in the novel, Dean and Sal were out of control. The biggest example of this was when Dean and Sal found “the girl” and then a bit later, left them to go on the road again and fall again for someone else. This form of recklessness was due in part of their upbringings as fatherless children. Sal would be constantly torn between being free on the road and settling down. Sal had a form of admiration for the local’s wherever he went, that is until Dean and Sal went to Mexico. After a lot of partying and drugs, Sal and dean come across an indigenous village where they had a sour perception of the locals (even though they didn’t do anything to them). This last journey served as a stopping point when Dean leaves Sal behind in Mexico when he was sick with fever. I think it is here that it is noticeable that the main conflict or action is caused by Dean. Sal’s admiration for Dean got him started on the road and kept him going, Sal’s friendship with Dean was keeping Sal from growing up and becoming a man. When Sal finds someone he really likes and settles down, Dean is not in the picture and it is here where it seems like Sal finally grew up and has confidence in himself and is settled while Dean is left troubled and lost now. The end of the novel shows a form of character interchanging because Sal was lost and not confident in the beginning and now it is Dean, who is like that, Dean who used to be the one who knew where he was going. Dean’s companionship with Sal was both the issue and the solution in On the Road.
Book: On the Road by J. Kerouac
ReplyDeletePost by: James Mays
Kerouac's "On the Road" had many themes from self-discovery to betrayal to friendship. However, I want to focus on the theme of traveling and living the "Beat lifestyle." The Beat lifestyle was named for the Beat Generation of writers who rejected the standards of society, sought out intellectual enlightenment, and explored the use of drugs and excessive sex. In the book, the reader follows the adventures and travels of Sal and Dean as they explore this Beat lifestyle. This theme shows the emphasis these two and this generation placed on getting women, drinking, doing drugs, having a good time, following their desires, and how they abandon their responsibilities to do so. Throughout the book, Dean marries three women and has several children, all of which he abandons to go on the road and travel with Sal to the West and, one time, to Mexico. Several times throughout the book, Sal and Dean both begin to settle down and become "domesticated," but quickly become uprooted as the other introduces the "madness" of the Beat lifestyle back into their life. This cycle of becoming domesticated, uprooting their life, and then doing the same thing over again intrigued me because I couldn't understand why anyone who make a life for themselves then abandon it to go on the road again. However, when the cycle ended because Sal didn't give into the madness of Dean for the first time, I realized that Sal was allured by the new experiences Dean's madness offered over the domestic life and he abandoned him when his madness stopped offering anything new. Sal and Dean were perfect examples of the Beat lifestyle, hitch hiking, staying at friends' houses, and experimenting with new things. However, I could never understand their inability to stick to either the Beat lifestyle or the domestic one and their willingness to hurt people in the process. But in the end, everyone has to grow up and that's where the Beat lifestyle is forgotten and the domestic lifestyle takes hold.
The book i read was Under the banner of heaven by Jon Krakauer. It's a story about a murder commited by two fundametalist mormons. It compares the two mormon churches, and gives a very descriptive background history of Mormonism Nd how it's played a huge part in the early years of the Manifest Destiny Americans wes pursuing. They prosecuted and despised but still manGed to survive. The conflict he presented was
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