I finished my book! It was fantastic. (Spoiler alerts in this paragraph, just by the way). Each chapter, there was a new plot twist that really kept you reading… I personally think this book has some similarities to the new Captain America movie. Captain America really couldn’t trust anyone, even the cops and his own army seemed turned against him. I liked that aspect of the movie because it really kept you interested. In the same way, the main character in this book (Grace) had a lot of unexpected betrayals from close friends. At the end, even the police are against her.  She was truly alone and yet, kept fighting. The ending left me a little on edge. Many of the main characters died in the end of the book, including Grace's father and the chief of police. Many other characters suffer gunshot wounds. Even other main characters get really mad with Grace and stop talking to her. The point is, she loses a lot of her friends and family. However, her boyfriend, who was acclaimed to be dead, seems to be actually alive; and it's her quest to find him. That's how the book ended, and I can’t wait to get the second one!

     I chose a book called Untraceable about a girl named Grace.  I chose this book because I’ve always been into adventure books about being lost in the wilderness; I love the woods. (Actually, my Nanowrimo was about being lost in the Alaskan wilderness). Untraceable had been compared to a really good book I read in Comp and Lit 1 (The Uglies) and after reading a few of the reviews it seemed like it was going to be a really good read. Not only that, but I am planning on doing a music video for this book, and when you’re lost in the wilderness there are many different ways you can go about writing a song and creating a cool music video. As far as the reading goes; so far, so good. Grace is an expert woods girl who has lived in the Smokies her whole life. She understands the wilderness, and it understands her. She’s desperately searching for her father, who has gone missing.  When I was researching the book, most people gave it positive reviews; but there was someone that claimed the writing style of the author was completely awful. However, I’ve found that the writing style is perfectly fine… so far, anyways. I’m looking forward to more reading and working on this project!

     In Romeo and Juliet, the Capulet family was a wealthy, stable, and well respected family. The Capulet story took place in the late 1500’s in Verona, Italy. In The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds, Tillie’s family was a very poor family that had fallen apart and that everyone seemed to laugh at. This story takes place in the mid 70’s. Though it seems these two families couldn’t be more than polar opposites, they had their similarities as well as their differences.

     These two families are similar in that the mother’s weren’t all that involved in their daughters’ lives. In Romeo and Juliet, the mother in the Capulet family didn’t even know Romeo and Juliet had been married. And if she had heard, she wouldn’t have cared at all – she probably would have banned Romeo from ever seeing Juliet again. In Tillie’s story, Betty doesn’t really care about her daughter’s life. Her daughter wants to study science, and is a very smart girl. But the mother doesn’t care. She even makes Tillie stay home from school to work around the house, even if Tillie really wants to go learn. Neither mother really cared about what was important to their daughter, but cared much more about the reputation of the family and money.

     Both stories end in tragedy as well. In Romeo and Juliet, both main characters end up dying in the end. In The Marigold story, the drunk mother who hasn’t had that great of a life killed the family pet and ran the house like a “concentration camp”. She’s even willing to let her own daughter die in order to save money. That’s how the story ends, and you don’t find out what happens. So even beside all the differences between these two families, there are some similarities.

    

     The only way I could relate to this story is the way of caretaking an elderly lady. While my Grandma isn’t even close to as bad as Nanny was, she still requires a level of caretaking – if she’s stressed out, you have to go and calm her down, which usually takes a long time because Grandma can’t remember what you just told her five minutes ago. And on behalf of my family I could relate to the mother asking, “how did I get stuck with this?” But that was pretty much the only way I could relate to that play.

     In the story of Romeo and Juliet, I believe Juliet’s character both changed quite a bit and also didn’t change at all. She started out as an innocent young girl without love, pretending to be smart and not a care in the world. She seemed spoiled; you can almost hear that accent in her voice, the famous ‘give me everything I want’ tone. She was too good for all of the guys in town, in fact, she told her mother in person that she hadn’t met anyone she’d want to marry yet. But then, things started to change. She met Romeo, this young boy that was good enough for her. But that relationship had a problem; Romeo’s family hated her family. So then she undertakes a journey that would eventually end her life.

     At first, I noticed Juliet was a bit stuck up and spoiled. I imagined her as one of those girls that go around high school talking with that famous ‘give me everything I want’ tone; those girls that are too good for most everyone. She came from a rich family, so it makes sense that she might be a little spoiled. But although she’s spoiled, she does seem like a smart girl; in the garden scene while Romeo kept on professing his love for her, and asking her to marry him and all that, it was Juliet who pointed out, “hey, we just met a few hours ago. Let’s not do anything crazy.” In this sense, she’s smarter than Romeo, who is simply driven mad by love. By the end of the play, however, she loses that sense of logic completely and becomes as driven mad as Romeo. Throughout the center of the play – I believe Juliet’s character seemed to change but in the end didn’t change at all. See, time is a key player to love and to when it comes to changing a person’s character. Not much time passed throughout the play; therefore, not much of her character could change all that much. Also, she’s young and immature to the world – at least, she is in today’s world. 14 year olds aren’t even close to adults, they still have a lot to learn. Now, there are traumatizing events going on – Tybalt, her cousin, is murdered by her husband. But she takes her husband’s side in this event, seeming to weep over the fact he was exiled more than the fact that her cousin was dead; this show’s she was probably still blinded by love than moved by her cousin’s passing. So her character wasn’t changed all that much.  

     At the end of the play, when she ends up committing suicide, she really hasn’t been changed all that much since the beginning – she’s still stuck up, spoiled, and immature. The only thing that’s changed in the beginning is that she’s fallen in love with Romeo; and personally, I believe it couldn’t have been love between the two of them. Simply a childhood crush mistaken for love by their own feelings. There wasn’t enough time for it to become love. So in the end, I believe Juliet really hasn’t changed. She’s still the same; a spoiled and immature little girl. She’s just let those character traits become out of control, and she ends up killing herself for it. She’s blinded by the ‘love’ she felt for Romeo, and it escalates out of control.

     Romeo and Juliet. I have to say, I’m looking forward to reading this, because I’ve heard ‘so much’ about it. Everyone seems to know it and talk about it, and some people even call it the ‘greatest love story of all time’, to which I highly disagree with (I’ve read some pretty good love stories). The first thing I notice about the plot is that they’re all so young! Juliet is still thirteen, and Romeo isn’t much older. And apparently, kids younger than Juliet are “made happy mothers” WHAT? Society has seemingly changed quite a bit since this day and age. The second thing I’m wondering; why are the Monatagues and Capulets fighting? Did something happen years before, or has anger just dialed up and up over the years? It seems like it wouldn’t be hard to make peace, as Mr. Capulet seemed willing enough to allow Romeo to stay at his party. Mr. Monatague, if I were him, at least would’ve been tired of the fighting and wanted peace. I couldn’t know without knowing the reason of their quarrel, which Shakespeare has not given so far. I also wonder, after Romeo and Juliet both die, do you think the parents will realize their evil ways? I can’t wait to find out. The characters seem fairly well laid out; the two that stick out to me so far are Romeo and Tybalt. If Tybalt is younger than Mr. Capulet, why is he so mad at the Monatagues when even Mr. Capulet doesn’t seem to care that much? He’s so fiery, though I doubt he was actually there when whatever happened between the two families actually happened. How could someone be brought up with that kind of hate? And Romeo, the heartbroken ‘man’. First, he’s my age, far from a man. Second, I can definitely relate to his heartbrokenness at first; but I laugh when he sees Juliet, a new girl, and immediately falls in love. Oh yeah, forget about the other girl. He gives a whole speech praising Juliet, when just a second ago he was weeping over some other girl! This shows Romeo isn’t feeling love. It’s a childish crush, and it’s far from manhood love. I find his character pretty funny. Finally, the writing style. I’m pretty sure this writing style is the closest thing possible to using another language without actually changing the English language so much that it’s impossible to understand. I at first found it very hard to read, but now I’m getting used to it. However, it’s definitely far from easy. The worst thing to get used to is the backwards sentences with the fancy words – instead of just saying, “we’re going to be late,” they say something like, “now and thou hast lateness cast upon us.” Altogether, Romeo and Juliet is pretty good so far, and I’m excited to continue!

     I found the Perfect day for Bananafish quite confusing, and I had to re-read it a few times before I sort of understood it. I didn’t think there was much of a connection between any of the characters in the Bananafish story and the Catcher in the Rye. I think the Muriel girl on the phone at the beginning could possibly represent Phoebe, for being there all along and caring for one that is a little insane; but she’s not afraid of this man which she loves. The little girl playing the piano could be Sally Hayes in my mind, a girl you like because of how she looks and acts but don’t really like for what she does. Holden could possibly be the pale man who shot himself; they were both a little insane, and they had similar dialogue, but they were insane for different reasons. The way I understood it, the male in the Bananafish story was a World War II survivor and had gone insane from the war; Holden was a youth out of control and didn’t have that kind of history. Finally, the mother on the phone at the beginning could symbolize Mr. Antolini, someone who cares for the main character and only wants to help. But altogether the Bananafish story was confusing and I didn’t really see much of a bright connection between its characters and those of the Catcher in the Rye.

    I received a lot of responses when my family and friends heard I was reading Catcher in the Rye. My Grandma and father in particular seemed to have mixed feelings about it. From their conversations about it, and from the pre-reading we did on this book, I found it completely different than what I expected from it. It seemed a lot more laid back and real than I expected. I thought it was about a kid living on the streets, stealing from people to make a living. But here we have a kid who’s just surviving, and it seemed a lot more like a real life scenario as I read it than what I expected from it before-hand. Also, the ‘adult’ content wasn’t as ‘adult’ as what I expected. There is a lot of ‘adult’ content, for sure. But I didn’t read anything new, I’ve heard those words used before and I knew what was going on. I don’t know why that surprised me, but from listening to my Grandma and Dad talk, it seemed like I was about to read something that would ‘open my eyes’ to the real world. Well, it didn’t ‘open my eyes’ as much as I expected, or even a little.
     There was one situation in June where we were in Seattle, Washington. We were taking a city bus to downtown. There was a woman in the back of the bus who was evidently a little bit hypocritical. She laughed at nothing, she randomly scowled, and she would allow nothing to come within five feet of her. I think of this situation when I read about Holden’s situation for some reason, it reminds me of his idea of phoniness. Although I know for sure Holden would have described this lady as a big phony and moron, I probably would use neither of those words.
     Holden I think is a bit verifiably insane. He’s a youth that’s out of control. He doesn’t know how to apply himself in anything, all he knows is how to barely survive in the modern world. And even that I think he just believes he knows. He may or may not actually know. The hints from the text are the many times where he is doing this he doesn’t mean to do. Like accidentally calling his date a royal pain in the rear end. Or saying he’s going to go out to Vermont. Or hitchhike out west. After each section, he says something like, I know I would have never done it, but I meant it when I said it. “I swear to God I’m a madman.” Those are hints that he’s insane. Not only that, but at the end of the book you find out he’s writing from a rehabilitation place. So I believe he’s a tad bit insane.
     I think the prostitute section could be symbolized as something much bigger – the difference between right and wrong and what really matters in life. The prostitute comes in, takes off most her clothes, then Holden says he’s changed his mind. He’s feeling too depressed for that. Now, wrong almost always feels good – it’s human nature. When you steal some food, MMMM, that food tastes good. When you perhaps lie to someone so you can get something in return, whatever that return item is sure is something you’ve always wanted to do. Even bigger wrongs; smoking, drugs, sex, alcohol. Yeah they feel good, or no one would be doing them. But all of them tend to ruin your life if you’re addicted and using them in the wrong way. Even so, they still feel good. Like in the song Counting Stars from One Republic, the singer says, “And I, feel something so right, from doing the wrong thing…” Wrong things in this life almost always feels good. But here’s the catch, which I think is emphasized in the prostitute section in this book; wrong can always be an afterthought. Wrong can be overcome by wanting something bigger. What I mean is, Holden is depressed and lonely, and so depressed and so lonely he doesn’t even want to do this thing that a lot of other guys his age in his position would do. This poses a question, depression and loneliness are fixed by what? Depression is fixed by having a dream and a future to reach for, and loneliness is fixed by having good friends. Holden, whether he realizes it or not, wants both of these things; enough to look at the face of wrong and say no. This is what I believe what symbolism lies in this section, right and wrong and what really matters in life.

Catcher in the Rye Week 1

     What does it mean to be unique? Uniqueness in Holden’s eyes is pretty strange. His conversation with the mother on the train kind of opened it up, where he would said that her son was a unique kid, he had one of those personalities that you had to get to know (the kind of guy that snaps towels at people in the hallway, which isn’t normal). He also talks about girls and makes each one unique – he said Jane was unique because she did strange things, such as putting her hand on the back of his neck. So possibly uniqueness in his eyes is just doing things that aren’t normal?
     Individuality is shown quite a bit in Holden’s character. He keeps talking about how everyone’s a phony, and even though he doesn’t exactly define what he means, he’s saying they don’t really mean anything they say or do. A person with individuality is someone who isn’t a phony, in his eyes.
     I really have no favorite person; I mean, I have some good friends but no favorite person. I guess Allie is nice, smart, and cool to hang around. Those character traits are definitely things I’d find in any of my best friends.
     If I had the choice to go anywhere; I’d probably head up to Sault Ste. Marie. Up there is a very peaceful place for me, I’d be able to get my mind off things. A couple of my good friends live up there, so I could easily hang around and just lose the stress for a few days. A place I’d probably go by while I was there is Mission Point, I’d sit up there for hours thinking about life if I had the chance. It’s an amazing place.
     Jane is the classic best girl-friend. She’s not one of those girls that obsesses over makeup, and catchphrases, and boys, but the kind of girl that’s just cool. She’s the classy girl, modest, yet pretty. Holden is one of her best friends, even though they haven’t talked in a while. He feels protective of his roommate (who sounds like the classic jerk to girls in general) going on a date with her. Holden doesn’t like that at all, and he can’t believe it happened. He got so mad to the point where he threw a punch at his roommate. He talks about her in his memories like she was someone that meant a lot to him, someone he knew real well. Jane is the kind of girlfriend you’ll remember; some of the others you might forget, but not this girl.
     “People are always ruining things for you.” This is true, although no one really means it. I mean, it’s like getting stuck in the rain when you’re out on a walk. The rain makes you miserable, but it’s not the rain’s fault you were out on a walk. The rain didn’t mean to make you miserable, it just happened. People sometimes can ruin things for you; sometimes you might get put groups in class and you don’t like the people in your group. Sometimes, your mom can make plans for you that you really don’t want to attend: but you go out of respect. Sometimes, your friends say things about you that they believe you won’t care about, such as, “Oh yeah, Jack was hanging around with (such and such) last week.” It seems like no big deal, but maybe you didn’t want that person to know you know those other people; for whatever reason. Sometimes it rolls like that, but no one really means anything hurtful by it.
    

Response to A Good Man is Hard to Find

  Fate or chance played a pretty big role in this story. First of all, the Grandmother wants to go to Tennessee – not Florida, which is where her son, Bailey, is taking his family. As an excuse to not go to Florida, she tells Bailey that there is an escaped criminal doing bad things who is called the Misfit, and he’s heading for Florida. Surely they wouldn’t want to go there, would they? But the father brushes it off as a lame excuse from his mother to not go to Florida but to where she wanted to go, as I would have too. But, by chance or by fate, this family just happened to meet the Misfit and the Misfit shot them all. Talk about a slim chance. Or maybe, fate willed it? This is one of those stories that’s kind of scary, but we assume it’s not going to happen in real life – what’s the ‘chance’ of that? Chance and fate also showed up in other parts of the story – by chance, they stopped at a restaurant and talked to the owner about how good men are hard to find. Just later that day, the Grandmother was arguing for her life by trying to convince the murderer that he was indeed a good man, that good can be found in everybody. What are the ‘chances’ of that? Also, did fate want them to get in a car accident? Then why did the stowaway cat emerge right when it did and jump to exactly the right spot for the car to be flung off the road and its passengers injured? Was that these people’s ‘fate’, or destiny? Fate and chance show up many times in this story.

     The story is all about good men. What is a good man, and where do you find them? Those seem to be two questions the texts battles throughout the story. The Grandmother tries to define a good man three times in the story – once when she told the story of an old boyfriend of hers, again when she met with Red Sammy, and a third time when she bartered for her life against the Misfit. At first a good man is  one who invests well in business, and is successful ,as the story goes with her old boyfriend Mr. E.A.T. As in Red Sammy’s case,  the Grandmother calls Red Sammy a good man because he was generous to a few boys that came into his shop. Even though those boys cheated him, he was still a good man for doing so. And the most important event was when she tried to convince the Misfit he was a good man. She yelled at him, “you must come from good people.” Later she yells, “I know you have good blood!” This is a big part of her definition, that he comes from good people… sadly, however, the people you come from can only point you in the right direction. They can’t make you a truly good man. The Grandmother continues by saying, “You’re not a bit common!” So she implies common men are not good men. Then the Grandmother says, “You can be honest if you only try.” This is a true statement, good is a choice. But the Misfit has chosen, and he has not chosen good.

  Fate or chance played a pretty big role in this story. First of all, the Grandmother wants to go to Tennessee – not Florida, which is where her son, Bailey, is taking his family. As an excuse to not go to Florida, she tells Bailey that there is an escaped criminal doing bad things who is called the Misfit, and he’s heading for Florida. Surely they wouldn’t want to go there, would they? But the father brushes it off as a lame excuse from his mother to not go to Florida but to where she wanted to go, as I would have too. But, by chance or by fate, this family just happened to meet the Misfit and the Misfit shot them all. Talk about a slim chance. Or maybe, fate willed it? This is one of those stories that’s kind of scary, but we assume it’s not going to happen in real life – what’s the ‘chance’ of that? Chance and fate also showed up in other parts of the story – by chance, they stopped at a restaurant and talked to the owner about how good men are hard to find. Just later that day, the Grandmother was arguing for her life by trying to convince the murderer that he was indeed a good man, that good can be found in everybody. What are the ‘chances’ of that? Also, did fate want them to get in a car accident? Then why did the stowaway cat emerge right when it did and jump to exactly the right spot for the car to be flung off the road and its passengers injured? Was that these people’s ‘fate’, or destiny? Fate and chance show up many times in this story.

     The story is all about good men. What is a good man, and where do you find them? Those seem to be two questions the texts battles throughout the story. The Grandmother tries to define a good man three times in the story – once when she told the story of an old boyfriend of hers, again when she met with Red Sammy, and a third time when she bartered for her life against the Misfit. At first a good man is  one who invests well in business, and is successful ,as the story goes with her old boyfriend Mr. E.A.T. As in Red Sammy’s case,  the Grandmother calls Red Sammy a good man because he was generous to a few boys that came into his shop. Even though those boys cheated him, he was still a good man for doing so. And the most important event was when she tried to convince the Misfit he was a good man. She yelled at him, “you must come from good people.” Later she yells, “I know you have good blood!” This is a big part of her definition, that he comes from good people… sadly, however, the people you come from can only point you in the right direction. They can’t make you a truly good man. The Grandmother continues by saying, “You’re not a bit common!” So she implies common men are not good men. Then the Grandmother says, “You can be honest if you only try.” This is a true statement, good is a choice. But the Misfit has chosen, and he has not chosen good.