TWILIGHT

Twilight. This book/movie is what everyone is talking about these days. I never really knew why until I started reading the book. I must say I am hooked, absolutely hooked! I want to read this book 24/7 but sadly I can’t as my agenda is packed with homework…

Anyways, getting to the point of this blog:

I told my mum I was reading Twilight and she had no objections, just one comment. She commented on the fact that she doesn’t think that it is right for something that is evil to be perceived as something good. Just like Edward and his family is seen as the good vampires in this book. This got me thinking.

One of the thoughts that entered my head was surely there is good in everyone and thing, but then when I really thought about it I came to the conclusion that that is not necessarily always true. I mean take Satan for example. I have a very hard time trying to find something good about him.

The second thought that entered my mind was that I don’t really know what I think about mum’s comment. I know that I won’t fall for believing that vampires can be good and that me reading or watching something that portrays something bad as good will affect my faith in God. Yet, that’s about all I know.

Mum’s comment about people, these days, making something evil seem actually good just got me thinking. And quite honestly I don’t know where I stand within her comment.

But I can’t wait to pick up the book again and continued reading. I also can’t wait to watch the movie! (I hope that it does the book justice). I really, really, really like this book, Twilight and would happily recommend it to anyone.

Waiting for Morning- Theme

Last night I finished reading Waiting for Morning. It is written by Karen Kingsbury, one of my favourite authors. I have read many of her books and hope to read more in the future.

Anyways I reckon the theme of this book is forgiveness.

Hannah Ryan, the main character, is a faithful Christian who loves the Lord very much so. She has the perfect life and a wonderful family. Her and her husband Tom had been sweethearts all their life and their two beautiful daughters, Alicia and Jenny, have everything going for them. Hannah Ryan loves her life.

Well, that was until Brian Wesley destroyed her family. He was drunk and drove straight into them as Tom, Alicia and Jenny were coming back from a fishing trip. Jenny survived, but sadly Alicia and Tom did not. Hannah’s life was shaken upside down.

She lost her faith in God and her relationship with Jenny. And all she wanted to do was to put Brian Wesley in prison for life. Her hatred for him blinded her from everything else that was going on around her. Even the fact that her own daughter was seriously considering committing suicide. But she thought that once she got Brian in prison she would find peace.

Brian got accused for first degree murder and was sent to prison for 50 years. Hannah was happy, but not at peace. Yet, through Matt (her new husband-to-be), Carol (her new best friend), Jenny, and a note left from Tom, Hannah found out that the only way she could have peace was if she forgave Brian.

In the end she did and peace flooded in like a river. She also regained her faith in God.

That’s why I think the theme of this story is forgiveness, but more specifically, forgiveness can set you free. It certainly set Hannah free, and it also set Brian free (he became a Christian in the end).

A Slender Thread- Symbolism

I finished A Slender Thread earlier this week. It was a good book; a book that provoked deep thought within me.

Anyways, I was thinking about what to write for this blog and for some crazy reason, ‘literary terms’ came into my head. Thankfully it did though, because I now have something to write about…

In this book symbolism is used.

Grammy (the sisters Grandmother who brought them up) likes to make quilts and she is very good. There is one peculiar piece she made that was especially good. This was a quilt made from pieces of what the sisters and her loved. Pieces from old favourite dresses, teddy bears etc. Each sister had a square and in the middle was the ‘Mitchell’ (their last name) square. It was very beautiful; someone even offered $2,000 for it. Yet, Grammy didn’t make it to sell; this quilt represented/symbolized her family.

When all the sisters were disunited, angry and not talking to each other, Grammy cut up her quilt and sent each square to the sister it belonged too. This cutting up off the quilt represented/showed that their family was falling apart. But at the end, when everything gets worked out and they are one happy, united family again, Grammy puts the quilt back together.

So as you can see, the quilt symbolized that Mitchell family.

TTTHHHEEEMMMMEEE- A Slender Thread

I think the theme of this book is ‘family is so important.’

In this book there are five sisters who have been brought up by their Grandma. All their childhood lives she has tried to teach them how important it is to be close with your family and to gain strength from them. However, as the 5 sisters have grown up they have drifted apart. They were no longer the close little family that used to live on a farm.

But now, years later, horrible, dreadful things are happening to them and in order to survive, they need to come together as one family and find strength in each other. This isn’t easy though, as they have put high walls between each other. And, I’m not sure yet as I haven’t finished the book, but I think that in the end, they will pull down those walls separating them and learn how to become one again. For this to happen have always been Grammy’s prayer and I bet it will happen.

So I think that the theme of this book is ‘family is so important.’

A Slender Thread- Suspense/Foreshadowing

This book is taking me longer to read than usual. It isn't a boring a book. It is just a slow book. Quite honestly there is nothing happening. Grammy and the 5 sisters are just talking. Yet, even there there is zero action, there is tons of suspense. I have a feeling that something big is about to happen.


There are three parts to this book and I have just finished part 1. Part 1 is what I reckon to be the introduction. It's like a long setting; sort of like Things Fall Apart.


Anyways, I can't really explain why I think something big will happen. I can just sense it. For example, Ashley (the oldest) is married and has 2 boys that she adores. However, I think they are going to die and that she will fall back in love with her high school sweetheart that she re-met at the funeral. I think they are going to die because she just called home (she is staying at with Grammy) and Jack, her husband, didn't pick up. Something just seemed fishy. Also, Harry, Ashley's first love, is engaged but is thinking of canceling it. This is just one example from one of the five sisters.


So even though this book is slow and sometimes boring, I'm gonna push through and continue reading because I think that something big and exciting is about to happen. Hopefully, that something will happen.

A Slender Thread- LIFE

This book, A Slender Thread, really make me think about life.

All the sisters in this book aren’t content with their life. One wants a slower pace life, one wants love, one wants acceptance while the other two aren’t quite sure what they want. Their quests to find the meaning of their lives have caused me to think of my own.

Life has gone by so fast for me. I remember saying ‘Oh, when I get to high school I’m gonna be so grown up that I will do ____.’ Being in high school used to seem like a far way off but the freaky thing is that I AM in high school. The first 15 years of my life have flown by and I will never be able to get them back. When I think about, really think about it, it scares me. But it also causes me to wonder, ‘what am I doing with my life right now.’ So many days have passed by and all I have really done is gone to school, attended volleyball practice and completed my homework. And quite honestly, I think that is sad. I have so many dreams and ambitions for my life, yet I am still sitting on my butt not trying to make those come true. For example, some days all I do if surf the internet. What productive thing could have come out of that? I could be writing an encouraging email to a friend in need. I hate wasting a day on the computer, yet I do it so often. I guess the reason I hate it is because it uses up so much time of my life. My life is like a ticking bomb. I’m only going to live for x amount of years and then bam! my life is over. I just hope that I utilize my time wisely and live for God.

A Slender AThread

I had just finished reading Shadows of the Canyon by Tracie Peterson. I must say I really enjoyed that book. It was one of those books that I really got stuck into.

Anyways, I was at the library choosing another book to read, where I came upon A Slender Thread. Ironically, this book is written by Tracie Peterson. Since I had fallen in love with one of her books already, I reckoned that this one must also be good.

When I first read the back of the book I thought that the story would be about 5 YOUNG sisters; sisters who are around 16~25 years old (25 pushing the oldest age). I also thought that the mother, who was mentioned in the back for abandoning them, would still be alive. But in actual truth this was not the case. The story starts of with the mother’s, Rachelle Barrister, funeral. All the sisters are there to pay their respects. Ashley, the oldest, is married and has two kids. Brook, her identical twin, is in the modeling career. Connie is out there living her own life and Deirdre, the second youngest, is also married and has one child. And Erica, the baby of the family, appears to be no younger than 23. It then tells the story in a flashback sorta fashion; where you get each sister’s take on their sad past without their biological mother. So far this book has surprised me. I guess the short description on the backs of books can lead you astray sometimes. However, with saying that, I am enjoying A Slender Thread.

Shadows of the Canyon- Tracie Peterson

Shadows of the Canyon is such an attention-grabbing and exciting book. Tracie Peterson weaves romance, mystery, and Christianity together perfectly to produce a book that is simply superb. When a book really interests me I can’t put it down; I want to read it every available second I have. And for a long time that hadn’t happened; a book hadn’t completely captured me. Well, that was until I read Shadows of the Canyon.

In Shadows of the Canyon, Alex, the main character, faces some really difficult conflicts. Her father is disloyal to her mother and hates Alex, causing Alex’s mother to weaken. Alex is also gaining unwanted attention from Joel Harder while Valerie Winthrop is stealing her true love, Luke Toland, away and amidst all of this she is caught in a middle of a murder case.

Yet through this whole drama Alex remains faithful to God. Sure she had her times when she doubted God’s hand in this mess, but she never stop believing. Sometimes I wonder if I will stand strong in tribulation. When God tests me, I want to be strong enough to handle it and push through, just like Alex (with the help of friends) stayed strong in God.

The Notebook

For the Friday Entry…

After finishing reading this book, I tried to think what the main, overarching theme was. Many came to mind but the one that stood out the most was ‘True love never ends.”

Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson truly loved each other, that even after years of separation they were still able to find each other, re-fall in love, and make a future together. They are a perfect example of ‘true love never ends.’

Throughout the first part of the book (before Noah and Allie get married), you read about how Noah never stopped loving Allie. Even after 14 years of being apart, Allie was still in his thoughts and in his heart. You don’t find the same out about Allie, until she visits Noah just weeks before her engagement to Lon. Well, actually I guess you should say Allie didn’t admit that she still loved Noah until after they had been re-united. I also think it was true love that brought Allie to visit Noah just weeks before her engagement. True love reunited them together because that love never ended.

True love is sometimes view as a sappy, inexistence thing. Yet I believe it is a special gift from God to us. And this book really portrays this idea. So I think the main, overarching theme of this book is that: ‘true love never ends.’

The Notebook

For the Wednesday Class Entry...

Isn't it interesting that a book can disappoint you. I've read quite a few books that have a lot of great things going for them, then all a sudden something happens and it kills the story. In fact, there have been 2 cases in which I have actually stopped reading a book for this very reason. I guess it’s just the way I view the book, because one of the ones I quit reading was a noble prize winner.
Anyways, getting to the point, The Notebook isn’t as great as I had first thought it would be. I don't think it is bad, it is a good book, but it just doesn't have that flare that I thought was originally there. I guess it disappointed me by being good not great. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think the reason for my disappoint was that it gave away the ending pretty soon. I was expecting a climaxy-suspenseful, seat gripping book that would make me wonder what happened to Noah and Allie until the very end. But I'm on the 153rd page and I already know that they get married. That’s great; that is what I wanted. But I would have had liked to be guessing what happened all the way through to the end of the book. However, Nicholas Sparks didn't decide to write this book like that. And that's fine, because it still is a good book. I was just a little disappointed that’s all. I wonder what the rest of the book has in store for me...

The Notebook- First Entry

I am reading the Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

Most people have seen the movie, The Notebook; it is a classic love story. I really enjoyed the movie. It was so sweet and sad at the same time. I guess that is what prompted me to read it (oh, and Susie’s recommendation). I was really curious to see if the book would match up to the movie. I’m the type of person who reckons that movies are always better than the books. But I wanted to be proven otherwise. And I think this might be the one (book) that will change my perspective.

Anyways, so far this book is fantastic! I love the author’s voice. Nicholas Sparks writes in such a smooth, compelling way; all the words and sentences much perfectly together. He is also very good at describing things. Here is one quote that proves this: “…Broken sunlight passed through the water oaks and hickory trees a hundred feet tall, illuminating the colours of fall…” Some authors’ ways of writing are choppy and confusing but Sparks’ style flows together like 2 clam rivers. He also writes in a suspenseful way.

Even though much hasn’t happened yet, (Allie Nelson and Noah Calhoun have just reunited after the war) this book is so exciting and suspenseful. I guess that is because I am waiting for it to surprise me. I’m waiting for something to happen that didn’t occur in the movie, and hopefully it will!

So far I am really enjoying this book. And I have a feeling it will only get better:)

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Entry of My Choice

Thoughts about this book…:)

To be honest, in the beginning the only reason I chose to read Ender’s Game was because it seemed like an easy book to read. The cover didn’t really attract me; neither did the short description on the back. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it; in fact, I was preparing myself for the long tedious task of reading it. However, I was in for a surprised; I thoroughly enjoyed the book!
Ender’s Game really grabbed my attention, I couldn’t put it down. I think one of the reasons it captured me was that it always had something suspenseful going on. I can’t think of a time in the book when there wasn’t any action. This book was lively and didn’t have any dull parts.
I also like how Orson Card wrote the book. I don’t like reading fluffy books filled with impossible vocabulary. I like books that have some flare and voice in their writing, but still is easy to understand. I found that Card’s voice was like that, and I like his style of writing. It was sort of simple, but it clearly brought across the message.
Another reason Ender’s Game interested me was that I could relate to the character. In Fahrenheit 451 I couldn’t really relate to Guy. Guy didn’t seem like a real person. But I can relate to Ender. Ender seems more like an actually person who could possibly be alive today. When Ender felt sad, I felt sad, and when Ender felt happy, I felt happy.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think it is a superb book full of action. I would recommend anyone to read it. Ender’s Game is a captivating book and I’m pretty sure that if you read it, you won’t be able to put it down. Just like I couldn’t.

Current Situation

In the book Ender’s Game, children who look promising are taken from their homes and placed in Battle School. There they learn how to fight in space, in order to be ready to possibly fight the buggers. But while the kids are at the Battle School they are not treated well. In a sense the teachers brain wash them. I say ‘in a sense’ because they didn’t completely brain wash them. But rather the teachers isolated them from the outside world, in hope that they will only remember their life at the Battle School. They used manipulation to achieve what they wanted: an army/person (chosen one) to defeat the buggers.
This relates to a current situation that is going on in the world today. That situation is child soldiers. Guerillas kidnap children from their homes and brain wash them into the point where killing is just normal for the kids. The kids at the Battle school were forced to learn how to fight, just like the child soldiers are taught how to kill. Both the teachers and guerillas manipulated these kids into doing what they wanted them to do. Sadly, child soldiers are taught to destroy human life, not buggers.
What happened in Ender’s Game is not just a story that Orson Card came up with, it is actually happening in reality.

Mood

Even though Ender’s Game is a fun, action packed book, the mood is very depressing and cold.Ender spent 6 years of his life at the Battle School, following orders and fighting battles. But he was never happy there. The teachers isolated him from everyone in hope that he will become a better fighter. Not only did they isolate him, but they also forced him, and his army, to complete outrageous tasks (like fighting 2 battles in day one). The teachers weren’t the only ones who Ender feel sad, depressed and angry. Ender, because of his greatness, was often bullied and backstabbed. Even some of his friends started acting cold towards him, when Ender became the number 1 commander (Alai for example: he was friends with Ender when Ender was a commander, but not a close, true friend). All of this pressure and isolation made Ender depressed. Ender was never truly happy at the Battle School. That’s why I think the mood is depressing. The mood is also cold. Not cold as in temperature cold, but cold as in unaffectionate and unfriendly. When reading this book you get the impression that the battle school is a place where hardly any love lives. In fact, nearly everyone is the book is cold towards each other (with exceptions of course). The teachers tried so hard not to be Ender’s friend, people often acted distant with Ender because of his rank, and there was unspoken hatred between armies and ranks. Overall everyone was cold towards each other, not really wanting to make close relationships. However, even though I thought the mood was depressing and cold, I really liked this book. It was full of adventure and suspense; I couldn’t put the book down. The author wrote this book in an attention-grabbing way.

Main Characters

So long...

MAIN CHARACTERS

There are a lot more characters in this book than there were in my first book, Fahrenheit. But I think Ender’s Game needed a lot of characters to bring the story line across.
As you can probably guess from the title the main character is Ender.
Ender is at the beginning of the book 6 years old but over time matures into a 11??? Year old. At the age of six he was considered a Third and was often the target for bullying. However, at the age of six Ender is sent off to Battle school, where he faced isolation, sadness, regret, and anger. The root of all these dark feelings mostly grew because the instructors were pushing Ender hard they thought he may be the chosen one who would defeat the buggers once and for all. All this time and work at the battle school molded Ender into two people; the good Ender and the bad Ender. From the very beginning of the book, I knew Ender was a good person. He cared about people, hated it when someone was bullied, and didn’t judge others by their size. Ender saw people for who they really were. But then there was the dark side of Ender. Ender killed 2 boys in this book (Bonzo and Stilson). Part of the reason he killed Bonzo and Stilson was out of self defense but the other reason was this ‘killer instinct’ deep inside of him. I think that this dark side grew because of the harsh conditions Ender was forced into when he came to the Battle School. But overall I like Ender because at the end of the day Ender always tries to do the best for everyone. Ender is also very smart and talented. Extremely talented. He defeated the whole race of buggers not with strength but with pure brains. Ender reveals to me, about the human experience, is that there is more to people than what meets the eye. If I met Ender when he was 6 years old I would have never guessed that he would be the one to defeat the buggers. Ender could also see hidden qualities in people. Bean was small and lots of people thought he was useless yet Ender knew that he was a very smart guy.
Valentine and Peter, Ender’s older brother and sister, are also main characters. Valentine was a great sister to Ender. She stood up to Peter for him, and loving received Peter’s punishment that was meant for Ender. Valentine also never stopped loving Ender and near the end of the book decided to live her life away from earth so that she could be with Ender. Valentine was also a very smart girl. She had the brains to keep Peter in check and convince a whole nation that she was Demosthenes. I like Valentine because she showed unconditional love towards Ender. She revealed to/showed me, about the universal human experience, that love can keep someone (Ender in her case) going/living on. Sometimes people just need a bit of love to overcome the once impossible obstacle. However, I didn’t like Peter. Peter was a mean, cold hearted boy who took joy in torturing people and things. Even though he does turn ‘good’ near the end of the book, I still believe that the old Peter is living deep down inside of him. Peter revealed to be that there are some people in this world who love to hurt people, and sadly they take joy in doing that. But there is hope that they might change a little bit.
Mazer and Graff were Ender’s main teachers during his time at the battle schools. I think they are very similar characters. Both wanted badly to be friends with Ender and to show him kindness, but if they did there would be a chance that Ender wouldn’t become the best fighter he could be. So they didn’t, instead they treated him roughly and pushed him to his limits. I couldn’t say they were kind teachers but rather influential teachers. In a way I do like Mazer and Graff because they put a lot of effort into helping Ender. They really cared about his success. But then I don’t like Mazer and Graff because of the way they treated Ender. However, through all this Mazer and Graff showed me that there are people in this earth that do care about you even through they are pushing you so hard to achieve great things.
Ender didn’t have many friends, but his friends were close friends. Bean, Alai, Dink, and Petra were Ender’s closest friends. I also think these 4 people are very close. When Ender was a part of their group they loved him and showed it. However, when Ender moved army or moved up in rank, they still loved him they just didn’t show it. Bean, Alai, Dink and Petra revealed to me that friendships will have up and downs, but they will always pull through. Just like how Dink, Bean, Petra, and Alai became great friends at the end of the book.
Ender did have friends, but he also had bullies like Bonzo and Stilson. I didn’t like these two guys because they tortured and ridiculed Ender. These two boys revealed to me that there are mean hearted people on this earth who find joy in torturing others.

Climax

I think the climax of Ender’s Game is when Ender defeated the buggers once and for all. Ender was told that it this game was his final examination but in truth, he was fighting the buggers in the Third Invasion. Even though Ender lost many fighters, he destroyed the bugger’s planet, along with all the buggers. He wiped out the whole race of them and saved the human race.
I think this is the climax because it is the most intense, exciting part. When Ender first enters the ‘game’ he finds out that he was outnumbered 1000 to 1. This seems like an impossible task to overcome. There are also people/inspectors watching his every move. At first it seems like if Ender fails this game all of his work before would have been useless. It is an intense part. (Afterwards we found out that if he failed the entire human race would be non existent). Overall, the tone of this part is intense and exciting.
I also think this is the climax because it is the turning point in Ender’s life. Ever since he entered the battle school at the age of 6 Ender had been fighting battles and moving up in the ranks. There was always a next step for Ender, and always a rank/position higher than the one he was in. The battles never seemed to end for Ender. But after this last battle against the bugger’s entire fleet, Ender life at the battle school was over. He had accomplished the task that was chosen for him (to defeat the buggers). This chapter of Ender’s life was over; his life is now changed. That’s another reason why I think this is the climax of Ender’s Game.

Significant Passage

Page 242 paragraph 12

Finally Valentine, the sweat dripping off her, the mosquitoes beginning to hover as the dusk came on, took one final dip in the water and then began to push the raft in to shore. Ender showed no sign that he knew what she was doing, but his irregular breathing told her that he was not asleep. When they got to the shore, she climbed onto the dock and said, “I love you, Ender. More than ever. Mo matter what you decide.”

I like this passage because it shows Valentine’s deep love for Ender. Valentine always loved Ender. Ender loved her to. Valentine would stand up for him when Peter was torturing him, and just overall she was a great sister. But Ender got sent off to battle school and he and Valentine were separated for a long time. Valentine missed him dearly. While at battle school, Ender did some questionable things. When they were finally allowed to meet for the first time in a long time, things were different. Ender had changed and Valentine had changed. Yet even though Valentine knew all of Ender’s flaws, she still loved him, she even said it. “I love you, Ender. More than ever. No matter what you decide.” I think Valentine was one of the reasons that kept Ender alive. Overall I like this passage because it shows the love of a sister to a brother that was unconditional no matter what. It reminds me of God’s love. That’s why I like this passage.

SECOND BOOK

ENDER'S GAME

**The posts from here on up are on Ender's Game**

Entry #3

If I could be any Greek goddess I would like to have the quality to foresee the future. Most gods can only make prophecies, but not foresee the future. I would then use this ‘power’ of mine to help the mortals on Earth. I would like to be a goddess that was kind to the mortals. So if I could have and quality, I would like to have the quality to foresee the future. I would like my physical appearance to look normal. I don’t really want to have a head full of snakes or one enormous eye. Instead, I would like have a physical appearance that would be close to a human’s. I would like long, wavy brown hair, with brown eyes, and a long beautiful staff with many stories inscribed on it as my ‘item.’ I would like my animal to be a snake, as snakes are often referred to when fortune tellers are mentioned. That is the type of Greek goddess I would like to be like if I could.

Entry #2

Hermes killing Argus while Argus was guarding Io

Argus was a monster in Greek Mythological. He was a man covered in many eyes, and was able to see everything around him. So destroying him was a very hard task to do. Thankfully, Argus, also known as Argus Panoptes, didn’t destroy any humans. However, he did kill Arcadia, a ravaging bull, a satyr, and he killed Echidna (A female monster consisting of half nymph, half speckled snake). Even though Argus was known as an almost perfect monster, he did eventually get destroyed. But he wasn’t destroyed by strength but rather by brains. Argus was chosen by Hera to guard Io, a woman who Zeus was having an affair with. Zeus, of course, was not happy with this, so he sent Hermes to try and destroy Argus. Hermes, so legend has it, lulled Argus to sleep, and then killed him. Hera, in Argus’ honor, placed his eyes on the peacock (her bird). And that was the end of Argus, the almost-perfect-many-eyed Greek monster.

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0881992.html
http://www.loggia.com/myth/argus.html
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/GG/creature.html
http://www.areopagus.net/grkbeasts.htm

Mythology Mini Project

Entry #1

Athena

Athena is one of the daughters of Zeus. How she became a god was rather unique; she sprang fro m Zeus’ forehead, fully grown and clothed in amour. Zeus supposedly ate his first wife, Metis (who was pregnant with Athena), to prevent her from giving birth to a son who could possibly steal the throne away from him. But Metis gave Zeus terrible headaches as a kind of revenge. HEPHAESTUS rescued his father by chopping open his head with an axe, and then out sprang Athena! Interestingly enough, she was wearing her mother’s robe as well as her amour. Even though she was born in amour and is very fierce and brave in battle, she is actually the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and agriculture. She does however, only fight in battles that are defending the state and home from outside enemies. She also invented the bridle, which helped men greatly when it came to horses. She also invented many other useful things like the plow, the ship etc. She is Zeus’ favourite child, and is often depicted as wisdom, reason and purity. The owl is her bird, and the olive tree is her tree.
She is similar to Hercules in many ways. Zeus was Hercules’ and Athena’s dad. Hercules and Athena are also very brave and skilled in battle. They both also protect people. Hercules protected the world against many forces of evil, while Athena protected the gods. She actually even helped Hercules. But Athena and Hercules do have some differences. The big one is that Hercules is a mortal while Athena is a immortal (god). So she can live in Olympus but Hercules has to live on Earth. Also, Athena values her virginity very highly and didn’t fall in love. Hercules on the other hand, did fall in love and was attracted to the other sex. Athena had their differences and their similarities.

http://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclopedia/Athena/index.htm
http://www.desy.de/gna/interpedia/greek_myth/olympian.html

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YAY! My last Post for Fahrenhiet 451:)

MOOOOOOOOOd

The mood of Fahrenheit is very dark, morose, and lifeless.
There are basically no happy, light, fun parts in this book. It reminds me of a dark room with no windows. The mood is just plain dark. Guy kills Captain Beatty, the Hound and people are trying to kill Guy, Guy and his fire department burn a lady alive, Mildred dumps Guys, Clarisse was killed just because someone felt like running her over, and the whole city gets blown up. This whole book is basically about death and death is not a happy thing that you sing songs about with little children. No, it is a dark, sad thing. That is why I thought the mood of Fahrenheit is dark.
I also think the mood is morose. Morose means gloomily or sullenly ill-humored. That is exactly what I think the mood is. Everything that happens makes me feel gloomily because it’s so dark. And if it was meant to be funny, I didn’t laugh. Even if I wanted too I don’t think I could find a single thing to laugh about.
I also think the mood is lifeless. Mood is all about feelings and emotions, however when I read this book I didn’t get any strong feelings and emotions. It was lifeless; I didn’t really make me feel anything.
Even though the novel’s mood was dark, morose and lifeless I didn’t feel sad. A book can only make me feel sad if the pain seems realistic; I have to feel it in order to be sad. And to feel the pain I have to feel connected to the characters and the characters have to seem real. (Since the characters are the ones experiencing the pain). I was reading this book one night in bed, I think its called The Shunning but I'm not sure. Anyways, the main caharacter seemed so realistic to methat when she experienced pain I cry my eyes out and couldn't go to sleep. Becuase I connected to her and I really felt her pain, I was extremely sad. But in Fahrenheit 451 I couldn’t really connect to any of the characters (except maybe Clarisse) so therefore, I didn’t feel sad for them when painful events happened.
So this novel’s mood to me was dark, morose, and lifeless.

Entry of my Choice

Ok I chose to do an entry of my choice...
So I’m going to write a biography about Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451 and his achievements. I personally don’t like his style of writing, but hey that doesn’t really matter. Here are some facts about his life...

Ray Douglas Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukega, Illinois. His heritage is Swedish (his parents were immigrants). He was born into a loving family and interestingly enough, his grandfather and great- grandfather were newspaper publishers. Ray and his family moved quite a lot, but finally settled down in Los Angeles, where Ray attended Los Angeles High School. There is an ‘unique’ story. While living in Los Angeles, Ray would often roller skate through Hollywood, trying to find celebrities. And he actually met one. He met George Burns, a radio star, who gave Ray his first pay as a writer. Ray’s ‘work’ was a joke contributed to the Burns and Allen show. Pretty weird. Anyways, Ray attended and graduated at Los Angeles High School. But he didn’t go to college. Pretty surprising don’t you think? Instead Ray sold newspapers on the streets. Yep, he actually did that. However, while selling newspapers, Ray taught himself at the public library. From there he began to publish science fiction works, and become the famous writer he is today.

Ray married Marguerite (Maggie) Susan McClure in September 27, 1947. They first met in a Fowler Brothers Bookstore, where Maggie worked. Her first impressions of Ray were good ones. She thought he was a thief! The book store had just had a robbery and for some reason Ray looked very suspicious to Maggie. So she started talking to him to try and under cover something. Ray then asked her out for a coffee and you know the rest. Maggie and Ray have 4 daughters, 8 grandkids and 4 cats. Sadly, Maggie is not alive anymore. She died in 2003. She was a big influence on Ray's writing.

Surprisingly, originally Ray didn’t want to be a writer, he wanted to be an actor. However, through some encouragement from his 2 high school teachers (Snow Longley Housh and Jeannet Johnson ) who recognized his talent for writing, he developed into the writer he is today. As you all know, he wrote Fahrenheit 451, but most of you probably didn’t know that he has published 500 works! Now that’s a lot of work. But all that hard work paid of; Ray won a whole bunch of awards. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life time Achievement, the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letter, plus others. Ray is has a talent for writing has given life to many great books in this world today. Ray Bradbury is a one-of-a- kind writer.

Websites I used...

• http://www.spaceagecity.com/bradbury/bio.htm
• http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/ray-bradbury/
• http://www.raybradbury.com/books/fahrenheit451.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury

CLIMAX
I think the climax in Fahrenheit 451 is when the city gets bombed because that is when all the loose ends get tied up and it is also the turning point for Guy.
Guy is walking through the forest with Granger and the gang. Granger had just finished telling Guy about his grandfather and how everyone leaves something behind when they die, when all a sudden Guy sees the bomb in the sky. The war had begun. The bomb totally destroys the city and leaves nothing, just a pile of rubble and lost lives.
All Guy’s questions about life get answered at that point. His question of where did he first meet Mildred was answered. And all the questions he had about the world he could now get the answers too. (pg 161: We’ll just start walking today and see the world and the way the world walks around and talks, the way it really looks.) Guy is no longer confused. His old life is gone and his new one lays ahead of him, full of hope. This is a major turning point for Guy. Part of his future involves helping others not make the same decisions his city had: the decision to totally ignore knowledge and instead live for fun.
This novel makes me feel a wide range of emotions. I feel a bit happy, I know that sounds really twisted and awful, but let me explain myself. I am glad because now that ‘stage’ of dumping knowledge for fun is over, and people like Guy can now start to build a new world, a world that doesn’t hate knowledge. This passage also makes me feel very sad and sorrowful. SO many people died that day, and most of them didn’t even know it was coming. They were so caught up in living that they didn’t take the time to notice what was coming ahead.
I think the climax of Fahrenheit 451 is when the city gets bombed.

Current Situation

The people living in the book Fahrenheit 451 are not allowed to think; it is against the law. There are firemen who destroy things and people that contain knowledge. Those firemen are basically like dictators. They tell and control how people live and when people try to live differently they stop/terminate them. For example, near the beginning of the book, Guy and his fire department group burned a lady alive just because she had books (and her books as well). That lady, and many others, doesn’t have the right to own books, so they pay for it. Sadly, the firemen think that how they are forcing people to live is correct and true, but it isn’t.
This reminds be of a current day situation in this world. It reminds me of the dictatorship that is going on in North Korea. Kim Jong- il, to me, is like the firemen in Fahrenheit 451. He decides how people live and sadly how those North Koreans’ life is not very nice at all. So many people are starving, have little clothing, and are without houses because of Kim Jong- il. Kim Jong- il and his army take all the money for themselves and don’t even try to help the commoners. And since he is a dictator it is very hard for North Koreans to remove him from office.
This relates to Fahrenheit 451, except that in Fahrenheit people are stripped from knowledge and in North Korea they are stripped from aid (money, clothes etc) all because of a dictator(s).
However, this novel’s way of solving the problem was to destroy the city. I don’t think that will be a very good way to solve North Korea’s problem. But I do think that North Korea does need outside help, just like the world in Fahrenheit 451 got ‘help’ from another country. Thankfully, outside countries are trying to help North Korea. So I think the situation in Fahrenheit 451 relates to the situation in North Korea.

Main Characters in Fahrenheit 451

Sorry it's so long!

Guy Montag
Montag is a fireman who is married to Mildred. I like Montag but then I don’t like him. I like that he is trying to find answers because he isn’t satisfied with what the world says/does. I like that he actually thinks on his own and that he isn’t like a ‘robot’ like all the other people. However, I don’t like the way he tries to find answers; he is too impulsive and angry. For example, when Mildred had friends over Montag stormed in and started angrily reciting poetry because he was sick and tired of their useless chatter and thinking. That then got him into trouble.
However, Montag has something special about him. He questions things, and he wants answers; deep, accurate answers. (This fire for knowledge was sparked my Clarisse McClellan) This seems normal these days but in the book that is something else.
Guy reveals to us, about the universal human experience, that one stage in our life we are going to question life and our beliefs. I have already done that. Some days I’ll just be thinking and then all a sudden I would wonder “Is Christianity true? All the other religions believe that they are correct and not the others. So what if Christianity was fake...?” I do believe wholeheartedly that God exists and that Christianity is real, I just sometimes think about it and question it. Just like Guy Montag questioned his life.

Mildred Montag
Mildred is the wife of Guy Montag. I don’t like Mildred. To be honest, I think she is stupid, brainless, and uncaring. She never thinks for herself; she just follows what the rest of the world is doing. For example, watching the TV/’family.’ She represents the people in the world who know the truth but chooses to ignore. Instead of standing up for it, she lives for fun and ‘happiness.’ Therefore, she is brainless. She is also very uncaring. When Guy, her husband, was sick she didn’t care, she even told him to go to work! Come on, that’s seriously not nice.
Mildred reveals to us, about the universal human experience, is that at some point in our life we will get so caught up with what the world wants/idolizes, we won’t even recognize what is happening around us. For example, a lot of people want to be popular. Some won’t even care if they hurt people in the process to becoming popular. Or what I really should say it that they don’t notice. They could have hurt their best friend, yet they wouldn’t notice because they are so caught up in trying to be popular. That is what I think Mildred reveals to us.

Captain Beatty
Captain Beatty is a fireman and is Guy’s boss. He is in control/the leader or the fire department that Guy is in. Once again, I don’t like Beatty. He is so smart, and has all this knowledge about books at his finger tips, yet he doesn’t use it for good. He ignores all that knowledge and just lives like everyone else. He is like a smart student who is just too lazy to work. He is also really mean to Guy, very provoking too. In fact, Beatty was so mean to Guy that Guy killed him!
Beatty reveals to us, about the universal human experience, that sometimes we, as humans, know something is wrong, yet we don’t stop doing it. Beatty knew (I think so anyways) deep down that what he read in the books was true but he never believed it. A modern day example would be a person who smokes. They know its wrong but they still smoke.

Clarisse McClellan
Clarisse is Montag’s neighbour. She is 17 years old and very smart. She didn’t act like the other people in her world. She was different; she thinks for herself. I like Clarisse. She lives her own life and is very independent. Clarisse always enjoys and notices the small things in like. For example, she noticed that the rain tastes good. How many actually taste the rain? Especially in Korea.
Even though Clarisse died early on in the book, she is a very special character. She is the one who starts the search for truth in Montag.
Clarisse reveals to us, about the universal human experience, that we often label the different ones as rejects. When someone is different we often don’t want to be seen with them and talk about them behind their back. Isn’t that true? Clarisse was different and considered a total whack, but she was correct. All she believed in was true, the people just couldn’t see that because she was different and therefore a reject. That is what also happens in today’s world.

Faber
Faber is an old man who Guy meets in a park one day. He is a retired English Professor. I like Faber. Even though he is afraid he wants to help Montag. He is also very smart. He would have to be to invent the ‘Green Bullet.’
Faber reveals to us, about the universal human experience, that sometime we will do something that we think we are too afraid to do. We will step out if our comfort zone. Just like Faber finally stepped out of his comfort zone and from hiding, we will too. For example, someone might step out of their comfort zone and stand up to a bully.

There is also the Hound, who sort of is a main character. He is a mechanical dog who hates Guy and wants to kill him. He can track down anything and destroys them with a long, poisonous needle. I reckon the Hound represents the people in our world who are just out to kill. That is all they know. For example, terrorists groups, dictators etc.

Ok my first entry for Fahrenheit 451...

I personally didn’t really like this book. I thought it was pretty boring and Ray Bradbury’s writing style was…strange. But there were some exciting parts amidst all of that ‘other stuff’. Anyways, a passage that is significant to me…

Page 144, paragraph 9…
“There must have been a billion leaves on the land; he waded in them, a dry river smelling of hot cloves and warm dust. And the other smells! There was a smell like a cut potato from all the land, raw and cold and white from having the moon on it most of the night. There was a smell like pickles from a bottle and a smell like parsley on the table at home. There was a smell like carnations from the yard next door. He put down his hand and felt a weed rise up like a child brushing him. His fingers smelled of licorice.”

This passage sounds kind of weird. I mean its all about smells and that’s pretty weird. But even though it’s a tad bit weird, this passage is significant to me.
Guy Montag described these smells when he first enters the forest after exiting the river. (When he was running away from the Hound because he murdered Captain Beatty). This reminds me of when I first came to Korea. Just like Montag noticed all the new and different smells in the forest, I noticed all the new and different smells in Korea. It was quite bizarre really, because that was one of the first things I noticed about Korea: its smells. I can’t really explain the ‘smell’ but I know what it is and could recognize it anywhere. This passage is significant and meaningful to me because it reminds me of a big chapter in my life…moving to Korea.