Sunday, May 20, 2012

Antigone Journal 12

Antigone questions the actions and thoughts of Creon in terms of his kingship. This creates a conflict between saying yes and no. Antigone argues that Creon had a choice in being king, and that he had a choice on whether or not to burry Polynices. Creon on the other hand says that he didn't have a choice to be kind because no one else would take the position, comparing his situation to a ship with no captian. Anouilh creates this tension between yes and no to get the auduence to questions whether or not Creon had a choice in his actions. Anouilh wants the audence to come to a conclusion on whether or not Creon had done the right thing.

Antigone Journal 11

The chorus goes from being a neutral party to an active part in the play. For example the chorus goes from describing the characters from an outside view to describing what a tragedy is. By describing a tragedy the chorus hints at their own viewpoint of the play. Along with this they also try to relate the tragedy of "Antigone" to Anouilh's time period by using modern concepts and words such as police and sound track.

Antigone Journal 10

"Antigone" starts out with the chorus giving a short intorduction on the characters of the play and what they are going to do. They then give a brief backstory to the play, describing how the two brothers killed eachother in a civil war. Creon then makes it illegal for anyone to give Polynices any type of burial. Regardless Antigone breaks the law and gives Polynices a religious burrial. By describing what each character will do in the play before it started Anouilh removes the sense of surprise, this allows readers to focus more on what is being said rather than what is happening. Learning about the characters early on creates a bias toward the characters.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Blood Wedding topic sentence

Beggar Woman is a personified version of death because of her conversation with the moon and her demeanor toward the bridegroom.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Blood Wedding Journal 8

One of the bigger plot changes in the play "Blood Wedding" is when the scene switches from the wedding to the forest. In the wedding most people are happy and are having a great time, apart from the bride and Leonardo.  This then switches over to the dark and creepy setting of the forest when they are looking for Leonardo and the Bride. The forest screams death and the effect created by the begger woman, woodcutters and the mood support it. This sudden change between scenes creates a chaotic and frantic atmosphere for all the characters.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Blood Wedding Journal 7

Lorca uses the youth in the play to contrast with the older characters, like the mother and father.  The youth of the play get along with everyone at the wedding, while the mother has to deal with the family that had killed her husband and son. This shows that the young people hold a certain amount of innocence with them. Although they're innocent and aren't directly connected to the rivalry between the mother and the Felix's, the youth can still get dragged into the older characters problems. For instance in act 1 when the mother is talking to her neighbor the name Leonardo Felix comes up.  When the mother hears this she freaks out even though Leonardo was a young boy when her husband and son were killed.  Leonardo gets dragged into the family rivalry even though he took no part in the event that started it.

Blood Wedding Journal 6

One of the most miserable characters in the play is the mother.  She has been lonely and upset since the death of her husband and son. In the very beginning of the play the mother expresses her feelings about the whole situation toward her son, the bridegroom. She is having a hard time letting go of the past events and the effects can be seen through her actions, such as her reaction to the bridegroom wanting a knife. When the mother even hears the name Felix she goes into a agitate state as she remembers the past. One of the big thing the mother desires is to not be lonely anymore.  She wants to have another husband to care for, but her religious affiliation stops her. She believes that marriage is a one time thing and that women should only have 1 husband.

Blood Wedding Journal 5

One of the more detailed characters of Lorca's play "Blood Wedding" is the bride. From the view of other people she is seen as the perfect person that would make a great housewife and mother.  But through her actions i can be seen that she is a different person. Lorca was creating the bride to be the typical female of his time period. Instead of following through with this label for women Lorca has the bride go against it, showing that he rejects the label put on women durring his time. Another thing Lorca does is he has the mother

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Blood Wedding Journal 4

Right from the start the symbol knife appears in the play. The Bridegroom asks his mother for a knife and she describes it as a "serpent".  The word serpent creates an image of a sly and almost evil thing. This is used because it is a knife that killed the mothers husband and son. This sets up the conflict between the mother and the Felix's, and foreshadows the trouble that is to come.

Another symbol that is created is one about life and happiness.  Flowers is used to describe the mothers husband when he was still living.  Flowers play a role later in the play because the bride wears a crown of flowers at the wedding.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Wild Duck Journal 3

Gregers is the character to blame for the events unfolding in act 5.  It's because he told Hjalmar the truth about his relationship that Hjalmar feels that he needs to leave his family. Even though the whole event was caused by Gregers, Hjalmar is also to be blamed. His reaction, when he finds out that Hedvig isn't really his biological daughter, is what leads Hedvig to kill herself. Even though she wasn't his biological daughter he raised her from birth and that's what really matters.  It wasn't until after her death that Hjalmar realized this and because of this realization that he feels like he's the one to blame for Hedvig's death. Gina in all this seems to be calm and accepting.  She doesn't freak out as much as Hjalmar when they find Hedvig dead, and i feel that she should carry more of the blame for he whole situation in general.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The Wild Duck Journal 2

Ibsen uses the motif of decay to represent control.  Hedvig has many of her freedoms restricted because of her failing eyesight. "Gregers. But of course you don't have much free time; you do go to school, don't you? Hedvig. No, not anymore. Daddy's afraid I'll hurt my eyes," (162) Hedvig is no longer allowed to go to school because he dad feels it will weaken her eye sight, showing how the decay of her eyesight controls part of her life. Hedvig isn't the only character struggling with control of their life.  "I have to spare my eyes, Gregers; they're beginning to fail." (133) Mr. Werle is also loosing his eyesight, making him unable to do his work like he used to. Ibsen also uses the motif of Disease to justify Gregers actions. "Relling. All right, I'll tell you, Mrs. Ekdal. He's Suffering from an acute case of moralistic fever." (178) This makes it seem like Gregers isn't really acting on his own choice but rather being controlled by his "disease".

The Wild Duck Journal 1

In the "Wild Duck", by Henrik Ibsen, Gregors has false conceptions of himself.  He believes that he needs to be the hero and do the right thing by telling Hjalmar the truth about Hedvig.  He also believes that by telling the truth his conscience will be cleared and his destiny would be fulfilled. Hjalmar on the other hand has misconceptions of everyone around him.  For instance Hjalmar believes that Mr. Werle was a good and helpful person when in reality Mr. Werle only helped Hjalmar for his own person gains. Mr. Werle also creates a facade around himself.  He keeps people believeing that he is a nice person in order to cover up his past. 

Monday, April 9, 2012

Journal #3 Brave New World

One of the motifs of Brave New World can be seen through the thoughts and actions of John. "And as though awakened by her cry he caught her by the shoulders and shook her. 'Whore!' he shouted 'Whore! Impudent strumpet!'" Here Lenina is attempting to seduce John into having sex, but John breaks lose of her hold and retaliates. John doesn't believe in sex before marriage, thinking is was an unholy deed. Throughout the book John resists the urge to have premarital sex until the very end, which, afterwards he kills himself. This shows how strongly he felt about his view on sex and reflects the views of Huxley.

After talking with the controller John decides to leave society behind and live in isolation.  He finds a light house surrounded by nature and decides to make it into a home. The area was almost perfect to get away from everyone other then the fact that there was a road that ran nearby. Because of this road society eventually finds its way to John and along with it brings its ideals. In the heat of the moment John succombs to one of their activities and as a result kills himself. This shows how tempting society can be and how easy it is to forget your own morals, no matter how strong they may be.

The language from in the last third of the book shifts from the mechanical, scientific talk of society to the older talk of John.  John heavily uses the langauge of Shakespear when he talks, making many quotes and references.  This shows how much the works of Shakespear influenced John as a character.  Huxley does this to show the importance of books in peoples lives and how much of an impact they can have on a person.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Journal #2 Brave New World

The second third of Brave New World  begins with Bernard and Lenina entering the savage reservation.  There they are confronted with multiple things deemed disgusting for a "civilized" person.  When Lenina sees anything undesirable she gets upset and feels she needs her forgotten soma.  Soma is used to give relief and instant happiness to whoever takes it and plays a major role in the civilized society. The re-occurring idea that's tied with soma is that people don't want to face any problems in their lives, but would rather take an easy way out.  In the savage reservation all the things people lose, both good and bad, from taking soma.

In this section of the book the setting takes a major change.  The savage reservation in a completely different place than the civilized society Bernard and Lenina are used to, and in Leninas case its almost unbearable.  The big thing the savage reservation shows is everything that the civilized society has left behind like marriage, religion, and family. This shows the change that society needed to take in order to have a "Perfect" society.

The language of John the Savage is different from any other character in the book.  John read as a young boy the works of Shakespeare and as a result began to talk like Shakespeare wrote.  This difference in language helps to separate John from both his savage home and the civilized society. Huxley does this to show that it is impossible to have both societies in one. John was born from a civilized parent and was taught some of their ideas and values, but he also grew up in the savage community and learned about family and religion.  And because he had a bit of both he was an outsider and was treated terribly.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Journal #1 Brave New World

In Brave New World one of the motifs is the phrase "Everyone belongs to everyone else" which in the case basicly means anyone can have a "relationship" with anyone. There is no marrage and its socially acceptable to switch partners. People are told not to have long relationships with people, and are punished if they do.  This is the complete opposite of our own socital views and the fact that people are happy with the way they live is confusing.  There are also motifs embeded into all children about the social order of things through means of sleep teaching (Playing a recording while they sleep).  Phrases like "I'm so glad i'm an [Alpha/Beta/etc]" teach the children to love their class and be happy that they aren't in another one. They are taught that Alphas are at the top while the elipses are the lowest of the low. This keeps the social order of things running smoothly because there's no chance of a uprising from the lower classes if they love where they are.

The first part of the book takes place in the "Central London Hatchery And Conditioning Centre" (Chapter 1), which from the start is an odd concept.  The very first chapter goes into detail on how humans are created in test tubes, and how they are created to be in a specific group (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Etc). They do this to create people perfect for a certian type of job. Huxley starts out the novel in the hatchery in order to set the society apart from our own right away and to show how peoples fates are decided for them. The larger setting for Brave New World is somewhere in Europe, which is controlled by 1 of ten world leaders.  Every community is structured in the same way creating this overall equality between nations and societies.

"'Try to realize what it was like to have a viviparous mother.' That smutty word again. But none of them dreamed, this time, of smiling." (Chapter 3) Words like mother, father, and family are considered almost to be taboo because People don't grow up in families anymore and were never taugh by a mother or father. Society doesn't have any family morals or restrictions on them, but instead have the teachings of the govenment to direct their life.  Brave New World also uses a lot of scientific terms, mostly when describing the hatchery.  This creates life in general to have a scientific aspect to it rather than a natural.  Huxley does this because with the idea of nature comes the idea of freedom, and its impossible to control a society if people are free.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Journal #4 Stranger

Meursault and the end of The Stanger comes to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what you do in life because eventually everyone dies.  He also believes that you shouldn't be afraid of death but embrace and accept it. I think that Camus wanted people to not be afraid of death. He also wanted them to choose their own path in life regardless of what others think of them.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Journal #3

I believe Camus split The Stranger  into 2 parts to show how Mersault acts, behaves, and thinks differently after he murders the Arab.  In part 1 Mersault thoughts/actions are based on a day to day mindset, meaning he lives for today rather than the future.  This can be seen when Mersault turns down the job opportunity in Paris. In part 1 Mersault neglects to really reflect on his past, but is given plenty of time to do so when he's in jail in part 2. Also in part 2 Mersault essentially gives up life and just goes with the flow of things.  By the end of the story Mersault is happy for his upcoming death and hoped that there was "a larger crowd of spectators" and that he is greeted with "cries of hate" (Camus 123)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Journal #2 Stranger

I believe Sun/light is a symbol for how others views Mersault.  The sun is always on Mersault and it seems like he's the only one being affected by it. He is always being "Judged" by the sun and this stresses Mersualt out along with making him confused on what to do. This develops the theme that society has a certian set of standards that are to be followed.  The can be tied into how Mersault doesn't have a religion and that society looks down on that.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Journal #1 Stranger

Police officer in the beginning of Chapter 4:
The police officer comes into the story when Raymond is beating up his ex-girlfriend. He arrives to see what was going on in Raymond's room.  But instead of taking Raymond to jail he mealy tells him to wait in his room until he was summoned to the police station.  The office made no real direct attempt to help the girl.  Camus created this character to show how the loose the justice system was at the time.

The strange woman at Celeste's restaurant:
 A strange woman walks over to Mersault and asks if she could sit with him.  After Mersault says yes she orders her entire meal at once.  She then adds up the cost for her meal and gets the exact amount out of her purse. She continues to do other odd things during the meal before she gets up and leaves without a word.  Camus created this character to contrast the personality of Mersault.  Camus goes into detail on everything the woman does, and creates her to be a very organized person.  She also has distinct purpose in her actions.

Raymonds ex-girlfriend
She is being attacked by Raymond early in chapter 4.  When the cop arrives he doesn't seem to pay much attention to her.  When she told the cop that Raymond had attacked her he basically shrugged it off and gave Raymond a slap on the wrist.  Camus also didn't give this character a name.  Camus does this to show how little voice women had in society, and to demonstrate what was basically socially acceptable.  He did this to also show how women were treated in the justice system.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Journal #8

1. I think Hurston picked the title because she wanted to show that in the end its god who is really in control of your life.  It shows how people look up to someone of power.  I think that because of the title the book almost teaches you a lesson about power.  It doesn't have that fiction story feeling to it.

2. I think that another good title would have been Porch Talk because of how much the symbol of porch is tied into the story.  I think that with this title the focus of the story would have been changed.  It would be more focused on the idea of community rather than the idea of power.

3. The story of my pastiche is The Ride. I think that this title can represent two things; one being the phisical ride in the ambulance, and the second being a symbol for what life is.  I think that the title helps with the development of my theme.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Journal #7

Simile: (Pg 118) "The room inside looked like the mouth of an alligator..."

In this sentence fragment the room is described as being like an alligators mouth. This helps create the room to be long and have possible "sharp" contours to it.  This could also describe how Janie feels in the room; trapped, help-less and in danger. In the paragraph before this sentence Janie is freaking out because Tea Cake has been gone for a long time and her money was gone. This could explain why Hurston described the room like she did.

Metaphore: (Pg 93) "They were all so respectful and stiff with her, that she might have been the Empress of Japan"

Here Hurston is describing how the people of Eatonville are treating Janie after Joes death.  Janie feels like she is being treated like an important person, like people are watching what they say or do around her because of her position. This can also be seen as a hyperbole.

Assonance: (Pg 124) "Dem wuzn't no high muckty mucks."

The mu sound is repeated in this sentence.  The sound mu sounds sticky and squishy. The way it sounds can be realted to someone walking in thick mud.  They first enter the mud quickly much like how the mu sound goes by fast. Their foot then comes out of the mud slowly as they try to take another step, which is like the rest of the word after mu.  This assonance creates a slow sticky feeling in the sentence.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Journal #6

The first thing i did to revise my paper was to rewrite the first paragraph.  I tried to make it a bit more interesting and have it catch the readers attention more.  I also added more description to each of the paragraphs to try to copy what Hurston does.  I made some minor changes to the dialect in order to make it easier to read.  One of the big things i saw in my paper was that the sentences didn't really flow together very well, so i when and changed the structure of most of the sentences.  This would make the entire paper easier for the eyes to read. With the ending of the pastiche i rewrote the ending because it didn't feel like it did anything to support the theme.  And finally i went through and attempted to strengthen the literary terms used.  Hopefully they are easier to pick out in the pastiche.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Regardless Lisa began to wonder about Love. Love, that passionate entity that lived in the hearts of all. The merciless thing that was didn't need to be told where to live, and could survive without anything. Why would Love need protection, what force could detach it from our hearts? He looks over us from his warm resting place in our hearts. Waiting patiently with his bow drawn, ready to fire at the slightest sign of attraction. Been waiting there since the begining of our existance or creation. There was a great chance he would soon find the reminance of love on the floor in front of him.  She was both joyous and sympethatic. Poor Johnney! He shant have tuh fall into the trap set for him. She sent Denny to convice him to talk, but Johnney refused. These family members knew jus how tuh deal with this sickness, but continued to be oblivious to the problem. He would be able to make a full recovery as soon as the relationship had been torn to pieces. He wasn't going to suffer anymore. So he believed. But Denny told her the truth, so she understood. And even if he didn't say anything, the following evening she would have found out, people started arriving to the party in the small cramped apartment. Family and friends who wouldn't dare say anything started to talk and converse. Just mingled with eachother and waited for the events to unfold. Regret, that heart wrenching feeling, crept into into their hearts.

In this pastiche i decided to replace the idea of death with the idea of love.  In the first few sentences i kept the topic of them the same, describing love and where it lived.  In the next sentence i kept the use of a weapon but choose to change it from a sword to a bow.  I did this in order to relate love to something like cupid, much like Hurston related death to god or a powerful being.  I also kept the use of Hurstons dialect in the center of the paragraph, but only adding a few words to not overpower the passage.  All the punctuation is also kept the same in hopes that it would create the same effect Hurston did.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Journal #4

Passage-Page 83
She cried often in the weeks that followed. Joe got too weak to look after things and tok to his bed. But he relentlessly refused to admit her to his sick room. People came and went in the house. This one and that one came into her house with covered plates of broth and other sick-room dishes without taking the least notice of her as Joe's wife. People who never had known what it was to enter the gate of the Mayor's yard unless it were to do some menial job now paraded in and out as his confidants. Ther came to the store and ostentatiously looked over whatever she was doing and went back to report to him at the houes. Said things like "Mr. Starks need somebod tuh sorta look out for 'im till he kin git on his feet again and look for hisself"

The paragraph starts off with the statement that Janie had been crying for weeks showing that she is sad about Joeys condition but towards the end she goes on about how Joey is still watching over her and controling her.  This creates almost conflicting ideas because of how Janie doesn't like Joeys controling demeanor but she still "loves" him regardless.  The use of ostentatiously in the paragraph really shows how much people looked up to Joey as sort of a parental figure or godly figure.  The tone Hurston creates with this paragraph is one of power.  Even on his death bed Joey has the town in the palm of his hand, controling what goes on outside of his bed room.  This creates Joey to be a god like figure or someone who controls everything.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Journal #3

1. "He's uh whirlwind among breezes," Jeff Bruce threw in. (Pg.49)   ~ Characterization

2. By that time Matt was wringling and twisting like a hen on a hot brick. (Pg. 58)  ~ Simile

3. When the news got around, it was like the end of a war or something like that. (Pg. 59)~ Hyperbole

4. He finally lit on the ground and walked around the body to see if it were really dead. Peered into its nose and mouth. Examined it well from end to end and leaped upon it and bowed, and the other danced a response. That being over, he balanced and asked: "What killed this man?" The chorus answered, "Bare, bare fat." "What killed this man?" "Bare, bare fat" "What killed this man?" "Bare, bare fat." "Who'll standhis funeral?" "We!!!!!" "Well, all right now" (Pg. 62) ~ Anthromorphism (Vultures getting ready to feast on mule).

5. Daisy is walking a drum tune. You can almost hear it by looking at the way she walks. (Pg. 67) ~ Imagery

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1.  This quotation is directed toward Joe Starks, where he is the whirlwind and the other towsfolk are the breezes.  By describing Joe as the whirlwind it creates this powerful, life changing person.  He becomes a person that has no one controling him and expects others to follow his decisions.  A whirlwind can also signify a change in something.  Joe came into town and made it into a better living environment.  This quotation also kind of gave a different perspective to what Joe did, how they viewed what he was doing.

3. This quotation show just how important the mule have become to the small society.  It also showed the effect Joe Starks had on the community.  People looked up to Joe because of one random act of humanity, and gave him even more control of their community.  They enhanced Joeys already godly figure in their lives.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Journal #2

Japanese Dialect Rules:
1. "L" sound becomes one of the following: Ra, Ri (ree), Ru (roo), Re (reh) , Ro (Hello becomes Herro)
2. A make ah sound, I makes ee sound, U make oo sound, E makes eh sound, O make oh sound
3. Incorrect grammar
4."Th" sound is sometimes replaced by "D" sound or "Ts" sound (This becomes Dis, Thank becomes Tsank)
5. Vowels are connected to some consonants (G becomes Ga, Gi, Gu, Ge, or Go.)
6. An "oo" sound is added to words that end in sh (English becomes Engureshu)
7. Letters in words are sometimes dropped (What becomes waa)
8. Japanese words may be added


Structure from Pg. 31
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Yagame walked out of the department store in a rage.  He was having a hard time finding the right gift for his daughters birthday, and the lack of help from the store employees only made matters worse.  Still needing a gift, Yagame made his way to the next store.

"Hello," the employee said in a cheerful tone "can i help you find something?"

The sound of the employees voice startled the distracted Yagame, causing him give a slight jump.  Recovering from the initial surprise Yagame turned toward the employee with a stern look on his face.  The first impression had been made and Yagame already had negative opinions about this young woman, but was still willing to give her a chance.

"Oh, herro der. me ruook fo gifto fo dauta. she turun sanju (30) tumaro."

"I'm sorry, could you please repeat what you said?"

"Gifto. Watashi wa gifto o katemas (I buy gift). Prisu herupu me get gifto fo dauta. She raek clozu to (and) makapu bato, ie don no waa kaindo."

It seemed as though she was struggling to comprehend what Yagame was saying but pulled through regardless. She helped Yagame pick out a gift for his daughter and lead him to the cahsier.  After Paying Yagame turned and said his parting words to the young lady.

"Arigato gozaemas, dozo yuroshiku.  Tsank yu beri mucho, naitsu tu meto yu."
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Although fun that was extremely hard to write...

Monday, February 13, 2012

Journal #1

Janie: Janie seems immune to the gossip around her and believes it's a waste of time. She is also more than willing to explain what her life actually was like to other people, making it seem like she's proud or happy with the life she lived.  She also seems like a strong, wise, older woman, someone who has been through a lot in her life.  Janie also has gotten over the death of Tea Cake, and wants to move on with her life.  When she tells Pheoby that Tea Cake is gone there isn't any sadness or sorrow in her words. 

Narrator: The narrator seems to be a bit sexist and baised toward females.  They describe men as being incapable of achieving their goals and their dreams being "... mocked to death by time."  The narrator also has a wide range of word choices, using these words to create mental images and provide insight to the situation at hand.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Post #4

1. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God Tea Cup acts as a ______.

2. "The sea gasped for air with each shallow, stifled little wave that broke on the sand" -The Stranger. This sentence has an example of _______ in it.

3. The way the characters talked in Their Eyes Were Watching God is an example of the authors ____.

4. The protagonists in Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Stranger are also known as the ______.

5. "It's negro hair, but it's got a kind of white flavor. Like the piece of string out of a ham." -Their Eyes Were Watching God. These two sentences combined represent a ______.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Post 3- Oxymoron

An oxymoron is when the meaning of one word contradicts the meaning of another but the meaning of the two words isn't lost. For example in the sentence "In the event of a tsunami it is best to get to high ground." high ground is an oxymoron because the meaning of high and the meaning of ground contradicts eachother.

For more examples of an oxymoron go to http://www.oxymoronlist.com/

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Journal #2

Anthropomorphism: A technique thas is like personification but strictly focuses on living creatures.  Human characteristics are given to these living things, such as animals or plants. An example () and non example (X) are shown below. (Drew that myself ☺)

Journal Entry #1

1. Which of the three books did you enjoy the most and why?

I (surprisingly) enjoyed all of the books but the one that i found the most intriguing was The Stranger. I found myself able to follow the story line and able to understand what the author was trying show.  I like how Meursault was characterized as a "I don't care about anything" person, and how he interacted with others around him.  Meursaults relationship with Maria was sad but interesting.  Sad because Meursault didn't really care about her while she loved him, and interesting because of how Maria put up with his lack of emotion and caring.  I also liked how events in the begining of the book (Mothers funeral) came back into play later in the story durring Meursaults trial.  I also found this easy to understand because i was able to connect concepts i had learned in my IB Psychology class to explain why Meursault acted the way he did.

2. Which of the three books did you enjoy least and why?

The book that i enjoyed the least amount was There Eyes Were Watching God.  I found this book a bit more confusing that the other two.  It was also extremely hard for me to get used to the writing style the author used.  I found myself having to spend more time than i should on one sentence just to decipher what was being said.  As i read through the book i did get used to the language the characters used and i believe that re-reading the book would help me understand it better.  I also did really care for the ending of the book after Tea Cups death.  It didn't have that resolution or ending feel to it and it left me a bit confused.

3. If you were to write an essay on the third novel (the book not addressed in the previous two questions) what element or elements would you focus on in that essay and why do think they are important?

If i were to write an essay on the third novel , 1984, my main focus would be the totalitarian style of government used.  I think that the book provides a very accurate vision of a totalitarian government and that it would be extremely easy to contrast this with our current society. This would possibly get us thinking about how lucky to have the government we do now rather than one similar Oceania. I would also focus on the actions Winston took to try to rebel against his oppresive government and the end result of it.  I think that it plays a key role in supporting the totalitarian idea, that the government controls your life and you can't resist it.