Powered By Blogger

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Open Essay

1972)
In the opening scene in Of Mice and Men, you meet two very different characters. George and Lenny are two traveling laborers who skip from ranch to ranch looking for work. They become very close throughout the story, just like two brothers do throughout their lives. But, just like brothers they encounter some very sticky situations throughout the story.

1984)
Alone in a barn with a bunch of little bunnies, sits Lenny. This is one of my favorite scene because a scene where everything is so calm, utter drama occurs. Lenny accidentally kills one of the bunnies and when is confronted about it he kills the women who confronts him. Lenny is not a cold blooded killer he is just a man lost in the sea we call life.

1990)
Of Mice and Men are full is full of conflict between the main characters. Lenny and George will constantly fight, not because they hate each other, because they are like two brothers who were never born together. George and Lenny will always bicker but, deep down they will always love each other and defend each other.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" which took me all of two days because it's a short novel...probably the shortest on my list. It was a quick read, and a powerful story, although I could tell after reading the first page or two that things were going to end very, very badly, and I certainly was correct in that assumption. The story concerns two migrant ranch workers living in California during the Great Depression. George is a crafty, wiry, and small man, and his sidekick Lennie is a huge man of great physical strength, but who is mentally handicapped. He's not bright at all, and he loves to pet soft things, like puppies and rabbits and mice. He doesn't care if they're alive or dead, which is for the best since he doesn't know his own strength and usually ends up killing whatever he is petting. In fact when the story opens, Lennie is petting a dead mouse that he keeps in his pocket. At the opening, George and Lennie are on their way to a new ranch near Soledad, California in the Central Valley. They had to leave their last job in Weed when Lennie petted a woman's dress because it was soft, and when she started to get mad he got scared and wouldn't let go, so naturally everyone assumed he was trying to rape her. Which he wasn't, because he wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone, he just wanted to pet her soft dress. This is how it goes with Lennie.

George and Lennie have a dream of saving up enough money to buy a small farm and live off the land. This would also give Lennie the chance to raise rabbits to help satisfy his urge to pet soft things. Lennie constantly asks George to tell and retell the story of how they will live on this farm, and it's clearly a powerful dream for both of them.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Poem Dissection

1) The main character is searching for the treasure of El Dorado. The main character is a knight and he is an older man.
2) The structure is depicted through the stanzas. The first parts are when he is young and searching and the second part is when he is older.
3) Never give up on something you are passionate for.
4) At the end of each stanza there is a punctuation and the stanzas are separated according to thought.
5) The images are very vivid and descriptive. He uses words to paint a picture of the knights journey.
6) The author repeats El Dorado in every stanza to show the treasures importance to the knight.
7) There is a very adventurous tone.
8) He uses alot of imagery, repetition, and Anaphora.
9) The structure helps the author convey his message by separating the stanzas and leaving open ended questions in order to get his message across without separating the stanzas we would not recognize the difference in his journey.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Review of Test

1) I feel that the essays were easier than I expected because I felt like I was really prepared for them. The only topic I had trouble with was topic 2.
2) The only thing I felt was difficult was the second topic. I felt like writing to that topic was difficult because it required more thought
3) I leaned that the Ap test will ask you no matter what because they expect you to know pretty much everything
4) I learned that I am a very clutch performer. I felt like I had plenty of time to write a well structured essay.
5) I will prepare for the final exam by catching up on all of texts I have read this year.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Lecture Notes

There is a 3rd city involved

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Why A Tale of Two Cities?

Charles dickens wrote this book to help portay how horrible the feudal system was and the laws by which the king let his people live.Dickens wanted to change the laws. Another reason is because Charles Dickens was haunted by the memories of being forced to work in the debtors prison for so long and losing his sister whom he idolized and not being able to marry the women he loved.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

A Tale of Two Cities

Questions
1. Why does the novel start out with the quote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."?

2. The story takes place during the French Revolution in Paris and London. Why are they chosen as the two separate cities for comparison?

3. Mr. Lorry says, "Recalled to life." What is he trying to say and what relation does it have to his life?

4. Why is Dickens's tone in the book very ominous or sad?

5. What is the big surprise about Lucie's dad?

6. How does Monseiur Defarge react to Lucie and Lorry when they come into his wine shop in England?

7. How does Lucie's dad react when Lucie shows up?

8. What is meant by the quote, "death was a recipe much in vogue,"?

9. Who is Jerry Cruncher and why is he relevant to the storyline in the current year 1780?

10. What is the relationship between Lorry and Charles Darnay?


Answers

1. That quotes symbolizes the contradictory attitudes from the two separate cities of London and Paris. While Paris was the center of the Revolution going on, they weren't in any major concern state of mind. Meanwhile, London was scared of another revolution starting. They were scarred for life by the American Revolution and did not want that to come back to haunt them like it did the first time around.

2. Like stated above in answer #1, the two cities were chosen as a sort of comparison between environments during such a huge historical event. Paris was going crazy but kept its cool. London was fearful of what they thought was going to destroy the European nation. Dickens used these two cities like a science experiment with one being the control and the other being the variable. They each took the reactions in different ways; therefore, London and Paris were the contrast of the time period.

3. Lorry is mostly talking about how troubled he is with the circumstances in his life. This phrase refers to the fact that giving himself or someone else a second chance of life is like a renewal. He will be able to start from scratch and have a clean slate at the difficult journey ahead.

4. Dickens has a dreary tone during the majority of the novel to set the scene for a gloomy life going on during the time period. London is known for its foggy setting and with the sad tone mixed in, it represents the sadness that the community feels after losing their last revolution/war. The tone also shows the character's personalities and outlooks on life.

5. Lorry and Lucie find out that Lucie's dad is not dead. He is, in fact, in jail and has been for the past 18 years. He got locked up for witnessing (and being falsely accused) a horrendous murder crime.

6. When they first walk in the shop, he ignores them like they aren't even there. After a few minutes, he talks to Lorry quickly and then leads them up some stairs. Once they reach the room they are looking for, they come to find an older man.

7. At first, he doesn't really recognize her because she has grown up since he last saw her. Then he notices her blonde curly locks as a familiar sign. He begins to assume that Lucie is his wife because of her noticeable hair. Lucie goes on to speak about what's been happening and her dad weeps with shock and joy because he has been reunited at last.

8. This phrase is meant along the lines of how to deal with crimes in the current time period. Many people who get convicted for whatever petty crime they did usually get killed because it is frowned upon to revolt against the laws.

9. Jerry Cruncher is an employee of Tellson's. He is married but he is very abusive towards his wife. He hates the fact that she has no true faith in him and beats her because of it. He becomes more involved in the storyline as he must go to the courthouse to attend to some important matters.

10. Charles Darnay is a man that has been accused for leaking secrets about the King of France, King Louis. He has to go up on trial in which Lorry is involved in as a witness to the crime.