existentialism

Existentialist are quite pesky. I agree with some of the things they say but then again i don't   I have enjoyed looking deeper into life and seeing the different views of people. Some people may live by this and others think its all destiny. I personally see both sides. I see aspects of both views in my life. So thinking more deeply of me has been sort of difficult because i don't really think about my actions and thoughts in my free time, or how they correspond to my life and future.

eh speaking of the future, I'm not really feeling the amount of stress I'm putting on myself for it. I feel very overwhelmed and concerned about how I'm going to choose a college, how I'm going to do there, and how I'm going to become my own person. They are all very daunting questions. So speaking of existentialism in class has opened my eyes to these questions and makes me take step back and re-evaluate my choices and actions. I think experience may help me make the tough decisions. These are the things Mr.Mullins has made me think of, why, is all i have to ask. But I'm sure all will work out because it always does right?

Dark stories

The stories we have read lately or at all have all been very dark, violent, or depressing. I don't really mind this because i see it as the authors showing what doesn't always get written about. You don't always get to hear about the dark places people could get into. They have written about topics not everyone wants to speak of. No, I'm not saying i want to hear about all of this but i do like seeing a different side of things. I don't really read anything now a days that doesn't have a happy ending. So it is a pleasant surprise to read something different. This doesn't mean that literary fiction is all dark it just shows they want to put out something one doesn't read everyday. So literary stories wont always be happy and upbeat as everyone expects.

Where commercial fiction mostly like will be pleasing to the whole majority of the audience  They tend to be the ones to go with whats in, not write about the tough subjects. They will give the readers what they want which is a happy ending where everything works out and life goes on. Sure a few may have dark parts in them but they don't usually make you think past the surface and they aren't supposed to they are mostly just for pleasure, but admit it you can usually tell what is going to happen by the middle of the book. I'm not saying i don like commercial fiction cause I'm a sucker for a happy ending but it is nice to have a change in thinking. I like that i have to look past the surface to see what really happened.

hills like white elephants

So this story was tough to comprehend, for me anyways. I didn't really get it until we talked about it in class. It was quite clever how Hemingway hid the fact that the couple was speaking of an abortion. When we spoke of it in class it became much more obvious and i wondered how i missed it. I was glad i wasn't the only one though. But because i did miss i got to look closer at the story and really think about the dialogue and subtle signs more. I liked that you had to look deeper for the story and it wasn't like all the other that you just read it and already know what its about. Hemingway played with my mind and i really liked it ha. I wish more stories were like this so we could get more into stories. I even read this story again to put what we talked about in class into play. I really enjoyed it when i could see what we were talking about. Although the topic was a little rough because who wants to talk about a sensitive story like abortion, its so controversial. But i liked the way Hemingway writes, he really makes you work for the point of the story.

Theme

So even though Mr Mullins has explained theme very well, I'm still going have trouble getting rid of the 'moral' habit. I always looked for that to get the theme and thought it was good enough, but now i know it is much more complex to get more thorough so that the true point gets across. Themes are supposed to be very broad and be able to apply to as many real people and things as possible, not just a select few, it is more than just a lesson. The author wants the theme to apply to many yet not be judgmental and cause conflict between the readers. But the theme can seem different to different people, because everyone has their own opinion, therefore they have different views. Theme also has its very own checklist yay! haha.   These checklist includes 6 easy steps to help make the theme process much easier. With this checklist i think my habit of just finding the moral will end quickly because it breaks the complete sentence needed my theme down into parts. This makes it easier for me personally to make sure i get each part into the sentence. So here goes to getting better at making them sentences/inferences.

The destructors

In The Destructors a group boys disliked an old man so they torn down his house. While talking about this in class only one of the groups was on the right track as to why they did it. They said that when Mr.Thomas allowed him into his house the boys got the feeling of acceptance, and they didn't want that from him. I feel this is important because you start to see that the little boys aren't all that nice. They are kind of mean and rude. Mr.Thomas was just trying to be nice and kind by inviting the gang into this house. Then those same boys tare down his house when he is gone for the holiday weekend. Mr.Thomas came back earlier and the boys weren't done yet so they locked Mr.Thomas in his outdoor bathroom so they could finish. He finally gets out when his driver opens the door. And that driver has the nerve to say "you have to admit, it is sort of funny". With this ending i was very shocked that he would even saw that. What those boys did was terribly wrong and terrible for Mr.Thomas. I couldn't even imagine someone doing this to my house or anyone's for the matter. This story really kind of opens your eyes to what could actually happen when a person feels threatened. They could become a totally different person kind of like the man from A Child Called Tiger.

A Child Called Tiger

This week i had to read A Child Called Tiger. I thought it was quite confusing and creepy,  but it did make me think of why people do things like he did. I mean this happens in real life too. How can people be the person little kids look up to and then all the sudden snap into a totally different person. It makes me think deeper when looking at people, i mean you really never know whats going on behind closed doors. The person who you see as happy and full of life could have a horrible home situation that no one knows of, but they would rather just hide it. Anyways in A Child Called Tiger the author never tells you why he went crazy, in stories like this you can try and piece together your own thoughts of what may have happened. I think he had a thing going on with the maid. She had left before he had a breakdown and shot everyone. I think the maid, Patsy, put him in a tough situation when her husband came home. I think he wanted her to make a decision and wanted it to be him, not her husband. When he didn't get the answer he wanted he had a breakdown and decided to take his anger out in the best way he thought of at the time. He was in the Army so maybe that's why killing came first in his mind. Although we will never know because the author finished the short story without any insight into his character life and the man died.

most dangerous game

So this may sound silly but while reading The Most Dangerous Game i thought it sounded kind of like The Hunger Games. When Zaroff was hunting Rainsford it reminded me of all the tributes hunting each other to stay alive. I know Rainsford wasnt hunting anyone but he was using his survival skills like Katniss. General Zaroff was more like President Snow, he was only hunting for the entertainment of it. Anyways Rainsford was like Katniss in more than the arena ways, he also had the will to stay alive and win the game Zaroff was playing. This will help him to overcome his opresser and win and also stay alive. In both stories the 'players' are picked randomly, but in different ways. In The Most Dangerous Game its whoever lands on the island is choosen to play General Zaroff's games, whereas in THe Hunger Games people are picked out of a bowl. There are more than just this differences between the books but the purpose for reading them are also the same. They are both literary reads. Literary reading is when the writing you are reading is purely for entertain not thought and adacemic teaching aids-like summer reading books :(. Personally i like the literary readings better because i just like the easy reads that dont take a lot of deep thinking to understand. I like to just enjoy the book.