For the second quarter independent reading, I have decided to set my sights on reading at least three different titles. This has been a long and arduous search through Amazon, Goodreads, and Mrs. Huff's library, but I think I have assembled the absolute greatest reading list of all time. My selections are:
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings are a series of books that are just so amazing and riveting, it is almost required to read the books at least once in life. So, that is what I am doing. After already finishing The Fellowship of the Ring, the next book in the saga is The Two Towers, so, this is what I will read next. The interest I have in reading this book mainly stems from seeing the movies that were released several years ago. My decision to read the books was similar to, "Well, if the books are half as good as the movies, then the books will be great." While the books and movies may differ on some aspects, I have not been disappointed at all in anyway. Also, I do not have to worry about getting a copy of this book or The Return of the King, since I already have the entire series and can jump right in whenever I please.
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
My reasoning for choosing The Return of the King is similar to my reasoning for reading The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. The only difference is that The Return of the King is my favorite movie in the entire series, and one of my favorites of all time. Permanent goosebumps are present all over through most of the movie, and come on, who hasn't imagined themselves in the movie, participating in the major scenes. Well, if no one else has then, I will admit that I have done this on multiple occasions. Also, I will have finally finished the entire series, completing my quest of finishing all of the books.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Like many people all over the world, I am extremely excited about Mockingjay. I am also one of the few who hasn't read it yet. However, this does not bother me as long as I can find the book and read it. Jumping onto the bandwagon for something that is extremely popular is not something that I do very often, but The Hunger Games is definitely worth the jump. Unlike many new books being released today (cough, Twilight, cough), The Hunger Games are very good and entertaining to read, with a deep plot and twists and turns during every chapter. The speed with which I read these books surprised me, mainly since the last time I read a book that quick was when the last Harry Potter book was released. All in all, I am excited. I will have to look to see if Mrs. Huff has a copy of the book when I am in class next, and then I can finally see how Panem blows up in civil war.
This is my reading wish list for this quarter, with fingers crossed that I will be able to finish all of the books on the list. If not, well, the world should not end. However, if the world does end, then my bad.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
2nd Quarter reading list
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring; Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Print.
After his uncle Bilbo disappears at his eleventy-first birthday party and goes on a journey into the wilderness, Frodo Baggins becomes both the master of Bag End and of something worth far more: a ring that Bilbo has had for years that grants the wearer with the power to turn invisible. Frodo keeps the ring a secret for several years, until Gandalf the Gray comes to Bag End and reveals to Frodo that the ring he possesses is much more than a simply magic ring, but is a ring filled with the deadly power of Sauron, and is the one ring that can control all of the other rings of power. Frodo then begins a journey with Sam Gamgee, and later on Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, that takes them across the Shire, into the lands beyond, meeting many allies (Tom Bombadil, Strider or Aragorn) and also many enemies (the Ringwraiths) along the way, finally coming to Rivendell. There, Frodo is made the Ringbearer and a Fellowship is formed to escort Frodo to Mount Doom in Mordor to destroy the ring. Tragedy and misfortune cause the breaking of the Fellowship at a crossroads in the journey, hurting the chances of everyone to continue.
One element of this book that stood out to me were the diverse settings of the book, with everything from the haunted pit of a Barrow-wight to the splendor of Rivendell to the empty ruins of Moria. No two locations are alike in any way, with details jumping out of the pages and into the reader's mind with such ease almost as if Tolkien were painting in the mind. 2 books
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King; Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Print.
After Rohan and the Ent's victory over Isengard, Gandalf and Pippin travel to Minas Tirith in Gondor to protect the rest of Rohan from the full brunt of Sauron's wrath. Gandalf and Pippin arrive shortly before the army of Sauron began the siege of Gondor, forcing the steward of Gondor to call on Rohan for help in the battle. Aragorn, in an act to fulfill the prophecy of the king, along with Gimli, Legolas, and a host of Rangers from the North who come to aid Aragorn, take the Paths of the Dead through the mountains to reach aid to help liberate Gondor. The Rohirrim ride to aid Gondor and the Battle of the Pellanor Fields commences, with King Theoden being killed by the Lord of the Nazgul, and him being killed by Eowyn, the King's daughter. Aragorn appears with the banner of the King, revealed to be Aragorn himself, and a host of warriors from the surrounding areas of Gondor, taking back the city. Aragorn then marches out with the entire host from Rohan and Gondor to engage Sauron at Mordor, mainly to give Frodo and Sam time to destroy the Ring. Sam rescues Frodo from the orcs and the two continue to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring.
An element of this book that stood out to me was growth and progression of the characters, in particular Sam and Aragorn. In The Fellowhip of the Ring, Sam was very nervous most of the time and depended a lot on Frodo for help with decisions, but by the end of this book, he had morphed into a warrior who had a strong enough will to push Frodo through to the last phase of the journey and then help retake the Shire. Like every underdog story ever told, Sam starts as the guy no one wants to be, but then becomes the hero and the one everyone wants to be. Aragorn had a slightly different character development. Originally just a strange Ranger, Frodo met in Bree, Aragorn becomes a figurehead for the forces of good in the book and eventually king. Aragorn reminded me of the over-achieving, spotless character who just becomes more and more impressive as the book continues. 2 books
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers; Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Print.
Shortly after Frodo escapes from Boromir and leaves the Fellowship, the remaining members are attacked by a company of orcs and Uruk-hai, dividing the Fellowship, with Boromir being killed in the battle and Merry and Pippin being captured by the orcs. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli all give chase to the orcs across the plains, meeting the Riders of Rohan (the Rohirrim) along the way, who destroyed the orcs the night before on the border to Fangorn Forest. Not knowing that Merry and Pippin had escaped into the Forest and had met the Ent Treebeard, and were planning a siege on the wizard Saruman's fortress, Isengard, Aragorn and his companions went into the forest to search for Merry and Pippin, where they meet Gandalf, reborn after his ordeal with the Balrog, who takes them to Rohan to help King Theoden fend off the forces of Isengard. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam capture Gollum, who has been following them for many miles, and persuade him to become their guide to take them to Mordor. Gollum leads them to Mordor, but upon finding the Gates closed, he leads them around the gates and walls through Ithilien. Once there the hobbits meet Faramir, the brother of Boromir and a captain of Gondor, who helps them on their journey. Gollum then leads Frodo and Sam to the Pass of Cirith Ungol, where tragedy strikes yet again for Frodo and Sam.
An element of this book that stood out to me was the contrast of Isengard to the Ents. Similar to today, the Ents were the protectors of nature, like environmentalists, and Isengard were the big business leaders that used the land to suit their purposes and did not care about the rest of the world. Saruman knew he would anger the Ents, but he became so consumed with greed and gaining power, that he did not she how his lack of concern would be his downfall, similar to today's society. I do not think that the trees, however, will come alive and destroy our fortress, but you never know. 2 books
After his uncle Bilbo disappears at his eleventy-first birthday party and goes on a journey into the wilderness, Frodo Baggins becomes both the master of Bag End and of something worth far more: a ring that Bilbo has had for years that grants the wearer with the power to turn invisible. Frodo keeps the ring a secret for several years, until Gandalf the Gray comes to Bag End and reveals to Frodo that the ring he possesses is much more than a simply magic ring, but is a ring filled with the deadly power of Sauron, and is the one ring that can control all of the other rings of power. Frodo then begins a journey with Sam Gamgee, and later on Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, that takes them across the Shire, into the lands beyond, meeting many allies (Tom Bombadil, Strider or Aragorn) and also many enemies (the Ringwraiths) along the way, finally coming to Rivendell. There, Frodo is made the Ringbearer and a Fellowship is formed to escort Frodo to Mount Doom in Mordor to destroy the ring. Tragedy and misfortune cause the breaking of the Fellowship at a crossroads in the journey, hurting the chances of everyone to continue.
One element of this book that stood out to me were the diverse settings of the book, with everything from the haunted pit of a Barrow-wight to the splendor of Rivendell to the empty ruins of Moria. No two locations are alike in any way, with details jumping out of the pages and into the reader's mind with such ease almost as if Tolkien were painting in the mind. 2 books
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King; Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Print.
After Rohan and the Ent's victory over Isengard, Gandalf and Pippin travel to Minas Tirith in Gondor to protect the rest of Rohan from the full brunt of Sauron's wrath. Gandalf and Pippin arrive shortly before the army of Sauron began the siege of Gondor, forcing the steward of Gondor to call on Rohan for help in the battle. Aragorn, in an act to fulfill the prophecy of the king, along with Gimli, Legolas, and a host of Rangers from the North who come to aid Aragorn, take the Paths of the Dead through the mountains to reach aid to help liberate Gondor. The Rohirrim ride to aid Gondor and the Battle of the Pellanor Fields commences, with King Theoden being killed by the Lord of the Nazgul, and him being killed by Eowyn, the King's daughter. Aragorn appears with the banner of the King, revealed to be Aragorn himself, and a host of warriors from the surrounding areas of Gondor, taking back the city. Aragorn then marches out with the entire host from Rohan and Gondor to engage Sauron at Mordor, mainly to give Frodo and Sam time to destroy the Ring. Sam rescues Frodo from the orcs and the two continue to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring.
An element of this book that stood out to me was growth and progression of the characters, in particular Sam and Aragorn. In The Fellowhip of the Ring, Sam was very nervous most of the time and depended a lot on Frodo for help with decisions, but by the end of this book, he had morphed into a warrior who had a strong enough will to push Frodo through to the last phase of the journey and then help retake the Shire. Like every underdog story ever told, Sam starts as the guy no one wants to be, but then becomes the hero and the one everyone wants to be. Aragorn had a slightly different character development. Originally just a strange Ranger, Frodo met in Bree, Aragorn becomes a figurehead for the forces of good in the book and eventually king. Aragorn reminded me of the over-achieving, spotless character who just becomes more and more impressive as the book continues. 2 books
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers; Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Print.
Shortly after Frodo escapes from Boromir and leaves the Fellowship, the remaining members are attacked by a company of orcs and Uruk-hai, dividing the Fellowship, with Boromir being killed in the battle and Merry and Pippin being captured by the orcs. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli all give chase to the orcs across the plains, meeting the Riders of Rohan (the Rohirrim) along the way, who destroyed the orcs the night before on the border to Fangorn Forest. Not knowing that Merry and Pippin had escaped into the Forest and had met the Ent Treebeard, and were planning a siege on the wizard Saruman's fortress, Isengard, Aragorn and his companions went into the forest to search for Merry and Pippin, where they meet Gandalf, reborn after his ordeal with the Balrog, who takes them to Rohan to help King Theoden fend off the forces of Isengard. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam capture Gollum, who has been following them for many miles, and persuade him to become their guide to take them to Mordor. Gollum leads them to Mordor, but upon finding the Gates closed, he leads them around the gates and walls through Ithilien. Once there the hobbits meet Faramir, the brother of Boromir and a captain of Gondor, who helps them on their journey. Gollum then leads Frodo and Sam to the Pass of Cirith Ungol, where tragedy strikes yet again for Frodo and Sam.
An element of this book that stood out to me was the contrast of Isengard to the Ents. Similar to today, the Ents were the protectors of nature, like environmentalists, and Isengard were the big business leaders that used the land to suit their purposes and did not care about the rest of the world. Saruman knew he would anger the Ents, but he became so consumed with greed and gaining power, that he did not she how his lack of concern would be his downfall, similar to today's society. I do not think that the trees, however, will come alive and destroy our fortress, but you never know. 2 books
Friday, October 15, 2010
Independent reading reflection
Over the past quarter, independent reading has been the assignment that has been slowly but surely leading to the conclusion for this nine weeks. The conclusion is probably this, so the excitement just left the room. Anyway, independent reading expands the mind, allowing the reader to visit new worlds that are waiting impatiently to be explored. There have been three habits that Mrs. Huff has attempted to instill in all of her students so far this year: reading regularly, keeping track of the amount of reading by using a reading log, and keeping a reading journal, with some taking more effect than others.
Regular reading is crucial to the assignment, and is one of the few habits involved with this assignment that can actually be done enthusiastically. Just about every day I am able to read for at least twenty minutes. This amount of time seems amazing considering all of the other homework and non-related school activities I have to give time to accomplish, but that is why there are weekends (mainly so I can tell my parents I am doing homework when I am procrastinating from doing other homework). The regular reading has also helped me to read more books and to also read other books that I may not have read otherwise. Take for instance The Hunger Games series. I never really understood what the big deal and hype about the books until I actually started reading them, turning even a hardened skeptic like myself into a fan of the series. I always enjoy reading most any book with a good story, and the fact that reading is an assignment just makes the situation even better.
Along with reading outside of class, to prove that the books we say we have read were read, the amount of time read and the thoughts about the reading have been recorded in our reading logs and our reading journals. While the reading log has not altered much about how I read, the reading journals almost hinder the reading experience. Possibly because I am not used to logging my thoughts while I read, this portion of the assignment has not been easy or fun. Sometimes a book is just better to take at face value and not over-analyze the themes and characters, often driving the reader crazy trying to discover these. However, like most events and struggles in life, the reading journals will have a bigger impact on me as a reader and help to instill the skill to analyze texts quicker and easier.
One of the major goals for my next quarter reading will be to journal more often and have more analytical thoughts about my reading. While I did a decent job, in my eyes at least, of inking deep thoughts, Mrs. Huff will probably think otherwise. Also, I will make sure to date all of my entries to the journal, not just the last five or six. As for books, I hope to finish The Lord of the Rings series, and also to read Mockingjay and find out how the rebellion goes down.
All in all, I do enjoy reading, but am not the biggest fan of the reading journals. However, I may eventually come to enjoy inking my thoughts by some strange twist of fate.
Regular reading is crucial to the assignment, and is one of the few habits involved with this assignment that can actually be done enthusiastically. Just about every day I am able to read for at least twenty minutes. This amount of time seems amazing considering all of the other homework and non-related school activities I have to give time to accomplish, but that is why there are weekends (mainly so I can tell my parents I am doing homework when I am procrastinating from doing other homework). The regular reading has also helped me to read more books and to also read other books that I may not have read otherwise. Take for instance The Hunger Games series. I never really understood what the big deal and hype about the books until I actually started reading them, turning even a hardened skeptic like myself into a fan of the series. I always enjoy reading most any book with a good story, and the fact that reading is an assignment just makes the situation even better.
Along with reading outside of class, to prove that the books we say we have read were read, the amount of time read and the thoughts about the reading have been recorded in our reading logs and our reading journals. While the reading log has not altered much about how I read, the reading journals almost hinder the reading experience. Possibly because I am not used to logging my thoughts while I read, this portion of the assignment has not been easy or fun. Sometimes a book is just better to take at face value and not over-analyze the themes and characters, often driving the reader crazy trying to discover these. However, like most events and struggles in life, the reading journals will have a bigger impact on me as a reader and help to instill the skill to analyze texts quicker and easier.
One of the major goals for my next quarter reading will be to journal more often and have more analytical thoughts about my reading. While I did a decent job, in my eyes at least, of inking deep thoughts, Mrs. Huff will probably think otherwise. Also, I will make sure to date all of my entries to the journal, not just the last five or six. As for books, I hope to finish The Lord of the Rings series, and also to read Mockingjay and find out how the rebellion goes down.
All in all, I do enjoy reading, but am not the biggest fan of the reading journals. However, I may eventually come to enjoy inking my thoughts by some strange twist of fate.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Socratic Seminar Reflection
After reading Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, our English class participated in a group conversation called a "Socratic Seminar." This seminar involved choosing two out of nine questions from a question list, picking through the book for details and quotes to help outline the point the participators are attempting to make, and then sitting in a group of tables in the middle of a ring of smaller tables with the other unfortunate souls who chose the same question. This situation not only makes the participants uncomfortable, with everyone sitting there with their eyes staring at you, but also can make the participants feel like they are in a gladiator arena, the only difference being that there were no lions or tigers trying to eat anybody. With that being said, the Socratic seminars are an unjust, cruel, and unusual way to analyze a novel. Now an argument, a strong and lengthy debate with opinions, would be the proper way to analyze a novel.
While the situation of the discussions was not the most enjoyable situation, the discussions did bring several interesting ideas to the table (no pun intended). One of the ideas that seems to be the most affecting is the similarities that have been noticed between our society today and the society of Brave New World. An example of this was discussed in question five about the consequences for individuals. In Brave New World, all of the so-called "individuals" were taken out of society and placed on islands, away from society, to keep them from corrupting the "normal" citizens of society. A similar thing happens to the individuals of today's society, not with real islands though, but with figurative islands, by alienating the different thinkers of society, and forcing them to form their own smaller communities with the other like-minded outcasts of society. An interesting view of this situation involved how a society without individuality would eventually become boring and monotonous, and how the individuals of society are always going to appear in society no matter what precautions are made, because there will always be people who think differently and look for new ways to think about a task. In a way, individuals are like the antidote to the Brave New World society; as long as there are plenty of individual thinkers, the conformity and creepy community aspect of the Brave New World society will have a much harder time coming to pass. Another interesting idea that was brought up was the topic immersed in question nine. The entire discussion about the effect of Shakespeare's words on John the Savage really showed a whole new level of the Savage that escaped from my understanding. The fact that the words made others and himself more realistic made more sense than it even should have made. Many occurrences in life are either not able to be expressed in words, but can be expressed in emotions, and vice-versa. But John finally found one of the few mediums in the world that could do both for him. This whole turn of events disproved the saying of "actions speak louder than words," meaning that if the words are not there to describe what a person is doing, they will not be able to do what they wanted to do in the first place. My mind was sufficiently blown by this revelation and has caused me to look at written words in a whole new light, and to finally understand the power of language and its lasting impact on the world as a whole. Without intelligent literature that tingles the emotions, society can not grow and develop properly, and our society will end up like the society of Brave New World, unable to deal with emotions and only able to express thoughts as childish phrases.
Understanding all of the many ideas being shot around the room like bullets during the Socratic Seminar is only half of the battle; the other, and sometimes more difficult aspect, is trying to participate in the conversation in a productive manner. Oftentimes, it is hard to know where to jump into the conversation, for fear of stepping on others feet, and how to present the ideas that need to be brought up. The conversation reminded me of an extremely polite race, with everyone wanting to take control, but afraid to take too much because we get counted off for hogging the conversation. All obstacles considered, I thought that my contributions to the conversation were fairly well done and inspiring. Also, I discovered that debate would be better suited to the situation than discussions, mainly because it is easier for most people to say what they wanted to without worrying about interrupting the current speaker. I am better at interrupting than I am at listening and waiting patiently for my turn. This aspect was the source of many a kindergarten time-out back in the day. One thing I did enjoy was discussing a book and getting several different views on the book, very similar to a giant brain-melding party of sorts. But if I had any input on the whole situation, my vote would go towards abolishing the whole Socratic Seminar concept.
The Socratic Seminar seems very daunting and horrible on the surface, but, once the deeper levels are explored, they prove what was originally thought. However, once the conversations have sunk into the consciousness and are looked upon with the right attitude, many previous overlooked details are brought to light. I'm not saying I enjoyed the Seminar, but it does have its benefits by adding to the understanding of the book.
While the situation of the discussions was not the most enjoyable situation, the discussions did bring several interesting ideas to the table (no pun intended). One of the ideas that seems to be the most affecting is the similarities that have been noticed between our society today and the society of Brave New World. An example of this was discussed in question five about the consequences for individuals. In Brave New World, all of the so-called "individuals" were taken out of society and placed on islands, away from society, to keep them from corrupting the "normal" citizens of society. A similar thing happens to the individuals of today's society, not with real islands though, but with figurative islands, by alienating the different thinkers of society, and forcing them to form their own smaller communities with the other like-minded outcasts of society. An interesting view of this situation involved how a society without individuality would eventually become boring and monotonous, and how the individuals of society are always going to appear in society no matter what precautions are made, because there will always be people who think differently and look for new ways to think about a task. In a way, individuals are like the antidote to the Brave New World society; as long as there are plenty of individual thinkers, the conformity and creepy community aspect of the Brave New World society will have a much harder time coming to pass. Another interesting idea that was brought up was the topic immersed in question nine. The entire discussion about the effect of Shakespeare's words on John the Savage really showed a whole new level of the Savage that escaped from my understanding. The fact that the words made others and himself more realistic made more sense than it even should have made. Many occurrences in life are either not able to be expressed in words, but can be expressed in emotions, and vice-versa. But John finally found one of the few mediums in the world that could do both for him. This whole turn of events disproved the saying of "actions speak louder than words," meaning that if the words are not there to describe what a person is doing, they will not be able to do what they wanted to do in the first place. My mind was sufficiently blown by this revelation and has caused me to look at written words in a whole new light, and to finally understand the power of language and its lasting impact on the world as a whole. Without intelligent literature that tingles the emotions, society can not grow and develop properly, and our society will end up like the society of Brave New World, unable to deal with emotions and only able to express thoughts as childish phrases.
Understanding all of the many ideas being shot around the room like bullets during the Socratic Seminar is only half of the battle; the other, and sometimes more difficult aspect, is trying to participate in the conversation in a productive manner. Oftentimes, it is hard to know where to jump into the conversation, for fear of stepping on others feet, and how to present the ideas that need to be brought up. The conversation reminded me of an extremely polite race, with everyone wanting to take control, but afraid to take too much because we get counted off for hogging the conversation. All obstacles considered, I thought that my contributions to the conversation were fairly well done and inspiring. Also, I discovered that debate would be better suited to the situation than discussions, mainly because it is easier for most people to say what they wanted to without worrying about interrupting the current speaker. I am better at interrupting than I am at listening and waiting patiently for my turn. This aspect was the source of many a kindergarten time-out back in the day. One thing I did enjoy was discussing a book and getting several different views on the book, very similar to a giant brain-melding party of sorts. But if I had any input on the whole situation, my vote would go towards abolishing the whole Socratic Seminar concept.
The Socratic Seminar seems very daunting and horrible on the surface, but, once the deeper levels are explored, they prove what was originally thought. However, once the conversations have sunk into the consciousness and are looked upon with the right attitude, many previous overlooked details are brought to light. I'm not saying I enjoyed the Seminar, but it does have its benefits by adding to the understanding of the book.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Annotated Reading List
Article Set for Brave New World http://writingtheblues.blogspot.com/p/brave-new-world-bibliography.html
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York City: HarperCollins, 1932. Print.
In Brave New World, the directors of society have built a seemingly perfect "utopia." But not everyone feels this way, especially Bernard Marx, a Beta in the society who feels that everything in the society is wrong. Looking for a way to find society more attractive, and to take a girl on a trip, Bernard flies to a Savage Reservation in New Mexico, where he finds a glimmer of hope for society, something that hasn't been seen in decades: a woman from the society who gave birth to a child. Bringing the child and his mother back to England with him, Bernard unknowingly sets of events that will affect the lives of every single individual involved in the journey. A key element of the story in BNW is John the Savage. John lived on the reservation with the other savages for his entire life, until Bernard brings him back to England with him. John differs from the other members of society in a complex, yet extremely simple way: he can deal with emotions, while the other members of society take soma to handle emotions. This makes John calm and able to fly through most situations with ease, until he becomes conflicted and loses control, diving into Shakespeare or losing control completely. John effectively shows the conflicts between the old society where he once lived, and the new society where he lives now, one of the important themes of the book. (259 pages)
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. Waterville, ME.: Thorndike, 2009. Print.
After the ordeal of the Hunger Games is over, Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, and the rest of the support staff from the first Hunger Games are forced to go on a mandatory tour of the twelve districts in celebration of their victory. The only problem with this is Katniss has to act like she still loves being a victor and Peeta, even though both situations are shaky at best. If Katniss can not play off the image of being another Capitol stooge and convince the rest of Panem not to break out into open rebellion against the Capitol, everything in Katniss' life will be destroyed to keep order. What Katniss does not know however is how their is both a plan to destroy her no matter how she acts, and a plan to also defeat the overlords who have had Panem in a death embrace for so long. Both plans come to a head and Katniss' world is turned upside down, with consequences for everyone connected to her. One element of Catching Fire that resonated with me was the theme of how even the most unprepared and unthinkable person in the world can start a revolution. This is what Katniss does, becoming the unlikely face and symbol for an underground movement, even though this is the exact opposite of what she tried to accomplish. Katniss has struggled all of her life, never being given any help, and this has made her somewhat bitter and unable to deal with other people very well. She is not the type of person to be a great leader or guide a group of people to freedom, more like the hyperbole of the town outcast. But, this may be why the people look to her, since she is the most unthinkable choice for a revolutionary, and the only person to defy the Capitol and survive. One noise can start an avalanche, and Katniss was this noise. Just a very endearing and epic trait that everyone needs at some point. (400 pages)
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Waterville, ME.: Thorndike, 2009. Print.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York City: HarperCollins, 1932. Print.
In Brave New World, the directors of society have built a seemingly perfect "utopia." But not everyone feels this way, especially Bernard Marx, a Beta in the society who feels that everything in the society is wrong. Looking for a way to find society more attractive, and to take a girl on a trip, Bernard flies to a Savage Reservation in New Mexico, where he finds a glimmer of hope for society, something that hasn't been seen in decades: a woman from the society who gave birth to a child. Bringing the child and his mother back to England with him, Bernard unknowingly sets of events that will affect the lives of every single individual involved in the journey. A key element of the story in BNW is John the Savage. John lived on the reservation with the other savages for his entire life, until Bernard brings him back to England with him. John differs from the other members of society in a complex, yet extremely simple way: he can deal with emotions, while the other members of society take soma to handle emotions. This makes John calm and able to fly through most situations with ease, until he becomes conflicted and loses control, diving into Shakespeare or losing control completely. John effectively shows the conflicts between the old society where he once lived, and the new society where he lives now, one of the important themes of the book. (259 pages)
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. Waterville, ME.: Thorndike, 2009. Print.
After the ordeal of the Hunger Games is over, Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, and the rest of the support staff from the first Hunger Games are forced to go on a mandatory tour of the twelve districts in celebration of their victory. The only problem with this is Katniss has to act like she still loves being a victor and Peeta, even though both situations are shaky at best. If Katniss can not play off the image of being another Capitol stooge and convince the rest of Panem not to break out into open rebellion against the Capitol, everything in Katniss' life will be destroyed to keep order. What Katniss does not know however is how their is both a plan to destroy her no matter how she acts, and a plan to also defeat the overlords who have had Panem in a death embrace for so long. Both plans come to a head and Katniss' world is turned upside down, with consequences for everyone connected to her. One element of Catching Fire that resonated with me was the theme of how even the most unprepared and unthinkable person in the world can start a revolution. This is what Katniss does, becoming the unlikely face and symbol for an underground movement, even though this is the exact opposite of what she tried to accomplish. Katniss has struggled all of her life, never being given any help, and this has made her somewhat bitter and unable to deal with other people very well. She is not the type of person to be a great leader or guide a group of people to freedom, more like the hyperbole of the town outcast. But, this may be why the people look to her, since she is the most unthinkable choice for a revolutionary, and the only person to defy the Capitol and survive. One noise can start an avalanche, and Katniss was this noise. Just a very endearing and epic trait that everyone needs at some point. (400 pages)
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Waterville, ME.: Thorndike, 2009. Print.
In the twelfth district of Panem, a sixteen year old named Katiniss Everdeen has stepped up and taken the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, a vicious competition where two tributes from each of the twelve districts fight to the death against each other on public television. The reward for the victor and their district is a years supply of food, but Katniss' district has not won in so long that the only remaining victor is a raging alcoholic with anger problems. Also, her fellow tribute in the games is a friend who at one point helped Katniss and her family, further complicating her situation. All of these problems and more are brought to a head in the arena where Katiniss' survival is her greatest concern. One of the most interesting aspects of The Hunger Games is the world of Panem. The world is basically a futuristic version of the United States, the only difference is the states have been replaced by districts and the Capital is a district itself. The people of the Captital are the most privileged of Panem and love to show that fact, mainly by following all of the material trends of the time , including dying their skin and hair a multitude of colors, wearing outlandish clothing, and augmenting their bodies to never show the signs of age. The Capitol seemed like an extremely twisted version of our society today, with many aspects of society tweaked to seem more futuristic. This future was like a warning to everyone reading to do whatever needs to be done to not let this happen in the world, and really struck a chord with me. (384 pages)
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