I think one of the most interesting topics in today's world is "Is God Real?"
It is an extremely debatable topic that scientists, philosophers, and pretty much anyone has thought of at one point. From people who devote their lives to trying to find the answer to this question to the common person, I think it is interesting to look at the varying spectrum of time spent on the subject. Now I'm a very strong believer in God, I love him and believe he is watching over all of us. Quoting veggie tales "God loves you just the way you are."
How I understand the quote is that no matter your viewpoint or standing on the subject of God, he still loves you. At the end of your life, you could have been an atheist since the beginning of time, but as long as you recognize God and believe in him, you will go to heaven. He is very forgiving, and I think we are all very fortunate to have a God like him as the father, son, and holy spirit.
Getting into the science aspect of things, I think that everything that science tells us CAN be true. But when you look at all the scientists in the world who give us evidence for things happening, I question this evidence. I could not count how many times I have been told by a nonbeliever that science is the only thing that can prove the world and its many meanings. But yet, I still believe. At the end of the day, I will always take the religion side of things because God is real. According to science however, he is not because there is no proof. According to science, there has to be proof.
Science will just keep hounding religion and demanding evidence for religion. But when I look at this question, "Is God Real?", I see the other side to it. In order to explain things, Science uses proof or evidence, basing it as fact. But what really is fact? I asked myself the other day, "what proof does science have about science?", what makes it the undeniable overlord of fact. What makes religion any different?
There is many answers I could say about this question, but people might say I'm wrong to many of them. For instance, why is the bible so old? I'm sure if you were alive many, many, many years ago you could tell me the answer to the question. But I'm not that old. and neither is any one alive to this day. Its a debatable question, and can't be proven wrong or right. Just like religion. But the funny thing is, we have no proof of science either! Ever since we we're born, we are given so many reasons and "facts" about how the world works. Gravity, how our bodies work, and what nutrients we need to have daily are only a minute portion of the things we learn.
Science, in itself, is just as debatable as religion is! People who are religious are antagonized constantly for having no proof, but neither does science! Both can't be proven wrong or right! So why is science thought of as right, when in truth, it can't be proven just as religion can not be proven?
What I mean by this is that our facts here on Earth may be completely wrong just by the fact we can't really give them an even deeper meaning. Lets take gravity for example. Explain it. Why does it happen? How does it work? All the answers to the question boil down to the fact that it just is. Just like people who believe in religion can give reasons that boil down to the fact of, it just is!
In itself, religion and science are the same thing. Both can't be proven wrong or right! Thinking some more on this, I realized that God might even be using science. What if the way we explain things on Earth is the way God created us? What if the big bang was God in his science lab mixing chemicals and elements to create an explosion eventually leading to our existence?
In truth, there is no one right side to this never ending argument. God may be real, and I believe it with all of my heart, and I believe you should to! So, why does science keep antagonizing religion when it has no right to do so? The answer is that people think they have the right to do so, so that's why they are able to push religion around. But now you know better.
So the next time you get shoved around by science, shove back, because you have the right to believe, just like they do.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Happiness Is A Dish Best Served Your Way
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Iowa Nutty Bar at Arnolds Park = MY HAPPINESS
Happiness is such a broad term and can't be explained in 400 word blog by an 8th grader! or can it?
Lately in class, we have talked about the subject of happiness and the American dream. Now, I feel that happiness is such a broad word in this world. Us Americans use it a ton! Just look at Pharell's song called "Happy", he says the word 57 times in the song for crying out loud! So in order for me to describe a word that is over used in the world, I need to look at the world through multiple viewpoints. By multiple I do not mean all. That in itself is possible to do, but I would have to view the world through a ton of peoples eyes and describe what they find happiness in, so by the time that I would finish I would be dead. So I'm going to describe happiness through two types of people, people who make advertisements and the people who are affected by them.
Also in class, we made collages of a ton of advertisements from differing magazines. These magazines included beauty magazines, motorcycle magazines, and even MAD magazines. All of them included some sort of advertisement in them. But one common thing that was found in all of the magazines was something to do with happiness and the american dream. When your not looking for it you may not notice the fact that advertisements contain messages, however small they may be, that your brain makes connections to. This may be as small as putting smiling people in a deodorant commercial to having nudity in a motorcycle ad.
So what are the devils behind these ads thinking when they make them?
Well, the way ads work is that the company that wants to sell their product makes an ad and then buys a page in a magazine. The way this is supposed to work is that the ad creates revenue by raising awareness of the product, therefore covering the cost of the ad in the first place and giving the company money. So really, the ad makers goal is TO DO ANYTHING POSSIBLE TO MAKE YOU BUY YOUR PRODUCT. And you know what that includes? Selling you "happiness".
So at this point, you've probably recovered from a seizure at the fact that they can sell you happiness, and constantly do! I guarantee you that if you look at an ad on TV, in a magazine, or at the movies that they have something in the ad that relates to happiness. Now it does vary on the level at which they sell it, however. What I mean by this is that ads may contain the words "gives you happiness", or they might simply make a connection (that your brain picks up on) of the fact that an Advil commercial may make you smile. Its that simple, and it happens all the time! Me, you, and the entire world are attacked by these small but powerful connections, all the time! And they get away with it, all the time!
So now I'll describe the average persons reaction to ad's. I believe that we, the people, are so dramatic these days that ad makers don't even have to have the happiness part in it. All they have to do is be like, "Hey! You know that blemish you have on your face? Your ugly because of it, so here's our brand new product that makes you pretty!"
And that's not even taking into account the fact that they can sell you "happiness"! Our entire lives are dominated by other peoples view points, when at the end of the day, it's our own viewpoint that is going to make a difference. Our teacher also suggested I read this publication by Ralph Waldo Emerson. My teacher summed it up pretty nicely by saying that Emerson describes the world as you are you, and I am me, so at the end of the day the only thing that matters to us is our opinion and how we see the world.
Going back to the fact that the average person in the world only worries and cares about what other people think about them, the one thing that anyone who reads Emerson's literature should take away is the fact that we are individuals, and we are singular. In our own minds, we are the ruler, and no one can tell you otherwise. And if people are telling you you look horrible in some shirt, or are ugly because of a zit, put a twist on it. Because at the end of the day, you are your own person, and you and you alone can change the world around you. You just need to put a spin on it.
Boom. Mind. Blown.
So at this point, you've probably recovered from a seizure at the fact that they can sell you happiness, and constantly do! I guarantee you that if you look at an ad on TV, in a magazine, or at the movies that they have something in the ad that relates to happiness. Now it does vary on the level at which they sell it, however. What I mean by this is that ads may contain the words "gives you happiness", or they might simply make a connection (that your brain picks up on) of the fact that an Advil commercial may make you smile. Its that simple, and it happens all the time! Me, you, and the entire world are attacked by these small but powerful connections, all the time! And they get away with it, all the time!
So now I'll describe the average persons reaction to ad's. I believe that we, the people, are so dramatic these days that ad makers don't even have to have the happiness part in it. All they have to do is be like, "Hey! You know that blemish you have on your face? Your ugly because of it, so here's our brand new product that makes you pretty!"
And that's not even taking into account the fact that they can sell you "happiness"! Our entire lives are dominated by other peoples view points, when at the end of the day, it's our own viewpoint that is going to make a difference. Our teacher also suggested I read this publication by Ralph Waldo Emerson. My teacher summed it up pretty nicely by saying that Emerson describes the world as you are you, and I am me, so at the end of the day the only thing that matters to us is our opinion and how we see the world.
Going back to the fact that the average person in the world only worries and cares about what other people think about them, the one thing that anyone who reads Emerson's literature should take away is the fact that we are individuals, and we are singular. In our own minds, we are the ruler, and no one can tell you otherwise. And if people are telling you you look horrible in some shirt, or are ugly because of a zit, put a twist on it. Because at the end of the day, you are your own person, and you and you alone can change the world around you. You just need to put a spin on it.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
The Stranger (Creative Writing)
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM "THE STRANGER" AND A TON OF OTHER THINGS!
Many people may see me as an athlete, on the account that I swim 10-12 hours a week. But really, I'm a nerd, learn to deal with it. Considering I'm me, I think you can do it since your you. So when my English teacher walks into the room and asks us to compare the character we've been reading about to ANYONE IMAGINABLE, my interest perked up. I mean, my brain is described through this picture. (And yes, I made it myself)
https://docs.google.com/a/bhmschools.org/drawings/d/1uJTu5JoYq1OKpFJ9HpAFqSpkpfuYxoIgN8ON0OxlHGU/edit
Marvel and DC references activate! Mearsault is the main character of the book, "The Stranger", is described by me as a heartless, cruel, and apathetic man who can't express emotion to save his life, literally! He dies at the end of the book through execution, which wouldn't have happened if he had shown emotion to two things, his mothers death, and to religion/god. Since this book is pretty old, its been debated numerous times that he is a Nihilist. I've seen some pretty heated debates in my class about whether or not he is one, but my opinion stands as is. I believe that Mearsault isn't a Nihilist, but is some of both. He doesn't seem to believe in religion at all, but instead seems like he would be okay if religion turned out to be real. But getting to the point, I can pull as many Marvel and DC references out of gigantic brain. So sit back and hold tight as I pull out a ton of random villains from the comic book, gaming, and book universe.
Many people may see me as an athlete, on the account that I swim 10-12 hours a week. But really, I'm a nerd, learn to deal with it. Considering I'm me, I think you can do it since your you. So when my English teacher walks into the room and asks us to compare the character we've been reading about to ANYONE IMAGINABLE, my interest perked up. I mean, my brain is described through this picture. (And yes, I made it myself)
https://docs.google.com/a/bhmschools.org/drawings/d/1uJTu5JoYq1OKpFJ9HpAFqSpkpfuYxoIgN8ON0OxlHGU/edit
Marvel and DC references activate! Mearsault is the main character of the book, "The Stranger", is described by me as a heartless, cruel, and apathetic man who can't express emotion to save his life, literally! He dies at the end of the book through execution, which wouldn't have happened if he had shown emotion to two things, his mothers death, and to religion/god. Since this book is pretty old, its been debated numerous times that he is a Nihilist. I've seen some pretty heated debates in my class about whether or not he is one, but my opinion stands as is. I believe that Mearsault isn't a Nihilist, but is some of both. He doesn't seem to believe in religion at all, but instead seems like he would be okay if religion turned out to be real. But getting to the point, I can pull as many Marvel and DC references out of gigantic brain. So sit back and hold tight as I pull out a ton of random villains from the comic book, gaming, and book universe.
Bane
With this reference, I'm going to prove/almost prove why Bane is like Mearsault in how he sees the world. In "The Dark Knight Rises", the final parts of the movie are coming into play. All the police have escaped form the sewers and are now running at the huge gang of Bane's evil groupies. Batman is heading to fight Bane. Chief Gordon is trying to move the bomb back to the machine in order to save the city from mass destruction. But the thing I noticed was that as things boiled down, Bane seemed to be in the city 15 minutes from the mass explosion of Gotham. This means that any means of escape or movement on Banes part would be to slow or futile, or he would have been able to get out of the city, only to be shot down by the army. And since Bane is pretty smart, I believe that this shows/proves that Bane is either crazy or does not believe in the afterlife. This is because Bane is shown as very smart, so he either has to be crazy enough to kill a ton of people and be sent to hell, or he doesn't believe in the afterlife.
So I'm going to quote Alfred on this one because he sums it up pretty well.
"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." ~ Alfred Pennyworth
Ronan the Accuser
I actually just saw this movie in the past couple of days, and I absolutely loved guardians of the galaxy and the many references from the 80's. Now Ronan is an interesting character because of his sudden appearance out of no where in the marvel universe. But one thing is for certain, he wants to see everything burn! Not only does he risk his own life before thinking about touching the infinity stone, but he doesn't care about destroying an entire planet with it! Comparing him to Mearsault, he never shows any emotion other then giddy happiness over the destruction of his enemies, and confusion at what the heck a dance battle is. But the thing that I take out of this is, he really needs a hobby. Like Mearsault, the only thing he does is work until something new pops up in his life that actually interests him.
Wilhelm Strasse
Wilhelm is the villain in the video game "Wolfenstein The New Order." His main focus in the entire game is to defeat anyone who gets in his way, or by his way, his empires way. He has taken over the world and no one has been able to stop him, so really his only focus up to the rebellion is that he needs to leave the world having expanded his empire to an immense size. This is like Mearsault because of his "living in the now." Even with Mearsault knowing that his execution is taking place in a few days, he still only cares about what he talks about or does in prison up until the last second.
Taking into account all of the villains I have mentioned, I'm sure that I could state at least another ten, but right now it 9:42 on a Saturday and I kinda want my Sunday to be homework free, so goodnight, I'm closing the book on this one!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Reading Autobiography Assignment Follow-up-blog
*Authors Note: Considering the fact that I grew up reading imaginary fantasy picture books with very little words that were probably created by some man in Kansas wanting to "get rich quick" by creating a book that took him 2 hours to write, cut and glue together... I think I turned out pretty darn good.
I haven't always loved reading. Like any other American child who grew up in a public school, I started reading in kindergarten prior to learning the alphabet in preschool. You may ask yourself, "how do I know he's telling the truth about that?" Well, it's because I'm actually able to write and type this, so you analytical people out there, go away, your kind is not welcome in this dimension!
With this project, we we're able to actually look back and laugh (or cry) at the person that was us
8-10 years ago. This was kinda cool because in retrospect, I now know that all the crap about how if your child reads non-fiction from a young age, they'll be smarter. The reasons I know this is that I am in an advanced class for Science, Math, English, and History with a ton of other people just as smart as me. So if any adult is reading this that did have there child read non-fiction and listen to classical music at a young age, good for you. I'm just saying that the facts aren't a hundred percent on this one.
Now, when I looked back to my days of picking my nose and still needing stuffed animals, I kind of realized where the heck all of my creativity came from. I used to read books about things that if they existed, would go about destroying the very fabric of reality! OK, maybe there not that bad, but I still read about food with legs that walked, underwear wearing principals, and a giant man saying "Your a blizzard, Harry!" Or was he a wizard...? Never mind, the point is that it kind of hit me in the face when I thought about this that depending on what ever I read back in kindergarten and grade school has seriously changed who I am and the way I act/think to this day!
So I may have read those stories at a younger age, but they still helped to set the foundations for my ever growing brain! So the next time you are going through the infinite amount of boxes in your basement, look through them and look back at what helped you to become you!
I haven't always loved reading. Like any other American child who grew up in a public school, I started reading in kindergarten prior to learning the alphabet in preschool. You may ask yourself, "how do I know he's telling the truth about that?" Well, it's because I'm actually able to write and type this, so you analytical people out there, go away, your kind is not welcome in this dimension!
With this project, we we're able to actually look back and laugh (or cry) at the person that was us
8-10 years ago. This was kinda cool because in retrospect, I now know that all the crap about how if your child reads non-fiction from a young age, they'll be smarter. The reasons I know this is that I am in an advanced class for Science, Math, English, and History with a ton of other people just as smart as me. So if any adult is reading this that did have there child read non-fiction and listen to classical music at a young age, good for you. I'm just saying that the facts aren't a hundred percent on this one.
Now, when I looked back to my days of picking my nose and still needing stuffed animals, I kind of realized where the heck all of my creativity came from. I used to read books about things that if they existed, would go about destroying the very fabric of reality! OK, maybe there not that bad, but I still read about food with legs that walked, underwear wearing principals, and a giant man saying "Your a blizzard, Harry!" Or was he a wizard...? Never mind, the point is that it kind of hit me in the face when I thought about this that depending on what ever I read back in kindergarten and grade school has seriously changed who I am and the way I act/think to this day!
So I may have read those stories at a younger age, but they still helped to set the foundations for my ever growing brain! So the next time you are going through the infinite amount of boxes in your basement, look through them and look back at what helped you to become you!
My ever growing brain :P - Carter
Cite: http://www.blogcdn.com/blog.moviefone.com/media/2011/07/meg007.jpg
Friday, September 5, 2014
The Truth About the Truth
So in class, we started talking about the truth. I may have walked in that period thinking that the truth is as it says, "the truth", but I definitely left feeling confused. Up till that point, the only thing I really had to think about was what I was having for lunch. But then we started discussing the huge open ended question,"what is truth?" At first I just thought the truth was the opposite of a lie, but then we started getting in depth, and that got my head spinning. Pretty soon the bell rang and we were up and out of the class. Now were supposed to just write about the truth. So, what is the truth? I feel that the truth is a much broader subject then just one answer, so I'll answer it by saying what I think the truth is.
To me, the truth is whatever you want it to be. It can be the utter dread in your stomach as you realize that you are doomed to be a sanitation engineer. Or maybe its your belief in God. But the truth is that there is no one truth when it comes to anything. With all of the world having separate viewpoints, you can't just simple say "this is the truth, deal with it." And thats what makes the truth important, the fact that you can think anything you want about any subject you want. So at the end of the day, the truth is everything... other then lies, but thats story for another day.
To me, the truth is whatever you want it to be. It can be the utter dread in your stomach as you realize that you are doomed to be a sanitation engineer. Or maybe its your belief in God. But the truth is that there is no one truth when it comes to anything. With all of the world having separate viewpoints, you can't just simple say "this is the truth, deal with it." And thats what makes the truth important, the fact that you can think anything you want about any subject you want. So at the end of the day, the truth is everything... other then lies, but thats story for another day.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
The Maze Runner 2/2
Warning! This Summary Contains Huge Spoilers! Don't Read If You Don't Want to Ruin the Book! -Carter
Through and Through, I absolutely loved the first book of the series. From my friends, I know that there is three more following "The Maze Runner." I was very contempt with the ending of it, but I guess my gut told me to start reading the preview in the back of the book for book two. Wow, great job gut, you just made it so I'm stuck on the second book as well as a few other series. From reading the small preview, it left me feeling like I had just started the first book all over again, seeing how it tore me out of the maze and into the real world which is plagued by a disease called the flare. And just when I had been getting used to the gladers language! Now, there's just a bunch of new klunk that I have to learn. Seeing as I didn't stop at the ending of book one, I think I would have been just fine without reading the other books if I hadn't read that little beginning chapter. I mean, at the end of book one, it left all of the gladers who survived the greiver attack in a hospital sort of thing, safe from the maze and its many terrors. All and all, I absolutely loved the ending, and am looking forward to finding a copy of the second book and seeing what I just got into.
Putting my trauma cap on, I look at the glade as a place where every character finds an odd form of mortal terror and comfort. Looking at all of the gladers experiences, it seems to me that if I was a glader, I would feel safe in the homestead. Until right about the time where the walls stop closing, the greivers roam freely, and no new supplies are sent to the gladers. At that point, if I were a glader, I would have klunked my pants or worse. With plenty of trauma before that moment, I'm very happy that the author made it so the main characters all were at varying levels of stress. Newt, for instance, was always on the brink of post traumatic stress seeing that the guy was still recovering from his leg injury in the maze that almost cost himself his life. But when needed, Newt stepped up in the story to make sure that the glade didn't go into complete chaos. I guess I'll remember Newt as the kid who points out the complete obvious things that go on through the glade.
"The Walls you Shuck! The doors! They Aren't closing!" -Newt
I guess I can see the dystopia being a utopia for the scientists at WICKED. But if you look at it, the only thing they have that the gladers don't is relative safety. Even they aren't completely safe, seeing as they are living in a world with crazy, insane people who want to die because the disease literally is that bad. Also, some the scientists seem a little bit on the insane side, either that, or they're completely brilliant. I mean, seriously, putting kids into a death trap to try and save humanity is all they come up with? Really? Although, I seriously wouldn't want to be them when the gladers come down, especially since Minho is a hothead who will blow a socket and rage like no one ever did.
"Thomas took a step backward, seeing the others doing the same. A deathly silence sucked the life out of the room as every last glader stared at row of windows, at the row of observers. One of them looked down to scribble something onto his clipboard." - Thomas's thoughts.
The greatest thing about the series was that I actually felt a connection to all of the main/side characters, even Frypan, the cook who is only mentioned, like, twice! That was a great thing, until I was just about finished with the book, low and behold, Thomas, Chuck, and the other gladers come out of the maze only to find the creators have one last variable waiting. The death of Thomas! BUT NO! Chuck just has to sacrifice himself for Thomas. He may be the man character, but I really don't care what happens to Thomas since Chuck is the most lovable, coolest side character that I have ever possibly read about. Salute to Chuck, my favorite character in the entire series. ;(
"With unexpected speed, he threw the knife at Thomas... Then inexplicably, Chuck was there, diving in front of him..." (More sappy death scene stuff here, because if I were to list the entire quote, it would take up a ton of room.) "Thomas Stared at his dead friend. Chuck, the symbol that had driven him to get out of the dreaded maze. The one person Thomas had felt a love like no other for. Thomas's body entire body shuddered. And then something changed inside him. Thomas snapped, he completely snapped. Throwing himself at Gally, he slammed the boy with his fists where ever he could. He din't stop, letting out all of the pent up anger, stress, and panic from his entire experience in the maze. He kept going until Newt and Minho tore him from the limp body of Gally."
At least Gally got what was coming to him. :)
Through and Through, I absolutely loved the first book of the series. From my friends, I know that there is three more following "The Maze Runner." I was very contempt with the ending of it, but I guess my gut told me to start reading the preview in the back of the book for book two. Wow, great job gut, you just made it so I'm stuck on the second book as well as a few other series. From reading the small preview, it left me feeling like I had just started the first book all over again, seeing how it tore me out of the maze and into the real world which is plagued by a disease called the flare. And just when I had been getting used to the gladers language! Now, there's just a bunch of new klunk that I have to learn. Seeing as I didn't stop at the ending of book one, I think I would have been just fine without reading the other books if I hadn't read that little beginning chapter. I mean, at the end of book one, it left all of the gladers who survived the greiver attack in a hospital sort of thing, safe from the maze and its many terrors. All and all, I absolutely loved the ending, and am looking forward to finding a copy of the second book and seeing what I just got into.
Putting my trauma cap on, I look at the glade as a place where every character finds an odd form of mortal terror and comfort. Looking at all of the gladers experiences, it seems to me that if I was a glader, I would feel safe in the homestead. Until right about the time where the walls stop closing, the greivers roam freely, and no new supplies are sent to the gladers. At that point, if I were a glader, I would have klunked my pants or worse. With plenty of trauma before that moment, I'm very happy that the author made it so the main characters all were at varying levels of stress. Newt, for instance, was always on the brink of post traumatic stress seeing that the guy was still recovering from his leg injury in the maze that almost cost himself his life. But when needed, Newt stepped up in the story to make sure that the glade didn't go into complete chaos. I guess I'll remember Newt as the kid who points out the complete obvious things that go on through the glade.
"The Walls you Shuck! The doors! They Aren't closing!" -Newt
I guess I can see the dystopia being a utopia for the scientists at WICKED. But if you look at it, the only thing they have that the gladers don't is relative safety. Even they aren't completely safe, seeing as they are living in a world with crazy, insane people who want to die because the disease literally is that bad. Also, some the scientists seem a little bit on the insane side, either that, or they're completely brilliant. I mean, seriously, putting kids into a death trap to try and save humanity is all they come up with? Really? Although, I seriously wouldn't want to be them when the gladers come down, especially since Minho is a hothead who will blow a socket and rage like no one ever did.
"Thomas took a step backward, seeing the others doing the same. A deathly silence sucked the life out of the room as every last glader stared at row of windows, at the row of observers. One of them looked down to scribble something onto his clipboard." - Thomas's thoughts.
The greatest thing about the series was that I actually felt a connection to all of the main/side characters, even Frypan, the cook who is only mentioned, like, twice! That was a great thing, until I was just about finished with the book, low and behold, Thomas, Chuck, and the other gladers come out of the maze only to find the creators have one last variable waiting. The death of Thomas! BUT NO! Chuck just has to sacrifice himself for Thomas. He may be the man character, but I really don't care what happens to Thomas since Chuck is the most lovable, coolest side character that I have ever possibly read about. Salute to Chuck, my favorite character in the entire series. ;(
"With unexpected speed, he threw the knife at Thomas... Then inexplicably, Chuck was there, diving in front of him..." (More sappy death scene stuff here, because if I were to list the entire quote, it would take up a ton of room.) "Thomas Stared at his dead friend. Chuck, the symbol that had driven him to get out of the dreaded maze. The one person Thomas had felt a love like no other for. Thomas's body entire body shuddered. And then something changed inside him. Thomas snapped, he completely snapped. Throwing himself at Gally, he slammed the boy with his fists where ever he could. He din't stop, letting out all of the pent up anger, stress, and panic from his entire experience in the maze. He kept going until Newt and Minho tore him from the limp body of Gally."
At least Gally got what was coming to him. :)
Monday, April 7, 2014
The Maze Runner 1/2
As I started to read the book, I loved how Thomas was frustrated with the ENTIRE topic of the maze and how no one would explain it. But when he finally would get someone to explain something to him, it would cause even more questions to bubble up that would cause even more questions. About 80-90 pages into the book, I feel like he finally started to realize that the maze was his new home, and that he needed to just get used to the gladers, grievers, and routine around the Glade. Excerpt : "The second hour was actually spent working with the farm animals-- feeding, cleaning, fixing a fence, scraping up klunk. Klunk. Thomas found himself using the Glader terms more and more."
Then, when Teresa comes in through the box, all of the boys are gathered around, waiting for someone to make a move. Then Teresa sits up, bright as day, and then spouts some random nonsense that says that everything is going to change. The note in her hand says that she's the last one ever, and that no one else will be sent to the Glade. Everyone stares in silence at the girl, and then some kid in the crowd says, "Who said Clint had first shot at her?" as if they were calling dibs on a girl right after she has practically sentenced you to death. Is it just me, or do some of the gladers seem kind of complacent with knowing they have been sentenced into a maze that evil creatures come out of and that the only thing protecting them is a wall. If I were one of them, I'd be prepared to do whatever it takes to get the heck out of the thing that keeps you safe but not safe at the same time. Too me, when I use the feminist/gender theory on this part of the book, I see how really only one gender is represented here. If you look close enough, you see that the only girl in the glade is represented as some sort of traumatic moment to further develop Thomas's, Newt's, and Alby's relationship as well as the rest of the gladers.
One of the things that really helps me to define Thomas personality and character is when he's seen the greivers, a creepy, green, metallic monster that will prick you with a needle that will kill you in mere hours if you don't get a serum. And the serum, the thing that saves you but makes you go looney, have spasms, and feel pain like no one has ever felt. Seriously, Thomas is either an idiot who knows no fear, or he has no fear and is one of the most fearless men I have ever read about. If I were Thomas, I would run straight to the slammer and lock myself in there, knowing good and well I would die of starvation, loss of sanity, or dehydration. But seriously, which way would you rather go? Get stabbed with really pointy needles and then have a chance of living by ways of a painful serum, or would you rather die peacefully but hungry, thirsty, or insane?
Then, when Teresa comes in through the box, all of the boys are gathered around, waiting for someone to make a move. Then Teresa sits up, bright as day, and then spouts some random nonsense that says that everything is going to change. The note in her hand says that she's the last one ever, and that no one else will be sent to the Glade. Everyone stares in silence at the girl, and then some kid in the crowd says, "Who said Clint had first shot at her?" as if they were calling dibs on a girl right after she has practically sentenced you to death. Is it just me, or do some of the gladers seem kind of complacent with knowing they have been sentenced into a maze that evil creatures come out of and that the only thing protecting them is a wall. If I were one of them, I'd be prepared to do whatever it takes to get the heck out of the thing that keeps you safe but not safe at the same time. Too me, when I use the feminist/gender theory on this part of the book, I see how really only one gender is represented here. If you look close enough, you see that the only girl in the glade is represented as some sort of traumatic moment to further develop Thomas's, Newt's, and Alby's relationship as well as the rest of the gladers.
One of the things that really helps me to define Thomas personality and character is when he's seen the greivers, a creepy, green, metallic monster that will prick you with a needle that will kill you in mere hours if you don't get a serum. And the serum, the thing that saves you but makes you go looney, have spasms, and feel pain like no one has ever felt. Seriously, Thomas is either an idiot who knows no fear, or he has no fear and is one of the most fearless men I have ever read about. If I were Thomas, I would run straight to the slammer and lock myself in there, knowing good and well I would die of starvation, loss of sanity, or dehydration. But seriously, which way would you rather go? Get stabbed with really pointy needles and then have a chance of living by ways of a painful serum, or would you rather die peacefully but hungry, thirsty, or insane?
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Animal Farm Connections and Questions
When finishing Animal Farm, I came to know a couple solid connections and a few questions that I feel you should know and that I should know. First off, how in the world did no animal at all express their feelings and thoughts to the others? I mean, seriously, the book hinted at at least three of the characters raising suspicion to the pigs and their tyranny. Throughout the book, they gradually broke all seven commandments and replaced the summarized version with something that only benefitted themselves. I can see, however, that no animal could read to well except for Clover and Benjamin, and even they seemed frightened at speaking against the pigs. To my surprise, Napoleon played their cards just right. Blaming problems on Snowball, making the litter of nine pups his slaves, and quelling every complaint by making Boxer who was one of the role models for everyone think that Napoleon was right all were very well ahead planned moves. It seems that the book ended a little to fast for me. Containing some irony in it as well, I enjoyed seeing that the image of human and pig kind of blended together and that it kind of hinted that the animals were ashamed that they had been led astray. I felt that the saddest part in the book is when everyone forgot about Boxer excluding Benjamin and Clover who had known him well. But the sad part is when it described that Benjamin, the goat who hadn't changed ever, became even more depressed due to Boxers really bloody death. Even for Napoleon, isn't sending someone to be made into glue a little on the harsh side? One major question I would like to have answered would be why the author chose pigs as the people who treated others like they were inferior. They are dirty and maniacal, but was there another motive for the choice? When blaming Snowball for everything, I found it interesting that although Napoleon had been the one to drive him out, he still used Snowball to his advantage. After all, he did use him to terrorize the other animals into fear and hatred for any one who opposed animal farm. Using Snowball to his advantage, anything that Napoleon messed up convinced the animals that it had been in fact Snowball who had done it out of hatred for the farm. Running the operation very well, I found it interesting at how Napoleon had manipulated the other animals into doing his dirty work. Using Majors principals and beliefs, he made the animals think that they were working for themselves and only themselves when in reality it was they who had been tricked. When reading the book, I had a sneaking suspicion at the beginning that all was't going to be happy rainbows and unicorns all over the place as an ending. When finished, I looked back and realized I had completely called the ending when the pigs had taken the milk for themselves and had tricked the animals into believing a false piece of information.
Monday, March 17, 2014
A Pail Of Air
In the future, Earth is doomed. We as a class have seen all of the science videos Mrs. Atkins has showed us, and we can all sum them up to be pretty much stating "The Earth is going to die at so and so time by so and so object." For instance, when we talked about stars we found out that the sun is going to turn into a supergiant and engulf the Earth in flames and death. Or when we talked about how the moon is going to spin out of Earths orbit at some point and set the Earth to be a wobbling off course ball. With all of these dystopian books, the reason they are popular is because people of our age won't live to see the apocalypse, so they at least have to read about.
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