Liturature Analysis #2

Literature Analysis Questions
GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
3. Describe the author's tone.
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone.CHARACTERIZATION                                                                                       1.Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? 
2. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
3. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? 

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

General

1. John Grady and his friend Rawlins decide to lead the life of cowboys, so they head down to Mexico. On their journey they run into a boy named Belivns. Belvins gets seperated from the group and is mugged. His horse and gun taken from him. The two boys try to help their new friend but they end up getting seperated from him once more. They then find work as cowboys at a nearby ranch. John Grady proves himself to be a great cowboy with a great understanding of horses. He soon becomes disracted by the ranchers daughter, Alejandra, whom he begins an affair with. John Grady is warned by Alejandra's great aunt that becoming involved with her is a bad idea, but he doesn't listen. When Alejandra's father finds out about the affiar, he turns John Grady and Rawlins over to the local police. They are charged as being in cohorts with Belvins who is being held in prison for murder. Belvins is executed and Rawlins gives a false confession. John Grady and Rawlins have assasins sent after them, but they both survive the attacks. Alejandra bribed the prison guard to set them free and he did. John Grady goes back to her and begs her to come with him back to Texas, but she refuses. She says she can't leave her family. He returns back to Texas but he is emotionally scarred without his love and his best friend who is no longer his friend.

2. The theme of this novel is similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. About two starrcrossed lovers who will never really be together. The difference in All the Pretty Horses is that neither of them die, they are just forced to be seperated, never to see eachother again.

3. The authors tone is that of an average narrator. He seems indifferent to what is going on in the story.

4.

Ambiguity- never sure of what was going to happen next with their criminal life.

Assumption- John Grady assumed that life would be easy as a cowboy... he was wrong.

Climax- When Rawlins and John Grady are attacked by the assasins, then relesased from prison.

Conflict- John  Grady battles his issues with his friend and with his love for Alejandra.

Dogmatic- Alejandra refuses to leave her family for John Grady.

Falling Action- John Grady gets back his horses and returns to Texas.

Omnicient Point of View- Narrator is all knowing.

Pacing- Story moves along quick.

Pathos- The author caters to the readers feeling by including a love story.

Purpose- to show the readers that trying to be an adult as a teenager is difficult.

Characterization

1. No, the tone and diction all stay the same as the story goes on. The tone of the novel also helps to depict that each character is discribed in the same way.

2.  The protagonist, John Grady, is a static, flat character. His views on life don't really seem to change by the end of the story. He doesn't seem to learn anything from his adventures in Mexico.

3. I felt like I had met a person. When I read a story, I usually feel like I have met a person, especially when the author does a great job at writing the story. Cormac McCarthy is a favorite author of mine, I always enjoy reading his books. I feel like I know John Grady, but I don't feel like I fully understand him.

Tools That Change The Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)


My thoughts...

I read a book once that had to do with Utopias and the government controlling everything about it's people. From their clothes, to their schooling, to their personalities and how they looked. The people had these rings that were basically the Internet and a personal advisor all rolled into one. When I read, I thought that they were cool in a fiction sense, but to have stuff like that in real life would just be crazy. It would make our race even more lazy than we are now. We would become completely reliant on technology. Is that what we want for the future? I sure don't..

Notes on Hamlet

Since the beginning of Hamlet, I have now learned to appreciate Shakespearean English in a way that I have never thought about before. I see it now as a beautifully complicated language that more people should become fluent in.
My opinion on basically everything that is Hamelt related has stayed the same. I didnt have much of an opinion to begin with and I still dont really have one now.

Who Was Shakespeare?

Shakespeare was a quiet man. If he had not written any great works, then he would have flown through life unnoticed and untouched. But he did write some great pieces like Hamlet and Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. He was married at the age of 18 and had 3 children. We are left to wonder about what Shakespeare was doing in life from 1585-1592 which are referred to as his "lost years."
When students hear "Shakespeare" they think about great peices of writing, but they also think about the difficult to understand English and all the projects that come along with reading his plays in class.
Now that I have read a few of Shakespeare's plays and we have throughly discussed them in class, I can now read a scene and acctually understand what is going on without having someone tell me.
What still causes me to struggle is his humor. I dont get when he is trying to be funny and when he is being serious.

To Facebook or not to Facbook

Intially, I thought Facebook was the coolest thing ever invented. I loved the fact that I could keep up with things that are going on in my old friends lives who I dont talk to anymore. But then I found myself on Facebook all the time and I realized that it really is pointless and a huge distration that I didnt need in my life. So I deactivated my account. After a few months, I reactivated it and now I have learned to manage the amount of time I spend on Facebook.
A benefit of Facebook is the social aspect of it, but that is also a huge risk. You always run the risk of posting something that you don't want a certain person to see and if they see it, then you could have some major problems. Another risk is the fact that alot of personal information is just sitting there on your page just waiting to be looked at by someone who you dont want looking.
By reading this article, I realized that there are alot more security precautions I could take on Facebook to help to keep my personal information safe.

Remix! Vocab #9

 

I apologize for what seems to be my lack in enthusiasm.. I am camera shy. But I decided to come out of my shell for this weeks vocab remix. I hope that it is helpful to anyone who had prononciation issues or wasn't sure of a definition. If there are any questions, feel free to comment :)

Remix!

Hamlet- Act III Scene i

Vocab Mid-term Autopsy

On my vocabulary midterm I received a 70. I am satisfied with this score. But I know I could have done better and possibly gotten a 100%. I studied for the midterm but not as hard as I could have. If I were to have looked over the words a week in advance rather than just two days then I would have had the words totally memorized and then I would probably still have them in my memory for the final. For the final I will look at the words a week or two in advance and I will probably try a different study strategy then just simple flash cards.

Vocabulary #8

Abeyance-(N.) A state of temporary disuse or suspension.

Ambivalent- (Adj.) Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

Beleaguer- (V.) Beset with difficulties

Carte blanche- (N.) Complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best.

Cataclysm- (N.) A sudden violent upheaval, esp. in a political or social context

Debauch- (V.) Destroy or debase the moral purity of; corrupt.
(N.) A bout of excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures, esp. eating and drinking

éclat- (N.) brilliant or conspicuous success

Fastidious- (Adj.) Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail

Gambol- (V.) Run or jump about playfully

Imbue- (V.) Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality: "imbued with deep piety".

Inchoate- (Adj.) Just begun and so not fully formed or developed

Lampoon- (V.) Publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule or sarcasm.
(N.) A speech or text criticizing someone or something in this way

Malleable- (Adj.) Easily influenced; pliable

Nemesis- (N.) The inescapable or implacable agent of someone's or something's downfall

Opt- (V.) Make a choice from a range of
possibilities

Philistine- (N.) A person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them

Picaresque- (Adj.) Of or relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero

Queasy- (Adj.) Nauseated; feeling sick

Refractory- (Adj.) Stubborn or unmanageable

Savoir-faire- (N.) The ability to act or speak appropriately in social situations.

Midterm Studying Stratagies

I plan on making flashcards for each of the words and then reviewing the flashcards over and over, removing the ones I have memorized as I go, until I have them all memorized. This strategy has always worked for me in the past. It's easy and fast. It will probably take me an hour to memorize all the words. The only problem with this strategy is that it doesn't help me in the long run. Once I take the test, all that hard work goes down the drain and I can only remember about half the words I had previously memorized.