Friday, March 18, 2011

Memory

Ill never forget the time I almost drowned at the dells. It was very scary and at that time I had no idea how to react to the situation. It is not a good memory but it is one I will probably never forget.

My friend Taylor and I had never been to the dells and didn’t know what to expect. When we go t there we were stunned. We were staying for only two days. On the first day we had a great time. The second was good until we went on the lazy river. Neither of us knew how to swim and we were both unable to stand with our heads above water. Un aware of what was going to happen we set out. We grabbed a double tube. The first lap around was kind of boring so we started to tip the tube a little bit tot entertain ourselves. The tube flipped. I tried to take a breathe but I found myself with a mouthful of water. I panicked. We were trying to use each other to get above water. At that time I was smaller than my friend so I was unable to reach the surface. We even drifted right past a life guard. Then my mom came. She got each of us out of the water. I was still panicked though. After that I didn’t want to go anywhere near the water.

That is one memory that I will never forget. It didn’t effect me very much, I was never afraid of the water even after that happened. It is not a good memory but it is one I will never forget.

Class story

" Faster, faster, faster." " Its closing in, quick." John dove out into the open air just in time. He turned back just in time to see his partner crushed between the two walls. He was on his own. Fred struggled to his feet than ran trying to spare his own life. Moments later he was picked up off the ground. He felt as though he was being carried by a giant bird. The world was spinning, suddenly everything went black. John assumed he was dead and in a way he wished he was dead, he had nothing more to lose. He woke up feeling week and drowsy. He sat up and tried take in his surroundings. He didn’t recognize anything. It was scorching, he looked around to see lava leaping up the sides of the decrepit looking walls. He turned around and now once again wished he was dead. In front of him was something worse than he could ever imagine. It was as if a nightmare had came to life. It had the same build as a dragon it but was much, much worse. There was nothing but bones with a small layer of transparent skin. It was horrifying. He wanted all this to end. He tried to find a way out but there was none. He jumped, just trying to put himself out of his misery. The creature got to him before he fell to his death. He was crushed instantly by the jaws of the animal. That was the end of Fred nobody knew he was gone and if they did they wouldn’t be able to find him.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Daylight savings

Daylight savings is when you change your clock either an hour earlier or an hour before. In the fall it gives you an extra hour of sleep but in the spring it takes away an hour of sleep. This last weekend it has taken away an hour of sleep. I've felt tired all week and Have never been willing to get out of bed. Over all I dislike daylight savings. I think that we should just never change our clocks like most other countries do. Daylight savings isnt needed.

Friday, March 11, 2011

The lottery literary analysis

How would you react if you won the lottery? In the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson winning the lottery means losing your life. Every one in the village has to pick a slip of paper out of the box. There is one slip that has a black dot on it. Then the family of the person who picked the black dot slip takes another slip. Whoever gets it on the second draw gets stones hurled at he or she until they are no longer living. This book has an irony mode of literature for many reasons.

The prize of winning the lottery is death, that is ironic. When most people think of a lottery they think of the winner getting a large some of money or something else that would have a positive impact on their life. It is ironic how in the short story winning the lottery is what you would least want to happen to you. The fact that the story itself is ironic is one of the main reasons that this story is an irony.

Along with being ironic this short story also has the characteristics needed to be classified as an irony mode of literature. Irony's are very unrealistic. Losing your life as a prize for winning the lottery fortunately isn't realistic. Another characteristic is that the main character can do no right. The main character knew her husband had picked the slip with the black dot, she demanded a redraw and she herself ended up getting the slip with the black dot. Another characteristic is that the main character is stupid and weak. She demanded a redraw which in a way was stupid and she didn’t even bother trying to defend herself as her whole village including her family hurled stones at her. This short story's characteristics also match those of an irony.

Another thing that makes this story an irony besides the characteristics is the plotline. An irony plotline starts with the world in chaos. For the village in the short story having the lottery means chaos. Next comes a major conflict. The major conflict is that the main character sees that her husband has the slip with the black dot which means that there is still a chance she will win. Last there is death or loss of sanity for the main character. The whole village including her own family threw stones at her until she died. This story's plotline matches the plotline of an irony.

As you can see The Lottery by Shirley Jackson definitely has an irony mode of literature. When you think of winning a lottery you would probably never think of the prize being death. This story contains everything it needs to have an irony mode of literature.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Short Story Literary Annaylisis

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to travel to the past? In the short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. A small group of people go on a hunting trip. This hunting trip isn't like most others though. They travel back in time and hunt dinosaurs. They need to be very careful because almost anything they do in the past can affect the future. In the end one man bails out at the sight of the dinosoar and goes back to the time machine. On the way back he felt like he lost control over himself he wondered off the path. He stepped on a butterfly. When he finally got back to the present thing weren't how they were when he left. He lifted his rifle and shot him for not following to instructions. My favorite thing about this story is how the author didn’t tell you exactly what happened but he gave you enough clues to figure it out. This book has an irony mode of literature for a number of different reasons.

One of the main reasons this book is an irony is the plotline. An irony begins with the world in chaos. In the story they are time traveling which is almost guaranteed to soon be illegal. Next comes a major conflict. One man wondered off the path and which could affect the future on a massive scale. Last there is death or loss of sanity for the main character. When they come back from the future they see a sign. It was spelled much differently than it had been when they left for the past. The guide lifted his rifle and shot the man who had wondered off the path. The plotline goes exactly how it needs to to be classified as an irony.

Along with the plotline this story also has the characteristics it needs to fit into the irony category. One of the main characteristics of an irony is non-realistic. In this story they travel back in time to hunt dinosaurs which is currently impossible. In an irony the main character is not in control. In the story it specifically said that he felt like he couldn’t control his movements anymore. Ironies are supposed to expose people’s fears. The man saw the dinosaur and completely lost his composure. He didn’t want to be there any more, he was afraid. The characteristics matched those of an irony.

There are many reasons that this book is an irony. It doesn’t relate to any of the other modes of literature. Comedy and tragedy have to be realistic, romance is happy and nothing can go wrong. I enjoyed reading this story because it got me wondering what it would be like to actually go back to the past. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how the world once looked? This story has an irony mode of literature for a number of different reasons.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Nightrise Essay

Nightrise Essay

“Then there was the screech of tires and a second car pulled out of nowhere, veering across the path of oncoming traffic. Jamie heard the blast of horns. The neon lights were blurring and the whole night seemed to be folding in on itself. He thought that the car was going to run him over and he wondered what would be the point of that. Drug him and then kill him? It wouldn’t make any sense. The car shuddered to a halt. One of its tires had mounted the sidewalk. The car was between him and the two men – just as the German Sheppard had been earlier. A door swung open and a voice called out to him. “Get in!”” (p40) That is a very small part of one of the many action packed scenes in the book “Nightrise” by Anthony Horowitz. This book is my favorite in the whole series because it is full of action and always keeps you thinking about what is going to happen next.

My favorite thing about this book is that you never know what is going to happen next. At one point the main character Jamie was shot well escaping from prison. He woke up in the past where there had been a terrible war. Luckily he was on the victorious side of the war, he and five other teenagers won by a trick. The next morning he was back in the mountains a short distance from the prison he had escaped. Another example is that in Jamie’s dreams he saw a man who kept telling him that he is going to kill him, not referring to Jamie. Later in the book Jamie stopped his brother from killing a candidate for a presidential election. I assumed that the “he” was the group of people had kidnapped Scott, Jamie’s brother. I also thought that Scott was the one that was going to get killed. Later in the book Jamie stopped Scott from assassinating a presidential election candidate. The people that had kidnapped Scott had tried to turn him against Jamie. The author always writes the last thing that you would expect to happen. That is always a good characteristic for a book to have. It keeps you reading trying to find out what is going to happen.

Along with the many surprising events was great vocabulary. When a book has good vocabulary it lets you visualize a scene better. It helps you better understand where the main character is and what is happening. “Two of the rotors were missing and the other two were buckled and broken. The tail had snapped in half and the cockpit was a mess of shattered glass and dangling wires.” (p162) That is how the author described the crashed helicopter they encountered in the desert. The author could have just said that there was a crashed helicopter which wouldn’t give you a good picture of the scene. Instead he used a variety of vocabulary words to let you in a way visualize the scene. I enjoy reading when the author does that good of a job describing a scene.

As you can see there are many things that make this an interesting book to read. This book is my favorite in the whole series because it is full of action and always keeps you thinking about what is going to happen next. I would recommend this book to almost any body.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Superbowl

XLV

This is one of the first superbowls the packers have made for about a decade. To me it looks like they have a good chance of winning. They have been doing good all seaso and are able to beat any team in the NFL if they lay their best. My two favorite players on the packers are BJ Raji and Clay Matthews. I would be very disapointed if they packers lost the superbowl. They are capable of beating anybody and they will beat the Steelers.