Ray Bradbury

Although Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451, in only 18 days total, he has prooven himself an incredible and influential author. Ray Bradbury shows his audience how dependent our culture is on technology. In his interviews he tells us that tv is a bad thing, and that is replacing books in our culture. I strongly disagree with this statement. The literary rate of people in the United States is very high, and because of our media authors are receiving more credit than ever. Newspapers, talk shows, and public television help new authors get their name out.

Ray Bradbury has very strong ideas about how much technology has negatively impacted our culture. Because of these strong ideas, Bradbury has created an influential piece of literature called Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury himself, said that he represents Clarice. They have in common a love of life and enjoyment of literature. Although Bradbury created this novel and received many awards for it, I see him as very hypocritical. During an interview Bradbury talks about how harmful television is for our culture... WHILE HIS TV IS ON. He did have enough respect for the interviewers, to kindly mute his program during his interview. He also has a website which he uses to share his strong ideas with the world. How is he not hypocritical??? I personally feel, that even though Bradbury is an excellent writer and has created many pieces of literature that have influenced our culture, he is a very hypocritical person.

Farenheit 451

Farenheit 451 is an entertaining story, with a powerful meaning. The moral of this novel, is that life isn't worth living unless your living it the way you want to. One character in this story perfectly represents living your life on your beliefs. Her name is Clarice.

Clarice inspires Montag with her joyfulness and love of life,to question his own happiness. He realizes that he doesn't even love his wife, and probably never did. He also realizes that if he continues his job of being a fireman, he will never be happy. He also begins to question the culture of the world he lives in. In a world where no one is allowed to have or even read books, the knowledge of the people is dependedent on what they learn from television. Clarice makes Montag question this. Another important theme shown throughout Farenheit 451, is the idea our culture is depending on technology too much. This is represented in the book mainly by Millie. She truly believes that the TVs in her parlor are her family!

The themes represented in this novel, are shown through the culture. Clarice changed Montag's life, even though she barely knew him. She made him think twice about his life, and was the most influential character in the story.

TKM through ch 14

In chapter 13, Harper Lee starts to make Calpurnia more of an influential character in the story. When Atticus is away from home because of his work with Tom Robinson's case, Calpurnia is left to take care of Jem and Scout. She takes them with her to her church. Because of Atticus' work with Tom Robinson, most people are very accepting of the children's presence. Harper Lee begins to show how racially seperated the town of Maycomb is in this chapter.

Besides Jem and Scout being tormented for Atticus' defense of Tom Robinson, they also struggle with their Aunt living with them. She is always rude to them and not accepting of their personalities. Especially with Scout, she is very judgemental. I think that because of her Aunt's harsh opinions of her Scout will try to change her image. She will try to be more of a "lady." Jem is also changing, but not because of his Aunt's cruel words. He is growing up and trying to spend more time away from Scout. When Dill sneaks into the Finch's house and returns for the summer, Scout will have her best friend back! I believe this will help her out greatly, and help her deal with the torments from the other children.

TKM: Part 1

In the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, we meet the main characters of the story: Jem, Atticus, and Scout. When I read this book, I had a positive reaction towards Scout. She does and says whatever she feels. I also admired her character for being so independent at such a young age. Although she is nervous to start school, she is the smartest one in her class. Scout shows how truly independent she is when she beats up Walter Cunningham after she gets in trouble because of him. Because of her strong will and self respect,she feels that she has to punish him, like she was punished. Scout is obviously very srong willed, and although we have only read through part 1, it is apparent that Atticus is as well. He demands respect and good behavior from his children, and they hate disappointing him. When Atticus sees Jem and Dill pretending to be Boo Radley, he is furious! He obviously has no tolerance for making fun of others. This is one way he shows his strong willed personality.

The way Harper Lee shows Jem and Scout's relationship, shows how well they get along. They do everything together. One specific example of this is when Scout goes with Jem to get his pants back when they get stuck in the Radley's fence. They are both incredibly nervous to go back to their house. Even though it was not Scout's idea to go to the Radley's at all and it was Jem's fault that his pants got stuck in the fence, Scout still goes with him. This shows how close they are. Towards the end of Part 1, Jem begins to change and he stops wanting to hang out with Scout at all. She becomes very lonely, but then learns to visit Calpurnia when she is feeling alone. I predict that over the course of time, Jem and Scout will still have a close relationship but they will start to hang out with kids their own age.

Wait... what he died?!

I did not like this book at all, until Finny died. It was really boring, at least I thought so. One of the interesting things about this book, was when I read the back cover, it seemed like Phineas and Gene were both main characters. When I read this book, I thought Gene was the main character, and he was the one who developed as a character. I really liked Leper as a character. He never showed confidence in himself, unless he was around all the boys. It was like he was putting on a show for everyone. One character in this story, that I really disliked was Brinker. He seemed to me like he was really insecure and he was always looking for attention. He was in so many clubs and when he just came into Phineas and Gene's room he expected that he was wanted there, even though he wasn't.

I think that throughout this book the boys all matured and learned a hard lesson about war. They learned that when your country is involved in the war it is unavoidable for you as a person. Everyone, except Phineas, is dragged into the war by force or by choice. One of the biggest influences on the characters is the setting of A Seperate Peace. At Devon, the boys are expecting to go into the war. They also are expected to take their stuidies seriously. At Devon, Phineas is treated better than the rest of the boys, but I dont think it was the teacher's fault. Phineas knew how to argue his way out of conflicts.

The main theme of this story is that while growing up, you face many battles but, getting through them only makes you stronger. Another theme I saw is that when someone in your life dies, it is important not to forget them. Gene struggles through both of these things. I think that he felt responsible for Phineas' death. When he says "I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral and you do not cry in that case."

The Novel/Play: The Crucible

First off, The Cruicible is really good! I actually really enjoyed reading this book, but I thought that it was a more difficult book to read. The characters were a little confuising which I felt made this book challenging. In some parts of the story a character wouldn't be in the scene, but then they would quickly appear and play an important role in that scene. To me the theme of this story was the best part of the play. That sounds really boring, I know, but the author of this play made his purpose for writing obvious. He wanted to show his readers how crazy everyone was about seeking out regular Americans and trying to proove them guilty of being Russian spys.

*The Crucible* wasn't about Russian spies in America, but about accusing ordinary people of things, that they had no business with. In the end it seemed to me like the wrong people were found guilty. Abigail, the one character I did think was truly guilty of lying to the cosurt, was never penalized for her dishonesty. Instead Proctor and Elizabeth were put in severly punished for doing nothing wrong! But in the end justice was served to Abigail because she never ended up being successful in her life. Mary Warren also was accused of something that she was innocent for. To me, it seemed like she was only trying to please other people so, she was always introuble. She never did what she thought was right. The most obvious example of this was when John Proctor asked her to tell Judge Hathorne that Abigail and the other girls were lying.

One of the characters in this play that showed a strong character development in the end, was Elizabeth. At first she was very bitter towards her husband about being unfaithful with Abigail. By the end of the story she realized how short life is, and she completely forgives him. One thing, that I felt Arthur Miller wanted the reader to learn from this play was that it is never the best decision to just follow the crowd. Abigail and the other girls could make the people of the court room believe that they were under witch's control just because everyone else was. This book had many good lessons, and I enjoyed reading it! =)

The Redish Colored "A"

I wasn't a huge fan of the Scarlet Letter, but it did have a good plot. One of the points in this book that really stood out to me was the cultural differences of that time period. Obviously the characters in the Scarlet Letter were very religious, but it's strange to think that for committing adultery you could be humiliated publicly as a punishment. I really did not like the ending of this book because no one really wins except Pearl. Hester and her husband's marriage is ruined, John Wilson dies after confessing to his sin, and Hester's husband never gets revenge on Preacher Wilson. It took a lot of thought for me to realize the theme of this book, but I think it is that when you do something wrong, it doesn't do anyone any good to hide it. In the end you usually get caught, and in the end of this book, even though he doesn't get caught, Wilson doesn't get anything good out of lying.

One of the major symbols I noticed in this story was Pearl. Even though Hester loves her, she is a consequence for both Hester and Preacher Wilson. Hester treats her like it is her husband’s child. Another obvious symbolism in this book was the scarlet "A". Both Hester and Preacher Wilson had to wear one sewn onto their clothes. When Hester's husband discovers the Preacher's A, he knows that he was the baby of Hester's father. I think that hiding the "A" symbolizes how the Preacher hid his secret from the town.

One thing I found very interesting in this story was that Pearl would not acknowledge her Mother when she tries to remove the "A" from her dress. I think this shows that Pearl is trying to be an honest character, even when her parents are not. She proves that she can be a contributer to society when she moves to Europe with her mother, with Chillingworth's money. This was definitely not one of my favorite books, but it did have a good story line

The Great Gatsby

Well first off, I defenitley think this is the best book of the ones we have read so far. I really enjoyed the plot, and I think that the book was entertaining. One of the things, I saw that made this book a good read were the uses of symbolism. F. Scott Fitzgerald compares many ideas in the book which keeps the plot interesting. I think one of the most noticable symbols was the picture on the cover. To, me it seems that the face behind the city is really mysterious, like she is hiding something. Many characters in the book have secrets from the past or present, and this is what the cover symbolizes.

One of the characters in the book who is hiding something is Daisy. She has to keep her relationship with Gatsby a secret from her husband and even her own child! She has to lie to keep her secret, but I think in a way when Gatsby dies, Daisy and Tom become closer. The main character in the book, Gatsby, also has many secrets. He is trying to win Daisy back, and he has to keep his past a secret. His parties were a way of accomplishing both of these things. If everyone knows this nice rich man who likes to entertain people, why would they have a reason to suspect anything about him? But Gatsby's plan back fired, and many people began to suspect something was different about Gatsby.

There are a couple of themes in this story, but the one that really stuck out to me, was that everyone should get a second chance, but not everyone does. When Gatsby dies and his dad comes to visit him, his dad says "Jimmy was bound to get ahead." His dad knew that, and I think that Nick did too. Gatsby was one of those people who did not get a second chance. Daisy did not give it to him and neither did Wilson. Another theme I noticed was that money is not worthy of the place it gets in some people's lives. Fosr instance, Gatsby spent all of his life after he met Dan Cody trying to become wealthy. In the end this did not get him anything besides a big house.

Grapes of Wrath =(

Wow! This may be the most depressing book I've ever read, but I really liked it. Throughout the book, John Steinbeck is making the reader aware of the hardships and culture of this time. One of the main cultural differences I saw between our time and during the Dust Bowl, was how the families in this novel depended entirely on their farm to provide for them. When their farms can't support them and their crops won't grow they are lost. They don't have anything else to make a profit from, and it was almost impossible to find another job. I thought the best part of the story was how Tom Joad felt like he did not learn anything from his time in jail. I think in a way, this is ironic because going to jail is supposed to be a big eye-opener for a person.

I think that theme of the Grapes of Wrath, was that everyone goes through hard times, but when they are all over you have become a stronger person. I think the theme was represented throughout all of the characters in the book, but especially through Casy. He was an ex minister which I think made his struggles even harder for him to deal with. I noticed many uses of symbolism in the Grapes of Wrath. One of them was the turtle that Joad found to give to his family. I think the turtle represents how simple things in life can sometimes be the best things. Even though no one in the book had many good things happening in their lives, the simple things like seeing a turtle cheered them up.

I think this book, really showed how much we, as American citizens, have overcome. The characters in this book overcame so much. For me the most depressing part of the Grapes of Wrath was when Rose of Sharon gave birth to a dead baby boy. When Casy becomes the protestor’s leader, he is just trying to fight for himself. I think this was a courageous action, even though it ended in his death. When the Joad’s try to make a living or at least earn money by putting peaches into boxes, they are simply trying to stay alive. Overall this book had a good morale, and even though it was depressing I thought it was pretty good.

Adventures of Huck Finn

Although I did not really like the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I felt like it had a good theme and a decent plot. The theme of this book is that it does not do any good to run away from your problems. Huck Finn experiences this in the book. Mark Twain, the auther of Huckleberry Finn, develops Huck as a character throughout the story. He uses Huck's relationships with other people to portray Huck's development as a character. For instance, when Huck first lives with Miss Watson, he doesn't enjoy following her rules or having to go to school. When his dad comes back and Huck goes to live with him, he misses Miss Watson and school. This shows how he develops positively and matures while living with her.

One part of this book, that I really enjoyed was the adventures that Huck and Jim experienced together. When they see the ship wreck, and decide to go aboard for food, it shows the adventurous side of both of their characters. While aboard, they see criminals and almost witness a murder. As soon as they see the next town, they tell someone about the steamboat that crashed during a storm. Huck did this to make sure that the criminals are caught. This shows that even though he is hiding out, he still wants to do good deeds. Another adventure they have is when they meet the "duke and the king." Although Huck knows that they are lying about being royalty, he still plays along so they can have their fun. I think this shows an unselfish quality in Huck.

One of my favorite parts in the book was when Huck meets the Grangerford's. Immediatley after he meets them he learns about the conflict between them and the Sheperdson's. During his stay with them, he becomes friends with their son Buck. When the Grangerford's and Sheperdon's fight and Buck dies, I think Huck realizes that past history and simple conflicts can tear people apart. This is what happened with him and his dad. Even though his dad was not ever a good father to him, when Huck moves back with him he knows that his dad's abusive history won't allow them to have a good relationship. I think through his adventures and hiding out, Huck learns important life lessons and grows as a person.

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Adventures of Huck Finn