Tuesday, October 21, 2008

"There Will Come Soft Rains"

Pre-Reading:
1. I don't really know what the world will look like in 2026, considering im not a gypsey and i can't tell the future. Yet, if you think about it it, 2026 is only 18 years away, I mean if i live an average lifespan hopefully, I would live to see the year. Hopefully we wont all die from a nuclear bombing. I imagine our gadgets will continue to get even more and more advanced. As a matter of fact, thats what im afraid will happen. Our technology will eventually take over the world as we know it.

Questions:
So is it a nuclear bomb that kills everyone?
How can the dog still be alive?

"Harrison Bergeron"

Pre-reading:

What is Equality?
Equality, by definition, is "the quality of being the same in quantity, measure, or value of status. The state of being equally balanced" Yet, it's ironic because in society our differences and personal talents are what balance us out. There is no such thing as being able to create a perfect society in which everyones equal. Nobody will ever be equal to eachother is essence. You have to take the good with the bad in life. Being able to have our differences and express them freely is what our country is all about. In the end there is a big difference between being equal, and being treated equally.

Plot/Reaction:
1. Harrison Bergeron was aman groing up in the future, when everybody was "equal" He had to wear a mental handicap on his head which would dumb him down to the level that the government wanted society at. Yet, he was a genious and could always think through his handicap. He broke out of jail and appeared on the tv without his handicap, went a little crazy and essentially got shot down by a handicapper general.
2. He was too smart for the Handicaps they were giving him. Then they asked him to work for the government because he was so smart, while working for them he questioned how they went about things.

Questions:
Why does he go to jail?

Quote:
"what just happened?" George asked
"I don't remember." -Hazel

"Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket"

Pre-reading:
Top Five Priorities
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Education
4. Music
5. Future

Plot/Reaction
1. There was two montsh worth of work on a new idea for his job on that sheet.
2. He climbs out on the ledge of the building and inches over to the corner where he picks up the sheet, looks down, and starts freaking out. Finally he makes his way back to the window to see that it closed on him. He punches it open and he gets inside only to have teh sheet fly back out the window.

Questions:
Why didn't he remember what was on the sheet if it was so important anyway?
Wouldn't the wind at that hieght have been too strong?

Quote:
"As he watched the paper fly back out the window he just turned around and laughed, closing the door behind him."

Monday, October 13, 2008

Exposition:
  • Tom and his wife Clare living in New York. The setting being his little apartment 11th story on Lexington Avenue.
Rising Action:
  • he stays home to work
  • yellow sheet flys out the window
  • stares at the paper and thinks about what he'll do
  • nothings long enough to reach it
  • finally came to the idea of climbing out the window
  • climbs out window and slowly inches across ledge to paper, with balance
  • once he reaches the paper he looks down and starts freaking out
  • he can't move
  • he's shaking and starts to inch back clumsily
  • he reaches his window to find that it has closed
  • gets angry
  • tries to send up a flare
  • throws coins down hoping someone will see
  • finally punches through the window to get back in and realizes that he was worrying too much about his paper then he was about his wife
  • he places the yellow sheet back on desk with pencil on top of it
Climax:
  • as he walks out to meet his wife the yellow sheet flys back out the window
Falling Action:
  • Goes out to meet his wife
  • pencil rolls off desk because of the wind
  • he sees paper fly out the window and laughs as he closes the door behind him
Resolution:
  • As he walks out he laughs that the paper flew out the window again, accepting it because of everything he had previously realized.
Conflicts:
  • yellow sheet flys out the window
  • finally came to the idea of climbing out the window
  • climbs out window and slowly inches across ledge to paper, with balance
    once he reaches the paper he looks down and starts freaking out
    he can't move
  • almost falls
  • tries many tactics to get attention
  • finally takes it upon himself to break window open
  • varies from man vs. self to man vs. nature to a little of man vs. society

Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Tone of a story


Tone


Tone: the manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude.

Example: In a scary movie, the whole tone of the movie or story is horror, suspense, and suprise, to get a reaction out of its audience. Same thing would go with the tone of a comedy, it would be light and funny. It's not what the story is, but how it is.

Round Character


Round Character


Round Character: a fully developed character with the complexities of a real person.

Example: Nemo is a round character because he portrayed the same problems some humans might face and his personality had many sides, he was mostly happy but he also was very scared, rebellious, and determined in the movie.