Week 6- Entry B

I love Jasper Fforde's word choice. It is often absolutely silly. Here are a few words and phrases that made me smile-

Mad as a barrel of skunks.
I'm pretty flummoxed by it all.
Within ten minutes they were on the road again, the Vicar's increasingly aggressive offers of scones and tea notwithstanding.
No conspiracy is worth a button unless someone is murdered over it- preferably with clandestine overtones and just enough ambiguous facts to be tantalizing.

Oh man, Fforde knows just how to write things to make them funny. He can even turn serious situating comical. When Jack and Mary are uncovering blown up pieces of Goldilocks from a bomb area, I actually laughed. That shouldn't be funny! He also makes hidden jokes. When a man went missing after an enormous explosion, the vice president of Quangtech says, "He cost us over thirty million pounds, and all for nothing. Project Supremely Optimistic Belief was abandoned soon after." I found it pretty funny that the search project was called that.

I'm not in love with this book so far, but I do laugh sometimes while reading it. Fforde is very funny and clever. I'm glad I'm reading something uplifting this quarter after our last few depressing books.

Week 6- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 226) clandestine- characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, esp. for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious

(p 229) egalitarian- asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people, esp. in political, economic, or social life.

Figurative Language-

1. (p 229) "'Welcome to QuangTech,' said the giant, whose voice seemed to rumble after he had spoken." The word giant is a hyperbole exaggerating the man's size.
2. (p 242) " Mad as a barrel of skunks." This simile refers to his madness compared to a barrel of skunks.
3. (p 251) "A sense of foreboding closed over both of them, a feeling of danger that seemed to roll in from the forest like a wave." There is a simile between the sense of foreboding a wave.

Quote

(p 242) "Mad as a barrel of skunks." Do I need to say more? This phrase is very silly and I laughed for a little bit after reading it. I know it's not an incredibly important quote, but perhaps it will make you laugh as well.

Theme-

The most unlikely theories can sometimes be the correct ones.

Week 5- Entry B

People just love good drama. This quote is kind of long, but I can't imagine how to explain this without writing out the whole thing.

"European nation with the highest politician/lover ratio: Few European states can hope to compete with France and Italy in this department, and the two nations have been battling for European political lothario supremacy for over thirty years. The contest has been increasingly acrimonious since 1998, when France was initially the clear winner but somehow "lost" sixty-eight illicit lovers in the recount and had to concede defeat. The following year was no less rocked in scandal, when the Italians were disqualified for "stretching the boundaries" of their elected representatives to include senior civil servant- and the crown was tossed back to France. No one was quite prepared for the disgraceful scandal the following year when it was discovered that one French minister had no mistress at all and "loved his wife," a shocking revelation that led to his resignation and ultimately to the fall of the government."

Why do people like to hear about scandal and misconduct? The French minister who "loved his wife" was chastised for being moral. Our society embraces the wrongdoing. I mean, why do people like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives so much? It's all about the drama, the pain, and the adulatory. I'm not going to lie, I'm a big Grey's Anatomy fan, but should our society really be so focused on these attitudes?

Week 5- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 203) constituents- a component

(p 200) inextricably- incapable of being disentangled, undone, loosed, or solved

Figurative Language-

1. (p 209) "He still had a few days to prove that the Allegro was self-mending before the metaphorical straitjacket began to tighten." The straitjacket is a metaphor for the pressure of the situation Jack faces.
2. (p 218) "The glass from the phone-booth windows had melted and then cooled in midflow, like icicles." This simile compare the melted windows to icicles.
3. (p 218) "The cast-iron lamp standard had melted like a soft candle." This simile compares the cast-iron lamp to a candle.

Quote

(p 217) "They found his dentures embedded in a tree a quarter mile away. It took a crowbar to get them out. But they don't think he was wearing them at the time; his bedside lamp was also found close by." After Stanley Cripps is caught in a deadly explosion of a bomb, he and all of his property are blown to bits. I just found this quote hilarious. I can just imagine people trying to pry dentures out of a tree. I hope anyone reading my blog enjoys this as much as I did.

Theme-

People love drama. They just can't get enough of bad things happening to other people.

Week 4- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 163) constitutional- beneficial to one's constitution; healthful

(p 165) ursine- of or pertaining to a bear

Figurative Language-

1. (p 171) "Before Jack could answer, there were two more dull thuds and two more plumes of earth shot skyward, this time with greater force- and closer." The word thud is an onomatopoeia because the noise a thud makes is thud.
2. (p 171) "They had both started to search the ground for anything more when there was a loud whompa!" Whompa is also an onomatopoeia.
3. (p 171) "He stared back into the barrage, the rising column of soil and the pebbles bouncing on the ground in front of his and the dry dust in the summer hear drifting like a smoke screen." This simile compares the dust and a smoke screen using the word "like".

Quote

(p 178-179) "After twenty minutes Jack made the first discovery. It was a woman's shoe, with the foot still inside it. [...] In two hours they had found several parts of her bag, assorted scraps of clothing, eighty-seven parts of her laptop and sixty-two pieces of gristly bone, the only recognizable parts of which were her foot, a finger and half a jaw, all of which were sent to the labs." This shows how police officers and detectives must separate their emotions from the job so they can get things done efficiently even when gross and sad moments occur.

Theme-

War is a horrific experience which should not be taken lightly.

Week 4- Entry B

SommeWorld is a First World War themed amusement park in my book. It's an incredibly clever idea for a park used to sober those who glamorize war. The visitors to this park experience explosions caused by air pressure. These bomb like explosions could take your arm off, but the visitors wear wristwatches that stop explosions from happening in their proximity. Although this is a very extreme park, I think something like this in the real world is a good idea. Although most people fear war, there are those that glamorize the experience. In A Prayer for Owen Meany (you should all read this. it's the most powerful book i've ever read!) there is a character towards the very end that sees war this way. He's underage for the draft, but he can't wait until he's old enough to join the army and kill. This demented outlook on life seeing killing as fun, should be prevented. Maybe a park like this, putting visitors into a soldiers shoes, would make these type of people understand the horrors of war. However, it could very well have the opposite effect. It could give them a taste of war, and make them hunger for it even more. Perhaps, the drama and danger is what they are looking for. Because they can't die in this amusement park, they may not realize how near death they truly are. I like this idea for a park, but it would be controversial and difficult to build. It could have wonderful effects though.

On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront is an action, romance, and gangster film all rolled into one. This fabulous movie didn’t have a single boring moment. I greatly enjoyed viewing it, and while I was being entertained, I was also being taught important life lessons. The film, On the Waterfront was very effective at delivering succinct, meaningful messages: do not lie and honor your responsibility to society. Terry Malloy tries to get away with lying to everyone about Joey Doyle’s death. He claims he doesn’t have information about the death of Joey, even though he was a collaborator in the murder. He finds out that his lies only cause trouble; Edie doesn’t like him, Father Barry is in danger, and more people are being killed on the waterfront. Terry realizes that he has stronger responsibilities to society than to himself. While attempting to save his own life, he comes to the realization that there are more people endangered by the mob than just him. He has the power to avoid more deaths resulting from the mob’s ownership of the pier by telling the truth in court. With just a few words from Terry, the mob won’t have control of the waterfront and Edie will once again love him. The message is clear and easy to understand for any viewer, making it an effective film.

On the Waterfront is set at the docks in New Jersey across the river from Manhattan. The environment is brutal and seedy. Everything is grimy and dirty; even the people are grimy from their harsh lives of work on the waterfront. Throughout the film, birds frequently appear as symbols. Terry has a coop of pigeons he takes care of for Joey after his death. These pigeons describe Terry’s personality. As the birds are kept in a cage, Terry is stuck in a cage of fear and guilt. Terry doesn’t like being under Johnny Friendly’s instruction, but he is afraid to leave this position. Toward the end of the movie, Terry is again symbolically represented through birds. Terry tells the Crime Commission of Johnny’s involvement in Joey’s death. Birds are noisy animals; like the birds, he is speaking out. The major theme of On the Waterfront is the importance of making moral choices based on social responsibilities. Terry is faced with the decision to save himself or tell the Crime Commission about Johnny Friendly being in charge of the docks, effectively saving others. He knows the moral thing is to rat on Johnny, but then Terry would have a good chance of being killed by Johnny or one of his henchmen.

Costuming is an important dramatic aspect of this film. It shows the environment in which the people working on the docks live. They have dirty, holey jackets that show the low-wage lifestyle the men live. Edie’s clothing also represents her personality. She wears modest black dresses, as she is in a Catholic school. She is not petty and vainglorious; instead she is concerned with others. Her focus throughout the film is to figure out how Joey died. Terry’s actions are shown through what he wears. Through most of the movie, he wears a plaid jacket, but after testifying in court, he dons Joey’s coat. Joey was killed for trying to speak out against Johnny Friendly, but Terry finally accomplishes this without being killed. Terry honors Joey by wearing his coat.

Marlon Brando did a fantastic job acting as Terry Malloy. Terry is a boy who simply wants to find himself. He sees what he wants to be, but cannot quite reach his aspirations. Terry knows the morally upstanding thing to do is to tell the authorities about the mob’s influence at the docks, but he doesn’t want his own life to end. He has another dilemma as well. Terry doesn’t know how to tell Edie about his involvement in her brother’s death. While watching the film, you can see the indecision and confusion on Brando’s face. He does a wonderful job acting out Terry’s mild stupidity and confusion. Brando is also very good at gaining sympathy from the audience. It is difficult to watch the clod and not feel sorry for the way he is treated by the mob and his coworkers at the docks. While trying to count money for Johnny Friendly, the mob boss, he finds it too difficult. The other men in the room ridicule him for his stupidity and the viewer feels bad for poor Terry. He also evokes sympathy when he is speaking to Father Barry. Brando wrinkles his forehead in worry when he speaks about possibly losing Edie. Brando plays up his part as Terry and makes the audience’s hearts reach out to him in sympathy. When Terry is very determined to accomplish something, Brando has a look of set determination. When he plans on going to the docks to fight Johnny Friendly, he knits his eyebrows and frowns. By looking at Brando, it’s obvious that he can’t be stopped by anyone or anything. Marlon Brando’s facial expressions show Terry’s moods throughout the movie.

Another well acted part is Edie Doyle played by Eva Marie Saint. Saint acts shy and polite just as a girl in Catholic school would; however, she sometimes boldly jumps out of this stereotypical shell. When Edie and Terry escape from the ambush during the secret meeting with Father Barry, Edie acts nervous and shy. Her eyes dart about when she begins to speak to Terry but soon she becomes bolder and surer of herself as she speaks to him. Even though she seems sure, she is still a bit wary of Terry. When he begins to walk her home, she holds back, unsure of Terry’s motives, but she eventually decides to go with him. Saint plays Edie’s personality perfectly.

Father Barry is also wonderfully acted by Karl Malden. The Father wants to determine the cause of Joey’s death and the unfairness on the docks. He knows Johnny Friendly and the mob are involved, but he wants the workers’ word to be sure. Malden acts stern with them to get information he wants. He tries to get information from everyone, but when Terry tries to tell him about Johnny Friendly, he ignores him because he dislikes Terry and has more important things to do. Once Father Barry realizes what Terry is trying to say, he changes his disposition completely. Malden’s cold shoulder turns into complete attention to Terry. Malden’s actions show Father Barry’s emotions.

Cinematic aspects accentuated important parts of the film. Low camera angles were used to show the superiority of Father Barry. As he is lifted from a ship hold after Timothy Dugan’s death, everyone is watching. Father Barry is raised above them, forcing them look up in order to see him. The working men and the mob are seen as inferiors to Father Barry. Sounds are also used as cinematic element in On the Waterfront. While Terry is telling Edie about his hand in Joey’s death, a fog horn blows. The horn represents Edie’s hurt and anguish from what Terry is telling her. Another cinematic aspect is used in the composition of scenes. When a man from the Crime Commissions office comes to the rooftop of the apartment buildings, Terry is in the pigeon coop while he is outside. The wall of the cage represents the mental wall between Terry and the officer. Terry doesn’t want to tell him anything, so he puts up his guard and tries to ignore him.

On the Waterfront is very similar to All My Sons in many ways. Multiple characters from each share motives and personalities. Joe Keller from the play is much like Terry Malloy from the film. They both want to do things for themselves instead of for others. Joe wanted a happy family, so he jeopardized soldiers’ lives by sending out cracked airplane parts. Terry wants to keep his job at the dock and stay alive, so he doesn’t tell the Crime Commission about Johnny Friendly’s involvement with the jobs on the waterfront. Both men want the best thing for themselves, but they are different as well. Joe goes along with his selfish scheme, but Terry changes his mind and testifies against Johnny in court. Other similar characters are Chris Keller and Father Barry, who both serve as foils to Joe and Terry. They believe decisions should be made based on social responsibilities. Chris is angry at his father for sending out broken parts, and Father Barry dislikes how Terry is keeping to himself instead of telling the Crime Commission what he knows. The moral dilemmas stated here are also similar. They deal with making moral decisions based on social and personal responsibilities. The resolution of this problem differs between On the Waterfront and All My Sons however. Terry decides to make his decision based on his social responsibility while Joe makes his based on personal responsibility.

On the Waterfront is about Terry Malloy who works for the mob boss Johnny Friendly. Johnny’s mob controls the docks on the waterfront and decides who gets to work. Terry helps the mob to murder Joey Doyle who wanted to tell the authorities about Johnny’s involvement with the docks. Terry falls in love with Joey’s sister Edie and decides he must do the right thing. He risks his life and tells the Crime Commission about Johnny. Terry and Johnny fist fight and Johnny wins the battle, but Terry hasn’t yet lost the war. Terry leads the dock workers to a ship and thus declares that they are free from Johnny’s authority. On the Waterfront includes Terry’s inner struggle with his ethical dilemma as well as the outer struggle when Terry and Johnny Friendly fight. I believe most people would enjoy this film because it has a little bit of everything. Terry’s inner struggle makes viewers think about the movie as they watch. Many people would have a hard time deciding what to do if they were in his position. This movie is also worth seeing because it shows viewers another point of view on life. Most people have a hard time connecting with Terry Malloy because he isn’t very bright, but seeing how he handles his dilemma shows how intelligence isn’t always the most important thing in life. Morals can be more important than intelligence. This film is an insightful, worthwhile film for everyone, so I highly recommend it.

Week 3- Entry B

Dear Jasper Fforde,

How do you come up with this stuff? This twisted fairy tale is so clever and odd. I never would have come up with anything like this. It's fantastic how you include the often looked over fairy tale characters like Jack Spratt and Punch & Judy. I do wonder where the Red Legg'd Scissor Man came from however. I don't believe that to be a true fairy tale, but I'm not positive. I was disappointed to see your interpretation Gingerbreadman. I like to imagine him as the Shrek version. You know, adorable, cute, little, high voice, gum drop buttons. Your Gingerbreadman is a seven foot tall psychopath!
One of my complaints about your book is that it effectively crushed my dreams. When I was younger, it was always nice to imaging being in a fairy tale with mythical creatures, but after seeing reality and fantasy meshed, I don't like the idea of living with fairy tales anymore. They're much more dangerous than people in reality, because they have a single motive and with to fullfill it. They lack depth and interest, so if they are out to chop of my thumbs like the Scissor Man, they'll do it!
I also am disappointed that the book is entitle The Fourth Bear but it took half of the book to even introduce the bears! I suppose you couldn't have skipped all of the beginning of the book, but I was getting impatient. Overall though, I do like this book because it makes me laugh a lot. Thank you for giving me so much fun on a school project!

An English Student,
Megan

Week 3- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 122) anthropomorphize- to ascribe human form or attributes to (an animal, plant, material object, etc.)

(p 87) leviathan- a sea monster

Figurative Language-

1. (p 109) "Ashley gave out a laugh that was something very like the noise a squeaky toy makes when someone heavy sits on it." This is a simile comparing his laugh to a squeaky toy.
2. (p 111) " He was a fully grown brown bear dressed in a well-tailored three-piece tweed suit. He was wearing a trilby hat, had a shiny gold watch chain dangling from his waistcoat, and white spats covered the top of his shoeless feet. And he was holding a gun." This is personification because the bear has human like characteristics.
3. (p 125) "The onlly sound to be heard was the hiss of the radiator and the tick-tick-tick of the engine as it cooled." This is an onomatopoeia because the tick-tick-tick is the sound a clock makes.

Quote

(p 125) "He was enjoying himself for the first time in a quarter of a century and had no intention of returning to St. Cerebellum's" Getting the Gingerbreadman into jail this time will be harder than ever because he's now tasted seclusion and freedom. He easily chooses freedom and doesn't want to be exiled to a hospital again.

Theme-

People seek power to make themselves feel superior and strong. The Gingerbreadman decides to let Jack live even though he could easily be killed. The psychopath enjoys the power he wields when giving or taking a life.

Week 2- Entry B

In The Fourth Bear, there are a lot of references to drugs and violence like in our world. Although there are fairy tale characters present, these problems are still seen in their society. The bears are forbidden to deal with porridge or honey. Early in the book, Jack Spratt has to take care of some bears who are dealing with porridge. It is very funny, because the bears cook the porridge on a little hot plate much like a drug user today would deal with some types of drugs. Violence is also prevalent in the mythical world much like our world today. The Gingerbreadman escapes from a mental hospital and causes havoc by killing people right and left. Everyone is scared for their lives with this killer on the loose. These examples show how society can’t avoid problems like drugs and violence. These things are unavoidable.
It is funny how the fairy tale characters are portrayed in The Fourth Bear. Their faults are very obvious. When reading fairy tales, everything seems perfect and there is an easy to see line between good and evil, but in this book, everything is altered. It's hard to see who is good and bad and things are obviously far from perfect. The example of drugs and violence show this. No world can be perfect, no matter what ficticious fairy tales tell you. Good and evil is difficult to decipher between. There are always gray areas. The Fourth Bear shows how life really is, not how we wish it to be.

Week 2- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 90) disparage- to speak of or treat slightingly; depreciate; belittle

(p 78) infanticide- the act of killing infants

Figurative Language-

1. (p 101) “Most illegal substance for bears: The euphoria-inducing porridge (flake) is a Class III foodstuff, and while admitting a small problem, the International League of Ursidae considers that rationed use does no real harm.” Porridge is to bears as drugs are to humans. Porridge is a symbol for illegal substances in today’s world.
2. (p 96) “She had a large head and big eyes, which made her look quite young and a bit cutesy-ditzy- kind of like a character from a manga comic.” This is a simile using the word “like” to compare the woman and a character from a comic.
3. (p 97) “[…] who seemed to be trying to avoid the many unpublished writers who milled around him like bees to a honeypot, hoping to be discovered.” This is also a simile using the word “like” to compare the writers to bees.

Quote

(p 95) “Jack looked at Madeline, who stared at him in disbelief. If she’d been in a similar situation, she would have just told Josh to go screw himself.” Although Jack strongly dislikes Josh Hatchett, he cares about his job more than keeping a grudge. He is loyal to the NCD and is willing to help an enemy to solve a crime.

Theme-

Although there are mythical characters in the real world in The Fourth Bear, there are still problems in their world that trouble us today. Drugs, violence, murders, and guns are a part of Jack’s everyday life being a police officer.

Week 1- Entry B

By reading my Week1-Entry A, you may be slightly confused as to what this book is all about. The Fourth bear is about a fictitious crime concerning the infamous Gingerbreadman. So far, he has escaped from the secure hospital, St. Cerebellum's. He has already killed multiple people with just his bare hands, and is off to murder more. As silly as this book sounds, it's very good so far. I love the way Jasper Fforde mixes nursery rhyme characters into real life. Many of these characters are considered dangerous because they have a set job to do and nothing can stop them. For instance, the Great Long Red-Legg'd Scissor-man cuts off children's thumbs if they suck on them. He has no other purpose in life, but this because that's what he was created to do. The Nursery Crime Division must stop these fairy tales gone bad. My only problem with this book so far is that I'm unfamiliar with some of the nursery rhyme characters. Punch and Judy are the protagonist’s, Jack Spratt's, neighbors. I've heard these names before, but I don't really know who they are. Doing a little bit of research on handy dandy wikipedia, I have found that they are puppet characters all the way from the sixteenth century. Punch is a psychopath abusive husband who in the book threatens to throw their baby down the stairs. In The Fourth Bear, Punch and Judy are alive but have wooden heads like puppets. They enjoy beating and screaming at one another. I hope more characters come up that I don't know, because I enjoy learning about them.

Week 1- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 1) tenuous- lacking a sound basis, as reasoning; unsubstantiated; weak

(p 2) septuagenarian- a person of the age of 70 years or between 70 and 80 years old

Figurative Language-

1. (p 25) “Mad Max Marx, the Masked Manxman Axman.” This name of a killer uses alliteration because there is an “M” at the beginning of each word.
2. (p 25) “Nutty Nora Newsome, the Knife-Wielding Weird Widow from Waddersdon.” This name also uses alliteration because of the use of “N” at the start of each word.
3. (p 33) “The small rose had undergone a transformation within his hands. Where before it had been alive and beautiful, now it was withered and brown. Dead, dried and decayed, rotten as the evil soul of the Gingerbreadman.” The last sentence here is a simile because it uses the word “as” to compare the dead rose to the soul of the Gingerbreadman.

Quote-

(p 60) “He was silent for most of the journey, trying to think which was worst: being consistently trashed by the press, having a superior who didn’t trust his judgement, having a prime NCD case allocated away from him or enduing the ignominy of have a psychiatrist ask him pointless questions and ten going “Aha” in a quasi-meaningful manner.” Jack Spratt has a very complicated, difficult life but he still wants to find the Gingerbreadman even though no one believes he is capable of doing it.

Theme-

The theme of trust becomes evident at the beginning of the book. The protagonist, Jack Spratt, messes up one of his cases for the Nursery Crime Division concerning a wolf, Red-Ridinghood, and her grandmother. Jack screwed up the mission and didn’t save the grandmother from being devoured by the wolf. The next big case that comes into the station gets given to someone else because Jack’s boss no longer trusts him. It’s evident the Jack is brighter and more capable of the case than the man who got it. Because of one mistake, everyone loses all trust in Jack.

Week 5- Entry B

With a little bit of research, I looked into Ray Bradbury’s childhood. Because Dandelion Wine is more often referred to as a semi-autobiographical novel than a memoir, I wanted to see how true this book is to his life. The basics of the book match up with Bradbury’s childhood pretty well. He renamed his hometown of Waukegan "Green Town", but kept the same features of the town such as the ravine and his grandparents’ house next door. Bradbury spent a lot of time in the library when he was younger, as he sometimes did in Dandelion Wine. Douglas (the fictional character based on Ray Bradbury as a child) often used the library in Green Town to find information on things like magic and Madame Tarot. Bradbury began writing at the young age of twelve and in his memoir he writes by keeping a journal on the events of the summer and their importance in his life. However, Bradbury wrote science fiction short stories while Douglas writes insightful anecdotes. By reading the introduction of the memoir, Just This Side of Byzantium, I also found many occurrences from Bradbury’s childhood he used in his memoir. As a child, he would walk home late at night through the ravine with his little brother who would hide and jump out like the Lonely One. The Lonely One was a killer on the loose in his hometown that must have existed when Bradbury was a child. In the memoir, Douglas loses one of his good friends who moves from Green Town. This instance is based on a friend of Bradbury’s who moved away when they lived together in Arizona. Because Dandelion Wine is written in third person, I didn’t expect there to be very many similarities between Douglas and Ray Bradbury, but I found out there are quite a few. I think this memoir was cleverly written to include Bradbury’s childhood and many fictitious events to model a main theme.

Week 5- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 224) cruets- bottles for holding condiments like oil or vinegar

(p 225) victuals- food supply, provisions

Appeals-

1. (p 199) “The town clock struck nine forty-five.” This logical appeal is very straight forward and uses an exact time.
2. (p 199) “The moon was high and filled all the sky with a warm but wintry light.” This sentence appeals emotionally because the reader can feel and see the moon described as warm and wintry.
3. (p 237) “Now Tom and Douglas and Grandfather stood as they had stood three months, or was it three long centuries ago.” This sentence exhibits appeals to logic and emotion. Three months is the logical actual amount of time and three long centuries is the emotional amount of time it felt like.

Quote-

(p 236) “Numbered from one to ninety-odd, there the ketchup bottles, most of them full now, stood burning in the cellar twilight, one for every living summer day. […] Better than putting things in the attic you never use again. This way, you get to live the summer over for a minute or two here or there along the way through the winter, and when the bottles are empty the summer’s gone for good and no regrets and no sentimental trash lying about for you to stumble over forty years from now. Clean, smokeless, efficient, that’s dandelion wine.” Don’t dwell on the past. Live in the present while things change around you. Roll with the new changes and live a fulfilled life.

Theme-

As I have said so many times in my previous blogs, a dominant theme of this memoir is change. Douglas goes through and witnesses a large amount of changes throughout the summer of 1928. Sometimes, he gets caught up in them and doesn’t want to move on with his life, but eventually he realizes he has to live his life the way he wants to. When things are out of his control, he learns to control himself because that’s only the best he can do.

Week 4- Entry B

Douglas is dying. No one knows why. He is as hot as a stove burner and is in a constant state of unconsciousness. His family sets him outside to sleep to avoid the unbearable heat in his upstairs bedroom. This new location doesn’t make a very big difference because outside it is hot and stagnant. Mr. Jonas comes to Douglas in the middle of the night with fresh air from different areas of the world in jars. Douglas wakes and breathes in the healing air. Now cured, Douglas visits his grandparents. His grandmother has a talent of cooking without a cookbook. Aunt Rose tries to fix grandma’s ways by cleaning her kitchen and buying her new glasses and a cookbook. These things only hinder Grandma’s cooking and she creates unpleasant food far under her standards. Douglas passes on the gift of life Mr. Jonas shares to Grandma. He messes up her kitchen, hides her glasses, and burns the new cookbook. Grandma regains her ability to cook.

If everyone took on this same idea of passing on gifts, the world could be an improved place. Passing on simple gestures such as a smile directed at you could bring a hint of joy into everyday life. More extreme gifts, such as the gift of life, brought happiness to Grandmother when she believed she lost her most valuable skill. Gifts should be passed from person to person to let everyone enjoy them.

The 400 Blows Essay

The 400 Blows is a thought provoking emotional movie that I greatly enjoyed. I found the movie effective in communicating themes and ideas. Antoine can’t control his life the way he wants, so he finds his own path, rebelling against authority and expectations. The strong visuals found in the film such as the children in cages at The Observation Center, Antoine’s time in jail, and his life at home make it easy to understand what Antoine is going through. Antoine is compelled to run from his experiences. As Antoine develops, we viewers, are able to grow in understanding with him.

The 400 Blows is similar to books in that it contains many literary aspects. The characters are fairly one dimensional, almost stereotypical, and therefore it is easy to understand their motives. The protagonist, Antoine Doinel, is a rebellious young boy who wants to find his own way in life without a formal education. His mother, Gilberte Doinel, is an uncaring manipulative woman who uses what she has, appearance, to get what she wants, wealth and status. She ignores Antoine on a regular basis, but when she is aware of him, she’s yelling at him. Gilberte has expensive clothes and jewelry while her family runs around in rags. It’s quite possible the man she’s having an affair with is providing her wealth. Her husband, Julian, is maybe aware of his wife’s promiscuity, but he is a humorous man who wants a happy family. He remains ignorant to his wife’s actions to stay blissful. Antoine’s French teacher is the quintessential tyrannical teacher. He constantly yells at his pupils and embarrasses them at every chance he gets. These characters are intertwined in Antoine’s memoir that takes place in Paris. Because the film is a memoir, it is told from Antoine’s point of view; Antoine is the focus of every scene. The movie also shares some common themes often seen in literature. The themes of adult’s authority over children, unfair punishment, and bad upbringing are all featured in this film. Antoine is infuriated at the way he is treated by adults. Both his parents and teacher seem to know what is best for him, when he obviously has plans of his own. At The Observation Center, small children of about four years of age are shown being locked in a cage. Adults put them there to keep them in place and out of the way. No four year old is developed enough to reek enough havoc to be placed in a juvenile center, but adults feel they need power over their children and put them there in order to control them. Antoine is unfairly punished for running away and stealing his father’s typewriter. He is sent to a juvenile correction facility, The Observation Center, where he is analyzed by a psychologist when he is perfectly mentally healthy. He doesn’t deserve this punishment because his parents don’t do a good job taking care of him or guiding him. They yelled at Antoine causing him to run away. When he finally runs away from The Observation Center, he runs to the sea. The sea symbolizes freedom to Antoine. He had never seen the sea because he was always in Paris. When he is rid of authority, he is free to see and do what he chooses. Literary aspects give structure and depth to a story whether the story is told through film or word.

Not only are literary aspects well utilized, but dramatic aspects heighten the emotion helping to tell the story. The actors are well cast and effectively convey emotions. Jean- Pierre Léaud, the actor who plays Antoine, goes through life with a dazed, spacey look in his eyes. He tunes out the things he dislikes to obviate sadness and anger. He does as he’s told without complaint because he isn’t always mentally aware of his surroundings. The actor seems to go into an imaginary world whenever Antoine is uncomfortable around his authority figures. Gilberte is played by Claire Maurier. She has an aloof manner about her and tries to act sophisticated to overcome her homely, poor life. When Gilberte attempts to win Antoine over by being nice to him, the actress has a superficial quality in her niceness as Gilberte should. Julian is also well acted by Albert Rémy in The 400 Blows. In acting as Antoine’s friend, he seems genuinely nice to him at the beginning of the film, but by the end of their relationship, Albert effectively conveys that he was only nice to prevent any unhappiness in their family. Julian can’t deal with Antoine’s misbehaving, so he quickly agrees to sign over parentalship of Antoine to the government. The actor shows no remorse in this ordeal and seems to forget about Antoine immediately after the incident. Lighting is a very dramatic aspect used in the movie. It conveys Antoine’s emotions during the scene. When he is in the classroom or inside his desolate home, the lights are dark and dreary, but when he is outside and free, the lighting becomes light and cheerful. When Antoine is being carted away in the jail car, the lighting inside the car is dark, but outside, where Antoine wishes he could be, it is light although it is night time. Casting and acting are important in drawing the viewer in, and lighting creates emotional drama.

Cinematic aspects are important element used in the film. The camera angle is used to create a feeling of unity between Antoine and the viewer. The opening credits are filmed as if the viewer is traveling through the streets of Paris. Already by the beginning, the viewer can see Antoine’s daily views and better understand his city. Another example of this technique is when Antoine is being taken to The Observatory Center; he looks out the barred window of the car. The camera angle then shoots as if the viewer is Antoine, gazing out into the world he longs to be a part of once again. The camera angle can also be used to let the audience observe the big picture and appreciate situational humor. During gym, the boys run behind the teacher on a jog through Paris’s streets. The high angle of the camera shows the entire scene clearly. The students ditch the class by running into alleys or hiding behind parked cars. Eventually, only a few members of the gym class are left to run with the teacher. Without a birds eye view, the humor of the story would be lost. The duration of shots also impacts the film. Right before the final scene, Antoine is running from the juvenile center towards the sea. This shot focuses on him running for a long period of time. This lengthy duration represents Antoine’s struggle to become free. He runs for so long because he has so much from which to run away. He has attempted to be rid of his former life for so long, and this scene is the final stretch of Antoine’s efforts. Music can be a powerful tool to describe emotion. A single melody is used in all of the movie’s background music. The song played when Antoine is outside, happy, and free from the people and places he so much disliked. The music stops once Antoine returns to his dazed and spacey mood, magnifying his internal isolation. Cinematography can be very complex and helps paint a more vivid picture for the viewer.

The 400 Blows shares many characteristics with the novel Black Boy. Particularly, the storylines and characters have many similarities. Both Antoine and Richard experience a poor upbringing. They traveled from place to place without a permanent home during their first years of life. Antoine went from a wet nurse to his grandparents to his real parents. Richard travels from family member to family member in search of a refuge from his lack of money and fear of the white man. Both boys enjoy reading and writing as an escape from their horrible lives. Antoine enjoys reading Balzac and even creates a shrine to his favorite author. Richard reads and also writes for a local newspaper. Eventually, both of the boys’ families give up on them. Their families don’t believe they will amount to much. Antoine’s parents send him to a juvenile delinquent center to cure his misbehavior and make a useful person of him. Richard’s family stops attempting to make him turn to religion as a haven from his terrible, misguided life. Because the two boys don’t like the life they’re living, they escape to freedom. Antoine runs away from his parents in Paris and then the juvenile center, and Richard goes to the North where he believes life is better for a black man. The stories aren’t alike in every aspect however. The characters both handle authority differently. Antoine quietly takes orders and punishment while Richard lashes out with violence to avoid what he believes to be unjust discipline. Antoine has a good friend throughout his childhood, René. René even tries to visit Antoine while he’s in The Observation Center. Richard is basically alone in life. He never gains close friends, only enemies. He does however have a caring mother who wants the best for her son. He brings her to the North with him. Antoine has a despicable mother of whom he wishes to be rid. As coming of age memoirs, the stories offer many more similarities than differences despite being told in different media.

I believe most people would enjoy watching The 400 Blows. The film is a memoir of Antoine Doinel’s childhood and his struggles to become free from authority. He runs away from home to escape his parents’ misunderstanding behaviors, quits school, and tries to live independently with his best friend René. He steals his father’s typewriter in an attempt to finance his escape from Paris. The plan goes awry and he is sent to a juvenile correction facility, The Observation Center. Antoine eventually escapes from the center and runs to the sea, his ultimate freedom. This film has meaning and depth unlike many films today created only for entertainment. The themes of the film help the viewer understand Antoine’s struggle and envision his problems during his childhood. The film also shows how life was during the 1940’s in Paris. The differences between Antoine’s childhood and today’s world are easily spotted, and make the viewer think about their privileged life. Although I found the ending lacking a definite resolution, the film was thought provoking and powerful. I recommend this film for the movie-goer looking for more provoking ideas than today’s average movie provides.

Week 4- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 209) decanting- to pour from one container into another

(p 207) persimmon- red or orange color

Appeals-

1. (p 209) “Whoever he was or whatever he was and no matter how different and crazy he seemed, he was not crazy. […] He looked upon himself as a kind of process, like osmosis, that made various cultures within the city limits available one to another.” This description of Mr. Jonas uses the emotionally appealing word, crazy, to have negative connotations.
2. (p 209) “Now, remember, you can have what you want if you really want it. The test is, ask yourself, Do I want it with all my heart? Could I live through the day without it? If you figure to be dead by sundown, grab the darned thing and run.” This sentence appeals emotionally. Mr. Jonas is telling everyone to dig deep into themselves to make a decision.
3. (p 212) “Tom took the ice pick in the kitchen and chipped a pound of ice into prisms which he carried upstairs. […] They put the ice in handkerchiefs on his face and along his body.” From the description of Douglas’s brother and mother putting ice on him, you logically know he is sick.

Quote-

(p 209) “He looked upon himself as a kind of process, like osmosis, that made various cultures within the city limits available one to another. He could not sand waste, for he knew that one man’s junk is another man’s luxury.” This quote hits on the ever occurring theme of change. Mr. Jonas gives away peoples’ items in exchange for their old items. This exchange brings a fresh new feeling to the old items for other people.

Theme-

The magic of summer permeates through the novel Dandelion Wine. Douglas finds magic to be one of the key aspects to life. He steals a Mme. Tarot fortune telling machine from the arcade. He believes she is mistreated and may be killed by the arcade owner. Douglas imagines she is alive and her fortunes are true. He says the magical machine prints a card telling him he will live forever. This magic is only a small portion of his encounters with magic over the summer.

Week 3- Entry B

What is living? Are we alive because our hearts beat or because we see the niceties, the magic of life? How can one live the life they want? What makes it all worth it? Is it worth living if there’s nothing to live for? What is there to live for? Should we live to avoid death? Is death the worst thing that can happen? Is it always a bad thing? Should we hasten death by doing what we want to in life? Colonel Freeleigh brings on his own death by straining his heart in excitement, was the excitement worth it? Which is better, an unhappy life or a happy death? Should people leave the world to make themselves happier, or stay to keep their friends and family happy? Is dying for your own happiness selfish? The Colonel left the young boys without their time machine, his stories from the past. Was his dying selfish? Should he have left the boys without the time machine? Is living for happiness more important than others’ happiness?

Week 3- Entry A

Vocabulary-

(p 156) ammoniac- pertaining to or containing or similar to ammonia

(p 158) rococo- a style of architecture and decoration

Appeals-

1. (p 159) “They stood upon the edge of the ravine that cut the town half in two. Behind them were the lit houses and music, ahead was deepness, moistness, fireflies and dark.” The lit houses and music show how pleasant the town is behind, while the deepness, moistness, fireflies and dark sound scary and uninviting. These words are used to make the reader feel emotion.
2. (p 174) “She told her legs what to do, her arms, her body, her terror; she advised all parts of herself in this white and terrible moment, […] she ran, followed by the wild footsteps behind, behind, with the music following, too, the music shrieking and babbling.” Words are used in this passage to ensue terror in the reader. The shrieking and babbling music made my stomach squirm as I thought of the girl running from a murderer.
3. (p 187) “Douglas watched them (fireflies) go. [...] They left his face and his body and the space inside his body to darkness. They left his empty as the Mason jar.” The emotional appeal uses words like darkness and empty to explain how Douglas feels.

Quote-

(p 186) “So if trolleys and runabouts and friends and near friends can go away for a while or go away forever, or rust, or fall apart or die, and if people can be murdered, and if someone like great-grandma, who was going to live forever, can die… if all of this is true… then… I, Douglas Spaulding, some day… must… die.” Throughout the entire novel, the overriding theme has been the ever presence of change. Death is just another example of change. Douglas is coming to terms with the eventuality of his own death as many people around him die throughout his summer.

Theme-

I have stated before that change is the main theme of Dandelion Wine. In the pages I have read for this week, Douglas’s great-grandmother, a young woman Elizabeth, and an old woman Helen Loomis die. Earlier in the novel, Colonel Freeleigh and Mister Quartermain died. So much death surrounds Douglas over his summer. He thinks about his own death and how the world will change until then. Death is an evident fact of life. We must face the facts and adapt to changes.

Week 2- Entry B

If only time were more pliable, moldable to fit our needs. Douglas thinks, “When you weren’t looking, the sun got around behind you! The only way to keep things slow was to watch everything and do nothing! You could stretch a day to three days, sure, just by watching!” This theory reminds me of one found in the novel, Catch 22, by Joseph Heller. If you don’t enjoy life, the time moves slower, so therefore you have more time. This theory is a catch 22, a situation in which one is stuck between contradictory conditions. If you’re not enjoying the life you’re living, you have more time, but why have more time to not enjoy life? However, sometimes I wish time could drag on for the good times in life. I’m sure everyone feels the same way. How great would it be to change time! Fast forward through school and homework and make weekends last for weeks. I’m obviously not the first person to revel in this appealing idea. The movie “Click” and the time-turner Hermione uses in Harry Potter also follow this lovely plan. Changing time to work out for us never seems to work in fiction. It’s really too bad. No one wants to see an imagining like time changing shattered. I disregard the gobbledygook out there and imagine how life could be.

Week 2- Entry A

Vocabulary

(p 93) languorous- (adj) languid, lacking in vigor, slow

(p 99) calliope- (noun) instrument like an organ with whistles sounded by steam or compressed steam

Appeals

1. (p 63) “Inside, Grandfather, Douglas, and Tom saw him tinkering, make a minor adjustment here, eliminate friction there, busy among all those warm, wonderful, infinitely delicate, forever mysterious, and ever-moving parts.” The adjectives at the end of this sentence are emotional appeals. Just reading the words makes me feel them.
2. (p 92) “Ladies, I know you’re both vigorous. You look it. Eighty years.” The salesman is using the emotionally appealing word vigorous when trying to sell something to two old women.
3. (p 92) “The storage batteries are fully charged and ready now! […] You recharge it every night in your garage.” The salesman now uses a logical appeal when selling the Green Machine.

Quote

(p 104) “The colored windowpanes on the little round windows, have they always been there? […] I never saw them before today. On the way walking through town I looked up and there they were. Doug, what was I doing all these years I didn’t see them?”

Life passes by quickest when you’re not paying attention, and then before you know it, it’s too late. Pay attention to the details in life when you have a chance to. Notice the flowers in bloom. Count the cracks in the sidewalk. Savor the taste of the first ice cream cone of the summer. In the fall, the flowers will wilt. Someday, the sidewalks will be replaced. When summer ends, you won’t taste ice cream until the next summer comes around. Time can pass you by if you aren’t taking the initiative to notice things.

Theme

Things are ever changing. In the novel, things move on even though characters want them to stay the same. An old woman, Mrs. Bentley, finds that children don’t believe she was young once. At first she’s angry and dwells on her past, but she realizes what matters is the present. She throws away objects from her childhood and begins living her life to its fullest. She realizes she must change to be the person she wants to be. Another instance of change is when Douglas’s friend, John, must move away. He doesn’t understand how things can change so quickly.

Week 1- Entry B

As all of you who are reading my blog know, a memoir is a segment of a person’s life. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury is very interesting, as it doesn’t feel like it fits this definition at all. If I hadn’t have picked this book off Mrs. Burgess’s memoir list, I would never have guessed this novel depicts Bradbury’s life.
This work is more fictionalized than it is fact. Each chapter focuses on a different person; not every event is seen through the eyes of the author. The first couple chapters make a believable memoir, but after a few chapters, smaller story lines pop up. Leo Auffmann, the creator of a “happiness machine” becomes the focus of one chapter, and then Douglas’s little brother, Tom, is another focus. Within a few more chapters, the story is told through the eyes of an elderly woman, Mrs. Bentley. I have yet to figure out the advantage of seeing so many peoples’ points of view of one summer, but I assume Ray Bradbury has a very good reason for writing in this style.

Week 1- Entry A

Vocabulary

(p 27) Intuition- (noun) a direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.

(p 42) Intangible- (adj) incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch, as incorporeal or immaterial things; impalpable.

Appeals

1. (p 43) “There are a million small towns like this all over the world. Each as dark, as lonely, each as removed, as full of shuddering and wonder. The reedy playing of minor-key violins was the small towns’ music, with no lights, but many shadows. Oh, the vast swelling of loneliness of them.” This is an emotional appeal. Many of the words: dark, lonely, removed, shuddering, shadows, and loneliness make the reader feel a surge of emptiness inside. Bradbury uses his words wisely, and creates a feeling of being sad and scared.
2. (p 14) “The water was silk in the cup; clear, faintly blue silk.” This sentence makes water sound even better than it is. By using the emotional appeal of the word silk, Bradbury makes me want to go drink some water even though I’m not thirsty.
3. (p 7) “Books I read: four hundred…. In that time I figure four hundred lollipops, three hundred Tootsie Rolls, seven hundred ice-cream cones…” This logical appeal becomes important later in the book. Doug, the protagonist, says that these statistics aren’t what summer’s all about, it’s the other half, discoveries and revelations that make summer what it is.

Quote

(p 27) “There are five billion trees in the world. I looked it up. Under every tree is a shadow, right? So, then, what makes night? I’ll tell you: shadows crawling out from under five billion trees! Think of it! Shadows running around in the air, muddying the waters you might say. If only we could figure a way to keep those darn five billion shadows under those trees, we could stay up half the night, Doug, because there’d be no night! There you are; something old, something new.”

This quote isn’t incredibly important to the plot of the book, but I just love how it’s written. After reading it the first time, I went back, read it again, and then read it to two other people as well. Bradbury’s writing style is well displayed in this paragraph. He has such deep ideas that make me feel happy after reading them.

Theme

So far, happiness is a point addressed in this novel; Leo Auffmann attempts to create a “happiness machine”, but instead builds a machine that makes everyone who uses it sad, because they realize that they can’t be as happy in real life as they are when sitting in the machine.

First Blog

Hey everyone! Here's Megan's first blog for Enriched English 10. I don't have much to say momentarily, but you should leave me a comment just the same. Enjoy!