Hannibal Lector: Lector is one of the most creepy villains in entertainment, but there's a soft spot to him that most serial killers don't have. Indeed he is a psychopath and he does eat people for gratification, but when faced with the oppurtunity to kill Clarice in Silence of the Lambs, he chose not to because he felt attached to her in some way. This shows that he still has some humanity and feeling left in him, although it is very limited. After watching "Hannibal Rising", it definitely made me understand his character better, knowing that his entire family got killed right in front of his eyes.
Bugs Bunny: Bugs is definitely a part of American culture because he exemplifies the trickster, or someone who defies authority. He can be seen being very nice one second and then completely driving someone crazy the next. He was made in the 40s during WWll, but he more exemplifies someone of today's era; the way he goes against authority, and he was created before any of the other anti-authority based things like punk rock or Jerry Seinfeld.
My character: Bill Lundberg: I chose Bill Lundberg, the boss in the movie "Office Space", because he is a funny guy who I think portrays a lot of people in authority in our society. Most of the time, I feel like people in our society are arrogant and stupid and make decisions really for no reason in particular but just because they feel like it. In the movie, Bill is constantly harassing Peter, the main character, just because he feels like it, although he is pretty funny. The thing about that I love about this movie is how Peter responds to it after he is hipnotized. Most people fold to retaliating to their boss' attitude, Peter definitely does not, and he eventually just stops showing up at work. People like Bill Lundberg are everywhere in Corporate America, and I don't like them, but they can be funny.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Characteristics of a Well Told Story
Part 1: Stories are vital to kids in many ways. There are many lessons and themes that are present in children's books that are necessary for children to hear. A lot of the life lessons that kids learns are from reading books and from having people read books to them. People read stories to kids for the exact same reason- because they know that the stories will help them out and teach them things. Besides the themes that are present in the books, they also learn how to talk and to read.
Part 2: Most of the time when people are older like high school, they read for enjoyment. I know in my case, I never did this in High School, but instead I read because I was forced to read or else I would fail quizzes that I needed to pass most of the time. Had reading not been a part of the curriculum, no book would've been picked up by me during High School.
Part 3: A book that I remember reading was green eggs and ham. I remember it because I was read it alot and it was basically engraved into my head. I connect my mom to these stories because she was the one who was reading them to me, and I also connect Dr. Seuss to them.
Part 4: 1. A theme that pertains to most people's lives.
2. An entertaining plot that keeps the reader reading.
3. Well-devoloped, interesting characters that seem real
4. comedic parts that make me laugh
5. Realism- could actually happen
6. Suspense that gets the reader riled up
7. An ending that satisfies most readers.
Part 2: Most of the time when people are older like high school, they read for enjoyment. I know in my case, I never did this in High School, but instead I read because I was forced to read or else I would fail quizzes that I needed to pass most of the time. Had reading not been a part of the curriculum, no book would've been picked up by me during High School.
Part 3: A book that I remember reading was green eggs and ham. I remember it because I was read it alot and it was basically engraved into my head. I connect my mom to these stories because she was the one who was reading them to me, and I also connect Dr. Seuss to them.
Part 4: 1. A theme that pertains to most people's lives.
2. An entertaining plot that keeps the reader reading.
3. Well-devoloped, interesting characters that seem real
4. comedic parts that make me laugh
5. Realism- could actually happen
6. Suspense that gets the reader riled up
7. An ending that satisfies most readers.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
How Unpoetic
Sports are usually in some shape or form on my mind. Right about now, it's March Madness that is consuming my mind and filling out my bracket, picking the right upsets and just watching the most exciting tournament in sports. That's not to mention the fact that I could win some serious money if I get lucky, so that makes it so much more exciting and I will cheer for teams in games that I would normally not care about. Money makes everything more exciting- I can definitely see how some people get addicted to the rush of gambling, because it really is some rush when you win, and even when you lose there's a rush too. This year I have Memphis going all the way, beating Tennessee in the championship game in San Antonio. I think they were clearly the best team throughout the regular season, so I think they have the best chance of winning it all, although there are plenty of teams that are capable of beating them. I chose some upsets like Purdue beating Xavier and Duke, and Kansas State with Michael Beasley overtaking O.J. Mayo and USC and Wisconsin and making it to the sweet 16. I also chose Georgetown over Kansas, Tennessee over UNC, and Villanova I have going to the sweet 16.
There is also another sport on my mind this time of year, and that is baseball. We have just started practicing in the Community Center and I'm definitely getting pumped for the season and for the Spring Trip to Florida with the team. I'm dissapointed that I can't go to Mexico, but playing baseball in Disney's very nice facilities and hanging out in hot weather sounds like a good time to me. The team is looking good this year, and I think we have a good chance at winning the conference championship. We've got a good amount of returning varsity players as well as good young players and solid players who are seniors that played j.v. last year.
There is also another sport on my mind this time of year, and that is baseball. We have just started practicing in the Community Center and I'm definitely getting pumped for the season and for the Spring Trip to Florida with the team. I'm dissapointed that I can't go to Mexico, but playing baseball in Disney's very nice facilities and hanging out in hot weather sounds like a good time to me. The team is looking good this year, and I think we have a good chance at winning the conference championship. We've got a good amount of returning varsity players as well as good young players and solid players who are seniors that played j.v. last year.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Poetry Critique
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/walter_de_la_mare/poems/1956.html
Tom's Little Dog by Walter de la Mare
Tom told his dog called Tim to beg,
And up at once he sat, His two clear amber eyes fixed fast,
His haunches on his mat. Tom poised a lump of sugar on
His nose; then, "Trust!" says he;
Stiff as a guardsman sat his Tim;
Never a hair stirred he.
"Paid for!" says Tom; and in a trice
Up jerked that moist black nose;
A snap of teeth, a crunch, a munch,
And down the sugar goes!
2. I chose this poem because I have two small Westies and I can relate to what he is talking about. I don't really feed them straight sugar and they can’t catch food off of their noses but everything else is about the same.
3. The title is very simple and is just explaining the main character: Tom’s Little Dog.
4. In the fifth line of the first stanza there is a simile referring to how the little dog Tim is sitting very straight and stiff: “Stiff as a guardsman sat his Tim”. I think this simile makes you visualize a small dog that is so stiff and all he cares about is getting that food. There is also consonance when he says “sat” in one line and then “mat” in the next line. I think the author wants the audience to focus on these words because it’s describing the action and where the dog is.
5. The tone of this poem is happy and simple. Throughout the poem Walter just talks about a dog and how he’s going to get food and then at the end he gets the food, so there is a happy ending.
Tom's Little Dog by Walter de la Mare
Tom told his dog called Tim to beg,
And up at once he sat, His two clear amber eyes fixed fast,
His haunches on his mat. Tom poised a lump of sugar on
His nose; then, "Trust!" says he;
Stiff as a guardsman sat his Tim;
Never a hair stirred he.
"Paid for!" says Tom; and in a trice
Up jerked that moist black nose;
A snap of teeth, a crunch, a munch,
And down the sugar goes!
2. I chose this poem because I have two small Westies and I can relate to what he is talking about. I don't really feed them straight sugar and they can’t catch food off of their noses but everything else is about the same.
3. The title is very simple and is just explaining the main character: Tom’s Little Dog.
4. In the fifth line of the first stanza there is a simile referring to how the little dog Tim is sitting very straight and stiff: “Stiff as a guardsman sat his Tim”. I think this simile makes you visualize a small dog that is so stiff and all he cares about is getting that food. There is also consonance when he says “sat” in one line and then “mat” in the next line. I think the author wants the audience to focus on these words because it’s describing the action and where the dog is.
5. The tone of this poem is happy and simple. Throughout the poem Walter just talks about a dog and how he’s going to get food and then at the end he gets the food, so there is a happy ending.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Writing Territories
I like to mostly read things that are either suspenseful, comical or have something to do with sports. The only reading that I do outside of school is usually just reading the sports page in the newspaper. I don't think I've ever read poetry or read a play in my life outside of school but writing a play wasn't too bad of an expierence. What I like to write most, though, are short stories involving suspense. I very rarely write when it's not a school assignment except when I'm playing hangman when I'm bored in class or when I'm writing down directions to places. The topics that most intrigue me when I'm writing are either writing about a funny situation or writing about something suspenseful.
Sometimes during a summer day there's nothing to do and it's so nice outside but I'm not really in the mood to run around too much. Frisbee golf is perfect for just relaxing and hanging out with friends while having a good time competing with them. At first it wasn't very much fun and people had to force me to come play with them, but after I got the hang of it and learned how to throw the frisbee properly I slowly got more and more addicted to the sport. I'm still not that good in some areas like putting but I'm improving on that. My strength is definitely on midrange approach shots and I have a pretty decent drive as well. There are some downsides to the sport like waiting for a group of fifteen guys to go in front of you or when it gets really windy it can be difficult to make even the simplest of puts. Critics argue that it's just an easy way out for those people who are bad at real golf and have no hand-eye coordination, but I counter by saying that my hand-eye skills are perfectly fine, and are necessary for playing baseball and best of all, frisbee golf is free.
Sometimes during a summer day there's nothing to do and it's so nice outside but I'm not really in the mood to run around too much. Frisbee golf is perfect for just relaxing and hanging out with friends while having a good time competing with them. At first it wasn't very much fun and people had to force me to come play with them, but after I got the hang of it and learned how to throw the frisbee properly I slowly got more and more addicted to the sport. I'm still not that good in some areas like putting but I'm improving on that. My strength is definitely on midrange approach shots and I have a pretty decent drive as well. There are some downsides to the sport like waiting for a group of fifteen guys to go in front of you or when it gets really windy it can be difficult to make even the simplest of puts. Critics argue that it's just an easy way out for those people who are bad at real golf and have no hand-eye coordination, but I counter by saying that my hand-eye skills are perfectly fine, and are necessary for playing baseball and best of all, frisbee golf is free.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Toward the Future/From the Past
1) As I was writing my play I found that it was easier than I thought it would be to use the play format. In the past, when writing stories in the normal format, there was much more description needed in order to characterize people and what not. In the play format you needed some description but what gave the reader the knowledge of what the characters were like was the dialogue. I didn't really find anything to be hard or limiting about the play format, and I guess I was surprised at how easy it was to write a play compared to a short story.
2) The advice I would give to a kid about 5 or 10 years old would be mainly to pursue what you want to in life. A lot of times, especially in middle school and high school, kids do things just to fit in; these can just be little things like the clothes you wear or larger things like going to a college just because it's supposedly labeled "cool" by your peers. I'd also tell him/her to not take life for granted and have as much fun as possible while still managing to make it into a few colleges that interest you. If you don't want to get straight A's, and your parents keep nagging you to get straight A's, don't get straight A's. Do what you want to do. This advice is solely based on my experiences that I've had in life and definetely not influenced by authority like parents, although parents can definitely have good things to say, I think it's more important to follow your dreams and do what you want to do. My advice is based off of the choices I've made, peer issues I've delt with and school.
3) Works of literature that end up lasting a long time need to have some sort of insight or knowledge that is revolutionary or that not many people, if any, know about. For example, in Huck Finn the idea of racism and slavery being a bad thing was a new, revolutionary idea at the time and that's why it's still being read in classrooms today. I could not see myself writing something like that because a lot of the issues and ideas that I could see myself writing about have probably already been worked on or written about and it wouldn't be very revolutionary. The only slight chance I have of writing a peice of literature that lives forever is if I live an extremely insane life and then write an autobiography about it, but even then the chance of that peice of work lasting more than a few years in one library is slim to none.
2) The advice I would give to a kid about 5 or 10 years old would be mainly to pursue what you want to in life. A lot of times, especially in middle school and high school, kids do things just to fit in; these can just be little things like the clothes you wear or larger things like going to a college just because it's supposedly labeled "cool" by your peers. I'd also tell him/her to not take life for granted and have as much fun as possible while still managing to make it into a few colleges that interest you. If you don't want to get straight A's, and your parents keep nagging you to get straight A's, don't get straight A's. Do what you want to do. This advice is solely based on my experiences that I've had in life and definetely not influenced by authority like parents, although parents can definitely have good things to say, I think it's more important to follow your dreams and do what you want to do. My advice is based off of the choices I've made, peer issues I've delt with and school.
3) Works of literature that end up lasting a long time need to have some sort of insight or knowledge that is revolutionary or that not many people, if any, know about. For example, in Huck Finn the idea of racism and slavery being a bad thing was a new, revolutionary idea at the time and that's why it's still being read in classrooms today. I could not see myself writing something like that because a lot of the issues and ideas that I could see myself writing about have probably already been worked on or written about and it wouldn't be very revolutionary. The only slight chance I have of writing a peice of literature that lives forever is if I live an extremely insane life and then write an autobiography about it, but even then the chance of that peice of work lasting more than a few years in one library is slim to none.
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