Summer 2010

Author's note: This took forever to make; starting with the collage on the left and getting all of the pictures to look good together, then blending the picture on the right into the collage, and rounding the courners on picnik. It took awhilee, but I think it turned out pretty cool. :) Can't wait for summerr. :)

And this is how it ends.. :/

Author's Note: Frienship breakups suck. End of story. :(

Thinking back to how things were,
Reminiscing, everything's a blur
Deep dark secrets that we'd never share
Why did this happen? It just isn't fair

What did I do wrong?
Why's this happening to me?
I thought you were my friend,
Now it's easier to see:

You gossip for hours
Not the way we did
This time it's about me
About things I never once did

Forever and always
Not anymore
We're miles away
From how we were before.

Author's Symbolism

Author's Note: Here is a response to Mark Haddon's novel, The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time. This response is mainly about the symbolism in this novel and the other novels that we have read. It points out the meaning behind that symbolism, and the people involved with it.

In each of the many novels we have read throughout the course of the past two years, we have seen many different author's takes on the lives we live, with their use of symbolism. In the novel The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon's main character struggles from autism, making me wonder what exactly his inspiration was when writing this novel. In the first few sentences of the novel, an innocent poodle is killed, which in my opinion is showing us that those who refuse to believe in the possibilities in life, are those who are too scared to embrace their true feelings and those who are not strong enough to live with the truth.

:D

Author's Note: This is what I made instead of doing my homework the other night. Haha it's a jumble of some of my favorite quotes. :)

Life Without Purpose

To read my essay response to Graham Greene's novel, The Power and the Glory, visit my essay blog. The link is at the top of my blog, and be sure to give me your feedback.

Thanks :)

-Taylor

Human or Animal?

Author's Note: Here is a response to Graham Greene's novel The Power and the Glory. This is a response regarding the mestizo -- a traitor who lives the life of an animal.

With two fanged teeth and an animal like personality to match, the mestizo represents what it truly means to live like a dog. Sleeping in jail cells as if they are a hotel, perfectly comfortable laying next to his own vomit, and being known as a modern day Judas, this life is not a life which we would be proud to live, for only an animal would have the patience to put up with it.

While running from the government, the priest encounters this mestizo and spends the night with him while camping out in a nearby hut. From the start the priest, "was determined not to sleep -- the man had some plan…He knew. He was in the presence of Judas." (p. 91) It is clear the mestizo is going to end up in the layer of hell with those who do not stand up for something in their life, for revolving your life around yourself and never actually standing up for something, is a waste of a life and that person never really deserved to live at all. The animal like life which the mestizo lives is not a life which we would ever want to even consider living for those who betray, those who never stand up for something, and those who are okay with these sins, never deserved life in the first place.

Religous Traitors

Author's Note: In the novel The Power and the Glory, religion is not only frowned upon, it is considered illegal. This response is talking about the power of religion and with it banned, people now have to find a new "crutch" to turn to in their time of need.

When living in an ironic world where nothing seems to be going the way you planned, what would you turn to for reasurrance and comfort? With billions of people in the world, it is clear that not everyone is going to like us, but when we stand up for something we truly believe in, these opinions don't seem to matter much at all. Throughout the course of the novel The Power and the Glory, characters are tested and true personalities are revealed as the controlling government decides what will be considered right and what will be considered wrong.


Religion is thought to be one of the main crutches in todays society, for when everything seems to be going wrong we can always turn to God and know that things will all work out in the end. However now that religion is illegal, and priests turn to traiters, would we have the guts to stand up for our beliefs? Having priests turn against their own religion is exactly what the government was hoping would happen as if they are telling them that they do not need religion, that they are the only leaders they need in order to survive.

Forever and Always

Author's Note: Here is a poem type response to Nicholas Spark's novel Dear John. This is written in Savannah's point of view and is a visual of what their time was like together right after they met. It was love at first sight for John and Savannah and this entry shows that connection that they shared.

Breakup Letter Re-write

Author's Note: Here is my version of the breakup letter from Nicholas Sparks novel, Dear John. This letter is written from Savannah's point of view as she writes a letter to John, who is currently in Iraq. This is the letter that puts an end to their relationship and explains why it is time for her to end it.

Dear John,

With all that we have been through together, it is hard for me to gather my thoughts and spill them out onto paper, especially with these countless tears running down my cheeks. I understand if you hate me, and if you never wish to speak to me again because right now, part of me hates me too. When I look in the mirror, I feel your presence with me, looking down on me for the choices I made and I feel that I do not deserve to be loved at all. Before I decided to write this letter I spent a lot of time trying to make sense of my thoughts and right now all I know is how much you mean to me and just how much I am going to miss you.

I know this is a terrible time for you and as I sit here I try to imagine what exactly life is like for you right now. I pray for you each and every night, and I always will. No matter how much things may change, I want you to know that. We have had our ups and downs throughout the last two and a half years, and with you gone overseas it seems we have more downs now than ever before. I long to be with you once again, and to be able to relieve the events from last summer: the times on the beach, the times I spent in your arms, and the countless memories. You and I shared someone wonderful and to me that means our souls will be linked together forever. But as we both know, things have changed John. With you gone all the time, I feel I have no one else to turn to, I cry myself to sleep at night and try to imagine you next to me, like the night we spent together so long ago. I hate myself for saying this, but I feel it is time to tell you, instead of letting this go on any longer and believe me I did not mean to fall in love with someone else.

I myself do not even know how it happened, so there is no possible way for me to expect you to. I am truly sorry and I should have done he right thing and told you a long time ago, but I could never find the heart to do so. Part of me wishes you could be here with me now so this could have been done in person, but as we both know that is not possible, so I guess this is how it has to be. No matter what the future may bring, you will always be my first true love John, and I believe I am the person I am because of it.

Please forgive me,

Savannah

Love or Country

Author's Note: Here is a quick introductory response to Nicholas Spark's novel Dear John. In this response I introduce the two main characters and give a little background info to how the novel was put together and the time period in which it takes place.

For our independent novel, Morgan and I are reading Nicholas Spark's romantic novel Dear John. Even though we are only about 55 pages into the novel, the theme is clear: love. Nicholas is famous for his other novels such as The Notebook, A Walk to Remember and The Last Song, showing how much of a romantic writer he really is. Dear John was written in 2006 but takes place around 9/11, forcing the main character of the novel, John Tyree, to make a choice no soldier would want to make: love or his country. After meeting Savannah, a college girl vacationing for spring break, he knows that he has just met someone he will never forget. Realizing that he is only on leave for a few weeks, John knows that he is going to have to make a choice; Savannah, or the military. Upon returning to North Carolina, John will discover that "love can transform us in ways we could have never imagined." Although Dear John, isn't exactly a difficult read, we are able to read between the lines and see what we can all uncover.

Life Of Pi

To read my essay on Life Of Pi, visit my essay blog. :)

Island of Reflection

After spending months at sea, with no food, no water, and your only company being a Bengal tiger, even the smallest plot of land would seem like a dream come true. However the idea of an algae covered floating island, is quite the opposite. In my opinion Martel is demonstrating that things do not always turn out the way we want to and the way I visualized the island, it seemed as if it represented Pi himself. Pi was a vegetarian for as long as he could remember, but after being thrown out to sea and therefore being forced to fight for his own survival, he broke away from that lifestyle and killed any animal he could lay his hands on. The island, although only a piece of land floating in the Pacific, ate animals, insects, and even humans for it's own "survival". I think that the fact that the island was introduced after the scenes of Pi's animal consumption was meant to be sort of a punishment for Pi, showing him exactly what all this animal death looks like.

Best Friends

Pi's Religion

As stated in the first amendment, "congress can't make laws establishing a religion, prohibiting it's free exercise," however the idea of religious freedom is demonstrated quite differently in Yann Martel's novel, Life of Pi. As free citizens we have the right to practice the religion we want to practice and there are no recorded laws telling us how many religions we can belong to. In India -- where Pi was raised -- the thought of practicing more than one religion, is simply looked down upon. Therefore when Pi decides to practice three, the priests, and his parents are questioning what exactly his motivation could be.

Each religion has its own fables, its own beliefs and its own ways of worship, therefore how is it wrong for someone to belong to more than one religion, to believe more than one story? When questioned about his faith, Pi replied, "all religions are true. I just want to love God." (p.69) Throughout the novel, story telling and religion walk hand and hand, simply because it is those who listen, who truly believe. Although religion may be something not talked about, -- a taboo in our society -- that does not mean it is unimportant. Whether it be one religion, or three, Pi helps illustrate the impact religion has in our lives, taboo or not.

Fahrenheit 451

Imagine living in a world with families lining the streets, wandering the streets, wearing no warm clothes -- no coats, no jackets, no hats or gloves. I as a thirty five year old mother of two, every night drive into my subdivision and see these helpless people making makeshift huts out of whatever they can set their hands on. Now if these people were to have an actual home, a place for them to stay and get food when they need it, our society as we know it would change drastically. Every month we have a weekend set for fundraising to help gather clothes and money to help us build one more homeless shelter in the community, but we still do not raise enough. Therefore I am asking you to help fund a shelter to help get the people of our commmunity safe and sheltered once again.

Mister Senator,

As you may already be aware the homeless population has increased dramatically over the past
few years. Due to the rising numbers, more people have been roaming the streets in search of a place to call home. Now if these people were to be given a place to stay -- a warm shelter, to share with others, like themselves -- our society as we know it, would change considerably. Therefore I -- a thirty five year old mother of two -- am writing to ask you to help fund homeless shelters across the state of Wisconsin to help these people find a warm place to spend the winter.

Each day as I drive home from work and pull into my subdivision, along the sides of the street live families -- mothers, fathers, and children -- walking the sides of the road, searching for somewhere to spend the night. Homelessness is a problem close to home, which although cannot be fixed overnight, is not an impossible task to take on and therefore not an impossible task to change. All of us can pitch in to make a change; donating clothes, money, and food to the local food pantries. But we still need your help. Even just one homeless shelter is enough to make a huge difference in our community and enough to help hundreds of families in need.

Every third Saturday of each month, I help run a community night to help gather money and clothes to give to shelters around Wisconsin and a portion of the procedes helps to raise enough money to build the one shelter we need. After years of this program we still are not even half way to our goal. Families big and small attend community night in search of something fun to do on their weekends off. Please help us raise the money we need for it could take years if we continue to do this on our own.

Helping to get these families off of the streets, should be a top priority in Wisconsin, for it is a problem, which needs to be dealt with. Please consider donating money to help support these people and to help us collect enough money and donations to build one more homeless shelter, for one more is enough to change the lives of many. Thank you for your time and please take this letter into consideration.

Sincerely,
Taylor J.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 firefighter Guy Montag comes across a group of men, wanted by
the government, who live their lives on the run, and make shelters alongside the railroad tracks, for they have no where else to go and no one else to turn to. If these men were to have a shelter built for them -- a place where they could stay and where they could seek comfort whenever they may need it -- the homeless population would decrease once again, and these men and their families could once again be safe and protected.

Art Museum

Various colors and shapes
Differing obstacles
Differences
Troubles of the world
Obstacles
The random pattern of today


Freeing ourselves from all surrounding us
Erasing all reality
We are free
Free to do as we please
Free to act how we want to act
Free to express ourselves
In a way all our own.

Project

For my project I am thinking about writing a pretend letter to the government asking them to build more homeless shelters. This idea relates to the novel because Montag found those people living alongside the train tracks, for they had no real home. If shelters were built these people would have somewhere to go to keep them off of the streets.

Does anyone have any ideas to help me improve this idea? Please comment. :)

Dance :)

Fahrenheit 451

When living in an ironic world, never being able to speak your mind, and everyday living with a sense of fear towards the government, there is but one person you can turn to, one person to share your ture feelings with -- your husband. Detatching yourself from the rest of the world, only caring about what plays on your parlor walls, and consuming sleeping pills as if you life depends on it, illustrates the insignificant life in which Mildred Montag lives. Spending hours on end watching people on screen to the point where you don't remember when and where you and your husband met is an unimaginable thought, for you and your husband are supposed to be inseperable, helping each other through everything and always being there for each other, and if you can't remember how you met this man -- not rememberig one of the most important occurances in your life -- it is time for your life to change dramatically.

Closing yourself off from the real world, speaking yet not speaking, loving yet not loving, and living as if you are not living at all is a fear Ray Bradbury describes as the most tragic event we could ever encounter. Forgetting the most important events of your life, only hoping to get back to the television screen, is a life so ironic, only Mildred Montag could ever bear to live it; as demonstrated in Ray Bradbury's classic novel Fahrenheit 451.