Getting to Know Characters

Today in class we were discussing the first scene of Fences. We find out a lot about Troy just from his dialogue. We imagine him as dominating, an exaggerator, a storyteller. And all of these things we infer from the dialogue alone. It's interesting how an author can help us get to know the character through different aspects, but what the character says can give us a lot of insight about them just from a few words. This discussion in class made me think of my choice novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The main character, Charlie, tells the story through letters he writes, and, in my opinion, it is his tone and his dialogue that helps you to get to know him the best. It really shows how he thinks about things and how he perceives the world. Because he is describing his own actions, we can see how he really sees himself and the people around him. His tone is quite innocent, but as he goes along, you can tell from some changes in tone that he is getting more experienced. He goes through a lot of emotional turmoil, and you can tell just how much certain things affect him by the tone he uses. In this way, the voice of the character is a key factor in how we imagine them to be.

Technology Takeover

In class we have been talking about Modernism this week. One aspect of Modernism that really struck me was how technology was thought of as dehumanizing, as when machines started taking over the assembly lines, so the labor of the individual wasn't valuable anymore. I know that technology is very important to our society, but I believe that there are some areas of life that should be kept technology free.

Earlier this week my friend and I had a debate about books vs. e-readers. As technology takes over, books are becoming part of the electronic world, and soon printed books will be a thing of the past. I firmly believe that this is not good; however my friend took the opposite point of view. He said that books wasted paper (look at how many trees are killed), the only purpose served in owning shelves of books is for vain people to show their possessions, so they can seem more worldly, and with an e-reader is easier to carry on vacation. While I agree with this last part, especially with the weight limits for luggage on planes these days, I believe that without printed books, literature would lose its integrity. I personally like to hold the book in my hand and turn the pages. Also, without printed books, what would happen to our annotations? :) But even more than that, e-readers could be a show of materialism too (look at my new gadget). Printed books may kill trees, but they can be recycled. In fact, a book I am currently reading is made entirely out of recycled paper. It can be done. E-readers use electricity, and everything that's used to make them will end up in the landfills as well, so it turns out to be an even argument.

It reminds me of Metamorphosis, since it's a transformation of society from the way things used to be, and I think that if printed books were gone, we would look back and realize how much we had valued them, just as Gregor realizes the real value of what's outside his window. As society continues advancing technologically, as we all know it needs to, some of the old tradition needs to be kept in tact.

Slumdog Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

This week in class we have been talking a lot about the "other" in literature, the character on the outside, and how the "others" are defined. During these discussions I was reminded of a book I read for AP Comp, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. The book takes place in a mental hospital, and it's all about the hierarchy within the hospital, with the patients being the lowest class. On top is Nurse Ratched, the most intimidating and powerful nurse on the ward, with her "black boys" underneath her; they're the ones that clean the ward and also help take care of the patients. On the very bottom, of course, are the mental patients on the ward. In Slumdog Millionaire, one of the major themes is social class. Because Jamal is from the slums, people in the higher castes expect him to stay there. It's practically unheard of to have someone climb the social ladder. Salim, more than Jamal, is concerned with advancing himself out of the slums. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes on this same issue of social mobility through the lens of the mental hospital. It's all about the patients' struggle to reverse the power structure within the ward and be treated as worthy individuals, very similar to Slumdog Millionaire. If you are interested in these themes, I definitely recommend this book. Going back to the UW lecture, Professor Zimmerman also compared Slumdog to The Great Gatsby, which I think is a worthwhile read. He also mentioned Across the Universe, which I recommend to everyone as well. It's definitely one of my favorite movies of all time. I thought it was interesting to see it compared to Slumdog. So, if you want to go more in depth on what we discussed this week, it's worth checking out. Let's just say I never listened to "Strawberry Fields Forever" the same way again.

Introducing Me

Hey, it's Sarah! The last quarter of my high school career has just begun, which is great because I'm sorry to say that senioritis set in about three quarters ago. As far as my plans after high school go, first I will be attending UW-Whitewater in the Fall. Right now I want to major in Psychology, in hopes of getting a degree in Social Work. I'm going to minor in Spanish as well. Besides that I want to travel...a lot. I want to study abroad in Costa Rica, among many other places. I am considering transferring to California in a couple of years as well, as that is my second home, as much as I love it in Wisconsin. Part of living in a small town my entire life makes me want to explore many other places. We'll see where life takes me. My interests obviously include Psychology and Spanish. I want to learn other languages as well. Right now, the top of my list includes Polish and Italian. I love to travel, but I haven't been many places, so that is also one of my goals. I went to Poland last summer and loved it. I hope to possibly study abroad at the University of Krosno. But the list goes on and on. I love reading and music, watching movies, spending time with my friends and family, cooking, going to baseball games, etc, etc, etc. How could I possibly pick a favorite book, movie, or musician? There are too many to choose from. However, if I absolutely had to pick, I would probably have to say my favorite book is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is simply amazing. My favorite movie, at least at the moment, is Benny and Joon because raisins really are humiliated grapes, and my favorite musicians are The Beatles, but I've recently been in a Janis Joplin phase, among many many others. That's just a little about me. I'm looking forward to College Lit with everyone!