Reflection

I found Maus to be an amazing book.  It's unique portrayal of World War II was genius, and it's illistrations paint a picture of what these "mice" went through.  I've never read a graphic Novel before, so I believe this was the perfect start and I would definitely read more based off this novel.

In my research of this novel, I was surprised to learn many things.   First of all, Maus I was the only graphic novel to ever win a Pulitzer Prize.  I wasn't really surprised by this, however, because it is an amazing book.  I was also surprised by to learn that this book took ten years to create.  Perhaps time is what makes a good book?

I would also like to reflect on the emotions this book stirs up.  We see Vladek trying to save his family and all his world from cumbling down.  You feel what he feels, and it puts you inside of the book.  The illistrations provide a perfect picture of what's happening and gives the book some depth.

Speaking of the illistrations, they themselves are also a genius idea.  The fact that he uses mice, cats, pigs, and dogs is so odd but it makes it easy to differentiate between the groups.  This book makes me want to read more about WWII and graphic novels.

One thing I want to touch base on is the fact that people are calling this book fiction  I think it is incredibly offensive for Artie's father, to call his story fiction.  Yes Vladek isn't a giant mouse, but that is just a visual aide.  Upon reading this I would completely call this non-fiction.

To conclude, this is the story of a loving family in the midst of horrible times, while paralleled by the story of a troubled relationship between a father and a son.  The book captivates you, and you feel what the characters feel. It's and awesome read and I would reccomend it to anyone interested in history or fiction.

Novemeber 10th, 2011

Today we played a game on sort of the humor of Love's Labour's Lost.  I think that this exercise showed us how humerous the tendencies of the people are especially to us, and maybe the audience because this is a comedy.  When I think about comeny in LLL, I think of the bombast language.  I feel that some of the audience didn't even know the meaning of some of these words, so that adds to the humor.  We fail to realize that perhaps no one talked as fancy as this back then, and that why we might fail to see the humor in it.

LLL #??

The character I choose for Act V is Dull.  Honestly, I did not understand any of the scenes in this act, but Sparknotes really helped me understand this part.  We see that I think Holfernes and Costard are sort of bickering back and fourth in Latin, and Dull just sits in the background because he doesn't understand, and even says he doesn't understand.  If I was in Dull's place, I would just feel so left out.  It would suck to have everyone be so well educated and be left out.  I feel really bad for him that they make fun of him.

 

I'm not really sure on the idea of truth and lies throughout the play.  But I understand what the play implies about the relationship between truth and love; I think it means you have to stay true to be in love.  Like in the end of the play the ladies want they to prove their love to them by waiting a year, or writing more poems or whatever. It seems that love and truth go hand in hand, but you have to prove yourself.  Truth and language are also well defined because we see people being witty and taking the literal meaning of each word. 

 

I think this play applies to human life, in several ways.  One way is how lazy we've become.  Like language, we seem to be very lazy and not creative in our sentences. We see all the vocab they used back then and we don't even know what have those words are.  Also, we've seem to become lazy with courting people too.  Back then these guys are waiting years to be with their woman and making poems and what not. Now women are lucky if guys hold the door open for them haha.

IRA #3

Well in Maus I'm seeing a lot of character development.  The next book starts with Artie on vaction with his wife and they get a phone call.  It's his father's neighbor, and he finds out his father had a heartattack.  So Artie has to go live with his father over the summer, and over this we see the real hatred he has for his father and his scruggie-ness.  He takes lot's of notes over this time, and we gain great insight into the world under the Nazi regime.  Sadly, only a few months later Vladek passes away.  This leaves Artie awstruck and almost unable to cope with another loss.  We begin to see some of his underground comics that show some of his feelings and I think this makes the book more interesting.

LLL #2

King-I find the king very proud, but very driven by his own will.  Like how he says there is not to be any women to interfere with their studies, however when the princess rolls around his own rule can be "foresworn".

Berowne-I like Berowne because I can understand him for the most part.  This makes me seem like he might be a little dull compared to the other lords because he doesn't use the vast language they do.

Princess-One word. Witty.  She uses her vocab like the other girls to remain serious and get "courted" by the king. She seems to pride herself in this.

Rosaline-Like the princess, she plays mind games witht the men with her vocabulary and gets commended for it.

Costard-Comical, but dull in his speaking.  He takes the literal meaning of words, which adds to the comedy.

Boyet-The most witty of the group.  I feel as though he might be the leader to the lords, because of their interactions.

 

Votaries--Someone who is stuck to their views.

Renumeration--Money repaid.

Gelded--To get strength.

Bedecking--Showy manner.

LLL

Vocab: Tharborough-constable (thanks katie!), Mirth-laughter, Beguile-charm, Recombance-lying down. I think the humor used in LLL is very old. They dont tend to use "punchline" comedy but more just wordplay. It really makes you think! An example would be the king saying they cannot be in contact with women, unless its neccessary haha. He said it can be forsworn, and thats when Berwone (i think i spelled that right) decides to sign  the oath, the oath that can be forsworn whenever.

Independent Reading #2

Well I've finished Maus and I was suprised to see that the characters didnt evolve much. There is a second part to this book (which ive started) and we see that Artie's father dies and he does evolve from that incident so its nice to see some growth.  But at the end of that book we see an almost hatred from his father, even calling him a 'monster'. He blames his fathers lack of love for his mother on her death, but really we see that through the holocaust that he really loves her, so we can surmise that the holocaust really effected him.  I hope to see more on Vladeks story and how it changed him.

Independent Reading

Well first of all, the book Maus is turning out to be a great read.  The book is about a son writing about his father's experience in WWII. By the way theyre mice haha. But anyways, we begin to see the troubled relationship between the main character and his father. They often bicker back and fourth. I see it mostly as the father's fault, but it's justifyable because he doesn't seem happy that his son is an artist or that his wife isn't as good as his first wife. There is a struggle within him, for regrets about the war, that we see are developing. The book is detailing the death of his first wife and child almost simultaniously so its understandable why he is feeling regretful.  I feel for him.  In the next part of my readin, I hope to see Artie develop a little more and learn more about his troubles in Mouswitcz.

Things Fall Apart

Overall, in my opinion Things Fall Apart is a great book. I can see why ms. A chose it for AP.  There are classic examples of cultural relevance, a 'fall from grace' and examples of the invasion of white people from a different point of view.  The book always kept me wanting more, and I would say its a new classic. One of my favorite parts about this book is the storyline. It shows the once great people of the Umofia and Okonkwo, and how their civilization changes so so drastically. The use of foreshadowing the life of his father with Okonkwo really helped us see why he is the way he is.  In the end, I would critique this as a great novel, because of its portrayal of how things can be great but fall apart.  Its a great read for all

Tragic Hero

My definition of a 'tragic hero' is someone who does good deeds, but at their own 'tragic' expense.  How can we relate this.  Well i see it related to Okonkwo in the sense that he was trying to save or protect his people, but he couldnt and killed himself at his own expense.  Tragic heroes often have many downfalls. Such as when Beowulf fought the dragon and died 'tragically' by being bitten. In the end, I believe my definiton of a tragoc hero almost can be related to every book weve read, and they seem to suffer something horrible at their own expense.

Fear

When I think of the fear the two Ibo nations felt, in relation to war the only relatable example I can think of would be the cold war between America and Russia.  Both countries were fearful the other would bomb them with nuclear bombs.  What drove these fears?? I would say the possiblity that eaither country would cease to be a superpower anymore and easier to be attacked by other countries.  I think the Ibo nation that Okonkwo was from would be facing the same situation, as being pecieved as weak if they didnt retaliate against the rival nation.

Relating Ikemafunas troubles to me, I think I would share this fear.  Of course, I dont think I would assimilate like he did.  I would probably be alone and not become an actual part of their family.  but thats just me haha.

Living Live

You know, I love the idea of "facebook" and other social networking sites, but I think they might be taking things a little too far.  Like when ever you post a status it tells you where you are now! Do you want people knowing where you are all the time?? I didn't think so.  I wish we had the old facebook back where people just had cheesy song lyrics and pictures.  Honestly though, I am glad I have facebook.  Once we graduate I think we're all going to want to keep in touch with our high school classmates! My mom's age group is almost just discovering facebook and it's crazy how many high school friends and old coworkers that she has come back into touch with.  So the question..why are we so "live"?  It's just to keep in touch and stay connected with friends.  I do think things might be on the verge of getting too personal, but as of now social networking sites are a great way to keep friends and keep in touch.  END.

What Makes a Good Hero(t)?

Hmm..What does make a good hero?  Is it valor, courage, leadership? Perfectly Quaffed Hair?! I would say it could be a mixture of a lot of elements (maybe not so much the quaffed hair haha).  When we look at Beowulf we see he is selfless when he shows up to Herot to help fight the beast Grendel who has been tormenting them. When he kills Grendel, he even expresses sorrow that he did not even kill the demon directly so they could have his body as a trophy.  Part of being a good hero is modesty as well.  I feel this might be a characteristics that Beowulf lacks by accepting the steeds and trophies and gold. 

I would say that there really isn't a perfect example of a hero that incorperates the traits of strength, valor, etc.  Beowulf does come extremely close to this though.  The book does foreshadow in the story of the Dane King how the power got to his head and even Hrothgar (how he used to be a good warrior but now he is weak as a warrior now that he is a king) so I'm interested to see if Beowulf will keep his heroic ways when he becomes king, or if he will become like his predcessors.