The Power of True Friendship (10/27/14, 8:38pm)

"I'll be there for you when the rain starts to pour"

Envy Quickly Fades Into Admiration

       When a person admires someone or something it is usually because that object of affection is what we are not. Animals have many abilities that humans lack like the ability to run as fast as a cheetah or even the capability of flight like a bird. These talents that animals have often make humans jealous. This envy leads to humans thinking of how lucky these animals are and how unique they are. This minuscule piece of jealousy vanishes and leads to us admiring that particular animal. An animal I was at first envious of was an owl. I was jealous of their ability of flight and their superior eyesight. Their beautiful and chilling vocal cries also made me jealous. Their vast beauty and their capability to travel anywhere captivated me. It was not fair that an animal was capable of being so in charge of their lives and they had the ability of freedom. At first I didn't think it was fair that such an astonishing animal was gifted with all these astounding abilities but then I realized that humans are gifted with talents that owls are not. This made me less envious of owls and I started to admire them. I then perceived that owls are very similar to myself. While I cannot fly like an owl I can run while an owl can barely walk. I also came to the conclusion that owls aren't really free. They too are controlled by humanity. An owl cannot simply go to a place like New York City and live because it will not survive. It would not be capable to live in large cities and needs the forest to survive, limiting its freedom.
        This theme of admiring animals is continued in the two essays, "The Death of the Moth" by Virginia Woolf and "The Courage of Turtles" by Edward Hougland. Both these authors admire their respective animals for similar reasons. In the end of both stories the author tries to help a dying animal while the animal struggles to adapt to its new surroundings. Edward tries to help save the turtles by throwing it into the water but he realizes too late that the turtle cannot survive in the deep water. Virginia tried to save a moth that was dying to escape the house. She tried to pick it up on a pencil but realized too late that it was dead. Both these animals fought to survive and tried to escape death. The animal's struggle to live and their refusal of death made that authors admire them. The authors were baffled by the animals’ tries to escape the inedibility of death even though they will ultimately die.
(10/9/14 at 09:52pm)

Complexity

"Early the next morning we checked out. It was February 26, 1979, a Monday morning. We would drive out of town, find a hilltop, watch the eclipse, and then drive back over the mountains and home to the coast. How familiar things are here; how adept we are; how smoothly and professionally we check out! I had forgotten the clown's smiling head and the hotel lobby as if they had never existed. Gary put the car in gear and off we went, as off we have gone to a hundred other adventures."-Annie Dillard, Total Eclipse

This passage in the story stands out to me due to its complexity in meaning. When I first read this passage I thought  it was just another simple part of the story but when I reread it I realized that the passage's simplicity hides its sophisticated meaning. At first I thought it was just a passage that was stating when this event took place and a brief explanation of what happened prior to the main event. However I was wrong. Dillard briefly described the rising actions to the story for a reason. Her lack of detail was intentional because she wanted this passage to stick out against the rest of her story. She's trying to say that no matter how important we think the small things, like the creepy clown and checking out of a hotel, are they don't matter, it is all a part of a routine. I kind of like this idea that the small things don't really impact the main event but at the same time I don't like this idea of forgetting a face, the clown's face. The clown picture is like a person and Dillard is basically saying that in life we meet people and they affect us for a short time and when we move onto a new journey we forget these faces. I don't like this idea of continually forgetting people just because they are not currently apart of my life and that they don't matter because they were a part of my past. She is trying to justify forgetting someone from my past as a part of human nature and I don't think that it is acceptable to forget someone just because they are not currently apart of my life. I also do not like how this passage fits into the story.

The use of this passage in Dillard's story is contradicting to the story as a whole. By referring the loose of memory of the clown's image and the hotel lobby he 'forgets' part of the rising action. She acts as if this part of the story's rising action is irrelevant. This contradicts her whole story because in the beginning she describes brief parts of her journey like the avalanche and the "clumps of bundled people on the hillside". Why would she describe the rising action but then brush it off and basically say that its not important. If she truly thought it wasn't important she should have started her story off at the climax where she is on top of the mountain and watching the eclipse.

(10/05/14 3:02pm)

Not Everything Changes

This short story, written by E. B. White, takes place around the 1940s. The time period of "Once More to the Lake" is curtail because the story itself revolves around the the idea of time changing. The main character appears to be obsessed with time and how he and his surroundings age. The two particular time periods that haut his mind are the past before technology and present where technology is a major influence.
In the story he is a father with a son going to an old camping spot where his father used to take him. He describes how the lake is primal and has not aged while he has. In the story whenever his son does something he has a sense of deja-vu and remembers doing or saying that as a child. These flashes of memories remind White of his youth and how he is still in a sense young. As a child White went to the camp when cars were not invented and the horse drawn carriages created three lanes. During his stay with his son he walks along the same road and describes how the it used to have three lanes and not two.  Now with the advancement of technology cars exist and make two grooves in the dirt road, not three. Once again technology troubles White. The advancement in technology has lead to outboard engines which cause a of noise. The old two or three-cylinder engines on the boats were quite and only made a soft humming sound. This new sound ruins White's view of the quiet lake and the lake becomes less wild. Every where White looks he sees some type of technology or something that reminds him that he is old and that time continues to age him. Towards the end of the essay White makes a reference to his impending death when he describe a deathly chill in his groin. White does not mean he is dying; instead he means that his power to create life is dying and soon it will be his son's turn to have a child.

Freedom in Death

            In the story, “The Story of An Hour”, the main character suffers from a heart disease. This heart problem is rather ironic because like her heart she is constricted and her sole purpose is to beat for someone else. Her heart problem worsens when she hears that her husband has died. Although most people would become depressed when they hear their spouse has died she did not. Mrs. Mallard was ecstatic. She could now live her life freely and most importantly she was free from her husband. He no longer had any control over her life and she no longer had to live for him.

            The limited setting of the story expresses the theme of a struggle for freedom. In this story the setting consists of a room, a staircase, and a front door. None of these places offer a vast space and freedom. They are all limited and confined places. This idea of the setting being finite reflects Mrs. Mallard’s need from freedom. She is trapped in this small area and cannot get out. Figuratively speaking she is trapped in a place where her husband rules and she cannot escape his rule. He is like a cage stopping her from escaping.  Her desperation of freedom leads to her ultimate escape, death.  

What Am I?

This object doubles as a barrier between winning and losing. It is also a place where cheers of excitement or groans of defeat are heard. This object rests on a soft, viridescent surface that is home to many. A white mesh stretches and clothes this object. This object has a solid base but does not have an actual solid form.  This object also has no actual shape, it could be considered a rectangle or a triangle depending on what angle you view it from.   

A Good Reader and Writer

A good reader cannot be simply defined by their fluency and level of comprehension. Saying a good reader is defined by their fluency and comprehension is like saying two blades of grass create a field. There are many blades of grass that create the field of a good reader. The other blades of grass in this field are the emphasis on words and the emotions that your voice carries. The dark blades are the active readers, the ones who thrive. An active reader is someone who questions the author or text, looks up the definitions of words they do not know, and is a person who relates the writing to something in their life.

A good writer cannot be simply defined by how intriguing their story is or by how complex their vocabulary is. Saying a good writer is defined by how fascinating their tale is or by how advanced their vocabulary is like saying two grains of sand makes a beach. The beach of a good writer requires many grains of sand. The smaller grains of sand are grammar and spelling, they aren’t very import but the still contribute to the beach. Other grains are a good climax and exposition, the message the story portrays, the tone of the story or its characters, and also the organization of the story.

Both a good reader and a good writer require many qualities. The best writer is a good reader and the best reader is a good writer.