Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 7

Passage:

"'And how many hours a day did you do lessons?' said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject. 'Ten hours the first day,' said the Mock turtle: 'nine the next, and so on.' 'What a curious plan!' exclaimed Alice. 'That's the reason they're called lessons,' the Gryphon remarked: 'because they lessen from day to day.'"

Page:

111

Comments and Response:

I choose this scene purely because of the humor in the word play that is used. Instead of lesson being used in the traditional where the person is taught something, Lewis Carroll uses the words phonetic saying to say something else completely that being lessen.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 6

Passage:
"Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had made her so savage when they met in the kitchen. 'When I'm a Duchess,' she said to herself (not in a very hopeful tone, though), 'I wo'n't have any pepper in my kitchen at all. Soup does very well without-Maybe it's always pepper that makes people hot-tempered," she went on, very much pleased at having found out a new kind of rule, "and vinegar that makes them sour-and camomile that makes them bitter- and-and barley-sugar and such things that make children sweet-tempered."

Page:
103

Comments and Response:
This further develops Alice's character as a little girl that does not know much about the world. She does not realize that ingredients in food do not turn people a certain way and that different situations and circumstances are what make people a certain way. In addition it is funny how she says that when she becomes "a Duchess." I find this funny because this is how little kids talk, they say that they will become this and that.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 5

Passage:

"'Would you tell me, please,' said Alice, a little timidly, 'why you are painting those roses?' Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began, in a low voice, 'Why, the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and, if the Queen was to find it out, we should have all our heads cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we're doing our best, afore she comes to-'"

Page:

91

Comments and Response:

This single passage develops the cards Two, Five, and Seven and it also develops the Queen. It is shown in this passage that the cards are incompetent by planting the wrong set of flowers, planting white flowers instead of red flowers. This passage also shows the gravity of their mistake, their mistake being punishable by death. Through the degree of the penalty that is being served for a simple mistake as planting the wrong set of flowers shows the Queens character as somewhat an irrational character. Punishing the cards by beheading them is an extreme thing for such a small offense.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 4

Passage:
"'Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. 'I'm glad they've begun asking riddles--I believe I can guess that,' she added aloud.
'Do you mean that you think that you can find out the answer to it?' said the March Hare.
'Exactly so,' said Alice.
'Then you should say what you mean.' the March Hare went on.
'I do,' Alice hastily replied; 'at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know.'
'Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. 'Why, you might just as well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same thing as 'I eat what I see!'
'You might just as well say,' added the March Hare, 'that 'I like what I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like'!
'You might as well say,' added the Dormouse, which seemed to be talking in its sleep, 'that ' I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe'!"

Page:
80

Comments and Response:
Although all of them are mad (crazy) they present a very interesting argument to Alice that makes her rethink what she had said. Although all the same words are in the sentence rearranging them creates a different meaning of the sentence all together. Rearranging the words makes something sensible like "I breathe when I sleep" instead saying something ridiculous like "I sleep when I breathe" which implies that ever time you breathe you are sleeping, which doesn't make for a very interesting life.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 3

Passage:
"'Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, 'it'll never do to come upon them this size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!' So she began to nibbling at the the right-hand bit again, and did not venture to go near the house till she had brought herself down to nine inches high."

Page:
64

Comments and Response:
For someone who has been going through trouble since arriving in Wonderland one would think that Alice would be much nicer and not play tricks on others. Her being mischievous might be due to her being young, or that Wonderland is beginning to change her. It seems that the later is more correct because earlier in the book she was messing with the white rabbit when he was just trying to get into his own house. In addition she is readily eating the mushroom piece that makes her grow just to scare some people that she has not even meet yet.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1

Passage:
"It was all very well to say 'Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. 'No I'll look first,' she said, 'and see whether it's marked 'poison' or not'; for she had read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut finger very deeply with a knife that, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if a you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.

Page:
17

Comments and Response:
This passage shows the great amount of wisdom that Alice believes she has. In this passage Lewis Carroll is poking fun at the character named Alice by calling her wise and then saying something ridiculous that only an innocent child would say, "and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later." Through this example Lewis used the character of Alice to underscore the effects of drinking poison by  making them seem not as serious as they actually which will ultimately lead to the death of the person who drank the poison.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 2

Passage:
"The first question of course was, how to get dry again...At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of some authority among them, called out "Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'll soon make you dry enough!" They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon. "Ahem!" said the Mouse with an important air. "Are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know, Silence all round, if you please! 'William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, earls of Mercia and Northumbria--'"

Page:
33

Comments and Response:
This scene depicts some of the wackiness that occurs in Wonderland. Instead of the Mouse coming up with an idea that will get everybody dry, in the sense that everybody will no longer be wet, he instead comes up with a dry topic that everybody will find boring. This scene also puts to good use the double meanings that words have in different contexts in this case it being dry. In addition this scene provides the reader that not everything is what it seems in wonderland.

The Rise of Nine 2

Passage:
"Now Eight stands and stretches, revealing a bit of his stomach as his shirt lifts. He leans down and picks up a walking stick and twirls it in his hands. I can’t take my eyes off of him. It’s such a new and unusual feeling for me and makes me feel shy and excited at the same time.

Pages:
No pages reading on pdf file o my laptop

Comments & Response:
Number seven who also goes by the name Marina is totally crushing on Eight. It seems as all these feelings towards eight are new for her and that she has not experienced these kind of feelings before. This also creates greater imagery of number Eight because this chapter is told from the perspective of Marina who is falling hard for him. This passage is not the first time that she has expressed sense of liking him but this passage states a sign of affection of Marina to Eight.

The Rise of Nine

Passage:
"I’m struck by his playfulness, unsure if it’s going to be an attribute or a liability. I decide to view it as a positive. I can just see the annoyance and confusion on the Mogadorians’ faces moments before this kid turns them to ash. Crayton leans forward and, as if they’d rehearsed the routine in advance, Eight does a flip onto the ground, then claps his hands, obviously pleased with himself."

Pages:
Not known, reading it off a pdf file on my laptop.

Comments & Response:
This is character development of the the characters number six and number eight. Six displays characteristics of being cautious but also of being an optimistic character stating that she will take his playfulness "as a positive." Eight is shown to be a kind of comedian or tension reliever for the group which may come in handy as Six has stated, "I can just see the annoyance and confusion on the Mogadorians' faces moments before this kid turns them to ash."

Poems From Lewis Carroll: Dreamland

Passage:

"When midnight mists are creeping,

And all the land is sleeping,

Around me tread the mighty dead,

And slowly pass away.

Lo, warriors, saints, and sages, 

From out the vanished ages,

With solemn pace and reverend face

Appear and pass away.

The blaze of noonday splendour,

The twilight soft and tender,

May charm the eye: yet they shall die,

Shall die and pass away.

But here, in Dreamland's centre,

No spoiler's hand may enter,

These visions fair, this radiance rare,

Shall never pass away.

I see the shadows falling.

The forms of old recalling;

Around me tread the mighty dead,

And slowly pass away."

Page:

No pages

Comments and Response:

The theme of this poem is that dreams are forever and the real world is not. While the real world "may charm the eye.." or it seem pleasant it is still capable of passing away and ruining the current world that the person has made."No spoiler's hand may enter.." the dreamland and cause things to go wrong, there in dreamland nothing dies and gets old, but lasts forever young and beautiful. There is also a tone shift from lines 8 to 9, the poem shifts from a informative and descriptive tone a more serious one as it warns the reader about the dangers of the real world. Another tone shift appears in the 13th line to a more pleasant tone to describe the wonders of dreamland. 

Poems From Lewis Carroll: The Crocodile

Passage:
"How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!"

Pages:
No pages

Comments and Response:
I believe that the theme of this poem is looks can be deceiving. The theme can be noticed in the last stanza of the poem when the crocodile "cheerfully...seems to grin...with gently smiling jaws!" Although the crocodile looks like fun and cool because of his "golden scale[s]" he is actually leading you into a trap to be eaten. In This poem also contains diction that allows the reader to picture perfectly what the crocodile looks like and how he "grins" at the fish he is luring in.

The Mark Of Athena 2

Passage:
"On the deck of the Argo II, Percy and Jason stood together, their swords crossed. Annabeth got a tingle down her spine as she realized the boys were working as one, summoning the sky and the sea to do their bidding. Water and wind churned together. waves heaved against the ramparts and lightning flashed. Giant eagles were knocked out of the sky. Wreckage of the flying chariot burned in the water, and Coach Hedge swung a mounted crossbow, taking potshots at the Roman birds as they flew overhead.

Page:
253

Comments and Response:
This scene depicts amazing imagery and it is one of my favorite scenes in the book. I can picture it perfectly as the two boys stand tall and have there swords held high in the air forming a cross with each other, as the sea and wind come together to form a storm. Being the strongest people in the group when the two of them worked together I had a mental though of "oh hell, y'all in big trouble now." It was right to think that too because the enemies got battered around like flies. On a side note this is how I want teen fiction to be depicting awesome quest stuff not all about romance.

The Mark Of Athena 1

Passage:
"Annabeth wondered how Jason could be so dense. Was it possible he really didn't understand how much Reyna liked him? It was obvious enough to Annabeth. Asking to show his girlfriend around Reyna's city was rubbing salt in a wound."

Page:
32

Comments and Response:
This shows character development of three characters: Jason, Annabeth, and Reyna. This shows how observant and how much Annabeth pays attention to detail. It shows how Reyna feels for Jason and how she wears her heart out on her sleeve with the guy. Finally, it shows how unobservant Jason is because he does not consider Reyna's feelings towards him. On a side note I did never realized how romance is in teen fiction these days. Even in stories about adventure and action they have love stories, I don't mind the love stories its just that so many of them have them and I would like to see something else.

Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn 18

Passage:
"'Now,' says the duke, 'after to-night we can run in the daytime if we want to. Whenever we see anybody coming, we can tie Jim hand and foot wit ha rope, and lay him in the wigman and show this handbill and say we captured him up the river, and were too poor to travel on steamboat, so we got this little raft on credit from our friends and are going to get the reward.'"

Pages:
87

Comments and Response:
It seems that there is finally a character that matches Huck Finn in cunning nature. The person speaking in this passage is the Duke of Bridgewater, who is probably not the actual duke which Huck Finn has commented on himself. He uses his cunning to think of a plan so that Huck, Jim, the dauphin, and himself can travel through the daytime and not worry about people stopping them for a runaway slave. The plan that he thought was on the fly and something that I honestly believed only the character of Huck Finn was capable of doing.

Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn 17

Passage:
"I staid in the tree till it begun to get dark, afraid to come down. Sometimes I heard guns away off in the woods; and twice I seen little gangs of men gallop past the log store with guns; so I reckoned the trouble was still agoing on. I was mighty down-hearted; so I made up my mind I wouldn't ever go anear that house again, because I reckoned I was to blame, somehow. I judged that that piece of paper meant that Miss Sophia was to meet Harney somewheres at half-past two and run-off; and judged I ought to told her father about that paper and the curious way she acted, and then maybe he would a locked her up and this awful mess wouldn't ever happened."

Pages:
75

Comments and Response:
This scene further develops the character Huck Finn because he feels that he is responsible for the fighting that occurred. Although he was not directly involved in the fight he feels as though he caused it because he did not tell anyone about the letter that he gave to Miss Sophia. This scene shows how innocent Huck really is because instead of blame Miss Sophia for the events that transpired that day, he takes out on himself even though it is actually Miss Sophia's fault.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 16

Passage:
"Buck looked about as old as me--thirteen or fourteen or along there, though he was a little bigger than me.  He hadn't on anything but a shirt, and he was very frowsy-headed. He come in gaping and digging one fist into his eyes, and he was dragging a gun along with the other one. He says: 'Ain't they no Shepherdsons around?' They said, no, 'twas a false alarm. 'Well,' he says, 'if they'd a ben some, I reckon I'd a got one.' They all laughed..."

Pages:
63-64

Comments and Response:
A new character has been introduced that I believe will be important to the story. I believe that he will be important because Mark Twain gave more detail about Buck then the other characters presented in the same scene. I also think that he will be important because he is close in age to Huck Finn which would make him a good friend if the two got to know each other more. The new character is Buck who reminds me of Huck Finn in a way. If Huck were in the situation that Buck was in I'm pretty sure that Huck would respond the same way and say, "Well, if they'd ben some, I reckon I'd a got one." Not only are they close to each other in age but that they also have similar names, the only difference is the first letter of their names.

Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn 15

Passage:
"'Why, Huck, doan' de French people talk de same way we does?'
'No, Jim; you couldn't understand a word they said--not a single word.'
'Well, now, I be ding-busted! How do dat come?'
'I don't know; but it's so. I got some of their jabber out of a book. Spose a man was to come to you and say Polly-coo-franzy--what would you think?'
'I wouldn' say nuff'n; I 'd take en bust him over the head. Dat is, if he warn't white. I wouldn't 'low no nigger to call me dat.'
'Shucks, it ain't calling you anything. It's only saying do you know how to talk French.'
'Well, den, why couldn't he say it?'
'Why, he is a-saying it. That's a Frenchman's way of saying it.'
'Well, it's a blame' ridicklous way, en I doan' want to hear no mo' 'bout it. Dey ain' no sense in it.'
'Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?'
'No, a cat don't.'
'Well does a cow?'
'No, a cow don't nuther.'
'Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?'
'No, dey don't.'
'It's natural and right for 'em to talk different from each other, ain't it?'
'Course'
'And ain't it natural and right for a cat and a cow to talk different from us?'
'Why, mos' sholy it is.'
'Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a Frenchman to talk different from us? You answer me that.'
'Is a cat a man, Huck?'
'No.'
'Well, den, dey ain't no sense in a cat talkin' like a man. Is a cow a man?--er is a cow a cat?'
'No, she ain't  either of them?'
'Well, den, she ain' got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of 'em. Is a Frenchman a man?'
'Yes.'
'Well, den! Dad blame it, why doan' he talk like a man? You answer me dat!'
I see it warn't no use wasting words--you can't learn a nigger to argue. So I quit."

Page:
52

Comments and Response:
This scene shows further character development of Huck Finn and Jim the former slave. This scene shows an in depth dive into both the minds of Huck Finn and Jim. Huck mind represents complex thought for a young boy, which I take to believe that Huck is wise for age. While Huck shows more complex thought, Jim is the opposite and shows a thought process of that of a little kid because of how he pieces information. Although Jim was wrong in his logic it is kind of hard to argue with it which makes this scene for character development so great.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 14

Passage:

"Then Jim manned the oars, and we took out after our raft. Now was the first time that I begun to worry about the men--I reckon I hadn't had time to before. I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there ain't no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself, yet, and then how would I like it? So says I to Jim: 'The first light we see, we'll see land a hundred yards below it or above it, in a place where it's a good hiding-place for you and the skiff, and then I 'll go and fix up some kind of a yarn, and get somebody to go for the that gang and get them out of their scrape, so they can be hung when their time comes.'"

Pages:

47

Comments and Response:

This is further development of the character that is Huck Finn, which shows him to still to be a little boy and a person who respect justice. He is concerned about leaving the murderers on the boat to drown so he makes plans to arrange for their rescue, but wants them to go to jail so that they can be hung for their crimes. I find this interesting because I am pretty sure that most people would not voice something like, "so they can hung when their time comes." I am pretty sure most people would just say that they should go to jail.

Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn 13

Passage:
"'And besides,' I says, 'we might borrow something worth having, out of the captain's stateroom. Seegars, I bet you--and cost five cents apiece, solid cash. Steamboat captains is always rich, and get sixty dollars a month, and they don't care a cent what a thing costs, you know, as long as they want it.'"

Page:
44

Comments and Response:
Although it may not be right, it is interesting how Huck Finn knows how much a Steamboat captain makes. One would expect a person at the age of Huck Finn to be concerned about other things like adventure and playing games. At the age of 13 he is already knowledgeable of things like a job salary, when I was 13 I was concerned about my outfit and my friends thinking if I was cool not about the salary of a Steamboat captain.

Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn 12

Passage:
"'No, you won't. Set down and stay where you are. I ain't going to hurt you, and I ain't going to tell on you, nuther. You just tell me your secret, and trust me. I'll keep it; and what's more, I'll help you. So'll my old man, if you want him to. You see, you're a runaway 'prentice--that's all. It ain't anything. There ain't any harm in it. You've been treated bad, and you made up your mind to cut. Bless you, child, I wouldn't tell on you. Tell me all about it, now--that's a good boy.'"

Page:
39

Comments and Response:
Maybe it is because of all the stranger danger awareness programs I have been to but I get an uneasy feeling from the lady talking. She kind of sends the wrong vibe to me because of the things she said like "I ain't going to hurt you..." even though she said that it kind of makes me believe that she will. Also nobody is just going to go right out and say that they are going to hurt a person that they just met to them in front of them, they have to bait them in first with "milk and cookies" or things to sweeten the deal. I could be completely wrong however and that she is being sincerely honest and she is not trying to hurt Huck Finn and protect him. It seems that during the time that this was written that the people were more willing to help a person in need.

Adventures Of Huckleberry 11

Passage:
"But I didn' have no luck. When we 'uz mos' down to de head er de islan' a man begin to come aft wid de latern. I see it warn't no use fer to wait. so I slid overboad, en struck out fer de islan'."

Pages:
29

Comments and Response:
Expanding upon what I said earlier about Jim the slave, it is still hard to read his lines in the story. When reading them I am not exactly sure how the words that Jim says are pronounced. I have found, however, that reading the words out loud helps me understand it better but there are still parts that do not make sense. Mark Twain went such a long way to make the character of Jim seem unintelligent that it is hard to read, I must say that he was a dedicated writer to do all that even though it makes it hard for me to read it.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 10

Passage:
"'But mind, you said you wouldn't tell--you know you said wouldn't tell, Huck.' 'Well, I did. I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it. Honest injun I will. People would call me a low down Ablitionist and despise me for keeping mum--but that don't make no difference.'"

Pages:
28

Comments and Response:
(E) The way that Huck Finn is portrayed by Mark Twain makes Huck Finn a very trustworthy character. Although that Huck Finn could be made fun of for keeping the information of Jim running away a secret he decides to help ol' Jim out and keep it a secret. That kind of reminds me and my friends in that aspect of being loyal and trustworthy because if something like that were to happen we would just keep our mouths shut. Of course if it was serious enough we would have to speak up.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 9

Passage:
"Well, then I happened to think how they always put quicksilver in loaves of bread and float them off because they always go right to the drowned carcass and stop there."

Pages:
25

Comments and Response:
I found it interesting how they have all these old timey methods to find dead bodies. Quicksilver, another name for the element Mercury, in loaves of bread is defiantly a new method that must be researched some more upon. Another thing that grabbed my attention was the name "quicksilver", instead of using the original name of mercury. It could have just been the common name during Mark Twain's I am guessing. 

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 8

This is a different copy of the same book so the pages numbers are different in this copy.

Passage:
"I took the axe and smashed in the door--I beat it and hacked it considerable, a-doing it. I fetched the pig in and took him back nearly to the table and hacked into his throat with the ax, and laid him down on the ground to bleed--I say ground, because it was ground--hard packed, and no boards Well, next I took an old sack and put it a lot of big rocks in it,--all I could drag--and I started it from the pig and dragged it to the door and through the woods down to the river and dumped it in, and down it sunk, out of sight. You could easy see that something had been dragged over the ground. I did wish Tom Sawyer was there, I knowed he would take an interest in this kind of business, and throw in the fancy touches. Nobody could spread himself in such a thing as that.

Pages:
22

Comments and Response:
I find it very interesting how elaborate Huck Finn's escape was from his father. Instead of just making it seem like robbers broke in and stole everything, including him, he went as far as staging his own death. Staging his own death, I thought, was a very thoughtful and elaborate scheme, because one does not simply do that for fun and must be pretty desperate to leave which he was because his father was pretty abusive. It also creates good imagery because of how detailed the fake robber and murder was.

If We Must Die

Passage:
"If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs...
...Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!"

Comment and Response:
(C) Although this poem was written for a specific event, this quote can be connected to any war time.  The one war that this makes think of the most is WWII because of how the Jews were killed by mass murder in the concentration camps. In a way you could call the concentration camps the "inglorious spot" and the Jews the "hogs" that get corralled into those places the same that pigs are before they are slaughtered. The Nazi officers would be the "mad and hungry dogs" which gave the order to kill the Jews. The other war that this reminds of is the Battle of Thermopylae which was adapted into a major motion picture by the name of 300. In that battle the Spartans, although vastly outnumbered, stood strong and fought there hardest until they were defeated and killed. The last two lines of the passage some up the Spartans perfectly in that battle, "Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!" I took this to mean that it doesn't matter how big they are or how hard they hit, the thing that matters is that you stood up to them and got that one hit in.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 7

Passage:

"Every time he got money he got drunk; and every time he got drunk he raised Cain around town; and every time he raised Cain he got jailed."

Page:

31

Comments and Response:

I find the diction strange in this sentence in the sense that instead if using the word ruckus or trouble, Mark Twain used the word Cain. I guess he must of really have liked that word like how I like the word conundrum and melancholy. It could also be credited to the the slang that the country folk in the book that the people or Huck Finn is use to sense  the story is told from his point of view.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 6

Passage:
"Whenever his liquor begun ti work he most always went for the govment. This time he says: 'Call this a govment! why, just look at it and see what it's like. Here's the law a-standing ready yo take a man's son away from him- a man's own son, which he has had all the trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin' for him and give him a rest, the law up and goes for him.'"

Page:
35

Comment and Response:
(R) Just like Huck Finn's dad, Pap, is blaming the "govment" for all his problems, so do the old people in our society today. Although it was Pap's fault that all this stuff is happening to him he is points a finger at the "govment" and says it is there fault all this stuff going on with him. The same with some of the older people in our society that blame everything on the government, although a lot of the time it really is the government that causes the old people trouble b cancelling certain things and taking their social security checks away.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 5

Passage:
"Yo' ole father doan' know yit what he's a-gwyne to do. Sometimes he spec he'll go 'way, en den ag'in he spec he'll stay."

Page:
24

Comments and Response:
Compared to the other characters in the book Jim the slave, seems to be the less educated. His education level is shown in the way that Mark Twain wrote the way that Jim talked to the other characters. I think that this is an accurate interpretation of Jim because back when Mark Twain was alive the black community did not really have the rights to learn and become educated. Another thing to note is that the time period of this book is set back in the day and in the country where the African American would really have a lack of education.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 4

Passage:
"There was an inch of new snow on the ground, and I seen somebody's tracks. They had come come up from the quarry and stood around the stile awhile, and then went on around the garden fence. It was funny they hadn't come in, after standing around so. I couldn't make it out. It was very curious, somehow. I was going to follow around, but I stooped down to look at the tracks first. I didn't notice anything at first, but next I did. There was a cross in the left boot-heel made with big nails, to keep off the devil.
I was up in a second and shining down the hill. I looked over my shoulder ever now and then, but I didn't see nobody."

Pages:
21-22

Comments and Response:
(Q) I wonder why Huck Finn got up and ran so quickly down the hill after seeing the cross in prints? It does not say what they mean or anything like that previously. If I were to guess they probably have something to do with Pap because so far he is the only one who seems to make Huck Finn uncomfortable like that.

Assignment 3

The collection of poetry that I read was from The Complete Tales and Poems: Edgar Allen Poe. Before I answer the prompt I must say that Edgar Allen Poe really did know his stuff and that I can see why he is so famous and held in high esteem.

In regards to the themes that are seen in Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry the most recurring themes are about love, death, and misery . In fact the first poem that I read, The Raven, had part all three themes in it.

“Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;-- vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow-- sorrow for the lost of Lenore--

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore--

Nameless here for evermore.”(The Raven, 7-12)

In this quote alone it shows all three of those aspects. He is experiencing misery because of the death of a loved one by the name Lenore. The most prevalent theme in The Raven, however, is misery because throughout the poem the character is being tormented by a Raven in the middle of the night.

“‘Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!’ I shrieked, upstarting--

‘Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!’

Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”(The Raven, 98-103)

Nevermore is not really tormenting him because Nevermore is a simple raven that is not capable of showing a human trait like contempt. The protagonist however is not in the right mindset so he believes that Nevermore was sent from the pits of hell (Night Plutonian shore being a reference to Pluto, the roman god of the dead) to cause him misery.

Some of Edgar Allen Poe’s poems did not fit into the one of the thematic categories that are shown in his works like The Coliseum or The Hymn. The theme in The Coliseum is unique because while reading Poe’s other poems I did not come across another poem that had a similar theme. The theme of this poem was how rich the Roman culture was and how even now as the coliseum is left in ruin that it is still inspiring.
“Type of the antique Rome! Rich reliquary

Of lofty contemplation left to Time

By buried centuries of pomp and power!

At length--at length--after so many days

Of weary pilgrimage and burning thirst

(Thirst for the springs of lore that in thee lie),

I kneel, an altered and an humble man,

Amid thy shadows, and so drink within

My very soul thy grandeur, gloom, and glory!”(The Coliseum, 1-9)

Another thing that sets this poem apart is that it is based on the actual coliseum that was in Rome where gladiator fights and many of other events took place. This is also the only one that I have read so far that mentions anything to do with history as a theme.

The Hymn is also special in the way that it does not fall into one of those three thematic categories. This poem’s theme is looking to a brighter future and letting go of the past, kind of like hakuna matata (but this the poem came years before it).

“Now, when storms of Fate o’ercast

Darkly my Present and my Past

Let my Future radiant shine

With sweet hopes of thee and thine”(Hymn, 9-12)

With the line “Let my Future radiant shine” the theme becomes clear, which is just another way of saying let the future shine brightly on me.

The most unique poem that I read from Edgar Allen Poe is his poem titled A Valentine because the theme is about love and deciphering the mysterious code within the poem. The code is the name of the person Poe was writing the poem for.

“For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,

Brightly expressive as the twins of Loeda,

Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies

Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.

Search narrowly the lines!--they hold a treasure...”(A Valentine, 1-5)

Not only does he state the there is a name hidden within the lines he even brags that finding it would be a tedious task. Lucky for me and to everyone else the way to find the name has already been deciphered. The way to find it is to read the first letter in the first line, the second letter in the second line, the third letter in the third line, and so on until the end of the poem, Happy hunting!

Assignment #2

A passage that strikes me as profound or insightful in The Looking Glass Wars is the scene where Redd kills her sister Queen Genevieve. "'Off with your head,' Redd ordered , pulling the energy bolt out of the floor. 'No!' Genevieve struggled against the stems of the roses. Her people would be abandoned to Redd. And Alyss... just a child. Redd swung the bolt hard. Genevieve's head went one way, her body another and her crown rolled along the floor liked a dropped coin." That scene was one of the most intense scenes in the entire book. It takes a lot to take a life because the knowledge of killing someone stays with that person forever, but to take the life of an immediate family member must weigh down on the person even more.

A passage that I found humorous was when Redd was training her troops to prepare to attack the Heart palace but some problems arise. "'I tell you to think black thoughts and you come up with that?!' the lieutenant had screamed. 'Is a guinea pig bad? Do you consider a guinea pig the representation of all that is evil?' 'Maybe... if it's an evil guinea pig.'” The problem with most of the troops that Redd had recruited weren't that skilled in imagination and didn't have a strong drive to do evil.

The overall theme of this book is the loss of innocence. This is expressed when Dodge sees his father, Sir Justice, murdered in front of him. "Dodge saw what was about to happen . 'Watch this,' he said to Alyss, proud of his father's skills and bravery. But the Cat had no trouble dealing with the leader of the palace guard. With the back of his hand, he knocked Sir Justice to the ground, sent the man's sword skittering across the floor and out of reach. The Cat picked up Sir Justice and swiped him with a claw. " Having his dad killed in front of him forced Dodge to grow up quickly and become a man before he was ready.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 3

Passage:
"'But who are we going to rob?-houses, or cattles, or-' 'Stuff! stealing cattle and such things ain't robbery; it's burglary,' says Tom Sawyer. 'We ain't burglars. That ain't no sort of style."

Page:
11

Comments and Passages:
There is a since of humor and irony in the way the boys discuss what the future of the gang is going to go. They say that they are going to be robbers but what one of the boys suggest that they do is completely harmless and contrary to what they wanted to do. It is ironic when Tom Sawyer says, "We ain't burglars. That ain't no sort of style." because they plan on being robbers which has little to no more style than being burglars. In fact being a robber is actually worse because they intend to hurt people while burglarizing a house hurts no one but the owners pocket.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 2

Passage:
"Everybody was willing. So Tom got out a sheet of paper that he had wrote the oath on, and read it. It swore that every boy to stick to the band, and never tell any of the secrets; and if anybody done anything to any boy in the band, whichever boy was ordered to kill that person and hos family must do it, and he mustn't eat and he mustn't sleep till he had killed the and hacked a cross in their breasts, which was the sign of the band. And nobody that didn't belong to the band could use that mark, and if he did he must be sued; and if he done it again he must be killed. And if anybody that belonged to the band told the secrets, he must have his throat cut, and then have his carcass burnt up and the ashes scattered all around, and his name blotted off the list with blood and never mentioned again by the gang, but have a curse put on it and be forgot forever.
Everybody said it was a beautiful oath..."

Page:
10

Comments and Response:
As I read this quote the only thing that was going through my mind was this was a pretty violent oath for some youngsters. It surprised me that people that young would make a oath that violent even though I am pretty sure that they won't carry through with those threats if someone were to break the oath. Also in the midst of all that craziness they add some humor. The humor being that they would sue a person on the first offense of using their sign and kill them if the same person did it again.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Passage:
"You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter."

Pages:
1

Comments and Response:
(Q) I don't know whether the publisher missed the grammar on the this sentence or if Mark Twain intended to write like that. If it is the latter of the two then I am just going to assume that this was the way they talked back then. Even more on that note, if the rest of the book is like this then it will prove to be a difficult read because of how grammar has progressed from that time period.

The Looking Glass Wars 5

Passage:

"I've finished running from you, Redd. It's time for you to run."

Pages:

318

Comments and Response:

This is the turning point in the book when the main protagonist, Alyss, takes a stand against the main antagonist, her aunt Redd. This challenge is significant because it finally shows that Alyss believes that she is strong enough to take her on and reclaim her queendom. This challenge also shows the main powers in this book clashing, White imagination and Black imagination.

The Looking Glass Wars 4

Passage:
"Crystal Transport, also known as looking glass transport, was not unusual in Wonderland. Most looking glasses served as portals to the Crystal Continuum, a network of byways that enabled any and every Wonderlander to enter through one looking glass and exit from another. Focused looking glasses led to specific destinations (like the corner of Wondertropolis Way and Tyman Street). Unfocused looking glasses allowed travelers to choose their own destinations, provided that there were looking glasses at those destinations out of which they could be reflected."

Pages:
68

Comment and Response:
Frank Beddor effectively created a simplistic yet complicated system of transportation for the world of Wonderland. It is simple in the way that it is explained and is a concept that is easy enough to grasp. It is complicated because not everyone can just get up and use it, it takes practice to be a good  a crystal transporter just like it takes practice to be a good driver in our world.

Assignment #4

The play “POOF!”, is a one act play so there is only one important scene in the play. An important turning point of this play is when Loureen finally comes to terms with the sudden death of her husband Samuel, after she damned him to Hell and all that was left of him was a big pile of ashes and his pair of glasses. To help Loureen come to terms with her husband death at her own hands, or maybe I should say voice, is Loureen’s best friend Florence that happens to also  leave in the house above her. This scene is significant because both Loureen and Florence  are both victims of domestic violence from their husbands and they have actually talked about murdering their husbands if things ever got too bad, they even joked about how they would do it “Florence: How many times have I heard you talk about being rid of him. How many times have we sat at this very table and laughed about the many ways we could do it...” After it happens to Loureen, however, she can not believe it and is scared as to what the future may hold for her.

The opening  of the play reveals that Loureen, although she gets beat by her husband, did not ever plan on him disappearing. “Samuel? Uh! Don’t fool with me now. I’m not in the mood. Samuel? I didn’t mean it really. I’ll be good if you come back...” This proving that she wasn’t ready for him to just up and disappear on her. It also reveals that Loureen is not good at handling extreme situations like the death of a person as she is portrayed later to have snapped slightly. “She breaks down. Florence moves to console her friend, then realizes that Loureen is actually laughing hysterically.” This is explained through the messages to the actors that the audience would have to see performed to know what is happening. That aside (haha acting joke), most people would have been too much in shock to be laughing at the death of someone that they knew.
The scene also reveals that Florence is a supportive character, by trying to help Florence cope with what just happened. By looking at the previous quote Florence makes the effort of try to console Loureen even though it doesn’t work out like that. She is also depicted similar to Loureen in the aspect that she is also abused by her husband by saying that she wants to get rid of her husband.

Florence: You Bitch!
Loureen: What?
Florence: We made a pact.
Loureen: I know.
Florence: You’ve broken it...We agreed that when things got real bad for both of us we’d... you know... together... Do I have to go upstairs to that?... What next?

This quote not only depicts that she is abused by her husband as well, but that she is also willing to get rid of him as a possible if they are given the chance.

The author of this play depicts the main characters as women who stay with their husbands even though they are being abused by them, irony of it all is that they also wanted to kill their husbands if they ever got “too abusive,” which is weird statement because being abused even a little by your significant other is “too abusive.”

Assignment #1

The first half of my book, The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, takes place in the world of Wonderland 12 years after a civil war; it is the year 1859 and happens to be the seventh birthday of the young princess Alyss Heart. While also her birthday, a large celebration known as Inventors' Parade is going on, where all the inventors in the land present their inventions in front of the entire queendom, Genevieve Heart.

During the festivities, Alyss' father, King Nolan is out on a quest to make treaty with the King Arch, the king of the neighboring nation of Borderland because the queens sister, Redd Heart, is trying to take the throne and rule all of Wonderland with the use of her Black Imagination which opposes the queendoms current use of White Imagination. Back at Heart palace in wonderland, Alyss gets restless and decides to play with her childhood friend Dodge Anders who after a little scuffle with Jack of Diamonds, lead Alyss outside of the palace where they found a cat with ta bow tie that read "Happy Birthday, Alyss".

While that was happening the negotiations with King Arch was not going so good and it ended with King Arch telling King Nolan that he would think about the negotiation some more. While on the way back King Nolan and his company are ambushed by Redd and they are killed. Back at Heart palace the cat that Alyss had picked up jumps out Alyss' hands and heads for the security room where the Cat transforms into a humanoid cat and slaughters everyone in the security room and lowers the defenses in to Heart Palace, allowing Redd and her army to enter Heart Palace allowing her to overthrow the Palace. During the battle Queen Genevieve entrust Alyss to her most trusted body guard, Hatter Madigan, who takes Alyss to the Pool of Tears where there is a legend that states all who jump into the pool never return, being chased by The Cat, Hatter has little choice but jump into the Pool of tears with Alyss where they appear in London.

I believe that Frank Beddor’s purpose of writing this book was to give the reader a different way of viewing the old story of Alice in Wonderland. He wanted to give his own spin of the story and tell the story a way that it has never been written before, similar to the way the story, “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” which is the story told by the wolf and is said by him, “What really happened.” This story provides the same thing which is said to be the “true story” of Alice in Wonderland, or maybe I should say “Alyss in Wonderland.”

Giving his own unique spin to the story is spectacular because it shows the authors creativity with a subject that has already written upon. It draws parallels with the original story of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, but only with the bare minimum such as the name some of the characters and the realm of Wonderland. It really is a story on its own that is an amazing read. My reaction to Frank Beddor’s purpose was and still is, he did a great job on taking the children’s tale of Alice in Wonderland and spinning it into a newly created work of his own that stands alone form the works of Lewis Carroll. 

The Looking Glass Wars 3

Passage:
"'Off with your head,' Redd ordered, pulling the energy bolt out of the floor. 'No!' Genevieve struggled against the stems of the roses. Her people abandoned to Redd. And Alyss... just a child. Redd swung the bolt hard. Genevieve's head went one way, her body another, and her crowned rolled along the floor like a dropped coin. Redd picked up the crown and put it on her own head. 'The queen is dead. Long live the queen...me.'"

Pages:
66 to 67

Comment and Response:
(R) This passage creates strong imagery by giving details on how Queen Genevieve struggles in her last moments and by narrating to the reader what her final thoughts are right before her sister decapitates her. Strong character development is also created when it shows that Redd is so bent on revenge and power that she is willing to kill her own sister, and even worse she does so by decapitating her. Redd's character is further developed by showing she has a complete absence of emotion beside anger, hate, and greed by taking the crown and placing it on her own head and saying "The queen is dead. Long live the queen...me." This depiction alone gives the character, that is Redd, a very rich image of her and tells how she is willing to operate, by letting no one get in her way.

The Looking Glass Wars 2

Passage:

"Alice held out her hand for the prince to kiss. He seemed reluctant to let it go. 'I'm afraid you can't keep it Your Highness,' she said. And when he did not understand: 'My hand. I may have use for it still.'" 

Page:

166

Comment and Response:

(R) In the passage the author used humor to get the characters through an awkward situation. By the prince being reluctant to let go of Alice's hand it created a awkward moment. Alice then eases the awkwardness between the prince and herself by making a lighthearted joke that doesn't make the prince feel bad. I can relate to that because when I get into awkward situations I use a joke to usually ease the awkwardness, although it does not always work. 

The Looking Glass Wars

Passage:
"Alyss didn't get along with the other children living at the foundling hospital..."

"Alice worked hard to enter into the world in which she found herself..."

Pages: 

123 and 162

Comment and Questions:

The entire quote itself is not what is important in this journal but the name in both quotes, Alyss and Alice,  which are two ways to spell the same name for the same person. In the first quote the young ladies name is spelled Alyss, which I believe the author left that way to symbolize her struggle against the new world that she had traveled to and she that she had not succumbed to the ways of that society and new world. Later on in the book however, the author changes the spelling of Alyss' name to "Alice" to symbolize her finally being broken and conforming to the ways of the new world and accepting the way that they do things instead of keeping to her traditional ways of her old world. Through theses two examples the author shows that a person can only resist society as a whole for so long until they finally yield to the pressure and conform to the ways or norms of society.