Corruption in Animal Farm

Poetry Out Loud

I watched Stanley Jackson recite "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar. I was very impressed by his voice and articulation, you could definitely hear him and his dramatization added a nice touch. When he tells of a river, he reaches his arm out, and when he speaks of scars he clutches his side. It's not too much, and I thought it enhanced the audience's perception of his understanding of the poem.
My own understanding of the poem was very much helped by the performance, had I just read "Sympathy" I wouldn't have gotten quite how meaningful it can be. The caged bird, or someone who feels trapped, sings because he wants to be free. Again the dramatization helped.

Mockingbird Motif

Motif is a literary element that means a recurring theme in a novel, that helps the book progress or get across a message more easily.
To Kill a Mockingbird really has helped me understand motif because the mockingbird is a great example of it. Before I was like, "Yeah symbolism, okay I don't know what you mean, moving on, next definition." With the discussions and timed writes on the mockingbird motif, its really helped show what it meant, rather than just a dry definition next to all the others.
The mockingbird motif is brought up a few times, but I definitely noticed whenever anyone mentioned a mockingbird because of the title, To Kill a Mockingbird meant that a mockingbird had to have some major relevence to the novel. Of course it does, it means to kill or harm in any way something innocent is a terrible thing to do, just like killing a mockingbird. Mockingbirds only provide music, they harm no one, so in return no one should harm them. Tom's death being likened to the killing of songbirds helped the theme of racial prejudace and Mr. Tate refusing to say Boo had stabbed Bob Ewell helped the theme of innocence.

life lesson? sure.

"You can't judge a person until you've walked 1.609344 kilometers in their shoes," says my mom, right after a lesson on metric conversions. At the time my childish mind just brushed it off as another bit of fluff floating around in my mother's head, but looking back, I find this over used cliche rather helpful.
I realize that this saying isn't telling you to literally rip off your enemy's shoes and prance about in them, but that you must try to see their point of view. Now when I find myself in an altercation with someone, I reflect on the wise words of my elders and re-examine my actions, which generally deflates the situation, resolving the conflict in a much more peaceful manner.

Characterization: Zoe

Mind lost in her headphones, Zoe's head moves unconsciously to the beat only her ears hear. Her dirty pink converse jut inward at the toe, looking like an awkward symbol for girl pride. Fashion is one of her fortes, whether she's bleaching her old jeans or making an amazing find in Dumpster Value's dollar bin. Her hair is continually morphing, growing shorter every few days rather than longer.

Creativity comes easily to Zoe, whether she's playing guitar or coming up with irrelevant references to slip into the conversation. She's smart and funny, but a bit of an introvert. She doesn't go out of her way to flaunt her insane amount of awesome, but she can be loud and in your face when necessary. There's a lot to Zoe Whorton, and I am impossibly happy to be friends with her.

an early memory

My childhood was riddled with various mishaps, much of which were apparently not as branded in my mind as I hoped upon reading this week's blog assignment.
However, I managed to remember this one birthday I attended. . . . In the good ol' days of playdates and early grade school, I went to my best friend's house for her birthday sleepover. We spent the night in her tree fort with a few other girls. Early in the morning, we woke up and started laughing and screaming and telling jokes and having a marvolous time. We were awake and wanted the rest of the world to know.
The neighbor's apparently heard, for our roucous was halted by the arrival of a policeman. All the rest of the girls pretended to be asleep, but when he called out to us, someone had to go talk to him. So I picked myself up and peered over the edge of the treefort. I spoke with him for a moment, informing him that "We're okay, thank you very much sir." My friend's mom came out and I slunk into the background with a feeling of exhilaration. We were in trouble, but I had done what was needed.
Needless to say, our yelling contests were put on hold indefinitely and we spent the rest of the morning indoors, but my trust in myself grew considerably that morning.

the jungle: motif

Upton Sinclair uses the motif of Jurgis to explain about the corruption of Chicago's factories in the early 1900s. Jurgis is an honest man in the beginning, believing in that hardwork pays off. He goes off to work in a terrible slaughterhouse, making hardly any money, but keeps his game face on. Gradually events unfold and he realizes how the system just wants to break him down.

Motif was used so heavily because without Jurgis' transformation, the book would have no point. Packingtown takes healthy, strong immigrants and forces them to work faster and harder under dreadful conditions and then not have any benefit. They lose their jobs or are broken down until they starve or have some catastrophic injury that prevents them from going to work. Upton Sinclair was exposing the harm that industry was causing Americans all for the sake of profit.

outside reading

I've been liking The Jungle more than I thought I would. Although it was a bit slow to get into, it's definitely kept me interested now. I think the most prominent literary element may be irony. But I'm not sure. The whole America seeming like such a great place to live and work, and then turning into the worst place imaginable, seems pretty ironic to me. It may have been writen in this manner because that's how Upton Sinclair could get his point across--that the US meat industry is/was terribly messed up.
The tone of The Jungle is pretty grim. Bad things happen to good people, and then continue getting worse and worse and worse. The working conditions are atrocious, not to mention awfully graphic.

writing about reading

When books don't interest me within the first few chapters, I usually put them down and come back from time to time, hardly ever actually finishing them. With assigned reading, I generally multitask to get through the boring pages; blasting music or switching up the place I read (perhaps going outside or a closet). This works to an extent.
I read what looks interesting, what captures my attention, I go to the library and scan the shelves for an appealing title or cover, or jacket flap. Sometimes I'll read from a recommendation. I really couldn't say what my reading style is; I just read whatever I feel like reading. Fiction especially. Fiction is great because there's so much variety, countless ways of telling a story, and so many differsnt plots.