I'm doing option 1 from our possible blog prompts, which means I get to choose what I do! Saying this, I'm simply giving out ideas of who started the fire in the house that night and why.
Taking into consideration that Gene had a past life with a different woman and a son, DJ and Mandy, they both could've started the fire. I feel like the chances are greater that DJ started the fire because Karen, Gene's current wife, was receiving drunken phone calls earlier that week from what she heard to be from a guy named DJ. I think that it's not surprising that DJ would do something like this either. He grew up without a father figure in his life, which has to be hard for a young boy. Also, the way Gene described Mandy to be probably didn't help out the lack of discipline with DJ.
DJ could've started the fire for plenty of reasons, one being the resent he feels towards Gene. Gene just got up and left his son and wife when the going got rough. Mandy and Gene didn't have the healthiest relationship anyway. There was a lot of verbal and physical abuse between the two. This didn't set a great example for DJ in the first place. Another reason why DJ might have set the fire was because he felt replaced by Gene's new life, child, and wife, Frankie and Karen. Because DJ is grown now, he sees the family that he could've has and gets extremely envious. He doesn't feel that Gene deserves that life after everything he did to DJ's family.
In contrast, maybe Mandy had set the fire. She could be mad that Gene hadn't been paying child support all of DJ's life. The lack of money could've really gotten to her. Saying this, setting Gene's house on fire wouldn't have solved any problems. She could've also had a jealous side of her. Mandy could've went ballistic on Gene for starting a new life with a new woman and a child.
In conclusion, nobody really knows who set the fire, but putting minor details like these together could solve a whole mystery. Did Mandy set the fire? Did DJ burn the house to flames? Was it a freak accident? Things don't add up correctly, especially since it almost seemed as though Gene saw all of this coming. He was having bad dreams about it, and waking up naked in his living room the next day. It was also strange that Frankie's dreams that woke him in him hollers throughout the night. It's almost like Frankie and Gene knew something was going to happen soon, but didn't know what, or how to even handle it.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Blog #5: On the Rainy River
For this week's blog, I chose to find a poem online that sets a mood for the story. I found this poem on http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/is-man-really-courageous/
I feel that this poem really sets a nice feel for this story because the story is completely based around Tim O'Brien finding the courage to go fight instead of run away from the war. Although he does not like the war, he felt that it would be more courageous to go and fight than to stay and hide from it. My favorite quote in the story that relates to this theme is "I would go to the war. I would kill and maybe die, because I was too embarrassed not to" (O'Brien 59).
I feel that this poem really sets a nice feel for this story because the story is completely based around Tim O'Brien finding the courage to go fight instead of run away from the war. Although he does not like the war, he felt that it would be more courageous to go and fight than to stay and hide from it. My favorite quote in the story that relates to this theme is "I would go to the war. I would kill and maybe die, because I was too embarrassed not to" (O'Brien 59).
| Is man really courageous? by: Mohammad Akmal Nazir |
| Is man really courageous? He who says so Must be lunatic. Man fears life, He fears death, He fears disease, He fears failure And sometimes his success also, He fears the truth, He fears honesty, He fears God But on his terms, And above all He fears himself. So why should he be called A courageous? |
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Blog #4: "The Only Traffic Signal"
<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4874579/basketball"
title="Wordle: basketball"><img
src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/4874579/basketball"
alt="Wordle: basketball"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"></a>
The code above is a word collage made on Wordle.net. The words I chose for this are:
Julius
Lucy
Indian
Basketball
Alcohol
Hero
Reservation
I chose Julius because he's the star basketball player at the current time in the book. The word "alcohol" is linked to Julius because he basically blows all of his talent over alcohol and getting in trouble. The talent I'm discussing is basketball. Julius is an incredible basketball player on an Indian reservation. This is where those two words are chosen. The whole reservation looks at Julius as a HERO. Since Julius can't stay out of trouble, or sober, people have been noticing a young girl named Lucy. She's so good that she plays with all of the boys.
I liked this story a lot because it was about basketball, of course. :) The story closely relates to a lot of things going on at the high school too. People know that if you can't stay clean and out of trouble then you're just wasted talent, like Julius was. It's funny to see that things can be so similar on an Indian reservation and in present day.
title="Wordle: basketball"><img
src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/4874579/basketball"
alt="Wordle: basketball"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"></a>
The code above is a word collage made on Wordle.net. The words I chose for this are:
Julius
Lucy
Indian
Basketball
Alcohol
Hero
Reservation
I chose Julius because he's the star basketball player at the current time in the book. The word "alcohol" is linked to Julius because he basically blows all of his talent over alcohol and getting in trouble. The talent I'm discussing is basketball. Julius is an incredible basketball player on an Indian reservation. This is where those two words are chosen. The whole reservation looks at Julius as a HERO. Since Julius can't stay out of trouble, or sober, people have been noticing a young girl named Lucy. She's so good that she plays with all of the boys.
I liked this story a lot because it was about basketball, of course. :) The story closely relates to a lot of things going on at the high school too. People know that if you can't stay clean and out of trouble then you're just wasted talent, like Julius was. It's funny to see that things can be so similar on an Indian reservation and in present day.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Blog #3: Blood
I went to imagechef.com and put a few phrases together to form a picture based off the story Blood by Zravka Evtimova. The phrases I used were:
"Knives in Hand"
"The Cure"
"BLOOD"
"Son is Sick"
"Smell of Formalin"
"Three Drops"
"Mole Blood"
I chose these phrases because they were key words througout the whole story. I shaped the image into a dagger because when everyone found out that this "mole blood" would cure any sickness, they wanted some and the petstore keeper rejected every demand. The people then came after him with daggers.
"Knives in Hand"
"The Cure"
"BLOOD"
"Son is Sick"
"Smell of Formalin"
"Three Drops"
"Mole Blood"
I chose these phrases because they were key words througout the whole story. I shaped the image into a dagger because when everyone found out that this "mole blood" would cure any sickness, they wanted some and the petstore keeper rejected every demand. The people then came after him with daggers.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Blog #2: How Far She Went
For my second blog this semester, I decided to blog prompt 2. This option allows me to form a collage of pictures which represent literary terms I encountered in the short story I read. The story the collage is constructed around is How Far She Went by Mary Hood.
From left to right
The dog is a symbol of sacrifice in the story.
The dirt road was symbolic for the girl walking to nowhere where she got angry.
The insects symbolized the foreshadowing of the "annoying sound" when the girl riding up on the motorcycles.
The Queen Anne's Lace flower sets a sort of mood of the story, and location.
The gravestone symbolizes the grandmother's daughter, and all of Granny's hopes being burried.
The grandmother, to me, represents discipline. She's also one of the main characters.
The girl shown symbolized the type of "swagger" the girl had.
The dock was where the grandmother and her granddaughter hid from the motorcyclist.
The purple flower and the honey suckle (2nd on bottom) set sensory details. It makes you imagine a certain scent.
The chevy truck was ironic, because the only time they really needed it was the only time it didn't run.
The dry strip of land represents the lack of growth throughout the granddaughter's beginning days at Granny's.
The respect icon was the moral of the story.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Blog #1: 2nd Semester-Chef's House
For my first blog back, I decided to do an option of my choice. This choice would be just giving an overview of the short story I read, Chef's House by Raymond Carver. To avoid being "book report like," I added some things I found throughout the story and a few questions at the bottom for open discussion. :)
The story took place a little north of Eureka during the summertime. There was Wes, a recovered alcoholic who was dating someone at the time, and a man named Chef, also a recovered alcoholic, but he owned this house north of Eureka. Wes' ex wife, Edna, was also dating someone at the time, but Wes convinced her to break up with him and move into Chef's house with him. Wes broke up with his girlfriend too, so they would reunite their family once again. Wes and Edna had two kids, Cheryl and Bobby. They were grown, so they weren't in the picture much.
Everything was perfect after Edna moved in with Wes. They enjoyed most of their time together. They would go fishing, see movies, and Wes would attend with "Don't Drink" meetings with Chef. Considering it had been about two years since the two reunited, they seemed to have fallen in love all over again up until Chef had no choice but to kick them out. His sister, Linda, had just been left by her husband, which gave her and her child nowhere to go. Being the older brother, Chef had no choice but to provide a place to live for them, so he had to break the news to Wes and Edna. Wes wasn't happy about it at all. Edna did all she could to calm him down, and it suddenly hit them. The couple started to clean up the house and that was the end of it.
There was a lot of conflict I saw though. The internal conflict with Edna was whether to leave her boyfriend for Wes or not. Eventually, she did, and was very happy after that. An example of external conflict was when Chef had to kick the couple out of the house. Although he didn't want to and was very sorry, he had to do what he had to do. You can't blame a man for putting his family first.
What was the theme of this short story?
What other conflicts did the story obtain?
In a personal opinion, what would be your first thoughts and actions to being kicked out of your home?
I pictured Chef's house to be set in a place like this. It's not exactly the ideal home, but the land is great. It has a pond and lots of open land in the back.
The story took place a little north of Eureka during the summertime. There was Wes, a recovered alcoholic who was dating someone at the time, and a man named Chef, also a recovered alcoholic, but he owned this house north of Eureka. Wes' ex wife, Edna, was also dating someone at the time, but Wes convinced her to break up with him and move into Chef's house with him. Wes broke up with his girlfriend too, so they would reunite their family once again. Wes and Edna had two kids, Cheryl and Bobby. They were grown, so they weren't in the picture much.
Everything was perfect after Edna moved in with Wes. They enjoyed most of their time together. They would go fishing, see movies, and Wes would attend with "Don't Drink" meetings with Chef. Considering it had been about two years since the two reunited, they seemed to have fallen in love all over again up until Chef had no choice but to kick them out. His sister, Linda, had just been left by her husband, which gave her and her child nowhere to go. Being the older brother, Chef had no choice but to provide a place to live for them, so he had to break the news to Wes and Edna. Wes wasn't happy about it at all. Edna did all she could to calm him down, and it suddenly hit them. The couple started to clean up the house and that was the end of it.
There was a lot of conflict I saw though. The internal conflict with Edna was whether to leave her boyfriend for Wes or not. Eventually, she did, and was very happy after that. An example of external conflict was when Chef had to kick the couple out of the house. Although he didn't want to and was very sorry, he had to do what he had to do. You can't blame a man for putting his family first.
What was the theme of this short story?
What other conflicts did the story obtain?
In a personal opinion, what would be your first thoughts and actions to being kicked out of your home?
I pictured Chef's house to be set in a place like this. It's not exactly the ideal home, but the land is great. It has a pond and lots of open land in the back.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
To sum up my first semester........ Blog #6
I have really enjoyed this semester of English. Some of the things we talked about were review, some things we discussed were interesting, and others were.... not so interesting. Saying this, I've had more of a positive experience so far than a negative ones.
My favorite thing we did this year was probably our independent reading. I'm not much of a reader, but I was fortunate enough to get a really interesting book, which was non-fiction, a main unit we focused on for a while. I also really enjoyed doing blogs! :) To me, there are no right or wrong answers when you right blogs, and they're probably some of the more easier assignments we had to do. I also really enjoyed our education presentations. I did a video with three of my friends. Although it was not very good, we learned how to put together a video and we now know what to make improvements on next time we film.
Another thing I loved about English was my class! I feel like it's a lot more entertaining with a group of kids who like discussing topics thoroughly and who are quite humorous! I loved Poetry Wednesdays, because everyone was involved with uncovering the true meaning of a poem, without "beating a meaning out of it," exactly. I also liked reviewing readings that we had to do as homework. Not only because sometimes Mr. Dunn would catch me off guard with a pop quiz to see if I was reading, but because there were some things that I would catch as I read and other people did. It was interesting to see others' point of views of the book, and their opinions as well.
Now, with every pro, there's a con... or something like that. What I mean to say is, this class did contain some things I wasn't fond of. Like any teenager, I HATED essays. I hated them. I HATE THEM! But it's only because they're time consuming and I always mess up on the same things over and over again when I write. I see a pattern in my writing when I look in my folder, and as a suggestion, maybe as a final or something, we could really dig deep into that frequent mistake and write something based around it. My common error was that I'd lose focus while writing a body paragraph. I would really like to practice pulling all of that work together without getting sidetracked.. Just an idea... Just saying.....
I'm having a difficult time thinking about the dislikes of this semester, because I could complain about essays all day. Still, nothing would change if I did that. Some of the books that we read weren't the most entertaining..... I've read better. But COLUMBINE! I loved that book. It did have a strange layout to it, but it made me think about the things that go on at this school. I didn't like the DED's either. It didn't really help me understand the article any more than just reading it would.
Overall, I love this class. It's my favorite. I learn a lot in this class and I enjoy everyone in it. It's a fun class because I feel like we're very productive without a million worksheets and comparison charts and whatnot. :) Just want to thank everyone for making this semester great!
My favorite thing we did this year was probably our independent reading. I'm not much of a reader, but I was fortunate enough to get a really interesting book, which was non-fiction, a main unit we focused on for a while. I also really enjoyed doing blogs! :) To me, there are no right or wrong answers when you right blogs, and they're probably some of the more easier assignments we had to do. I also really enjoyed our education presentations. I did a video with three of my friends. Although it was not very good, we learned how to put together a video and we now know what to make improvements on next time we film.
Another thing I loved about English was my class! I feel like it's a lot more entertaining with a group of kids who like discussing topics thoroughly and who are quite humorous! I loved Poetry Wednesdays, because everyone was involved with uncovering the true meaning of a poem, without "beating a meaning out of it," exactly. I also liked reviewing readings that we had to do as homework. Not only because sometimes Mr. Dunn would catch me off guard with a pop quiz to see if I was reading, but because there were some things that I would catch as I read and other people did. It was interesting to see others' point of views of the book, and their opinions as well.
Now, with every pro, there's a con... or something like that. What I mean to say is, this class did contain some things I wasn't fond of. Like any teenager, I HATED essays. I hated them. I HATE THEM! But it's only because they're time consuming and I always mess up on the same things over and over again when I write. I see a pattern in my writing when I look in my folder, and as a suggestion, maybe as a final or something, we could really dig deep into that frequent mistake and write something based around it. My common error was that I'd lose focus while writing a body paragraph. I would really like to practice pulling all of that work together without getting sidetracked.. Just an idea... Just saying.....
I'm having a difficult time thinking about the dislikes of this semester, because I could complain about essays all day. Still, nothing would change if I did that. Some of the books that we read weren't the most entertaining..... I've read better. But COLUMBINE! I loved that book. It did have a strange layout to it, but it made me think about the things that go on at this school. I didn't like the DED's either. It didn't really help me understand the article any more than just reading it would.
Overall, I love this class. It's my favorite. I learn a lot in this class and I enjoy everyone in it. It's a fun class because I feel like we're very productive without a million worksheets and comparison charts and whatnot. :) Just want to thank everyone for making this semester great!
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