#aplit14readingthework

[lopeslitfinal]

Annotations (3)

Writing annotations was far easier than abstracting my crits.

Retrospectively, as I was reading the novel, I didn’t notice many of the themes and motifs Márquez wrote of.  With both general and specific information in mind from my criticism, though, I was able to better understand and analyze the text. Idk it kind of felt like cheating, but it was actually just using the information from my criticisms to aid me in analyzing my 3 passages. There’s only so much inferring/speculating that I can do on my own. When I did infer, it was almost like solving a mystery. I was trying to uncover Márquez’s sentiments, and I was interpreting them in a way I felt was logical.

Relative to the other components of this project, I kind of enjoyed this part.

[moprocrastinates]

Raskolnikov is a douche. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

[jhoward95-blog]

Chapters 12-13

At the beginning of Chapter 12 Gene is focusing a lot on Finny, which makes sense as he had just broken his leg again. He also confronts Finny in a way and Finny actually blames him for the first time he broke his leg. Maybe he can't deny some of the feelings he has noticed. "'You want to break something else in me! Is that why you're here!'" (184). After this Gene has no sense of self. He thinks that everything around him could show him something but he can't listen. He connects himself fully to Finny as a person. A lot of Finny's problems seem to be a result of the fact that he feels useless. He can't fight in the war or anything. The only thing that has any meaning in his life is his relationship with Gene. He convinces himself of things relating to Gene in order to keep the friendship, "'I think I believe you, I think I can believe that'" (191). They both rely on each other a lot and feel useless outside of the relationship between the two.

When Finny died a lot of Gene dies with him. He says, "I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case" (194). Finny was a part of Gene. Even with the numerous problems between them they were still the most important people to each other.

Everyone realizes in the final chapter that the war is not what they thought it was. They have experienced it through the soldiers on the campus as well as their classmate Leper. They realize that there is no true glory or honor in the war. Gene's war, however, is fought within himself mostly. He narrates, "Because it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart" (201). He has experienced his war and goes into the actual war with a sense of peace.

[bryaniglesiasschool]

Entry 5

"High Fidelity" has really gotten me to start thinking about the effect certain moments can have upon other people. At the time, you may not appreciate the impact a certain action or statement may have. On the other hand, words may not carry as much weight the moment that they are spoken as they do later (when other factors fall into play). 

Throughout the novel, Rob constantly struggles with overanalyzing moments from his past, be it 10 seconds ago, or 10 years. From his first love to Charlie, to Laura, each relationship has certain shining moments which have shaped who he is today, and until he accepted/let go of these memories, he could not move on as a person.

[aparnareads]

Reading the Work 5: What If?

“Damn it! How will I ever make it out of this labyrinth?” (267).  He’s weak, he’s lost his independence, his title, his prestige, and basically himself. He’s a man void of sanity, and is a shadow. The surrealism is present in elements, as it is Marquez’s signature style, but he ties it into the historical, political, and social elements that tore a man apart. Here he is, on his deathbed, proclaiming to himself that he’s just stuck. So I guess the answer is that death is the liberation from the labyrinth of life. It seems a little unglamorous; I’m not going to lie. Even though he dies unfulfilled right after this iconic line, I don’t think that’s it. I don’t think the Labyrinth is simply just life. I think it’s heartbreak. It’s not like the General didn’t accomplish anything. He’s the reason the continent is the way it is today, blooming with industry. What tore him apart is he was unfulfilled by everything: Manuela, the blindness of his politicians, and the failure of his body before his mind was ready for it. The Labyrinth is everything keeping fulfillment from you. It’s your own fears, your own memories, and your discomforts. The only way to free yourself from the Labyrinth is acceptance and embracement. Thinking about the this quote, they’re this General’s last words – and they’re really a big “what if?” So I feel like I, as the reader, am being asked, “what if?”

[alyssachapman11-blog]

Reading the Work Reflection

I'm really surprised to say that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has become one of my favorite books. It's really refreshing compared to the typical Young Adult novels I gravitate towards. I'd like to read more books like this but I'm hesitant because nothing is worse than picking a book and discovering it's not what you were looking for. I'm still just really surprised and really happy about my choice. I would not have thought I'd like a book so much that was published the year my mother was born. I'll probably watch the movie tomorrow, which I'm guessing I will also like. I'm interested to see how close the script sticks to the novel, but I'm almost sure that I will like the book much better, and that's okay.

[stevenschaller]

Reading the work 5

Chapters 28 throughout the epilogue were defiantly the most enjoyable to read and i especially liked the part where the invisible man was in the street riots just because it was action packed.  I thought that the invisible mans night with Sibyl was very very odd because the narrator knew he couldn't get any valuable knowledge about the brotherhood from her, yet still invited her over.  I thought it was very fitting that the last chapter ended with the invisible man being invisible to police because he was in a man hole with coal that was the same color as his skin, so he really was invisible.  I think the ending was a little vague because it says nothing about what happened to the brotherhood and brother Jack and the narrator also doesn't talk about what became of the Harlem riots.  I thought it was interesting how during the riots the narrator seemed to have some very funny comments yet the first half of the book there was no humor.   The epilogue did a good job of explaining some of the invisible mans ideas about being invisible.  Overall i appreciated this book, although i admit the first four hundred pages were a bit of a drag because i had no idea how the invisible man was invisible.  I am also disappointed that the narrator never said his name because it made him very difficult to address on these blogs.  Beneath is a picture of the invisible mans underground home.

[thenushway]

Reflection of The Call of the Wild Reading the Work

I like the whole documenting the reading process thing. It was different than having to choose certain quotes and doing dialecticals. Writing out my thoughts helped me think more about the book and what was happening in terms of literary devices.

I realized that London's writing style allowed him to show how Buck was different than all the other animals. Not because the story's told from his point of view but because of the actions he did and the decisions he made. What set him apart from the other animals was his ability to think and process ideas faster than anyone else. During one of the fight scenes, Buck kept using the same moves and they weren't doing any damage. He thought and tried again by faking a move and then doing a different one. That kind of thought process doesn't occur fast or occur at all in other animals. 

London also gave each character mentioned in the book a story. He gave the other dogs characters and the humans characteristics and mannerisms that made them seem real instead of just there. He wrote the book so that Buck lived in a world where other people existed too and it wasn't just told from his point of view about a world where nothing else mattered except him. 

That's hard to do, especially when it comes to writing from an animal's point of view.

[jhoward95-blog]

Chapters 9-11

In chapters nine and ten I could see the juxtaposition between the war and youth that Gene constantly goes through. At first, with Finny, he doesn't care about the war and it seems mostly because Finny does not fear the war like the others do because he won't have to do it. "This was my first but not my last lapse into Finny's vision of peace" (123). Then one of his classmates goes into the war which brings him into the war more. There is then a conflict between the other classmates and Finny with Gene in the middle because the others all think more about the war and joke about it but Finny tries to ignore it. When Leper, the classmate, returns from deserting the war, he immediately shifts Gene in a way because he has to acknowledge the war because that brings it impossibly close to home. "I no longer wanted this to be true, I no longer wanted it to be connected with spies or desertion or anything out of the ordinary. I knew it was going to be, and I no longer wanted it to be" (143). He tries to not acknowledge it now that he has to.

There seems to be a connection between Finny and Leper. Leper is a guaranteed connection to the war when on the other hand Finny can not go into the war. Brinker then forces both Finny and Gene to confront what actually happened on the tree. Gene doesn't want to confront it, "But I couldn't make the confusion last" (171), but is eventually forced to, which breaks the peace at home as well. 

[bryaniglesiasschool]

Entry 4

So far I think that the largest theme in "High Fideltiy" over love, over sadness, is the concept of belonging (and lack of). Rob has always seemed to associate belonging with love, with emotional attachment to those around him. Because of that, when Laura leaves him, he does not belong anywhere. So he turns to music. Within the lyrics of each song he finds this belonging, because he realizes that if someone else is singing the emotions he is feeling, then he cannot be alone.

[aparnareads]

Reading the Work 4: Revolution and the Aftermath

The next whole part just had one quote that opened up some of my inquisition: “My dreams began to fall apart the day they were realized”(138). This applies to pretty much everything he’s experienced, and also to young revolution and its aftermath. The pattern of new government is a mess all around the world. Almost no one knows what to do. After fighting for a cause so long, and after being used to chasing after something, what happens when you finally get it? Either you have a plan and a new goal, or you’re stuck at that point. Most new governments are in the latter phase, and the very people who helped him achieve it are destroying The General’s dream of a liberated Latin America. The same was said about Gandhiji’s passing. India was in a state of emergency after Independence, and no one knew what they wanted for the country. The dream of a united India was lost on the warring communists and nationals, with the tearing away of several nations hanging in the balance. They say that Gandhiji would’ve been horrified to have lived to see such an India. The difference is that the General did live to see such a Colombia, and it’s broken his heart in this fictitious version of him. 

[alyssachapman11-blog]

Reading the Work #5

I never really thought about how this book would end. At first it seemed like something I expected; one last big crazy event, then McMurphy runs away from the asylum and things settle down, but the rest of the patients never forget the impact he created. The actual ending is much better. It is a lot more of what I would expect out of a quality book, or a book of "literary merit". As soon as I found out they gave McMurphy a lobotomy, I thought that it was a disgrace to his life. I thought, how could people get away with doing something like that? After all, he seemed fairly sane and a lobotomy is such a severe method to "fix" someone. When I found out he was a vegetable, I wished he would die, or someone would kill him, and that's what happened. I think it would be a dishonor to keep him alive if I were his friend. However, putting myself in the same situation, I'm very positive that I wouldn't be able to do what Chief did. But I'm very happy he did.

[thenushway]

The Call of the Wild #5

Buck wins the bet and he wins John enough money to pay off debts and travel East. While everyone's traveling East, Buck begins to realize his true wild wolf side. He wanders away from the camp and befriends a wolf. After realizing what he did, he goes back to camp and stays with John for a few days but a few days isn't enough to keep him away from the wild. Buck goes back to the wild and ends up killing a bull twice the size of him. When Buck returns to camp, he sees that a tribe of Indians killed off his fellow dog friends and human friends. He kills the main tribe person and discovers that John Thornton is dead. This leads Buck to going to the wild and living with the wolves.

I realized the symbolism here between Buck and John. The friendship between John and Buck prevented Buck from joining his true natural side in the wild. After that friendship was severed, Buck was free from all restraints that were holding him down to the human side. 

[jhoward95-blog]

Chapter 6-8

There is a clear shift here from the relaxed summer session to the much more strict regular session. It also starts to mention the war in this section a lot more. It also makes a difference that he is not interacting with Finny in Chapters 6 and 7. He doesn't seem to want to replace Finny by going into sports until Finny tells him to, "'Listen, pal, if I can't play sports, you're going to play them for me,' and I lost part of myself to him then" (85), and he still sort of seems to want to "combine" with Finny.

In chapter 7, after the contact with Finny, Gene seems very guilty about what happened to Finny and then he does work and the war has more emphasis put on it. I think he is really trying to escape from his problems because he thinks, "To enlist. To slam the door impulsively on the past, to shed everything down to my last bit of clothing, to break the pattern of my life..." (100). He immediately changes his plans when he meets Finny again. His entire life is based around Finny more than anything or anyone else.

In chapter 8 the friendship seems to grow stronger than before. Finny only sees anything from his own perspective and Gene has a difficult time separating himself from Finny who seems to be holding him back in a way and living through him.

[bryaniglesiasschool]

Entry 3

"It's brilliant, being depressed; you can behave as badly as you like." Pg. 83

This quote really stuck out to me, perhaps for it's truth. I feel like people very often use personal problems to justify bad behavior/being mean. At what point does 

I like the way this book approaches sadness. The main character, Rob, seems to almost be comfortable within his sadness, to be content with his discontent. When you're at this point you have validation to your actions, without this sadness you're just an asshole.