The Muffled Terror

             In the book, "Maus I: My Father Bleeds History," Art Spiegelman tells the story of all the horrible things his father and the rest of the Jews had to go through during the Holocaust. It is drawn with cartoon animals to make things less brutal because a few of the stories included are cruel and otherwise would feel a lot more gruesome to the reader. The way Spiegelman wrote the book was interesting because it is based on real events told by his father but he also makes the story a bit of a fiction book. Spiegelman uses a bunch of different ways to make the story more suitable for younger people and not as terrible.
             One technique Spiegelman uses to make the points of the Holocaust more soft is not using specific brutal words to describe things that happened. For example on pg.33, "and no one heard from him again." Here is when the narrating at the bottom is talking about a guy that the Nazis beat to death yet the author made the words a lot sweeter so that people could read the story without being completely hit with terrible facts. Another way the events his father told him about are less cruel is by making it a cartoon of animals. Even though you still know what is going on and see drawings of some of it, it makes it a lot less violent uses mice and cats instead of humans. It is amazing that Spiegelman was able to design the book this way so that it is enjoyable to learn about and also very fascinating by keeping the facts of the Holocaust straight.
             I am glad to be able to read this book as a kid to gain a lot of knowledge of this terrible historic event and not be to overwhelmed with hard writing or scary things happening. To start reading the book again is very great because a lot of things that are written in the book become a lot clearer and I get a better picture of how Spiegelman chose to write the stories. Hopefully things like this never happen again because they are terrible and ruin so many lives and families. Despite this kind of thing not currently going on things like dictatorship and bad power go on today and are quite a bit like the Holocaust. Maybe overtime people will show power up against this and it will not have to continue to ruin peoples' lives.

Books, Movies, and, Rock and Roll!

             In the article, "From Page to Screen: Hollywood Targets YA Fiction," talks about how the Hunger Games recently came out and was a big hit and how there has been a lot of movies within the past years that came from a book. Other great movies that came out that were based off a book and good or even great were Twilight and Harry Potter. Since movies like these were successes they are planning to and did make sequels with the final book split into two movies. People in this industry decided to make movies like this because it would hopefully make a lot more money and to attract mainly a teen audience to them.

             These movies weren't even big that far back and now they are normally a big hit that teens and many other people love to see. An example is, "It wasn't until the 1950s and '60s, when such stars as James Dean and Annette Funicello began being marketed to younger audiences." This is around when people started making movies more generalized to age and specifications were made. Awhile after this was when the "books to movies" movies started to rise into a roaring industry. If a movie was a big hit and the creators got a good profit then there would be question about a sequel based on a book they made. The Hunger Games was a very successful movie and now as it is written in the article they are planning on making sequels in the same way that Harry Potter and Twilight did.

            When I saw The Hunger Games I also thought it was very good though there may have been a lot of parts that were changed quite a bit and parts that were removed to shorten the movie. I like the idea of making books come out on the big screen because then a fan really gets to enjoy it visually and gets a much better picture. I hope as time goes on society finds even better ways to enhance our ways of enjoying entertainment.

The #@*king Annoying Bird

             In the poem, "A Minor Bird," Robert Frost use a continuous rhyme scheme and good writing devices to make the poem strong and beautiful. Frost makes such a small detail of his life into a descriptive analysis about the bird and his annoyance at it. The way the poem is written is very strong and makes you think, without him using strong words or talking about an overly fascinating topic. Frost uses a lot of literary devices in this poem to enhance the experience.

             Frost uses rhyme scheme throughout his poem a lot for rhythm and flow of the words. An example is, "I have wished a bird would fly away, / And not sing by my house all day." This is at the beginning of the poem when he introduces what is going on and his feelings against it. When reading those two lines it flows smoothly as you read instead of making you read it slow and methodically. There is a small amount of hyperbole because he says, "I could bear no more," when only a little bird is making noise throughout the day. This device enhances the writing because it makes the reader feel a little more interested with the over exaggerated feeling.

             This poem gave a strong impact on me because I can relate to it and see how it is related to the world. I definitely relate to it because I also get really pissed off at things that go on end for a long time and this makes me feel the annoyance he portrays in the character at the bird. It also can relate to the world as a whole because sometimes it is the little issues going on that can get people the most ticked off versus looking at everything as a whole and realizing how unimportant some things are. Like the poem at some point people realize why am I actually getting annoyed at this when really nothing is wrong with it or it is so minor compared to something else.

The Extraordinary Anger

             In the article, "Hug a Hoodie: What the U.K. Teaches Us About Making a Sweatshirt a Symbol," it talks about the sad event where Trayvon Martin was murdered for racist thoughts against him where the guy thought he was a threat. It still can't be taken into affect to prosecute the man because of Florida's controversial self-defense law. In respect of Trayvon millions of people wore hoodies to represent the anger against the law and their care for him. This has become such a big thing and people all over are sad about it and it will probably go down into history.
             People are angry because the state can't actually accuse him until they have set in stone proof, yet everyone knows that he still did kill him and that it was a hate crime. Over in the U.K. people still respect Trayvon and are angry at what happened but it is hated upon to where a hoodie over there. For example, "In the United Kingdom, the hoodie is also associated with low-income young people up to no good—but there, in response to public agita about crime, politicians from both sides of the political aisle—including former Prime Minister Tony Blair—have endorsed campaigns to ban hooded sweatshirts from public places in an effort to combat what the British call 'anti-social behavior.' " I find it absurd the it is such a big deal that it is actual enforced over there. It was a show of honor for the people there to stand up to the government and where the hoodies anyway for Trayvon.
             Certain events can strike big affects all over the world. This was an event that happened down in Florida and became an international issue that caused many reactions and feelings. This shows that there is still racial hate going on despite the years of fighting for rights. The fact that bad events need to happen for people to realize that there should be change is terrible. Even with that being true blacks and many other races still don't have their freedom and rights fully through all the horrible events that they went through. I am very happy to know that people in the U.K. took their stand and made it clear to the government and us that they care and are not happy with any of this.

A Great Beat

             In the poem "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky," Lewis Carroll gives a lot of setting detail. He speaks about the sound of children on a nice sunny day and how he feels seeing what he sees. Carroll uses a lot of clear description in the poem to really emphasize imagery. The way he says everything makes it all feel a little dreamy and mellow. Lewis Carroll made the rhythm of the poem very slow and soft to portray a lazy feeling on a hot day.
             When reading this my mind took it at a slow pace because speeding through the words made everything unclear. An example of how he used rhythm to make it feel like a lazy summer day is "Ever drifting down the stream — Lingering in the golden gleam". Here he is giving a stronger image of laying out on a boat on a day where it seems like it is to hot to really do anything. Imagery isn't the only device he used to make you feel it because the word choices and the way he structured the poem all factored into the rhythm. This was definitely an intentional choice of his because the rhythm of the poem fits in perfectly with the message the actual words were trying to portray. I like the choice because it helped me get clearer with the feelings the speaker actually felt during this hot day.
              The rhythm of this poem really relates to my life because depending on the setting changes the type of reaction and ways I feel. For example a lot of the time when I am exhausted and beat from hot weather I am function very slow and drearily. Though when it is cold I might be very ecstatic and shivery because of the coldness. I feel like this poem gave a really good example that he must have observed from life and interpreted into literature. Regularly it is this type of writing I wouldn't like and skip over because it is confusing and hard though Carroll found a way to make me actually enjoy and appreciate the writing.

Ceremony of Death

             Barbaric means savagely cruel or exceedingly brutal. In the book, "The Hunger Games," Suzanne Collins, gives the feeling of barbaric ways of living with the hunger games. There are huge amounts of people from all different districts that excitedly await to watch people that they may even know fight to the death with each other. Katniss and the rest of the recruits on a road to death. The people care more about an insane battle of citizens than the well being of a family with no money. Collins may have also been trying to portray our society's bad choices of what is important to fund and support. The overall message being shown here is, the society they live in has many issues that could be fixed if the people in power cared enough to make a change.
             When Katniss and the other selected people arrived at the Capitol it was sick to find out that the people had a opening ceremony where the contestants got dressed up by designers to look amazing so people could sponsor them. For example on pg. 70, "The crowd's initial alarm at our appearance quickly changes to cheers and shouts of  'District Twelve!' " Here the crowd is cheering for Katniss and Peeta as they make their entrance to the tournament. Even  though this book sort of takes place in the future it seems like a very past-like situation where there is a crowd of people watching intently without a problem as these fellow people are headed to death. It is a very undeveloped way of thinking and living which is another meaning of barbaric. Another place where it shows that they don't really care about these people being sent off is pg.71 "It's not really fair to present us as a team and then lock us into the arena to kill each other." This is Katniss' thought when the stylist makes Peeta and her hold hands. It is wrong and also sick to get them to a friendly state where they can accept each other and then have them kill each other. The people are cruel to let the people bond and let them spend time together because then there is even more of a resistance to wanting to be a part of the games. It is a little bit like sacrifices people used to do because they didn't care which person it was or what reason they shouldn't they just did as they felt.
             Collins made an effort to make the situation in the book relate to our government and the choices them and the people make. When the government of Panem made this a tradition and made it so severe and large among their land it made many citizens' lives miserable. In our country the government has made and makes a lot of bad choices that affect  many lives. It is a different kind of choice but SOPA is an example where the government just decides to do something they think is right and then affects everyone else and makes people angry and powerless. Collins also made a very strong connection to barbaric ways and that period of time by having horrible traditions and feelings of happiness to death and she made the government and country all seem undeveloped. Their were many connections used in the book and she made things a lot more understandable by doing so.

                                                                                                                         

The Meaningful Men

             This week my blog post is on a piece of art that I selected from the MoMa collection and what feelings and ideas it provoked in me. The piece of art doesn't have a name though it is from "88 Maps". I chose this while looking through the gallery because it came out to me because it is specifically made ideas in it yet it is abstract because it isn't actually anything specifically made. My theory is that in one it shows a man who is unsure of himself and the other man on the right is more aware and feels safe. I also think that the guy on the right has many beliefs such as heaven and hell.
             I thought that the first man was unsure of himself and unaware because it was all white and and not certain making it feel like the middle of nowhere (lost). The other side is more filled with colors like a blue sky and green grass and feels more secure with a more certain idea of where he is standing. With more features included the man feels more aware and grounded with himself. I also think that the white mass or circle above him might be heaven/ holy and the red below him at the bottom of the ground is hell. These are his beliefs showing in the picture because he is sure of what he believes.
             I think that this photo connects to me because sometimes I feel like both of the men in the photo. I feel lost and nowhere with out any comfort and confidence. I also can feel very on top of things and aware and I do have my own beliefs and ideas of things like religion. I think this photo connects to the world because throughout the world there are a lot of people who definetly take sides on religion and each person thinks and acts uniquely from one another.