Make Art Happen Project In "The Book Thief" Death continuously tries to understand all the flaws we have as humans. Death is eternal so he is always carrying souls especially during battles. "A small but noteworthy note. I've seen many young men over the years who think they are running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me." This quote is quite literal and symbolic. The men on the battlefield are dying in the middle of action and death is caught in the middle of it all. The way I interpreted this, Death is trying to tell us that fighting in a war is the same as marching to our deaths. Death often describes war as an unproductive waste of energy. A burden. That is what I try to make the viewer feel when he or she looks at my piece.
7 Comments
Elan Varhan
Mr. Moody Honors Language Arts 8 11, December, 2016 From the bottom to the top I live a very fortunate lifestyle and I take it mostly for granted, but that is only because my dad did not live a good childhood. My dad was born into a lower middle class family in Turkey. But lower middle class in Turkey could not afford his dream. His dream was to come to America ever since he first saw a map in first grade. He even tried to get adopted by the Australian embassy just to get out of the country. But nothing came that easy to him. He lived a very small apartment, made toys out of trash, and after school he worked at his dad’s shoe store. Speaking of school, he was not the best student. He got C’s in most of his classes. As if things could not possibly get worse he got cholera. He was in the hospital for what he said seemed like forever. He went in and out of consciousness for several days so he never knew how long he actually stayed until after treatment. He was told that he had a 50% chance of living when he was able to regain consciousness for a few minutes at a time. This was the one time his parents bought him whatever he wanted. He asked only for pajamas and a toy plane. It was a slow, sad, scary recovery. His grades continued to drop since the incident and around 3rd grade my dad knew that the only way he coulld get out of Turkey and into America was to kick his butt into gear. He needed a scholarship. He since spent more time studying and he progressively got the top grades in the class that would bring him his dream. Eventually he made the big choice. He applied for a international high school program in the U.S. However he did not get a scholarship for that but his friend did, which made him very jealous. He created a 5 year plan to get into a good college and achieve his dream. He worked vigorously through high school until that dream came through one of the hardest tests in the world. He got a full ride scholarship and free plane ticket to the international bachelorhood program (IB) at Pearson college Canada. The test for IB is compared to all other students in the country. The evaluators choose only two. He quickly learned to love Canada despite the harsh weather, and applied for medical school at Queen's University Canada, the Harvard of the north. He went to 6 other colleges after that to get the most out of his education. Finally he applied for his fellowship at Stanford. He was accepted and he got a full MD in orthopedic surgery. Stanford is also where he met my mom. They had a great time while they were dating but my dad had to move back to Canada. Or did he? When they were on a trip in Indonesia and were about to part ways, my dad discovered that someone put the check mark in the wrong box on his passport. He came to America with my Mom and applied for a citizenship. They are now married, have kids and are living the dream. Started from the bottom now we’re here. Hard work pays off. Chase your dream. Lord of the Flies should not be banned
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding has made the top 100 list of banned books for many years. It vividly describes several bloody hunting scenes and two murders. It also has been challenged as a banned book because of the profane language the boys use every now and then. The novel has also been dubbed as a story with an underlying racist theme. For example, the British boys became savage and insane after a few days on the island, and the hunters paint themselves black. However, I disagree with these characterizations and think that "Lord of the Flies" should not be banned at Creekside for three reasons. The first reason I do not think it should be banned at Creekside is that the swearing is not excessive. Many popular TV shows, games and movies contain much worse language but are only banned for certain age groups. As Middle Schoolers we are mature enough to handle this type of language and know that it is not acceptable to swear very often. Face it, if you were stranded on an island with nothing, you would be quite frustrated too, and you too would probably vent by swearing. Secondly, the graphic events that occur in the book happen in the real world, and students need to be exposed to real world tragedies. One of the recurring bloodbaths is the pig hunts. It may be gross and cruel, but that is the way we bring meat to the table. It is part of life and is not a legitimate reason to ban a book. Two of the boys get murdered. One, Simon, is mistaken for a beast and ripped apart with bare hands and teeth. The other, Piggy, is considered a waste because he is fat and has asthma as well as trouble seeing and does not contribute to any hunt. The boys crush him under a boulder, marking the end of any civilized order at all, and the island is soon engulfed in brutality and chaos. There are murders all the time in real life, too, and they are featured on the news every night. The violence in Golding’s "Lord of the Flies" only shows how imperfect humans are. We all feel jealousy and hate, and those feelings should be acceptable in a book. Finally I would like to point out that racism was socially acceptable and expected when this book was published in 1954. This is why many books written around that era such as “To Kill A Mockingbird”, had racial slurs. For example, in "Lord of the Flies", Piggy calls the other boys “a pack of painted ni****s” in chapter 11 when they brandish their spears and start fighting. Stereotyping every black person as a savage is used as an insult here, but at that time most people did not even consider how African Americans would take it. In the 1950s your opinion was useless unless you were a white male. Although it is not acceptable today, “Lord of the Flies” was written in a time of segregation and we cannot forget our history or we will keep repeating our mistakes. In conclusion “Lord of the Flies” should not be banned at Creekside because Middle Schoolers are mature enough to handle the content. Similar things appear in our favorite movies, games etc. as in well as our current society, and in our history. Banning a book does not change reality. The Hunger Games Book Recommendation
If you liked Four by Veronica Roth, you should read Suzanne Collins's novel The Hunger Games. Both of these novels are stuffed with action and will leave you on the edge of your seat. Much like the rest of the books in the Divergent and Hunger Games series, these both have some sort of villain with hidden intentions. But these villains are a little more evil than your average every comic villains. The intense romantic undercurrent is also another attention grabber that is not found as obvious in other thrillers. If you liked Four because of its intense action scenes, corrupt society, and sudden bursts of love, then you will love a very similar novel The Hunger Games. Four is a very brave and intelligent individual. Unfortunately this is not very good news for him. Because the reason he is so intelligent is that he is divergent. In the urban jungle of Chicago there are 5 factions, Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless, Candor, Amity. If you are not part of one you are factionless, and if you have qualities from more than one you are divergent. And divergence is dangerous because you cannot be controlled by the corrupt society. As a cover up Four joins Dauntless to get away from his father, and to prove his bravery. He earns top ranking in his class and is easily seduced into a leadership position, but will later become an instructor. He soon realizes that no one can be trusted not even faction leaders. As he discovers some sinister, secret plans between Dauntless and Erudite, he has to bite his tongue in order to not tell anyone. Not even his own mother, who is supposed to be dead. Katniss shows her bravery in The Hunger Games when she volunteers for her sister during the reaping. This is a moment that steals the hearts of readers because entering the Hunger Games is a certain death that she is willing to take for her sister. In the games it is very helpful that she is an expert at archery because she hunted to help feed her poor village. However to Katniss, killing people is different than killing animals and she struggles greatly with the immoral values of The Games. Furthermore neither Four nor Katniss are the most naive characters. Katniss does not trust Haymitch or Peta a refuses to cooperate with either of them during training. Even though she is extremely unprepared and unpredictable competitor, her skill with archery gets her an unbeatable score of 11. It is undebatable how similar these hardy characters are in terms of what sets them apart from the pack. The different settings are what set these two great novels apart, but also tie them together. Much like Four Katniss does not grow up in a luxury lifestyle. However instead of identical Abnegation houses, or rowdy Dauntless dorms, she lives in a small wooden hut with only the necessities. One thing in common is that, both societies are extremely corrupt. “What do they do all day, these people in the Capitol, besides decorating their bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their entertainment?” This quote shows President Snow’s extreme dictatorship over the districts through the huge difference between capital and district lifestyles. Snow’s dictatorship is like Jeanine Matthews control over Erudite...and just a few more factions. Both are very discreet in the true meaning of their business. And of course you cannot forget the romantic undercurrent in both of these novels. Four is interested in Tris, one of his new initiates, and he begins to like her. Soon enough she is the only one he believes he can trust with anything. A key part of the last chapters in Four is when he invites Tris into his fear simulation and reveals his real name, Tobias Eaton and his home faction, Abnegation. It is a name and a place that he wishes to forget because it reminds him of his abusive father. however it is important for Tris to know who he really is. Katniss’s relationship is a little more complicated than that. She likes Gale back at home, but during their first talk show Peeta admits that he has had a crush on her since he was a kid. At first she is mad and only uses it as an excuse to get sponsors, but she learns to love him back while she takes care of his injuries during the games. The confusing relationships in both Four and The Hunger Games expertly grab the reader’s focus and make readers feel how the characters are personally feeling. Overall Suzanne Collins’s inspiring, attention grabbing, and action packed novel The Hunger Games is the perfect book to pair with Four. The inspiring bravery leaves you wanting to read more, and the corrupt societies in both will make you love Four and Katniss. And they are both some certainly some interesting characters that spice up the books. That vibe of romance that can be found between characters in even the most desperate situations is another thing that sucks you into the plot as well as the personal feelings of Four and Katniss. If you have read Four recently you should read a similar inspiring novel thriller The Hunger Games soon. |
AuthorI am in 8th grade ArchivesCategories |