Journal 25

I have not been around people wearing literal masks much, but I do know a lot of people that wear emotinal masks. High school is fille with superficial people that act a certain way around some people and act another way around others. I think that people wear different masks to fit in depending on the crowd we are with. I believe everyone does it, even though some may not want to admit it. I've seen people on the verge of tears, and when they are asked if something is wrong they say nothing is wrong. People tend to hide their emotions a lot, and sometimes it could be a situation where somewhere is very depressed and no one would have any idea about it. I have friends that act happy all the time, but when it's just me and them, they just fall to pieces. I hate the fact that people feel that they cannot just be themselves, and throw away the mask. I wish everyone would just be real, and stop hiding who they really are.

Journal 24

My mine has played tricks on me many times. For instance, each time I watch Halloween, I start seeing Michael Myers everywhere. I get really nervous, and when it is time to go to bed later that night, I start hearing the breathing noise that he makes. I get really nervous and sometimes I start thinking that someone is walking through my house. One time, when I was younger, I was staying the night at my Grandparents house with my cousin, and they live out in the middle of nowhere in Rochester. My cousin convinced me that there was a robber trying to break in the house, which I believed because there had been a series of robberies in Rochester. She made me go lock the bedroom door. I was freaking out the whole time, and I even got under the bed. I did not sleep at all that night, and I was very fearful or what could happen. I thought that I was going to die, and at one point I started hearing the window shaking. In the morning, we noticed that it was raining outside, and that was what caused the noise on the window. No one tried to break in, and my cousin told me that she was joking the whole time. I was really upset because I was scared for my life.

Journal 23

I love camping. I have never done it without my cell phone or some kind of technology. I did when I was little, but I was use to living everyday without a cell phone. I think camping without a cell phone would be really nice and relaxing. I would probably go with Trey and my parents like we did this summer at Lake Sancris. It was kind of not real camping because we had a cabin, but it was still really fun. I left my phone charger at home so I had my phone for only two of the three days. I spent a lot of time outside, and it was a good break from all of the stress at school and work. I spent a lot of time with Trey and my family, and when it was over, I had felt so soothed and relaxed. Our cabin had heat, and air, and an oven, and a fridge, so some would not really consider it camping....But if I had to go without a phone for a whole week it would not be a big deal as long as Trey was with me because I do not really NEED to text my friends constantly. It would be a challenge to cook without a microwave or stove, and I would have a great time building a fire, let alone trying to light it. To pass time, I would fish, or lay out in the sun. I would probably sleep most of the time too since I am sleep deprived because of working three jobs, going to school, doing my homework, and hanging out with my boyfriend. I hardly ever get a full nights sleep. Camping would be such a relaxation because I would not have to go to work or school or do homework. I would do whatever I want whenever I wanted and at my own pace.

Journal 21

I think there are many situationas where the law could be disregarded. like if some one did not havve enought money to buy food and he and his family were going to die, then I would think that stealing is allowed because sometimes you just have to change the rules slightly. Like i tunes is way too expensive, so in that case limewire is okay to use to take music because music shouldbe free. I think that the laws are there, but no one follows half of them in the first place. Some laws are pointless like I can't think of any of the top of my head but I can tell you that I know tehjre are some. I think the laws of like physically harming or killing someone are good ones because that is bad stuff. but other things are just stupid. If someone was on their way to the hospital because they were bleeding to death, should speed because if he didn't speed that person could die, but if you crash into someone that is harmful too,s o I really don't know, I guess just be really fcareful for until we get a law in place to take over for that person to make the decisoin on if they got in trouble. I think that we should take laws in case suggestions because everybody is different so it's hard to tell whoat all of the laws are, in fact im sure theres no single person that knows about that lawcases because I mean everhybody have a different life style. some people have children and should not deprive a child with a parent. I think they should get house locked. Because that's not really punishing the parent, as much as it affects the child. They will miss out on all of the experiences like learning how to ride a bike like that and that will mess a child up when they groow up to not have known their parents. itd be devastating. so in that case, it should be excuse, or the punishment should be loosened.

journal 20

Taking a break from society is very important. Everyday people get caught up in what they SHOULD look like and how they think they should act. Some people lose sight of themselves because they get so caught up in trying to fit in. Everyone should take a break every once and a while and take time to get themselves together. They should take a day to stay off of the computer, or not watch t.v stay home, and just chill out. I think it is healthy to do this. Many people become unhappy because they feel like they cannot be themselves, instead they feel like they need to be a walking clone of the lady on the cover of vogue magazine. I take a day off from from society on a biweekly basis. otherwise, I get really stressed out and I start having panic attacks. I miss a lot of school because of it, but I need it.

Journal 19

The ideal United States to me would be a true democracy. I do not think that an ideal US would work because Utopias always have flaws, and some foreign force would probably interfere out of jealousy or they would be angry at our thriving economy. The ideal would be to have have some genuine politicians that were in power. I also would make gas prices go down to help people save money. There would be no homeless people, and violence would be non existent or to a minimum. Everyone would have jobs and contribute to society in some form. People would abide by the rules, and mind their own businesses. Our country would stay in our own affairs rather than getting involved in wars and wasting our money. We would not be in debt, and the economy would be even, so that people were not struggling to get food on the table. Everyone would be given food, even if they could not afford it, and we would spend less time worrying about the use of marijuana and focus more on important things like meth houses or rapists. The schools would be given a bigger budget to improve their students learning experience and dropping out of high school would not be an option. I think that an ideal United States will never happen though because too many people have too many different points of views on everything. The government will remain corrupt because they will be offered money or anything because people are greedy and they do not care about anyone but themselves. The schools will not get a bigger budget because the country spends too much money and time on things like fixing roads that are perfectly fine to begin with. People will drop out because they do not care, and the probably did not have a good high school experience, and people will always be snobby and feel that they are above others. People do not change, and as great as it would be to think that they will, it will not happen. Ever.

Holmes Poem

I Like you and I Love You is a poem about I like you and I love you meeting each other. They meet on a narrow path and I like you is not into I love you as much as I love you is into I like you. I love you tells I like you to go to the valley where her bridal shower is but she disagrees and pulls out a dagger. She stabs I love you and then herself. The poem is about how the two feelings are so different and it can lead to a very tragic thing. I can tell a romanticist wrote this poem because it is related to nature and it is very detailed in so short of words about how the I like you should go to the valley, and how they met on the green narrow path.

Journal 18

I hate poetry. I do not have a way with words that makes me talented enough to write in iambic pentameter or with a rhyme scheme let alone a plain old poem. I will not write a poem because I will not be able to do it. I cannot even begin to explain how much I hate poetry, and how much I do not understand it. I think the romanticists are strange because all they can talk about is nature. I mean okay, a few poems about nature is okay, but all of them do not need to be like bowing down to nature worshipping it. I find it ridiculous, and personally I hate the outdoors.

Thanatopsis

This poem was about death and how nature can unite people with it. The first sentence was talking about how nature steals peoples said thoughts. When people go outside, it takes away all of their unhappy thoughts/ideas and makes them happy again. When death comes, you become one with nature. Nature grows over your grave. Nature is the best place to be buried, and death occurs in everyone so it makes every one equal. Even though death is an unhappy thought to many, nature beautifies it. The celestial bodies are watching over the dead, and the people on earth are outnumbered by those buried underneath them. I thought this poem was very sad, and strange. I found it extremely wierd how they kept saying that nature makes death pretty.

Journal 17

A time I bonded with nature was one time when my grandparents took me to the Grand Canyon. I was so amazed by what I saw. It was so immense, and unreal. I could not believe something could be so beautiful. It was crazy how it was natural. I later found out that they think it was caused by a huge meteor. I felt so little standing next to it because it was so huge, and I was like nothing next to it. Another time I bonded with nature was when I went camping by Lake Sancris. We rented a cabin, and we stayed in it for a week. The cabin had electricity, and fully renovated kitchen, bathroom, and two master bedrooms. It was kind of like fake camping. I left my phone charger at home, so I did not have my phone for about five days. I was 12 so it was not a big deal. Instead of sitting inside texting or catching up with the latest gossip on the phone, I went outside. I went fishing. I went swimming. I went kayaking. I went running, and I tanned outside. It was the most time I have ever spent outside. I had so much fun that week. Even though we cheated, and cooked our food in the microwave, and the oven, it was still a great time to spend outside with nature.

My favorite.

My favorite color is blue. My favorite person is Trey. My favorite thing to do is shop. My favortie store is Hollister. My favorite color to wear is white or navy. My favorite food is lobster, and my favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. My favorite wing spice at Buffalo Wild Wings is Spicy Garlic. My favorite article of clothing is cardigans. My favorite designer is Juicy Couture. My favorite class is Anatomy. My favorite teacher is Ms. Liefer. My favorite car is a Honda Civic. My favorite places to work right now is Toys R Us. My favorite video game is Crazy Taxi, my favorite place to get my shoes is Journeys. My favorite place to go to shop is Ulta Beauty, the new makeup place that just opened. My favorite thing to do when I am at home to to wear big fluffy pj's, and to hang out with my boyfriend. I love to read, and my favorite books are the Pretty Little Liars series.

Journal 15

Logic and reason should be used everywhere. I use it every time I think. If you do not use logic all the time, you may come off as stupid or senseless. Logic should be used as well common sense. I hate it when I see people who are dumb as a box of rocks and they think its cute. Reason should be used every time you make a decision. If you do not look past the present a reason may be hard to give, so every time you consider your choices you should consider why you are making that decision. For example, if you are getting married, you should have a reason, like caring about that person, not just because it sounds like a good idea, but because you have a good reason for why. I think that logic should be used at all times. Some people have book smarts, but no common sense, which is just as bad as someone who dropped out of school in the eighth grade. I think that common sense is needed, and without it, even a 4.0 GPA is useless because when you get out in the real world, there is no textbook that tells you how to live your life, and there is no one standing over you shoulder reminding you to do something or study. I think that reason is needed because otherwise some people can go crazy. A simple thing like oh its cold outside today, can turn into the world is about to end, and there is an ice age coming and we are all going to die, is unreasonable, and very ignorant. I use reason and logic everyday, and I have common sense and book smarts. I think that a good, well rounded person should have all of these qualities too.

Journal 10

I think science is a logical way of explaining things. If you think about it everything can be explained using some kind of experiment on it. I think religion is a way for the ignorant to express themselves. I think it is a way for them to make the things they can explain be explained immediately. I also think it is a way for them to have hope. They need to believe someone cares for them or is watching over them, so they make up an imaginary guy that does all that for them. I am an atheist, so I put strong belief in science. I think that evolution is what happened, and I think that our knowledge is so great in the field of science, we could probably do just about anything we wanted to. I think that when people say they think there is a ghost, they are ridiculous. You could ask them why they think that, and they may say, it just got really cold. Well, the weather changes quite often, and maybe your AC kicked in. It is very extreme to say something like that when it's clearly not that. I think that people need some kind of support at all times because they may not have friends or a loving family. They may need to feel like there is someone out there to love them and watch over them. I understand that in a way, but I hate it when people always go to extremes trying to make people believe that what they believe in true. I put a strong hold in science partially because there is always proof, and also because it is more accurate and rational. I think religion is irrational thinking, and science is very logical.

Journal 5

I think that punishments towards technology are needed only in certain situations. If a kid sneaks out of the house, and uses his phone to call the people he sneaked out with to pick him up, then his cell phone should be taken away. I think that if a person throws a fit towards an adult, and technology is not used in anyway, then it should not be taken away. I think that sometimes grades depend on how much time a child spends on facebook, so instead of a parent completely taking away their computer rights, they should come to an agreement such as do all of your homework first, then you could get on the computer, or start texting your friends. I think communication is very important at our age group, and taking it away could effect our social skills. Some people will get outcasted because they are not up to date on the latest gossip, and they might feel a sense of isolation. Then they may become depressed, and then they could eventually kill themselves. This could all be prevented if technology was not used as a source of punishment for when you do something wrong. I like facebook, I find it very addicting. I find myself putting it first though, and sometimes that it not good. It is not good to sit on the computer talking with your friends until ten o clock at night, then realizing you have a full load of homework due tomorrow awaiting you. Instead of getting in trouble for not doing my homework, I do half of my homework, and then I allow myself an hour to do whatever, kind of like a break, then I resume doing my homework, and it gets done. By this time it is about eight o clock and I still have about two hours to go do something. I think that computers should not be used as a source of punishment, instead I think that actually going out with your friends should be used instead, because let's face it, sitting at home is a lot more boring then actually going out on the town. This way parents can monitor their children and their children can still socialize.

journal 12

I love working with partners. I think working together is good in so many different ways. I like how when we work in partners the work gets cut in half. I also really like that I get to socialize while still doing work. I think that working with a partner can be bad too though because sometimes one person ends up doing more work than the other, and they get credit for your work. This is a negative aspect of this but other than that I really do not have a problem with this. I like to work with partners because it takes off a lot of stress load and you can divide the work evenly and make it so that your partner has to do the stuff you do not want to do. i like it too because you can get a lot of creativity into the project because instead of just doing it with your ideas, you can combine your ideas with theirs to make it a very cool project. It also helps when you are stuck and can not think of anything else, or if you simply do not know the answer you can ask your partner and figure things out. It also is really fun because you can joke around the whole time while still getting your work done. I sometimes hate it though how the group project is also for a group grade. I hate this because a lot of times what can happen is one will not do their part, and they say they are. Then the due date comes in and their part is not done. Your grade suffers too because they did not do what they were suppose to do, even though you put all of your effort into your part, and they get credit for it too. I mean you could always go talk to your teacher about this, but a lot of times they will blow you off saying you need to do it for them then. That would make me mad if I spent countless hours working on a project while someone else sat at home and played video games, and got a really good grade. It's just not fair, but sometimes it's a risk I like to take.

Journal 11:Ethics/values

Everyone should have their own set of values. They should set guidelines for themselves. these guidelines can motivate and help someone stay true to their beliefs. I have work ethics when it comes to school work. I try my hardest because I know if I don't, my dreams will be harder to achieve. I also love the satisfying feeling that working hard on somethings gives me when I finish it. I get called an overacheiver a lot, but it does not bother me one bit because I know that I will be successful, and with that attitude they have, they will not be as successful as me. I think that everyone should have morals. People have morals today, but it is a rare occasion that they stick with them. A lot of people go into high school saying they will not do drugs or have sex before marriage. Our school is filled with a large amount of people that do do drugs, and there are also a lot of people having sex. I think that once a moral for yourself is made, it should be stuck to. Compromises for what you think should not be made under any circumstances. I value my friends and my boyfriend. My boyfriend is my bestfriend, and he is very important to me. I do not let people talk in a negative way about my friends, and I never will. I do this because I know they would do the same for me, and I believe that I should stand up for them when they can not stand up for themselves.

Journal 9

Religion has caused a lot of problems in history. If we think about it half of the issues we have today would not exist if people had not been so stubborn or cliquey with their ideas. Countries have split up because of religious differences. People came to the New World because they did not want to be a part of the Church of England anymore. There are so many varieties of religion that almost anyone can find a group that they belong in. I fall into the Atheist category. I think religion is pointless, and it just causes problems. I think the ideas of most religions are very wild, and they vary according to what group you're talking to in order to go along with what they like. When I think of religion I think of the greek gods and how they were used to explain things they could not understand. For example, wind. They did not know what was causing it or what it was really, so they made up a guy and said that he was causing it whenever he talked or something ridiculous like that. Now, today we see this as stupid, and we wonder how anyone could ever believe that. That is how i feel about God today. I think people use it as a fall back to explain things that can be scientifically explained. Some people need god to give them hope that the world is not bad, but in reality, if there was a god, he would not make the world as it is today. There are even schools that are organized by religion. As an ex-SHG student, I had to learn for 40 minutes everyday about the Catholic religion. They were very close minded and had very traditional views. I think that god is made up so people think that someone is constantly watching them, so that they don't do bad things. It is ridiculous to think that there is this perfect place called heaven that no one can see. It is creepy to even think that dead people are watching you.

Journal 8: Proofreading

"The Impotence of Proofreading" was hilarious. He made it sound so funny, and he was consistent throughout the whole video. Spell check is not always right, and I have had several instances where I realize that it auto-corrected my words into something I did not want. When he was talking it showed how stupid people sound when they have that many mistakes in their paper. This video actually made me think about checking over my papers a few times before turning them in. I actually feel paranoid that one of my reflection papers has some kind of really obvious spelling mistake or that I used words out of context without even knowing it. I wish spell check was a little more accurate because sometimes it does not correct everything. For the most part though, it is good for the little mistakes like thier being corrected into their, and i into I. I found the video to be really funny and creative. I wish all school lessons could be shown in a video that is a comedy because now I will probably always remember that video especially when I am I typing up papers or going through to check. Because of this video, I will go through my papers twice, and maybe I will even have someone else look it over to get someone else's point of view on something that I could have looked over.

Journal 6: Blaming

A lot of people make mistakes. Typically, a person that messes up will not want to blame themselves, so they look for someone else to project their mess ups on. Sometimes, one's actions will make whoever is responsible for them in serious trouble. For example, a women gets very angry at her husband for having an affair. She gets so angry that she shoots him in her extreme rage against him. She calls the cops and realizes how bad it looks that she is there. She decides to blame her husbands mistress, and the cops believe her. The case goes on trial, and the other women is jailed and sentenced to death. The women is relieved to have gotten out of trouble with out any problems towards her. That night when she went home she couldn't stop thinking about how an innocent women is going to die because of her. She had repeated nightmares, and eventually she kills herself. Blaming someone else never turns out good. Friendships can be lost Relationships can be destroyed. I think that blaming can come in handy in some situations, but usually it never turns out good, and it should be used only in joking matters such as hey who took my chicken nugget, then saying that your other friend did it. This is not such a serious situation, but it could still turn out bad. I think that if a person can do something they should be able to accept the consequences rather than blaming someone else who may have had nothing to do with it.

Journal 4: Traveling

When I was six years old, my Grandparents took me along with them on a month long vacation. It was by far the most memorable vacation I have ever taken. It started off with us flying down to St. Louis. From there we took a flight to some random airport in Colorado. We stayed the night there, and in the morning we took off for San Diego, California. My uncle lives there, so we stayed with him in his apartment that overlooked the beach. I got to go to the beach everyday, and I even learned how to surf. It was beautiful. One day, we even made a trip to the San Diego Zoo, which was by far the biggest one I have ever been to. After staying there for a week, we took off to visit my other Uncle that lives in Sacramento. I met his new wife, and we stayed with him for two weeks. My uncle collects classical cars, so I learned a lot about cars while I was there. We stayed with them for one week and we went to this really nice seafood restaurant. It was RIGHT next to the ocean, and while I was eating, I got to look out side and see the ocean. It was really pretty, and I will always remember the view. After spending time with my Uncles, we went on to Mexico. We stayed there for 3 days, and it was so pretty. There were a lot of horses walking around, and people were selling cool things. I bought a mirror from one, and it's still hanging on my wall. I'll never forget the time we ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant. A trio played music for us while we ate. After those three days, we boarded a plane, and went to Lake Tahoe. I do not remember much from here, but I do remember thinking that it was such a nice, scenic view. After those several weeks, we flew to Memphis, Tennessee. My grandparents were thinking about moving there, and they wanted to show me around the town. They ended up moving there, and building their own Steak n Shake. After that month of fun, I went home. I had hundreds of pictures and pretty things like that mirror, and some bracelets.

Journal 3: Being held hostage

Being held hostage is probably a very life changing thing. I would panic and probably try to escape. I would either do that or comply with everything they said so they would not hurt me. If I decided to panic, I would try to devise a plan to get out. I would feel scared, and if nobody came to get me or attempted to save me, I would feel really hurt. If I was held hostage for a long period of time, I would try to get use to the way of their life, just like Mary Rowlandson did. If I knew that people were trying to find me or help me out, I would make my kidnapper have a really difficult time dealing with me. I would make everything he did so difficult, and I would make them want to let me go just because I was being so annoying. I would miss my friends and my boyfriend so much, and I would probably cry a lot. I would go crazy if I had no communications with anybody I cared about for a long time. I would probably even start to talk to myself too. Overall, being held hostage is not an ideal situation to be in at all. It is a very emotional time, and I'm sure a lot of people have to go through some sort of therapy or counseling. I would probably have nightmares even after the event happened for several years. I know of several situations on the news where people are being kidnapped or held against their will. For example, the most famous in America is probably the whole 9/11 situation. People were on that plane minding their own business, until some men took the plane under their control and crashed it. Because of that ordeal, I'm very afraid of that happening while I am flying. I will be flying in October, and I am already panicky about it.

Jounral 2: Using Animals as Characters

Once upon a time there were two squirrels. One squirrel was nice as can be, while the other was selfish and rude. It was fall, which was the worst time of the year for the squirrels. They had to rush to get a bunch of nuts and acorns to store for the winter time. The nice squirrel, named Sally Squirrel, was finding a bunch of nuts. She put them all in a pile in her home. Once she was sure that she had enough nuts to last her until the spring, she set off to help her fellow squirrels. The mean squirrel, Sammy Squirrel, was taking the easy way out. He thought he was too good to search for nuts. He waited until his friends left their homes until he made his move. He broke into each of his fellow squirrels houses and stole their nuts. Sally Squirrel happened to lock her door that day, so when he tried to break into her house, it was locked. When the day was all over, each squirrel went home and saw to their horror that all of their food was gone. The squirrels could easily tell who had stolen their nuts. It was clearly the squirrel that had so many acorns and nuts that his windows would not even close. That night, the squirrels decided to take part in revenge. Sally said she thought that was a bad idea. the squirrels successfully stole all of their nuts left. Sammy was left with nothing to eat at all. When winter came the other squirrels were eating just fine. Sammy was starving and since he was mean to all of the other squirrels they would not share. He begged Sally squirrel to give him some of her nuts. She was hesitant at first, but then decided that revenge is not the answer, and she cannot just let a neightbor starve. She gave hims some of her nuts, and they shared for the rest of the winter. Sammy Squirrel learned a lesson to be nice and not steal. the next winter came and he picked so many nuts that he did not have room for all of them. He was tired of being an outcast so he gave all of his extra nuts to his fellow friends.

Journal 1: Native American Culture

I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Native American culture. I know that there are a lot of different tribes and a lot of them have different beliefs. I also know that there are not a whole lot of them left. Most of them, however, live on reservations. They are very wise when it comes to living off of the land and they even taught the Pilgrims how to grow food for their survival. They are usually spiritual and some tribes have bonfires to honor them. I also know that they made tools out of rocks and other things that were found around on the ground. They were good at hunting and they made their clothing out of fur. That is not so popular now because they can get clothes from stores. Several of them lived in homes in the shape of a pyramid. These were called tepees. They look very small on the outside, but once one walks inside they are spacious. As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of tribes. A lot of them do not get along. They live differently or the people in the tribes are mean. I know that the Cherokees were forced to walk on the Trail of Tears, which caused many of them to die. In the history point of view, I know that we forcefully moved them off of their land. America has signed many treaties with the Indians, and each and every single one of them has been broke. A lot of Indians open up casinos on their land. If I were an Indian, I would not move from the land that was given to men in fear of it being taken away or given to someone else. I also know that if people are a certain amount of Indian, they can apply for some kind of government funding and receive money from them on a monthly basis. Indians also have some special privileges. It is illegal to have an eagle feather, unless a person a certain percentage of Indian. As for more information on the culture, I do not really know because I have not learned much about the Indians since grade school.

Journal: Symbolism

Out of the three novels I read this summer, I would say the one with the most symbolism is the Grapes of Wrath. The symbols are always obvious, which is typical of a lot of books. I noticed a few symbols, the turtle, the mountains, and Rose of Sharon's pregnancy. You may be wondering how a turtle that is only breifly mentioned can be so symbolic, but for the short amount of time it was in the novel it seemed to foreshadow the future events. The turtle was heading in a direction and was having a very difficult time getting there. Once the turle got to the road, it began to cross. Two cars came by. One car swerved to avoid hitting the turtle, and the other car purposely hit the turtle. The turtle still managed to make it across the road. It does not seem to significant, but by reading in between the lines it makes sense. The cars are people and all of the bad things that can happen to a person. A car that swerved would be a good person or something positive happening in life, while the car that purposely hit the turtle is hardships and corrupt people. This also reminds me of the bank because the bank targets people and moves them off of their land. The turtle's dedication to cross the street shows that he is determined and will not let anything get in his way of getting to where ever he was going. I think that this symbol is a good subtle way of bringing in a lesson. I enjoyed how simple it was, unlike the Old Man and the Sea. The Old Man and the Sea has such complex symbols in it and they were way to subtle for me to pick up. I also know nothing about the bible so I had no impression that it was being hinted at the whole time.

blog number 50!!!!!:)

The Old Man and the Sea kept reminding me of a book we had to read for freshman year's honors english. The book I am talking about is the Life of Pi. They are both out at sea and they both are dealing with animals. Life of Pi is more of symbolism though, while the Old Man and the sea is mostly about morals. I am not sure why I kept thinking of this book because I have forgotten all about the Life of Pi and I remembered it when I read this. They were both okay books, but I would have not picked either of them up if I was reading for leisure. I am really glad that I am done with my blogs and I feel very accomplished and proud of myself because I thought I would never be done. :)

all three books combined

Overall, the accelerated english assignments were not very difficult. The books were okay and they were not horrible. The essays were easy to write for the most part because I enjoyed 2 of the 3. The only kind of difficult thing for this class was writing enough blogs. To keep up with my english and not wait until last minute, I made schedules for each month with how much I was going to read and when. It kept me on top of things for the most part, and due dates were not an issue. I was surprised how easy writing the essays came for me because usually I am very bad at writing them. I am really glad that I can say that I have read all three of the novels, and I am relieved that I only have one more blog after this.

Thoughts on the Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea took me about 45 minutes to read. It was very simple and straight to the point. In one of my previous blogs, I said I had heard very bad things about this book and I was not looking forward to reading it. The book was not bad, and it was not nearly as bad as people made it out to be. I liked the moral of the story, which is dedication. I thought the end was sad and funny at the same time. I thought it was sad because the old man went through so much for that fish. He cut his hands and stayed awake for long periods of time. He even let the fish take him so far out into the sea that he was stuck until he drifted home. I thought it was funny because the sharks kept coming up and eating the fish and the old man kept fighting them off. I am not sure why I find that funny because it should not be, but the thought of an old little man fighting off sharks with wooden oars makes me smile. I would not have picked up this book if it was not required for school, but in the end I am glad I have read it.

Characters of Old Man and the Sea

There are two characters in the Old Man and the Sea. The main character is the old man. He lives a simple life and is a fisherman. He loves what he does, but he is not very good at catching fish. He is very old and does not have any family. The only thing he has besides fishing it the boy. He seems to put a lot of hope and faith into the boy. I think the boy is his only companion. It is the only person that he has that he can communicate with. If it was not for the boy, he would be totally isolated from everything. He talks to himself a lot, but that is probably because it can make people mad without someone to talk to for long periods of time. He is very caring and he values hard work. The boy, as I mentioned before, is not in this book very much. He looks up to the old man, but his parents will not let him fish with the old man because when they fish together they never come back with anything. They also think the old man is unlucky. He takes care of the old man and keeps him company.

Setting of the Old Man and the Sea

The are only two settings in this story. The old man's home was a small cabin with hardly anything in it. It was newspaper on the floor to keep him warm at night, but that is pretty much all he had money for. He was a simple man and did not require much. The next and most obvious setting is the sea. The sea is vast and wavy. The old man gets lost at one point in the book and is stuck out in the middld of the sea without any food besides bait or water besides the small bottle he took with him. The sea is filled with large fish and sharks. The water is salt water. This book does not really have a time period that I could put on it because it was reallyd detailed enough to make a conclusion for that.

Lessons from Old Man and the Sea

The main and only lesson I noticed in this book was that hard work may not be seen by others, but it should still be just as important to a person. It should keep a person happy knowing that they accomplished something. The old man was very disappointed that no one saw what he worked so hard for. I think this is a great lesson because self-accomplishment is just as important as people noticing your hard work.

Summary of Old Man and the Sea

This novel cut straight to the point The man went fishing on the sea and was out there for 43 days. He was having a difficult time catching anything and he also had horrible luck. Out of nowhere he caught a huge fish, except this fish would not give in easily. The fish was so immense that it took days for him to finally catch the fish. When he finally got the fish he had to kill it and tie it to the side of the boat. He was on his way home and sharks kept coming up and taking huge bites out of the fish. He kept fighting away the fish, but they still got most of him. When he finally got home it was before anyone was awake and when he woke up the fish was just a skeleton. He was disappointed that no one would see all his hard work and just how big that fish was.

Setting of a Catcher in the Rye

The fisrt setting of this story is at Pencey Prep. This is Holden's highschool. He did not really describe the actual school much, but he did describe the dorms. The dorms were all connected and there was a common room for everyone with couches and bookshelves. There were bathrooms in between each room to and people could go through these and get to the other rooms. The next setting is New York. To be more specific, Holden's hotel. His hotel is not very nice, and he does not spend much time in here. He, instead, goes to a bar and a club. The club is very dark and crowded with tables and people. There is a piano player there. The next setting is at his home. It is a very nice, upscale New York apartment. It is very fancy too. The last important settings are the school and the carousel. The school is where Holden sees all the curse words written on the all and we learn just how innocent he is. The last scene, the carousel, is very important. This is where he tells Phoebe he is leaving and she begs him to stay, and he does.

Grapes of Wrath setting

Grapes of Wrath had several settings. Uncle John's home was one of the first. It was small and cozy and the whole family was there living. It was very cramped, but it was very upsetting to leave. The next setting is on the highway ( route 66 ). It is a long stretch of road with a few places along the side of the road. They are in their car, which is another setting. It is very cramped with the whole family inside with all their things too. The next setting is a cmap in California. It is a camp in California. It is spacious and contains a lot of families and tents. The last setting is a boxcar. It is shaved with another family, and they all must squeeze inside. The Grapes of Wrath is set during the depressin era, which is the 30's.

My thoughts on Grapes of Wrath

Personall, I loved this book. I thought it was interesting the whole time and I was drawn in until the very last page. I loved the amount of tradgedy and how it did not just tell of one family, but it told of every family of the time period. I feel like I understand life during the depression. I loved how the ending was more realistic unlike a lot of books where everything happens perfectly. I also liked the random chapters in between the chapters. It gave readers an insight to all sorts of people ranging from car dealers to waitresses. I would actually consider this book to be one of my favorites. I also really liked how it had the perfect amount of details. Some books are way too detailed and they take too much time in things that should only be mentioned in passing. I enjoyed very reading this book very much and I am very glad it was on the reading list.

determination

This book has another valuable lesson which is determination. Each and every member of the Joad family had to deal with something very difficult. Tom had to go into hiding. Rose of Sharon had a stillborn baby, and she was left by her husband. Grandpa had to leave his hometown where he had lived his whole life. Uncle John lost his wife because he would not take her to the doctor. Ma lost her mom and had to take care of everyone. Pa had to put his pride aside and let Ma help him make major decisions. They all had to look for money, food, and jobs to continue going. If any member of the family had given up, the survival would have been impossible. I think this is a great lesson because a lot of people give up on things if they are too hard or time consuming. Not everything in life comes easily and patience and determination are key.

family

This book gave a valuable lesson on family. It stressed how much people need their families in order to continue life. Without the Joads being together, survival would have been next to impossible. They split up little by little from each other and by the end when less than half of them were together, life got to be unbearable. They may not have had a lot of money or food, or even a nice place to live, but they had each other to get through the hard times. I think this is an important lesson because a lot of people leave their families because of simple fights or altercations, but family is forever and people should stick together.

the mountains

The mountains were mentioned quite a bit in the Grapes of Wrath. The mountains the family is referring to are the Rocky Mountains. The mountains, I believe, are a symbol of hardships or difficult times. The family was dreading the mountains. They wre worried they were not going to make it through. A reader could take the mountains in a literal sense or a reader could take them to be something emotional. The mountains I think are going to be the hard times of the family, like finding a new job or feeding the family. They were worried because California was so far away from their home. It is also physically difficult to get throught the mountains. They have a lot of stuff, and a lot of people. They also don't have very much money and the longer they take to get to California to find work, the higher chance they have of running out of food and money.

Pregnancy as a symbol

Pregnancy is the beginning of a new life. It is a symbol of hope and it promises a future. Rose of Sharon was the only pregnant character in the Grapes of Wrath. She was also the one who was left by her husband. Having a baby creates a family too, but Rose of Sharon was left by herself. I see this to foreshadow the events that would follow in the book. Everything seemed like it was going okay between Connie and Rose of Sharon and he left out of nowhere. It was expected and I think this symbolizes the unexpected bad events that happened to the Joad family. The baby was really all Rose of Sharon had left. It was part of her lost lover and even that wasn't born okay. She had the baby, and it was stillborn. All hope was lost for a new life, and I believe this to tell readers that the Joad family would never be truly stable or content money or job wise.

the turtle in the Grapes of Wrath

A turtle is the main focus in one of the first couple of chapters in this book. When I finished reading the chapter I was really confused as to why a whole chapter was written about a turtle crossing the road. When I thought about it, I realized that I had to read in between the lines and not take the turtle crossing the road so literally. I realized it was a symbol. It is a symbol of determination and progress. The turtle, like all turtles moved slow. He spent a lot of time getting to the road, and then when the road came along, he attempted to cross it several times. Some people swerved to avoid hitting it, while others purposely hit it. I believe the drivers to be people that will come along in your life and situations that will occur. Bad things will happen along with bad people that are not looking out for your best interests, but along with this there will also be good people that look out for you and help you get going. The adventure across the road took dedication. He could have stopped and let cars kill him but he kept going. The time it took him to get across is also seen as progress in a person's life. I also see this to be foreshadowing the events of the book. Now that I have finished the book, I see that it kind of outlines the Joad's journey to California. They had many hardships and a few good things happened to them, but no matter what, they kept on going.

the road in Grapes of Wrath

In the Grapes of Wrath the road stands to be a symbol. The family spend a lot of time traveling on the highway and many deaths happen along the way. On a road you can move forwards or backwards. By the Joads moving forward they are going to an unknown land where they hope to be prosperous. By moving back, the Joads could stay in their homeland and know that there was no hope. They would have each other either way. The road stands to be a symbol of life and moving forward. In life, you can have regrets and you can dwell on the past and know what happens or you can look to the future and have hope. I think this is the main symbol of this book,

Ivy, Sairy, and Noad Joad

Ivy and Sairy Wilson

The Joad family came across the Wilson's on their way to California. They were stopping for the night to rest and the Wilson's car was broken down. The Wilsons let grandpa stay in their tent while he died so he was cozy. Al fixed the Wilson's car as a thank you and eventually the families decided to travel together. Sairy was sick and her and Ivy had to let the Joad family go on, because Sairy knew she was going to die.

Noah Joad

Noah seemed like a loner the whole novel. He isolated himself a lot and left the family on their way to California. He said he would not leave the water. Noah is deformed from not being delivered properly and has felt like a reject since.

Grandma and Al

Grandma

Grandma is a victim of Grandpa's cruelty. She is mean back though so pity is not felt. She was not in the book long. She is very religious and she died soon after grandpa. Ma laid with her in her final moments and for several hours after she was dead.

Al

At first, Al seemed to be jealous of Tom, but by the end of the novel I figured out that it was not jealousy, but it was admiration. Al looked up to his older brother, but he eventually got over that and grew up himself. He is very skilled when it comes to cars and he is obsessed with girls like most teenage guys. He plays the girls though, but we see him transition into an adult when he matures enough and decides to marry a girl named Aggie.

Ruthie and Grandpa

Ruthie

Ruthie is the youngest sister. She is the sister of Winfield, but they seem to act more like best friends. They constantly talk to each other and joke around and play. They are good for each other in this time because they help each other through and they keep each other entertained. Ruthie also spoiled that Tom killed another man and the whole family has to take action to make sure Tom does not get caught. This is what causes Tom to go into hiding in the woods.

Grandpa

Grandpa is very set in his ways. He does things traditionally. He loves his grandchildren. He is very mean to his wife though. They seem to be mean to each other. He is very excited for California. However, the morning when the family decides to leave, grandpa refuses to go on. The family has to drug him to get him to come. On the road shortly after they leave grandpa dies and they bury him illegally.

Winfield and Casy

Winfield Joad

He is the youngest of all the Joads. He is ten years old and his bestfriend is his sister Ruthie. He is not mentioned in the novel very much, and he does not play a very important role in the book. Ma worries about him growing up to be a rebel.

Jim Casy

Casy is a preacher. Well, he WAS a preacher. He seems to still be searching for who he is. He doubts his faith and is not sure of what is real or what is not real. He does not think much of himself and when people ask him to pray he often says he is not worthy or good enough to say the prayer. He is not part of the family biologically, but they have bonded with him and he has become part of the family. He is selfless and in an attempt to keep the Joad family together, he takes the blame for a fight that Tom took part in. He went to jail and the Joad family continued on their journey. Casy became the leader of a rebel group and leads people to fights and strikes. Casy got killed by a cop for trespassing and that was the end of him.

Uncle John and Rose of Sharon

Uncle John

Uncle John is a very regretful person. Years ago his wife died because he would not take her to a doctor. Since then he has been filled with remorse and hatred towards himself. He turns to drinking on occasion to drown away his problems. He knows he cannot keep up his drinking habits because they have gotten to be too expensive and the family needs that money to spend on necessities. He believes he will go to hell because he sinned and he seems like he will never get over the loss of his wife. I feel very bad for him because he did not know that if he didn't get help for his wife she would die. He was under the impression that she had the flu or ate too much.

Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon is Connie's wife. She is several months pregnant and she worries a lot. She is constantly fretting about her baby and it's safety. She is very gullible and believes a women who told her that her baby would be dead because of dancing sinfully. She was left and devastated by Connie because he was her lover and she wanted to raise a family with him. She also lost hope when he left because he told her about his dreams to make a lot of money and to have a nice house just him, the baby, and her. At the end of the novel Rose of Sharon has a baby that is still born. She is very upset and depressed because the baby was all she had left of Connie and it gave her hope.

Pa and Ma

Pa Joad

Pa is Tom's father. He is a farmer and has lived in Oklahoma his whole life. He and his family were evicted from their home, and were forced to move else where. He is the one that actually got the family moving in the direction of California. He loves his family very much. Once they get to California, they have horrible luck finding support and money. Ma begins to take over his roll and steps into his place.

Ma Joad

She is a very strong women. She can do anything she puts her mind to. She cooks dinner and takes care of the family. She does most of the housework and helps Rose of Sharon through with her pregnancy. She overtakes Pa's authority, which was very unusual because men were in charge of the household decisions. She is very level-headed and helps keep members of the family sane. She is very loving and caring and she will do anything for her family.

Tom and Connie

Tom Joad

Tom is the main character for most of this book. At the beginning of the novel we learn that he was in jail for killing a boy in a fight. He is very strong-minded and he follows his own instincts. He is very protective of his family and he seems to want to do anything to please them or to keep them safe. He killed another man in the middle to end of the novel to protect Casy the preacher. This shows his braveness and willingness to do anything to keep his family from harm. He went into hiding to keep the family from being punished. He is very selfless and ambitious. He found work easier than many others and he led his family to safety several times.

Connie

Connie is only in the novel for a short amount of time. He has big dreams and talks up a lot of fantasies of his, but he never followed through. In fact, he actually abandoned his pregnant wife, Rose of Sharon. He always told her he would never leave her and that they would have a house of their own and they would make a lot of money and go to radio school. He is a coward and he did not contribute to the family in any positive way.

First 50 pages of the Old man and the Sea

This book started off great and it caught my attention easily. After the first 15 pages or so, it went in a bad direction. It is entirely too detailed. He talks about everything, even what kind of bait he is using and how big he cut it. I really hope this improves. It then got interesting again when a fish started biting on his line. The old man seems to think this is a huge fish, but he does not tug the line because he is afraid the line will either break or scare the fish away. He even fell asleep while fishing. The fish was carrying him in a different direction and he could not even see the shore anymore. The old man seemed really calm about this though, probably from his years of experience in fishing. He decides there is nothing that he can really do about the fish and he then sleeps and waits until the morning where he can follow the sun. When morning rolls around the fishing is still going and the old man must sit and wait patiently. I would be very scared to be that far out in the sea without someone there with me. I would constantly be worrying about a big storm hitting that could cause huge waves to tip over my boat. I would also be scared of running out of food or never finding land again. He did not bring any real food onto the boat with him. He even resorts to eating some bait. I personally find that disgusting, and I think that he should have waited until he was out on the sea for a couple of days before eating the food.

The Old Man and the Sea

I have heard many things about this book, and by what I have heard, I am not looking forward to reading this book at all. I have heard that this book is short, but extremely boring. Apparently, the whole book is about a man fishing for a fish that he cannot seem to catch. This does not sound appealing to me at all. I am going to try to read this book without these opinions in my head to form one for myself. I really hope this book turns out to have a good ending or an interesting plot because it is really hard for me to remain focused in books that are too detailed or dragged out. The book is very thin, so regardless of how great it is or isn't, it should be an easy read.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 27-30

Chapter 27
This chapter is about cotton pickers. It's okay money and it would last a long time if so many people didn't come and want to pick cotton. They have to record their weights of the cotton or the scale runners will try to cheat them out of several pounds. They have plenty of people working but they keep having more people come which is not a good thing because then people will be fighting for cotton and the job will go too quickly and the people won't get paid as much

Chapter 28

In this chapter the family seems to be making a lot of money. They go to the store and get a Loy of food. Ruthie tells a girl abort Tom and ma worries a lot. She makes a trip out to want him and she ends up sending him away. On the way home ma runs into a man who needs workers for cotton. The family agrees to go in the morning. Al and their neighbor decide to get married. In the morning both families go to pick cotton and come back. Rosaharn is cold and shaking and they make her get inside. The light a fire and everybody comes together and waits for the rain to pass

Chapter 29

This chapter was about rain and how it flooded the land everywhere. Many people were living in very wet conditions and all their possessions were wet. The field were flooded which meant no work which meant no food. Many died and people became desperate for food. They began begging for rotten vegetables and more cops had to be hired to keep it in control. The rain stopped and spring begins to come.

Chapter 30
This chapter is about the rain and the family getting soaked. Rose is in labor and the men are trying to dig a ditch to keep the rain out. Rose has her baby but it is stillborn. Uncle john let's it float down the stream in a bag when he was suppose to bury it. The boxcar begins to flood and they must move to another place. Al stays with aggie and the family goes upland into a barn. The barn is dry and there is a man and a boy in there. The man is starving and he needs milk. They are so desperate that the story ends with rose giving the man her breast milk.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 26

Chapter 26

In this chapter the family moves camp. They need work and there isn't any to be done around the government camp that they are staying at. They move north and thy see a bunch of cops on the road and they ask the joads if they want to work as peach pickers. They agree and get a small house to stay in while they work. The men immediately set out because each box is worth 5 cents. At the end they made one dollar. Ma goes to the store which is very expensive and they don't get much food for their money. Tom go exploring and runs into Casy the preacher. Casy was leading the strike and some men find them and bash in casy's head. Tom reacts by hitting the man that killed casy. He got hit in the face and runs and hides. He has to stay in hiding because they are looking for him. Winfield gets sick from using the bathroom all day. They decide to leave the camp because people are looking for Tom and wages went down to two and a half cents a box. They hide Tom in between the mattresses and leave. On their way north they see a sign for cotton pickers and decides to do that for work. They camp out.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 23-25

Chapter 23

This chapter was about families and their displeasure. They didn't really have much to keep them happy and many drank. Some played the fiddle and danced. Their was hardly any rain and people were restless. They thought I was because they sinned. When rain came they were clean and they promised to never sin again

Chapter 24

This chapter was about a dance the camp was hosting. Tom was invited onto an entertainment committee which wild watch for suspicious people and cops walking around the gates. Someone told them a fight was going to break out. Of a fight breaks out then the cops can come into the camp without a warrant. Tom was in duty up at the front and these three men came in saying they were invited by Jackson o unit four. Tom had Willie ask Jackson if he invited them and he said no. The boys kept a close eye on the group and soon they tried to fight. The cops blew a whistle and said there was a fight but Willie said there wasn't. Willie asked the boys to leave and they wouldn't tell who sent them or paid them to go there. At he end pa says he feels like change is coming.


Chapter 25

This chapter talks about the ample amounts of fruits and vegetables that could have kept several lives. Since the fruit could not be picked or sold for profit then the farmers just left it to rot. People began to go and steal the fruit so they dumped kerosene on it so people couldn't eat it. They killed pigs and buried them and dumped food in the river and out guards around them so people couldn't fish it out. I think that is horrible. Just because profit couldn't be made doesn't mean that thousands should have to starve.

Grapes of Wrath Chapters 21-22

Chapter 21

This chapter was about how people are starving. I says of how wages get lower and lower because people are desperate. One huge farm starts up and shuts all the little ones down

Chapter 22

The family makes it to a government camp and life is going very well for them. The camp has warm water, toilets and is clean. People are friendly and civil and they are their own governments. Tom meets some friends and they say they can help him find work. They get paid 25 cents an hour and are very lucky to have found work. Back at the camp ma wakes up and begins to frantically clean and make every get nice for the ladies committee is coming to get them the rules. After the committee comes they settle down. A crazy religious lady comes and tells roasharn her baby will be dead and bloody because she is a sinner. Ma gets angry when the lady comes back and almost hits her. The manager of the camp is very friendly and caring. Pa and al and uncle John go out to look for work but they find nothing. Ma sends them to the store to get something nice for supper.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 19-20

Chapter 19

This chapter is about families and their hard ships. It tells if how they are living in Hoovervilles and people are doing secret gardening. People around them have huge farms with plenty of food but they can't have any if it. Children are dying from mal nutrition and people are miserable

Chapter 20
In this chapter the family settles into the Hooverville. As ma is making dinner some children gather around and stare. No one has any money to buy food and people are starving. While this is going on al meets a man named flyod. He helps fix his car. Flyod discloses that there is work in the north and nit to tell anybody. Some cops show up and flyod gets in trouble because they try to offer work but don't kno where or how much the workers will get paid. Tom trips the officer and casy kicks his neck to knock him out. Casy takes the blame and is taken to jail. After this tom tells the family of the work up north. The. Camp will be burned that night so they must leave. Connie took off and roseaharn is very upset. Uncle John went off to get drunk and wants to die. Tom knocks him out and makes him go with them. On their way to the highway the mob that is going to burn the camp makes the family turn around saying that they didn't want any okies to go their and they found a different route.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 17 and 18

Chapter 17

This chapter was about family. It told the Story of how these people that didn't know each other came together and survived. Thy all became part of a kind of extended family. Try slot ate and moved together. I think this is great because they were all going through the same things so thy could all understand each other and help each other out.

Chapter 18

This chapter is about the family making it to california. They made it to a desert where they stopped to rest so thy could finish the ride over night. Some folks told pa that california was horrible and they would be struggling for food every night. Pa says they will still go on. The women are in a cave with grandma and some religious people want them to join them for a meeting. Ma turns them down and feels bad afterward a policeman comes knocking on their door and says okies aren't welcome there. The wilsons tell them to go on without them because sairi is sick and can't go on anymore. They leave and on the way they stop to fill up their tank. The people said they were dirty for traveling in a jalopy and they didn't know any better. Again in the night a cop stops them and wants to search their things. Ma pleads with them and shows them grandma. They let them move on. They make it to q beautiful place with fruit and trees and green grass. Ma reveals that grandma has been dead since right before the cops stopped them. They are really happy to be there and they talk about how Tom has grown up a lot

Grapes of Wrach chapters 15-16

Chapter 15

This chapter is shot there employees of a diner that sells food and convenience stuff. People hardy stop by and some people steal from them. A family stops in and is really tight in money and the women gives them bread for cheap even though they risk running out before the bread truck comes again. Then the two children have a penny and are eying the candy. The candy is really a nickel a piece but she lies and tells them it is two for a penny. This chapter shows how hard businesses had it.

Chapter 16

This chapter was about the family on the road. The truck needed a repair and they had to stop. The family split up and casy and Tom stayed behind. Al came back after he dropped the family off at a camp that was half a dollar a night. Al andtom are on their way to a car lot and al discloses that he has six dollars the family doesn't know about. When they get to the lot they encounter a one eyed man that feels really sorry for himself. They find the part they need and get back to the truck and fix it. They drive on to meet the family and they camp owner won't let them in unless they pay. Hey don't want to pay so they go on. They meet a man who says he is coming back from California and he tells about how bad the wages are. He says the employer tells everyone about his work and people are desperate so they accept low wages because they needs food and a place to live. This angers pa and he almost tells Ma but Tom stops him. A symbol in this chapter is fences. Tom says he climbs fences when he needs to. I think this represents hard times in life or difficult decisions or decisions needed for survival.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 13-14

Chapter 13.
This chapter is about the joads on the road. They need to stop at a gas station to get gas and they drive onto find a place on the side of the road to sleep. They come across a couple and they welcome them in. Grandpa is sick and has a stroke in the other couples tent. He dies and they bury him and have a small prayer. The other family is in desperate need of a car repair and they have little money left. By the end of the night everyone is okay with grandpa being dead. Tom and al have an idea. They think the other couple should come along with them. Al says he will fix their car and then thy can put some of their stuff onto the other car and a few people can ride in the other car with the couple. They think this is a great idea and thy go to bed. The women from the other couple has been sick and says if she gets sick they should go on without her and they refuse. The chapter concludes with the women laying down in severe pain.

Chapter 14.
This chapter was about tractors taking over peoples live. People are getting evicted so that more crops can grow and their work isn't needed because they have machines to do it. It brings up the point of how people are relying on each other just to survive.

Grapes of Wrath Chapters 11- 12

Chapter 11

This chapter was about the houses falling apart. Because there is no one to maintain them and keep them looking good. It also talks about the people that run the tractors and how they don't love the land and they just do their job and leave while the other people that lived their made their land their lives

Chapter 12
This chapter is about highway 66. It tells of how nerve racking it is to drive along that road worried sick about something in the car breaking. It tells how the service stations would Jack up the prices because they knew the people needed their stuff. I think this would be a horrible situation to be in constantly worried about the car and money and repairs.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 9 and 10

Chapter 9
Chapter 9 was about the land tenants having to sell their stuff. They had to choose what to take, what to leave , what to sell. The people buying the stuff from them weren't giving them nearly enough money and this angered them. They decided to burn their things before they got underpaid for it. I think this is horrible that they had to choose what to do. It would be so hard to leave my memories and things behind but they had no choice.

Chapter 10
This chapter was about the family getting ready to move. They had a family meet to decide what thy were doing. Tom is hiding the fact that he will be violating his parole by going out of state. The priest makes a comment about ma saying she looks sick tired. This makes readers wonder if she is sick. She also burns her old letters which give us the impression she is hiding something. The family packs everything up kills their pigs and is ready to go when grandpa decides he doesn't want to go. The joads decide to give him some medicine that makes him go to sleep and take them along with them. The chapter concludes with the joad family on the road on the way to California.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 6-8

Chapter 6

Joad stumbles upon an old house which is caved in on one side. He believes his family is dead, but is told by Mully, a man who refuses to leave, that his family went to Uncle John's house. They camp out that night, and have rabbit for dinner. The landowners see their fire and come looking for them, but they hide. They decide to set out for Uncle John's at daybreak.

Chapter 7

This chapter is about a used car salesman who is trying to sell his cars. He uses guilt on some people saying they were wasting his time. It seems like he is making really good money, and is very good at coaxing money out of people.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 was about Tom an the preacher walking to uncle johns. They met up with tons family and they were very happy to see him. His family is getting ready to go to california and tom is going to go with him there. They have breakfast together and preacher says grace. They go out and look at the truck and we meet al, toms younger brother. Al knows a lot about trucks and he looked over the truck thy were taking to California with them. This chapter concludes by al and Tom reuniting and al seems jealous of Tom.

Grapes of Wrath Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1

This chapter tells about a huge dust storm. It tells how the corn use to be really green. Horses hooves, wheels milled and team moves caused the dirt to loosen into dust. Wind lifted the dust and blew it onto all of the crops. Wind grew stronger and blew dust everywhere. People stayed inside with rags stuffed into crack to keep the dust out. A few days later they emerged from their homes and the men saw their crops were ruined.

Chapter 2

In this chapter we meet a Joad. He asks for a ride with a truck driver who accepts. Along the way we learn he lives on his fathers farm. At the end we learn that he just got out of prison for homicide.

Chapter 3

In this chapter a turtle is discussed. The turtle is on a journey to oats and has to cross a road. The turtle gets hit but makes it across. When he gets across it drops seeds and covers them with dirt.

Chapter 4

On Joad's way home he runs into his old preacher. They talk and readers learn the preacher isn't a preacher anymore because he is filled with bad ideas. Joad and the old preacher walk towards Joad's old house. The discuss religion and other things that have been going on. Upon their arrival Joad sees a cluster of buildings which was not where he lived.

Chapter 5

Landowners from the bank come in and tell the tenants they need to leave the land on the banks orders. A man tries to resist the men from the bank got in a tractor and began planting. The tractor also crumbled the man's house. The landowner says he makes $3 a day and the tenant says for the $3 he makes, his family and 15 others starve.

Final thoughts on Catcher in the Rye

I read this novel for leisure last summer. I enjoyed it a lot, and I thought it was a great novel. When we were assigned to read it again I was really excited because I considered it one of my favorite books. After reading it again I have a whole new point of view on the book. The book really annoyed me this time through. I could not stand Holden's negativity, and it was really annoying how socially awkward he was. He seems like a selfish person, and I hate how he was the main character. I think my view on this book changed because I had to take close notes and read in between the lines for my essay. When I read it before I never noticed how much I dislike Holden. I like how honest he was and how readers got a point of view from a troubled teen. The ending I wish was more closed instead of leaving readers to guess what happened. Overall this book was an easy read, and I liked the messages this book put through. I also like Salingers writing style, and how he elaborately describes each scene because it made me feel like it helped me understand what was going on more because I could imagine what everything looked like.

Conflict in Catcher in the Rye

There are a few kinds of conflicts in this book. The first one is Holden versus himself. He is his own worst enemy. He convinces himself that everyone is fake, and he is alone. He creates his own insanity. Another conflict in this book is the fact that Holden does not have any motivation and is constantly getting kicked out of schools. He left school early and is traveling New York City. He is so worried about what his mother will do when she finds out about him again. This is a big conflict because he will not be successful in life, without at least completing high school. The next conflict is death. Allie was Holdens younger brother. Holden cannot get over it or even accept the fact that he is gone. The last conflict I noticed was Holden versus everyone else. He thinks the worst of everybody and does not have friends or anyone his own age to talk to. The only person he seems to see only good in that is still alive is Phoebe. Overall this book didn't have much conflict as it did themes. I think this book was meant more to teach a lesson, which themes do a great job of doing.

Themes of Catcher in the Rye

This novel is filled with themes from the very beginning. Growing up and remaining youthful seems to be a major theme. Holden is very immature and throughout the novel exhibits his want to protect youth from corruption. He was at Phoebe's school and he noticed a lot of curse words scribbled all over the walls. This greatly upset him and he tried to erase as many as possible. His refusal to grow up reminds me of Peter Pan. The next theme is innocence. Holden has shown his innocence by being curious about sex. At one point there was a prostitute in his room, and he got really nervous and refused to have sex. Another theme I noticed was lonliness. Holden does not really have many close friends, and seems really isolated. I noticed his overusage of the word "phonies". Holden seems to think that everyone is fake. He refuses to associate with anything to do with movies or Hollywood, because people in movies are just acting, and Hollywood is where the movies are filmed. Holden also comes off as being on edge or crazy. He seems mentally unstable, and even makes comments on how his nerves are shot. One paragraph towards the end of the book convinced me that Holden was indeed crazy. He claimed that everytime he crossed the road he would disappear. The ending of the book even suggests that he had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Religion is another theme in this novel. Holden claims to be athiest at the start of the book, but throughout the book he refers to the bible and has a high respect for people of religion, such as nuns. He did not have much money, but he made a generous donation to some nuns at a train station. Salinger uses these themes,I think, because these are all things a person may experience at least once during their lives.

Grapes of Wrath chapters 19-20

Chapter 19

This chapter is about families and their hard ships. It tells if how they are living in Hoovervilles and people are doing secret gardening. People around them have huge farms with plenty of food but they can't have any if it. Children are dying from mal nutrition and people are miserable

Chapter 20
In this chapter the family settles into the Hooverville. As ma is making dinner some children gather around and stare. No one has any money to buy food and people are starving. While this is going on al meets a man named flyod. He helps fix his car. Flyod discloses that there is work in the north and nit to tell anybody. Some cops show up and flyod gets in trouble because they try to offer work but don't kno where or how much the workers will get paid. Tom trips the officer and casy kicks his neck to knock him out. Casy takes the blame and is taken to jail. After this tom tells the family of the work up north. The. Camp will be burned that night so they must leave. Connie took off and roseaharn is very upset. Uncle John went off to get drunk and wants to die. Tom knocks him out and makes him go with them. On their way to the highway the mob that is going to burn the camp makes the family turn around saying that they didn't want any okies to go their and they found a different route.

Carl Luce

Carl Luce use to go to school with Holden. He was the very open-minded, willing to talk about anything kind of guy. He often talked about sex, and Holden invites him to have drinks with him. Holden begins to try and start a conversation about sex, but Luce refueses to say anything about it. This shows that everyone grows up, and the Holden should soon be maturing.

Mr. Antolini

Mr. Antolini has Holden stay with him. He was Holden's old english teacher. Holden has a high respect for Mr. Antolini and stays the night at his home. Later in the night he wakes up to Mr. Antolini stroking his head. He is very disturbed by this, and Mr. Antolini gives readers the impression that he is either bisexual, or is very loving towards Holden, like a father is to a son.

Maurice

Maurice is a bad character. He is the elevator operator in the hotel where Holden stays in New York. He offers Holden female company for $5 and Holden accepts. Holden got scammed, and Maurice came to collect the rest of the money. He gets beaten by Maurice, which is where we learn that Maurice is shady.

Sunny

Sunny is the prostitute that keeps Holden company. Although they do not have sexual relations, and she is only in a few chapters, she is a very important character, which reveals a lot about Holden. Holden refuses to have sex with her because he is nervous, and is too immature. He feels out of place, and awkward, which really shows his innocence.

Catcher in the Rye characters cont.

Phoebe Caulfield

Phoebe is Holden's younger sister. She is still in school, but is very intelligent. She is very mature for her age, and Holden seems to confide in her quite a bit. She is opionated just like Holden, but she is much more optimistic. She is another person in this novel where Holden does not have much negative to say about her. Holden seeks Phoebe for advice, and loves her dearly. He bought her a record he thought she would find funny because it was raunchy.

Sally Hayes

Sally Hayes is a girl into plays, especially the Lunts. She goes on a date with Holden, and they show great affection. Holden thinks she is beautiful, and really enjoys spending time with her until the end of their date. When Holden suggests they should runaway together, Sally gets very angry and their date ends with Holden leaving her behind at the skating rink.

Allie Caulfield

Allie holds a very special place in Holdens heart. He is deceased, and he died from leukemia. He was very young when he died, and he enjoyed to play baseball. He wrote many poems on his glove. Holden does not say anything negative about Allie, and later tells Phoebe that he is the only person/thing that he likes.

D.B Caulfield

D.B Caulfield works in Hollywood and writes stories. He is not mentioned much, but Holden doesn't seem to really be close with him at all. Holden does not like Hollywood, or movies for that matter, which is what D.B does for a living.

Mr. Spencer

Mr. Spencer was Holden's previous history teacher. He has grippe, and is old. Holden goes to him and visits. Mr. Spencer tries to tell Holden he needs to start playing life again, because life is a game, and he needs to take it more seriously. Holden uses an excuse and leaves because he does not want to hear his lecture.

Characters of Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield

Holden is the protagonist of this story. He attends Pencey Prep, and is about to get kicked out for the third or fourth time from school. He is the main character, and the readers experience his life, as he chooses to tell it, in detail. Holden is a young, confused, cynical, and inexperienced teenager. This books tells bits and pieces of his life before the novel begins, and go on to an in-depth tale of his search for something to do. He is a depressed teen, who seems to lack any kind of guidance. He does not take anything seriously and refuses to accept the fact that everyone grows up.

Ackley

Ackley is a strange kid, who is a school-mate of H0lden's. He has little to no friends, and it seems that everyone views him as the freak of the dorm. Holden, who insists he is not friends with Ackley, reaches out to his several times at the beginning of the novel. Ackley is a huge slob, and has very poor personal hygiene habits.

Stradlater

Stradlater is the jock of the dorm. He is popular and well liked. He is Holden's true roomate, and is a "secret slob". Stradlater is self-centered, and is very into himself. He goes on a date with Holden's old friend Jane Gallagher. Holden gets very jealous and Stradlater gets into an argument with Holden.

Jane Gallagher

We never actually meet Jane Gallagher in this story, but we hear quite a bit about her. She was Holdens friend a few summers before, and they got very close. She was the only true friend of Holden's, and Holden claims that Jane made him truly happy.

My thoughts on the Catcher in the Rye

Overall, I found this novel to be short, and pointless. I have read this novel before and I remember liking it a lot more then. I could not find a true plot within this book because there was no true suspense, climax or any other key component of a plot. Throughout the novel, I felt like Holden was leaving important things out, and I wish there was more background on him. I wish I knew why he was so cynical, and full of negative things to say about people. I wonder what his life growing up was like, and why he seems like he is suicidal. If I ever met a person like Holden, I would not befriend him. He is too negative, and he ALWAYS finds something to say about everything. He would annoy me to no end, and I got very annoyed with his character while reading this book. I liked some parts of this story, and I found few quite hilarious. I enjoyed reading about Holden's mishap with the elevator man and the prostitute. Holden not wanting to grow up reminded me of Peter Pan. The ending of this novel was very weird, and it seemed out of no where. I would have liked to have a continuation of what happened after Holden returned back to school, and if he kept up his hopes for having motivation. I would've liked to have known why Holden was constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown. The ending felt like it cut into the middle of the start of a plot, and I did not like how we had to kind of guess where Holden ended up, and how he finished school off.

Catcher in the Rye chapters 21-26

Chapter 21

Holden talks to Phoebe, and she is worried that their father will kill him for getting kicked out again. Phoebe is very angry with Holden for getting expelled and begins to ignore him.

Chapter 22

Phoebe points out that Holden hates everything. She challenges him to name one thing he likes. Holden responds by saying he liked Allie. Phoebe didn't take that for an answer reasoning that he was dead. Holden says "If a body catch a body comin' through the rye". Phoebe corrects him. He then says that he would love to be the catcher in the rye. Phoebe corrects him saying that the actual line is if a body meet a body coming through the rye.

Chapter 23

Holden calls Mr. Antonlini and gets invited to stay there. He smokes in Phoebe's room, and the parents arrive home. They smelled the smoke and Phoebe said she tried one puff. Holden gets loaned some of Phoebe's Christmas money and the leaves to Mr. Antonlini's.

Chapter 24

Holden and Mr. Antonlini talked about his expulsion. Mr. Antonlini is worried about Holden. They go to sleep and Holden walks up to Mr. Antonlini stroking his head. This freaks Holden out and he hurriedly leaves, using the excuse that he left his stuff at the train station. I think that Holden overreacted, and that Mr. Antonline was just being fatherly to Holden, and was concerned for his future.

Chapter 25

Holden spends the night on a bench and the next day he walks around the city. He keeps claiming that he feels like he is going to disappear. He continuously prays to Allie, Even though he is Atheist. He comes up with a weird fantasy about marrying a deaf-mute girl. He visits his old school and writes Phoebe a note saying to meet him at the museum. Phoebe arrives with a suitcase and states that she wants to go wherever Holden goes. Holden gets angry and tells her to shut up. They go to the zoo and Phoebe rides the carousel. He feels happy watching Phoebe ride the carousel because he knows how happy it makes her.

Chapter 26

Holden goes home and plans to attend school in the fall where he hopes to apply himself. He says he can't say he will because he doesn't know what he's going to do in the future.

Chapter 14-20 summaries

Chapter 14

The elevator operator shows up pounding on Holden's door. He demands that Holden pay the $5. Holden refuses, and Maurice slams Holden against the wall while the prostitute grabs the money. He then leaves after she gets what he supposedly owed.

Chapter 15

Holden calls Sally Hayes and makes plans to meet up with her. He worries a lot about his mother when she finds out about him being kicking out of Pencey Prep. He gives $10 to some nuns right after he said that he hates organized religion. I found that rather strange. He seems really hypocritical. He says money is what makes people unhappy.

Chapter 16

Holden buys Phoebe a record he thinks she will find funny. He hears a song that a little boy is singing. He hears "If a body catch a body coming through the rye". This seems to really cheer him up. He goes to the park because that's where Phoebe use to go, but doesn't see her there. He meets another little girl and asks her about Phoebe. She directs him to the museum. He goes there and talks about even though he's been changing the entire place stayed the same.

Chapter 17

Holden goes to a play with Sally. He notices they all think too much of themselves. He starts telling Sally this crazy plan of his and says they should run away together. He says they should live in a cabin. He said something hurtful to Sally and she got really upset with him and he proceeds by leaving her behind.

Chapter 18

He daydreams about Jane again. He calls his old friend to meet for drinks. He does to see a movie even though he has stated how much he depises them.

Chapter 19

Holden meets up with his friend who use to talk about sex freely. Luce, his friend isn't very friendly towards Holden and refused to talk about anything sexual with Holden. Luce thinks Holden is very immature and needs to be psychoanalyzed.

Chapter 20

Holden gets really drunk, and called Sally Hayes. She wasn't happy with him. He tries to have make dates with several people, getting rejected each time. He dropped the record he got for Phoebe and it upset him greatly. He begins thinking about his funeral. He wonders who would come, what they would say, and tells how he missed Allie's funeral. He decides to go home for a visit to Phoebe.

Catcher in the Rye chapters 5-13

Chapter 5

Holden is a complainer. We learned that his brother Allie died from Leukemia.

Chapter 6

Holden was so worried about Jane that he sat up all night looking out a window. At the beginning of the book Holden said he hates it when people repeat things, yet he repeats just about everything he says. Holden and Stradlater get into a fist fight over Jane.

Chapter 7

Holden hates Ackley, but they seem to be friends because they went to a movie and dinner together, and when Holden got into the fight with Stradlater, he went straight to Ackley's room. He makes big decisions without putting much thought into them, which is a major sign of immaturity. He decides to leave school, without sleeping on his thoughts about it. He packed his things and left, yelling moron through the hallway. He gives me the impression that he doesn't think too much of himself and he puts others before his own self. His mother sent him skates for Christmas and he doesn't want he stressing over him leaving, yet he doesn't realize that it's not just his mother's stress he should be worrying about. His whole eduacation and future are in major jeopardy.

chapter 8

Holden meets an older women on the train. He tells her this rediculous lie about her son being popular. He gave her a fake name, and said he was leaving Pencey early because he was getting a brain operation.

Chapter 9

Holden is obsessed with where the ducks go because he asks the taxi driver about it also. I found it slighly creepy that he was watching people through their open windows. He noticed a cross-dresser, and a couple spitting their drinks on each other. Holden got turned on by watching the couple. He calls a prostitute to keep him company for the night, but he is rejected.

Chapter 10

We learn about Phoebe in this chapter. She is really smart, and enjoys writing. Holden also encloses that she seems to always understand him. Holden says that he can get alcholic beverages because of his height and gray hair, but at this bar they refuse to sell him it. He meets three older women. They blow him off and show absolutely no interest in him, yet Holden still buys their drinks for them.

Chapter 11

We learn more about Jane Gallagher. They were close two summers ago. She was the only one he ever showed Allie's baseball mit. Holden said holding her hand made him really happy. He goes out again beacuse he still isn't tired.

Chapter 12

Holden goes to a nightclub, and asks once again about the ducks. This time he gets served alcohol. He meets one of his brother's old girlfriend and finds her extremely annoying. He leaves because of her and seems to get even more depressed.

Chapter 13

Holden gets home and gets offered a prostitute for $5. He said he felt lonely and he accepted. Holden refused to have sex with the women, but still paid her. He uses the excuse that he just had an operation. The women is very unsatisfied with her because he paid her $5 and the price is $10. Holden refuses to pay her that money because he was told $5.

Catcher in the Rye chapter 1-4 summaries

Chapter 1

Holden seems really blunt, honest, and unmotivated. He is also the narrator of the story.
Pencey prep is the school where he attends. It is an all boys school, and Holden will shortly no longer be attending school there due to his horrible grades. Holden tells us how he left sports equipment on a subway on the way to a fencing meet. The team was angry and ostracized him. He thought it was funny, which gives me the idea that he is use to being out casted, and doesn't take anything seriously. Holden mentions his brothers Jaguar for which he paid $4,000. Holden believes this to be expensive, which kind of gives us an idea that this book is taking place in the 1940's or 50's. Holden talks about how goodbye's are sentimental, yet bitter. He tone seems negative at the beginning of the chapter, but he seems to be warming up towards the end of the chapter. He seems upper-class because when he visited Mr. Spencer he pointed out that they didn't have a maid and said they didn't have a lot of money. Mr. Spencer is Holden's history teacher, and has grippe.

Chapter 2

Holden seems to think that life is a joke. He doesn't truly hear waht Mr. Spencer is tryignt to tell him and he complained a lot. Holden explains situations using great imagery. Holden exhibits good manners and refers to Mr. Spencer as sir. He is also very kind, but only out loud. In this chapter we also learn that Holden has been to several different schools, four to be exact. I found the fact that he has gray hair very ironic. Gray hair is usually a sign of old age, and older people then to be mature. Holden is very young, and very immature. He's really picky about everything. He doesn't like the usage of certain words, sayings, or the repeating of something more than once. He says things to people to make them happy. He dazed off and started thinking about ducks and lagoons while Mr. Spencer was talking. Holden thinks most everyone is "phony". In this chapter Holden also admits that he has little concern for his future, and when Mr. Spencer told him good luck he thought it sounded terrible. His ways of thinking gives me the impression that he is depressed or lonely.

Chapter 3

He lied about his athletic equipment being in the gym so he could leave Mr. Spencer's. His lies aren't really deep lies, but they really have no point. He doesn't tend to see the good aspects of people (ex:Ossenburger). He is very innapropriate, and found it hysterical when someone passed gas during Ossenburger's speech. Holden says "I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot" I found that quote ironic. Holden doesn't socialize much. Ackley, a man who resides in the same building as Holden, comes off as a loner. He has bad personal hygiene (ex:doesn't brush teeth, has pimple covered skin). Holden says Ackley has a terrible personality, and doesn't like anyone except Holden.

Chapter 4

Holden always has something negative to say about everyone (ex:Stradlater is a horrible whistler, he's never in tune, he's a secret slob, Ackley has no friends, and is really annoying, everyone is phony). Holden talks about guys being handsome a lot, which gives me the feeling that he is either bisexual, or homosexual. He stereotypes a lot (ex:hot-shots always ask for favors). He jokes around constantly. I found it very strange that Holden would do Stradlater's report when he won't even do his own. It was also wierd how he wrote about such a sensitive subject (his deceased brother). Upon Stradlater's arrival home, Holden gets overly excited when Jane Gallagher is mentioned He seems to like her because he rants on and on about her, and gets worried about Stradlater "giving her the time".

I want to join accelerated junior's enlgish so I can challenge myself in a more difficult class.