Homework#9 Thursday Its all political

In "The Jungle" Upton Sinclair tells a story about a family who comes to the US not knowing what they are getting themselves into. That it is a literal Jungle of political corruption. He is also experiencing this in his own life and since you just can't straight call out major players in politics even if you aren't a MILQUETOAST you can write a book about what their doing and their corruptness. These INCREDULOUS atrocities were going on in Sinclair's life so he wrote about them and all of the political corruptness in his life. This was a time when people everywhere needed money and could be bribed very easily. This also was the reason that the food industry was suffering from the “mean green”. Companies that seemed MUNDANE were cutting corners to make an extra dollar and the fact that the food at the time was not regulated. In theory it was but legislators were bribed so they looked the other way and companies got away with anything.

Homework#9 Wednesday And Rarely just Ilness

In "The Jungle" the main character Jorgis knows that his job poses hazards of every kind of extreme due to the careless and unregulated CANONS company like most companies during the industrial revolution in america. When one of the cattle were not fully stunned and was sent to be killed it took off running around the foggy CACOPHIC  plant. Jorgis managed to dodge the men and mass of chaotic knives as well as the foreman who was  shooting blindly with a rifle through the smog trying to put the animal down only to step wrongly and break his ankle. Although this was a rather MUNDANE injury compared to everthing that could have happened to him that day itcosted him dearly because he would be laid up for months. And what he feared most would have to happen that his wife would have to support the family all while he laid in bed and sulked about. His illness could be a symbol for the job market of the time in the book and how easily the family had taken the bait into the financial traps that they would have to live with. Because as easy as it was that Jorgis got the injury and although it could have been worse the pain was excruciating and it laid him up for weeks with no pay.

Homework#9 Tuesday Nice to eat with you communion

 In Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" The evening meal for the family is the only time that the family gets to be together because it is the small fraction of time when none of the family are at work. The family bought a house UNWITTINGLY knowing about the interest they had to pay until later so this put them into a panic. The main character, Jorgis was LUGUBRIOUS because every member of the family had to work including his new wife, and oldest child who was not quite sixteen so they had to fake his age. It was here at their “communion that they could relax and tell the gruesome stories in what they first thought were HYPERBOLES of the places they worked as well as learn from one of their fellow Lithuanian neighbor the history of their house and the ways of Packingtown and the US. The family could enjoy each other’s company and often this communion would keep the family SANGUINE about their situation as it continued to worsen.

Homework#9 Monday Every trip is a quest

 In Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" A Lithuanian family , filled with HUBRIS embarks on a journey to the United States from their comfortable home in the forest where they hear that they can make more money. However when they arrive they find that they are losing everything because it was a time in the United States with no regulation and no boundaries.  Where they started out to become rich it soon becomes a battle just to survive the harsh conditions of Packing town. They are swindled out of their money by everyone from their own co-workers to department store salesmen and are filled with TREPADITION and mistrust. The food is unregulated and with the workers being over worked and underpaid ,as well as swindling bosses all the way up to the owner of the company food is extremely toxic and low quality. This was ONEROUS for them because it was all they could afford and would often make them sick and in an extreme case kill one of the older family members.

Homework#8 Wed-Thurs

The Kite Runner is an exciting book that is packed unexpected turns at every corner. This a book where you may be able to predict the end results but not the price and trials the characters have to go through to get there.  The Author, Khaled Hosseini presented the novel in both exciting and an easy to read format for this reason I would recommend this book to almost anyone however it does bring in some harsh realities that are not appropriate for some ages.

This book is overall very well written and has more than one overarching theme that is woven seamlessly into its pages. The first major theme that I noted was the fact that everything has a price and how in the book Amir noted this time and time again throughout that what happened to Hassan his half-brother was the price paid for not only what he did but, what their father did. I also noted that theme seemed to shift in the book. Although Amir still haggled over price in his mind so to speak he also brought up something he hadn’t for a while religion. Amir says “Then I remembered I haven’t prayed in over fifteen years”(Hossieni 345) Although I didn’t notice this at first Amir seems to be on the path to redemption although that is what he seeks when he throws pomegranates at Hassan in the beginning he would not get it until almost twenty years later.

The book also flows very well and is easy to read because it doesn’t jump around however it still leaves the reader on edge and using their imagination both throughout the book and at the end of each chapter. This book keeps you guessing and just when you expect the characters to be home free some unexpected event takes a turn for the worst. This book is also very detailed even the gruesome parts so for this reason I do not recommend this book to the faint of heart. The cursing is minimal although the “f word” is used in one page however that was expected for this contemporary literature.

This book is overall a great book it really makes you think both about the themes and really think about how lucky you are in your life. It is packed full of mystery and keeps you wondering through every twist and turn in the book. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone than can stomach the details and a little bad language.

1. Do you think Sohrab will ever come around so to speak?

2. Do you think Amir has finally found peace?

3. Do you think Assef got what he deserved?

Homework#8 Tuesday

These chapters about sex are completely opposite the first chapter is about how significant yet everyday objects on a book can be a literal "sex symbol".Whereas in the next chapter it describes how a sex scene in a book is a description of something else such as how the main character really feels. I feel that both chapters were of equal importance because both of these helps us to look beneath the surface of what we are really reading. An example of both of these would be Twilight the book. Although Bella and Edward do eventually getting around to having sex Edward feels he is inadequate and is unable to control himself because of his strength. This could also represent that even though he is fairly comfortable with Bella when they are married he still feels like a monster and that he doesn't deserve her. While Edward is gone Bella develops a relationship  with Jacob and he gives her a dream catcher later after Edward comes back and although Edward is friendly about it he can still see ,and it is somewhat implied later that although it doesn't necessarily represent sex Bella is still torn between her love for Edward and her love for Jacob.

Homework#8 Monday

Yes I feel that Foster does have a legitimate argument about sex in literature. Although not as subtle in the Davincii Code Sophie Nevu's father was supposed to meet professor Landon however he was killed and the last thing he did was draw a pinnacle on his chest. The detective that is investigating the case  (also thinks the professor is the killer ) thinks that the pinnacle is a sign of devil worship and conjuring spirits. The professor then explains that it is the symbols for the blade and chalice as talked about in Foster's book blade= manhood used in military for ranks and chalice for womanhood=empty cup=The Holy Grail which he figures out later is somewhat untrue. So overall although this was a more modern book it still had the concept of the sexual element which was able to be explained in an scholarly point of view and lead to an adventure.

Homework#7 Wed-Thrus 11

I was greatly surprised in the book that the author, Kahled Hosseini decided to kill Hassan so early and still in Afghanistan. However from a story line and movie point of view this makes since because this is the main stessor in the book and paired with the main conflict which is Hassan’s son. Amir doesn’t want him and thinks that Rahim Kahn is trying to push him on him until he figures out that Hassan is his half brother.

In the scene where Amir figures out Hassan is dead and that he is his half brother is a key scene and the main stressor of the main conflict of the story so far. In the book Amir goes to see  Rahim Kahn because ironically he is dying of the same thing Amir’s father  died of years earlier Cancer. Rahim Kahn tells him about Hassan and his wife and breaks the news not only that he is dead but that he is Hassan’s half brother because he says “Ali was sterile…I think you know who”(Hosseini 222) Before this particular line Rahim Khan was trying to convince Amir to go and get Hassan’s son out of an orphanage since Hassan had been killed however he refused.

I feel that when Amir figures out Hassan is his half brother it brings all of that pinned up emotion and guilt for not helping Hassan and multiplies it because Hassan is now dead, he feels like he can never make up for what he did.(Hosseini 222-223) On top of the fact that he had always treated Hassan as more of a servant than a friend or a brother. He feels he would treated him differently of they were family and because his father did not tell him who he was he is dead.  Through all of this intense emotion not once did Amir say anything about Hassan’s son and since Hassan said “And I could almost feel the emptiness in Soraya’s womb….Like a newborn child.”  There may yet be some hope for them adopting Hassan’s son since he is like Amir in many ways and is now his own flesh and blood. (Hosseini 211-213)  

1. Why didn't Amir take Sohrab?

2. Will he  now that he knows Sohrab is family?

3. Why do you think the author brought Hassan's mother back into the picture?

Homework#7 Tuesday

You could argue that in "X-Men Origins of Wolverine" Logan AKA Wolverine is the literal sense of Baptized when he is convinced by General Stryker to be injected with Adomantium ( a fictional indestructible space metal) that will make him invincible. He agrees and is immersed in water during the procedure so that his body temperature doesn't get too hot. At the end of it he dies for a second but comes back to life and when he hears Stryker say to a technician to erase his memory he bursts out of the water in rage and indestructible and escapes. This represents all aspects of being baptized literally he was immersed in water died then came back to life a new person.

Homework#7 Monday

In the movie "Chicken Run" if the hens do not produce enough eggs they get eaten. The farmer later gets tired of trying to sell eggs and buys a chicken pie machine. The chickens have to escape before they get made into chicken pies. They keep coming up with plans but the hens can’t fly very high so they can’t fly over the fence so they fail. One day a circus Rooster falls into their pen from being shot out of a cannon and tells them he can fly. He makes a deal with the hens to help them escape if they don’t tell the circus where he is. Although he can’t fly either he tries to devise a plan to help the hens fly. This flight ultimately leads to the characters' freedom because they end up building a giant flying chicken and making it over the wall to green pastures and not having to be worried about being eaten.