"Style Mapping"

The three different excerpts that I am choosing to compare are Neil Gaiman's Stardust, Annie Proulx's "The Mud Below," and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Stardust has a literal denotation in this excerpt, with a scholarly, intricately-designed level of elevation, and a sound neither glorious nor dull. For example, the line "to the south is a treacherously placid lake served by the streams that drop from the hills behind Wall to the north," represents the straightforward denotation and elegance that is medium in sound. Contrastingly, "The Mud Below" has a poetic, imagistic connotation, a common, familiar elevation with a country twang, and a sweet, musical sound that creates an overall sense  of contentment. Here is an example: "Diamond took the end, mad his wrap, brought the rope around the back of his hand and over the palm a second time, wove it beween his third and fourth fingers, pounded the rosined glove fingers down over it and into his palm." The last excerpt, from Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses a picturesque, attractive connotation of nature, an elevated yet familiar altitude, and a melodious sound producing a beautiful scene filled with wildlife. A major example of this use of language would be in this sentence: "The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool."

It reading this week.

This week I've been reading It by Stephen King, and a lot of different encounters have happened with whatever "It" is. People see different things for "it," kind of like whatever their fear is. So far most people see the clown, but a couple different kids have seen different monsters for  "it." One kid (who had his head ripped off) saw a green sea monster, while another kid saw a giant black bird-like thing (which he escaped from). At this point the story hasn't gotten to the point of defeating "It;" the story has only mentioned that every kid in the group has seen "it" but has kept it hidden until this point

What I've learned from this portion of reading is about loneliness, and how grateful I should be for having as many friends as I do. Some days, I'm sure for everyone, it feels like you don't have many people to talk to about your problems, but in reality, you're just being self-centered, because a lot of teenage kids don't have any friends. Ben Hanscom is one of those kids, and he is really happy when he finally meets some friends, Stuttering Bill and Eddie Kaspbrak. They are all bullied by the older kids that were held back into their grade, but they become friends when they decide to build a dam together. The book is very descriptive about how excited Ben is to finally have some friends. So overall this section of the book put a very grateful mood into my week.

Also, this week, the reading hasn't really been scaring me, so I'm able to read the book at night now without throwing the book outside my room from fright. But I have a feeling that in the next couple days that will change...We'll see.

Quarterly

This semester I have done more reading than I have in a long time. I don't remember the last time I read a lengthy book I actually wanted to read...probably freshman year when I read a couple books over winter break. I've noticed that when I have time to do whatever I want, I'll dive into one of my books. This semester, the book that has challenged me so far is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, since its from a devil's point of view which is obviously not my point of view, so its different to read from someone else's perspective. The most pleasurable reading to me was Bag of Bones and It, not because the reading was nice and calm, but because it was really intense and I wanted to keep reading. I usually read in the couple hours after 5th period that I had before cross country practice, or a lot of times I read in the evening closer to when I go to bed. I'm going to challenge myself for the rest of the semester to read an even amount throughout the week, instead of cramming 150 pages into the last 3 days of the week. Reading is a relaxing thing so I definitely need to keep myself less stressed by spreading out the reading.

Response post for this week

This week I read alot of the book It and right now I'm not at a very scary point. I'm currently on a really big chapter of about 100 pages that describes Ben Hanscom's childhood. He was a chubby child in 5th grade when he first saw It. He was "in love" with Bev Marsh, one of the girls who also witnessed It that summer and was involved in the promise. Ben has no friends, yet the book says if someone asked him if he were lonely, he wouldn't really know what that meant. The narrator compared it to being blind at birth--someone blind at birth wouldn't fully understand what being blind is, because they've been so accustomed to it their whole life. It's the same for Ben. He's been so used to never having friends, always finding comfort in food and books and imagination, that he's never really understood what being lonely was.

In his town of Derry (during 1958), 5 children of all ages had been murdered, and all the bodies had been found completely mutilated and destroyed. Due to this, police made a curfew of 7 o'clock for all children, until the "psychopath" was found. Ben remembers his mother setting him down on the couch, and making him promise to be at dinner every night at the exact same time every summer, or else she'd call the police and put in a "lost child" notice. He says "Yes, Mamma, I promise to be home every night at the right time." She gives him a Timex watch, and then asks him if he's seen anything suspicious at all, and he is so entranced by the watch, and he doesn't want to upset his mother...he decides to not tell his mother about the clown he saw. And that night, the clown shows up in his dreams. He wakes up with tears on his pillow, not remembering his dream...

I really like this book and I hope I can finish it over the next few weeks. Its over a thousand pages long, so it'll be tough to finish quickly.

On a happy note, I've discovered that I've read over 1,000 pages of my own choosing this quarter. I haven't read that much of books I actually wanted to in a long time, so I feel really really good about it! :)

Currently.....last week (week 7)

It by Stephen King  70-159   89 pages
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis  65-105 40 pages 

Total this week: 139 pages
Total this semester: 1,004 pages

Favorite sentences this quarter:

1. It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.

This came from the Screwtape Letters, and I really like this because it puts things into a new perspective for me. Typically I see it as the devil's main goal is to put evil thoughts into our mind. But even when we have these evil thoughts once in a while, God still forgives us. That's why the main goal of the devil is to keep the pure and healthy thoughts OUT of our head, in order to let the evil flow in.

2. "We all have a voice or style, but it takes practice, practice to find it."

This is from Palo Alto stories, and although it's my third time posting it, I still really enjoy the quote. I always think about it whether I'm referring to cross country, choosing a college or major, or even just sitting with my friends. We all really do have our own voice, but sometimes we hide it underneath everything else because we're scared to really search for it.

3. "We kicked them until the lion lost its face; it was bent inward, the eyes all wrong."

This quote is also from Palo Alto stories, and it's a weird sentence to choose, but I still like it because it shows their transition from innocence to rebellion. The lion face is on a rocking horse type thing, where they used to play and rock back and forth on as young kids. I just find it kind of sad that all their years as kids have passed already and now they're smoking and drinking and doing anything to vandalize the school--and they just don't care. 

Last week....

Last week I forgot to blog twice...so I'm going to do that now! For the last half of the week I read the book It by Stephen King, and its continuing to creep me out. In what I read last week, a few different events occurred. All the kids that were related in the incident back in 1958 were called by one of their childhood friends by phone, and completely dropped everything to leave for Derry. Each man or woman had made a promise in their childhood that if It were to come back and starting wreaking havoc, they would come back to Derry. The first man called was either killed, or committed suicide, in a bathtub, drowning in his own blood will the word IT was carved into his arms. The other people were all either in abusive relationships, or relationships that they "settled" into. Each of their significant others had no idea why the phone call made them freak out and act so different. And many recalled the specific expressions on their face after the phone call.They all did crazy things that they typically never would have done before the phone call.

At my point in the book, they are about to arrive in Derry. I don't know how soon they will encounter It, but I'm nervous for it because this book is scaring me. A couple of times I have skipped out on reading because the only time I will be able to read is at night and the book freaks me out  to much...I end up throwing it out onto the floor outside my room haha. I know it scares me, but for some reason I love being scared.The adrenaline rush is what gets me I think. Like i know if I watch a scary movie alone I'm gonna cry from fright, but for some reason I do it anyway (only when it's light out though...). This book is sooo long, I think it'll take me forever to finish but I've always wanted to read it, so its not a big deal.

Right now my mind is more concentrated on Sectionals tonight!

Screwtape Letters

I wish I had more time in the week to just read. I really enjoy reading, but these past couple months have literally been the most stressful months of my life. I feel like I have no time for anything and worrying is a big struggle for me because I do it all the time. Hopefully when cross country ends I'll be able to relax and start reading as much as I want to.

Anyway...

At this point in The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape says that Wormwood is losing his "patient", because he let the man indulge in simple pleasures such as taking a walk alone, or drinking tea at an old mill. He says that when men our left to do these things, they find a greater appreciation for the "Enemy," or in a Christian's words, God. However, he claims there is still hope to get the patient back to the side of "Our Father Below," by preventing the patient from "doing" anything. This means that he can think whatever he wants, but his actions must be prevented, because "active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. Therefore, if he only thinks it, that certain thing is weakened.

I think this book is a good book for me to read because its more than just the typical Christian book. It displays the thoughts of demons who are trying to pull you away from God, and I think it's a really helpful tool if you want to strengthen your faith. In letter 14, Screwtape discusses how people find themselves to be humble, and say to themselves, "Wow! I'm really humble!"...which, alas, makes the person a proud person. I feel like thats how I am a lot of times. I'll say to myself that I'm more humble than others, and kind of be proud of myself for that...which makes me proud. And these demons are talking about how this thought of mine makes it easier for them to get into my head and try to change my beliefs. It's kind of scary actually, but it makes me realize that I really need to start living for God rather than myself.