Quarter 4: Journal 2 The Two Towers

In The Two Towers, by J.R.R Tolkien, a theme that you are reminded of throughout the novel is The Decay of Civilization. Before all this evil flourished throughout civilization, the land was a peaceful and noble place. As the fellowship goes on their journey they see this evil across the land. Isengard and Gondor are two cities that used to be a peaceful and noble place to live. Now they have deteriorated and turned into miserable places to live. The morals that were practiced in the past have faded. Recent practices of hospitality toward strangers have been forgotten because of the new evils that are among the land. The quest to destroy the ring is not just to defeat Sauron once and for all. The fellowship is also working towards saving humanity from this gradual deterioration of good among the land. The fellowship knows this because of the frightened people they see in cities, and the overall appearance of the land. 

Quarter 4: Joiurnal 1 The Two Towers

The Two Towers, by J.R.R Tolkien, is the second book out of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This book is mainly about the fellowship's challenge to surpass enemy forces to advance towards Mt. Doom. The fellowship is separated because Merry and Pippin, two hobbits, are kidnapped by orcs. The group that was with them, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, pursue the hobbits to save them. While all this is going on, Frodo and Sam proceed towards Mt. Doom to destroy the Ring of Power. Along their journey they come along a creature named Golumn. He is the previous owner of the ring and he has intentions of getting it back, but for the meantime he shows Frodo the way to Mt. Doom. The Fellowship consists of three different races working towards one goal. One theme in this book is the value of fellowship. Fellowship is an important ideal for these characters, it stands for a sense of friendship that depends on respect, cooperation, and solidarity in which no one is the leader or considered more important.  I think this is the most important theme in the book because the fellowship is disbanded, and it challenged them to stay true to the Fellowship of the Ring.

Quarter 3 Blog # 4

1. Love After Love
Derek Walcott, St. Lucia
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

This poem to me means that it is important to love yourself. The poet is describing a typical scene of greeting a friend and eating with them. Except in this situation the poet is describing you doing these things with yourself. He is saying that we must look back on life and realize how important the past experiences have been. You will love yourself afterwards and deserve to reward yourself once in a while. Reflect on your life and learn to love yourself again. This poem has a pretty deep meaning and the author does a good job portraying it.

Quarter 3 Blog#3 The Hobbit

The Hobbit: Book and Movie Comparison

I've read The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkein a few times over the years. I have also seen both the movies that are based on the book. The movies have mostly stayed the same with the book except for a few changes. The most changes I have seen were in the most recent movie. One major change they added to the movie was adding the characters Tauriel and Legolas. These characters are two elves in Mirkwood that are made up in the movie. They help Bilbo and the dwarves escape Mirkwood and fight off the goblins. I think he added these characters to contribute to the plot so he could make another movie out of the book. Another change that I noticed is the talking eagles that flew Bilbo and the dwarves to safety. In the book, the eagles spoke to them and were friendly. In the movie the eagles did not speak, but they still flew them to safety. I also noticed that the goblins were more persistent in the movie. The goblins still followed Bilbo and his band of dwarves, but you saw more of it in the movie. I think the director did this to include more action in the movie. The last major change I noticed is in the first movie. The character Radagast plays an important role in the movie and he is doesn't do much at all in the book. These changes are small and the movie stays with the plot pretty well. I enjoyed both of these movies and I can not wait to see the third one.

A Walk: Blog #2 Quarter 3

A Walk: Blog #2 Quarter 3

4. A Walk
~Rainer Maria Rilke, Bohemia/Austria
My eyes already touch the sunny hill.
going far ahead of the road I have begun.
So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp;;
it has inner light, even from a distance-­
and charges us, even if we do not reach it,
into something else, which, hardly sensing it,
we already are;; a gesture waves us on
answering our own wave...
but what we feel is the wind in our faces.


This poem uses a lot of imagery, and it uses nature to describe its meaning. I think this poem is trying to describe life as we age/grow physically and mentally. We start out uncertain of the road ahead, and we are confused on where we are headed. In life we are motivated to do something, and well all have some type of motivation to become the person we want to be. This is referring to the "inner light" mentioned in the poem.  Even if we do not reach this inner light or main goal, we are still living for am important purpose. We may not notice this purpose, but eventually in life we will see our calling and notice our true purpose in life. This is my interpretation of "A Walk". I think the poet did a great job in trying to give the reader a message from his poem. This really speak to me, and it is a powerful poem.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Why did Li Mu Bai have such a strong desire to teach Jen?

Li Mu Bai is impressed by Jen's ability to teach herself, and he wants to teach her more of what her know to further develop her skills. He fights her and sees that she is a skilled warrior, but she needs guidance. Li Mu Bai notices that Jen values the sword more than her skill set. He wants to teach her that being a good warrior is not in the sword, but it is in the person. He does this when he throws Green Destiny in the river. He wants to show Jen that she does not need the sword. She goes after it and almost drowns trying to get it. Jen's only guidance was Jade Fox, and Li Mu Bai wants to give her a better influence. Jen is too young and inexperienced to accept Li Mu Bai's teachings. He wants to give her the knowledge and experience for her to become as great as he is.

Catching Fire #3 (Last Blog)

In my opinion this is a great book. Any guy or girl could read this book because it has action and some romance. The plot is exciting, and the story keeps you on your toes. I loved the way the author transitioned into the third book, which I plan to read soon. The story is not just about survival, but its about the districts' struggles and hope for a better life. I think the author did a great job depicting this story. My favorite part of this book is the ending, which I explained in my previous blog. It catches you by surprise and it gets you even more excited to read the next book. During my reading I realized the author completely changed the motive of Katniss in the second book. She is more focused on a revolution rather than the hunger games. I think the author did a good job showing the reader how she changed.

Catching Fire Ending

The ending of "The Hunger Games Catching Fire", the hunger games have ended and the start to a revolution against President Snow has begun. This book ends with Katniss destroying the arena, and then she finds out Plutarch, the game maker, is part of the revolution. Obviously they are not worrying about fighting in the hunger games anymore. The main focus is the Capital and fighting back. It is an appropriate ending because it sets up for the third and final book. As your are reading the story, you can suspect a revolution coming about, but it does not become obvious until the very end of the novel. The ending is predictable because some districts are revolving more against the peacekeepers, and they see Katniss as an inspiration of this idea.

Catching Fire Plot Twist

In the second book of "The Hunger Games Catching Fire", there is an unexpected plot twist towards the end of the story. Katniss has just shot an arrow at the arena to destroy it. This is when the twist begins. At first I thought she was going to kill the remaining tributes and continue on with the games, but instead she remembers who the true enemy is and destroys the arena. Once the Capitol is destroyed. A hovercraft picks her body up and once she awakens from her drug induced coma, she sees Plutarch, Haymitch, and Finnick talking at a table. Plutarch is the new game maker, but now Katniss will soon see that he is part of the rebellion against the Capitol. Plutarch explains to Katniss that these tributes were chosen to help in the rebellion, and that they are headed to District 13. Katniss thinks that it doesn't exist because it was supposedly destroyed completely by the peacekeepers. This plot twist sets up for the next book of the series and changes the readers whole mindset on what is going on in the novel. I like the plot twist. I think it keeps the trilogy going, and it adds a little excitement and anticipation for the next book.

The The Ten Rules of Being Human

1. You will receive a body. You may life it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3.  There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4.  Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you are alive,  that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6.  There is no better a place than here. When your there has become a here, you simply obtain another there that will again look better than here. 
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about  another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate  about yourself. 
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources  you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's quesitons lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10. You will forget all of this.

I disagree with 7 and 8. I disagree with seven because we all have different personalities and ways we act. I can hate something about someone else without it reflecting back to myself.  If I hate the way someone talks to me, that doesn't mean I hate the way I talk to others.  Number eight I disagree with because not all of is are given the tools and resources to suceed in life. Many people in poverty aren't given the money, and resources for a good education to suceed. Some people are forced to live their life doing a job that they hate. The only reason they do it is because they need the money to survive. The truth is that not all of us have the resources to make our lives to the fullest.

Journal #4 1st Quarter

The novel The Archer's Tale, by Bernard Cornwell is so far a great book. I would recommend this book to any of my friends. It tells the tale of a young hero and it has all the action and drama needed. The author sets up the first book perfectly to continue on in the series. I enjoyed the way the author used imagery is his descriptions. I could see the story in my head as I read through the book. Even some of the gory scenes were descriptive. Another thing I liked about this book is the way Cornwell started it. He had the main character start from complete destruction and built him up through his goal of revenge on the mercenaries and his goal to retrieve the lance. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to finish the book, but I got pretty far into it. I want to read the rest of the series because this author appeals to my taste. I never really liked reading before, but now I realize that I have not been reading the right books for my taste. 

Journal #3 1st Quarter

In the novel The Archer's Tale, by Bernard Cornwell, the main character Thomas seems to have two main enemies. One of them is Harlequin, who kills his father and steals the relic from Hookton. The other is Sir Simon Jekyll, who is in the English army with Thomas. Sir Simon Jekyll is a mean and ill tempered soldier. During an attack on La Roche-Derrien, a French city, Jekyll is wounded by a woman with a crossbow guarding the city. The army conducts a second attack and they eventually capture the city. Jekyll attempts to rape the woman who shot him, Jeanette, for revenge. He is caught by the Earl and is excommunicated. This action leads up to Jekyll and his men almost beating Thomas to death because he had released a captured army leader that Jekyll recently lost too. Jekyll wants to kill Thomas throughout the novel and it is hard to tell who is a more threatening enemy to Thomas. In my opinion it is Harlequin because he has the ancient relic, he killed his father, and he is also a powerful warrior. Jekyll is also a big threat too, but he does not posses what Thomas is looking for.

Journal #2 1st Quarter

In the novel The Archer's Tale, by Bernard Cornwell, the main character Thomas is a perfect example of a hero. Thomas shows courage, strength, and humility throughout the novel. After Thomas' village is raided by French mercenaries, he is left with nothing but his bow and arrows. Thomas has his humble beginnings, and he certainly is set up to become a hero. Thomas' first act of bravery is grabbing his bow to retaliate against the mercenaries after they raided the village. He kills four mercenaries and forces them to run away. His persistence to retrieve the ancient lance form Harlequin and to get revenge on the mercenaries is his main goal. Thomas' archery skills do not make him a hero, but the qualities of his personality and his actions do. In the book Thomas even admits not being the best archer among the army he is in. I think the goal that Thomas is pursuing makes him a hero.

Journal #1 1st Quarter

 In the novel The Archer's Tale, by Bernard Cornwell, the prologue gave me an idea of what was going to happen next. In the prologue, the author is talking about the main character Thomas. Thomas is from the small town of Hookton where he lives with his father. Thomas is secretly training to become a better archer behind his dad's back.  His father does not want him to become an archer, but clearly it is his passion to become one. Little did Thomas know that he would have to use his archery skills to kill French mercenaries that raid Hookton. Everyone in the village is killed or taken captive and Thomas grabs his bow and get on a vantage point to kill some of the mercenaries. Thomas kills four mercenaries and forces them to flee Hookton. Thomas' father is found nearly dead in the Church. Unfortunately he dies and one of the mercenaries, who goes by the name of Harlequin, stole a sacred lance that resided in the Church and killed his father. Chapter 1 then fast forwards to seven years later, where Thomas is serving in the English Army, and he is trying to find the stolen artifact and get revenge. After reading the prologue I was expecting Thomas to be on his own. He had lost everything and I thought he would be out on his own pursuing his quest to get the relic back. I was not expecting Thomas to be serving in the army, but I like how the author built up to chapter one.