Life of Pi- Blog 3

      I am beginning to really enjoy this novel. It is so interesting. What really had me um, interested, was how we see Pi’s transformation in becoming one with nature. Yann Martel does a rather gross job of displaying that. I mean come on, Richard Parker and Pi both “marking their territory”, Pi killing fish with his bare hands, getting sea boils because his clothes are all nasty, drinking turtle blood, trying to eat RP’s feces... really? 

      OK, so I realize that all of those repulsing things were only written to help us capture the essence of what it is really like to live in the wild. Even though all those things grossed me out, I loved how it made us see Pi’s transformation into a nature man. It definitely kept me interested. 

      Also, towards the end of the section, I was very sad when Pi started thinking he was nearing death and eventually lost his eyesight and went crazy. This book is honestly about to drive ME crazy. I want to know how he’s getting back to civilization! I can’t wait to keep reading.

Current Event- Week 2

Biden: "The President has a Big Stick"

     During a speech at NYU, Vice President Joe Biden made an accidental, inappropriate joke while explaining how  President Barack Obama's stance on Iran is similar to Teddy Roosevelt's famous foreign policy quote "speak softly and carry a big stick." 

      The quote from Biden is as follows: “Speak softly and carry a big stick. End of quote. I promise you, the president has a big stick. I promise you.”

      Personally, I find this rather funny. Not the joke itself... ok that's funny. But, I find it more funny that Biden even said it. Now, I realize it was unintentional, but that's why its so amusing! Biden was trying to make a serious analogy, but his word choice was just a had a bit of a double meaning. To me, this just shows that even serious national leaders and slip up their words every now and then. This makes it a little bit easier to relate to our vice president. 

Works Cited:

"Biden on Iran: "I Promise You, the President Has A Big Stick"" NBC New York. 26 April  

           2012. Web. 26 April 2012.

Life of Pi- Blog 2

     Ok so, this book is beginning to be a little bit more interesting. This next section begins with Pi getting baptized. Then, his father decides that the family needs to move to Canada due to the trouble in India at the time. Next, the author meets Pi’s wife and family, who then set sail to find a new life of their own. They travel into the unknown, which made me feel a little sketchy. I was nervous now to see how this turns out. 

     Then, suddenly, The ship they were on, the Tsimtsum, sinks! Later, along with Pi, Richard Parker survives. But, it seems that Pi is the only human survivor. This part stressed me out, but it did start to make things interesting. I started to really wonder and want to know what was going to happen next.

     Later, Pi realized he needed to figure out a way to kill the Tiger, as he knew that he would become tiger lunch eventually. But then, He decides to tame RP instead of killing him.

     I enjoyed this section much more than the first. It kept my attention and it was much more engaging and interesting to read. 

Current Event- Week 1

Week of: 4/16/12- 4/20/12

TV shows "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" were filed with racial discrimination lawsuit

     Two African-American Nashville men, Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, filed a class-action lawsuit against the two ABC dating shows. The men claim that the show has intentionally discriminated against minorities by not including them on the two series. Also, they auditioned for the show, but say that their interviews were "rushed" and that they were not given the same opportunities as the white men who auditioned. 

     Personally, I'm not sure if the two men's decision was warranted. Sure, the show doesn't have many minorities featured. But to say they are not included at all is inaccurate. There have been many contestants that belong to a minority. In fact, the winner of the sixth season of the the Bachelorette, Roberto Martinez, was Latino. As for the fact that they felt "rushed" or "looked over", there could have been many other reasons as to why it seemed that way. Perhaps they were just paranoid to begin with? Whatever the reason, I think that a filed lawsuit was a bit extreme. Who knows? The producers of this show might really be racist. But, in my opinion, a strongly worded letter would have been a better first step. 

Works Cited:

Braxton, Greg. "'The Bachelor,' 'The Bachelorette' Hit with Racial Discrimination Suit." - Latimes.com.                         

     18 April 2012. Web. 18 April 2012.

     

Life of Pi- Blog 1

     Alright, I’m gonna be real honest... this has not been my favorite book so far. It’s very very confusing. For example, in the author’s note, Martel talks about his inspiration for his novel, Life of Pi, and how he needed a fresh start after the failure of his first two novels. So, on his second trip to India, Martel began to plan his next book --a novel about Portugal. I’m sorry, what? Why go to Bombay to clear your mind and get yourself ready to write about Portugal? But it didn’t even matter anyway. Martel still ends up writing from inspiration in Pondicherry in south India. 

     This novel is also very random. It seems as though the author is randomly switching focuses back and forth between religion and zoology. For example, Pi's father runs the zoo. So naturally, he had a fascination for wildlife. He one day watches his father feed a live goat to a caged tiger, where Pi describes and recognizes the behaviors of the wild. Then, it randomly switches to his religious beliefs. He basically states that he’ll always be a hindu, while he has a Bible sitting on his night stand. (Pi was born into Hinduism, he became a Christian by age 14, and then a Muslim by age 15.) Again... I’m sorry, what? 

     Because of this, the book has been difficult to get into. Even though its very confusing, it still has been a fairly quick read. I just hope that as we continue reading, things become a little more clear.

Fahrenheit 451- Part Two

     I really enjoyed the second half of Fahrenheit 451. To me, it was much mush more interesting and kept my attention a whole lot more than the first half of the book. 

     In the Sieve and the Sand, at one point (after he meets with Faber) Montage comes home to Mildred and her “TV Family” (Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles) Montag breaks out his poetry book and reads Dover Beach to the women. The women become emotional and even angry. Montag wishes others could see and know what he sees and knows. I believe this is another turning point for Montag. It opens his eyes to the world that is really around him. Later, he finds out that Millie has been burning his books. He plots to rehide them in the backyard. Soon after, he is consumed with guilt for upsetting Millie and her friends. To me, this shows his self identity and emotion for personal issues that most people in this society don’t understand. 

     In Burning Bright, my favorite part was towards the beginning when Montag threw his flame thrower at Beatty and turned him to a crisp. I did NOT see that coming! Also, I loved Granger's character. His motives through the end of the book were encouraging. He stated that he and his group are waiting for humanity to become ready for books again so that they can be of some use to the world. That was just really cool to me. 

     This book was much more interesting than i was expecting it to be. I loved Bradbury’s use of imagery and symbolism throughout the whole book. At times it really made me think. All around, I’d have to say this book could possibly be one of my new favorites!