Whoops . . .

I know no one is looking at this, but I had to post the link when published.
http://teenink.com/fiction/all/article/465478/Dr-Arflunds-Day-at-Work/

Finished Huck Finn

I finished Huck Finn last Monday, but I kept procrastinating this post. Well, I want to be a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.

Huck Finn introduced an ensemble of unlikable characters. The duke, the king, even Tom Sawyer were all unlikable even though the latter was just annoying. It annoyed me that the last 40 or so pages could have been eliminated if it hadn't been for Tom Sawyer, and had been cut even shorter if Tom Sawyer wasn't adventure-greedy. Not very many authors I know of purposefully introduce unlikable characters, but Mark Twain might have done this because of annoyance for people themselves. I don't know - Mark Twain was an interesting man.

Remember last time I posted and I said it more just one adventure for Huck Finn? I was wrong. Because of the self-proclaimed duke and king, there was an unnecessary amount of shenanigans in the different towns everywhere, all mainly to get money that Jim and Huck would have never looked for. What annoyed me most was how mad the king was that Huck tried to ditch him. Huck and Jim were the ones that saved him, offered him their beds, and carried them through the towns. But he was probably drunk at the time, so I don't know how to properly judge the situation. Either way, I'm glad the fight was broken up by the duke. So really, Huck Finn deserved the word "adventures" more than Tom Sawyer actually did. I would discuss my annoyance with Tom Sawyer in the story, but that would spoil too much of the ending.

One last talk about the book in comparison to Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer, a much more fun story that accurately represents childhood, is so light that its most famous chapter is the second one in which he gets kids to whitewash a fence for him, and it has nothing to do with the rest of the story. Huck Finn delves much deeper, but it is still more of a fun story than an intelligent story to observe deeper meanings and analogies throughout the story. It is much like the notice made by Mark Twain to the story:
Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

Huck Finn Chapters 1-16(out of 42), pages 1-91(out of 279)

Having read Tom Sawyer, its very similar to Huckleberry Finn. However, TAOHF is a bit more serious, a bit more of an acutal story without miscellaneous little stories. Tom Sawyer actually met the part of "Adventures", but it seems so far like for Huck Finn it will be more towards "Adventure." There are some aspects that are amplified into Huck Finn. The main two are:
- The time era
- Superstitions
As a matter of fact, Tom Sawyer focused more on the timelessness of childhood, while Huck Finn does the exact opposite and focuses on the time era. And the superstitions, especially ones considering what brings bad luck and good luck, controls a lot of the actions in the story.
As for the plot itself, it's much more interesting than Tom Sawyer is - I'm still reading Tom Sawyer. It has much more realistic and interesting events, and it gives good insight into being grown into a bad family.
There are a lot of events and vocabulary in the story about travelling in the river that kind of confuse me. But eventually, in about two paragraphs or so, I understand it based on the context. Next week I might not post as much about it being compared and contrasted to Tom Sawyer, but it was a good place to start.

Why I chose my book

For my book report I chose The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The main reason I chose this book was because I'm reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in my regular, seventh grade English class, so doing this for the book report in this class is the perfect complement. Also, this book is perfect for our class's reading level. I had both of those ideas in mind for choosing this book before I even looked at the reading list, and I was glad I saw it there and looked up the number of pages. I'll post thoughts on Tuesday!

TEOGROMITMM vs. Capulets

(three full paragraphs!? What?! Well, here we go. . .)

      Tillie's family is similar to the Capulets because they're preventing their daughter from doing what she wants to do because it's the way their family currently is. Tillie/Juliet still try their best to get what they want, and it takes their families a while to figure out what they're doing. Their parent(s) get angry for their sneaking away. But the story still revolves around their sneaking to get what they want, whether academic or romantic.
      Tillie's family is different from the Capulets because her family isn't nearly as rich as the Capulets. This makes Tillie's situation more easy to see both sides. Tillie needs to stay home from school in order to live, but the Capulets' situation is just a pesky quarrel that has went on for centuries. For this reason, I like TEOGROMITMM better, and a much more interesting and likeable story. Romeo and Juliet is just an annoying story about a family fight that ends because a bunch of people die.
      Another reason the two families are similar is that they both have teachers that are motivating them. Juliet has Friar Laurence and Tillie has Mr. Goodman. Both of those people help the families start to realize that they should realize their daughters' desires. Both the teachers are not only the best motivators, but the first motivators. Although Mr. Goodman never appears as a talking part, you can feel his presence in the story from phone calls. However, Friar Laurence's plan fails and Mr. Goodman's plan succeeds - in the sense that Tillie wins the science fair.

TEOGROMITMM Act I

Really, it's very hard for me to relate to this play. But I guess if I had to choose something, it would be my persistent interest in school like Tillie. If I was in an extremely poor situation and I had to stay home many days of the week, I would still have an interest in science and other school topics and my grades. I would want to go to school even if it was hard to get food on the table every day. I guess I would also be slightly like Beatrice, looking at better things and slightly wish I had them, and then immediately go back to reality. I can't see myself at all in Ruth. And although Nanny's my favorite character, I can't see myself in her either.

Classic tragedy from Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet

How does Shakespeare incorporate classic tragedy?

After reading Act I: It is clear so far that this is a negative environment. It starts out with a public Capulet-Montague fight, Romeo is sad because Rosaline does not love him, and Juliet may be forced to marry County Paris. Although Juliet and Romeo fall in love, which is a happy thing, their love is destined to fail with such intolerant families.

            After reading Act II, Scene I: This was a short scene, but it is still clear Romeo is desperate for Juliet and there’s no turning back, and Mercutio and Benvolio question Romeo’s choice.

            After reading Act II, Scene II: This is a very classic scene. It is tragic because you can see how much Romeo and Juliet love each other, yet they must speak to each other in the night from different places so Romeo is not killed. There is also a desperate feeling from both of them that there is a possible chance they will be allowed to stay together.

            After reading Act II, Scene III: This scene’s tragic element is the fact that Friar Laurence is reluctant in letting Romeo and Juliet marry. Friar Laurence tries to sway Romeo, but Romeo’s tragic desire to love gets in the way.

            After reading Act II, Scene IV: This scene is sad because Benvolio and Mercutio are discussing how dangerous Tybalt is, and that Romeo stands no chance against him. After that, you can see that the nurse doesn’t fully approve of Romeo, which is also a bit sad.

            After reading Act II, Scene V: This scene is tragic because the nurse seems to be hurt or tired out or something along those lines, and she also tells Juliet that he’s not the best man she could have. It’s also a little bit sad in the beginning when Juliet is waiting impatiently for the nurse.

            After reading Act II, Scene VI: There wasn’t really anything tragic in this scene, but the fact that everything leading up to it have screwed up one way or another, you get an eerie feeling that something bad is going to happen sooner or later.

            After reading Act III, Scene I: Mercutio dies! He’s a great friend of Romeo, the main character! That angers and saddens Romeo. So then he kills Tybalt! Tybalt is Juliet’s cousin, and Juliet is saddened by this. Eventually the prince clears things up a bit.

            After reading Act III, Scene II: Juliet figures out Romeo is banished and Tybalt is dead from the nurse. Juliet is devastated and wants him to be found. Juliet is a main character becoming unhappy at the end of the scene.

            After reading Act III, Scene III: This scene is mainly tragic because you delve even deeper into Romeo’s woe. He feels that he’d almost rather die than be banished, or it is the exact same thing to him if he is leaving Juliet.

            After reading Act III, Scene IV: This scene is tragic because you know that Paris’s wedding to Juliet is coming up, which Juliet dreads happening because she loves Romeo, not Paris.

            After reading Act III, Scene V: This scene is tragic because Romeo is getting his last glimpse of Juliet before he must leave Verona to Mantua, and they are both very saddened by this. Neither of them wants Romeo to leave, but they know it is inevitable. Also, Juliet’s parents figure out who Juliet truly loves and they are furious. This raises the chances of Juliet marrying Paris.

            After reading Act IV, Scene I: This is tragic because there is culmination of a desperate plan that, as we find out later, is doomed to fail. Also, Juliet is very heartbroken right now at Romeo’s banishment.

            After reading Act IV, Scene II: This scene is only tragic because you can see how close Juliet is to marrying County Paris, and also the fact she’s about to commit her plan by faking her death to escape to Romeo.

            After reading Act IV, Scene III: This scene evokes tragedy by Juliet giving a long monologue about her heartbreak and then taking the poison that turns her asleep.

            After reading Act IV, Scene IV: This scene is just barely tragic because you know the nurse is about to find Juliet, very likely thinking she is dead, given that only Friar Laurence knows about the plan.

            After reading Act IV, Scene V: This scene is tragic because everyone thinks Juliet is dead and is mourning her “death” very heavily. Even Paris doesn’t know what to do and quite how to react, just to keep talking about how terrible it is that Juliet is dead and that it is a “woful, woful day.” If I understood the musician conversation more I would probably figure out that that conversation evoked tragedy as well.

            After reading Act V, Scene I: This is the point where you know it’s going to fall apart. Benvolio tells Romeo that Juliet’s dead, and Romeo buys poison. Romeo is going to kill himself, and there’s nothing that can stop him. Only one scene in the whole play can top the tragedy of that.

            After reading Act V, Scene II: All this short scene does is explain why the plan tragically failed – Friar John, for a reason I couldn’t exactly understand from the text, couldn’t send the important letter to Romeo, and now Romeo is about to kill himself. Friar Laurence is also saddened by this.

            After finishing: People died – many people. The unnecessary death of County Paris came first, after Romeo inevitably had to fight in order to die next to Juliet. Although this was sad, I was angrier that Romeo didn’t just surrender the fight and die like he wanted to, but the story was written 400 years ago, so I’ll have to deal with it. After that, Romeo died after taking poison right next to Juliet in her tomb. Juliet wakes, and despite Friar Laurence’s instructions, she kills herself with Romeo’s dagger. Then news spreads about their deaths, and both Montagues and Capulet come to the tomb. Lord Montague gives news about Lady Montague’s unnecessary death. We also figure out the tragic truth that it takes both their children to die for each other in order to make up for past quarrels.