English 11 – Year End Review

I learned a lot about short stories and how they have a deep meaning to them. I also enjoyed the unit where we read Death of a Salesman. I enjoyed reading the play in front of the class, it was quite amusing. I also learnt more about history and how certain pieces of literature mean deeper things.

I enjoyed the story of Lord of the Flies the most. I thought the story was very good and the scenario and characters were interesting.

Death of a Salesman was the best unit out of all of them. I liked reading it with the class and I enjoyed the video project we did.

I think I improved the most in poetry as coming into this year I wasn’t very comfortable with all the terms, but after the poetry unit I feel I have become slightly more comfortable on the topic.

I could probably improve on my writing skills as I am inconsistent in my essays and paragraphs.

Character Monologues – “Death of a Salesman”

Happy

I am a damned womanizer, yet I am not truly happy. I mean yes I am happy, but I can’t continue to do these things. I make a decent living, better than my brother, but my father still doesn’t give me the recognition I feel I deserve. I worry about my father too. He’s lost without Biff and he goes off on these rants talking to himself. I feel lost too even though I have a path, but I suppose that’s life. I have everything I’ve ever wanted and I should be happy, but I still feel like I’m missing something.

“The Lord of the Flies” – Human Nature

‘“He’s not Fatty,” cried Ralph, “his real name’s Piggy!”’ (Golding 27)

They got his arms and legs. Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it. (Golding 164)

 

“Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 96).

“Here – let me go!” His voice rose to a shriek of terror as Jack snatched the glasses off his face.” (55)

“The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a highpitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her.” (Golding 192)

 

 

“Lord of the Flies” – Island Description

Reef

“This is an island. At least I think it’s an island. That’s a reef out in the sea” (Golding 7)

Beach

“The shore was fledged with palm trees” (Golding 10)

” The beach between the palm terrace and the water was a thin stick” (Golding 10)

“Here the beach was interrupted abruptly by the square motif of the landscape; a great platform of pink granite thrust up uncompromisingly through forest and terrace and sand and lagoon to make a raised jetty four feet high. The top of this was covered with a thin layer of soil and coarse grass and shaded with young palm trees.” (Golding 13)

“The glittering sea rose up, moved apart in planes of blatant impossibility; the coral reef and the few stunted palms that clung to the more elevated parts would float up into the sky, would quiver, be plucked apart, run like raindrops on a wire or be repeated as in an odd succession of mirrors.” (Golding, 79)

Scar

“The ground beneath them was a bank covered with coarse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings” (Golding 10)

“Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar” (Golding 10)

Mountain

“The most usual feature of the rock was a pink cliff surmounted by a skewed block” (Golding 34)

Jungle

“They were in the beginnings of the thick forest, plonking with weary feet on a track, when they heard the noises—squeakings—and the hard strike of hoofs on a path” (Golding 39).

“Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands” (Golding 76).

 

 

 

Walter Mitty Expressionism and Realism

The yelling snapped Walter back into reality. He put his hand to his chest and found it still intact. He took one last puff of his cigarette, threw it to the ground and pushed himself off the wall. He gazed curiously down the street and saw a well-dressed man screaming at a poor looking shoe-shiner for getting in his way. Walter could not be sure what the man was lecturing the boy about for he was far away, but it was clear that he was in a hurry and had a short-temper. The man looked at everyone he passed with disdain until he finally reached Walter. Walter smiled and nodded his head at the fellow, trying to seem friendly. Before he could utter a word, a car swerved around the corner at breakneck speed.

… “I’m very happy to be here in this great city of Waterbury!” exclaimed the President of the United States. The thousands that had gathered to witness their president for the first time applauded and cheered. “I would like to thank Mayor Campbell for his hospitality, but most of all I would like to thank the head of my Secret service, Walter Mitty! He’s a pleasure to be around and he’s the best of the best!” but Walter Mitty wasn’t listening, he was scanning the windows of the buildings around him looking for any sign of danger. 10 minutes into the president explaining his plans for the country, he relaxed slightly thinking it to be safe. Walter eyes squinted as he heard cries of help at the back of the crowd. A garbage truck careened its way through the crowd. People hurled themselves out of harm’s way and a clear path opened towards the president. Walter Mitty boldly stepped in front of the president and opened fire with his Webley-Vickers 50.80 at the driver. The police followed suit. 30 metres from the podium the driver lost control and the truck was overturned and came screeching to a halt. The people were haggard and distraught. Plenty were injured and several were dead. Walter Mitty was calm, but his extreme training had taught to him that when he feels it’s safe, he’s probably wrong. The glare of the sun off the snipers scope from the window ticked Walter Mitty off. He threw his body at the president as the shot was fired.

Photo Compilation Project for “Father and Son”

“I love him so much it hurts but he won’t talk to me” (Callaghan 1)

This quote shows how the father is desperately trying to reach out to his son.  He pours his heart out and he receives nothing from his back from his son. It shows how there is no communication with his son.

“Son you are living on borrowed time” (Callaghan 3)

This quote shows how the father is obsessed with the idea of his son dying. He is Terrified that his son will die. The father tries to tell his son that he is living a dangerous lifestyle, but the son does not listen.

“Is it my fault there is no women in this house” (Callaghan 2)

The fathers ponders on his last wife, and thinks that maybe his Son’s lack of purpose in life is due to the lack of a mother in the house.

“The door swings and he pushes a handgun under his pillow”(Callaghan 5)

The quote shows how the action rises when the father discovers the handgun under his owns son’s pillow. The father goes into complete shock, he prays under the landing and realizes the gravity of the situation.

“There is a bang” (Callaghan 5)

The climax of the story is when the father hears the loud bang. The father drops his plates and rushes to help his son. The father’s heart is beating fast and so is the readers, the climax starts and ends with a “bang”

“They have punched you and you are not hurt badly” (Callaghan 5)

The falling action is when the falling action  is when the father examines the gravity of his sons injuries. The father only seems to think that his son was punched and he does not realize the life changing hole in his son.

“I take my son’s limp head and I see a hole that should not be there” (Callaghan 5)

This quote shows how the father realizes that his son is dead. The one person he cared about so deeply is gone. This represents the falling action because the father now knows that his son is dead and that all he cared about is over.

“My son let me put my arms around” (Callaghan 5)

This is the denouement of the story as it closes off what we know. The son is dead and the father grieves for his loss. We do not cares for the person who shot him for that does not matter, all that matters is that the father grieves.

Character Sketch: Michael Foster

 

Michael Foster from the short story “Two Fishermen” written by Morley Callaghan is a journalist for a small town newspaper. He is trying to increase his reputation by writing an interesting story about a hangman who is visiting town to carry out an execution. He is a young, tall, long-legged and Caucasian. He is a single man, however he has many relationships with the people around town. He is acquainted with people from the Police Station, the newspaper and the hotel. He clearly has some sort of education, as he is very capable in reading and writing, however it is not clear his exact education. He wants to elevate his journalist career through improving his reputation and so it is clear that he is not well known which clarifies that he is not wealthy, but he has a moderate amount of money.

 

His beliefs are unclear in a religious sense but it is deduced that the way Michael talked to Smitty about capital punishment, that he disagrees with it. He is afraid of what his peers think of him and would never do anything to destroy his status with them. He is very good at communication with others and making friends. He is also good with manipulation as he pretended to be Smitty’s friend to get information about him to write a story. His weaknesses are standing up for others, as at the end of the story he did nothing when the townsfolk attacked Smitty.

 

Michael Foster is an inquisitive, efficient and eager young journalist who wants to be accepted by his peers and will do anything, or nothing to keep and improve his social status.

Capital Punishment within the Short Story, ‘Two Fishermen’

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Capital punishment is the legal execution of a person who has committed a crime. There are 5 ways of execution: hanging, electric chair, gas chamber, firing squad and lethal injection. In 1865 Canada implemented capital punishment and in 1976 is was abolished from our law. In between those years capital punishment was used when someone killed someone else, raped someone and then killed them or committed treason. In 1962 the last executions in Canada took place and in 1966 capital punishment was only used when a police officer or prison guard was killed.

If the short story “Two Fishermen” written by Morley Callaghan was based in Canada the year would be several years before 1962. It is clear that capital punishment is alive and well in the story and the fact that the hangman is always travelling around and getting new jobs all the time, lets us know the many executions are going on. I believe that Thomas Delaney should not have been killed for multiple reasons. The first being that Thomas Delaney was already quite young and he shouldn’t be judged the same as others especially due to the reason he killed that man. The second reason is that he has a good reason to kill this man. The man was molesting his wife and he came in to her defence, therefore i believe that his actions are justified as his murder can be defined as coming to the aid of another.