Tag Archives: EnglishStuff

-Beatty’sLecture-

“What reasons does Beatty give for the current state of the society for books being destroyed?”

Beatty is a character who believes that destroying books and limiting the knowledge each holds, is necessary to keep those in order in a society where individuality and learning are punishable. In Fahrenheit 451, a novel by Ray Bradbury, Beatty is a fire chief who strongly believes that burning books is extremely important and explained why to the protagonist, Guy Montag. Beatty understands how books can make readers intelligent which, to him, would lead to being driven insane and it’s a threat, Beatty expresses that if you “cram them [people] full of noncombustible data… then they’ll feel like they thinking… Any man who can take a TV wall apart nowadays is happier than any man who tries to slide-rule, measure, and equate the universe” (pg.61). He is saying that people reading won’t make them happy and is a waste. Beatty works for the government and we know the government fears any threat of propaganda in order to keep people happy, he says “You must understand that our civilization is no vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred… People want to be happy, isn’t that right?… And you must admit our culture provides plenty of these” (pg.59). Beatty explains that the government’s goal is to prevent minorities rebellion and they do this by making them happy. Books, to Beatty, causes unhappiness and reckless thinking which is why he sees no real purpose in letting people have them. Beatty wants to keep order in society and books are the trees he’s willing to constantly cut down, even if it means starving people of the nourishment of books.

-“Are Writers and Artists as important to society as scientists and engineers?”

As the world has progressed, humans have witnessed the need of both the artists and the scientists for society. Both the creative and intellective parts of the mind are essential to further progress with ideas and learn from mistakes as humanity develops. While the artists lack the knowledge and comprehension the scientists have, they have the creativity and curious side of the perspective that in turn would help drive the scientists forward with multiple possibilities. Without the creative part of life, yes society will still progress but it will be a dull existence. Artists and writers are responsible for storytelling, entertainment, paintings, songs, books and so on. Majority of our society today is entertainment based and we have the artists to thank. Scientists will always be vital, we need tenacious intelligent minds to put together new things and explore the world but that doesn’t mean the world they explore should be a dull one.  As you know, our own brains require the creative and intellectual side of us in order to be human. To conclude, artists and scientists are both equally as important to society.

=TheEffectsOfRacism=

“The effects of racism are more than just words. To some, they are bullets that leave life-altering scars. The effects of racism are more than hurt feelings, it can lead to constant self-doubt, low self-esteem, and overall shame of one’s identity. In “What you remember of the Evacuation”, the narrator didn’t just feel sad, she was ashamed. Ashamed of herself, her culture, and her worth. Racism can change the way you feel about yourself in negative ways. Effects of racism aren’t just cuts you can bandage up and forget about, they are life-changing reminders of a problem you can’t control. In the book Indian Horse, the racism doesn’t just stop at the end of residential schools, they follow the protagonist everywhere. People where ever he goes call him names solely for his skin colour. It’s not like they teach you how to deal with racism at school so the protagonist didn’t know how to handle it. The protagonist stayed strong with his culture but not everyone ca. Lots of people can give into the insults, and sadly, it happens too often. We learn about people all around the world fighting against racism until the last drop of blood is shed. Racism isn’t just a punch, it’s a hole that too many people fall into.”

=TheFirstTimeIWasGrounded=

 

Being grounded isn’t fun: being a prisoner in your own home, having nothing to do, and if you’re me, enduring 72 hours of “Why aren’t you like your older brother!” speeches.  Luckily for my ‘goody two-shoes’ self, I’ve only had to go through this once, and it was not worth it.

It’s a fall day, and my friend Paris and I had just finished decorating a Christmas tree my mother thought was a brilliant idea to put up in November. Paris and I are both hobbits compared to the dragon of that Christmas tree so being exhausted was an understatement as we finished. Paris sat down on the squeaky computer chair catching her breath while I screamed at my brother, “This would have been easier if my tall brother would have helped!” “Screw you!” To which he replied.

Paris noticed my tense expression and had the most idiotic plan to cheer me up. She came over, sat me down on the chair and explained, “What if we went over to Mikee’s house?”

Now, I had a mega huge crush on this guy while Paris had a thing for his friend Vakeem so it seemed like a perfect plan, right? Or so I thought. I texted both on Facebook, discovered they were both at Mikee’s house, told them both we were coming, and we were on our way.

This is stupid! Turn around! This isn’t worth it! I have a bad feeling about this! Something will go wrong! I thought the whole time but it was too late as the sounds of Paris knocking the dove coloured door brought me back. The moment the door swung open, Vakeem ran out to Paris while Mikee stepped his way out. Instantly Paris and Vakeem began making me nauseous with the cutesy, coupley, crap so I directed my attention to Mikee.

“So… How’s your day?”

He shoves his hands in his pocket, “It’s fine…”

“That’s good…”, That basically the represents the overall quality of conversation.

The awkwardness between us makes me cringe and I couldn’t focus. His dark eyes mesmerized me and his deep voice was all I could think about while my words ran out. Apparently, this went on for too long as he began looking around until he stopped and asked, “Where did Vakeem and Paris go?”

Just then my heart stopped. For many of you who don’t know, my friends and I have a rule, never leave me unattended. It’s stupid, but I have mazeophobia and because I’m an introvert who never sees the light of day, I need my friends. I started freaking out and running around the apartments, nothing. I ran to the library, the school, Paris’ house, nothing. I check restaurants, markets, and anywhere Paris could get her hands-on food, nothing. You’d think someone was tall as Vakeem was easy to find, but nope, it was like the hardest ‘Where’s Waldo’ game to be created.

Mikee was nice enough to look for them too while trying to calm me down with the whole “it’s fine” and “there’s nothing to worry about” words of encouragement, but I was having none of that and let out a variety of angry grunts in response. Panicked is my only emotion now and as I finally burned out, I made my way home.

You’re a bad friend! Paris is going to hate you! She’ll never forgive me! Why did I go along with this plan? How am I resisting the urge to fan girl over my crush right now??

Thoughts ran around my head with an anxiety powered engine corrupted my mind while hearing the mucky steps I took toward my apartment building. As I turned the corner to the building I saw Paris, Vakeem and our friend Majid pop out of nowhere running in my direction.

I was realized and shocked and before I could even utter a word, Paris beats me to it.

“Ash, I’m sorry!” She says in fear.

“Sorry for what? Where were yo- “

“I told your mom you were lost and now she’s pissed!” Paris tells me in a fast pace.

Words said after that turned into background noise as I began panicking more on how I’d explain this to my mom. She is the queen of stubbornness and “It’s for your own goods” so I know this will be the death of me. Mikee, Vakeem, and Majid made a silent escape while Paris and I made our way to my house.

My cold hands were intertwined with her shaky ones, trying to calm me down more. It didn’t help, and as we knocked, we were trapped. Immediately we got screamed at by my mother, and like idiots we made up a lie about playing hide-and-go-seek.

Of course, my mother didn’t buy it because she looked through my Facebook and found our chats. When Paris left, mom grounded me for the rest of the month (which was only a couple of days).

The aftermath of that experience was 5 days worth of apologizing, hours worth of reading, and constantly being yelled at. In retrospect, I could have called Vakeem using Mikee’s phone but I couldn’t come up with a plan during my ‘Panic! Around the City’ self. No near-death experience could compare to the heart attack Paris gave me that day. To this day, I’m still grumpy about the whole thing.

 

I nailed the voice and humour of this narrative but I need to stop changing from present to past tense! Next time I’ll try not to confuse anyone with it.

 

 

-“TellTaleHeart”AlternateEnding-

The point of view of Third Person

The police officer knocked on the door. He drags himself to the front and whips the door open plastering on a smile.

“Come in!” he says, they stride in with confidence and stand on the corner of the red carpet.

“We got a noise complaint,” the short police man says in his “Neighbors said somethin’ about some yellin’”

The man happily nods and starts rambling about the history about the building and all it’s pros. The nice neighborhood, the reasonable taxes, the lovely help.

He goes around the entire first floor, explaining everything in detail. The tour of the second floor begins right after. Still acting as normal as possible.

Finally takes them up the old man’s room and pulls them each a chair. He offers them a drink and they start chatting about their day.

Rambling on about the wife and kids while ignoring the mans sudden erratic behaviour. His shifty eyes bounce around the room, his shaky hands placed on his lap, his shallow breaths.

Suddenly, he stands and yells, “Villain!”, the police are caught off guard, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed!- tear up the planks! Here, here!- it is the beating of his hideous heart!”

=HowDoesOneFindHopeInTimesOfHardships=

 

Question:  How does one find hope in times of hardship?

 

In the movie The Book Thief directed by Brian Percival, a German girl named Liesel finds solace in reading books during the horrors of WWII in Germany. For Liesel, she finds comfort in words whether she was reading or writing, and distracting herself. When the character Max gave her a book and said, “… ‘Write’…A word. Words are life, Liesel. All those blank pages… they’re for you to fill.” (Percival, The Book Thief) after this Liesel learned how important it is to express yourself, no matter your situation. Even in the most sorrowful of situations, you can still find comfort and hope to keep going. Liesel, at the beginning of the movie, still had lots of hope with the absence of her mother, the loss of her brother and fear of her new city. The narrator, Death, stated that, “I wanted to tell the book thief she was one of the few souls… that made me wonder what it was to live.” (Percival, The Book Thief) implying that Liesel’s hope is her greatest strength while her life was crumbling around her. In The Book Thief, Percival shows how one find hope in times of despair with stories that gave the character sense of wonder and happiness.

I did great on the organization of the paragraph.

Next time, I’ll work on writing more formally and to explain my reasoning of the answer better.

Source: The Book Thief

(Photo is from ‘https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b5/fe/96/b5fe9642863dc7b8c52d32ea5ccae52f’ and site used for the quotes is from ‘https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=the-book-thief’)

-FirstTheyCameForThe..-

Based on a poem by Martin Niemoller. “First they came for the Jews” in response to the poem “Danger of silence”.

First they came for the abused

and I did not speak out

because I was not abused

Then they came for the depressed

and I did not speak out

because I was not depressed

Then they came for the lost

and I did not speak out

because I was not lost

Then they came for me

and there was no one left

to speak out for me.”

 

=TheCatAndTheFiddleIsThePURRfectRestuarant=

 

The Cat and the Fiddle is the most comfortable I’ve felt out of home. The building is as big as a large forest cottage with it’s old architectural design and brown wooden interior. Its employees are PAWsitive and make you feel incredibly special with that ‘welcome home’ aspect. The place is decorated by sports merchandise and Tv’s everywhere so you don’t miss a second of your favourite game. I remember first stepping through the doors and instantly feeling like I belong with it’s charming and alluring atmosphere as if it’s calling me over for a bite. Hot and savoury food perfume the air as the sounds of glass clinking and laughs are heard all around. Food over here will keep you FELINE good, the smokey grilled burgers are blanketed in cheese as the hot crunchy fries are piled on top of each other to the side of the clean plate. The food is affordable, but the wings are PURRiceless (Kidding, it’s not expensive). The wings are warm, well seasoned, and packed full of flavour, don’t get me started on the teriyaki sauce you could add with them. Be sure to wash your hands after eating, saucy fingers might cause a CATastrophy. They have many PURRks to make people of all ages feeling at home. They have colouring pages, family booths, a drinking menu and even pool tables for a game with your friends in order to show off your pool skills. Overall, the food is PAWsome, the staff is so happy, the place has that ‘middle age tavern’ feel and it’s only $11 to $30 a meal. I’ve never had so many amazing memories at this restaurant with me running around with my brother, trying every food on the menu and bonding over the fries. I’d recommend everyone to stop everything and come down for a wing or two.

(Website the photo was from- http://pocojudo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cat-and-fiddle-e1461077981187.jpg)