Thursday, February 23, 2012
The Viewpoint of a Preschooler
Authors Note: This piece is about how the change in viewpoint in the novel The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau would change the main characters, setting, and the plot.
Just imagine, having to live with your old and forgetting grandmother in a place where there is danger around every corner. Think about how the only other person that cares about you is out working most of the time and you rarely get to see her. Lastly, I want you to think about living in a place with very little varieties of food and very little place to sleep and play. This is what the story The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau would be like if it was through the point of view of Poppy instead of Lina and Doon. Once again, if the point of view of the story was changed, there would be a different set of main characters, an alternate setting, and a way different plot line that the story would follow.
First off, the main characters would dramatically change in the book The City of Ember, if the story was in the first person of Poppy. The adventures with Doon and Lina would have never happened and they would be a lot less of importance. Instead of Doon and Lina, it would be Granny and Mrs.Murdo because they were the two people who spent the most time with her. These two characters were also the people who took care of her and did things like feed her.
Furthermore, the supreme point of setting would be alternated as well. There wouldn’t be a lot of worry in the eerie city of blackness and streetlamps. The environment would probably be the warm and inviting place of either Granny’s or Mrs. Murdo’s house. This is, because the only times Poppy was ‘outdoors’ in the story, was when Lina lost her and during the major celebration of the Singing. Therefore, she spent all of her other time inside the houses of her family and those who were close to her.
In the same way, the structure of the plot would be adjusted as well. Instead of all of the adventures that happened with Doon and Lina, it would basically be the same characterless and stale thing every day. Wake up, eat, play, nap, eat, play, dinner. There wouldn’t be a plot at all because there wouldn’t be a rising or falling action, climax, and resolution. Although, the plots would have met up during the falling action of the The City of Ember. This was when Lina took Poppy from Mrs. Murdo in the streetlamp lit streets, but there wouldn’t be anything to resolve because the baby sister of Lina and Poppy had no idea what was happening when Lina took her anyways.
In the novel The City of Ember, the main characters, setting, and plot line would have changed greatly if it were written in the viewpoint of Poppy, instead of Lina. There would be no adventures, no mysteries, and most importantly, no purpose for reading the book. With her and Mrs. Murdo's in her apartment, she wouldn't have done anything noteworthy but chew the Instructions of Egress.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Young and the Brave
This piece is about what Poppy from the novel, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, is thinking about during chapter 17: Away and chapter 18: Where the River Goes.
There’s this big crowd, and everything has gone dark. I don’t know where I am. But I do know that Mrs. Murdo is carrying me, trying to get me out of the gigantic amount of hustling and bustling Ember citizens. Then roughly ten minutes into this terrible moment, the floodlights flickered on and everyone including myself was relieved. Mrs. Murdo then began to hurry home with me in her grasp because she didn’t want to be on the streets, if this ancient street goes black again.
About half way to my home, Lina suddenly appeared and began to talk to Mrs. Murdo rapidly. Then Lina quickly grabbed me out of the clutches of our former neighbor, and we ran off into the dark alleys of this dying city.
As we finally stopped running, Doon approached us in a relieved fashion. Then with this light source that I have never seen before, we ventured into a building, down a long, wet staircase, and down a wet ladder. Then Lina set me down and told me to stay there or else. After that my sister and her friend started to take this big wooden contraption out of a cave and they placed it into the rambunctious river. When Lina finally took hold of me, she gave me to Doon, and stepped into the mysteriously floating thing. Doon handed me to her and then he stepped in as well. A couple of seconds later, we were off at break-neck speed down the river.
************************************************************************************
We sped down the twisting and turning river with many bumps and walls that terrified me because I thought that I was going to fly out into the frigid water. But Lina and Doon made sure that that didn’t happen. They covered me up with their bodies and made sure I was safe. Minutes, maybe hours later, we slammed to a halt on a rock face with a tunnel above it and Lina and Doon seemed to be studying it. They talked a bit and then Lina went into that cave and disappeared into the eerie darkness of the inside.
I heard her yell something; it was probably to Doon; and then she came out with a joyful look on her face. They then climbed out of the floating device, with me in hand, and into the cave where they set me down at the mouth. Both of them finally went to the place where I couldn’t see Lina before, to see what was in there. As they were, I was curiously looking around and spotted a book lying there on the dark hard rock. I picked it up and was about to tear it up, like I usually do, when Lina came out and spotted me. She screamed at me telling me something that sounded like “Put that down”. It startled me so much, that I dropped the book and started crying.
After I had calmed down, Doon went to the water one last time to pick up some items from the boat. As he was doing that, Lina tied a piece of rope around herself at the waist and then around my waist as well. As if it was to prevent me from going too far ahead so I couldn’t get lost. After that, though we were off into the darkness of a tunnel where our only light source was the ‘candle’ in Doon’s hands.
************************************************************************************
There’s this big crowd, and everything has gone dark. I don’t know where I am. But I do know that Mrs. Murdo is carrying me, trying to get me out of the gigantic amount of hustling and bustling Ember citizens. Then roughly ten minutes into this terrible moment, the floodlights flickered on and everyone including myself was relieved. Mrs. Murdo then began to hurry home with me in her grasp because she didn’t want to be on the streets, if this ancient street goes black again.
About half way to my home, Lina suddenly appeared and began to talk to Mrs. Murdo rapidly. Then Lina quickly grabbed me out of the clutches of our former neighbor, and we ran off into the dark alleys of this dying city.
As we finally stopped running, Doon approached us in a relieved fashion. Then with this light source that I have never seen before, we ventured into a building, down a long, wet staircase, and down a wet ladder. Then Lina set me down and told me to stay there or else. After that my sister and her friend started to take this big wooden contraption out of a cave and they placed it into the rambunctious river. When Lina finally took hold of me, she gave me to Doon, and stepped into the mysteriously floating thing. Doon handed me to her and then he stepped in as well. A couple of seconds later, we were off at break-neck speed down the river.
************************************************************************************
We sped down the twisting and turning river with many bumps and walls that terrified me because I thought that I was going to fly out into the frigid water. But Lina and Doon made sure that that didn’t happen. They covered me up with their bodies and made sure I was safe. Minutes, maybe hours later, we slammed to a halt on a rock face with a tunnel above it and Lina and Doon seemed to be studying it. They talked a bit and then Lina went into that cave and disappeared into the eerie darkness of the inside.
I heard her yell something; it was probably to Doon; and then she came out with a joyful look on her face. They then climbed out of the floating device, with me in hand, and into the cave where they set me down at the mouth. Both of them finally went to the place where I couldn’t see Lina before, to see what was in there. As they were, I was curiously looking around and spotted a book lying there on the dark hard rock. I picked it up and was about to tear it up, like I usually do, when Lina came out and spotted me. She screamed at me telling me something that sounded like “Put that down”. It startled me so much, that I dropped the book and started crying.
After I had calmed down, Doon went to the water one last time to pick up some items from the boat. As he was doing that, Lina tied a piece of rope around herself at the waist and then around my waist as well. As if it was to prevent me from going too far ahead so I couldn’t get lost. After that, though we were off into the darkness of a tunnel where our only light source was the ‘candle’ in Doon’s hands.
************************************************************************************
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Quotes of Mystery
Author’s Note: This piece is about a very important quote in the novel The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau.
Just imagine living in a city where the only source of light in our domain happens to be awkwardly placed lamp posts and that your city is surrounded by an eerie darkness. Think about how your community isn’t coming together at difficult times but instead, they are fighting over things like light bulbs. If your city was about to collapse because of the people in it, would you find out a way to escape? In the book, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, this is what Doon and Lina go through when they find the instructions that were written by the Builders, many years ago. After that moment, those two and Lina’s sister Poppy, find mysterious items that they have no idea what to do with.
When Doon and Lina find toolboxes with candles and matches in them, they exclaimed, “What does ‘Candles’ mean?” and “And what does ‘Matches’ mean? Matches what!” These quotes from Lina and Doon show the reader that the people of Ember were very isolated when they entered the mystical city. What is really mysterious, is that the first people that went into Ember, didn’t pass down those common words and concepts down from the outside world like matches and candles to their given children.
These quotes from the book The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau express how the characters and people in the city have no idea about the outside world. The existence of Ember is only known by those who built it and the people who live there. The majority of the people of Ember believe in one thing and one thing only, and that is The Book of the City of Ember.
Just imagine living in a city where the only source of light in our domain happens to be awkwardly placed lamp posts and that your city is surrounded by an eerie darkness. Think about how your community isn’t coming together at difficult times but instead, they are fighting over things like light bulbs. If your city was about to collapse because of the people in it, would you find out a way to escape? In the book, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, this is what Doon and Lina go through when they find the instructions that were written by the Builders, many years ago. After that moment, those two and Lina’s sister Poppy, find mysterious items that they have no idea what to do with.
When Doon and Lina find toolboxes with candles and matches in them, they exclaimed, “What does ‘Candles’ mean?” and “And what does ‘Matches’ mean? Matches what!” These quotes from Lina and Doon show the reader that the people of Ember were very isolated when they entered the mystical city. What is really mysterious, is that the first people that went into Ember, didn’t pass down those common words and concepts down from the outside world like matches and candles to their given children.
These quotes from the book The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau express how the characters and people in the city have no idea about the outside world. The existence of Ember is only known by those who built it and the people who live there. The majority of the people of Ember believe in one thing and one thing only, and that is The Book of the City of Ember.
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Setting that Affects a City
The setting of the award winning novel The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau is a dark and gloomy place where the only sources of lights happen to be awkwardly placed street lamps. Also the city of Ember is surrounded by total darkness and nobody knows what is out in that darkness. These both create an eerie and weird feeling for everyone in the mystical city.
This setting affects the plot because the whole plot consists and leads up to one thing, and that is getting out of Ember. Lina and Doon, the two main characters, are starting to find a way out because the city is starting to lose all of its electricity and supplies for their citizens. So if this wasn’t the main problem in the story and all of the lights were working perfectly, then it would not be part of the plot at all. A different setting, such as a bright and sunny city, there would be no needs at all to find either a different way power the city or a way to escape the city. It would lastly affect the citizens of the city and the main characters, because everybody would be happy instead of mad and everybody would live more in harmony. Not fighting each other for the last light bulb.
This setting affects the plot because the whole plot consists and leads up to one thing, and that is getting out of Ember. Lina and Doon, the two main characters, are starting to find a way out because the city is starting to lose all of its electricity and supplies for their citizens. So if this wasn’t the main problem in the story and all of the lights were working perfectly, then it would not be part of the plot at all. A different setting, such as a bright and sunny city, there would be no needs at all to find either a different way power the city or a way to escape the city. It would lastly affect the citizens of the city and the main characters, because everybody would be happy instead of mad and everybody would live more in harmony. Not fighting each other for the last light bulb.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Knowledgeable Sayings
Authors Note: This piece is analyzing the quotes and/or sayings that relate to the short story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes.
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” –Forrest Gump
Just imagine, being alone; no family or friends at all. Think about having no money for food or transportation and all you really want is a pair of blue suede shoes. Lastly, dream about how this unorthodox, enigmatic woman named Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones would take you in and feed you just to teach you a lesson. This is what the main character; Roger goes through in the short story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes. In this brief two hour time with Mrs. Jones, he is taught that he can’t get the goods that he wants by stealing from other people. The teenager also learns that you don’t have to be discriminative or prejudiced to demonstrate proper manners and/or thankfulness. There are many quotes in the short story and in the outside world that clearly shows and analyzes the main concepts and conflicts of this story, “Thank You Ma’am”.
The opening quote that can be related to the story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes is the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.”(By: African Proverb) This excerpt is logically related to the young boy, Roger because he doesn’t have a home or anyone to love him. When Luella asks him if he has any family he simply repeats, "No’m”. The reason this relates to him because if he was raised and nurtured by an actual family and if he grew up in a safe environment or a 'village', he would not have been trying to steal Mrs. Jones pocketbook.
Furthermore, another quote that is comparative to “Thank You Ma’am” is “Everything happens for as reason.” This reference simply means that if Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones would have done something like calling the cops, Roger wouldn’t have learned the simple life lesson of kindness. He realized that you don't just have to be rude and mean to people to teach them a lesson. He acknowledged that you can be nice and caring to people to show them something important. The real meaning of that excerpt, is that no matter what happens or what you do, everything happens for a reason. Maybe he wasn’t told on for a reason and it was just karma for Roger(Which I highly doubt), or that she was just giving him a chance.
In addition, there is also one more very important quote in the chronicle that helps Roger change his life completely. Luella exclaimed at him in her house saying, "Um-hum! You thought I was going to say but, didn’t you? You thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well, I wasn’t going to say that." When saying this, the no-longer-thug Roger learned probably the most important lesson in his life. This excerpt means so much to him because it taught him that all people are created equal and that you should never discriminate people for what happened in the past because they may have changed by then. After that I don’t think that the young teenager will never make fun of people and he will not in any way, try to steal from people to get what he wants.
In conclusion, I would like to express my feelings on the title of this piece. What this means is when Roger was captured by Mrs.Jones, he had no idea what was going to happen. Just like in the saying from Forrest Gump, “…you never know what you’re gonna get.” Nevertheless, “Everything happens for a reason” and who knew that for Roger, his ‘village’ would be Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” –Forrest Gump
Just imagine, being alone; no family or friends at all. Think about having no money for food or transportation and all you really want is a pair of blue suede shoes. Lastly, dream about how this unorthodox, enigmatic woman named Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones would take you in and feed you just to teach you a lesson. This is what the main character; Roger goes through in the short story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes. In this brief two hour time with Mrs. Jones, he is taught that he can’t get the goods that he wants by stealing from other people. The teenager also learns that you don’t have to be discriminative or prejudiced to demonstrate proper manners and/or thankfulness. There are many quotes in the short story and in the outside world that clearly shows and analyzes the main concepts and conflicts of this story, “Thank You Ma’am”.
The opening quote that can be related to the story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes is the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.”(By: African Proverb) This excerpt is logically related to the young boy, Roger because he doesn’t have a home or anyone to love him. When Luella asks him if he has any family he simply repeats, "No’m”. The reason this relates to him because if he was raised and nurtured by an actual family and if he grew up in a safe environment or a 'village', he would not have been trying to steal Mrs. Jones pocketbook.
Furthermore, another quote that is comparative to “Thank You Ma’am” is “Everything happens for as reason.” This reference simply means that if Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones would have done something like calling the cops, Roger wouldn’t have learned the simple life lesson of kindness. He realized that you don't just have to be rude and mean to people to teach them a lesson. He acknowledged that you can be nice and caring to people to show them something important. The real meaning of that excerpt, is that no matter what happens or what you do, everything happens for a reason. Maybe he wasn’t told on for a reason and it was just karma for Roger(Which I highly doubt), or that she was just giving him a chance.
In addition, there is also one more very important quote in the chronicle that helps Roger change his life completely. Luella exclaimed at him in her house saying, "Um-hum! You thought I was going to say but, didn’t you? You thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well, I wasn’t going to say that." When saying this, the no-longer-thug Roger learned probably the most important lesson in his life. This excerpt means so much to him because it taught him that all people are created equal and that you should never discriminate people for what happened in the past because they may have changed by then. After that I don’t think that the young teenager will never make fun of people and he will not in any way, try to steal from people to get what he wants.
In conclusion, I would like to express my feelings on the title of this piece. What this means is when Roger was captured by Mrs.Jones, he had no idea what was going to happen. Just like in the saying from Forrest Gump, “…you never know what you’re gonna get.” Nevertheless, “Everything happens for a reason” and who knew that for Roger, his ‘village’ would be Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Deathwatch Retelling
At the beginning of the story Deathwatch by Robb White, Madec hires Ben to take him Bighorn hunting. After Madec ‘accidentally’ shoots an old prospector, the crazed man starts talking all criminally. He then makes Ben, take off all his clothes and then he ditches him in the scorching hot desert. Using his background knowledge of the simmering lands, Ben outsmarts the man that was blatantly hunting him and escapes the desert.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Deathwatch Book Advertisement
Deathwatch
By:Robb White, Pages-220
When Madec turns on him during hunting, Ben goes through perilous torture, dangerous cliffs, and a cruel and vicious man with a .358 Magnum. Will Ben escape the crazed madman and the scorching desert alive? This thrilling page turner by the author, Robb White is a great read with many twists and turns!
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