Stand By Me is a story of character development; of the transition from boy to man. There are 4 main characters: Gordie, Chris, Vern and and Teddy. Each of them changes and matures in their own special way.
The most noticeable is definitely Gordie. He learns that it's okay to be his own person. This is shown in the way that he holds the gun against those who try to take the body away, even when he's told it's not what his idolized brother would do. He also becomes the writer that he always dreamed of being, even though he knows that it's not what his dad would be most proud of. He develops both because he finally has the chance to face the death of his brother, and with encouragement from his best friend Chris. Chris' development is centered around the decision to one day leave their small town, and no longer be known as the boy who will someday go bad. His development gives the viewer a chance to see that he truly is a good kid. This is also apparent through findaing out who he one day becomes, a lawyer who after all those years is still breaking up knife fights; the "peace keeper", as Gordie calls him.
The development of Vern is less apparent, but sill there. He sort of discovers what is important in life, in my opinion. Originally he was some wimpy kid who followed Gordie, Teddy and Chris around. At the end of the movie, after a massive adventure full of dodging trains and finding dead bodies, he is the first to walk away from the three of them. The rest of them have rather complicated families, but he doesn't. I feel like he finally sees that, and after all they've been through, he accepts that he just wants to go home. And he accepts that it's okay to just want to go home. Teddy doesn't have a very obvious development. We get to know his character and his struggles. About his crazy dad who hurts him, and how protective Teddy is of him. But in the end, he's mostly the same character we were introduced to, as shown in the way he walks away from the adventure singing a traveling song, making the others laugh.
Whose to say what events truly make kids grow up. Apparently seeing a dead bodies is one. I think through seeing their old classmate dead, they all just learned to take life and death more seriously, and to face down their problems. It's rather sad that growing up meant growing apart, but I guess that's just life. They were 4 unlikely friends to begin with, with different life stories, and it couldn't last long past the age of 12.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Marcutio (Romeo&Juliet *spoilers*)
In Romeo and Juliet, they are many diverse and different characters. Some are kind, and others are mean. The character that I find the most interesting by far is Marcutio. He is in the Montague house, and very good friends with Romeo. A way to describe him could simply be attention-seeking and reckless. But I think there is something that rings very true about his character. He's not like Benvolio, who is simply peaceful. Nor is he like Tybalt, who is angry. He is his very own person.
With Marcutio, there is always that undercurrent of recklessness and restlessness. He is happy to pick a fight with the Capulets, or crash their forbidden party. He is a funny character, always mocking Romeo for his poetic sadness, and overall lightening the mood of the play. Perhaps that is why when the play takes a darker turn, Shakespeare felt the need to kill his character.
But underneath it all, there is something deeper with him. This is evident in the way in which he cares about Romeo. Thought he teases him for his brooding, it almost seems like he is taking care of him at the start of the play. He takes him to a party so that he can move on from Rosaline, and when he is not there talks to Benvolio about the pain that the "wench" Rosaline has put Romeo through. Marcutio is not just a comic relief. He is the friend of Romeo, and the piece that signals a change in the mood of the play.
Marcutio is not just 2-d, and maybe we would have seen more of that had he been around for the end of the play. Maybe he is not the most common type of person, but I think there is definitely something real about him.
With Marcutio, there is always that undercurrent of recklessness and restlessness. He is happy to pick a fight with the Capulets, or crash their forbidden party. He is a funny character, always mocking Romeo for his poetic sadness, and overall lightening the mood of the play. Perhaps that is why when the play takes a darker turn, Shakespeare felt the need to kill his character.
But underneath it all, there is something deeper with him. This is evident in the way in which he cares about Romeo. Thought he teases him for his brooding, it almost seems like he is taking care of him at the start of the play. He takes him to a party so that he can move on from Rosaline, and when he is not there talks to Benvolio about the pain that the "wench" Rosaline has put Romeo through. Marcutio is not just a comic relief. He is the friend of Romeo, and the piece that signals a change in the mood of the play.
Marcutio is not just 2-d, and maybe we would have seen more of that had he been around for the end of the play. Maybe he is not the most common type of person, but I think there is definitely something real about him.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
A wish on a Star ( Airplanes)
In the song Airplanes by B.o.B and Hayley Williams the concept of making a wish on an airplane is discussed. It is like making a wish on a shooting star, according to the song. In the song, B.o.B. expresses regret over what his life has become. " To go back to a place much simpler than this...", apparently would be the purpose of this wish. He then describes the things that have gone wrong, like the line "and you're hoping but the people never call you back".
One thing that I think is similar between the concept of wishing on an airplane within the song, and wishing on a star in real life, is the unlikeliness of them both. When someone wishes on a star in daily life, they don't truly believe that their wish will come true. They are just making this wish in vain hope. I think it is the same in the song. B.o.B. is just expressing a desperate wish that things would go back to normal.He doesn't expect anything to come from it. This led me to wonder what airplanes represent within this song. Sure, they are something you see along with stars when you look up at the sky. But what other significance could they have? Later on in the song B.o.B mentions having a flight to catch, and it's a little bit hard to tell if that's just further metaphor, or something else. My best guess would be that airplanes represent movement somehow to him, and probably because he's seen them in the sky, he wishes that he could get on an airplane and go back in time.
I think that this is definitely a feeling that everyone can relate to. Everyone has made a wish on a star, and hoped that it will come true. They also know that it won't. Wishing to be able to go back in time is also relatable. It's nice that there was a song made to finally voice that feeling of regret.
Monday, January 28, 2013
The Supernatural (Where She Went, Gayle Forman)
Where She Went, by Gayle Forman, is the sequel to the heartbreaking If I Stay. If I Stay is the story of music-crazed Mia who gets into a car accident with her family. She is in a coma for most of the book, trying to decide whether to try to fight death or to let it take her. Where She Went is the continuation of Mia's story, told from the perspective of her now ex-boyfriend. A concept that started in If I Stay was the idea of being able to have an out-of-body experience, like Mia does when in her coma. This was probably just intended for the readers not to get bored with just Mia's thoughts, and this way they can watch the other characters lives and still be reading from Mia's perspective. Ultimately, it led to the event that gave Mia the will to wake up and survive: when Adam, her boyfriend begged her to. This concept continues slightly into the next book, which made me wonder if this was possibly the inspiration for the books themselves.
When having her out-of-body experience, Mia was able to see and hear the things around her, which she should not have been able to do when being in her coma. This idea never really gets confronted or explained within that first book, besides Mia wondering if she is dreaming. The only way that is does get elaborated on within the second book is when she tells Adam about it. Struggling with her losses and angry at him for her pain, she yells at him for asking her to stay alive. This immediately tells him that she somehow miraculously heard him when she was in her coma. She then tells him about how she had once been able to see all of the way outside the hospital where she lay, and that she had watched him struggle with her car accident. Though this whole thing is incredible, they do not contemplate it for too long. The one way in which it affects them is to make Mia open her mind a little bit more to the idea of ghosts.
After losing her family, Mia is thoroughly devastated and traumatized. The one thing that keeps her going is the conversations that she believes to be having with her mom, dad and brother in her mind. When admitting to this, she also says that she knows it sounds crazy and that she is not sure if it it real. I can't help thinking that the author put this in intentionally to make the readers wonder about ghosts and the afterlife. It is not a big plot within the books, in fact is only quickly mentioned,but all the same I think the author thought it was a weighty idea. Maybe she had some sort of personal relation to these ideas and thoughts, or maybe she thought they were just interesting. I truly don't know. I think the idea of ghosts is very controversial and interesting. In the book it definitely comes to me as a comfort to think that her family is still there somehow, because of how attached to them I got as a reader. It is definitely something else entirely to think about in real life, but is surely worth putting some thought into.
When having her out-of-body experience, Mia was able to see and hear the things around her, which she should not have been able to do when being in her coma. This idea never really gets confronted or explained within that first book, besides Mia wondering if she is dreaming. The only way that is does get elaborated on within the second book is when she tells Adam about it. Struggling with her losses and angry at him for her pain, she yells at him for asking her to stay alive. This immediately tells him that she somehow miraculously heard him when she was in her coma. She then tells him about how she had once been able to see all of the way outside the hospital where she lay, and that she had watched him struggle with her car accident. Though this whole thing is incredible, they do not contemplate it for too long. The one way in which it affects them is to make Mia open her mind a little bit more to the idea of ghosts.
After losing her family, Mia is thoroughly devastated and traumatized. The one thing that keeps her going is the conversations that she believes to be having with her mom, dad and brother in her mind. When admitting to this, she also says that she knows it sounds crazy and that she is not sure if it it real. I can't help thinking that the author put this in intentionally to make the readers wonder about ghosts and the afterlife. It is not a big plot within the books, in fact is only quickly mentioned,but all the same I think the author thought it was a weighty idea. Maybe she had some sort of personal relation to these ideas and thoughts, or maybe she thought they were just interesting. I truly don't know. I think the idea of ghosts is very controversial and interesting. In the book it definitely comes to me as a comfort to think that her family is still there somehow, because of how attached to them I got as a reader. It is definitely something else entirely to think about in real life, but is surely worth putting some thought into.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Love, Love, Love, (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close SPOILERS)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer is the story of nine-year-old Oskar Schell, who loses his dad during 9/11. He sets out on an adventure across New York to figure out what the key that he finds in a vase in his Dad's closet is for. This book is truly incredible, with countless stories all woven together into one extraordinary book. Mostly, it is the experiences of a sad child who wants to discover why his dad has died.The one theme that carries through the entire book of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is love.
For the main character of the book, Oskar, love is what keeps him searching for meaning in the little things his father left behind. In the key, and the name Black, and the circled words on the back of the newspaper. He believes if he does not continue searching, he does not truly love his deceased dad. Love is what drives his incessant need for answers. Love is what keeps him safe on his journey around New York and the other boroughs, with his caring mother watching over him the entire time. Love is what stripped Oskar's grandfather of his ability to speak, when the weight of all of his loved ones that would never return to him became too much. When the thought of the life that he could have had with Anna destroyed him. Love is what bound him and Anna's little sister together in their times of need, even if they would never truly be in love. And love is what compelled every single person Oskar visited with the last name Black to show him compassion. They all had their own stories full of love and loss, and helping Oskar to find some closure within his life gave every single one of them closure as well.
There are many other themes to this book. There is tragedy, and loss, and the search for a reason to keep living. There is also hope that lies within every hopeless story. But for me, all of these themes were related to, or somehow always led back to love. I feel as though that theme in this book was what kept it so true to life. It didn't exclude the hopelessness that the characters felt, or the depression. The only driving force that kept this book from being one of tragedy was love. This is where this book is very realistic. I believe that love is the one thing that keeps us all going. It is also the something we all share in common. If we didn't have love, then all we would be left with would be that hopelessness. This all shone through so brightly to me through the love that Oskar shared with his mother, and old Mr.Black, his grandmother, and eventually even his long lost grandfather.
Please Comment! :)
If you haven't already i 100% recommend you read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
For the main character of the book, Oskar, love is what keeps him searching for meaning in the little things his father left behind. In the key, and the name Black, and the circled words on the back of the newspaper. He believes if he does not continue searching, he does not truly love his deceased dad. Love is what drives his incessant need for answers. Love is what keeps him safe on his journey around New York and the other boroughs, with his caring mother watching over him the entire time. Love is what stripped Oskar's grandfather of his ability to speak, when the weight of all of his loved ones that would never return to him became too much. When the thought of the life that he could have had with Anna destroyed him. Love is what bound him and Anna's little sister together in their times of need, even if they would never truly be in love. And love is what compelled every single person Oskar visited with the last name Black to show him compassion. They all had their own stories full of love and loss, and helping Oskar to find some closure within his life gave every single one of them closure as well.
There are many other themes to this book. There is tragedy, and loss, and the search for a reason to keep living. There is also hope that lies within every hopeless story. But for me, all of these themes were related to, or somehow always led back to love. I feel as though that theme in this book was what kept it so true to life. It didn't exclude the hopelessness that the characters felt, or the depression. The only driving force that kept this book from being one of tragedy was love. This is where this book is very realistic. I believe that love is the one thing that keeps us all going. It is also the something we all share in common. If we didn't have love, then all we would be left with would be that hopelessness. This all shone through so brightly to me through the love that Oskar shared with his mother, and old Mr.Black, his grandmother, and eventually even his long lost grandfather.
Please Comment! :)
If you haven't already i 100% recommend you read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Arctic Meltdown
According to the article "Arctic Meltdown" by Justin Gillis, ice currently covers about 24% of the arctic ocean. In 1970 it covered 50%. " The Arctic is Earth's air conditioner," says Walt Meier, research scientist at National Snow and Ice Data Center. " We're losing that." Without the Arctic to keep our earth cool, the ice in the Arctic will melt. The ramifications of this have and will be the gradual extinction of polar bears, local tribes being forced to move and adapt, and according to Justin Gillis, the rising of our sea levels.
How Justin Gillis wants the readers of his article to feel is intimidated. He tells the audience strong and terrifying facts about the arctic, hoping to scare them into taking action. By saying that the results of arctic meltdown will be like a stronger version of Hurricane Sandy, he connects to the reader's personal experience with flooding; he makes them see that this is not an imaginary problem. He continues to throw shocking facts at the reader throughout the article, hoping to make them realize the horrible situation we are in.
I believe that this article is very strong and very helpful. Justin Gillis has found a way of stating facts that people might not want to think about in a very clear and straightforward way. Where other people might not approve of scaring your audience into agreeing with you, I think it was very effective on me, and hope it will be on other readers of "Upfront Magazine". I believe that we should be doing whatever we can to prevent sea levels from rising. As stated in the article, the reason people aren't doing anything to stop these issues is because they haven't seen any bad effects of the melting in the arctic. Well soon enough they will be seeing those bad effects, and I think that Justin Gillis got that across very well in his article.
Please leave a comment :)
Here's the article: http://home.d47.org/jgwalsh/files/2012/01/Arctic-Meltdown.pdf
Gillis, Justin. "Arctic Meltdown." Upfront 19 Nov. 2012: 8-11.
How Justin Gillis wants the readers of his article to feel is intimidated. He tells the audience strong and terrifying facts about the arctic, hoping to scare them into taking action. By saying that the results of arctic meltdown will be like a stronger version of Hurricane Sandy, he connects to the reader's personal experience with flooding; he makes them see that this is not an imaginary problem. He continues to throw shocking facts at the reader throughout the article, hoping to make them realize the horrible situation we are in.
I believe that this article is very strong and very helpful. Justin Gillis has found a way of stating facts that people might not want to think about in a very clear and straightforward way. Where other people might not approve of scaring your audience into agreeing with you, I think it was very effective on me, and hope it will be on other readers of "Upfront Magazine". I believe that we should be doing whatever we can to prevent sea levels from rising. As stated in the article, the reason people aren't doing anything to stop these issues is because they haven't seen any bad effects of the melting in the arctic. Well soon enough they will be seeing those bad effects, and I think that Justin Gillis got that across very well in his article.
Please leave a comment :)
Here's the article: http://home.d47.org/jgwalsh/files/2012/01/Arctic-Meltdown.pdf
Gillis, Justin. "Arctic Meltdown." Upfront 19 Nov. 2012: 8-11.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Value of Family (Life As We Knew It)
Life As We Knew It is the story of 16 year old Miranda, who must learn to survive in a post-meteor-hitting-the-moon world. She must learn to survive with food shortages and drastic climate fiascoes. But most importantly, she must learn the importance of family.
At the start of the book, Miranda's family is presented like any other. Her mom helps her with her homework and gets mad when she gets an 80 in history. She likes her younger brother but does not pay him any special attention. Nothing is out of the ordinary with them. But as the book progresses, the reader can see some hints at a greater message. In their world, each family must learn that they can only look out for themselves when it comes to food. Miranda disobeys this ground rule directly. Her mother is furious. The reader still sides with Miranda, seeing as all she was trying to do was help. I believe that though Miranda's mom is going a bit over board, the author in some ways agrees with her. They can only look out for each other. What other reason would the author have for staging a huge fight between Miranda and her mom?
The best moments in the book are when their family is all together and happy. When things start to get really rough with food, the mom pulls out some old board games and they all begin to play poker together. They are all so happy that this is one of the most elating moments of the book. Miranda even says that what she never would have considered a fun night before had now become the highlight of her month. On Christmas they all work really hard to get each other heartfelt gifts. Miranda finds her mom a box of chocolates, and she gets her brothers baseball cards and colored pencils. In return she gets a journal to write in. This is also one of the high points of the book.They are all so touched by their gifts. Miranda compares this night to a Christmas around the time of her parents divorce. She says that her parents felt so badly that they let the kids get basically anything they wanted. She used to consider that an amazing Christmas.
I believe that through this story, the author is making a comment about how family is these days. We can barely stand to be around each other, and we don't appreciate each other the way we should. Miranda learns the importance of her family so clearly in the hard, hungry months that they struggle through together. And she loves them so much more because of it. It really makes me think about how much my family means to me, and how it would feel if I lost mine, like Miranda almost does countless times.
At the start of the book, Miranda's family is presented like any other. Her mom helps her with her homework and gets mad when she gets an 80 in history. She likes her younger brother but does not pay him any special attention. Nothing is out of the ordinary with them. But as the book progresses, the reader can see some hints at a greater message. In their world, each family must learn that they can only look out for themselves when it comes to food. Miranda disobeys this ground rule directly. Her mother is furious. The reader still sides with Miranda, seeing as all she was trying to do was help. I believe that though Miranda's mom is going a bit over board, the author in some ways agrees with her. They can only look out for each other. What other reason would the author have for staging a huge fight between Miranda and her mom?
The best moments in the book are when their family is all together and happy. When things start to get really rough with food, the mom pulls out some old board games and they all begin to play poker together. They are all so happy that this is one of the most elating moments of the book. Miranda even says that what she never would have considered a fun night before had now become the highlight of her month. On Christmas they all work really hard to get each other heartfelt gifts. Miranda finds her mom a box of chocolates, and she gets her brothers baseball cards and colored pencils. In return she gets a journal to write in. This is also one of the high points of the book.They are all so touched by their gifts. Miranda compares this night to a Christmas around the time of her parents divorce. She says that her parents felt so badly that they let the kids get basically anything they wanted. She used to consider that an amazing Christmas.
I believe that through this story, the author is making a comment about how family is these days. We can barely stand to be around each other, and we don't appreciate each other the way we should. Miranda learns the importance of her family so clearly in the hard, hungry months that they struggle through together. And she loves them so much more because of it. It really makes me think about how much my family means to me, and how it would feel if I lost mine, like Miranda almost does countless times.
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