Showing posts with label week 7. Show all posts
Showing posts with label week 7. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Post #14 Form B (FINAL POST!!!)
A lot happened to Heavenlight in a very short period of time. She had an affair with the son of the Emperor, Little Phoenix. Then the emperor died. She went off to become a nun at a monastery. Little Phoenix, the new Emperor, called her back to him. She gave birth to his son. She became a concubine. She then had the Empress kicked out and killed after Heavenlight’s daughter was poisoned by the Empress. She became the new Empress. She gave birth to another son. She had her sister become a concubine to the Emperor as well so that his interests would not leave the immediate family. “The Emperor had stopped pursuing the beauties to spend alternate nights in our beds.” (131) Her sister’s daughter fell into favor with the Emperor. “I learned that the sovereign’s heart had been inflamed once more and that his conquest had already been consummated. Her name was Harmony. She was Purity’s daughter.” (135) Her sister died of sadness upon hearing about the relationship. And her niece, Harmony, hates her guts. Talk about a whirlwind of activity and a ton of incest.
Post #13 Form A
“The Empress had been married at fourteen, and now, at twenty-two, her stomach was still flat, while in the other palace, a succession of concubines and slaves brought imperial children into the world. Infertility is a major crime committed toward the ancestors, and any man whose wife is sterile is free to repudiate her. Many former Empresses had lost their titles on these grounds, and the Empress Want was well aware of the danger that threatened her.” (102) In America women are not looked down upon just because they can’t have children. In fact, since decent birth control was available to women, many choose not to have any children. Also, in America a husband can’t repudiate his wife just because she is sterile. A husband can’t repudiate his wife at all. There is only divorce, not renouncement married couples who no longer wish to be married. This is a big culture shock and shows just how little worth a women was given in ancient China. Especially a sterile one.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Post #14 Form B
‘I dreamed of the desert and the sun and the big house in Phoenix with the palm tree in the front and the orange trees and oleanders in the back. We had owned that house outright. Still owned it, I kept thinking. It was ours, the one true home we’d ever had.
“Are we ever going home?” I asked Dad one day.
“Home?”
“Phoenix.”
“This is our home now.”’ (154)
Jeannette and her family are constantly on the move. They are rarely in one place for long and when they do stay somewhere for a while the attachment the kids have is hard for them to get over especially when they move somewhere they don’t particularly like. (Example being the move from Phoenix to Welch, West Virginia)
This continuous change of environment shapes the Wells children’s lives dramatically. The shifts cause them to be much more open minded than most, especially when it comes to differences in people. However, the never ending cycle of moving the moment something happens becomes tiresome for the children and they are nearly always poor because of it. Though I’m sure it was fun for the kids at first, it must have been really hard to be always moving and switching lifestyles. Jeannette recalls bullying and sexual harassment in various places they lived and more often than not there are more bad things than good things to say about the different towns. She must have turned into a very strong woman after dealing with such variable condition all throughout her childhood.
“Are we ever going home?” I asked Dad one day.
“Home?”
“Phoenix.”
“This is our home now.”’ (154)
Jeannette and her family are constantly on the move. They are rarely in one place for long and when they do stay somewhere for a while the attachment the kids have is hard for them to get over especially when they move somewhere they don’t particularly like. (Example being the move from Phoenix to Welch, West Virginia)
This continuous change of environment shapes the Wells children’s lives dramatically. The shifts cause them to be much more open minded than most, especially when it comes to differences in people. However, the never ending cycle of moving the moment something happens becomes tiresome for the children and they are nearly always poor because of it. Though I’m sure it was fun for the kids at first, it must have been really hard to be always moving and switching lifestyles. Jeannette recalls bullying and sexual harassment in various places they lived and more often than not there are more bad things than good things to say about the different towns. She must have turned into a very strong woman after dealing with such variable condition all throughout her childhood.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Post #13 Form A
Vocab
usurious (111): practicing usury; charging illegal or exorbitant rates of interest for the use of money.
palatial (149):befitting or suitable for a palace; stately; magnificent.
Figurative Language
"...even if we stayed in the basement and kept as quiet as church mice." (149)
This is a simile using the word as. It compares the children's quietness to the quietness of church mice.
"One corner of the kitchen ceiling leaked like a sieve." (153)
This is a simile using the word like. It compares the leakage of the kitchen ceiling to the easiness liquid has in going through a sieve.
"...who had little eyes set practically on the sides of his head, like a whale." (165)
This is a simile using the word like. It compares the boys eyes being on the sides of his head to the eyes of a whale.
Quote
"Sew it up," he said.
"Dad! I can't do that."
[...]
"Go ahead," he said again.
I pushed the needle and felt a slight tug when it pierced the skin. It was like sewing meat. It was sewing meat.
"I can't, Dad, I'm sorry, I just can't do it," I said. (169)
This is significant because it shows the stuff Jeannette and her family dealt with when she was young. Stuff like sewing up an injury her father had gotten while fighting someone.
Theme
Life is hard but know, it can always get worse. But if it does get worse, remember, the important thing is being able to scrap by.
usurious (111): practicing usury; charging illegal or exorbitant rates of interest for the use of money.
palatial (149):befitting or suitable for a palace; stately; magnificent.
Figurative Language
"...even if we stayed in the basement and kept as quiet as church mice." (149)
This is a simile using the word as. It compares the children's quietness to the quietness of church mice.
"One corner of the kitchen ceiling leaked like a sieve." (153)
This is a simile using the word like. It compares the leakage of the kitchen ceiling to the easiness liquid has in going through a sieve.
"...who had little eyes set practically on the sides of his head, like a whale." (165)
This is a simile using the word like. It compares the boys eyes being on the sides of his head to the eyes of a whale.
Quote
"Sew it up," he said.
"Dad! I can't do that."
[...]
"Go ahead," he said again.
I pushed the needle and felt a slight tug when it pierced the skin. It was like sewing meat. It was sewing meat.
"I can't, Dad, I'm sorry, I just can't do it," I said. (169)
This is significant because it shows the stuff Jeannette and her family dealt with when she was young. Stuff like sewing up an injury her father had gotten while fighting someone.
Theme
Life is hard but know, it can always get worse. But if it does get worse, remember, the important thing is being able to scrap by.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Post #14 Form B
“Fenris the Feared turned slowly to the high table, raising his great tattooed fist, opening his chasm of a mouth, a hideous spasm running over his face. ‘Angland!’ he screamed, louder and more terrible by far than the Lord Chamberlain had ever been. The echoes of his voice bounced off the domed ceiling high above, resounded from the curved walls, filling the great space with piercing sound.” (140)
This quote gives a very terrifying image of this thing-ish person. It gives a distinctive image of what Fenris looks like, acts like, sounds like, etc. You already are glad that you aren’t at the scene right now. I find that the author does a great job at describing this scene. He doesn’t force a specific image into your head, but rather, he give the basic outline for the character and you create the rest of the image based on what each individual person would feel was more fearsome. Personally, I think this is an excellent display of the skill of this author, and I think that more parts like these give the book more potential to be decent to people who don’t read this genre very often. Hopefully, this book will seem more worth it to have read after some time has passed and I begin to forget the … gory parts.
This quote gives a very terrifying image of this thing-ish person. It gives a distinctive image of what Fenris looks like, acts like, sounds like, etc. You already are glad that you aren’t at the scene right now. I find that the author does a great job at describing this scene. He doesn’t force a specific image into your head, but rather, he give the basic outline for the character and you create the rest of the image based on what each individual person would feel was more fearsome. Personally, I think this is an excellent display of the skill of this author, and I think that more parts like these give the book more potential to be decent to people who don’t read this genre very often. Hopefully, this book will seem more worth it to have read after some time has passed and I begin to forget the … gory parts.
Post #13 Form A
Vocab (all definitions are from dictionary.com)
Gall (105): impudence; effrontery, bile, something bitter or severe.
Intoned (106): to utter with a particular tone or voice modulation, to give tone or variety of tone to; vocalize.
Figurative Language
"crash to the floor with a sound like a cupboard full of saucepans." (103) A simile because it is comparing the sound to a cupboard full of saucepans.
"creaking" (118) is onomatopoeia because it represents a sound.
"patter" (141) is onomatopoeia because it too represents a sound.
Quote
"Hard words are for fools and cowards. Calder might have been both, but Logen was neither. If you mean to kill, you're better getting right to it than talking about it.. Talk only makes the other man ready, and that's the last thing you want." (101)
This quote is significant because it shows a realistic approach to fighting rather than the kind you tend to see in movies and such.
Theme
There are many types of people in the world; know who you can beat and who you can't.
Gall (105): impudence; effrontery, bile, something bitter or severe.
Intoned (106): to utter with a particular tone or voice modulation, to give tone or variety of tone to; vocalize.
Figurative Language
"crash to the floor with a sound like a cupboard full of saucepans." (103) A simile because it is comparing the sound to a cupboard full of saucepans.
"creaking" (118) is onomatopoeia because it represents a sound.
"patter" (141) is onomatopoeia because it too represents a sound.
Quote
"Hard words are for fools and cowards. Calder might have been both, but Logen was neither. If you mean to kill, you're better getting right to it than talking about it.. Talk only makes the other man ready, and that's the last thing you want." (101)
This quote is significant because it shows a realistic approach to fighting rather than the kind you tend to see in movies and such.
Theme
There are many types of people in the world; know who you can beat and who you can't.
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