Its all a blur!

The movie Forrest Gump is one of the best story telling movies ever made. "When I was in China on the All-American Ping Pong team, I just loved playing ping-pong with my Flexolite ping pong paddle."(Zemeckis, 1994). All though a lot of the events in this story are fake, such as Gump's run on the Olympic ping-pong team, the story blends in with events that actually happened, blurring the line between fiction and reality. "I'm not a literary historian, I'm not a critic, I'm not a teacher. I spend my days, and a good many of my nights, writing stories" (O'brien). Obrien's quote from his speech sums it up perfectly. Not everything is historically accurate, but the way the storyteller sees it, it is told.

"The movie is ingenious in taking Forrest on his tour of recent American history" (Ebert). This movie was a perfect example of storytelling, just as O'brien's novel The Things They Carried was. His speech about storytelling is phenomenal in the regards that it is quite blunt that all his stories are not accurate or true. In one part he simply states you must believe what you want to believe. And in the story Forrest Gump, you want to believe everything. "Run Forrest, Run!" (Zemeckis, 1994).

Being able to blend the truth and fiction makes for a much better story, as it did in Forrest Gump. Usually history is boring, but seeing the twist the movie put on it made me enjoy history and realize what a turbulent time the late 50's and early 60's were in history. Every story you hear is not completely true and has some exaggeration in it. Every story you hear could not be interesting if it was not told differently then the way it actually happened.

Holden as the Universal Teen

Holden Caulfield is a universal teen. He experiences many of the same feelings that are felt with teens. One example is his attachment to his red hat. Many teens have something that they are attached to. For example, a majority of teens do not go anywhere without their cell phones. "What I did was, I pulled the old peak of my hunting hat around to the front..." (p 21, Salinger). Just like teens who do not go anywhere without their cell phones, Holden would not go anywhere without his red hunting hat.
Besides Holden's attachment to his hat, he also relates to many other teens because of the emotions and feelings he goes through. Holden has so many feelings throughout the book, which many teens feel also. Some of these feelings are love, loneliness, anger, and confusion. In the book he talks about Jane thorughout the book, and many teens feel emotions for another person. Most of the time they say its love when it may not really be love. Many teens also feel lonely, as Holden does throughout the book. "I couldn't think of anybody to call up." (p. 59, Salinger). Like many teenagers, Holden feels as is he has nobody to turn to. Many teens feel these feelings that Holden felt. . Holden is a great example of a universal teen.

Ken Kesey's Character development

I feel as if Ken Kesey has done a good job developing the characters of Big Nurse and Big Mac. He has vividly created each character in my mind. "Her face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made, line an expensive baby doll..." (Kesey, p. 11). He created the nurse as a powerful lady, someone that nobody messes with, not even the doctor. Big Mac is someone that is different, difficult, and stubborn. "She shrinks to about head-high to where that towel covers him, and he's grinning down on her." (p. 87) Throughout the book these two characters argue and are constantly trying to "conquer" each other. Kesey has a very creative way of building the suspense by making Mcmurphy's rebellion get more severe each time. It starts out as simple jokes such as brushing his teeth with the cleaning stuff to punching out a window, and eventually having a party. The nurse is able to keep her cool and power through most of the story. The men are torn through most of the story to decide who to support. The patients were afraid of the nurse, but enjoyed seeing Mcmurphy challenge the nurse. The patients were all "hen pecked" and Mcmurphy felt as if the men needed to get their masculinity back.

McMurphy is the more therapeutic character for the patients. Under the nurse it is a tight schedule where the guys have no say to what they do. Everything is by the book. When Mcmurphy wanted toothpaste and it wasn't time yet the only answer he got was "It's a policy." (p. 84) The nurse controlled their lives. McMurphy was the person who cured the men I feel. he got them to believe in themselves and challenge the nurse. Without him Bromden would never have changed, never have spoken, never have gotten away from that terrible place. McMurphy got their masculinity back and turned them into the men they originally were.

McMurphy definitely won the battle. Even though McMurphy was the one who ended up dead, he was the one who made the nurse lose all her power. he was the one who freed the men and changed their lives. Nurse's goal was to keep the men under her power and she was not able to do that. Even though McMurphy was a con-man, he gambled his own life to win the war against the nurse.

Arthurian Legend

The Arthurian legend has endured many hundreds of years and is still just as compelling as it was when it originated. It is like a constant soap opera, a story that everyone is interested in and one that people want to know the ending. The Arthurian legend has all the elements needed to keep people interested which are romance, battles, and chivalry. Everything in the Arthurian legend is cleverly crafted and everything happens for a reason, and people always want to know that reason.
"Gawain took his new bride in his arms. And thus, in wonder and in joy the marraige of Gawain and the lady Ragnell began." (Sir Gawain and the Lady Ragnell, p 24). Every Arthurian legend has romance in it. In this case the respectful Gawain gave Ragnell the choice to choose for herself and she turned into the prettiest lady in the land. Even in the movies romance is a big part of the legend. In Camelot for example Gwenyvere was on her way to get married to Arthur and saw Lancelot and they instantly fell in love. Another example is the the Lady of Shalott. "Under tower and balcony, by garden-wall and gallery, a gleaming shape floated by, dead pale between the houses high..." Lady of Shalott). Lady of Shalott she was so in love that she gave up her life for Lancelot. It does not get much more dramatic and gracefully beautiful as this poem. In each story there is that dramatic love that people are drawn to and romance you can only find in stories such as the Arthurian legend.
Legends of this time also include many battles and violence, which makes a story interesting and something that most people like to read abut for the glory. There are knights in shining armor with their powerful weapons, squires, gargantuan horses, shields bearing their kingdom's symbol, and battles with blood. "Sir Lancelot took another spear, and unhorsed sixteen more of the King of North Galys' knights..."(Le' Morte D' Arthur, p 124). People love hearing about the courage, strength, and honor that these knights carry. People want to be like these knights and carry the honor that they carried. They want to know about the Arthurian battles where the famous Lancelot and Gawain fought because their legend has been passes from generation.
The Arthurian legend is a unique legend that cannot ever be replaced. It is a legend that has numerous stories of courage, chivalry, and romance all in the perfect mix. The drama of each story keeps people on the edge of their seats and makes them want to learn more and read more. The Arthurian time period was a very unique time that still is passed from generation to generation today, and will continue to be passed on and endure thousands of more years of time.

Medieval Times

This is one of my favorite units in English. I love reading about all the battles and kings and knights. It is itneresting to see how the past was. It always makes me wonder what it would be like to live in that time. My favorie stories are about Sir Gawain and King Arthur. It is amazing how loyal Sir Gawain was King Arthur. I found the story about Sir Gawain and Ragnellto be the most compelling story. All men need to learn to treat ladies like Sir Gawain and the Knights of the Round table. "It is not a choice I cannot make, my dear Ragnell. It concerns you. Whatever you choose to be..." (Sir Gawain and the Lady Ragnell, p. 24). Everything in this time was about honor, magic, violence, and chivalry. The accounts of these times are one of my favorite subjects to read about. "He was by reputation, the bravest in battle, the wisest, the most courteous....) "Sir Gawain and the Lady Ragnell, p 20). If only I could be as brave, strong, smart, and respectful as Gawain. The ladies would be all over me.

Is Beowulf selfish?

There is no way that Beowulf is selfish in his search for fame. He is able to talk the talk and walk the walk. He didn't kill Grendel for his own health. He did it because he was asked to help, and he didn't want to see anybody else die. He did what was good for everybody else. He knows he is a good fighter, and he knew he could take Grendel. And he did. That does not make Beowulf selfish at all. He risked his own life to save the life of others. He was the only brave one to take on Grendel.

Book covers

There are many covers that go along with The Fifth Child. But out of the 4 covers I feel that the second one down represents the book the best. When looking at it you see many things. When I first glanced at it, I saw a face. The eyes were in between the arms of the person, and it had an eerie smile. It also looks like this face is wearing a mask. But when you look closer you can see a boy ready to jump out of a window. This cover shows how complicated this book is. It has a feeling of darkness and horror to it, the same feeling that the book created. When the first four children were born everything was fine and happy. "This was happiness in the old style." (Lesing, p. 17) People reading this book wouldn't get this dark horrific cover at that point in the book. Then, after Ben was born and they saw the pain that he created among the family, people would quickly agree with the cover. The book has a lot of feelings of darkness, horror, and gothic. The cover that I picked is able to put that same feeling on one piece of paper.