RAFT- Of Mice and Men

RAFT #1:

Reporter to George- interview on Lennie's death.

Reporter: Do you believe you did the right decision when you killed Lennie?

George: I think I did the right decision when I killed Lennie, the reason for this is the fact that the other men would've gave him a terrible death. They would've beaten him to death, or yet beaten him before shooting him. The reason why I decided to kill Lennie is because Candy had said he shouldn't have let a stranger kill his dog. I didn't want a stranger to kill my good friend Lennie. He deserved a good death, and I gave him that. I let him talk about the rabbits and all the things he liked before he died. Lennie was a good man, and it was hard for me to kill him, but it would've been harder for me to watch him die in a brutal way.

RAFT #2:

Curly's Wife to Diary. Topic: isolation and being left out. 

Dear Diary,

I find it quite boring on this farm, Curly pays no attention to me anymore and I'm locked up in this house everyday. Every time I go outside Curly sends me back in. Since I get no attention from Curly I try to get attention from the other men, but they seem to have no interest in me. Curly always gets mad at other men when they talk to me, I don't think that he's aware that I'm the one trying to get their attention. I hope one day Curly sees that I'm trying to get attention from other men, then realize that I want some attention from him. I feel as if Curly just isolates me. I feel like he has no more respect for me and he pretends that I'm dead to him. He no longer talks, or looks at me like the way he used to. I'm not really the only one that gets isolated around here, there this other man by the name of Lennie. Lennie gets made fun of and ignored by the other, except for this one nice man, George. George accepts Lennie for who he is and he accepts the fact that he has a mental disability. I feel like George gets isolated sometimes, but he doesn't let it phase him. The other men are just so judgmental- for example, Curly. Sometimes I just want to run away, but if I do I'll be left with nothing. I just don't know what to do.

Love,
Curly's Wife

Weekly Blog 20

Finally, the school year is coming to an end. I've been waiting for this moment since the beginning of the semester. Yes, exams are coming up and there will be a lot of stress, but I guess I'll just pull through it. I can't wait until summer so I can just sit by the pool and relax. Instead of staying inside five days a week and listen to teachers and do work. Then weekends consist of homework and stressing out. However, during the summer my parents want me to get a job or work on the farm.. so that will kind of suck.

Above all, I'm just super excited for this school year to end and just have all these weights lifted off my shoulders. I might just cry on the day of my last exam- which is chemistry- which is also what I am completely dreading. I honestly hate chemistry more than I hate frogs... which is a lot by the way. Anyways, summer will be an awesome time, and I just can't wait.

Weekly Blog 19

One more month until my birthday, and I don't even know what I want for my birthday. I hate not knowing what I want. Ugh, birthdays are so stressful. Also, the fact that I'm turning 17 is stressful, I'M SO OLD! I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do when I turn 50, I'm going have a major midlife crisis.

Whenever I was little I'd sit in my room and think about how I'm old and going to die soon, and the fact that my parents are ancient and going to die even sooner. Man, I was one weird kid. I still hate birthdays, I always think that birthdays are going to be awesome and then when the days comes around it's always boring and crappy. Anyways, moral of this post is I hate birthdays.. and I just wasted your time ranting about it. :)

ISU bibliography

Bibliography

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre . Cambridge, UK: Worth Press Limited, 2008.

Weekly Blog 18

Ever wonder why there is such thing a mosquitoes? They're such a pain in the butt. Even if I wear bug spray somehow they're still attracted to me, it makes no sense. Also, whenever mosquitoes bite, it doesn't really hurt but it's extremely irritating, and then I itch it and then it gets worse. UGH I HATE MOSQUITOES!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, why... WHY is there so many mosquitoes this year?! They're all over the place, even around my house and I don't even live by a forest. Man, mosquitoes just make me so mad. Mosquito bites also stay on my legs forever and they look super gross and unattractive and make me want to cry and wear jeans for the rest of the summer. Thank god there's such thing as After Bite, because man that stuff is my best friend.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1 - 5

What does the Chief mean when he says "It's the truth even if it didn't happen"?

Chief has a mental illness, and he's essentially doesn't have a clear mind. Chief is saying that he is a trustworthy narrator, and this is for the reader to decide if he is or not. Chief doesn’t really have a mental illness, in fact he pretends he’s deaf.

How does McMurphy differ from the other patients on the ward?

McMurphy differs from the other patients because he doesn't have anyone to care about or to bring him to his knees (what Chief believes). McMurphy is very outgoing and gets “the boys” of the ward together, he’s “the life of the party”. Also, McMurphy is different because he’s in the asylum to get out of a jail sentence, unlike the other men whom actually have some sort of mental illness.

Chapter 6 - 10

Is the Doctor a friend or enemy of McMurphy? What theme is advanced by the Doctor's response to McMurphy?

I don’t believe that McMurphy and the Doctor are not really friends, but I believe that the Doctor is manipulated by McMurphy. Although McMurphy breaks the rules several times like the fishing trip, carnival, and party, the Doctor respects McMurphy and keeps him in the asylum.

Why have Chapter 10? What's its purpose?

Chapter is spent describing “the boys” playing monopoly, joking, the games goes on and on, with the boys teasing and screwing around with each other and giving each other a hard time. I believe the purpose of this chapter is to show the relationship between these men, and how they could have fun in the asylum, although it’s a horrifying place.

Chapter 11 - 15

How does McMurphy's laughter keep him safe?

I think McMurphy’s laughter keeps him sane, which mostly keeps him safe from being exactly like the people in the asylum. Also, his laughter keeps nurse Ratched out of his head, and he can laugh away the thought of her.

The irony of the Public Relation man's statement "A man that would run away from a place as nice as this, why; there'd by something wrong with him." is fairly obvious. Explain it anyway.

Why does the fog make Bromden feel safe?

What is significant about Old Rawler's method of suicide?

The significance of Old Rawler’s method of suicide is the fact that he casterated himself shows that it’s sort of like the feelings the people have towards the ward, and the feelings that Old Rawler has toward it. The ward is like li

Chapter 16 – 20

How does Cheswick's death demonstrate the influence McMurphy has over the patients?

Now that Cheswick is dead, McMurphy feels like he can now help the other patients.

In chapter 20, again with the mechanical imagery. Why?

There is mechanical imagery in chapter 20 because McMurphy has stopped being the instigator and he’s trying to get out of the ward and Ratched is in control of the patients again.

Chapter 21 - 25

What theme does the interaction between Harding and his wife reinforce?

The fact that Harding and his wife argue about who is in charge of the marriage, it shows that there is a battle of the sexes. Meaning there is actually a fight about who is the better sex. This relationship is just like the one nurse Ratched has with the men of the asylum, she kind of wants to show them that she’s the better one.

Describe the overall effect of the fishing trip on the patients.

The fishing trip benefitted the patients by allowing them to actually have fun and get the thought of being locked in an asylum out of their head. Most of the patients, including Chief value the outside civilization and how it has changed since they have been locked up in the asylum. Most of the patients have fun, but McMurphy whom is having a hard time facing his past.

Chapter 26 - 29

Why does McMurphy reject Harding's escape plan?

He rejects it because the escape seem like it’s something off of a bad robber movie.

Would you smother McMurphy?

Yes I would, to put him out of his misery. 

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

http://www.shmoop.com/

http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/genre.html

http://www.shmoop.com/one-flew-over-cuckoos-nest/

Shmoop University. Shmoop. 18 May 2014. 15 April 2014

This website was created for teachers and students. It is designed to help anyone understand anything about any subject you desire help with. It also has many great chapter summaries on “Macbeth” and “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. This website has really helped me understand the play Macbeth, since the play is not in modern English, shmoop helped me understand the modern English side of the play and understand exactly what was going on in each act and scene. Shmoop also has chapter summaries from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, since the novel was somewhat confusing, shmoop helped me clearly understand what was going on it the book. Also, shmoop went beyond the book and let me understand what certain expressions in the book meant.

http://www.slideshare.net/ciaffaroni/jane-eyre-2467715

Maria Teresa Ciaffaroni. Slide Share. 18 May 2014. Nov 10 2009.

This website helped me understand Jane Eyre in a different perspective. On this website people share their own slide shows which they have made, I find this very helpful especially since I always want to see what others say about the book. Also, in this link, Lorenzo Tosti, whom made the slideshow added some great information about the book and added detailed information about the characters. This slide show on the book Jane Eyre was uploaded by a teacher by the name of Maria Teresa Ciaffaroni, whom is a Teacher of English at LGS Augusto posted this slideshow on Nov 10, 2009. The slideshow was created by Lorenzo Tosti.

http://www.wiredforbooks.org/shakespeare/

Ohio University. Wired for books. April 2014.

This website was extremely useful to try to understand Macbeth since it’s an audio version. On this website, there is an audio recording of every act and scene, which was, in my opinion, very helpful. This was due to the fact that I can’t pronounce half the words in Macbeth, therefore having and audio version of the book was great because I had someone to read along with. The purpose of this website is obviously allowing students to have an audio version of Macbeth without having to read it by yourself. Sometimes some people, like me, have to hear it aloud to understand something. One thing that could be changed about this website is the ability to listen to the audio on the web page instead of having to download it. 

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/janeeyre/section10.rhtml

Sparknotes. Sparknotes:Jane Eyre. May15 2012.

This source from the website "Sparknotes" was used to help create my outline for my ISU essay. Sparknotes is quite helpful to provide information on popular novels and their information and study guides provide great research for students and understand deeper thought into novels. The intended audience for Sparknotes is for students to learn and study the novels they are currently working on in school, also some teachers may use sparknotes to fully understand a novel before teaching it. What helped me the most was to be able to pick out certain things about the book to add to my outline, basically the major themes of the book.

Anonymous. Poem Hunter. 21 May 2014. 21 May 2014

http://www.poemhunter.com/lawrence-ferlinghetti/

This website was used whilst the creating of our poetry presentation on Lawrence Ferlinghetti. We mainly used this website when we were told to find some of Ferlinghetti's most popular poems and annotate/ analyze them. The point  of this website is to share some of poets most famous writings and people are able to leave comments below and share what they thing the poems means, what the main themes are, or even comment on the poem itself and share what the poem made them feel like. Also, poem hunter gives you not only the poem, but some basic background information of the poem itself. One thing this website could change is add some basic information on all of the poems they have posted.