Brave New World

What is perfection? Is defined by what society sees as perfect, or what someone personally believes?
In A Brave New World the idea of perfection is decided and introduced by the leader of society. The "god", the man who runs an entire world practically dictates what is seen as normal, and what is seen as unexceptable. The unexceptables of society are delt with accordingly, and they are left with a feeling of being hated and scorned by the entire New World community. The big question I chose for my book was "what, and who, decide what perfection is"? From what I've seen of the world, there is not set definition for perfection because everyone sees things differently.

Maslow's Hierarchy

   The basis of the Maslow's Hierarchy is that there will always be basic needs,  and all things that are not necessities will be built upon those basic needs. We first need food, health, and sleep. Secondly we need shelter, and being away from danger. Thirdly we need love, affection, and the ability to be part of a group. For our fourth want or need  we desire and need self- esteem, and esteem from others. And for the fifth point we need the achieved individual potential.
   This hierarchy has to do with the book Hiroshima because in the book after the dropping of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the basic needs that people must find are their family, friends, food, sleep, and good Health. People then seek shelter, and they discover that they must move away from the points of danger. The higher points on the hierarchy I have not gotten far enough into the book to see if they are a main factor in the way the victims of the atomic bomb react.

Why the Sneeches was an allegory...
The Sneeches was an allegory because it was giving the message that there is no one group of people, or anyone, who is better than someone else. Everyone is equal and everyone should be treated as such. The moral lesson is also that no matter how much we try and change ourselves, in the end we will always end up being the same person. Also no matter how much we try and hide or change who we are so we can blend and mix with other people, we can only change our appearance and if they didn't accept you in the first place, chances are when you change they will still ignore you.

The big question of my book is, what unknown things are within a world that we claim to know "everything" about? I feel that this is the big question of my book because even though Jacob thought he knew that his grandfathers stories were fake, and even though he thought he knew that there weren't any monsters in the world they were both still real. What we know isn't always everything, and sometimes there are unknown variables that tamper with everything that is normal. For example: when Jacob goes to the mansion and sees Emma for the first time he follows her into the time loop, but still has trouble believing that he has actually gone back to one day in time.

The Mariner

In the Ancient Mariner, the Mariner battles with the idea of living for forever. He finds this very inconvenient and would much rather die than watch everyone (his crew) die. He meets a poor man at a wedding, and tells him a long story about how he gets stranded in ice, while on a ship, he then shoots a bird, and then there's a huge drought. All this story does is portray the idea that even though we think that there is an end to life, there are unexplained things that can interfere with death.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

So far, I have read to the middle of the third chapter in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I love this book; although I had nightmares last night, I still think that this is an amazing book that shows a deep connection between a grandfather and grandson. When Jacob's grandfather was attacked and killed it was extremely touching because he hadn't believed his grandfathers stories since he was a child, and his grandfathers last words to him were all about something Jacob had made himself not believe. I'm curious to see what will happen to Jacob and his father now that they have gone to the island where his grandfather grew up. I can't wait to see if they meet Miss Peregrine, or if she has died. I’m also really confused about who, or what, killed Jacobs grandfather. Was it a man with tentacles coming from his mouth, or was it just stress that caused him to see that?

The Book of Lost Things .theme.

In The Book of Lost Things there are many possible themes. One is that there is never an age limit or boundary when talking or thinking about courage. Courage comes in all shapes and sizes; this is proven by David, A twelve year old boy, who breaks all stereotypical rules about children being scared and weak. When faced with dangerous opposition, and evil opponents, instead of running, David uses his resources and brain to figure out ways to remove him from the situations. A second theme would be that even when someone is gone, they never truly leave us. This theme is very prevalent throughout the book, especially when David believes that he hears his mother’s voice and he always chooses to follow. David misses his mother through the entirety of the book, and even makes many terrible decisions based on his belief that he hears her in his head. He risks his life, and others, on multiple occasions when he believes that she is calling to him and telling him to come and find her because she is lonely. Part of why David constantly follows his mother’s voice is that he resents his father for remarrying and having another child with his new wife, and he also blames himself for the death of his mother because he wasn't a "good enough" child. 

The Book of Lost Things: book blog

The main protagonist in The Book of Lost Things is David. David is just a little boy who gets sent to another "world" that resembles story book stories all mixed together. He meets many interesting people on his journey to meet the King; along  the way he meets good, bad, and evil people. First, David encounters a Woodsman who saves David from the Loupin who want to eat him. Second, he meets Snow White and the Six Dwarfs. Third, He meets an evil huntress who cuts the heads off of her victims. Four, He meets Roland who saves him from the Crooked Man.

Today I Read cont...

Today, I read The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I read chapters 2-5 and so far pretty much the same old same has happened. By the same I mean David (main character) has seen the Crooked Man in real life, as opposed to seeing him in a dream, and no one seems to believe him. His dad has also gotten Rose pregnant and they move in together. David hates Rose, and it seems that while in the beginning she tries to get to know him, she really could care less about him. In the future, I think that David and the Crooked Man will meet, and then something bad will happen.

Today I read...

Today in English class I read The Book Of  Lost Things, by John Connolly. So far, as in the first 21 pages, the main Protagonist, David, has already lost his mother and has found out that he hears books talking to him. Odd? I know, but  the idea that a boy so deep in a depression would blame his mothers death on himself because he wan't "good enough" is quite interesting to me. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a little tragedy with their insanity? Anyway, David's mother dies and he blames himself. He is so deeply depressed that he begins to have fainting spells, starting when he first sees his father kiss another woman, these fainting spells send he and his father to the doorstep of a child psychologist; who is trained in the science of how grieving children's minds work. While in the office of Dr. Moberley, David  hears the books on Dr. Moberley's bookshelf talking to him. Instead of telling the Doctor about the strange voices in his head, David ops out for the plain and simple option of just telling the doctor minimal information that involves nothing personal. I wonder what will happen to David down the road. Will he tell his father and Doctor about the voices?

     The idea that all students learn differently is not a relatively new concept; one would think. Education is no longer personalized and catering to the needs of every individual student. It would seem to me, that it would reflect better on a countries educational quality if they had programs designed specifically for a single child that focused not only on their education, but also tied in their interests. I think that it is illogical and also impractical for a school system to require so much of students and not expect for them to want a good education in return. Many many many issues come to mind when I think of the education system here in America. I think of irrelevant things like high school lunches, bathrooms, and that teacher everyone hates, but would never admit to. But, when I think of the educational quality I received throughout my years as a student, I feel like teachers have been more concerned with giving good grades so they look good, as opposed to actually teaching for the thrill of sharing knowledge.

     Ken Robinson, a nationally known education activist, believes that the worlds education system needs to be completely revolutionized as opposed to the classic policy change. This idea is not a new topic, quite the contrary, I have been hearing this my whole life.  The difference between now and seventeen years ago is that people are starting to see that those they thought were "nutty about education", were actually right all along. Americas education system needs to be revamped, no, it needs to be completely reconstructed from the ground up. But, I believe that this issue is not only to blame on the Americans. I believe that this is a world wide                                

epidemic that can be solved with a little work from parents, teachers, school systems, and students.