Invisible Man Book Project #2

·         Among Ellistons most pivotal early experiences is the death of his grandfather, who first opens the young boy's eyes to the fact that appearances do not always represent reality. He has a hard core, just like a peach, and how he endured the death of his grandfather.

 

·         Invisible Man shows a lot of allusions to other texts. Ellison draws from sources as diverse as classical European texts. Which shows his fuzzy, “different” skin.

 

·          "Ellison uses everything he knows, not to prove anything to anybody but to exploit as fully as possible the artistic materials he is conjuring” This shows how he uses his resources as the peach would when it falls off the tree and re-grows a new tree using its own fruit as nutrients.

Quotes

“All things truly wicked start from innocence.”
―Ernest Hemingway

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”
― Anne Frank

                                                                          Peach

·         The narrator remains a voice and never emerges as an actual presence. This emphasizes him as an “invisible man.”

 

·         Ellison renders the narrator’s voice as that of a man looking back on his experiences with greater perspective, but he makes sure that the reader sees into the mind of the still-innocent character.

NPR Interview

A.)  A Rest Stop On The Road From Soldier To Civilian

B.)   Richard Martin

C.)   War in Afghanistan

D-G.) This great segment draws the curtains back to give civilians a look into a little known part of the soldier's world and the military's strengths. Moving large numbers of individuals requires order, structure and control.  This article displays how each soldier struggles with the fact of having an occupation at one time in their lives, to having no employment. "Somebody has got something wrong with their foot, they go see the podiatrist," he says, "no harm, no foul. Nobody says anything. It's when they got something wrong up here, that's when ---we--- want to put a stigma on somebody."

This I Believe...

This I Believe…

           

           My family has a dog named Roxie. He’s a huge fluffy golden retriever—he has great big ears, a very large head, and a laid-back, mellow personality. My sister was the one that really wanted a dog and surprise surprise my parents bought her Roxie.

Some years later, now in high school, I went home one afternoon after having had an emotional breakdown. My whole life was upside down; the situation was tough and saddening. I felt hollow, dead, an empty shell of a person. Then I found Roxie, laying in one of his usual spots on the ground. He’d been asleep, but he lifted his head and looked at me with his sweet hazelnut brown puppy eyes. I stroked his head ever so gently, scratching his chin (his favorite spot)  I moved my hand down to scratch his back and sides, and he stretched lazily, showing  his belly so that it could be rubbed as well, giving me looks of absolute adoration. My heard warmed, forgetting the thought of what had happened earlier.

At that point, it hit me: not matter how tough some thing in life may be, no matter how badly I fail, I will always have my family friends to support be and be by my side. I believe family is so crucial. I believe that real love, whether it comes from a family member, a friend, or a dog, love is offered unconditionally. Love doesn’t consider past transgressions; love doesn’t wait to make sure it will be returned; love isn’t looking for something better and settling for less. Without my family and friends, I would be nothing.

Big Idea Revised Writing

Chapter 2 Big Idea Writing

In Chapter two one of the biggest things in the beginning of the book happens, Kemmrich dies, leaving the whole group of soldiers psychologically in ruins. Muller notices Kemmrich’s condition and then points out the boots and asks if he could have them. The narrator describes Mullers hunger for Kemmrich’s boots: “I live, I feel a hunger, greater than comes from the belly alone.” (pg. 33) Muller takes advantage of opportunities in a world of limited resources.

Just as the men could feel like anything could go wrong, Kropp, Muller, Kemmrich, and Paul are all sent to Platoon 9, controlled under Himmelstoss. Himmelstoss uses a variety of get-tough-disciplinary measures, making Paul scrub the latrine with a tooth-brush. “…under his orders I have scrubbed out the Corporals’ Mess with a tooth-brush.” (pg. 23) 

All Quiet on the Western Front Essay

All Quiet on the Western Front Essay

The sense of loss in Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is prominent throughout the novel. Identity, lost; the war, lost; and themselves, lost. “[Paul’s] state is getting worse.” (pg. 222) Little did he know, he was already dead. Paul “…can take nothing more.” (pg. 295) Stripped to pieces, his senseless soul is deprived of proper nourishment. Then “he fell in October 1918”.  (Last Page) Death; the best thing that happened to Paul.

            Paul’s generation is the “lost generation”. Only seeing through the eyes of death—fear and sorrow shroud the men as they “know only that in some strange and melancholy way [they] have become a waste land." (pg. 24) As “The war swept [each one] away.” (pg. 24) , the men lose their only hope and self-respect. They “…are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, [they] are crude and sorrowful and superficial” they “…are lost." (pg. 110) “The generation that has grown up before [them] will be strange to [them] and will push [them] aside “ (pg. 254), as if not there. The men don’t know what life is, how it works, or what it feels like to have it. That’s the greatest loss, life.

It’s sad to say that it’s the people who have lived and learned most that have led these young men to their final chapters. Parents, teachers, and the government body all played a big influence in the path these men took. As they looked around and asked "why," they focused on what they had learned at home and in school. The patriotic myths of the older generation become apparent when Paul goes home. A man in the army criticizes Paul for not saluting him when Paul has spent a good share of his life in the trenches killing the enemy and trying to survive. These examples of betrayal are a motif in Remarque's novel.

            ". . . All men of my age, here and over there, throughout the whole world see these things; all my generation is experiencing these things with me." (pg. 264) Paul’s “… knowledge of life is limited to death” (pg. 264) Surviving the rest of the war would have been bad enough for Paul to endure physically and emotionally. Every time Paul went into the trenches, he lost more of himself; coming back at recurring emotional lows because of his consumption of death and violence that had been going on very close to him, deceiving his mind into thoughts of trickery and even worse, nothingness.

            Loss controls and dictates the lives of these men, especially Paul. Is there any gain in winning a war after you’ve lost so much? As everyone’s “…legs refuse to move” (pg. 111)  the shear thought of going to the front cripples the men. Every blood-soaked step towards the front eliminates any thoughts from one’s mind, leaving the men in pure cluelessness.

            Paul is loss, and loss is everything.

Why Are We Here?

When Dale Long had asked himself the large life question, "Why are we here?," he wasn't always sure of the answer. But one night of stargazing with his children brought him clarity on his place in the universe.

            Wondering about everything, I always over analyze the world and what revolves around me. I love reading articles, books, and newspaper reports about interesting topics that I don't really know about.
I'm pretty sure we have all thought about this question to ourselves, Why are we here?, and we may never know the answer yet the answer might just be right there, in front of all our faces, staring straight at us. As curious as I am, I always tend to lean towards sci-fi and interesting things that humans may have only heard about.

Passage From All Quiet On The Western Front

"We do it ceremonially, we stretch our legs out in front of us and split deliberately, that is the only way. How it all rises up before a man when he is going away the next morning!"

Stretching his sentences, Erich Remarque pulls one small idea and adds a lot of flare and descriptiveness while applying simplicity and a good visual in ones mind. In this short passage Erich describes what the soldiers do during their resting times.

The Glass Castle Book Project

Quotes about Mom

1. "Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love." -- Stevie Wonder

 

   2. "My Mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. I attribute all my success in my life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her." -- George Washington

         
Moms tone and the way she acts portrays how the mood and themes of the book change. One great example of this was when Dad was telling stories of his past and how him and Mom first met, the way she set herself in those situations and the situations that she faces today really not only shows how strong of a character she really is but how she is also so very similar to Jeannette which makes me believe that she is one of the biggest inspirations to her.

          

         A mom is one of the biggest inspirations in a persons life. 

        

         

Provide a Visual of a Texture

• Jeannette Walls' mom, Rose Mary is the kindest person I have ever heard of, her overall mindset is always so incredibly optimistic and nice, which is why I compared her to an apple
• Apple are nice and smooth on the outside and soft on the inside and most of what Rose Mary does, as a mother, is very similar in a way that shes very built and mentally tough on the outside yet she has a soft side to her and her true personality really comes out.
• Then the core of the apple represents her tough struggles through life and the "migration" from each area to another, as they always do, just like how the apple is and how the aspect of the apple being plucked from the tree it was grown from and then just all of sudden shipped across the country to a place where its needed. Rose Mary doesn't mind traveling so much as she does. Living a dynamic life of many strengths and weaknesses, the daily struggle doesn't take a toll on her mentality.