Cheaters

In the original story “The Trojan Horse” by Virgil, it started toward the end of the war. It mainly concentrated on the horse part of it. Helen in this story acted as a mature adult who was the wife of a king. In the new version of this story it tells us about how it started and ended. The play skipped a lot of the story in the middle. On top of that it said that the soldiers were behind the horse  even though they made the horse seem/sound small, almost as if it were two feet high and a toy.

The new version was kind of a little kid version of the story making it goofy and inaccurate. Also Helen in this play, acted if she was the king’s teenage daughter. She was a girly girl and not mature at all. If I were going to rate the new and the old stories, I would give the old a 7 out of 10 and the new a 5 out of 10. I liked the old version much better because it was more accurate and realistic. I didn’t like the new one because of the goofiness and sense that it was made for little kids.

This story reminds me a lot of the show “Cheaters”. This when one of the two that are married believes that the other one is having a affair with someone else. Then the crew goes into action and catches them in the act. At the end they confront him and give him/her a piece of their mind. This is like the Trojan horse because Helen was the one that was cheating. She was then caught in the act. So when the Spartan king when over there to give her a piece of his mind she was hiding. In the end the Spartan king got his girl back and she promised never to do it again, just like everyone else.

The True Meaning

Authors note: This is my finial piece. I was looking for symbolism in the story Ribbons by Laurence Yep. I was also trying to get a 10 on body paragraph.

How would you feel moving half way around the world? In the story Ribbons by Laurence Yep, an ordinary American family make their Chinese grandmother move to America. Little did they know that she is stuck in her Chinese ways. For this reason the two cultures collided, causing a catastrophe in a regular house. The colorful life of the main character in the story Ribbons by Laurence Yep, uses symbolism to bring her family together.

“When I saw those ribbons, I didn’t want you feeling pain like I do.” With this one line you can already tell how the grandmother feels about the ribbons, pain and misery. This is because of her scaring childhood with foot binding. While on the other hand, for the daughter, she sees something she loves. Ribbons are necessary for ballet. So now the grandmother freaks out and takes them away because she thinks she is saving her feet. When really there is just one big misunderstanding.

Despite the misunderstandings, there were many sign showing that their relationship was growing. When reading a story to her little brother, the character was having problems just like the grandmother did. This story symbolized the grandmothers’ life and because the daughter was reading it, she began to get her. Another thing that brought them together was the very ribbons that started the problem. “Suddenly I felt as if there were an invisible ribbon binding us, tougher than silk and satin, stronger even than steel; and it joined her to Mom and Mom to me.”  This backs up the idea of them coming together as a family.

Besides the little kid story relating to the grandmother, the overall story relates to the tale The Trojan Horse by Virgil. The horse and the ribbons symbolize that everything is not what it seems. With the ribbons, one person thought it was evil and the other knew it was good. Once they talked it through the person that was jugging it without knowing then made everything clear. Then with horse, some people thought it was a gift and other thought it was a trap. After things played through, everything became clear. Over all the symbolism in Ribbons was like the symbolism in The Trojan Horse.

Symbolism is important and is included it almost every story. Ribbons by Laurence Yep show deep symbolism in small special items with semimetal value.  Next time you have a family problem, symbolism could help bring you two together as well.

To Be a Figher

Buddha means the enlighten one. He was born into a royal family but something brought him into spiritual fulfillment. After he reached enlightenment he they travel long distances to share his teachings. Buddha would be a good fighter because of the fact that he was teaching a different religion that wasn’t strictly controlled by the priest. Also Buddha resembles Jesus and in my heart I know Jesus is a fighter and because of the resemblance I feel that Buddha is to a fighter. Another person beside Buddha that would be a good fighter would be George Washington. George is a good fighter because he fought for what was right leading a war freeing thousands of people from the British.

Closure in a Wooden Chest

Authors note: In the book Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine I was looking for symbolism in the text.

Everything in the life of a Caitlin, a fifth grade girl is hard. Especially because she has Asperser’s syndrome she see the world in a certain way, black and white. On top of that her older brother was killed in a school shooting in the middle of his achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Now left with only her father she is left to discover things like making new friends and finding closure.  

Caitlin isn’t the best at talking let alone being near people. Now she is stuck in a bad situation without anyone to actually talk to beside Devon, and the school counselor. Devon and the counselor are almost like guardian angels. They protect her and give her advice so that she might be able to make some friends and understand the world better.

Devon wasn’t just an angle; he was also glue that held their family together. Once he passed he wasn’t able to finish his Eagle Scout project, which was to make an extremely difficult chest. This chest symbolizes closure because it was kind of like his parting gift. If they wouldn’t have finished it they would have been able to go on with their lives.

Catlin finds closure just like Melinda from the book Speak. Both of the girls are struggling through their stories trying to restore balance in their lives. One of their troubles was the search for friends. Another similarity is what they are going through, not everyone has Asperser’s syndrome and has a brother that got shot in a school shooting. Same with Melinda, she got raped which isn't something that happens to someone in high school.

Overall Catlin showed me more than I though.  It showed me to not take things for grant because there are people going through worst. Also that closure come in things you wouldn’t expect, like a wooden chest.  

What Would You Do?

Authors note: This is a conflict and resolution essay on the book Framed. This is the third book in the series and I would recommend read all three.

Have you ever been framed for something? Maybe for taking a pencil or someone’s paper, or even a super bowl ring. In the book Framed that is exactly what happened. Now Griffin has to come up with a plan. This is no ordinary plan; this has to prove that he is not guilty. Pulling his friends into this they have to solve the main conflict, person verses society.

A side conflict is person verses self. After his first plan is a bust he starts doubting himself and his plans. From then on it became a mental thing, were if you think bad, bad thing will happen. Then worst comes to worst he gets put into house arrest. Now he isn’t able to follow through with his finial plan. This time he doesn’t resolve the problem his friends do. They help him out and believe in him making him feel better. From then on thing go his way and the plan is then a go.

Griffin had some really good friends that helped his through everything. In the past his friends helped him get back a million dollar baseball card and steal back animals from a zoo. Because of his past this made him an easy target to frame. Even though Griffin had done nothing wrong the judge and everyone else thing that he took it. So now they have to come up with one last plan to resolve the conflict.  They taking back the ring from the theft and returning it. Now all charges are dropped and they finial let him out of the prison school.

This book is a lot like the story Holes. Stanly, the main character in the book, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Stanly was wrongfully accused of take Clyde Livingstone’s shoes. Because of this he is sent off to dig holes. This is a lot like framed because Griffin lost his retainer earlier that week. Then it later shows up in the display case were the super bowl ring was. They were both wrongfully accused and both did something in the wrong time.

All in all Framed was an inspirational book. It can help people believe that friends can help you through hard time, and to never give up. Now because of his friends they turned Griffin into the person he was. In the end this allowed him to solve the main conflict of person verses society.

Who Would Be?

Authors note: This is a summary of the short story A Clean, Well-lighted Place. This is what I learned from it and please leave a comment on this and tell me if you agree.

There are two waiters a young one and a old one. They young waiter is disrespectful and impatient. All he wants to do is get this last customer out of the bar so he can go home. But the older, wiser, and patient waiter says let him stay. This represent that you don’t have to rush everything and not to judge a book by its cover. Sometimes it’s nice to just to watch time go by.

After watching the movie.

The younger waiter I thought fit the part and the older waiter did too. The next time i would like to see the younger waiter even younger because they two look similar in age from most of the scenes. The older waiter fit and looks the part. He really made me feel his pain of being alone. I think that the younger waiter could have been a little ruder, but other than that I think that they did a good job bringing the story to life.

Overall most books are better than the movies, why. Well in the story I felt that the book made more emotions come up. They were very similar with the overall message, but the things that the director changed I felt were important. Like the old man in the book he was outside on the patio, in the shade. This gave me different felling compared to the movie where he was inside in a bright room.

How She Solved Her Problems

Authors note: This is a conflict and resolution analysis on the book The Hunger Games. Before the spring break I was wondering on a book to choose for this. Then my teacher made use pare up and my partner said i should do it on The Hunger Games.
  

The Hungers Games is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen that decides to  volunteer for her younger sister to go into in the Hunger Games. She has to put all of her fears aside to try to survive and get home alive. When it finally comes time to compete in the Games, Katniss has to protect herself, survive and win.

One conflict is the rule changes driving Katniss and Peeta to possibly suicide at the end of the games. This is a Person vs. Society conflict because they are rebelling the Game Makers and/or the Capitol. Both Katniss and Peeta are not forced to the point we they kill themselves. In the end they are crowned the Victors.

The main conflict is that every year there is a Hunger Games that requires a girl and a boy from each district to fight to the death. This is a person vs. society because President Snow invented or created the games in order to control the districts. The resolution of the Hunger Games is when the two tributes, Peeta and Katniss, end up winning. In a result of that, Katniss and Peeta are both crowned the victors of the Games and return home to find a new and better life.