March 24th 2015

1.) The modern theme appears many times throughout this documentary. Monsanto has manifested it's self and now they are one of the worlds largest food producers. They have industrialized the crops and genetically modified them to last longer. They control what people buy and how farmers grow their crops. The modern day slaughter houses show the change in mechanization from 2 decades ago. Only 4 slaughter houses are currently producing meat in the US  and they are producing enough to feed 318.9 million people. This effects me because of all the fake product being used to make our food. Preservatives, GMOs, ammonia ... They're hurting this generation and ones to come. More cases of birth defects have been put these last 10 years then ever before.       

March 12th 2015

Royal Jelly 

How does Dahl develop his story? 

-Dahl develops his story by describing what royal jelly is and giving the characters a way to use it. 

How does he make the characters real? 

-He makes the character real by giving them real life worries and concerns. He also makes the 2 main characters, Mabel and Albert argue and disagree like a married couple do.

What literary device does he use?

- Dahl uses characterization and setting to create a plot for his story. 

How does he incorporate his twist? 

-Dahl incorporates the twist at the end with the last line of the story  "Why don't you cover her up, Mabel?" "We don't want our little queen to catch a cold."

March 4th 2015

Pg 974 # 7, 10

7.) Tennyson valued the timeless world of poetry more then he valued the perishable real world because he controlles the world of poetry. His work will live on after he's gone.

10.) The age Tennyson lived in accepted the idea of progress, believing the acquisition of knowledge would lead to a better world this is shown in "Ulysses". "follow knowledge like a sinking star" is a line that Ulysses says because he chases adventure and needs it to survive. 

January 7th 2015

Genesis and Catastrophe

A woman is giving birth to her fourth child at a hospital in Germany. She's terrified that she's going to lose her baby because her last three children had died shortly after being born. Her doctor spends time with her trying to calm her down and telling her that it will be different this time. Klara's husband comes to visit her and tells her that this baby is even smaller than the baby that had previously died. At the end of the story we find out that the baby that was born is Adolf Hitler. 

Klara- A woman who is very frightened about the future. She's doesn't have a lot of faith that something could change. 

Plot twist- At the end the baby turns out to be Aldof Hitler who Klara didn't want to keep in the first place. 

Foreshadowing, characterization, and irony

Rate: 4.0/5.0  

January 15th 2015

The Umbrella Man

   A 12 year old girl is the narrator of this story. She's going to London with her mom to visit a dentist. The girl is getting a tooth filled. Afterwards they go to a cafe. When it's about time to go home they realize that it's pouring rain and they don't have an umbrella. They choose to call a cab. When they're waiting for a cab an older man under an umbrella comes up to them. The man asked if they would  buy his umbrella so he can get a cab ride home. The mom is unsure if they should trust him. He tells them that it's a very nice umbrella worth twenty pounds. The mother likes the deal, but the little girl is worried that they are taking advantage of the man. The mother tells him that they would just give him the cab fair. but he says that they should take the umbrella. The trade pays off for everyone. The little girl sees that the man runs accross the street and she tells her mom that he doesn't look very tiered. They follow him to the "Red Lion Inn". He goes in and has a drink that looks likes it would be 20 pounds. He gets up to leave and and takes an umbrella that's hanging on the coat rack. He takes it outside and sells it to another innocent person on the street. 

Rate: 2.5/5.0

January 14th 2015

The Sound Machine 

Klausner is obsessed with sounds. He believes that there are so many more sounds in the world but you can't hear them because they are too high pitched. He wants to know what the sounds mean. He goes to the doctors and ask him about it. The doctor says that he should build a sound machine so he could translate the sounds to something he could understand. When a flower is cut he hears a little cry, so he decides to cut a tree with an axe. He's shocked when he hears a low moan. Klausner runs back into the house and calls his doctor. The doctor is going to come over and listen into the headphones, right when Klausner takes a swing at the tree a gaint limb falls down between them and crushes the machine. Klausners is very sad and asks the doctor to put iodine on the trees wounds. The doctor says he didn't hear anything but he says okay and does it. 

Plot Twist: Finding out that trees can talk

Characters

-Klausners: He has an Idea and he goes threw with it. He has good preserverence. 

Rate: 3.5/5.0

January 13th 2015

The Hitchhiker 

The narrator is driving a BMW that's brand new then he sees hitchhiker and decides to pick him up.The hitchhiker said that he is going for Derby Day in Epsom. The narrator starts asking questions which reminds the hitchhiker about when he used to get annoyed when he started hitchhiking, when the drivers would ask him too many questions. The hitchhiker asks the narrator what the top speed is in his car. The narrator says 129mph. The hitchhiker thinks he is kidding and decides to challenge him. The narrator gets pulled over and the cop tells him he's in serious trouble. After pulling away the driver asks the hitchhiker why he lied about where he worked and comes to the conclusion that he is a pickpocket. But he prefers to call it a finger pocket. They pull over to the side of the road and read the police mans stolen diaries so no one cause trace it back to them. 

 

Plot twist: We find out that the hitchhiker is really a pickpocket. 

Narrator: A trusting man. Insistent and impulsive. Always asking questions 

Hitchhiker: Manipulative. Lies to get his way. 

Rate: 3.0/5.0