The Road :: Journal 2

Pages 94 - 118.
Questions:

- Why is the boy starting to question his father so much?
- Are they tracking where they are going?

Parallel:

- During this passage one sentence caught my eye. The father and son were awoken by a loud sound. The boy asked what it was and the father said, "It's the trees. They're falling down"(97). This paralleled to a very good quote that the father said on page 35, "It's just a tree falling, he said. It's okay. The boy was looking at the dead roadside trees. It's okay, the man said. All the trees in the world are going to fall sooner or later. But not on us". He is trying to let the boy know that everything will be alright. I also interpret it that since they have faith, then they're faith gives them favor and protection.

Contrast:

- The dialogue on page 100-101 contrasts conversations that the son and father have had before. Instead of the father covering up the truth, he and his son are being very truthful and direct to each other. His father has no problem saying to his son that he has lied to him. I think it is the fact that they have to survive, so they want to know what could happen. The father is trying to protect the son but also let him face reality.

Pages 119-135.
Questions:

- Why does the boy still want that little boy to be with him? As a companion?
- Do we know if there were people buried in the yard in front of the house?

Parallel:

- On page 129, while the father and son are talking. The son says "Because, we're the good guys... And we're carrying the fire." I thought this paralleled with the symbol of fire in this book again. I think they are trying to say the fire is their faith and religion. With their faith they can keep going and by their faith they are the good guys. Even though the father had just dropped the lighter, they still have their flame.

Contrast:

- On page 130 McCarthy says, "He sat awake for fear the dream would return". This dream is actually old memories and once again this is a contrast of past and present. He doesn't want to fall asleep because he will dream of when the world was a better place, and he doesn't want to have to wake up to reality. He feels as thought this abandoned world is just one big nightmare.

Pages 136-160.
Questions:

- Does the crow symbolize anything?
- Are they wearing doctor masks?

Parallel:

- In this book the father has always cared for his son, but his affection has grown towards him even more on this journey it seems. On page 149 he "kissed the boy and crawled into bed". The only other time that McCarthy had shown him doing this was on page 137. It was right when they found this cellar of goods. I think he is really trying to get the readers even more emotionally involved and show the compassion and care the father has for his son.

Contrast:

- In this passage the father and his son come upon a cellar that is full of food and water and everything they would need for survival. As they are listing off the foods, McCarthy says, "The richness of a vanished world"(139). He is saying this because there is almost no food that is still around to eat. This comes from before the apocalypse happened and it is now in the new world. They get to reminisce on the world at this time. The boy is so baffled he says, "is this real?" as if it were a dream.

Pages 161-184.
Questions:

- What does Ely mean by "There is no God and we are his prophets"?

Parallel:

- I notice on page 172 that the father once again responds with "I'm not anything." When asked what he is. This parallels with page 64, when the traveler that they shot asks if he is a doctor and the father responds with "I'm not anything."

Contrast:

- On page 170, after meeting the old man Ely. They start talking and the old man says, "there is no God". This is the first time we ever have a counter argument to the faith that the son and father have. It is the only thing that has been keeping them going. The idea that something better is going to come. This man also says that "we are his prophets" which kind of confused me. How could there be no God, but prophets?

Pages 185-210.
Questions:

- Why does the boy want to take the old man with them?

Parallel:

- On page 187, its says "his dreams brightened". This is referring to the father's dreams. Meaning they came back. On page 18, the whole page was about his dreams and how he constantly had dreams of fantasy worlds. Now his dreams are back.

Contrast:

- On page 192-193, the dialogue between the boy and the father is very different than what it has been the entire book. They are talking to each other like true travelers. In this part of the book they are in danger and looking for higher ground. The son is the one who noticed the people following him. His experience on this road is paying off.

Pages 211-230.
Questions:

- Why does the boy start crying when he gets out of the water?

Parallel:

- Throughout the whole book I notice the constant usage of the word hiss. On page 219 it is used for when the water hits the shore. In previous passages it was when the fire was lit or when the cold wood and the fire reacted. Also the father was described as hissing at the boy. It is very interesting and seems like it is has constantly being used in this book.

Contrast:

- On page 215 the father and son finally get to see the ocean and to their disappointment its not blue. They boy is the most disappointed because his father has told him stories of how blue the waters are. The father is also sad that the boy will never get to see a blue ocean like it once was in the old world. Now it is black.

Pages 231-259.
Questions:

- Why does the father wake up in the middle of the night with the boy and they both just say "yes"?

Parallel:

- In this passage the boy keeps saying "you won't go away." and the father responds with "I won't go away"(247). The same thing happens on page 246. The boy is scared his dad is going to die and he doesn't want him to "go away" and the father tries to reassure him and let him know everything is going to be okay.

Contrast:

- On page 241, the boy says that there is nobody to signal to. Meaning that if they use the flare gun that no matter what nobody will see it. He isn't being his optimistic self like usual, and it shows how he has changed through the beginning to the end of this novel.

The Road :: Journal 1

Pages 5-15.
Questions:

- Why does McCarthy compound so many words together? He uses words like "slutlamp, oilbottles, cashregister". It just doesn't seem needed to me.

- On page 10-11 the boy repeatedly says the word "okay", is this intentional by the author?

Parallel:

- On many of the pages for example pages 9-11. McCarthy constantly shows how the father and son are wrapped in blankets. "They sat huddled together wrapped each in a blanket..."(9), "Wrapped in the blankets, watching the nameless dark..."(9), "...standing there in the wind, wrapped in the their blankets, watching..."(9), "...wrapped in his blanket he walked out through the trees."(11). He makes it very obvious how the temperature is affecting their journey.

Contrast:

- On pages 12-13, a memory from the past is being told. It is the father's memory. He is at his Uncles lake house and having the "perfect day of his childhood"(13). This memory is from the past and contrasts with the present. It is showing how the present is such a different time since the apocalypse and that he will most likely never have another memory like that again. His memories of the old world are keeping him going on this long road.

Pages 16-31.
Questions:

- Why does the passage say "Gray as his heart"(27)?
- Did the father intentionally try to find his house?

Parallel:

- On pages 25-28, the son constantly repeats himself during their journey through old stores, houses and an earthquake. He keeps saying how scared he is. "I'm scared. Don't you want to see where I used to live? No."(25), "We should go, Papa. Can we go? Yes. We can go. I'm scared"(27). "I'm so scared. I know it's all right. It's gone"(28). This really shows us how young the son is and how inexperienced/innocent he is. It makes the reader feel sympathy for him.

Contrast:

- A part in this passage that really surprised me was when they were searching through an abandoned supermarket. They found a can of soda and it happened to be a Coca-Cola. The boy said "What is it?"(23). It really shows how the boy has only known this new world that he is growing up in. He doesn't know anything about the old world except for what his dad has told him. The contrast between the father and the son in this scene is very interesting. They both have grown up entirely different.

Pages 32- 53.
Questions:

- Are there ever going to be descriptions of color in this book?
- Is water a big symbol in this book? It seems as if it could be.

Parallel:

- On page 47, when the father is searching a trailer he comes along human bodies that have been burned. They are dead. "Sprawled in every attitude. Dried and shrunken in their rotted clothes." This passage to me parallels the apocalypse. The burned bodies resemble the burned areas that father and son are surrounded by. This shows the effects of the apocalypse and how lucky they are to be alive.

Contrast:

- Yet again we find in this book another contrast between the father and the boys lives and also past and present. On page 43, the father and son are looking at a map the father points out that the black lines are the state lines. Then they boys asks, "Why are they the state roads?" "Because they used to belong to the states. What used to be called the states." "But there's not anymore states?" "No". This really shows how the boy had no idea that there was an entire country called the United States. He never experienced being in a state or crossing over into other states when they were still around. From this passage it also let's us now that they are in America.

Pages 54-72.
Questions:

- How did the wife kill herself? With a gun?
- Will we ever figure out how the father and son survived the apocalypse?

Parallel:

- On page 67, after the father and son had ran away from the site where they had just killed the traveler. McCarthy describes the boy as "...so frail and thin through his coat, shivering like a dog". This passage parallels when they were swimming in the lake on page 38. "Ghostly pale and shivering. The boy so thin it stopped his heart". This really shows how malnourished the boy is and how prone to getting sick he is. Hence why the father constantly gives him as much food as he can. The boy is very fragile and the dad has to protect him.

Contrast:

- During this passage we notice that the fathers attitude/tone towards the boy changes after he killed the traveler. "Stop it. I want you to do what I say. Take the gun" "I don't want the gun." "I didn't ask if you wanted it. Take it."(70). He is very direct with his son and isn't treating him like he was before. I think this really shows how serious their situation has gotten.

Pages 73-93.
Questions:

- Was the boy that the son saw a real person? Or was he just hallucinating?
- How do we know that the people were "bad guys"? What leads the father to believe that?

Parallel:

- In this passage there is a repetition of the flame/fire. The constantly have enough wood to build a fire or have a flame lit. It's really not only in this passage, but the entire book. I think it is representing their journey and survival. On page 74 it says, "He blew the flames to life and piled the wood..."

Contrast:

- On page 77, the father carves his son a flute. The boy starts to play and in the passage it says, "A formless music for the age to come. Or perhaps the last music on earth called up from out of the ashes of its ruin". This is another contrast of past and present. Is this the only music that is in the new world? What happened to the old world music? Will there ever be music again? The world without music would just fall apart and be a bleak and cold world. Almost like the world they are living in now.

Still Shot Analysis :: L.A. Confidential/Double Indemnity

In both still shots, the camera is shooting from a medium long shot. As you can see, both shots also have this whole triangle thing going on. Two characters at the same height and one at a lower level. In both, the character on the left has the most power. In Double Indemnity, Keys has a very good idea of how Phyllis's husband died and he is bringing in people to help get closer to the murderer. In L.A. Confidential, Bud is on a steep hill that makes him taller than Edmund. Bud is also stronger and in this scene they start brawling, clearly Bud would overpower Edmund. Each still shot is really a statement of power.

Stitches :: Dream :: Who Am I? (Identity)

Contrast:

- David has finally come out of the dark pages of his life and can enjoy the white pages. Hence why the last chapter has a white background and all the others before had a black background.

Question:

- Is the house a metaphor for David's own self?

Journal: In Stitches, David has never really had an identity from what I can see. His parents have always told him what to do, how to act, and what to say. He has never been able to express himself. The surgery only made it worse, because after it he couldn't talk which didn't help his cause of finding his identity. As an act of trying to find who he is, he draws. It is his only thing that he can do that no one can really control. In the last few pages David has a dream where his mother is wanting him to follow her into the building with his grandmother. He decides not to. This is David's way of breaking away from what his parents want, and doing what he wants. 

Stitches :: I Was Fifteen :: Fate Vs. Free Will

Parallel:

- On page 308, David has to visit his mother in the hospital, because she is very ill. He starts to roam the hospital. He goes to where he saw the baby floating in the glass. This is paralleling page 39 when he was six and lost in the hospital halls. 

Question:

- Does David's mother regret how she treated him?

Journal: 

- "Geography is destiny"

I think after everything that's happened, David chose his identity. He chose to run away and become a struggling artist. He chose to do what he wanted to do. He didn't let the fact that he had cancer, and now no vocal cords affect him. He dealt with what he was given and made the best of it. 

Stitches :: 3 1/2 Years After The First Diagnosis :: Images

Parallel:

- On page 181 David is under anesthesia and is in a dream state. During his dream he says "ACK?". On the next couple pages, page 184. His right vocal cord had been taken out and all he could do was say "ACK?". This time the page was just zoomed in on his mouth. 

Question:

- Why does David's mother have so much hatred towards him?

Journal:

- On page 167, David had just woke from surgery. His family had come into his room. In the frames I notice how in the foreground, David's dad is the only one looking him in the eye and talking. It seems very odd cause he is so enthusiastic and sympathetic, and he is usually never like that. In the background his mother and brother are keeping distance and trying to look him in the eye. They don't even say one word to him. As we find out later in the chapter, they knew he had cancer. Hence, why they were acting so odd. 

Stitches :: I Was Eleven :: "Words, words, words..."

Contrast:

- In this chapter a growth is found on David's neck. His mother repeatedly says that they don't enough money and that it cost too much through out the whole chapter. His dad gets a raise and instead of using it for the surgery on the growth, his mom and dad go out shopping every weekend for a while. They could care less about David's growth.

Question:

- Will David's parents realize that they are spending too much and not paying attention to David?

Journal: 

- From pages 138 - 147, the use of words in each of the frames is non-existent. In this book David feels as though a lot of the images really explain themselves. We as a reader don't need dialogue or narration on every page. Also, he wants us to think about if there was dialogue, what would we think it says. I think his choice to do this so far in the book, has really been effective. He encourages the reader to be more visual.

Stitches :: I Was Six :: Frames

Parallels:

- On page 87, David is helping his grandma make his bed. In a single frame there is a picture of Jesus on the cross. David asks his Grandma what it means. It looks as though it is looking at David in the scene.

- On page 104, after David's grandma scolded his hands with water for not eating. He goes to his bed. In the dark room he notices the cross above his bed again and Jesus is looking right at him. They give this scene one whole frame on the page. In his imagination, he is being judged.

Question:

- Why are David's parents splitting up and taking one child each?

Journal:

- On page 96, David had just had his hands scolded by his grandmother. There are only three frames on the page. One big one on the top that takes up half the page and two others side by side right under the top frame. In the top frame, David is sitting alone in the bathroom curled up and crying. It is the biggest frame because it shows him at his most vulnerable and fragile state. The two bottom ones aren't as big because he is just reflecting on what had just happened. Frames in this book vary page to page. Some pages have a whole row of small frames and some have just one big frame. The author organizes it like this to really bring out the important parts of the story.

Minority Report Still Image #19 - Analyzation

In this scene of Minority Report, John Anderton and Agatha had just escaped from the clutches of the D.C. police. Hidden under the mono-colored and dull umbrellas, the pre-crime police could not successfully capture John. We see from this still picture that the camera angle is a high angled shot. The two men are looking down over the crowd below, but it is not from their point of view. It is really more of the director's or 3rd person's view. The dull colors of gray, black and blue really make this scene very gloomy and bland. This scene is really trying to convey how everybody in 2054 has no expression of themselves and dress in plain colors. Civil liberties seem to have been taken away with the creation of pre-crime. There is no privacy left in the Washington D.C. area. The only thing keeping John Anderton hidden from the government is an umbrella.

Oedipus The King Summer Reading

To what extent is Oedipus responsible for his own fate in the play? Be prepared to discuss at least two examples from the text which lead you to believe he is or is not responsible.

- In the play, Oedipus is mildly responsible for his own fate, because of his pride mostly. He is such a great leader who wouldn’t even consider himself to have killed King Laius. When Tiresias is telling Oedipus that he was the killer, Oedipus denies it and says, “Blind, lost in the night, endless night that nursed you! You can’t hurt me or anyone else who sees the light - you can never touch me”(181). He is saying that he is too good of a person to even have done such a thing. Also Oedipus is also not responsible for his fate because of his predetermined path in life. This was bound to happen because of what the oracle said to his parents, “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see- you will kill your father, the one who gave you life!”(205).

How good a king is Oedipus?  In what ways does he excel as a leader?  In what ways does he fall short?

- Oedipus is a great king who is very smart, confident, and powerful. He excels at being a detective and listener of the people. Some ways he falls short is his over-confidence. When he was accused he was sure that it wasn’t him and was going to arrest anyone who thought it was him.

Since Oedipus is considered the quintessential tragic hero, then what would you argue is his tragic mistake?  In other words, what in his own character/personality or what wrong-headed action does he take which leads him to his ultimate downfall? Choose a particular flaw or action and explain its relation to his disgrace and exile.

- Oedipus tragic mistake was that he had too much pride and confidence therefore making him never think of himself that killed Laius. Instead, he accused everybody else who accused him, so he could point fingers. In his mind there was no way it was him who did it. Anger was also something that led to his downfall. He would get angry quick and jump to conclusions without thinking first about the situation at hand and that got people very irritated.

If we agree that Oedipus the King is about the role of fate and humans’ inability to escape destiny, in what ways does Minority Report, and the character of John Anderton in particular, support or refute Oedipus’ notion of destiny?  Think of two scenes that support your position.

- In Minority Report, it refutes Oedipus notion of destiny. In some scenes it shows John Anderton stopping someones horrible fate from happening. In Oedipus they basically say that you can’t escape your destiny, and in Minority Report they can. Another way they refute it is by altering how someone dies, like when the director kills someone when someone else should have.

The eyes are often associated not just with the act of seeing but also of revealing oneself to others. In the film, explain the different ways that eyes or the act of seeing are used for:  1. The Precogs, 2. John Anderton, 3. The culture of the world of the film.  

- The Precogs use their eyes to see what is about to happen. They can see into the future and see into someone elses future experiences. Like when one of the precogs touched John and told him all about his future.

- John Anderton at one point goes under eye replacing surgery and has to not rely on his eyes for once. For most of the film he had to use his eyes to get into the lab, watch videos of his son and survive. So for a couple hours that all got taken away and he had to try to rely on other things to carry on.

- People use their eyes to see every aspect of a film and absorb information going on in every scene.

The story upon which the movie is based was written in the 1950's.  The movie came out in 2002 but is set in 2054.  How much of the events/the attitudes of the movie do you see in contemporary American culture?  Where will be in 44 years?  Speculate on the direction in which our country is headed.  What future contingencies are we preparing for?  To what extent does our attempt to prepare for certain future events determine our own fate?

- A lot of the technology is already in American culture, and we are such a fast paced moving country that in 44 years I don’t doubt that many of our buildings and cars will look like that. For the future I feel like our main focus will be military and crime.

The Last Ten Movies I Saw

1.) White Squall
2.) Forrest Gump
3.) Olympus Has Fallen
4.) White Men Can't Jump
5.) Pain and Gain
6.) 2 Guns
7.) We're The Millers
8.) Yes Man
9.) Notting Hill
10.) Minority Report

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