Love Poem

It love the Love Poem by John Frederick Nims. I think that it is nice that he wrote about love in the real life. Love isn't always roses and chocolates! But you have to look past your partners flaws and see their effort when they are trying. Nims describes a woman who he truly loves despite her clumsiness. It's not like the woman is trying to be clumsy on purpose, she is trying to be the best partner she can be. And I love how he does see her effort. In the end she states that when her hand drops white and empty (when she dies) all the toys of the world would break (toys meaning all their adventures and love for each other). I think that this means that their love is unreplacable and one of a kind. Over it was a very good, happy little poem.

Love

I think that love is a huge part of life. Just about every movie has to have some sort of romantic part, even if it's on the sideline of the main story. Most people, if not everyone, dreams of finding love and sharing if with that special someone. A lot of authors write about love too. I think they write about it because it's a common fantasy that people feel that they must have. I think that once love is found, the couple must work hard to maintain that love or it can fall apart. In the Hills Like White Elephants, this concept is shown very well. These two people who are in love have a trial before them and must figure out how to handle it properly. The man would like her to get the operation so that their love could go back to the way it used to be and they could be happy again. The woman is hesitant to make the decision, what if their love wasn't ever going to be the same and they didn't end up happy after the operation? Like I said, love is something you must work at in order to maintain it. It's not always happily every after forever, things happen and people change.

Why Is Hamlet A Tragedy?

I don't really like any of Shakespeare's writing and would consider all of his writings real tragedies... However, I don't think that is the kind of answer you are looking for. When I read Hamlet I simply hated the main character. He is very slow in making every major decision. Every action that he does is delayed. Clear up until the end, Hamlet doesn't know for sure if killing his uncle for revenge would be morally justified. Can I please say SLOW!!!! I mean 'come on and just make a decision already. Of course all of his actions would have a great consequence on the kingdom which could in fact end badly. So I guess I can kind of understand why the decision processes is a little backed up, but as a reader it can get kinda boring. And then at the end of the play, it's not even clear to me if everyone got their proper justice. What a sad story indeed, I guess that is why people call it a tragedy.

Overall The Double

To be honest, I didn't get this book. In fact, I very much disliked it (and I don't dislike many books). I didn't like any of the characters in the story. Many of them seemed rude to each other, but then again maybe it is the style of the writing or something. If I got anything from this story it would be to be careful who I trust. For example, when the main character let his "double" spend the night, a red flag should have gone up. I would NEVER let a total stranger stay in my house over night, no matter how much they looked like me. I couldn't really understand the story and why the characters did what they did, I just didn't get the story at all. So yeah, I don't think I will be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon.

Opinion of Mr. Goliadkin

To be honest I feel sorry for the man. It seems like everyone is always picking on him and making fun of him. I know that he is a man that is "high up" in his class, but it seems as though no one in the story respects him. His servant back talks him and so do many of the people in his town. I don't know if this is the way to the book was written, but to me when I read the dialog for Mr. Goliadkin it seems as though he can't say what is on his mind. As if he was like beating around the bush, and wont just come out and say it. I find it very difficult to enjoy to enjoy this story when the main character take's one whole page trying to say something that could be said in just one paragraph. So as much as I dislike this story and the writing, I do feel sorry for Mr. Goliadkin because everyone in the book seems mean to him.

Connection Between Sleeping and Dying

I think that there is a huge connection between the two states of sleeping and dying. I believe that dying isn't some painful thing that I need to dread. Dying should just be something that happens. I don't really think about sleeping, and dying is just a much deeper state of sleep, so why should there be any difference with the way I think about them? When the time comes for death, nothing will stop it and people just need to accept that fact. Just like when your tired, you embrace the fact that you need to sleep. There is not much difference. These poems help show that dying is a part of life. Everyone lives, and everyone dies.

Win or Lose?

May I first say... dumb ending. Really really dumb. It was is if the book was published before they noticed that they had lost the last few pages of the story. But I guess that's what makes it a "thinking" book, so here is what I think... the town won. (I should shoot for the positive, right?) I am lead to believe that the Nazi's killed the Mayor and the Doctor which made the whole town even more upset. I would be upset too if both my faithful leader and and the man who brought be into the world, was killed by some invaders who I very much disliked from the beginning. In fact, it seemed as though the invaders had lost the war long before the ending. Mentally they were defeated. Their mind-set was all scrambled and unfocused, which to me means that the town had a small success by putting a dent in their invaders. Even if the town was blown up into shreds, the townspeople never lost hope and never gave up, so they are the real winners.

Invaded Town?

If you ask anyone what they would do if someone tried to rape them, most everyone would answer "fight back!" But would they really? Really? I know that I wouldn't. I would get upset and angry, but I don't think that I would have the guts to fight back. But before you really decide you must weigh out the options... if you decided to fight back then you will get hurt and mostly the man (or woman) will pull a weapon on you and you will be dead. No more to that side of the story, your dead, it's the end. However, if you silently fight back by taking in detail of the event and the attacker then you can use the information later to fully fight back against the attacker with help from other such as cops. That is the same thing as an invaded town. If you fight back, you will get hurt. To some, fighting back is just the way to handle the situation, like how Alex killed a soldier yet said that if he had the chance he would do it again. I am not like that a lot. I am more of a "silent but deadly" person. The town as a whole isn't physically fighting back, but mentally and emotionally they are. Their work is getting done, but it's getting done on the communities time frame, not the invaders. I think that by doing this, the town is "waiting" the soldiers out, and I think that it will become more effective then starting a little war within the town.

Life Stuggles

We all have struggles in our life. We can relate to each others struggles and help lift others up. When I started reading The Story Of An Hour by Kate Chopin I was shocked and upset with all the story that a poor lady had to hear from friends and family her husband died in a train accident. Then as I read on, Chopin describes how happy the woman is overcome with great joy because she is now free. She became free to live her life the way she wanted to, and not have anyone there to oppress her. I connect with this character because a lot of times I feel that I have to do thing to make others happy. This story was real to me. I enjoy reading stories that are realistic and happen in people's every day life. While reading a book about a weirdo girl who is in love with a vampire and a werewolf is considered a form of entertainment, it's not realistic. I believe that when an author writes about struggles that happen everyday, it helps the reader gain a strong connection to the characters and brings out emotions in the reader.

What You Pawn I Will Redeem

In the short story called What You Pawn I Will Redeem written by Sherman Alexie, I find the overall story to counteract the principle of boundaries. It's funny because in the end, the pawnshop man gives Jackson back his grandmothers regalia after 24 hours of "hard work". I find nothing hard in the act of asking for money and spending all of it at 7-Eleven, McDonald's, a bar, or even a cheep breakfast diner. However, I will say that Jackson's people skills are very impressive. The way that he can talk to other and convince them to give him money or buy him a drink or give him the regalia for free is truly mind-boggling. All of the characters in the story do something to help Jackson get this grandmothers regalia back. Even the cop gave as much as he could in order to help Jackson. It's as though they were all one big family and had each others backs.  The ending was pretty disappointing. I couldn't believe that the pawnshop man gave Jackson the regalia for free. Even though Jackson did tell the man that the $5 bill was in fact a different $5 bill then before, and it did show that Jackson made progress, it was a progress with very little effort. I understand that what the pawnbroker did was kind, but I felt like he should have held his boundaries with Jackson and not given him the regalia because in the end Jackson did not earn it.