Final post EVER!!!!!

I believe that the main theme of the Martian is that the author believes that science can solve any problem. Weir throws many obstacles at his protagonist, Mark Watney, and has the character use his extensive scientific knowledge to solve these. Further evidence before the quotes from the book includes the fact that Weir doesn't coddle the reader with any sort of cushioning. Instead he chooses to throw the reader headfirst into pages of scientific dialogue that are surprisingly understandable.


“Me: “This is obviously a clog. How about I take it apart and check the internal tubing?” NASA: (after five hours of deliberation) “No. You’ll fuck it up and die.” So I took it apart.”

“Once I got home, I sulked for a while. All my brilliant plans foiled by thermodynamics. Damn you, Entropy!”

“I tested the brackets by hitting them with rocks. This kind of sophistication is what we interplanetary scientists are known for.”

Mark Watney vs. A Planet

In The Martian, the protagonist is Mark Watney. He is an astronaut, the last-in-command of the third mission to Mars. He is stranded when an evacuation is called prior to a massive storm that separates him from his group and maroons him alone on the red planet. He is resourceful, strong, resilient, stubborn, and above all a massive smart-aleck. Physically, he is lean and without much fat while also managing to be one of the smallest astronauts on the mission. I believe that the antagonist of the book is Mars itself. While it does not consciously do so, it throws challenges at Watney that he must overcome and generally builds itself to be a good antagonist.

Free Write!

I believe that 1984 is a better book read for fun than for school. It's a wonderful book, well-written and thought-provoking, but I feel like the thoughts being provoked are better discussed on our own time. Don't get me wrong, we had some great discussions, but I feel like we could have expanded even further without the boundaries of the class holding us back. That being said, I would have done this book as my free read for the final book of the semester. It's a structured time but not too structured, just right for the book. We would have the rush to finish the book, but we would still be able to comfortably understand it and have our minds boggled. All in all I loved it.

What is the main message that you think that George Orwell is trying to communicate to you through 1984? Provide three quotes from the book to support your claim, and explain HOW those quotes support your claim.


The message I believe 1984 is trying to convey is a warning against totalitarianism. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” This quote is a perfect illustration of how, in the future, a government might take total control of the human race all the way down to their minds and the ways they think and perceive reality. “Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” If the Party suppresses conscious thought then their charges will be devoid of responsibility and free thought and they will have no control of their lives. “Big Brother is Watching You.” Big Brother and the Party are the very epitomes of totalitarianism, controlling all aspects of the lives of those in Airstrip One and keeping them from ever waking up.

The three classes

In Part 2, Julia and Winston received "the book" from The Brotherhood. Chapter 1, "Ignorance is Strength," analyzes this party slogan. Choose one part of the analysis (pp. 201 - 217) and see if you can apply it to a current event or issue. 

"There are three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low." This paragraph goes on to describe how the High class is basically the 1% in today's society, commanding the majority of the world's wealth. The middle get by, having maybe just the slightest bit of money to spend on leisure. The low are those living below the poverty line, those that cannot sufficiently provide for themselves or their families. This book in 1984 has effectively described the economic state of most of the first world countries in the modern world. It shows how the three classes in the world never really change, even in an author's envisioning of a dystopian future. Some things never change. 

Slogans

Take one of the slogans of The Party and analyze its meaning (WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH). What is The Party trying to get the people to believe?

I think that the slogan IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH serves several purposes. One of them, first and foremost is to serve as some part of the massive brainwashing undertaking that the party uses. Another meaning could be that as long as you believe that no threats exist, you are the strongest thing you know. It could also be meant as a confusion and since the people are too brainwashed and dumb to ask what it means no one will ask any questions. Maybe, all in all, the party is trying to protect these people in its own twisted way. They're like a bunch of smothering parents with a streak for crushing freedom.

Comedy vs Tragedy

Explain why the ending of the play proves that it is a comedy, and give specific examples from the play. What would have had to happen instead were this play a tragedy?

The ending of Much Ado About Nothing proves without a doubt that the play is a comedy. Why? Benedick and Beatrice end up together and so do Claudio and Hero. No one dies and all of the loose ends are tied up such as don John and his accomplices being caught. Plus, the story ends in a big party. Now if the play was to be a tragedy it would have ended with some or all of characters dying. No one would end up together and it would be very sad. 

Love as a theme in MAAD

What do you think that the theme of the play is? Remember, a theme is not just a word, it is a whole sentence that conveys the message that the author (Shakespeare) is trying to get across to the audience (you). Find three quotes from the play to support your assertion.

The theme in Much Ado About Nothing is how love affects the growth of the characters. All of the mains fall in love throughout the course of the story and the change is most evident in Benedick and Beatrice. "I'll tell thee what, prince: a college of witcrackers cannot flout me out of my humor. P. 97." With his humor meaning love, he has changed drastically in his ideology from before when he was swearing up and down that he would never marry. Beatrice also changes in this regard. "I would not deny you; but by this good day, I yield upon great persuasion, and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption. P. 97." She gives up her own livelihood to save Benedick because of her love for him. Claudio is changed immediately when he sees Hero. "In mine eye she is the sweetest lady I ever looked upon. P. 9." He is immediately struck.

Follow the thought

CLAUDIO
In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I
looked on.
BENEDICK
I can see yet without spectacles and I see no such
matter: there's her cousin, an she were not
possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty
as the first of May doth the last of December. But I
hope you have no intent to turn husband, have you?
CLAUDIO
I would scarce trust myself, though I had sworn the
contrary, if Hero would be my wife.
BENEDICK
Is't come to this? In faith, hath not the world
one man but he will wear his cap with suspicion?
Shall I never see a bachelor of three-score again?
Go to, i' faith; an thou wilt needs thrust thy neck
into a yoke, wear the print of it and sigh away
Sundays. Look Don Pedro is returned to seek you.

In this passage, Claudio and Benedick are going back and forth about why Claudio is crazy for loving Hero. Claudio is love-struck and Benedick is in a state of shock at why his friend would love such a plain woman. It seems as if with every word Claudio falls deeper in love with Hero and Benedick only wishes to attempt to awake his friend to his madness.

CLAUDIO
She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.
BENEDICK
I can see without glasses that she's definitely not that. Her cousin may be rude but Hero can't hold a candle to Beatrice. You don't intend to try and marry her, do you?
CLAUDIO
I wouldn't believe my luck if I could be married to Hero.
BENEDICK
Is this really happening? Am I the only man to actually think about what he's doing? Am I going to see any bachelors again? Go ahead, go into servitude under Hero and lose all free will. Here comes Don Pedro to find you.

This week, on Thursday, we learned about imagery. Find an example of imagery in the book, quote it, and explain how it appeals to your senses.

"Ashes, ashes: snow in August. The shelling resumed sporadically after breakfast, and now, around six P.M., has ceased. A machine gun fires somewhere, a sound like a chain of beads passing through fingers. Sergeant Major von Rumpel carries a canteen, a half dozen ampules of morphine, and his field pistol. Over the seawall. Over the causeway towards the huge smoldering bulwark of Saint-Malo. Out in the harbor, the jetty has been shattered in multiple places. A half-submerged fishing boat floats stern up (p. 208)." For starters, the line about machine guns sounding like beads really appeals to my sense of hearing. I can really picture the sound even better because as opposed to likening it to something not everyone has heard, Doerr likens it to a common household sound. It's something I could literally go downstairs and do to immerse myself even more into the book. The entire passage is overlaid with lots of visual imagery as well. Doerr describes von Rumpel and the scenery around him. The little things about the boat and the "snow" in August really help as well.