Final Reflections on College Lit.

Overall college lit was a great class. It was a lot of reading some nights, but that was just part of preparing us for the college level literature classes. My favorite book that we read would have to be my choice book I am the Messenger. This book had a lot of action, was interesting to read, and had a very clear moral of the story. The Catcher in the Rye would have to be my favorite required book. I liked this book because Holden as a character was interesting, the motifs were easy to pick up on, and it was very open-ended and could be interpreted in many different ways. I learned the most from the book Persepolis. Before reading Persepolis I knew very little about Iran, but know I feel much more knowledgeable about their culture and history. In the end this class was very worth while, fun, and interesting.

Persepolis-- The Movie

As many of you know, Persepolis was made into a movie. I think this is a very cool idea because Marjane Satrapi has lived a very interesting life and people will learn a lot about Iranian culture by watching it. Here is the trailer for the movie Persepolis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PXHeKuBzPY

After watching the trailer I was surprised how they kept the characters animated. I thought that they would have hired big name actors and put in tons of explosions and special effects, but they kept it in the same format as the book. I like how they did this after reading the book, but if I hadn't read the book I would prefer real actors. This movie looks pretty good and I will have to watch it sometime.

Persepolis

Persepolis is very different from any book I've read before. It is a graphic novel, about Islamic history, and it is an autobiography. I really have no experience with comics except I have read a few from the paper. Before I started the book I thought the pictures would just slow me down but now I realize that they really add to the book. Also I had very little knowledge of the Islamic revolution so I feel like I am learning something by reading this book. I think that it is very cool that the author wrote an autobiography in the form of a graphic novel. The pictures help with the humor and the emotions that she was feeling at the time.

Choice Book

For my choice book I read I am the Messenger. This book turned out to be one of my all time favorite books. For those of you that haven't read the book here is a little preview of what it is about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gyw0TUsRaE
(There wasn't actually a movie made about, but I think it would make a cool movie)

I liked this book because of the moral of the story. In the end the author wanted us to help other people and accomplish something with our lives. Helping people will make us feel good and give us a sense of accomplishment.

Jane Eyre Final Reflections

1. If I were in Jane's shoes I would also leave Mr. Rochester. Even though she did love him, has no money at all, and really has no where to go, I would still leave him. I would leave him because he did not tell her that he was married for the year that they were together and I would find it hard to trust him again. Also being married to another woman is kind of a big deal, even if she is insane.

2. In the end, I thought this book was just alright. I didn't hate it, like many of my friends did, but it was also pretty hard for me to read. The part that I really did not like about Jane Eyre is how in depth she goes with each description. It really slowed down the reading and made it pretty boring for me. The aspect of the book that I did like was the suspense. When I first started reading the book I would have never guessed that she would fall in love with a rich man that already has an insane wife.

3.I think that this book should be taught in college lit because it will prepare us for college. I didn't particularly like the book, but it wasn't that bad and it gives us the college experience in high school.

I agree with Sydney Cook's argument. She gave a lot of great examples that supported her argument enough to get my approval. I like how she told us about the superficial rites of passage in other places and then how we in America do not hold the same spiritual, ceremonial, and life changing values that those of other cultures have. I also agree with her view of the three main secular rites of passage-- turning 16, turning 18, and turning 21. Rites of passages need to be about more than money, booze, and cars.

One of the main rites of passages I have gone through is getting my drivers license. This is a positive rite of passage because it is kind of like I am one step closer to becoming an adult. After I got my drivers license I had a lot more freedom and responsibility.

My Favorite Part of Jane Eyre so far

My favorite part of Jane Eyre so far is the scene where the fire is started in Mr. Rochester's room. Here is the scene from the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS5SLdPiDUg. This is my favorite part because it leaves so many unanswered questions. Who started the fire? Was it Grace Pool? Why didn't  Mr. Rochester wake up? Why didn't Mr. Rochester fire Grace Pool? and why did he leave so suddenly the next morning? All of these questions make me want to read further into the book, unlike some of the other scenes where all Jane does is describe a room or the weather. I am excited to find out some of the answeres to these questions later on in the book.