reviews

The reviewer of watchmen strongly disliked the film.  He thought teh movie was to lengthy and dragged on way to long.  He thought there were far to many characters which made it impossible to focus on one main story line.  The reviewr thought that the movie lacked a strong story line.  lastly its fair to say the reviewer was left dissatisfied with the book.

The reviewer of syriana thought it was "endlessly facsinating". They explained how it was about texas oil men in kazacstan. the author of the article really liked the movie.  He thought the acting was superb. The review made me want to see the movie.


The Scary Harry movie review was great!  The author descibed how the second harry potter movie took a darker turn than its predisessor. The author also descibes how the director of the second movie used more imagination in his second book which makes it more fun to watch. But the author also says that the movie can be sluggish at times but ultimatly a "must-see".

On Turning Ten

I think Collins is saying that as we grow older, (in his case he was ten) we realize that we must leave our make believe world and enter the real world where we no longer can be what we want like a prnce or wizard but must make do with the mundane of ordinary life. Collins does a good job of capturing the melancoly he felt as he became ten, he knew that his childhood was ending and that he would soon have to grow up and face the trials of adolesence. i think what makes this poem so effective at capturing his feeling is the stanza:

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.

this shows how in childhood he was never faced with any real challenges in his life, because those were aken care of for him by his parents, but now he expierencing the world for himself and realizes that when he stumbles in life he feels the repercussions.

This poem doesnt match what i felt when i became 10. I was excited to finally have two digits under my belt and felt more ready than ever to take on the world with my decade of expierence. i never felt bad about leaving my childhood behind because i never thought about leaving it behind, i never considered that growing up meant leaving parts of your past behind, especially your childhood. I realize that you do lose your innocence as you grow up but i don't think that is what collins is touching on. he seems to be pretty upset with growing up, but since i didn't share his view when i was ten i can't sympathize with him.

Definitions

Beauty- The author of this article talked mostly about the cosmetic company Dove. They spoke of doves beaty campange about how beauty can be found in everyone, how dove has incorporated "regular" women into their advertisments and so on. I feel like what dove is doing is good; to promote the message that beauty is not the perfect bone structure or flawless skin, but at teh same time i am puzzled by this, Dove is the same company that owns AXE bodyspray and hair gel. If they really meant what they were saying wouldn't you think they would change all of their products? I guess AXE is marketed to men rather than woman but it still shows that Dove is in this for the marketing/advertising publicity rather than a real message.

Denial- The author of this article spoke of how negative denial is, how denial can be evil and only comes from bad things. How alcoholism is the "disease of denial" and that Denial kills more people every year than any other disease. I think this is a little bit ridiculous, denial is not a disease. It is a mindset,and if it helps people cope with their reality, i say let them deny whatever it is that they are hiding from until they are ready to face it. I'm not saying denial is a good thing, i'm just saying don't put so many negative feelings with word. Its obvious if someone is denying reality they are either misinformed or afraid of the truth, theses people need to be helped not ridiculed.

Evil- This author defined evil as an everyday occurance, that evil is a sickness that infects people and stays around if you let it. Evil is everything against good intentions and all it seeks is destruction. I felt the author did a great job of defineing evil in present times as well as giving its meaning to Judeo-Christian thinkers as well.

Being a Yankee

1) In the essay "What is a Yankee?" the author presented the idea that a Yankee is a reserved saint. They are friendly and generous to a fault but they will only help or assist you if asked to. They do this becasue they don't the person they are helping to feel "beholden" to them, or feel like they owe them something for their services. I had never thought of what it meant to be a yankee and this idea was refreshing, its good to know their are still Yankees out their but sad to know that they are a dying breed.

Ideas i could use from this could be: "what is the southern rebel" "what does it mean to be generous" "what is it to be christian"

2) Yes all the allusions refer to the "Yankee" the musical 'damn yankees' refers to how the south hates the north for being yankees. The bible parable refers to the yankees demenour; how they are eager to help anyone with unyielding friendlyness and genorosity. The robert frost poem shows how the yankee won't cros a lline until asked to do so.

if you didn't understand the allusions, you probably didn't read teh essay.

3) The author develops his essay with what the world thinks a yankee is, then he tells a story of someone who he believes is a true yankee then he himself tells you what he thinks a yankee is and backs it up with references to mark twain, the bible and robert frost. I do think the writer put time and effort towards writing this essay it was well written and thought provoking.

A modest proposal

1. I think that Jonathan Swifts thesis is that since the english already treat the irish so poorly that they might as well eat the irish babies to give the irish some money so they wont be so impoverished. I think that is the only thesis.

2. paragraph 4

As to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years upon this important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of other projectors, I have always found them grossly mistaken in the computation. It is true, a child just dropped from its dam may be supported by her milk for a solar year, with little other nourishment; at most not above the value of 2s., which the mother may certainly get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a manner as instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands.

 

paragraph 6

The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty thousand couples who are able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the kingdom; but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. There only remains one hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born. The question therefore is, how this number shall be reared and provided for, which, as I have already said, under the present situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we neither build houses (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land: they can very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing, till they arrive at six years old, except where they are of towardly parts, although I confess they learn the rudiments much earlier, during which time, they can however be properly looked upon only as probationers, as I have been informed by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to me that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of six, even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest proficiency in that art.

 

paragraph 7

I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or a girl before twelve years old is no salable commodity; and even when they come to this age they will not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half-a-crown at most on the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times that value.

 

3.  With the title as A Modest Proposal i think readers would know that the author is being ironic at paragaph 9 when the author starts talking about eating kids. That is anything but modest.

 

4. I think Swift's main target are the British for treating the Irish so poorly but  i also think he feels the Irish have not tried their hardest to better themselves because he says that that the irish womans main occupation is begging and the boys become theives. it is clear that Swift doesn't think to highly of the Irish

 

5. I think the essay is more than a satiracle attack, Swift is making the point that the Irish need to get themselves together and they cant do that with the way things are in Ireland at the time.

 

6. In the last paragraph Swift says that he is not serious, but he calls the proposal a "nessacary work" and confesses that he has no children to donate to the cause because his youngest is nine and his wife is past child bearing. i think he is joking in his last paragraph, he leaves readers wondering if he is serious or not.

 

7. I can't spot any other techniques. I have worked in labor jobs before. I never rebelled. I think that anger and frustration play key roles in rebellion. If people are unhappy with the way they are being treated i think its their duty to speak up for their rights.

 

8. It could be done if you sold the meat labeled as La BaeBei no one could resist it.

who wouldn't want a wife?

1. i think the thesis is implied, the author is trying to say how rediculous is that the wife is supposed to do all of the work around the house, assume the responsibility of raising the children and tending to her husbands every need, and if her husband isn't satisfied or he meets someone he likes more he can dump his wife off witht the kids and move on.

2. By using the repitetion the author objectifies "the wife". Treating the word like a commodity rather than a person.

3.Im sure some people would want that kind of spouse, but i dont think Brady does. Im sre this type of spouse exists somewhere in a sad house hold ran by a lazy, selfish man who cares for nothing other than himself. I think Brady wrote this essay to show how gender roles in a marital setting can be a bad thing if taken to the extreme, like they were in this essay. I also think she dislikes the way women are viewed as objects to cook, clean and raise the children while the male goes to school and hangs out with friends.

4.She defines wife as the mans maid, she organizes the wifes responsibilities as follows; to tend to his every need, she first says the wife must take care of a mans physical needs, followed by raising their children, then she must entertain his guests, tend to his sexual desires and finally give up her job to raise the children while the man joins the work force. I do not like Bradys cahraterication of the wife, i think she wants her readers to have a negative feeling after reading this.

5.dear brady,
In response to you "i want a wife" essay. I think you did a wonderful job of portraying a the proper mistreatment of a wife. In your essay "the wife" is the mans servent and tends to his every need. I believe you are describing what you believe most men would want their wife to be like. I liked how you started the essay describing your ideal wife and what her responsibilies would be. Its a very eye opening essay. You descibe the wifes role in a way i feel most people would never want to be treated, if more people read this hopefully happier marriages will result, and men will take more responsiblilty their marriages.

Satires that i liked

The two satires i enjoyed the most were; The Bear and The Princess and the Tin Box. I liked The Bear because i thought the moral was true that; "To fall on your face is the same as to lean to far backward." I thought that it was funny that the things the bear did when he was sober, were the same as when he was drunk. The next one I enjoyed The Princess and the Tin Box the moral was funny and that i was fooled by the story. i thoguht for sure that thr princess would choose the poor prince because he was described as the best of teh suitors butin the end all the princess wanted was another thing to hold more of her things.