Final Blog

      Over the entire semester I have read about 1300 pages. Before i took this class I did not consider myself a great reader. The only books that I remember reading were for school. I would have read every once in a while when I had a lot of free time. The books that I would read would just be some quick reads that would keep me wanting to read the entire time, and not a lot of need for comprehension. I would usually read in my room, either laying on my bed or sitting in my chair. I would usually read because my parents would tell me that I had to read so many pages before I could do something. During the semester I picked books that were quick to read, and also at the same time an interesting book to read. I read all of my books through except for one because it was a little bit boring, and it was a lot of boring talking scenes. I picked out books that I had heard were good books, or I picked out the books because I had heard of them before. The book The Jungle I had heard about that book when studying U.S. history. The first book I read Cat and Mouse i picked that book out because my uncle had told me that it was a good book to read. From the start of the semester to the end of the semester I consider myself a better reader, and now I actually do not mind sitting down and reading a good book. 

The Jungle page 301-357

         Both Jurgis and Marija are set free from jail. Jurgis gets set free because he said he just went to the brothel to go and see his sister. While Marija has been set free because the madam of the brothel had paid for her release. Marija also tells Jurgis that she is addicted to morphine, and she also says that many of the prostitutes are addicted to something. Marija gives Jurgis the address where Teta Elzbieta is staying along with the rest of their family. Jurgis spends the day looking for work, but he finds his way into a socialist political meeting. Jurgis believes that this is the party for him because Jurgis feels as if this party represents him. After the speech Jurgis talks to Ostrinski, a socialist that can speak Lithuanian. This man tells Jurgis that the larger economic class the poor and impoverished cannot work together because most of them are ignorant. The socialist also explains how the wage earners only have their labor to sell so that it is harder to find a good wage that most desperate workers would take. The man also says that the socialism system is a "new religion." He also states that socialism is a worldwide movement because one nation will rise up and crush the weaker one. Jurgis then goes to visit Teta Elzbieta and Jurgis informs her about socialism. Jurgis then finds a job at a hotel that pays thirty dollars a month. Jurgis finds out that his boss Tommy Hinds is a well-known speaker for the socialist party. Jurgis takes up spreading socialism with great joy, and he starts reading and learning all about the political and economic systems in America. Jurgis then tries to get Marija to leave prostitution, however she cannot because she is addicted to morphine. The socialists want to create a public ownership of the meatpacking plants so that they can eliminate the inefficiency of production. The socialists were encouraged to keep fighting for the well being of their economic class, they would chant "Chicago will be ours."

            I thought that it was weird how even in this time period there was a strong use of different drugs, like morphine. I also thought that it was a little ironic how Jurgis happened to stumble onto a socialist meeting. Also, Jurgis was going to sleep through the mans speech however, the lady woke him up and he was able to listen to the rest of the speech. Also how Jurgis' boss just happened to be a well renown socialist leader. I also thought that it was unfortunate how Marija could not leave her life as a prostitute because she was addicted to morphine.

The Jungle page 251-300

        Jurgis tries to get change for his one hundred dollar bill, by taking it to a bar. The bartender tells Jurgis that he has to buy a drink first in order to get change. Jurgis buys a  drink for five cents and the bartender gives Jurgis 95 cents in change. Jurgis attacks the bartender because he was cheated, and he was later arrested and sentenced to jail for ten days. After being in jail Jurgis then thinks that it would be a good idea to turn to a life of crime. He and a man named Jack Duane mug a well dressed man, and Jurgis gets 55 dollars from this. However Jurgis worries about what happens to his victims, because the wealthy man lost a finger to frostbite while unconscious. Jurgis then becomes a member of a vote buying group where he helps corrupt politicians in Packingtown. Jurgis helps out the Republican candidate, and Jurgis brings in numerous immigrant workers into the polls. After the Republican gets elected Jurgis earns three hundred dollars. There was a big strike in Packingtown so then Jurgis is urged to become a scab and work while he can at the factories. Jurgis then runs into Phil Connor again and attacks him again, this later leads to Jurgis' arrest. After Jurgis is arrested he pays his bail and then leaves town. Jurgis is now out of  a job and he can't find any work because the strike has just ended in Packingtown. He is out on the streets again begging for money just to spend a night in a warm bed. The Jurgis runs into someone that he had known from the first years he was in Packingtown. This lady gives Jurgis the address that Marija and Teta Elzbieta are working. Soon after arriving their is a police raid on the building and Jurgis discovers the building is a brothel. He talks to Marija about the family just before he gets arrested again.

       I thought that it was a little bit funny how the bartender tried to trick Jurgis out of one hundred dollars by giving him 95 cents in change for a five cent drink. I also think that it is weird how many times Jurgis gets thrown into jail during his stay in the United States. I also think that it is ironic how Jurgis earns a lot of money, thinks that he will keep earning this money so he spends it all on alcohol, and then he loses his job. Jurgis also needs to control his anger, because he had a good job in a meat packing factory when he attacked Phil and then thrown in jail, causing him to lose his job.

The Jungle page 201-250

        Jurgis begins to look for a job in Packingtown, but soon realizes that he has been blacklisted by Phil Connor. Jurgis soon runs into a man that was from his union, this man shows Jurgis to a factory that produces harvesting machines. The foreman at this factory gives Jurgis a job, the working conditions here are much better than his previous jobs. However Jurgis' job and his department have been closed intill further notice. One day Teta Elzbieta's son is in a dump looking for food when a wealthy woman finds him. She then ventures to their boarding house with him, and writes a letter of recommendation for Jurgis at a steel mill. Jurgis gets a job at the steel mill, but it is too far away to travel home everyday. One day when he arrives at the boardinghouse he discovers that his son Antanas has drowned in the mud of the streets. Jurgis filled with grief and emotion from the death of his son, gets onto the nearest traincar and rides it into the country. After leaving the train, Jurgis runs into a farmer that sells him dinner and allows Jurgis to sleep in the barn for the night. Jurgis is offered a job from this farmer but he turns it down because it will not last year long. Jurgis returns to Chicago because of the cold weather, and he gets a job digging underground tunnels. He is confident that he will have this job for a long time, so he spends all of his money on alcohol. Unfortunately Jurgis breaks his arm and has to spend Christmas in the hospital. One night while begging in the streets Jurgis finds a man named Freddie Jones and Freddie invites Jurgis into house for a meal. During their meal Jurgis finds out that Freddie is related to the owner of the factory that Jurgis worked at first.

        Jurgis throughout this entire book experiences good luck and also bad luck. The good luck is that he finds a job at the steel mill and how he runs into Freddie Jones, a very renown man in Packing town. Some of the bad luck is how he was blacklisted inside of Packingtown. Another example of bad luck was how he broke his arm on the job for working for the underground tunnels. The worst of his bad luck was when he realized that his son had just drowned in the mud.

The jungle pg 151-200

     During the next season of winter, the family are working 15-16 hour work days. Ona explains to Jurgis that she does not come home after work because the snow drifts are so bad, that she has to stay with a friend over night. Jurgis does not believe her, so he gets a confession out of her. Ona says that her boss at the factory has been harassing her, and wanting Ona to become his mistress. Ona also said that her boss raped her after everyone had gone home, and she said that he threatened to get everyone in her household out of work. Jurgis then goes into Ona's workplace, and beats up the boss. Jurgis is eventually taken away to the police station and arrested. In Jail he realizes that it is Christmas Eve, and he begins to cry, knowing that his family will be spending Christmas without him. During Jurgis' trial, Phil Connor testifies that Jurgis attacked him out of rage because Phil fired Ona. Jurgis is then sentenced to thirty days in jail. Jurgis then realizes that his entire family has lost their jobs, and the only money they earn is from begging and the children selling papers. After being released from prison, Jurgis discovers a new family living in his home, and comes to learn that his family has been evicted. Jurgis then travels to the boarding house where his family is now living. Once in the boarding house, he hears Ona screaming and discovers she has gone into premature labor. Jurgis goes to find a midwife, to help Ona give birth. After finding one, he then goes to a saloon because they say that he will only be in the way. At four in the moring Jurgis returns to the boarding house, and he discovers that the baby is dead, and Ona is dying. Jurgis rushes to she her, and Ona looks at him for a moment and then dies.

           I thought that this part of the book had some really unlucky things that happened to this family, especially to Jurgis. First Jurgis finds out that his wife has been getting raped by her boss. Then Jurgis gets thrown in jail  because he beats this man up. Then Jurgis' entire family loses their jobs because they are too weak to work, and because of the bad weather. Then after Jurgis gets out of jail, his wife dies and his newborn baby also dies. This would be an extremely stressful time in Jurgis' life with all of these bad events going on in his life.

Poetry Selection

Theme: Winter

London Snow by Robert Bridges

The soldier and the snow by Miguel Hernadez

Minnesota Ice Train by J.P white

January Drought by connor o'callaghan     *poetry video*

Winter Stars by Larry Levis

Last Snow by Heid E. Erdrich

Grieve not by Walter Clyde Curry

The jungle 116-150

           The Packingtown laborers are worked at an ever greater speed only to see their wages cut numerous times.  Marija opens a bank account for her savings. One day there was a rush of people to withdraw funds from the bank, because there was a large crowd watching a police officer arresting a drunk man. The big crowd caused people to get frantic and they went to withdraw their funds. Jurgis sprains his ankle and cannot return to work for almost three months. The frustration eats away at him and he often vents his bitterness upon his family. Stanislovas suffers frostbite in his hands, and the first joints on his fingers are permanently damaged. Jurgis often has to beat Stanislovas in order to make him go to work on snowy mornings. Teta Elzbieta’s youngest child, Kristoforas, dies after eating bad meat. Marija loans Teta Elzbieta the money to pay for a real funeral because Jurgis refuses to help. In the spring, Jurgis looks unsuccessfully for work. He is worn out and unable to attract the boss’s eye. He settles for the least desirable job around, a position in a fertilizer mill. The chemicals seep into his skin, making him smell as foul as the muck itself. During the summer Teta Elzbieta takes a job in a sausage factory. The bad working conditions wear on Teta Elzbieta’s health she must stand and perform the same repetitive motion for hours and hours. Jurgis and his family know all of the dirty secrets of the meat-packing industry. The most spoiled of meats becomes sausage. All manner of dishonesty exists in the industry’s willingness to sell diseased, rotten, and adulterated meat to American households. Antanas suffers various childhood illnesses, and the measles attack him. Ona, pregnant again, develops a bad cough.

            The part of this section when there is a mad rush for the citizens of packingtown to withdraw their funds, because this could cause the bank to become bankrupt. This would be very unfortunate for those who are unable to withdraw their funds, because it no longer exists. I think that it was bad how Jurgis sprangs his ankle, because he is the one in the family that has always been working in the United States, and he is their main source of income. I also thought that it was bad how all of these people like Kritoforas are dying from the bad meat.

The Jungle page 78-115

       Ona and Jurgis' wedding ceremony had put them over one-hundred dollars in debt. Illness strikes the family frequently due to the unsanitary conditions of Packingtown, but no one can take a day off work to recover. Dede Antanas had died in packingtown, because there was a bad snow storm and the company did not provide heating during work. Tamoszius, a musician, begins to court Marija. His fiddle-playing brings a note of cheer into the family’s life. Marija’s canning factory shuts down and she loses her job. During the winter, after the rush season, many factories close down and many workers lose their jobs. Jurgis attends union meetings regularly and resolves to learn English by attending night school and having the children help him. Jurgis becomes a U.S. citizen at the urging of a man at his plant.  He learns of the graft, corruption, and greed spread by the likes of Mike Scully, a local Irish politician in Packingtown.  He comes to realize that the dishonest meat companies sell diseased meat and label cans as “deviled ham” or “potted ham” although the contents are a mixture of leftover bits and entrails from any number of slaughtered animals. Spring arrives and with it come frequent cold rains and mud. In the summer, the factories are infernos. Marija regains her job at the can painting factory, only to lose it two months later. She is fired when she vocally protests being cheated out of a portion of her wages. The loss of her income is devastating to the family because during the summer Ona discovers that she is pregnant. Ona gives birth to a healthy boy. She and Jurgis name him Antanas after Jurgis’s father. Jurgis is seized with an overpowering affection for his child and his commitment to his role as a family man grows in consequence. But his long work hours prevent him from seeing his son very much. Ona returns to work a week after giving birth, and her health suffers badly.
        
           I thought that was unfortunate how Dede Atanas died because of the poor working conditions, and how there was no heat during the extremely cold days. I also, thought it would be very unfortunate to work in a place like that because it is scorching heat in the summer, and is like an icebox in the winter. I thought that it was nasty and full of corruption how the meat packing plants were selling to the public a certain meat like ham, when it could have included any type of meat. I also thought that it was wrong how many of the factory workers got sick because of eating the meat that had a disease associated with it.
          

The jungle 51-77

          Jurgis begins his job of sweeping the entrails of slaughtered cattle through trap doors. He earns a little over two dollars for twelve hours of labor. The family finds a paper advertising the sale of four-room homes for fifteen hundred dollars. Buyers need only pay three hundred dollars down and the monthly payment is twelve dollars. Ona, Marija, and Teta Elzbieta visit the real estate agent, a slick, well-dressed man who speaks Lithuanian. The entire family makes a trip to see the house. To their disappointment, it doesn’t look as new or big as the one in the advertisement. Ona and Teta Elzbieta, accompanied by Jokubas, meet the agent to close the deal. The family purchases household necessities and settles happily into their home. One man promises Dede Antanas a job in exchange for one-third of his wages. Jurgis speaks to a friend and coworker, Tamoszius Kuszleika, about this practice. Tamoszius explains that corruption exists everywhere in Packingtown. From the top to bottom in the chain of power, people take advantage of one another. It is impossible to move ahead without taking part in the web of graft and corruption. Marija learns that her job came at the expense of a fifteen-year employee. She also learns that Jonas obtained his job after his predecessor died as a result of the unsafe working conditions. Grandmother Majauszkiene, a wizened old Lithuanian neighbor, explains to the family that houses such as the one they have taken are a swindle.  No one is able to buy the houses because, for the Packingtown workers, missing even one month’s payment means eviction and the forfeiture of everything paid on it.

        I think that Jurgis is a very hard worker, and he will do almost anything for his family. He said that he was very happy sweeping up slaughtered cattle, when everyone else was complaining about their jobs. I am also shocked at what the people have to do to get jobs, like Dede had to give one-third of his wages to the man that helped him get a job. I also think that the contract for buying the house might be a mistake, because if they miss one payment, then they lose all of the money that they put into the house, and they get put out onto the streets.

The Jungle page 26-50

          Jurgis came to Chicago from the rural countryside of Lithuania. In Lithuania, Ona’s father died, leaving his family troubled by debt. They lost their farm and had little in cash savings. They spoke of traveling to America, where the wages were much higher. Jurgis worked for months to save money to help pay for the cost of the voyage. His father, Dede Antanas, resolved to go with his son and Ona’s family. By a stroke of luck, Jonas finds Jokubas Szedvilas, the Lithuanian man whom he claimed had made a fortune. Jokubas owns a delicatessen in Chicago but he is suffering financial troubles. Jurgis and Ona go for a walk through their new neighborhood. The stench of rotting animal flesh and animal excrement, along with billowing smoke, fills the air. After gazing at Packingtown in the distance for a few moments, Jurgis promises to go and get a job. Jokubas takes the family on a tour of Packingtown. They are amazed to see pens packed with tens of thousands of cattle, pigs, and sheep. Jokubas notes sarcastically the signs regarding the sanitation rules. The government inspector who checks the slaughtered pigs for signs of tuberculosis often lets several carcasses go unchecked. Spoiled meat is specially doctored in secret before it is scattered among the rest of the meat in preparation for canning and packing.

I think that the part is a little bit disturbing where Jokubas is showing Ona and Jurgis the meat packing plant. It feels wrong because of how the workers just sarcastically read the sign regarding sanitation. Also, how the government inspector often misses many of the dead animals to inspect for tuberculosis. I also, think that when the spoiled meat goes in private, it does not actually gets cured of whatever ills it before it is distributed to the rest of the public.

The Jungle page 1-25

         Around the turn of the twentieth century, Ona Lukoszaite and Jurgis Rudkus, two Lithuanian immigrants who have recently arrived in Chicago, are being married. The celebration takes place in a hall near the Chicago stockyards in an area of the city known as Packingtown because it is the center of the meat-packing industry. The highlight of the celebration is the guests, linking their hands, form a rotating circle while the musicians play; the bride stands in the middle and each male guest takes a turn dancing with her. After this every male guest is expected to drop money in the hat held by Teta Elzbieta, Ona’s stepmother. Many unscrupulous guests take advantage of the families of the newlyweds at these celebrations, however, filling themselves with food and drink and leaving without contributing any money. Noticing that many people are leaving without paying, Ona becomes frightened and worried about the cost of the ceremony, but Jurgis promises that they will find some way to pay the bill.  He vows that he will simply work harder and earn more money. The celebration is overshadowed by the knowledge that most of the men who are lucky enough to have jobs must report to work early in the morning. If a worker is one minute late, he loses an hour’s pay; if he is twenty minutes late, he loses his job. Getting fired means waiting for hours in doorways for up to weeks at a time to obtain another job. In Packingtown, men, women, and children alike work grueling hours for the most paltry of wages.

      I thought that the punishment for being late to work in these time periods were a little bit harsh, but looking back on the time period the employers could replace an unskilled worker very easily. I also, thought that it was a little bit cruel how the people at the wedding would not leave any money to help pay for the huge celebration. I also, like how the area in Chicago was called Packingtown, because it was the center of the meat-packing industry.

huckleberry Finn page 401-451

            Tom insists that Jim scratch an inscription bearing his coat of arms on the wall of the shed, the way the books say. Tom, however, expresses disapproval at the fact that they are writing on a wall made of wood rather than stone. The boys try to steal a millstone, but it proves too heavy for them, so they sneak Jim out to help. As Huck and Jim struggle with the millstone, Huck wryly notes that Tom has a talent for supervising while others do the work. Tom tries to get Jim to take a rattlesnake or rat into the shack to tame, and then tries to convince Jim to grow a flower to water with his tears. Jim protests against the unnecessary amount of trouble Tom wants to create, but Tom replies that his ideas present opportunities for greatness. Huck and Tom capture rats and snakes to put in the shed with the captive Jim and accidentally infest the Phelps house with them.  Uncle Silas, not having heard back from the plantation from which the leaflet said Jim ran away, plans to advertise Jim as a captured runaway in the New Orleans and St. Louis newspapers. Later that night, Huck sees that fifteen uneasy local farmers with guns have gathered in the front room of the house. Huck goes to the shed to warn Jim and Tom, but news of the armed men only excites Tom even more.  Suddenly, the men attack the shed. In the darkness, Tom, Huck, and Jim escape through the hole they cut in the wall. Tom makes a noise going over the fence, attracting the attention of the men, who shoot at the boys and Jim as they run. They make it to their canoe and set off downstream toward the island where the raft is hidden. They delight in their success, especially Tom, who has a bullet in the leg as a souvenir. Huck and Jim are concerned about Tom’s wound, and Jim says they should get a doctor.  is brought in semi-conscious on a mattress, accompanied by a crowd including Jim, in chains, and the doctor. Some of the local men would like to hang Jim but are unwilling to risk having to compensate Jim’s master. They treat Jim roughly and chain him hand and foot inside the shed. The doctor intervenes, telling the crowd how Jim has sacrificed his freedom to help nurse Tom. When Aunt Polly and the Phelpses hear about the assistance Jim gave the doctor in nursing Tom, they immediately unchain him, feed him, and treat him like a king. Huck now has nothing more to write about and is “rotten glad” about that, because writing a book turned out to be quite a task. He does not plan any future writings.

            I thought that this was a good end to the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain. I thought that it was funny how long Huck and Tom were taking to try and free Jim, like the ways in Tom's books. I also, thought that it was funny how Tom was excited that he was hit with a bullet from the armed men. I also, liked how after Tom made a full recovery, he was wearing the bullet that had hit him in the leg. I thought that it was a little bit odd how everyone was treating Jim very poorly, but then once they heard that he helped nurse Tom back to health than they treated him like royalty.

Huckleberry Finn 368-400

       Tom, disappointed that Silas Phelps has taken so few precautions to guard Jim, proclaims that he and Huck will have to invent all the obstacles to Jim’s rescue. Tom says they must saw Jim’s chain off instead of just lifting it off the bed’s framework, because that’s how it’s done in all the books.  Despite all the theft that the plan entails, Tom chastises Huck for stealing a watermelon from the slaves’ garden and makes Huck give the slaves a dime as compensation. Late that night, Tom and Huck, after much fruitless effort, give up digging with the knives and switch to pick-axes instead.  The next day, they gather candlesticks, spoons, and tin plates. Tom says that Jim can etch a declaration of his captivity on the tin plate using the other objects, then throw it out the window for the world to read, just like in Tom’s novels. Tom convinces Jim’s keeper, Nat, who believes witches are haunting him, that the only cure is to bake a “witch pie” and give it to Jim. Tom plans to bake a rope ladder into the pie. Aunt Sally notices the missing shirt, candles, sheets, and other articles Huck and Tom steal for their plan, and she takes out her anger at the disappearances on seemingly everyone except the boys. She believes that perhaps rats have stolen some of the items, so Huck and Tom secretly plug up the ratholes in the house, confounding Uncle Silas when he goes to do the same job. By removing and then replacing sheets and spoons, the boys confuse Sally so much that she loses track of how many she has. The baking of the “witch pie” is a trying task, but the boys finally finish it and send it to Jim.

     I thought that Tom's plan to try and free Jim was very funny. How he is going to bake a rope ladder into a pie so that Jim can be free. I also, like how at first Huck and Tom are trying to dig to Jim using kitchen knives. I also like how Tom is trying to simulate what happened in his books, and how he tries to apply it to his own life in rescuing a slave.

Huckleberry Finn 337-367

           With only trust in providence to help him free his friend, Huck finds the Phelps’s house, where Jim is supposedly being held. A pack of hounds threatens Huck, but a slave woman calls them off. The white mistress of the house, Sally, comes outside, delighted to see Huck because she is certain he is her nephew, Tom. Huck is not sure he will be able to keep up the charade as Tom. When Sally’s husband, Silas, returns, however his enthusiastic greeting reveals to Huck that Sally and Silas are the aunt and uncle of none other than Tom Sawyer, Huck’s best friend. Huck meets Tom’s wagon coming down the road. Tom is at first startled by the “ghost,” believing that Huck was murdered back in St. Petersburg, but is eventually convinced that Huck is actually alive. Tom even agrees to help Huck free Jim. That night, Huck and Tom sneak out of the house. As they walk on the road, they see a mob of townspeople running the duke and the dauphin, tarred and feathered, out of town on a rail. Huck feels bad for the two, and his ill feelings toward them melt away. “Human beings can be awful cruel to one another,” he observes. Huck concludes that a conscience is useless because it makes you feel bad no matter what you do. Tom remembers seeing a black man delivering food to a shed on the Phelps property earlier that evening and deduces that the shed is where Jim is being held. Huck and Tom get Jim’s keeper, a superstitious slave, to let them see Jim. When Jim cries out in recognition, Tom protects their secret by tricking Jim’s keeper into thinking the cry was the work of witches. Tom and Huck promise to dig Jim out and begin to make preparations.

          I thought that it was a little bit strange how the one town that Huck and Jim are in, Tom Sawyer's Aunt and Uncle live there. I also, thought it was weird how out of all the house's Tom's family were the ones that were holding the runaway slaves. So this almost appeared that the setting made it easier for Huck to get back Jim. I am also surprised that the one time in the year for Tom to visit his Aunt and Uncle, is also the time that Huck is there.

Huckleberry FInn page 302-336

         The real Harvey Wilks, in an authentic English accent, explains the reasons he and his brother, William, were delayed: their luggage was misdirected, and his mute brother broke his arm, leaving him unable to communicate by signs. A lawyer friend of the deceased then asks the duke, the dauphin, and the real Harvey to sign a piece of paper. When the lawyer compares the writing samples to letters he has from the real Harvey, the frauds are exposed. To put an end to the situation, the real Harvey declares he knows of a tattoo on his brother’s chest, asking the undertaker who dressed the body to back him up. But after the dauphin and Harvey each offer a different version of the tattoo’s appearance, the undertaker surprises everyone by telling the crowd he saw no tattoo.  Huck steals a canoe and makes his way to the raft, and he and Jim shove off once again. Huck dances for joy on the raft. His heart sinks, however, when the duke and the dauphin approach in a boat. The dauphin nearly strangles Huck out of anger at his desertion, but the duke stops him. The con men explain that they escaped after the gold was found. The duke and the dauphin each believe that the other hid the gold in the coffin to retrieve it later, without the other knowing. The foursome travels downstream on the raft for several days without stopping. The con men get into a fight at a tavern, and Huck takes the chance to escape. Back at the raft, however, there is no sign of Jim. A boy explains that a man recognized Jim as a runaway from a handbill that offered $200 for Jim’s capture in New Orleans. Based on the boy’s description, Huck realizes that it was the dauphin himself who captured and quickly sold Jim.   Overwhelmed by his predicament, Huck suddenly realizes that this quandary must be God’s punishment for the sin of helping Jim. Huck tries to pray for forgiveness but finds he cannot because his heart is not in it. Huck writes the letter to Miss Watson. Before he starts to pray, though, he thinks of the time he spent with Jim on the river, of Jim’s kind heart, and of their friendship. Huck trembles. After a minute, he decides, “All right then, I’ll go to hell!” and resolves to “steal Jim out of slavery.”

        I thought that Huck was doing a very honorable thing to try and help Jim get out of slavery. I also think that the Dauphin is a very corrupt man because he sold a man that he had been traveling with for very little money. I also, think that Huck should have tried to escape a little bit sooner before the two con artists could catch up to them from the Wilk's house. I thought that it was weird how Huck that it was a sin he was committing because he was helping Jim out of slavery.

Huckleberry Finn page 276-301

          Huck hides the sack of money in Peter Wilks’s coffin as Mary Jane, crying, enters the front room where her dead father’s body lies. Huck, who doesn’t get another opportunity to remove the money safely, worries about what will happen to it. In the next moment, though, Huck watches with horror as the undertaker seals the coffin without looking inside. Huck realizes he will never know whether the duke and the dauphin have gotten the money back. He wonders if he should write to Mary Jane after he has left town to tell her to have the coffin dug up. Saying he will take the Wilks girls to England, the dauphin sells off the estate and the slaves, sending a slave mother to New Orleans and her two sons to Memphis. The scene at the grief-stricken family’s separation is heart-rending, and the Wilks women are upset. Huck comforts himself with the knowledge that the slave family will be reunited in a week or so when the duke and the dauphin are exposed. When the con men question Huck about the missing money, he manages to make them think the Wilks family slaves were responsible for the disappearance. The next morning, Huck finds Mary Jane crying in her bedroom. All her joy about the trip to England has given way to distress over the separation of the slave family. Huck instructs Mary Jane to leave without seeing her “uncles,” for her innocent face would give away their secret. Huck leaves her a note with the location of the money. She promises to remember him forever and to pray for him. In retrospect, Huck tells us that he has never seen Mary Jane since but that he thinks of her often. Later that day, a mob interrupts the auction of the family’s possessions. Among the mob are two men who claim to be the real Harvey and William Wilks.

          I do not understand why Huck would place all of that money into the coffin, when he knows that it is about to be sealed very quickly. I also thought that it was a little bit of justice for those conmen when the real brothers showed up at the house. I also thought that was cruel how the dauphin split up the slave family by selling them to different areas. I also, wonder why all of these people would believe that the Duke and Dauphin are related to the Wilk's.

Huckleberry Finn page 233-275

         The dauphin, who appears onstage wearing nothing aside from body paint and some “wild” accoutrements, has the audience howling with laughter. But the crowd nearly attacks the duke and the dauphin when they end the show after only a brief performance. The people in the crowd, embarrassed at having been ripped off, decide to protect their honor by making certain that everyone in the town gets ripped off. After the performance, they tell everyone else in town that the play was wonderful. The second night, therefore, also brings a capacity crowd. As the duke has anticipated, the crowd on the third night consists of the two previous nights’ audiences coming to get their revenge. Huck and the duke make a getaway to the raft before the show starts. They have earned $465 in three nights. As the duke and the dauphin tie up the raft to work over another town, Jim complains about having to wait. The dauphin encounters a talkative young man who tells him about a recently deceased local man, Peter Wilks. Arriving in Wilks’s hometown, the duke and the dauphin ask for Wilks and feign anguish when told of his death. The dauphin even makes strange hand gestures to the duke, feigning sign language. A crowd gathers before the Wilks home to watch Wilks’s three nieces tearfully greet the duke and the dauphin, whom they believe to be their English uncles.  The letter Wilks has left behind bequeaths the house and $3,000 to his nieces. His brothers stand to inherit another $3,000, along with more than double that amount in real estate. After finding Wilks’s money in the basement, where the letter had said it would be, the duke and the dauphin privately count the money. They add $415 of their own money when they discover that the stash comes up short of the letter’s promised $6,000. Then, they hand all the money over to the Wilks sisters in a great show before a crowd of townspeople. The dauphin arranges to stay in the Wilks house. Huck has supper with Joanna. Huck feels terrible about letting such sweet women be swindled and resolves to get them their money back.

          I thought that it was nice how Huck was able to return the money back to the Wilks family so that the con men did not get it. I was also surprised with the money that the two men had earned from doing plays in front of crowds. I also wonder why the townspeople would not confront the duke, and dauphin about ripping them off about the play, instead of buying another ticket just to get revenge during the play.

Huckleberry Finn page 201-232

           The duke and the dauphin ask whether Jim is a runaway slave. Huck makes up a story about how he was orphaned and tells them that he and Jim have been forced to travel at night since so many people stopped his boat to ask whether Jim was a runaway. The next morning, the duke gets the dauphin to agree to put on a performance of Shakespeare in the next town they pass. They reach the town and find that everyone in the town has left for a religious revival meeting in the woods, a lively affair with several thousand people singing and shouting. The dauphin gets up and tells the crowd that he is a former pirate, now reformed by the revival meeting, who will return to the Indian Ocean as a missionary. The duke also prints up a “handbill,” or leaflet, offering a reward for Jim’s capture, which will allow them to travel freely by day and tell anyone who inquires that Jim is their captive. Waking up after a night of drinking, the duke and dauphin practice the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet and the swordfight from Richard III on the raft. The duke also works on his recitation of the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy from Hamlet, which he doesn’t know well at all, throwing in lines from other parts of Hamlet and even some lines from Macbeth. Huck then goes to the circus, a “splendid” show with a quick-witted clown. A performer, pretending to be a drunk, forces himself into the ring and tries to ride a horse, apparently hanging on for dear life. The crowd roars in amusement, except for Huck, who cannot bear to watch the poor man in danger. That night, only twelve people attend the duke’s performance, and they jeer throughout the entire show.

       I thought the part when the duke published those handbills that offered a reward for the capture of Jim was very cruel. I also, wonder how naive Jim and Huck are for letting these two strangers travel with them, even if they think that they are royalty. I also thought that it was funny how there were only twelve people that showed up for the Duke's performance.

Huckleberry Finn page 164-200

             Huck admires Colonel Grangerford, the master of the house, and his supposed gentility. Everyone in the household treats the colonel with great courtesy. One day, Buck tries to shoot a young man named Harney Shepherdson but misses. Huck asks why Buck wanted to kill Harney, and Buck explains that the Grangerfords are in a feud with a neighboring clan of families, the Shepherdsons. Later, Huck’s slave valet leads Huck deep into the swamp and tells Huck he wants to show him some water-moccasins. Huck finds Jim there, much to his surprise. Jim says that he followed Huck to the shore the night they were wrecked but did not dare call out for fear of being caught.  In the woods, Huck finds Buck and a nineteen-year-old Grangerford in a gunfight with the Shepherdsons. Both of the Grangerfords are killed. Deeply disturbed, Huck heads for Jim and the raft, and the two shove off downstream. Huck and Jim continue down the river. On one of his solo expeditions in the canoe, Huck comes upon two men on shore fleeing some trouble and begging to be let onto the raft. The men do not know each other but are in similar predicaments.  The younger man used to sell a paste that was meant to remove tartar from teeth but that took off much of the enamel with it. He fled to avoid the locals’ ire. The older man used to run a temperance revival meeting but had to flee after word got out that he drank. Having heard each other’s stories, the two men, both professional con artists, decide to team up. These two men tell Jim and Huck that they are royalty, but Huck knows that they are liars, but doesn't tell because he does not want quarrels.

           I thought that the reunion of Huck and Jim was nice, because it relieved some tension because you would not know if Jim was captured or if he was still running around free. I thought that the part about the two con artists were funny how the guy sold tooth paste that damaged the enamel of teeth. I also thought that it was funny how Jim and Huck at first called the two con artists,  “Duke” and “Your Majesty.”

Huckleberry Finn Page 136-163

           Jim and Huck worry that they will miss Cairo, the town at the mouth of the Ohio River, which runs into the free states. Meanwhile, Huck’s conscience troubles him deeply about helping Jim escape from his “rightful owner,” Miss Watson. When Huck and Jim think they see Cairo, Huck goes out on the canoe to check, having secretly resolved to give Jim up. But Huck’s heart softens when he hears Jim call out that Huck is his only friend, the only one to keep a promise to him. Some men on the river, want to search Huck and Jim's canoe, to check and see if there are any runaway slaves. Huck then says that his family is aboard the ship and that they are infected with smallpox, the men fearing the infection back away and give Huck 40 dollars in gold for help. Huck then feels that he has done something wrong by not giving Jim up. However he feels that he would have felt just as bad if he had given his friend up. They stop for the night and resolve to take the canoe upriver but in the morning discover that it has been stolen. They attribute the canoe’s disappearance to continued bad luck from the snakeskin on Jackson’s Island. Jim and Huck dive off their raft before it got hit by a steamboat but are separated. Huck makes it ashore, but a pack of dogs corners him. A man calls off the dogs, saving Huck, who introduces himself as “George Jackson.” Then Huck is invited into his house. Huck innocently admires the house and its humorously tacky finery. Settling in with the Grangerfords and enjoying their kindness, Huck thinks that “nothing couldn’t be better” than life at the comfortable house.

          I thought that Huck had some quick thinking and when he told the men that his family had small pox and it was best if they had stayed away before they caught anything. I also, wonder if Huck was worrying about Jim's safety while Huck was inside of the stranger's house. I think that Huck and Jim should have stayed closer together so that they did not get separated. Also, they should have someone keeping a watch on the canoe so that it did not get stolen.

Huckleberry Finn page 101-135

            Huck and Jim build a wigwam on the raft and spend a number of days drifting downriver, traveling by night and hiding by day to avoid being seen.  The two of them “live pretty high,” buying, stealing, or hunting food as they need it. They feel somewhat remorseful about the stealing. One stormy night, they come upon a wrecked steamboat. On the wreck, Huck overhears two robbers threatening to kill a third so that he won’t “tell.” One of the two robbers manages to convince the other to let their victim be drowned with the wreck. Jim and Huck's boat has been broken and has floated away. Huck and Jim head for the robbers’ boat. Jim and Huck jump into the robbers’ boat and head off as quietly as possible. When they are a few hundred yards away, Huck feels bad for the robbers left stranded on the wreck. Once on land, Huck finds a ferry watchman and tells him his family is stranded on the Walter Scott steamboat wreck. Jim and Huck sink the robbers’ boat and then go to sleep. Huck reads books from the wreck, and the two discuss what Huck calls their “adventures.” Jim says he doesn’t enjoy adventures, as they could easily end in his death or capture. Huck and Jim approach the Ohio River, their goal. After a lonely time adrift, Huck reunites with Jim, who is asleep on the raft. Jim is thrilled to see Huck alive, but Huck tries to trick Jim by pretending that Jim dreamed up their entire separation.

            I thought that the part where Huck says that Jim must have been dreaming the entire separation up. Also, I thought their argument was funny, about whether or not the French spoke English. I am also, surprised that Huck would send the murderers help, after they were going to just let that guy die. I am also, glad that the murderers got a little bit of ironic justice, because they were going to let someone die, and then the two murderers also probably drowned when the ship they were on sunk.

Action List 3.15.2011

           Looking through the timeline of childrens' books I only remember a few of the books. Some of the books i remember my elementary school teachers reading to me, and also my mom. One of the picture books i remember being read to me in school was "The true story of the 3 little pigs." I also, remember my mom reading me the book "Frog and Toad are friends." I like to see some of these books that I have read in Elementary school that I can still remember in High School, and go back and see all of these picture books.

Huckleberry Finn page 74-100

          Huck and Jim then decide that they need a hiding place on the island in a case that some visitors come onto the island. They take all of their items onto the shore and put it inside a cave. Then there is a big storm that comes through, and it is very rainy, and the river floods. Jim and Huck also, see a boat house go past in the river and inside the boat house there is a dead body of a man who was shot in the back. From the house boat, Jim and Huck take the valuable things and make their way back to the island hidden inside the canoe. Then Huck decides that it would be important that he goes onto the shore to try and figure out some information. Jim will only let Huck go if he disguises himself as a girl, so that no one would notice Huck. After practicing his girl impressions he makes his way to the Illinois shore to gather some information. When Huck makes his way to the shore he finds a woman that appears to be forty years old and she is a newcomer so that she would not recognize Huck. Talking to the lady, Huck finds out that there is a bounty for Jim, and also that Pap was a suspect in the murder of Huck. Also, because Pap ran away fearing for his own life, there is now a bounty for Pap now too. The woman also says that her husband and a friend are going to look for Jim on the island because they saw smoke coming from it. Then finally when Huck made it back to the island he made a decoy campfire and he told Jim that they had to leave the island as soon as possible. Then they packed all of there things and set off down the river in their raft.

          I was very surprised with Jim and Huck's quick thinking into creating a disguise for Huck to go on the shore and gather information about what is happening. Also, I think that Jim is almost fatherly because he did not allow Huck to see the face of the dead man inside of the houseboat. I was also surprised that they had switched the blame of Huck's murder from Jim, a runaway slave, to Pap, Huck's white dad. I thought that at this time period in history the people around Huck's area would have been very racist.

Huckleberry Finn page 47-73

         This part of the book starts out with Huck's father unaware about his drunken rage the night before. Then when Huck goes to see if there has been any fish on the line, he finds a canoe in the water, and hides it in the woods. As Huck's papa leaves for the day, Huck continues to cut through the wall in the cabin. Then Huck made a lot of changes to the cabin so that it looks like robbers came into the cabin and stole everything and kill Huck. Huck also puts everything of value into his canoe. Then Huck sets off to go to Jackson's island in the middle of the river. While rowing down the river he passes by his dad, but Huck's dad does not notice him. He then makes it safely to Jackson's Island unseen by anyone. The next morning, Huck wakes up and sees a ferry going across the river, carrying some of his dear friens, including Tom,Pap, Judge Thatcher and his daughter Bessie Tom’s aunt Polly, and some of Huck’s young friends. As they are passing by they are throwing off pieces of bread and shoot cannonballs in hope that they will find Huck's body. Huck then spends three peaceful days on the island, eating some of the berries on the island and he catches some fish to eat also. Then Huck finds Jim on the island, and finds out that Jim is a runaway because he overheard that he would be sold to a slave owner in New Orleans, and be seperated from his family.

          I thought that it was wierd how Huck planned and performed his escape from his father. I thought it was wierd how the people that cared about Huck, tried finding his body by shooting off cannonballs and throwing loaves of bread into the river. I also, think that it is funny to see all of the things that they believe in. Like how Jim has hairy arms and a chest so that it means that he will be wealthy in the future, and also, when Huck flicked a spider into a fire he thought that it was bad luck.

Huckleberry Finn Page 1-46

         At the start of the book the narrator introduces himself as the narrator from the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huck and Tom found a stash of gold and they split it and received $6000 each. Then the Widow Douglas adopted Huck and tried to "civilize" him, but Huck couldn't stand it. At the end of the first chapter after some prayers with his family, Huck finds Tom Sawyer standing outside his window. While they are sneaking out, Huck trips over a root outside his house, and one of the household slaves, Jim hears it and stands guard waiting to see if anyone appears. Then Huck and Tom meet a few other boys in a cave, and they meet to talk about their new gang, "The Tom Sawyer Gang" this gang would go around robbing people and also ransoming random victims. Then after this meeting is disbanded, and Huck gets home Miss Watson is angry with Huck because he dirtied up his clothes with Tom. Then after a few months of not doing much robbing or ransoming, Huck and a few other young boys quit Tom's gang. After not hanging around Tom for awhile, Huck has been making a lot of progress in school. Then there is some conflict between Huck and Pap, and Pap promises to take Huck down a notch, so that he knows his place. Pap also takes the dollar that Huck got from Judge Thatcher to go buy some whiskey. Then Huck tries to flee his household from his Pap, and his dad wakes from a drunken sleep and chases after Huck with a knife, and eventually stops because he passes out on the ground.

          I thought that it was funny how the Tom Sawyer gang, seemed like a good idea to the kids, but after a while of not doing anything most of them quit. My eyes were also opened with how much the young kids and people around Huck's referred to black people as the "n" word. I was also, concerned about Huck's safety because of how much of an angry drunk his father is.

The Defector 134-168

          This section of the book just mentions a lot of the people that are going to be helping Gabriel get back Grigori. They are at Lake Como, Italy, and all of the people that are going to help out Gabriel are all a part of the Office. All of these people are extremely fine tuned machines that are ready for field work. Then they discuss what they must do to get back Grigori, and they decide that they should try and contact Grigori's wife. They then go through their way of trying to intercept her off of her flight to Italy on a "business trip" and interrogate her inside of their hideout. One of the people working with Gabriel was Dina, and she flew down to Austria to make sure that Grigori's wife, Irina got on the correct flight. Then when she left the plane, Gabriel had a car outside and dressed like Irina's chauffeur and once Irina got inside of the car, Gabriel drove straight back to Lake Como, Italy.  When they arrived at their hideout, Mikhail was the one that interrogated Irina, while the rest of the team listened to them in another room. Then after a little bit of the interrogation she finally told what had happened to her husband Grigori. She said that a man came up to her in Russia and said that she needed to come with her because her husband was in danger. Then they flew down to London, where Grigori was, and they got in a black car to go find him. Once they saw him the man got out of the car with a gun, and made Grigori get in the car or he would kill his wife Irina. Then the man released Irina and took Grigori back to Russia, and the man said if she told anyone about it then he would kill her and Grigori.

          I thought that section of the book was very interesting. I thought that it was weird how Irina went so willingly with a stranger across to another country. I thought that it was cool how they planned out how Gabriel's team would capture Irina and bring her back to Lake Como. I liked how they kept going over their plan to make sure that it was perfect. I am very interested to see what Gabriel and his team does, because they now have the information on how Grigori was caught.

Spellbound

           Neil and Ashley were both very competitive spellers in the movie Spellbound. Neil's main motivation seemed to have been his father, Rajesh. Both, of these very smart individuals did this to bring honor to them and their family. Neil seemed to have some better resources to study than what Ashley had at her home. Also, I think Neil would have had a better chance than Ashley because Neil's sister was in the spelling bee, then Neil would know what to expect from it. I also think that Ashley talent in spelling was not as respected at her school as much as Neil's talent was at his school. Neil seemed to take a spiritual aspect to the spelling competition also. Everyday either before or after he studied his words Neil would meditate to remain calm and stay in touch with his inner self. Also, during the competition Neil's father Rajesh payed people in India to pray that Neil would win the spelling bee, and if Neil won the Spelling Bee then Rajesh would pay for $10,000 worth of food. Although these to great spellers did not win the Spelling Bee they both strived for greatness.

The Defector 104-133

       Gabriel is still talking to Olga about Grigori, and he finds out that she has mail from him that she will not open up because she does not like to snoop in other people's belongings. The letter was stating where Grigori had been; "If this is in your possession, Ivan has taken me. I have no one to blame but myself, so please do not feel obligated to keep the promise you made that night in Russia. I do have one favor to ask; I am afraid my desire to reunite with my former wife may have placed her in danger. If your officers in Moscow would check in on her from time to time, I would be grateful. Finally, if I may offer one piece of advice from the grave, it is this: Tread Carefully." Gabriel believed that Ivan could have done something like this. Then Gabriel fears for Olga because Ivan would know her address because she made contact with Grigori, and Grigori had come over to her house near Oxford. Gabriel tells her that she has to leave with him, and flee to Paris on the next train at 7:39 on the dot. When they made it back to Olga's house they tried the key and the lock didn't work. Almost immediately after the lock didn't work a car engine started, and Gabriel recognized the car from the cameras watching Grigori. Also, a gunman came out of the window and began to fire from the moving vehicle, but luckily he did not hit Gabriel or Olga. When they arrive in Paris, they meet up with Uzi and he talks to them about how much trouble they have caused back in England. Also Uzi tells Gabriel that the leader of the Office, Ari Shamron is going to meet them. Shamron also tells, Gabriel that he could take control of the Office one day, but Gabriel declines the job offer. Gabriel talks to Shamron how he is going to get Grigori back, he needed a team, a base of operations, and a hundred thousand dollars. Shamron makes Gabriel promise that any information he gathers he shares it with the British.

           I thought that this was a very interesting section of the book. I liked how Gabriel was able to sense the danger he was in once he found out the door lock did not work, and then the car engine was the tipping point. I also, like when Gabriel and Uzi were talking together while Olga was near them they were able to speak to each other in many different languages. I also like how Gabriel is very humble and considerate of his family because he does not want to take the job of chief of the Office, because he knows that it will take a lot of time away from his family, but give him a lot of power.

3.1 Diction exercise

a.) clavicle, aorta, synaptic, adrenaline, inexorable, esophagus, gristle, rifling

b.) concreteness-perceptibility, absoluteness
connotation-actual, natural

c.) Brian Turner's poem "Here, Bullet" natural and tangible language illustrates the terror and destruction of war.

The Defector 61-103

         At the start of this section Graham and Gabriel are still watching the footage of Grigori stepping into the car. Graham points out how Grigori willing steps into the car, with no hesitation and not a hint of fear. Graham was also able to get a news helicopter view of the road that the car was traveling on, and he was able to get a close up picture and there were only two people in the car. Gabriel also talks about who he thinks captured Grigori. He thinks that it is Ivan, and Ivan is a dangerous weapons dealer, giving weapons to very dangerous and hostile countries. Then Gabriel receives a letter that is supposedly from Grigori, and it says that he is sorry that he did not inform them that he was going back to Russia. Gabriel and Graham go back and forth, and trying to decide if Grigori was captured or if he willingly went back to Russia. Then Gabriel walked the same path that Grigori did to see what he could find out of the ordinary. Gabriel then thinks that either they sent someone to scare him to jump into the car, or they had a friend there to bring him into the car with no fear. Gabriel and Graham then talk about what was suspicious about the scene, and Gabriel remembers that the woman that had approached Grigori had no hat or umbrella in the pouring down rain. Gabriel thinks that she did this because she needed her hands free because she was an assassin. Then Gabriel travels to Oxford to meet Olga Sukhova who was a Russian Journalist that knows Grigori. Gabriel talks with her, and she says that her and Grigori would set up meetings and talk to each other. Olga talks about how she thinks that Grigori leading such a public life was a big mistake, because it made him a target and visible to all of his enemies.

         In this section I thought that Gabriel was a really good person. Graham kept trying to tell him that maybe he wasn't captured and he left on his own. Gabriel kept trying to not let it go and trying to convince Graham that he was taken by Ivan, because he had to settle a grudge. I thought that it was interesting how Gabriel had such a keen eye and he was able to pick up the most minuscule details on the surveillance cameras. I also like Gabriel's determination to try and get back his friend. It almost seems like Gabriel is working around the clock nonstop.

The Defector 22-60

          This part of the book just introduces you to the main character Gabriel Allon, and his current setting in the Villa dei Fiori. Gabriel is a trained special ops agent, but he prefers to be left alone and he likes to remake paintings. He meets his old friend Uzi Navot, and Uzi is talking to Gabriel about "The Office". The office is a special agency set in Israel trying to weed out terrorists. During these two characters meeting the reader gets some insight on their background together including some missions that went wrong in Moscow. During this meeting Uzi tells Gabriel why he is there, and Uzi is there because he has to inform Gabriel that Grigori Bulganov is gone. Uzi tells Gabriel everything he knows about the kidnapping. Gabriel remembers the promise that he made Grigori, that he would he would not end up in an unmarked grave. Grigori is concerned about this because that is what the Russians do to traitors as punishment, kill them and put them in an unmarked grave. Uzi asked if Gabriel could help him, but Gabriel said that he still needed to finish his painting, and he requested three days to do this. Uzi left Gabriel with two bodyguards, Judea and Samaria. When Gabriel gets back to his place to finish up the paintings he informs his wife about the problem that has come up. Gabriel tells her how he has to go save his good Russian friend Grigori. Gabriel then was able to sneak out of painting and travel from Italy all the way to London, England. He deceived his bodyguards with the help of his wife. When he got to London he met with Graham Seymour and with Graham, Gabriel watched video footage of Grigori going into the car that took him. Immediately after Griori stepped into the car two people went to where Grigori was standing. Gabriel believed Grigori stepped into the car so willingly because he thought the other two people were assassins.

            So far I'm liking this book how Gabriel is really on his own and doesn't really take orders from many people. He didn't listen to his friend Uzi and stay put with the two body guards. I also like how Gabriel is a honest man and how he is willing to put his life in danger to keep his promise with his old friend Grigori. Gabriel also seems to have a lot of talents in the field and at his own house.

The Defector 1-21

       This book starts out with this man named Pyotr Luzhkov, and he is about to be killed. This man has been beaten very severely and he was shirtless and shoeless in the snowy woods of Russia. Then the focus switches to a man named Grigori and he has an interest in Chess. Grigori also has a lot of enemies that want him dead. He was in a tournament and he dominated everyone he played against, and he even beat the champion from last year tournament, in the semi-finals. When Grigori was making his way to the Finals match he seemed troubled and walked at a much faster pace and Chess was no longer on his mind. The man who Grigori was supposed to play in the finals, Simon Finch, was waiting forever and was wondering what could have happened to his opponent. Then the focus of the book switches from Russia to Italy. Guido Reni is talked about in the book and he is an artist that restored paintings. Another character is mentioned in the section, Gabriel Allon, and he is an artist, an assassin, and a spy. At the end of this section Gabriel receives an email saying that the Chief of Special Operations wants to meet with Gabriel immediately. Then he replied and within 90 seconds he got another email saying that they are looking forward to seeing him.

       I thought that so far this book is a little bit confusing. I can't really follow how many characters the author has already introduced, especially with their hard to read Russian names. I liked at the start how the Author used the attention grabber of the character Pyotr Luzhkov and how he was already killed within a few pages of the book for some sort of problem he has created. This book already contains a lot of action with the execution at the start and how Grigori has gone missing from Russia. I also like how Gabriel Allon sent an email and within 90 seconds he already received a reply.

The Road 251-287

       The Boy's sickness was finally over, and he did not remember anything about being sick. The man and boy kept looking up and down the beach searching for anything of use. One day the man noticed that their tarp had gone missing, so he quickly grabbed his pistol and went looking for the cart. Once they realized that that had been stolen they went looking for this thief along the road. When they got to the road the boy was the first person to find the thief, and the thief tried to run but he was too tired and weak. When the man and boy confronted the thief, he was holding a knife, but backed away from the cart afraid of the gun. The man then made the Thief remove everything he owned, the knife and clothes and put them in the cart. They then left the Thief for dead. The man and boy then set off down the road towards a small port town. The man went on looking for some vitamin D for the boy, so that he did not get rickets. As they were walking back into town something went wizzing past the man's head, they then quickly hid under a blanket. While they were under the blanket the marksman shot another arrow and it hit the man's leg. He then limped out from under cover and he shot the flaregun into the shooters window and he lit the marksman on fire. After the man killed the bowman, the man went into cover with the boy. The man told the boy to get the First-aid kit, and when the man recieved it he sutured up his leg after disinfecting it. They then set off onto the road and left that small port town. A few days later and nights of the man coughing up blood and waking up the boy with a lot of noise, the man fell ill. Then eventually the man died, the boy had stayed close to him, crying for about three days. Then the boy went out to the road and he saw someone coming down the road. It was a man carrying a shotgun and he said that he was a good guy. The new man said that he had a lot of food and there were some kids with him about his age. After the boy said his last goodbyes to his father he left with the stranger.

        I thought that this book had a good, but said ending. I thought that it was nice that the boy did not have to conquer the open desolate wastelands by himself but instead with a big group that had a lot of food. Also, because the boy would be able to have friends near his age and he would be able to talk to a lot of new people. The sad thing was that the boy's dad died at the end, although it was only a matter of time before he passed because the entire book he was coughing up blood. I would recommend this book to someone because it is a good story about family and it is a quick read.

The Road 201-250

      The man and boy made there way to a creek, and they would fill up their jars full and drink out of them. The man and the boy had not eaten any food for the past two days. Then they found this house on top of a hill, and they went inside because they were starving. Once they were inside the boy was too afraid to search anywhere upstairs because he was afraid of the unknown. They stayed in this house for about two days keeping warm with a fire in the fire place. One day the man went upstairs and didn't find any food, however he found some clothes and blankets to keep warm. The man always wakes up coughing, and sometimes he coughs up some blood. They then made their way to the coast and the ocean was not blue anymore, but gray and covered in ash like everything else. They then stayed on the beach for a few days, the boy even decided to go swimming in the freezing cold water while the man made a fire. The man had spotted a boat that had been wrecked near the shore, and he decided to go looking for supplies on the boat. When the man got to the boat he did not find much. He found about fifty feet of rope that he could use some clothes that could keep him warm, and some different cans of fruits and vegetables. The man went back to the shore and they stayed on the beach or a few more days. When the man got back to the beach it started to rain and it was already dark, they panicked because they could not find their other supplies. Eventually the man heard the sound of rain falling on the tarp, they made their way to the tarp and slept underneath it the rest of the night. As they were about to leave the beach, the man made one last trip out to the boat to look for something, the man found what he was looking for, a flare gun with eight flares. The boy then came down with a very bad fever, and he was sick for a good two to three days. The father cared for him the entire time by giving him water and medicine from a first-aid kit.

           I thought that this section was nice because they finally made it to their destination, the coast. I thought that when the boy got sick with the fever, that was the end for the boy. I was glad that the man put all of his effort into caring for the boy at his time of need. I thought that it was wierd that the man left the boy on shore with only one bullet to protect himself, when the man was so far away to do anything about it. I am also supprised to see how much stuff the man and the boy find, it is almost like they are meant to stay alive.

The Road 161-200

            After they get out of that bunker the man and child first stop on a hill because the man does not think that anyone else would want to stop on a hill. They also have seen this traveler that has been barely able to survive on the road and he is walking with a limp. This man was carrying a old army rucksack and he was walking with a cane. When the man and the boy encountered this man, the traveler thought that they might be trying to rob him. The traveler was also very surprised to see a boy that had survived this long after the apocalyptic event. The boy wanted to help out this poor old man by giving him some of the food that they had come by. They decided to give him a tin of fruit cocktail. The boy also wanted the man to let their new guest to eat dinner with them. The man asked the traveler some question like, "do you wish you could die?" The traveler replied, "No. But I might wish I had died. When you're alive you've always got that ahead of you." They then parted ways because the man did not want to use anymore of their food on this stranger, also partly because the old traveler could not keep up with their pace. One night the man woke coughing, and he realized that the boy was not there. The man grabbed for his pistol, when he saw the boy running towards him, and the boy had just seen a real train. They both then made their way to the train, and the man said that some people probably used it till it had no more fuel to get to the coast. They then continued down the road and made their way into a town. As they were leaving the town three men stepped out with pipes and tried to rob them, but the man pulled out his gun on them. The three men then stepped away because they did not want to be killed. The boy wanted some food and he thought that someone had been following them. So both of them quickly made their way up a cliff overlooking the road. During the night the man saw four travelers on the road, three men and one woman that looked to be pregnant. The man and boy waited till they thought there was enough distance between the other travelers and they left and passed through a town.

            I think that this section was really good because it showed some traits about human nature. It showed how kind and innocent the little boy was, because he always wants to help people, and he gives strangers food that seem to be in need. On the other hand the man is just looking out for his and his son's safety and trying to conserve all of their food so they can eat it only when they need it. I would agree with what the man does because he can't go into everything oblivious he has to be a little bit paranoid because he does not know who his friends and enemies are, besides his son. I also, think that the man would help everyone that he could, but he is smarter than that and knows that their is a limited supply of food on this charred planet.

     I took the ACT test today at Homestead High School. I did not think that the English section and the Math section were that difficult. The reading section was not that bad, but you were just pushed for time. In the reading section you had to read four decently sized passages and answer ten questions all of them in 35 minutes. Some of the questions on the Science section were a little bit confusing. Some of the graphs were a little tough to understand. The essay I did not really like because it was about a confusing topic. Also, for the essay I could not relate it to anything that I had read about in a book or a history book. I thought that the SAT math section was easier than the ACT math section, but I thought that the ACT english and reading sections were much easier than the SAT sections.

The Road 134-160

            After the man and the boy found the apples and water they just sat there for a little bit devouring the apples. They had not eaten anything for days and were starving before they found these apples. The man also put this grape powder into the boys water so that he would have some flavor when he was drinking the water. When they were leaving the man walked across the ground, and he thought that the ground felt different. He then went to grab a spade from a nearby shed and start digging where the ground felt had something under it. After digging for a little bit he discovered an old door in the ground. The boy did not want them to go down there because he was afraid that there would be something down their like what happened with the cannibals. The man decided that because they needed food he should look down there just to make sure. When the man got down there it was a concrete bunker that was filled with boxes of food, water, beds and a stove. After they found all of this the man and boy just stayed here for days and days in till they recovered all of their strength from eating all the food. The man realized that they could not stay here forever because someone might find the uncovered door and could attack them during the night. During one day the man went out of the bunker and he threw most of the furniture out in the yard and he put a mattress over the door into the bunker. The man and boy left the bunker after a heavy rain. They gathered all of the food they could, and put the food inside of their cart.

            I thought that this section was a relief for the man and the boy. They were able to find a lot of food so that they could survive this apocalyptic event for a lot longer. I think the man is worried about someone behind them on the road and not being able to hide their cart full of food fast enough. Also, he could be worried because he can't push the cart through the wet ash. I am glad that the little boy was able to eat all of that food and recover a little bit from the stressful encounter with the cannibals.

The Road 101-133

      In this section of the book the man and the boy were very desperate for food, beacause they had gone without any for days. The man and boy had camped out on the road one night when it had started to snow. The man then saw tracks in the road and realized that they had to get off because they thought that someone was patrolling the road with a wagon. Then sure enough when the man and boy got off the road two men, but the boy and man were able to get off the road and hide from these bad guys. Then the man and boy found this big house inside of a town, and the man decided that they should go in and see if there was any food because the man and boy haven't eaten for five days. The entire time the man and boy were searching this house, the boy had a bad feeling about it and kept telling the man that they should go. The man was searching through the house and he found this door that was locked, and he thought that there might be some food in there for him and his son. The man found a shovel in the garage so that he could pry open the locked door. When the man and the boy went downstairs to see what was in the room, they saw people down there male and female, and they also saw a man without any legs laying on a mattress with his hips burned. These people trapped in here kept repeating "help us, help us", the man and boy quickly ran out of the house and started running for the woods near the road. As they were leaving, four bearded men and two women came running towards the house, these people burst into the house and went downstairs. The man and boy kept running from the house in fear that the cannibals would catch them and kill them. As the man and boy were on the run, they stopped inside this orchard, and when the boy was asleep, the man went looking for resources. When the man was walking around he found these apples in the ground, and he found more than he could carry. The man also, found a drainpipe inside the house that dumped water out into a concrete tank. The man and boy were then able to drink all the water they could and eat every single apple they had to stop their hunger.

               I thought that this section of the book exposed the realities of what would happen if their was an apocalyptic event. All of these include the man and boy almost starving to death because there would be no food, and if there was any the people before them would have already eaten it. Also, there would probably be some desperate people like the cannibals in this section that would be able to overpower a small group and then use them. I was also glad that the man and boy were able to find some food and water after that encounter with the cannibal at the house. I also, wonder how all of these people would have survived the apocalyptic event.

    

      These are some of my favorite books. Alex Cross is a detective in Washington D.C. that catches high profiled killers. I had already blogged about Cat & Mouse earlier this semester. The book Alex Cross's Trial, is a story told by Alex Cross about a lawyer named Ben Corbett. Ben gets sent down to his hometown Eudora, Mississippi by President Roosevelt because of the attacks of the KKK on the African Americans that live in Eudora. Ben Corbett is a lot like Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird and he can't win a lot of cases for their defendants because the jury is very racist. Ben Corbett meets Alex's great uncle Abraham Cross and Abraham's granddaughter Moody. Ben also finds out that some of the people he has loved and befriended when he lived in Eudora, are some of the people behind these violent attacks on the African Americans that live there. I enjoyed this book Alex Cross's Trial because it really opened up my eyes about some of the prejudices and racism that was going on in the South towards the African Americans that live there. I would recommend these books because they are both thrillers and have you on the edge of your seat waiting to learn about what is going to happen. Both of these books are very violent and I would not recommend it to someone that can't handle violence because some of the scenes in the books are a little bit too descriptive.

The Road 70-100

       The start of this section the man and the child are still running from the people in the truck. The man and child left their cart, and they went off of the road to make camp for the night. When they both woke up, the man went to go find their cart, and it had been plundered probably by the people in the truck, and they took all of the food and the boy's knapsack. Then the man took the boy to a little river under a bridge, and the man washed the little boy's hair. The man had to wash the blood from the attacker out of the boy's hair. The water was very cold and it made the boy shiver like a dog. The boy was also still shocked about being attacked by the man, and then his father shooting the attacker. The man and boy also made their way into a town because they saw smoke coming from one of the building, and they thought that they might find some survivors. The man knew that they had to take a chance here because they did not have anymore food. In the town the man went into one of the abandoned stores and he found some coats that he could use for warmth. When the man and boy were sleeping in this town, the young boy thought that he saw another young boy, but when he tried to follow him the other boy seemed to vanish. The boy's father was upset with him because he did not like him wandering off like that. After day break the man and child went back on the road heading towards south. They left so quickly because the man knew that there were people watching them, and he was fearful for their safety. The then made camp in some woods, when it had started to snow. The man then went and got some wood to make a fire, so that the man and boy would have some warmth and some light. During their sleep, the man was awakened by a cracking sound, and he realized that the trees around him were falling. The man had to wake up the boy because they could not see any of these hidden giants falling because their fire had gone out so they were surrounded by complete darkness.

          This section of the book was a little bit slower than the previous section that I had read. I really like how even though the man and kid have no food, they keep moving on because they know that they will find food somewhere. I do not know why the man and child would not stay in the town a little bit longer and try to find the people that were hiding. I also, don't know why the man did not try and take the child's knapsack and their food from their cart when they hid from the people in the truck. I also, don't know why they did not search more houses or places in the town for food. Overall, i am really liking this book, I think that it is a great book about survival and a bond between a father and son.

The Road 34-69

      This section of the book starts out with the father giving his son the last bit of hot chocolate when the man only takes heated up water. The man and the boy are still struggling in this part of the book, every day is the same for them, they wake up and they walk down the road in till night time, and they sleep. Also, when they are walking it is very cold and every once and a while it starts snowing, and when it snows there is about a half a foot of snow. The man and boy also find a pool of water that they clean themselves in, but they can't stay there that long because the man is afraid that it will attract an enemy to the water. After they pass the river they find some mushrooms to eat, which was a good thing because they had gone without food for days. The man and the boy also encountered this trailer that was wedged in between the highway railings. The boy thought that there might be some food inside of it, so the man went on top of the trailer, but inside of the trailer was just dead people. The man and boy also saw a man that looked like he was burnt looking and he was walking with a limp. They could not do anything to help this poor man, the father thought that he might have been struck by lightning because his clothes and body was burned. The man also had a dream about his wife and how she left him after the earth had been scorched like this, she told him that they were all going to die. Then the man and boy encountered some survivors of this apocalyptic event, and they were driving in a truck. These men all had rifles and about 150 gallons of fuel. One man had come up where the father and son had been hiding because he had to go to the bathroom. The man was being questioned by the father, when the man drew a knife on the child. The father then had to save his son so he shot the enemy and killed him. The Father and son then only had one bullet left in his gun.

      I thought that this was a good section in the book. One reason is that the Father is not afraid to protect his son, because he was able to shoot the man in the truck when he tried to stab the son. Also, the father seems to know what is best for him and his son, because he knew that he could not save the burnt man, and he would have only wasted food and water on him. Also, the father tried to comfort his son by telling  him stories about how the world was before this apocalyptic event.

The Road 1-33

       The two main characters in this book are a man and a boy. The man is the father of the boy, and he is always protecting his son. In this book these two characters are trying to make their way south, because they do not think that they can survive another winter in the North. The Man and  the boy only have a pistol, a cart, and a sack for important things. Also, on the cart there is a bike mirror so the man can make sure that no one is following them on the Road. The environment around the road is not very pleasing either, there is a lot of ash and everything is burnt, and whenever it snows, the snow is gray and full of ash. Also, it is very cold where they are right now, but the ground is too wet to make a fire. On their journey south, they stop by old gas stations and some old supermarkets. At one of the gas stations the dad, empties out some old oil cans so that he can use the oil for a lamp so that they can see at night. They also stop at an old abandoned house and they collect some blankets to keep warm in the frigid temperature. The man and boy then stop at a supermarket, where they find some old soft drink machines, and inside the man finds a Coca Cola and he gives it to the boy so he can become hydrated. Then, along the road the man finds the house where he had grown up as a young boy. The house brings back a lot of happy memories from his childhood, like Christmas and being with his family. At the end of this section of the book the man and the boy are trying to make their way up and over a mountain. The mountain path has snow that is a half a foot, and the man knows that if it snows any more that he will have to abandon the cart.

             I was very surprised that these two characters were able to handle themselves that well in these conditions. I am also wondering how these two people were able to survive this event that caused many people to die. They also have to go weeks, because sometimes they can't find food in some of the houses and stops along the road. I wonder how these two people will handle their encounter with something that tries to attack them. I also wonder if the father would give his life for his son, in a violent encounter with something dangerous.

Cat & Mouse By James Patterson pages 415-451

        This is the last section of the book. At the very start of this book Alex Cross is working day and night to try and find a pattern to all of the Mr. Smith killings. The only time off he gets, is when he takes his kids to school and when he eats food. He is always looking for any similarities between all of his murders. Then he finds a connection between all of these murders and he finds out that Mr. Smith is confessing something. Then when Alex puts a list of all of Mr. Smith's victims he sees that the initials spell I Murdered Isabella Calais. He knows who all of the victims are, except that the "s" is missing. Alex then thinks he knows who is going to be Mr. Smith's next target. He believed the next victim was Dr. Martin Straw, and he was the man who was having an affair with Isabella. Alex then gathered only a few FBI agents and they waited outside Dr. Straw's house waiting for Mr. Smith to arrive. They did not know that Mr. Smith was listening in on their radio frequency, so he knew that there was a trap for him at the house so he fled with his car towards route two. John Sampson and Alex followed close behind him, on the highway they were pushing 90 mph. Then, somehow they were talking to each other when they were at these high speeds on the highway, Mr. Smith said, "I Murdered Isabella Calais and I can't stop the killing." Alex then knew that with these new letters would be more victims. Then Mr. Smith's car went off the Highway, but Alex and John were going to fast to follow Smith off the highway. When the two detectives finally made it down off the highway, they found Mr. Smith's car abandoned on the side of the road. Alex, then thought that maybe Smith had gone to his apartment in Cambridge to finally end this. When John and Alex arrive at Smith's apartment he is already trying to kill himself, but Alex tries to stop him. Alex gets stabbed by the knife Smith is using, then Sampson shoots Smith twice and he dies.

        I thought that this was a good ending to the book Cat and Mouse. Two times to this book, the good guys won against Gary Soneji and Mr. Smith. I liked this book because it ended well for Alex and his family, although there was tension in the middle of the book, when his family was attacked and everyone thought that Alex had been killed. Also, how there was tension when everyone knew that Thomas Pierce was Mr. Smith, but they could not put enough hard evidence on him. I would recommend this book to someone that has a stomach to take some of the murder scenes, and someone old enough because there are some inappropriate scenes in the book

Cat & Mouse By James Patterson pages 378-414

      This section is basically about how the FBI and Alex Cross are now chasing Thomas Pierce, Mr. Smith all over the United States. Alex Cross is investigating in Thomas's apartment in Cambridge. In the apartment Alex thinks that he finds a lot of clues dealing with Mr. Smith. When Alex is inside of Thomas's apartment, Thomas's Laptop alarm because it had received a message. The message was from Mr. Smith who is also Thomas Pierce, and the message talked about how he was in Brielle, New Jersey with his next victim Anthony Bruno. Then, Alex and Kyle Craig go to New Jersey and try and stop Mr. Smith from killing Anthony, and at the same time some FBI agents go to Southern California to talk to Thomas Pierce's family. Then, before they could stop Mr. Smith his victim was already killed at the Jersey Shore. At, two in the morning less than a day and a half after they had recovered the body in the Jersey Shore Smith sent another message stating "Inez in Atlantic City". About two dozen FBI agents and Alex rushed down to Atlantic City to try and stop Mr. Smith again. Alex thought that Inez sounded a little bit like Isabella, Mr. Smith's only love. Mr. Smith also said that he would be on the Steel Pier, and Smith said that they could still save them. Then, on the crowded Pier, a body is found, another one of Mr. Smith's victims. After that a plane flew by and a banner on the back that said, "Mr. Smith is gone for now! Wave good-bye." Then after that Alex needed some time to rest so he went back to Washington D.C. and he had dinner with his family and Christine.

      This section of the book was a little bit abnormal. First, I did not understand how Mr. Smith put the body on the crowded Steel Pier without anyone noticing him at all. Also, when Alex was inside of Thomas's apartment how did he know to send the E-mail while Alex was still there. Also, I do not understand how Mr. Smith can move place to place so quickly, when the FBI seems to be days behind the killer in this book. Even though this section of the book was creepy, I still like the book overall.

I just finished a 1-3 shift, to help out the Got Rice program. We sold T-shirts and collected donations, that go towards food for people in Vietnam.

I just bought an ACT study book for the test on Februrary 12. It also came with these sparknotes sheets, that gives the general idea of the Math and reading of the test. They come with formulas and how to solve different math equations from Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. The big pack of ACT booklets also come with practice tests, which i will take next weekend so that I know what the test will look like the following weekend.

Cat & Mouse By James Patterson pages 349-377

      This section of the book although short, was packed with important information regarding the story line of the book. At the very start of these pages Alex Cross is back and he is okay. It turns out that all of the official statements at the hospital were all overstatements or just lies. Also, it turns out that Thomas Pierce is really Mr. Smith, but the FBI cannot catch him in the act of one of his crimes. It turns out that Thomas actually killed his girlfriend because she was cheating on him with some other medical school student. Thomas has not slipped up that many times, but one time he was in Germany the same time someone went missing there when Thomas was supposed to be in Rome. Thomas Pierce was also waiting for Simon Conklin to come home. When Simon got back to his house, he was startled to see Thomas waiting for him. Thomas then interrogated Simon very brutally to get the information about the attack on Alex Cross and his family. After a long time and some inhumane tactics, Simon told Thomas that Gary made him attack Alex, and he says that Gary was the leader and not him. After Thomas gets all of this on tape, he than kills Simon the way that Mr. Smith always does. The Police officers that were watching Thomas's apartment, then had to rush over to Simon's house, because they knew that's where Mr. Smith would be. When they all got to Simon's house, they found Simon's dead body and Mr. Smith was no where to be found.

       I really liked this section of the book, because most of the things are still coming together. There was also a lot of relief when Alex Cross was still alive at the start of the section. Also, we know that Thomas Pierce is really Mr. Smith. Another piece that is fitting into the puzzle is that we know who attacked the Cross family, it was Simon Conklin. This little section was my favourite because the main character Alex is still alive, although he still has some bruises and lacerations.