Literature Analysis: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

1. What drew you to this book?  What did you expect and/or hope to experience through reading it?
What drew me to this book was the fact that it's growing more and more popular, especially with the movie in theaters now. Plus this is just the style book I really enjoy reading, this futuristic but realistic fiction in a world going up in flames. I hope to enjoy every single bit of it and love it so much that I want to read the other three books in the series.
2. What kept you reading past the first ten pages?
What kept me reading past the first ten pages was the constant action from the very beginning. In this book it seems like there's always something happening and it didn't take a long time to develop the plot. My interest was peaked from the very beginning and I could't wait to read on and on.
3. Describe your reading habits
As I stated in my very first literature analysis, my reading habits vary depending on the book that I'm reading. With this particular book it's been constant. I wake up in the morning and all I can think about is reading this book, every chance I get I pick it up and get reading. Last night I even took a bath instead of a shower just so I could read. 

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
This novel is about a group of around 60 teenage boys who've been sent one-by-one each month to this isolated forest type area all surrounded by a maze that locks closes itself off and it's pattern changes every night. Their minds have been blocked of all memory completely prior to being sent to here and they must figure out how to escape while fighting off mechanical bug-like creatures trying to kill them and all obstacles which come with living of the land. When the protagonist arrives, everything there changes and the end is soon to come. I'm not sure of the author's purpose just yet but he sure as hell does a great job entertaining us with this novel comparable to the Hunger Games or Divergent. 
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme of The Maze Runner isn't evident. But how I interpret it is Order VS. Chaos the idea that when people are put into a situation where they are powerless or can't think of any solution, their minds become chaotic leaving no room or energy for organization. But what this theme does is proves this theory wrong. One might say that when we become desperate, our strength doubles  and it becomes a question of do or die. You can also say when you become so fed up you don't give up, you become unstoppable and are willing to fight until your heart stops.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
James Dashner's tone in The Maze Runner is hopeful. Through the actions in this book we can sense the feeling hope towards most situations in the novel. 
1. "When Minho returned, safe and sound, Thomas thought he seemed very optimistic that it really was an exit. Or entrance. Depending on how you looked at it." The whole plot leading up to the moment when they either died trying to find an escape from the maze or finding an exit was coming close and they seemed hopeful of their chances.
2. "If you're going to decipher a hidden code from a complex set of different mazes, I'm pretyy sure you need a girl's brain running the show." Ever since the only girl was sent to the maze they all seemed fed up having to deal with a female, they saw her as being a sign of failure but then she starts to help crack the code and suddenly they find hope in her. 
3." Next, you become one of the first people ever to survive an entire night outside the Glade, and to top it off you kill four Grievers." Before the protagonist was sent to the maze nobody had ever been able to survive a night within the maze outside of their safe zone so it was a big deal when Thomas proved his ability to the other "Gladers" (Inhabitants of the Glade-Maze)

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
1. FORESHADOW: "Greenie, we've never had two Newbies show up in the same month, much less two days in a row." (Page 48) A sign of another Newbie arriving to the Glade one day after had never happened so we can foreshadow that something is about to change in the games of the maze and they will soon figure out a way out.
2.SIMILE: "... the dark feeling of utter hopelessness, like the world had ended for him." (Page 6) 
3. SYMBOL: "WICKED- World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department" is what the Gladers find on tiny bug-like creatures that spy on them. This symbolizes the creators of the maze.
4.IMAGERY: “Ben’s head snapped violently to the left, twisting his body until he landed on his stomach, his feet pointed toward Thomas. He made no sound” (Page 74)
5.METAPHOR: The maze itself is a metaphor. It's whole purpose is to confuse the Gladers minds and test their reactions to situations and we can never trust if something is real or just in their imaginations or what seems to be a trick from the creators.
6.ALLUSION: The Glade is compared to a prison, they are completely stuck there until they find a way out of the maze. It confuses the Gladers, frustrates them and they don't feel as though they deserve to be there.
7. CACOPHONY: "Someone cheered, and then someone else. Soon, shouts and battle calls broke out, rising in volume, filling the air like thunder." (Page 328)

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION: 
1. "I'd say you're sixteen. And in case you were wondering, five foot nine ... brown hair. Oh, and ugly as fired liver on a stick" (Page 15)
2. "her brown hair was cut at the shoulder, and she had a thin face with dark eyes" (Page 
INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION:
1.
2.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
I don't believe that the author's syntax or diction changes when he focuses on character because he keeps his descriptions very similar to the way he writes his dialogue between characters. It's a very informal way of writing.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
The Protagonist is a dynamic, round character because at the beginning of the book he can't even remember who he is but as the story develops, his character flourishes into a strong, fearless and high thinking person. He changes completely as he discovers his role in the Glade and the things he must do to conquer the maze,
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
After reading the book I do feel like I've met the characters because the author brings the characters to life and puts them through things that make us feel for them and give us the impression of them being complex human beings rather than characters in a book. For example when at the end of the book one of the significant characters dies, I cried because I felt an attachment to his relationship to the other characters in the book and what he set out to accomplish. 

"Summons" by Robert Francis

• The title of the poem "Summons" by Robert Francis has significance to the poem itself because it is based off of Robert Francis' desire to be summoned or "woken up" metaphorically by a certain someone special. 
• The tone of the poem is lustful in a way. It's obvious that the author lusts after this woman or man in such a way that he uses such a powerful verb such as to summon to convey his feeling towards him/her. He wants to be heard so he uses words that will scream at us and get our attention but also show how desperately he wants this person to get his attention at the same time.
• The initial mood I get from this poem is fierce. We can feel the intensity in each line and with every word the poem flourishes. What makes it so intense is the way we can relate and be put in his place just from reading it. No matter who you are you always want someone to want to grab your attention and he portrays what he wants to get out beautifully and with such angst.
• There isn't an obvious shift in this poem but I'm guessing it's at the very last line because the above lines are demands almost leaving no personal information but then the last two lines go "Not only tell me but persuade me.
  You know I'm not too hard persuaded. " It gives a little personal touch in a flirty way that makes us feel like they are close.
• The theme of this poem is if someone doesn't show their feelings and show you what they want you to know then you need to make it obvious to them or be the one to make your feelings evident.

"Chops" by Stephan Chbosky

Relationship to School

As we discussed in class, school can be compared to a prison in many ways. We are segregated into our own groups. There are the middle class white kids, the guadsters, the emos, the list can go on and on. No matter how much anyone wants to admit it, we all stick to our segregated groups and secretly judge each other. Maybe this isn't 100% accurate for everyone but that's how I see it. "Immigrants in Our Own Land" reminds me that high school and prisons aren't so far off from each other. They may be two very different types of establishments but the people in them have the same types of habits because we are all human. 
School can be an extremely positive thing but it can also have very negative effects on people but it all depends on your own personal attitude, as the same goes for prison some people go in with an "I don't care" attitude and leave with an "Oh my god, I'm so glad to get out of this hellhole! I'm never going back there again" attitude. And then some just go even more downhill after the whole experience. It depends on whether you decide to be a positive or a negative person. School is the place that tests you most in your young life because you are thrown into a sea of asshole teenagers and no matter who you are, you come out being different because 1) the influences other students have on you and 2) you're own personal growth as these 4 years pass and you grow into the person you want to be. Although we all think school sucks most of the time it is so important in so many ways. Besides the obvious reason of education, school gives us so much more than what we think about on a regular basis. It's a place where we can be ourselves (or not be ourselves) away from our home and families. It's a place where you get to know yourself and see what you like and don't like in people. Home schooled kids don't get those sort of experiences. We are extremely lucky that the government forces us to go to school because if we didn't go to school then we would all be extremely awkward and antisocial kids, in jail or Amish. (No offense to the Amish but I mean, come on, they're mostly that weird because they never had the chance to socialize with people outside of their circle). We are forced to communicate with people who aren't like us at all and make friends with the most unlikely of people. 
So I guess that I'd consider myself a curious native. Because High School is constantly making me question every aspect of life. 
Anthropologists should just come to Righetti to gather information.

A poem that doesn't suck by Stephen Chbosky

once on a yellow piece of paper,

he wrote a poem

and he called it "chops"

because that was the name of his dog.

and that's what it was about

and his teacher gave him an A

and a gold star

and his mother hung it on he door

and read it to his aunts

that was the year father tracy

took all the kids to the zoo

and let them sing on the bus

that was the year his little sister was born

with tiny toenails and no hair

and his mother and father kissed a lot

and the girl around the corner sent him a

valentine signed with a row of x's

and he had to ask his father what the x's meant

and his father always tucked him in at night

and was always there to do it

once on a piece of white paper with blue lines

he wrote a poem called "autumn"

because that was the name of the season

snd that's what it was all about

and his teacher gave him an A

and asked him to write more clearly

and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door

because of its new paint

and the kids told him

that father tracy smoked cigars

and left butts on the pews

and sometimes they would burn holes

that was the year his sister got glasses

with thick lenses and black frames

and the girl around the corner laughed

when he asked her to go see santa claus

and the kids told him why

his mother and father kissed a lot

and his father never tucked him in at night

and got mad

when he cried for him to do it

once on a piece of paper torn from his notebook

he wrote a poem

called "innocence; a question"

because that was the question about his girl

and that's what is was all about

and his professor gave him an A

and a strange steady look

and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door

becaue he never showed her

that was the year that father tracy died

and he forgot how the end

of apostle's creed went

and he caught his sister

making out on the back porch

and his mother and father never kissed

or even talked

and the girl around the corner

wore too much makeup

that made him cough when he kissed her

but he kissed her anyway

because that was the thing to do

and at three a.m he tucked himself into bed

his father snoring soundly

that's why on the back of a brown paper bag

he tried another poem

and he called it "absolutely nothing"

becaue that's what it was really about

and he gave himself an A

and a slash on each damned wrist

and he hung it on that bathroom door

because he didn't think

he could reach the kitchen

I like this poem because the setting slowly progresses throughout the poem starting from the simple life of a child then turning into the the reality of the real world and the boy in the poem suddenly just cracks and kills himself because he sees everything change around him in a shocking and saddening way.

The First Poem I Ever Wrote in French (November 2013)

J'aime le froid
mais pas comme ca
Mes doigts sont tristes
Mais Je ne suis pas une pesimiste
Ils sont rouges et ils sont moches
Le probleme est que je n'ai pas de poche
Je m'ai jamais vue le temps comme ca
Et franchement, je n'aime pas
Pendant que j'ecris, mes doigts restent froids
Et maintenant aussi mes jambes et mes bras
Maintenant c'est l'automne et bientot l'hiver
Il pleure sur la ville comme je suis Jacques Prevert
Ou est le soleil? Pas ici and pas la-bas...
Mais je suis certaine que mes doigts vont rester froids.

It sounds really weird in English but I swear in French it rhymes and makes a lot more sense 

TRANSLATION:
I love the cold
But not like this
My hands are sad
But I'm not a pesimist
They're red and they're ugly
The problem is I don't have pockets
I've never seen weather like this
And Frankly, I don't like it
My hands are still cold while I write
And now my legs and my arms, also
Now it's Fall and it'll soon be Winter
It's raining in the city like I'm Jacques Prevert (A French poet who wrote a poem called It's raining in my heart like it rains in the city)
Where is the sun? Not here and not over there...
But I'm positive that my hands will stay cold

Analyzing Song Lyrics (Riptide by Vance Joy)

This is my favorite song at the moment. It has such a beautiful tune to it and it's just one of those songs that make you want to dance like nobody's watching, that put aside I've listened to these lyrics over and over again trying to understand what Vance Joy is actually trying to say with "All my friends are turning green, you're the magician's assistant in their dream and they come unstuck" or "lady running down to the riptide, taken away to the dark side, I wanna be your left hand man".
He's obviously talking about a woman he has interest in because he sings "I just wanna, I just wanna know. If you're gunna, If you're gunna stay. I can't have it, I can't have it any other way" but from aside from that the lyrics make no sense to me.
My theory is he's just another hipster writing a song because it's ironic, doesn't make obvious sense and it just sounds nice. Any other theories out there?

Fahrenheit 451 NOTES pages 120-130

•  "A shotgun blast went off in his leg every time he put it down and he thought, you're a fool, a damn fool, an awful fool, an idiot, an awful idiot.." page 121 Montag hurt his own leg when he was scorching the other firemen and the mechanical hound, this could be a big disadvantage when trying to run from the police.
• "Montag took the four remaining books and hopped, jolted, hopped his way down the alley.." page 122 Montag is heading somewhere with his few remaining books. To turn himself in? To Faber's house?
• "Police alert. Wanted: Fugitive in city. He committed murder and crimes against the State. Name: Guy Montag. Occupation: Fireman. Last seen..." page 124 Soon he will be tracked down by the police.
• " And then he realized that he was, indeed, running toward Faber's house, instinctively. But Faber couldn't hide him; it would be suicide even to try." page 124 Montag is clearly running out of options if he runs to Faber's house it would just kill him and the poor, old English professor. 
• Montag stumbles upon a car full of teenagers telling "Let's get him" because he was walking out in public and he thinks "I wonder if they were the ones who killed Clarisse!" page 129
• Montag arrives to Faber's house and as Faber sees him he says "At least you were a feel about all the right things," said Faber. " I thought you were dead. The autocapsule I gave you-"          "Burnt." page 130

Fahrenheit 451 NOTES pages 110-120

• "Beatty never drove, but he was driving tonight, slamming the Salamander around corners, leaning forward high on the driver's throne, his massive black slicker flapping out behind so that he seemed a great black bat flying above the engine..." page 109 We can foreshadow that something bad might happen based on the tone of the text and the adjectives used such as "slamming" and "black". And the the fact that the text mentions that Beatty never usually drives which means that that certain night was not like others.
• Beatty ends up driving the Salamander to Montag's house which could only mean one thing, they are there to burn him down. 
• "Didn't I hint enough when I sent the Hound around your place?" page 113 So that's why the mechanical hound was outside their house on that one rainy day.
• Beatty is making Montag burn his own house and he actually felt good about it. page 116
• "When you're quite finished," said Beatty behind him,"you're under arrent" page 117
• It was Mildred and her friends who turned Montag in. page 117
• Beatty found Montag's earpiece page 118
• Montag killed the mechanical hound.page 120

Vocabulary: Fall List 8

1. Ruinous- disastrous                                                                                                                           EX: Panem is a futuristic and ruinous land.
2. Quaver- tremble with emotion or nervousness                                                                                 EX: When Teresa entered The Glade and couldn't remember anything, she couldn't stop quavering. 
3. Certitude- absolute certainty                                                                                                             EX: The sorting hat placed Harry in the Gryffindor house with certitude.
4. Notch- an indention                                                                                                                           EX: One could call Harry Potter's scar a notch on his forehead.
5. Perspire- sweat                                                                                                                                   EX: It seemed as though Thomas would never stop perspiring in the Maze.
6. Manifest- Clear or obvious                                                                                                                 EX: Lord Voldemort had a manifest evil mind.
7. Latrine- toilet in camps                                                                                                                     EX: The Glade had only latrines.
8. Uttered- make a sound with one's voice.                                                                                           EX: Gally uttered a cry of disapproval when the griever got him.
9. Parry- Ward off (with attack)                                                                                                             EX: The Gladers parried grievers with various homemade weapons.
10. Oracle- a priest acting medium to give advice or prophecy                                                               EX: Harry's patronum acted as an oracle when Harry needed it most.
11. Conscious- aware                                                                                                                               EX: Tris made a conscious decision to join Dauntless.
12. Feign- Pretend to be affected, fake                                                                                                   EX: WICKED was just a huge group of feigns.
13. Leisure- free time                                                                                                                               EX: The people of District 12 never has much leisure time.
14. Conjure- produce something                                                                                                              EX: Conjuring up a spell isn;t as easy as it sounds.
15. Anesthetized- Induce a loss or consiousness                                                                                      EX: WICKED has a history of anesthetizing Thomas during the trials.
16. Tyranny- cruel government                                                                                                                EX: The Capital was a tyranny in the districts eyes.
17. Folly- foolishness                                                                                                                                EX: Eatiing the poisonous berries on T,V, in front of Panem was seen as a great folly to President Snow.
18. Dreary- sad                                                                                                                                          EX: Cedric Diggery died a dreary in the Goblet of Fire.
19. Grotesque- disgusting                                                                                                                          EX: Edward saw Jacob as a grotesque werewolf.                                                   
20. Reckoning- calculating something                                                                                                      EX: WICKED is not, by any reckoning, good.

More Than Marriage-Gender Equality

Fahrenheit 451 Page 90-100 NOTES

• " It looks like a seashell radio."                                                                                                           "And something more! It listens! If you put it in your ear, Montag, I can sit comfortably at home, warming my frightened bones, and hear and analyze the firemen's world, find its weaknesses without danger" (Page 90) Faber admits to Montag that he's been spending his years hidden away in his house, waiting for someone to talk to him and he knew that day when Montage sat with him in the park that he would bring either fire or friendship. Faber created a listening device like he somehow foresaw this happening, ready to listen  in on the world of firemen and develop a plan with Montag's help. page 90
• Almost getting caught by Mildred's friends, he pretends that once a year Firemen are allowed to bring home one book to mock. He reads Dover Beach to the ladies. The poem made Mrs.Phelps cry  "I've always said poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings, poetry and sickness; all that much! I've had it proved to me. You're nasty, Mr.Montag, you're nasty!" page 101 Mrs.Phelps is actually very moved by the poem, that's why she's crying but they connect it to bad feelings because reading is a nasty act. And poetry is the biggest joke of them all.

Vocabulary: Fall List #8

1. Bobbins: A spool                                                                                                                                                     Many elderly women own bobbins.
2. Coils: sequence of rings                                                                                                                                       It's annoying when the hose forms in coils.
3. Advantageous: beneficial                                                                                                                                         It's academically advantageous to do all of your homework.
4. Praetorian: Having the powers                                                                                                                                 I was never a member of the Praetorian Guard.
5. Profusion: an abundance                                                                                                                                     Sephora sells makeup in great profusion.
6. Insidious: Subtle, but with harming effects                                                                                                               Ebola can be considered an insidious virus.
7. harlequin: a mute  and masked character                                                                                                           I'm thinking about being a harlequin doll for Halloween.             
8. leisure: free time                                                                                                                                                     I love to leisurely lay around my house on weekends.
9. receptacle: space used to contain something                                                                                                     It's always practical to have a trash receptacle.

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

Post a brief paragraph to your blog (title: WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?) in which you comment on conversations.  Observe what people actually talk about, and think out loud about how we can all get more meaning and/or value out of our daily interactions with each other.

(Listening to random conversations)

• Ebola: This goes under the category of current epidemics. The media is sending people into a frenzy which scares everyone around the world, it's just like the cases of mad cow disease, the suspicion of the return of the black plague in China or Whooping Cough. Paranoia takes over on a huge chuck of society and leads to unnecessary fear. I believe these conversation are inevitable with how much the media spreads these conversations. Being aware that these viruses and diseases do pose real threats is important but it's also over spoken of and won't change the fact that it's a growing issue. The media needs to stop scaring our entire nation's population and we ourselves should keep Ebola conversation to a minimum.
• TV Shows: No matter where you are, you'll always hear talk of people's favorite TV shows such as Orange is the New Black, American Horror Story and The Mentalist. I think people talk about TV shows because social media makes them so wildly popular an we love to have connect with people with our same interests. A simple conversation can turn into a full blown discussion and debate on what is happening on the latest seasons of our favorite series, I think these type conversations can be very meaningful because it's human connection. Nowadays we value entertainment and if you like the same things as others you are more likely to have more conversations with them on other topics later on, maybe suggest "Hey, come over to my place for the season premier" and make new friends.
• Books: Books are a huge part of my life, I'm an avid reader and books are my instant getaway from real life. So when I see someone reading in class I'm instantly intrigued because I know they are reading just because they enjoy it, and that's not something we commonly see especially in my generation. I love finding out someone has read the same book as me and getting their feedback on it. These are, to me, some of the most valuable conversations that I can have with other teenagers. 
• Travel: I don't hear much of this amongst my piers but when I do I jump into that conversation because I always have something to say about travel. Travel in my passion and I respect travelers so much because I see it as a lifestyle. It warms my heart hearing people talk about where they dream of going/doing/seeing one day because my mind is constantly on that place. That is a very important topic to me.

Fahrenheit 451 Pages 80-90 NOTES

• Denham's Dentifrice: An advert for toothpaste ? Dentifrice=Toothpaste in French (Pages 78-80)
• Montag goes to Faber's house. "Nobody listens to me anymore. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; because she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk enough, it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand how I read." (Page 82)
• Faber tells Montag that three things are missing to happiness and books.                                           1) Quality of information                                                                                                                 2) Leisure to digest it                                                                                                                       3) The right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first                   two   (Pages 83-85)                                                                                                        
• Montag gets the idea to get a press and print extra copies of books. Faber thinks it's a horrible idea. (Page 85)
• Faber agrees to teach Montag and collaborate with him and his ideas (Pages 88-90)

Vocabulary Fall List #7

1 Pratfall- fall onto one's buttocks
EX:The very drunk man took a pratfall onto the cement.

2.Bewildered- Perplexed and confused
EX: Amanda Bynes bewilders me.

3.Titillation- Arouse by stimulation
EX: Titillation leads to procreation.

4. Theremin- an instrument
EX: I don;t know anyone whom plays the theremin.

5. Tabloids- A newspaper of sorts
EX: You can;t always believe what you read in the tabloids.

6. Centrifuge- Machine that separates fluid of different densities
EX: You can find centrifuges in certain factories.

7. Haltingly- In a halting manner
EX: "Halt! Who goes there?!"

8. Probing-
EX: I wouldn't enjoy being probed by aliens.

9. Stagnant- Having no current or flow, usually an unpleasant smell.
EX: Over time, the river became stagnant.

10. Cacophony- Harsh mixture of sounds
EX:The playing of broken instruments turned into a cacophony.

Fahrenheit 451 Vocab (Pages 50-70)

1. Feign
2. Yammer
3. Exploiter
4. Centrifuge
5. harlequin
6. contemptible
7. dictum
8. tinkerer
9. tom-toms
10. incinerator

Literature Analysis: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

1. What did you expect and/or hope to experience through reading it?
I hope to get more useful information about Ray Bradbury's thoughts and hopefully end the book thinking it was awesome and have gained yet another great book-reading experience. I like reading books other people pick and seeing why they were drawn to them, hoping I'll enjoy it as much as they did. 
2. What kept you reading past the first ten pages?
What kept me reading after the first ten pages was the fact that I have to read it because it was assigned but as a beginning of a book it wasn't too bad, it wasn't a torture to read so I hope the rest of the book ends up being mentally simulating like many people say it is.

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
Fahrenheit 451 is a novel set in the year 2053 in a futuristic and dystopian society which the author, Ray Bradbury foreshadowed in a creepily accurate way. The protagonist, Guy Montag is an ordinary fireman in this estranged era whose life is turned upside down when he meets a young girl who makes him question this twisted society's idea of censorship and his profession. In modern day time, firemen set out fires created accidentally but in this novel firemen set fire to people's homes who are found to be hiding books, as books are illegal to read and possess. Many would say this book is about censorship but what it's really about is the importance of books, not the books or even plots themselves but the ideas and questioning we get out of them. Bradbury fulfills his purpose of the novel by his well thought out/written thesis within the plot.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is, like I stated above, is the importance of reading, not necessarily books themselves but the ideas and questions we form when reading these books. The information they give us has the ability to make us think in ways that test our critical thinking (If you do it right, that is). Our human intelligence would be virtually dead without any type of reading, which is the direction we are heading in and that's exactly what Bradbury foreshadows in this book in particular. 

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
I would describe the author's tone as being pessimistic towards the future. The whole book foreshadows the future to be a gloomy, dark place where people live for their parlor walls, don't communicate with their family and jobs that include burning down people's houses are highly approved.

-"It's like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time--did I tell you?--for being a pedestrian. Oh, we're most peculiar." Being a pedestrian was frowned upon along with many other things we deem normal now but one day things may change and make the world as twisted as this book. Pages 9-10
-"There are billions of us and that's too many.Nobody knows anyone. Strangers come and violate you. Strangers come and violate you. Strangers come and cut your heart out. Strangers come and take you blood. Good God, who were those men? I never saw them before in my life!" Page 16
Montag talks about the doctors taking care of Mildred when she has to go to the hospital when she overdoses. Bedside manners were very different when this book was written, you knew your doctor and a lot of the time they came to your house if you needed them.
-"The first time we met, where was it, and when?"  
"Why, it was at--"
She stopped.
"I don't know," she said.
He was cold. "Can't you remember?"
"It's been so long."
"Only ten years, that's all, only ten!"
We can take from this text the theory that when the world turns gray as foreshadowed in this novel that relationships won't be as important like Montag's and Mildred's page 43

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
SYMBOLISM- Fire is used as a symbol for transformation in this novel. Add a little kerosene and something burns and transforms into ash. Just like Montag transforms during the book.
ALLUSION-From the first page up until "He turned the corner" page 5 He turns both physically and in his life as he grows new eyes, if you will. He now feels uncertain and out of character.
HYPERBOLE- "Kerosene"... "is nothing but perfume to me." page 6 He exaggerates to cause shock and make the statement jump out at you.
OXYMORON- "They walk in the warm-cool blowing night." page 6
SIMILE- "Her face bright as snow in the moonlight." page 7
ALLUSION- "Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner.." page 8 
He's talking about burning the works of these authors, not the authors themselves.
PERSONIFICATION- "...put his hand into the glove hole of his front door  and let it know it's touch, The front door slid open." page 10   Like the door recognizes his hand and let's him in as it has a mind of it's own.
SYMBOLISM- When Montag hears the jets fly by over head on page 14 he initially knows there's war coming as well as war in his own relationship with his wife,
FORESHADOWING- "So it was the hand that started it all . . . His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms . . . His hands were ravenous." page 41 You can tell that Montag is thirsty for more books, this "poison" is his guilty pleasure.
METAPHOR-   " With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head..." page 3 
ANALOGY- "A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it."
CACOPHONY- " Trumpets blared. Denham's Dentifrice...shut up, shut up....A fierce whisper of hot sand through empty sieve. "Denham's does it." ...tapping their feet to the rythm...Denham's Dandy Dental Detergent..one two, one two three, one two, one two three.."

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION-"Her face was slender and milk-white, and it was a kind of gentle hunger that touched over everything with tireless curiosity. It was a look, almost, of pale surprise; the dark eyes were so fixed to the world that no move escaped them.....the white stir of her face turning when she discovered she was a moment away from a man who stood in the middle of the pavement waiting."
"The girl stopped and looked as if she might pull back in surprise, but instead stood regarding Montag with eyes so dark and shining and alive that he felt he had said something quite wonderful."
INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION- "And in her ears the little Seashells, he thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. The room was indeed empty."
"She was an expert of lip reading from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear thimbles."
When we are first introduced to Mildred, Montag's wife, he always explains her as having her headphones, like she is closed off from the world and Montag feels lonely in their empty house.
INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION- "I want to stay here"..."you can stop counting," she said. She opened the fingers of one hand slightly and in the palm of the hand was a single slender object. And ordinary kitchen match. 
Bradbury doesn't explain the elder woman's characteristics but we can tell by her actions that she is a very headstrong woman which brings great importance to the novel because she represents all the people who hide books in that time, they risk so much just for what they believe in and that is what Montag slowly becomes. He transforms into a heroin when he began as a clueless, coward man.
DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION- "Beatty smiled his smile which showed the candy pinkness of his gums and the tiny candy whiteness of his teeth." ... "He looked like a flame" 
  
The author uses direct characterization to give us a picture the characters in our heads while reading but uses indirect characterization to connect the characters  to personalities. Some characters are better explained through indirect characterization and others with direct characterization.

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
When Bradbury talks about Clarisse they adjectives he uses are positive and magical as seen through Montag's point of the view but when he talks of the other characters his words become dark. I think it;s because Clarisse symbolizes hope in humanity whereas the other characters represent what's screwed up in the world.

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
I would describe Montag as being definitely a dynamic character. He goes through a lot of changes from the beginning of the book to the end, morally. His opinions change completely and what he sees as right and wrong are reversed as he slowly turns into the work fireman ever. He's complex and round.

 After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
After reading the book, I can't say that I've come away feeling like I know these characters just because I didn't connect to the book as well as I can connect with others. I don't have much input. 

Fahrenheit 451 Pages 50-60 NOTES

• "We burnt a thousand books. We burnt a woman."                                                      "Well?"....."She nothing to me; she shouldn't have had books. It was her responsibility, she should have thought of that. I hate her. She's got you going and next thing you know we'll be out, no house, no job, nothing." (Page 50-51) Montag confronts Mildred about possibly quitting his job after a horrid experience of burning an elderly woman along with her books and what's more disturbing is his wife's reaction.
• "Mildred's hand froze behind the pillow. Her fingers were tracing the book's outline and as the shape became familiar her faced looked surprised and then stunned." (Page 56) Mildred discovers that Montag is hiding a book he had stolen for the old lady's house behind his pillow just as Beatty is giving Montag the speech about how every firefighter at one point has the urge to steal a book out of curiosity.
• She didn't want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarassing. You ask why to do a lot of things and you end up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it. The poor girl's better off dead."                                                                        "Yes, dead." (Page 60) Montag brings up Clarisse to Beatty and he explains that they had close watch on her family and they seemed fishy. Girl's like her were too curious and didn't ask the right questions so she was obviously better off dead than in a world of people who didn't accept the type of person she was.

Vocabulary: Fall List #6

tatters-irregularly torn pieces of cloth, paper, or other material.
EX: When I wasn't looking, my dad tore my paper to tatters.merely-only;just
EX: You must not get angry with me, I was merely asking.
vast-of very great extent or quantity
EX: There isn't anything more beautiful than vast fields of Spring flowers.parlor- a sitting room 
EX: I enjoy drinking scotch while reading in my parlor.
abrupt(ly)- sudden and unexpected
EX: New drivers tend to stop abruptly before the stop light
refracted-make (a ray of light) change direction when it enters at an angle.
EX: The beam of sunlight refracted off of my disco ball.immense-extremely large.
EX: The crowd at the concert I just went to was immense.
imperceptibly-impossible to preceive
EX: She looked at me almost inperceptibly.
ventilator- an application for artificial respiration.
EX: It's annoying to have a broken ventilator.
olfactory-relating to the sense of smell.
EX: The olfactory candy

Wikipedia Info on Fahrenheit 451 (Writing in red is my commentary)

1. Bradbury stated that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 because of his concerns at the time (during the McCarthy era) about the threat of book burning in the United States. Being horrified by censorship of books during the holocaust, he is like a predictor of futures because he is sure that there will come a day when books will be burnt again. He references to the burning of the Bible in the uncensored version of Fahrenheit 451.
2.  She (Clarisse) is unpopular among peers and disliked by teachers for asking "why" instead of "how" and focusing on nature rather than on technology. That is ironic because teachers should want their students to question things, that's how we learn. That hasn't happened yet but we can foresee that some day in the future.
3. Captain Beatty is Montag's boss. Once an avid reader, he has come to hate books due to their unpleasant content and contradicting facts and opinions. Like many people in the dystopian society in Fahrenheit 451, Captain Beatty doesn't want to hear that his opinion is wrong and by reading those books that contradict each other he would be condoning it which nobody wants to do in that fictional era.
4. Bradbury was horrified by the Nazi book burnings and later Joseph Stalin's campaign of political repression, the "Great Purge", in which writers and poets, among many others, were arrested and often executed. He predicts a third world war of sorts where book burning will reoccur unless we put down our technology every now and then and actually learn a thing or two about the past and how not to repeat it.
5. Among the changes made by the publisher were the censorship of the words "hell", "damn", and "abortion"; the modification of seventy-five passages; and the changing of two episodes. In the 21st century, it's perfectly acceptable to use such language whereas back in the late 50's it was not and people were shocked when authors included these types of words in their writing.
6. Bradbury described himself as "a preventor of futures, not a predictor of them." He did not believe that book burning was an inevitable part of our future, he wanted to warn against its development. In a later interview, when asked if he believes that teaching Fahrenheit 451 in schools will prevent his totalitarian vision of the future, Bradbury replied in the negative. Rather, he states that education must be at the kindergarten and first-grade level. If students are unable to read then, they will be unable to read Fahrenheit 451.In terms of technology, Sam Weller notes that Bradbury "predicted everything from flat-panel televisions to iPod earbuds and twenty-four-hour banking machines." Ray Bradbury was obviously right about these three things that we gained in our modern world of technology, that proves what he writes in somewhat true therefore it;s a positive thing to read books so we don't become exactly like Fahrenheit 451 because it looks like we are already on that track. Hopefully I die before our country gets to that point.