Trojan War Who to play War With

By: Zach Maderski

In the play The Hysterical History of the Trojan War Zeus is having a talk with Ares because he wants to play war with Athena.  After they found out who to play war with, so they picked the Spartans and the Trojans. Once they go all of the people Zeus said that he got a text message  saying that someone needed a thunder storm and had to leave.

In the modern version of the Trojan War story things are a lot different than the play version.  In the original version story they didn’t talk about what the gods were doing before the war but I’m pretty shore that Zeus doesn’t  have a cell phone.  Also I don’t think that Ares even thought he is the god of war wants to play war just for fun. Plus they didn’t even have pencils and papers, they only had a piece of stone and a chisel.

Some of the things from that scene are still the same or is true. In the play Zeus said that he had to leave the discussion because someone needed a thunder storm.  According to the Greeks,  Zeus was the god of lighting.  Also in the Trojan war story Zeus didn’t really do much in the war and it never really talked about him much during the war just like in the play.

There are also some differences between the story and the play, for example in the play Zeus said that he got a text message but back then they wouldn’t of had cell phones. Also in the original story there was no discussion between gods about wanting to play war and who was going to be on who’s side.

I really don’t like the remake of this story because there are a lot of events in the play that are kind of funny but or not really realistic for that time in history.  I mean the gods wouldn’t have had cell phones or pencil and paper.  Also when it got to the battle it was really boring and it got through the whole war in not even a whole page.  Overall I think that it was good but it wasn’t that realistic to that kind of time period.

People can change

By: Zach Maderski

Author’s Note: This is a response to the story “Thank you Ma’am” by Langston Hughes. It talks about some quotes from the story and how they are important and show a change in the characters and in the reader’s thoughts.

There are several quotes in this story that affect the way the reader feels about the characters. Their importance not only affects how you feel about a character but also shows how that character changes throughout the story. For example Roger in the beginning of the story was a thief and would take any chance he could to get money or food, but in the end he learned respect and trust.

In the beginning of the story Roger has almost no trust in Mrs. Jones partly because she had caught him red handed trying to steal her pocket book but also, she is a complete stranger to him. There is a quote in the story that proves that Roger is scared and has no trust in this women that he had just tried to steal from.  "If I turn you loose, will you run?" asked the woman. "Yes’m," said the boy. This quote just proves that Roger is still in a way a thief and has no trust what so ever in Mrs. Jones.

An important quote in the story that really stands out was when Mrs. Jones brought Roger to her house after he had tried to steal her pocket book. When he got to the bathroom after she told him to wash up the quote said,” Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked at the door—and went to the sink.” This quote is probably one of the most important quotes in the story because it shows how much Roger changed from the beginning of the story to now, and it shows how much he is beginning to trust her because if I was in his position I would have taken her pocket book and ran.

Toward the end of the book Mrs. Jones did something risky, she left her pocket book on the couch were Roger was sitting. This part of the story will really changes what you think or believe about Roger, because Mrs. Jones could not even see Roger nor could he see her. He decided to scoot to the edge of the couch to where she could see him out of the corner of her eye. He did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.

Telling from Roger’s actions at the beginning of the book to the end of the book you can really see how much he had changed. You might not have been able to see his change in attitude and confidence throughout the story if it weren’t for these quotes. Overall quotes can really change how the reader thinks and shows their improvement throughout the story.

Ribbons

 The grandmother's culture has some ways that are different than our. Some of these ways are shown in the story, for example Chines people bow to you or other people instead of just hugging them or saying hello. Also their is a way that the chines people have of trying to make their self beautiful and it is not very pleasant.They try to make their feet small so they rap their toes around our foot and then cut off the circulation to their foot so it doesn't hurt. I think that this next reason is very mean because the Chines people like boys more than girls because like the grandmother said," boys are everything.” An example of a way that we would do for the sake of beauty would be like getting plastic surgery or dying hair. This is bad because stuff like plastic surgery are permanent but dying hair could make you look bad even though you thought it looked good. 

A clean Well lighted Place Book or Movie

   There are many examples of a book being better than a movie or a movie being better than the book because of sound. In the book A Clean Well Lighted Place, by Ernest Hemingway, there is both a book and a movie for it. In the story there are two men in a bar and it is really late. There is a man who comes in and stays until way after closing time. The younger waiter doesn’t like staying so late so he tells the old man to go home. In the story it was difficult to feel a mood or tone but in the movie there was because of the sound of voices, music, and facial expressions.

   A good example of the movie being better than the book is when the old man was sent home from the bar. This was a great example of setting the tone of the whole movie. It was  good because there was  music in the background that was  sad and gloomy as he was walking away. It makes you feel sad for the old man so the tone is a very sad one. Also you could really tell that the older waiter understood how the old man felt because he to liked working at the bar and didn’t mind being nice to an old man who lost a lot.

   A good example of when the book is better than the movie is in the beginning of both the book and the movie. In the movie there was a long period of time when it was just showing the bar and there was music playing. The music was sad and it was boring to watch. In the book it went right into the story, the conversations, and also it gave us more information about them.

   Another example of when the movie is better than the book is how the music and the sounds set the tone of the whole piece. In the movie the music sets a sad tone for the whole thing. Also the tone of the older waiter voices really shows that he cared about the old man and that he know what he was going through. Now in the book you can’t really tell whether or not they are just saying it or they actually mean it.

   As you can see many factors can change how an individual feels or thinks about characters or events in a story. People may think that movies are better than books or books are better than movies because of the type of events in it, like was or fighting scenes. It all really has to do with whether or not the books or movie has these factors that may decide which one you like best.

After you my Dear Alphonse response

I think that this story really relates to reverse racism because in the story Mrs.Wilson thinks that Boyd is very pore. She shows these examples by saying that Boyd can have some of Johnny's old clothes. Also she was telling him that he could eat as much as he wanted because she thought that he didn't have much for at his house. I personally think that she is doing all of these things because of the stereotypes of black people. 

She was being very naivete because she would say stuff based off of stereotypes and then he would tell her wrong. And toward the and of the story when she said that she was disappointed in him because he wasn't what she thought he was going to be like.

A Clean, Well Lit Place

I think that in the movie version of the story I think that the Director made good choices with the music and the lighting of the story. The music really made me feel sad or the way the older waiter felt when the old man left the bar in part 1. in the second part i also think that the music went along with the scene, probably because there was more than one person their and it just fit the mood.

The story was much different than the movie because the music set a different tone to the scene unlike the script when  you cant really feel that. I didn't really like the length of the screen shots because I think that in a conversation the screen shots should be a little shorter so that it is not so boring.

Song for a Surf-Rider  

 

   Often time’s readers lose interest in a story or poem because they find it boring. This could be because it doesn’t have any Figurative Language in it or the plot and Theme aren’t exciting. Also the reader just might not like it. However, in the poem “Song for a Surf-Rider” the author uses Figurative Language to keep the reader thinking. This helps the reader imagine what the story is saying and describing.

   One example of Imagery in the poem is “I ride the horse that is the sea. His mane of foam is wild and free”. In these sentences the author is comparing the horse to riding a surfboard on the waves. This affects the tone of the poem because the sea can be very unpredictable. In this part of the poem I felt the tone to be calm because that’s the feeling that the sea gives me, but in other parts of the poem the tone is wild and not so laid back.

   There is also another part of the poem that has some imagery that isn’t so calm. It says “ His eyes flash with an emerald fire”. Now when I hear that I think that it sounds kind of wild or exciting. Even when I think about it I would expect to see a fierce animal with a mad look in his eyes. The impact that this example of imagery has on a reader is probably big because this stanza could really get someone more interested in the poem and want to keep reading.  The use of strong words can bring excitement to the reader.

   The figurative language in this poem helps the reader paint a picture of what the author was thinking about.  If the author compared surfing to another object the reader may have had a different perspective.  By comparing surfing to riding a horse it allows the reader to bring in personal experiences and feelings to the poem.  Some experiences may be positive or negative.  Overall the tone of this poem was one of calm and excitement.  The imagery helped create this tone for me.

   As you can see from the examples of Figurative Language in the poem “Song for a Surf-Rider” the language an author uses influences the tone and meaning of the piece. Strong words and figurative language are just another way to keep the reader interested. Overall, I think that figurative language can really change a lot in a story like tone.