Thursday

It Can Never Forget What They Did Here

It can never forget what they did here.
"They" as in the soldiers, the doctors, the nurses, and the leaders that helped us make it through.
"It" as in all of the people throughout the United States of America.
"Here" as in now.
"Here" as in everywhere.
"Here" as in this desk, in this school, on this land.
It can never forget what they did here.

Jimmy Neutron? No, just Jim.

Belief, Action, and Feeling Words. (7-9)
1) Naive
2) Stable
3) Friendly
4) Nice
5) Superstitious
6) Bold
7) Careful
8) Dreamer
9) Hard Working

Physical Appearance. (3-5)
1) Big
2) Athletic
3) Black
4) Muscular

IMAGE TIME...

 I think this picture exhibits the words:
   Friendly
   Careful/Caring
   Nice
Jim cares a lot about Huck and I think this picture exhibits that very well.

This picture shows the supertitious side of Jim (especially if you read the caption) that we see a lot throughtout the reading of the book. Although I do think his appearence is a little off. He looks scared though, and worried.   

This is not how I have pictured Jim in the slightest. Here he looks lazy, and not going to lie, a little creepy. I don't think Jim is like this at all. This actually quite contradicts the words I wrote above. (with the exception of  some of the physical appearance)  

LAST QUESTION:
I think way that Twain explains Jim in the text can be interpreted in different ways. But, the way that I have chosen to view it is, as a character, not so much as a caricature.  Although he may come off a tiny bit naive at times, that doesn't mean that he doesn't know what he's doing or saying. He likes to see the silver lining in things. Jim cares a lot for Huck and it shows. He just wants to be accepted and be a friend. To us, he doesn't seem like just a runaway slave anymore, he seems like Huck's friend, his partner in crime. When Huck decided to give him up as a runaway slave, it was hard for him to go through with it because at that point, he had gotten to know Jim and was fond of him. Jim is a little bit naive, but mostly just a friendly, nice, caring, and all around great guy.  

Wednesday

Raplh Waldo Emerson



"I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me.  I would write on the lintels of the door-post, "Whim."  I hope it is somewhat better than whim at last, but we cannot spend the day in explanation"

Response to Question #1 of EL&IC

While reading this section of the book, you can't help but be both a little sympathetic and critical of Oskar.
Sympathetic because of everything he's been through at only 9 years old, and that he doesn't want his mom to move on so fast, he wants her to miss his dad as much as he does, Oskar wants to see his mom sad just like him. Like when Oskars mom came into his room at night to say goodnight, and he asks her how much she cries, and asks her to promise to never fall in love again. These are uncomfterble questions/promises to ask of a parent but, he's also been holding them in for quite awhile and he saw opportunity and he took it. It also doesn't help that since he's found the key in his dads closet he hasn't had any kind of lead to anything. Yes, he's meeting all sorts of interesting people but to hear "no" from everybody he's asked about the key can't be an easy thing. He counts his lies and he counts his disappointments, and counting them, can't make them any easier to get over. To no exactly how many times you've lied not only to your mother but also to complete strangers, or to know how many times you've been disappointed by people you don't even know, can be quite troubling.
But, it's also easy to be critical of Oskar. He may not be able to see it, but his mother is trying to help him. She wants Oskar to b happy, to move on with his life, yet still keep his father in his memory. Like when she asked him if he wanted to go through the New York Times and look for mistakes, of course Oskar said no because that was something he did with his dad and it wouldn't be the same with his mother. Although Oskar doesn't want to move on because he thinks moving on is forgetting when in reality moving on is remembering but not letting those memories become the only thing you see. Also, when he says "if I could have chosen, I would have chosen you" to his mom it's hard to think of a reason why somebody would say those words aloud to their parent, even though he reverted it right after he said it, you still can't help but think 'why would you say that to someone, even if you mean it, to their face?' atleast I did. I'm sure eventually he'll see what his mother is doing for him, and since he's only 9, his actions are easily forgivable.