Temorary love (Winter Poem)

Phenomenon of JD Salinger & The Catcher in the Rye.

The author of a 65 million sold copies of one of his most famous books, The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger makes the decision to run from it all. Well, at least the fame and not so much the $$$$$$$ lol.He left because the success of his book was overwhelming and he really wasn't ready for it at the rapid speed it came from in my opinion. "I'm so sorry you've come so far but, as you will know, my husband is someone who values his privacy," says the wife of Salinger to a reporter from Spector name Leonard. It makes perfect sense to me as of why he doesn't want media taking over all of the little bit of privacy he does have (at home). On the other hand, I'm not so sure about the disappearance in the public eye completely and turning anti-social when everyone just wants to credit him for a great contribution to the world through writing and his own personal accomplishments. Moreover,• The catcher in the rye was a lot more fascinating during the 1950s and has dramatically changed over the years differently in many people eyes. In 1950s, teens were a lot more rebellious and dealing with post-war stress. Some people, mostly parents think it’s unappropiate for teens in highschool and has been banned because of that. However, schools that continue to teach have realized and noticed the awesome literature JD Salinger intells.
"I connected to this book in the sense that my way of thinking is the same as Holden. Yes, he is selfish and a madman. Is this bad? It is not for us to say. It has been benifitial to me and everyone around me that i love. Holden is a fictional character that represents what many of us have gone through, and is the manifestation of what just a few of us have gone through. Parents, love it or hate it this book depicts the truth going on around our world. You of all people should know that this vulgar language is only as bad as we make it. It is in every day life, and honestly its not that big a deal.Neither is sexuality. Its not so much the age of the kid as much as it is the moral values, intelligence and manor to which the child has been raised. If the child has been raised in a non tolerant household that fluffs up the real world, of course the child is going to be disturbed by this. and kids, teens, whatever, please read this book. hell, you might not make the least bit connection with it but it is a very real statement and your first insight of the truth. "

This is a discussion about the negativity parents and others in authorities having been giving this book instead of at least crediting the author for the overall concept/message. “All I did was, I got up and went over and looked out the window. I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.” Both boys are motivated to consider suicide by a feeling of intense loneliness. This suggests that Huck and Holden not only wish to escape the constricting, corrupting influence of civilization as they perceive it, but also to discover some unprecedented form of community or intimacy that the prevailing social order has denied them.

Holden

Holden? Hmmmmm..CHILDLIKE much?
Describing Holden and what I truly think of him can't be told one word and not even a few,but I'll try my best.
Holden Caulfield is a terribly disillusioned teenager who is disgusted with the adult world he sees around him. His plan to run away from school is the result of his desperation to escape the realities of his oncoming adulthood. Through the innocence of his youth Holden views the world as hypocritical and corrupt. His fondest memories are of playing checkers with Jane Gallagher and dancing with his sister Phoebe. Among his many cynical views is his attitude about sex. He is disgusted that people can have sex casually rather than it being an expression of love. He is traumatized when he perceives that people are ruining his sense of purity and righteousness. An example is his hatred of the profanity used in graffiti, most especially when it’s within the view of young children. Holden fools himself into believing that he can stay young forever and his attempt at running is his means of doing so. He has temper tantrums, he smokes in his dorm room even though he knows it is against the rules. He doesn't study. He likes to sit and pretend he cannot see, and calls to his mom for a joke. He does this to annoy Ackley, and he says he does childish games like this all the time for his own amusement.I'd say he is disrespectful to his roommate, and neighbors his dorm building. He starts a fight with his roommate over a childish crush he has on an old female friend and neighbor. He rides ackley about how his roommate was right in saying he does not brush his teeth.

“I took my old hunting hat out of my pocket while I walked and put it on. I knew I wouldn’t meet anybody that knew me, and it was pretty damp out” (Holden Caulfield – CITR). Holden’s red hunting hat from the book Catcher In The Rye, is one of the most recognizable symbols from twentieth-century American literature. It represents his individuality and need for security, while also representing his mixed emotions on acceptance, alienation, conformity.Holden's red hunting hat appears frequently throughout the book but one of the most significant appearances is in chapter 13.Honestly, I could go on and on about him,but overall, I must say Holden represents an average teen of his decade that is put in similar situations with the same reactions.Period.

My red Hunting Hat

In my personal opinion, the red hunting hat is a way of Holden expressing his freedom and voice. This one is open to interpretation. I always saw it as a symbol of Holden's identity. It's a bit strange and out of place, as is Holden. It's something he hides behind, choosing to wear it at times when he doesn't care how he looks. He often hides behind fake identities in the novel.Some draw a connection between the hat and his brother Allie, because Allie had such bright red hair. Maybe a way to hang on to his memory, with the hat?? I think there's definitely significance to Phoebe wearing the hat toward the end of the book. When Holden sees her walking toward him, wearing his hat and carrying his suitcase, it makes him realize Phoebe is following directly in his footsteps. This is what makes him change his mind about running away from home.

The first time we read The Catcher in the Rye, we noticed that this red hat kept cropping up, but actually, we didn't really know what to do with it. At first it just seemed a little ridiculous. After all, Holden just berated Mr. Spencer for being the kind of old guy that "can get a big bang out of buying a [Navajo] blanket," and here he is a few chapters later admitting that he himself gets "a big bang out of that hat." At least on this level, the hat hints that Holden has the same characteristics he judges in others. But at this point, that's not really news to us. There's definitely more hidden in this hat.Then we had to look at certain specific key passages, starting with the first time we see the hat. Holden tells us (towards the beginning of Chapter Three) that he bought the hat in New York that morning after he left all the fencing equipment on the subway and pissed off the entire team. So we know he's feeling particularly vulnerable at the time, though Holden would never admit to such a state as vulnerability.Overall, the red hunting hat has endless possibilites of purpose.

A. Literature's RIGHT TURN----->

So far, I am rather comfortable with the direction of the classroom. The workload isn't overwhelming nor less productive in my eyes. Along with are awesome discussions we have almost everyday are the best. This class in particular has challenged my mind in a way that I haven't been challenged in a long time. Instead of just asking questions regarding the textbook course, we discuss and are questions related to life as we know it today which I for one believe is a excellant excercise for teens our age. It gives me this feeling of expression. Even though I don't say as much as I would like in and during the class period, my mind wonders and thinks about so many things to say and "what ifs" as others speak their opinion around me. Not to mention the fantastic sense of humor we have every now and then,the best. However, I think the class could become more in depth by having an exercise that allows everyone to speak their mind (even bashful people like me) through having a mandatory word input session and not just those who volunteer their opinions. Indeed, we have a very small class population that sets us apart from most other periods, but that lack of people in our presence should be the main reason why "all" of us share even more:)

I'm Thankful for...

The person that I'm most thankful for in my American Literature classroom is...Ane King. Over the past few months, I really didn't know anyone and was very timid and shy about sharing things with people within several of my classes. Eventually though, conversations had began to spark more and more the day I made the decision to open myself a little more after realizing what great personalities I could be missing out on from getting to know. That is when I discovered how Ane and I have so much in common. We even have the 5th period lunch together which is pretty cool. She's been there to talk to about homework advice, general advice, laughs/jokes, and just girl talk overall lol. I hope that Ane and I continue to have an awesome friendship throughout the years. If I could use one phrase to describe Ane in my opinion is without a doubt "down to earth". She's really easy to talk to and is just hilarious at times. Not to mention how great of a dancer she is (there's no doubt in my mind that she will successfully pursue her dreams and be rewarded for the greatness she's bound to achieve)."Dance isn't a form it's a way of life."
"We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams."
"Whatever you want to do, do it. There are only so many tomorrows"
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" ~Albert Einstein
"To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking." ~Agnes De Mille
"If dancing were any easier it would be called football." ~anonymous
"Quitters never win and winners never quit." ~anonymous
"Try to be fearless, because fear can inhibit you and keep you from a life." --Best of Luck:)

Dear Charles Bukowski...

Oddly enough, your end results of mankind isn't strange and unrealistic at all. It's a possibitlity and that's enough. Honestly, if I were to guess/predict the idea of where you were going with the word choice you used in your lyrics, I would say how you definitely wanted to get people's attention with dramatic yet realistic potential to be the way we view our world in the near future. I agree with you however, in my opinion I see it as a generalization and just simply further analysis of conclusions from what we are already slowly,but surely experiencing now. "Radiated men" could be the conclusion of a nuclear war, "a bag boy with a college degree" can represent the recession amongst us fellow Americans, and so on. Moreover, I admire your work and courage for being able to speak about something that seems so many have purposely overlooked because of their own "close-mindedness".
The poem seems to take place in many different time periods - present, past and future. You address the futility of government and education in the first section “As political landscapes dissolve / As the supermarket bag boy holds a college degree / As the oily fish spit out their oily prey / As the sun is masked” The beginning of the poem seems to detail how the end begins. The downfall of political power, the uselessness of education and extreme pollution are all things that have been topics in dystopian literature. In this poem, Bukowski sets it in the present in order to drive in the fact that we, as we are, function within a dystopian setting. A real live 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451. Although he does not go into detail of the cause of the downfall, one can relate his tone to just a general feeling of misanthropy towards humankind. He conveys a feeling of negativity harbored towards people in general, possibly believing that their inherent flaws have always caused this world to be a dystopia.
You conclude the poem by stating blatantly that the cycle is doomed to be repeated, whether it be by humans or another society of beings. He alludes to some sort of solace found in the aftermath of man’s self-created decimation in the final few lines of the poem; “And there will be the most beautiful silence never heard / Born out of that / The sun still hidden there / Awaiting the next chapter.” The circle of life and optimism are crushed by Bukowski’s blatant pessimism throughout this poem and his idea of, essentially, a cycle of destruction. The self-perpetuating, inherited flaw that mankind possesses creates his own destruction. The poem conveys an overall theme of helplessness, and the hopelessness of life itself – all qualities that are most certainly depicted in all novels.
--Lovely :)

Father and Son(Author Comparison)

In many literary works, family relationships are the key to the plot. Through a family's interaction with one another, the reader is able decipher the conflicts of the story. Within a literary family, various characters play different roles in each other's lives. These are usually people that are emotionally and physically connected in one way or another. They can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or in this case, father and son. In the Arthur Miller's novel, Death of A Salesman, the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Happy and Biff, allows Miller to comment on father-son relationships and the conflicts that arise from them.However in the story were currently reading in my class called "The Crucible" by McCarthy has a strong yet distant relationship between the boy and his father mentally/verbally during such a time.

During most father-son relationships, there are certain times where the father wants to become more of a "player" in his son's life than his son believes is necessary. The reasons for this are numerous and can be demonstrated in different ways. Miller is able to give an example of this behavior through the actions of Willy Loman. When Biff comes home to recollect himself, Willy perceives it as failure. Since Willy desperately wants his oldest son, Biff, to succeed in every way possible, he tries to take matters into his own hands. "I'll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time". The reason that Biff came home is to find out what he wants in life. Because Willy gets in the way, matters become more complicated. Partly due to Willy's persistence in Biff's life, they have conflicting ideas as to what the American dream is. Willy believes that working on the road by selling is the greatest job a man could have. Biff, however, feels the most inspiring job a man could have is working outdoors. When their two dreams collide, it becomes frustrating to Willy because he believes that his way is the right way. If a father becomes too involved in his son's life, Miller believes friction will be the resultant factor.

John Proctor- HERO or STOOGE?!?

John Proctor - hero or not? Hero all the way! I think John is the most straight-forward person in the whole "Crucible". Even though it's hard to live and work well in a community where everyone is believing something opposite, John Proctor accomplishes it. He doesn't care much for other people's beliefs in witchcraft and all that crazy sorts of stuff. For him, witches, trials, accusations, and all that jazz is fake. Since he doesn't fall under the spell that all this stuff actually exists, his ways of thinking are normal and realistic. Back in the days, people in Salem were psychotic and believed anything that had to do with witchcraft. John Proctor is a hero by not following others, but leading himself in the right direction. I think John Proctor would not be a hero if he participated in all the cheats and lies that go around Salem. People are at fault, they turn themselves in, but blame it on other people that may seem believable. Proctor, unlike Reverend Parris, is trustworthy and I think he knows how to handle sticky situations. The only fishy thing about John Proctor is his relationship with Elizabeth and affair with Abigail. He is married to one woman, Elizabeth, who he claims he loves. On the other hand, he still feels something for his former love, Abigail. Proctor tells her that he doesn't love her anymore, but then she questions him. Since he is not the kind of guy that would really lie, he just gave her tiny hints. For example, she asked if John Proctor ever thinks about her. John at first told her no, but then gave in and said he thinks of Abigail from time to time. Other than his relationship status, I definitely think he is in the hero zone.

Getting to know me:)

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Amber Murdock,age 15,and I attend Whitney Young highschool.Adjusting to highschool my freshmen year was difficult(and scary 0__0),but now that I'm a sophomore I plan to lead by example for 9th graders now. Yes, I have a little bit of a confession to make. This is in fact my FIRST blog ever. It reminds me of the diary I had written in at the age of 7 and clandestinely hid under my bed(which was the safest place in the world to me at the time. When it comes to describing my personal traits, hobbies, and abilities, the word "well-rounded" comes to mind.

In this world, I don't see myself growing up doing one thing in life. Maybe it's because I have yet to commit to something fully. I am a multi-tasker and "3-dimensional" kind of person. On top of doing everything, I'm young and ambitious leader who desires a career path of becoming a successful entrepeneur in real estate, fashion, and filing the shoes of my parents owned and well established bussinesses.

Exploring the fields of entrepeneurship is highly important to me. Mainly because of the interesting skills that are developed overtime. James Matthew Barrie once said, "Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else." With that being said, the future for me always consist of more than one possibilty and end.

Some of my most valued personal interest include:modeling, singing, learning foreign languages, changing the world through teaching on a daily basis, telling the cure for cancer, becoming an activist as well as civil rights advocate, and growing a family generated garden. My favorite number is 7 because it reminds me of completion.On the other hand,things I'm passionate about that aren't as similar are: Sewing, playing basketball, dancing, and cooking. Oh, and I <3 fresh pineapples:)