The Green Knight

Ok, time to do this thing.

1. Gwain is an epic hero because he goes off on a quest of honor and glory. He also deals with the supernatural (the Green Knight can talk even after beheading). His flaws come into play when he accidentally (or not, I can't tell) forgets to completely fulfill his covenant with the lord of the castle by keeping the girdle he had been given.

2. I don't think the Green Knight is totally good or evil. In my opinion, he represents a challenge that must be overcome.

3. The Green Knight may have an overall theme of rebirth which is represented in both his trademark color (new leaves on the trees, new flowers, etc.) and the date of his arrival (birth of the new year).

That's it.


Why so serious?

Look! A Distraction!

Avast, me mateys! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, arrr...

Ok, I can't do any more pirate-speak.

Nothing to do with English, this is just for fun.

The pirate name generator:

http://www.piratequiz.com/

Mad Jack Cash, signing off.

Yay, Pseudo-Vacation!

Just a few random things before all the job shadowing/college visiting craziness begins...

1. Have fun!

2. I love my brand new profile picture! (Yes, I'm a nerd, but come on! Giant robot rocking out!)

3. Carmen brought this up in the comments for my last post, but I am still on the constant watch for brand new, exciting quotes! Jake, this means you.

I go to Purdue tomorrow. YAY!

Back to the Blogosphere

OK, Beowulf discussion time.

Revenge shows up a lot in this book.

Examples:
1. Grendel: This guy (or thing) gets sick and tired of all the good times going on, so he later decides that a good way to resolve the situation is killing everybody he finds in the hall.
2. Grendel's Mother: Beowulf kills Grendel. Momma Grendel decides that revenge is the best course of action. Does not work.
3. The Dragon: Someone disturbs its treasure hoard. TIME TO BURN EVERYTHING!!!!!
4. Beowulf: Grendel's Mother kills one of Hrothgar's elite. Therefore, she must die. Later, the dragon burns much of Beowulf's country to the ground. The dragon must die.

Yeah. Kinda short, I know.

Discuss.

YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!

Ladies, gentlemen, faithful readers of my blog, and everybody else, as of 10:20-ish this evening, I AM DONE WITH CATCH-22!

I didn't like it. It is insane. 100% insane.

I made a previous blog entry explaining what the term "Catch-22" actually means, so if you are interested, go there. It is kinda important to note that in the final chapter, Yossarian (the main character) and one other character finally find a way to break out of the no-win situation. I'm not gonna spoil it, but I have to admit, the way that the other guy pulls it off is simply incredible.

4 books with blog entries? Check
Posts on at least 10 other people's blogs? Check.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Full Circle

Remember when I temporarily gave up on Catch-22 because I really, really hated it? Well, I've run out of other books to read. So now it's time for Catch-22, round deux. Everybody wish me luck. On the plus side, it's about half as long as Don Quixote, so I should be able to take this one down in about two or three days.

P.S. I pulled an all nighter because I wanted to get Don Quixote out of the way. I finished at 6:30 this morning. I got about two hours of sleep before church. I was pretty much a zombie until I got some lunch. Not fun, but on the plus side, I learned that the Olympics make great background noise when you are pulling a marathon reading session. DO NOT DO WHAT I DID.

P.P.S. Mrs. Paradise, what time are you at school this week? I want to have a quick talk about my papers.

Taking a Sledgehammer to the Fourth Wall

Ok, time to talk about Don Quixote. It's a good book, with my only major complaint being that everybody talks way too much. Having said that, I do realize that that is part of Mr. Quixote's knight persona.

But something really weird just happened.

First, I need to explain the concept of the fourth wall, just in case anybody doesn't understand the title of this entry.

The fourth wall is what separates the world of the story from the real world. In TV, movies, and video games, that wall is the screen. In literature, I think that the wall is the pages and covers of the book.

"Breaking" the fourth wall is when the boundary suddenly becomes much less clear. It arguably occurs the most often in TV and movies, when a character suddenly turns to the camera and directly addresses the audience.

Here's where Don Quixote gets weird. I've just started Part 2, which was published ten years after Part 1. In Part 1, other works by the author, Miguel de Cervantes, made brief, cameo-type appearances, such as one of his books being saved from a mass burning of Don Quixote's chivalry novels. However, very shortly into Part 2, things get really screwy, as it turns out that Part 1 ACTUALLY EXISTS WITHIN THE WORLD OF PART 2, and the characters of Part 2 are currently critiquing it, such as Don Quixote asking someone else if certain events are represented in the book, to which the answer is invariably yes. They even point out the completely random insertion of a short story that bore very little, if any at all, relation to the main plot. Their argument is exactly the same that I made when I got to that part. (Looking back, those were probably three chapters I could have safely skipped.)

It just doesn't seem right.

P.S. The title quote came from me. Keep sending me your quotes.

P.P.S. If there's anybody else who read Gulliver's Travels, could you please give me ideas for my paper? Please?

WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!!!!! GOODNIGHT!!!!

Finished reading Gulliver's Travels. If I had to give it a grade, it would be a C. The general plot of each of the four parts can be summed up by that pattern I set up in my last post. The only major deviations come in the last two voyages. (In part three, he doesn't tick anybody off! Except me, of course.)

On to Don Quixote!

Take your best shot at my title quote. It's from a cartoon from within the last five to seven years. And before anybody asks, it is actually related to my new book. Windmills definitely do not work the way Mr. Quixote thinks they do.

Must Go Faster!

After a lengthy hiatus (kinda), I AM BACK!!!

Ok, summer for me is simultaneously going too fast and too slow. Too fast because of the reading assignment and too slow because I'm stuck in the house every day, which really sucks.

I've actually finished one of my books. The Merchant of Venice was good. I actually liked it, and I would recommend it to others. Now I just need to figure out what to write about it. I'm not going to spoil the plot of the play. If you want to know what happens, read it!

I'm about halfway done with my next book, Gulliver's Travels, and I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not. I'm leaning toward no. It's divided up into four parts, and after reading the first two, I'm starting to detect a pattern. 1: Gulliver goes on a voyage. 2: Misfortune befalls the ship. 3: Gulliver ends up in a land where he is unique for some reason (in part one, everyone else is about 6 inches tall; in part two, everyone else is about 40 feet tall). 4: After some size-related misadventures, he gets in good with the ruling body of the land. 5: Gulliver finds some way to tick off said ruling body. 6: Gulliver escapes to sea and is found by sailors who doubt his story, but then Gulliver produces proof of his adventures. 7: Gulliver returns home.

Each part is good right up until he gets in good with the Emperor or King. Then the story becomes largely politics-driven and I start wishing they would just kill Gulliver, or do something to make the story start moving again.

Two more parts to go, then on to Don Quixote and Catch-22 (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!).

P.S. Once again, guess the title quote. It's from an early 90s Spielburg movie.

Uh Oh.

Yeah, you guys know how I mentioned that I might be getting Eagle rank soon?

Well, my board of review, aka a bunch of guys I don't know start trying to judge my character, is happening tonight... in about three hours. And I'm not sure if I've studied enough.

Crap.

I really mean it this time. Wish me luck.

P.S. Please note that I said "enough." I have been studying, so I'm not totally guilty of procrastination.

P.P.S. As always, keep sending me quotes! They're super cool! (Yeah, that was lame.)

We're Ready to Believe You!

OK, I do have an AP English-related post this time, but it's not about my books!

My dad and I were in Indianapolis because we were delivering my Eagle Scout application. After we were done with that, we went to the Art Museum, and we saw the original manuscript for Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I think old Jack might be insane. He taped a lot of pages together and typed up his book as one extremely long scroll. It's 119 feet long. Due to space concerns, they can only display 84 feet of it at one time. You can also see his corrections penciled in. Just thought that might be of interest to anyone who did Beat Generation for the Research Project of Death.

I may be getting my Eagle Scout board of review next week. Wish me luck.

That's all I've got.

P.S. Guess the title quote. It's from a late-80's movie. If you either didn't see this movie, or you didn't like it, then you have no soul. That's all I've got to say about it.

I'm Not Weird, I Just Don't Care Enough to Try to Be Normal

Title courtesy of Mrs. Paradise.

Jeez. Is there seriously something wrong with having 20+ comments on one post? But since certain people (Jake and Carmen) wanted it so much, here's a new post.

I'm not even trying to tie this to my books. So this time, let's try naming things that make zero sense, or that, in theory, shouldn't work at all, but are still pure awesomeness.

For my first entry, I give you: SWORD-CHUCKS.

See a picture here: http://www.zestuff.com/8bit/apparel/1393/

And keep giving me quotes. They're fun!

Next time, I'll try to make an entry that is AP English-centric.

P.S. Click on the "Zoom Front" button on that webpage to see the picture better.

This is good... isn't it?

OK, I am back from my vacation. Good times were had. Yay!

And now, to serious business. I'm making good progress in The Merchant of Venice. I'm at the start of Act 3, and it's looking like I can have the play done by tomorrow night. Now, I need to try to think of what to write about for my paper. Mrs. Paradise, any ideas without spoiling the ending too much?

The play isn't too hard to understand, in my opinion, which raises an interesting question: is there something wrong with understanding Shakespeare better than contemporary literature (i.e., Catch-22)?

And now for something completely different.

I'm going to reply to comments from my last post.

1. Mrs. Paradise: Thanks for agreeing with me, but you are making me wary of when I eventually go back and try reading it again. Also, thanks for the quote.

2. Carmen: The book really is annoying and confusing. I have to admit, part of the reason I picked it up in the first place is because I wanted to know just what "Catch-22" means. Now I know, and it makes me sad.

3. Jake: OK. I'm pretty sure it was about 11:00 P.M. when I wrote that thing. I wasn't kidding when I said my brain was hurting, so you'll forgive me for making a typo that the spell check wouldn't catch, even if I knew there was one (I only just saw it a few minutes ago.). Part of the reason I don't like 1984 is because it has one of the biggest downer endings ever. Thanks for the quote.

Just a couple more things:

1. I think I'll start using your quotes next time. This one was on my mind for a while. Bonus points if you know where it's from. Here's a hint: it's fairly recent, and it's somebody's last words.

2. I've got a Simpsons DVD on. The episode is "Marge Be Not Proud." There's something wrong with seeing Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Sonic the Hedgehog telling Bart to shoplift. (Sonic: "Just TAKE IT! TakeittakeittakeittakeitTAKE IT!!!!!")

Until next time.

Failure is the Only Option (For Now, at Least)

OK, Paradise wants us to blog about our books. So here I go.

I don't think I like Catch-22. So I'm going to stop with it for now and move on to the next book, or in this case, play, since I've decided to start reading The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. I've read a few pages of it so far, and I think I'm going to do better with this one.

But just so my time with Catch-22 isn't a total waste, here's some of the plot I got from it, and some of the things that drove me to (temporarily) give up on it.

1. The setting is a fictional island in Europe (I think) where WWII is in full swing. Yossarian, the main character, serves as his plane's navigator (He is part of a bomber squadron). He thinks everybody is trying to kill him, which makes him call for crazy maneuvers to avoid danger while out on his missions. He also avoids combat as often as possible by checking into the hospital with mysterious (usually made up) symptoms.

2. Catch-22 is a really messed up military policy that results in a no-win situation for the affected party. Here's how it works. One of the ways Yossarian tries to get sent home is by claiming he is not mentally fit to be flying missions with the squad. Catch-22 takes effect: Only a crazy man would keep risking his life on his missions, and a crazy man should be grounded. BUT if he shows concern for his health by asking to be grounded (under the grounds that he is crazy), that concern shows that he is sane, and as a result, he's got to keep flying missions. In short, Yossarian's screwed, thanks to CIRCULAR LOGIC.

Note: I think half my brain cells just died typing that last one.

Now let's get to why I'm switching books.

1. EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK IS INSANE! (See #2 above)

2. There's way too much contradiction going on in the dialogue and in the narration. If you read this and three pages pass without a single contradiction or deja-vu, check the front cover, 'cause you ain't reading Catch-22.

3. The book moves at a snail's pace. Or maybe I'm just too impatient. I don't care which.

Having said that, the book is interesting, and trust me, I will try to read it before the end of the summer. Seriously.

OK, my brain hurts, I'm ending this thing.

P.S. This may sound weird, but I want the titles of my blog entries to be interesting. They don't have to even relate to the actual entry. It's more fun that way. So, if you have an idea for a title, or if you just want to say high, just type it in the comments section. If I pick your title, and I actually remember to do so, I'll give you credit somewhere in the entry. Have fun with this!

P.P.S. If you have a title, just make sure it's PG-13 or lower.

P.P.P.S. Wow, I wrote a lot....

Everybody, It's The Moment You've All Been Waiting For!

Ha ha, not really.

So, I'm here at my grandparents' house. YAY VACATION!

I didn't apply to too many different places, but it looks like I'm going jobless this summer. Even the Clayton Library doesn't want me (que sad violin music).

I got my Eagle Scout project signed off this morning. I'm almost done with Scouts! I can gladly say that this is one thing I did that my brother did not. (The other advantage I have over him is my mad gaming skillz.)

This is J-Cat, signing off.

(P.S. : Mrs. Paradise, could I please be added to the list of class blogs on your page? Thanks!)

My First Post

Hey everybody.

Sorry it took so long for me to get this up.

I've started reading Catch-22. It's really.... something.

Lots of contradictions. I'm still trying to figure out if I like this book or not.

Going on vacation for a week (or more, I don't know yet).

Bye, everybody!

J-Cat (Jacob Catlin, if you hadn't already figured that out)