My in-depth question that I think everyone should be able to think about is why do you think that Thomas Hardy ended the story the way he did? It seemed like Clym and Eustacia would live happily ever after but then Eustacia dies and Thomasin ends up happily ever after with Diggory. Do you think it’s fair that Thomasin, a less important character than Clym ends up happy in the end? At the end of the story, Clym ends up a preacher to the peasants in town and Thomasin ends up marrying Diggory.

I noticed that before Diggory and Thomasin got together, Clym and Thomasin barely communicated. But when Clym realized that his mother’s wish for Thomasin was not to be married to Diggory, Clym asks Thomasin if she will marry him…………….ew! They are relatives!!! That is nasty…I’m sorry. But Clym had not right to ask Thomasin to marry him out of the wishes of his mother. First of all, that put Thomasin in a very awkward position and Clym has no right to tell Thomasin she can’t be with Diggory due to their mother’s wishes because HE didn’t listen to his mother when she told him not to be with Eustacia. What do you think of that situation? Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

~Laurisa

Last Post!!

Ok, so I have two connections. They’re basically both about Catherine’s death, but in different ways.

The first is when she dies during childbirth. I connected it to the special on Discovery Health Channel called Birth Day. Even though I’ve never seen an episode where the mother dies, most of the births are high-risk and extremely dangerous, both for the mom and the baby.

The second is about the movie Jack Frost. When Heathcliff cursed Catherine for leaving him, he also told her to come back, even if it means putting himself in total agony, just to be with him. In the movie, Jack comes back to have a second chance. The thing that really doesn’t fit is the fact that he’s a snowman. But oh well.

There you go! Any opinions?

LAST BLOG!!

Alright, the character I am going to focus on first is Sydney Carton; this man has changed the most out of all the characters in the story.  Carton use to be rude to and jealous of Darnay and Lucie, He loved Lucie even though he couldn’t have her, and he ends of dying for her happiness.  When Carton first comes back into the story in book three he doesn’t want to see Lucie, he doesn’t want emotions to form and something bad to happen between them. 

-If Carton would have seen Lucie the first day he came back what do you think would have happened, would of it been a good or bad occasion?

I think Carton felt like he owed something to Lucie and Darnay because why else would he have saved Darnay from the guillotine?  Overall I was very impressed with Sydney Carton at the end of A Tale of Two Cities.

The next character I would like to talk about is Lucie Manette.  We got to see how much love she had for her husband in book 3 when she would stand outside his prison everyday from 2-4 p.m. even though she couldn’t see him but there was a chance he could see her.  Yes, it is a very “lovey dovey” situation and a bit funny but I think their love is what the story needed to bring everything to together in the end.

-What do you think Charles Dickens message was, if any, when he wrote this story? 

Was it Charles Darnay who buried the shoemaking tools in the garden or was it Mr. Lorry, because at the end of the book after Charles is taken prisoner again Dr. Manette starts to get a bit crazed because he cannot find his shoemaking tools and bench.  His tools and bench were definitely a comfort to him when he had tough times.

-Sydney Carton- Bad guy to good guy dies for Charles Darnay and Lucie’s happiness, a true hero.

-Lucie Manette- Loving wife and caring mother

-Dr. Manette- Great guy who would help a friend in need, loves making shoes when he is stressed.

-Mr. Lorry- Loyal friend

-Madame Defarge- Evil spy, DEAD!

-Miss Pross- good friend, DEAF!

And can we get some discussion going, please?

Great job guys! =]

In Chapter 13 several things happen. The social worker, Cynthia, finds out that Taylor isn’t really the parent or adoptive parent of Turtle. Because she found this out, Cynthia wants to take Turtle from Taylor and give her to the state. This makes Taylor rather upset. Also, during this chapter, Mattie is trying to get Esperanza and Estevan out of the state because they are illegal immigrants. Throughout this chapter Taylor is trying to find a way around the law, why do you think that she is so intent of finding a way around the law instead of dealing with the law and trying to compromise with the state?

In chapter 14 Taylor takes a ‘road trip’ with Turtle, Esperanza and Estevan. They are trying to get Esperanza and Estevan to their new homes and they are trying to find Turtle’s real parents. In order to find her real parents they have to find the Cherokee nation or tribe. This is proving difficult because Taylor has no idea where they are at until the owner of a bar tells her that they like to reside in the Ozark Mts. What if Taylor can’t find Turtle’s parents? Will she willingly give up and give her to the state or will she try to keep her or at least find her a good and stable home?

In chapter 15 they find the Cherokee nation. Also in this chapter, Taylor starts to realize how much she will miss the one she fell in love with, Estevan. She doesn’t want him to leave and when she makes a wish she wishes that she could have Estevan and Turtle. This seems to be an outrageous wish because she only has a chance at getting Turtle, and even that is slim. Also in this chapter Taylor realizes that Turtle’s real mom is in fact dead. She realizes this when Turtle keeps trying to bury her doll and says mama when she does it. Taylor also asks a favor of Esperanza and Estevan in the end of this chapter.

In chapter 16 something very important happens. The favor that Taylor asks of them was that they pose as Turtle’s real parents and then sign the papers allowing her to be adopted by Taylor. This plan works perfectly when they are actually going through with it. Esperanza and Estevan acted like the parents and they signed the papers, now Taylor can be the adopted mom of Turtle. During this ordeal, Esperanza becomes rather emotional. Why do you think she became this emotional when Turtle wasn’t here real daughter?

In chapter 17, the last chapter, Taylor and Turtle are officially mother and daughter. Before they return home though, they have to take Esperanza and Estevan to a safe place because they are illegal immigrants. They take them to a church. Taylor is sad because she lost Estevan whom she refers to as her one love. Also in this chapter, Taylor renames Turtle to April Turtle Greer. In the very end Turtle and Taylor return to Tucson as mother and daughter.

Hey group! Before I get into my questions for you I have to say something.  Try to respond to this post before you get to the end of the book.  If you are reading this, and have already finished the book answer like you would have if you had not.  This is the final War of the Worlds post! wahoo!

Alright, between the pages of 123 and 134 the author describes the martians in very specific details.  Some of the items described are their appearance,  their armor and hoods,  their internal organs, how they are immune to disease, and the great contraptions they are building .  Here is one of the better quotes used in this section:

“Their conceptions of ornament and decorum were necessarily different from ours; and not only were they evidently much less sensible of changes of temperature than we are, but changes of pressure do not seem to have affected their health at all seriously.  Yet though they wore no clothing, it was in the other artificial additions to their bodily resources that their great superiority over man lay.  We men… are just in the beginning of the evolution that the Martians have worked out.   They have become practically mere brains, wearing different bodies according to their needs, just as men wear suits of clothing and take a bicycle in a hurry or an umbrella in the wet.”  (129)

There are many reasons the author might have for including all of this information in the book.  First, the author might be including this information to simply inform the reader more about the aliens.  Up to this point in the book we were not given a very detailed description of them.  It could also be to show how fearful the humans are of the Martians because of all their advances.  If being attacked by a much more advanced creature most people would hopefully be terrified.  Finally, the reason the author might include this to explain how much of a loss the humans are at when fighting the aliens.  Obviously the Martians have an advantage over them.   The reason of doing this might to either make the humans struggle seem absolutely impossible and great a great ending to the book or it might be used to explain their failures.

So,  what I want you to do is tell me why you think the author included these 11 pages in the book to describe the Martians.  You may use my ideas, but please expand on them.  Also, feel free to state your own original ideas.  Use support from the book to show your view, and even quotes if you think it is needed. Have fun!

~Erin C. =)

Okay well, I’m not very good at connecting stuff, because they’re never in-depth connections, so beware Mr. Shank. I guess since this is the last post till Anil’s (anal’s?) Ghost, will make this post yellow and pink honor of Spongebob and Patrick. Btw, I’m watching Spongebob right now, it’s the one when Patrick gets a nose.

Onto the blog. I thought it was pretty funny when Diggory found the glove that belonged to Thomasin. It sounds exactly like Cinderella. Before she became rich and famous and in love, Cinderella was a girl that was treated unfairly and very unhappy. Thomasin was very unhappy at this point in the story because she had just lost her husband when he died in the dam thing. Diggory, whom she has growing feelings for, holds a dance for the heath, in which Thomasin attends. Just like in Cinderella, there is a dance, or in Cinderella’s case, a ball.  After the ball, Cinderella has to be home at a certain time. She is in such a hurry that she loses her glass slipper and Prince (Charming?) finds it. Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve watched Cinderella. Anyway, Thomasin loses her glove at the dance. She sees Diggory outside waiting for a girl who has lost her glove. Thomasin thinks it’s outrageous that he would wait around for hours just for a girl that lost her glove. It turns out that the glove is her’s. In Cinderella, she thinks it is outrageous that the Prince is searching all over the town just for the perfect girl that fits in that perfect glass slipper. When the prince finally finds the girl that perfectl fits into the the slipper, they fall in love a live happily ever after. In Return of the Native, Thomasin and Diggory fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after in the heath. I’m pretty sure this book was written before Cinderella came out, but I thought it was a cute connection.

Now a wonderful question. This story is a Cinerella story for Thomasin and Diggory, but what about Clym? He was loyal the whole story, but he ends up very unhappy. Would yo have changed the ending to this story? Who would you have matched up whom?

PEACE! Until Anil.

YAY! Were finally done!!!!!!!!!!

We can all agree that the humans of Earth are inferior to the martians being able to fly.  That is one of the most frightening part about the martians. H.G. Wells giving them the ability to fly spread their dominance around the globe. When this story took place humans could not fly,but as of today humans can fly anywhere thanks to the Wright Brother being able to obtain liftoff in North Carolina in 1903.

 

Another way the martians had dominance over the people of Earth was that they could travel through space. Wells describes space travel by a canister being shot to Earth like a bullet from a gun. When this story took place Earth could not travel through space. Today we understand the principals of rockets so that we can explore our solar system.

 In chapter 8 it talks about them being the Angel of Death. Another Angel of Death was Dr. Mengele who worked as a doctor in concentration camps. Both killed numerous people.

Is the ending of the book, in which the Martians are destroyed by microbes and chased down by packs of dogs, a letdown? Can you think of a better ending?

 

~Amber!

LAST BLOG!

This does not really have anything to do with my position as connector, but I would like to point something out. Does it not seem that by the end of the story Carton is portrayed to be more of a central character than any of the other main characters? Throughout the story we could only really get into Lucie’s, Lorry’s, the Doctor’s and a few others thoughts. But now at the end of the story, we got inside Carton’s head and were able to see what he was thinking.

Anyway, now to be the connector. In a very distant way, because we all know that this story’s events were no way near as significant… the sacrafice that Carton made for Lucie, Darnay, Dr. Manette and Lorry could somewhat be related to the sacrafice that Jesus Christ had made on the cross for everyone in the world. Throughout Jesus’ time spent human on earth, he taught people of God and guided them in the correct direction to eventually get to heaven. Even though Carton may have not seemed like a huge main character, he was still there to help and enfluence people. And lastly, when Jesus had died and sacraficed himself for us on the cross, this is similar to Carton disguising himself and then sacrificing himself to save Lucie, Darnay, the doctor and Lorry. Do you agree with me? (Or laugh at me, haha) Can any of you think of another way that the two are similar?

Hope you guys enjoyed this book as much as I did………………………………

-Leah Sevco

We have to look at a different character each time, and seeing as Thomasin and Clym were already taken, I will look at Eustacia.

In this section, Eustacia inadvertantley kills Mrs. Yeobright.  Instead of coming out and admitting her mistake, she chooses to keep it to herself.  This shows us how dishonest Eustacia really is.  She would rather force Clym to suffer the thought of having killed his mother than confess.  When Clym finds out on his own what Eustacia did, their is a fallout.  Eustacia leaves Clym, and returns to live at her former house.  (Interestingly, in the movie, it is Clym who leaves to go live with Thomasin, not Eustacia.)  Eustacia continues to live without Clym, but begins to see Damon.  Damon promises her a life of adventure, more than what Clym gave her.  Eustacia, still unsure if she loves Damon, agrees to allow him to take her part way to Paris.  The night they are meant to leave, Eustacia falls into a River/Stream.  Seeing his love in distress, Damon Follows her.  Diggory Venn and Clym also arrive on the scene and try to help.  Unfortunately, Eustacia and Damon both drown.

This section show a lot about Eustacia’s character.  She doesn’t care about other people.  She just wants to be living the high life, in a city somewhere.  She is so blinded by her wants, that she doesn’t see what the people around her are sacrificing. (Clym, for example.)  Eustacia, throughout the entire book, was snobbish.  The book ends with the same conclusion.

My question is why do you think Clym still loved Eustacia even though he knew that she was taking advantage of him?

Brian Wawrzyniak

“‘Five paces by four and a half, five paces by four and a half, five paces by four and a half. He made shoes, he made shoes, he made shoes. The ghosts that vanished when the wicket closed. There was one among them, the appearance of a lady dressed in black, who was leaning in the embrasure of a window, and she had a light shining upon her golden hair, and she looked like…Let us ride on again, for God’s sake, through the illuminated villages with the people all awake!…He made shoes, he made shoes, he made shoes…..Five paces by four and a half.’” Book 3, Chapter 1, pg. 199

This first quote I picked, because it seems to me to be at almost the meat of all the action.  But also it seems as Darnay is talking about Dr.Manette.  If so, why do you guys think so?  Also I’m not understanding why he is in a prison cell either.  Does anyone of you guys know?

I think that he i stalking about Dr.Manette because he is worried about Lucie.  If he were not to return for a long period of time they would be close, and that could possibly leave him out of the picture.  The only thing I get from him being in a cell, is for his treason case.  But to me I thought that was over and he was free.  What do you guys think of the prisoning of Darnay?

“I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.” Book 3, Chapter 9, pg. 244

This seems to be said by Darnay.But the thing about this is the resurrection of life.  Why would he say that?  Also it connects back to the beginning of the book with the title of Recalled to life, is this a coincidence?

I think he says this, because he is not guilty.  So he is saying that the Lord believes in him, so whoever else believes in him will live forever.  Which cannot happen, so he is saying that they will live a nice, happy life because they did not kill an innocent man.  They would have made a good deed.  What do you guys think of this idea?

“‘It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.’” Book 3, Chapter 15, pg. 293

This quote is said by the Darnay in his head.  It is when he is explaining all of the people in the courtroom.  I don’t really understand it as well as I think I should, but what do you guys think it means?  Is he basically giving up hope?

I think that the quote means that he is giving up all hope, because another thought was that to tell the children my story.  I think that he going to be convicted, but at this point you never know, as that was the last sentence of the book.  Do you guys think I am right?

As the last question from this book, what was the meaning that you got that Charles was trying to put out?

I think that he wanted to inform us of how bad the times were back then, and how being found guilty can lose all hope in a mans life.  Also I think that he wanted to show us what true love is, and how there is always true happiness out there, just as Lucie found her father.  Explain your thoughts.

-Alex