Mr_Shank

Sofar we have read about 2 main characters: Colonel Behrani and Kathy Nicolo.

Colonel Behrani: He was a once wealthy man, who is now nearly broke. He works two jobs, one as a freeway clean up worker, and another working in a convenient store. Even though he has little money, him, his wife, and his son still live in an upper class type house, just to keep up their appearance. He is not worried about his daughter because she is married into a good family. One day he takes off of work to go to a house action he saw in the paper. He goes prepared with a check to buy the house. Heout bids the other person at the auction and gets the house. When he goes home he tries to tell his wife about the hosue , but she doesn’t  want to listen to him. It seems like their relationship is a bit tense. He tells his son about the house, but he doesn’t seemed that happy either. He would rather stay there. After buying the house Behrani quits his job on the freeway.

Kathy Nicolo: So far we have learned that he husband has left her, and she is being evicted from her home. She inherited that house from her father, who has passes away. The house was already paid for, and she legally owned it, but the county officials are evicting her saying that she hasn’t been paying taxes from a home business. The thing is that her and her husband never had a home business, and she has already gone in and signed a paper stating that. She has also been throwing away mail from the county officials. In these letters it was telling her that her house was going up for auction. Now she is staying at a motel, and she has a lawyer who is trying to get her house back for her.

So far we have learned about these two people, but why they are both in this one story was unclear at first, until we learn that the house that the colonel bought is the house that Kathy got evicted from. Now this could happen to anyone, but the colonel did want to move into a more modest home until their financial state was secure.

Do you think that in anyway the colonel could have planned for Kathy to be evicted from her home so him and his family could move in?

Do you think that it is a coincidence that Kathy got evicted around the time when the colonel wanted to find a more reasonable home?

Do you think that the county’s choice was a fair choice to evict Kathy fro  her home?

Do you think that even with the colonel’s financial situation he should worry about what other people think of him, because it says that on his way home from the freeway cleanup he has to duck down so people from his building will not see him?

Okay this is gonna be pretty short because we only read 2 chapters.

Chapter 1:

In this chapter we meet the narrator, who is a man named Nick Carraway. He starts out by describing himself, saying that he is very moral and tries not to judge people. Nick has just moved to West Egg, one of the richest parts of New York. Gatsby, the hero of the story, lives right next door to Nick, who has lots of connections in East Egg. This is the more social of the Eggs. Nick goes to East Egg to have an awkward dinner with his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. Daisy’s friend Jordan is there and Daisy and Tom hint that they want Nick to like her.

Chapter 2:

In this chapter Tom and Nick are riding a train into the city and they cross the valley where New York’s ashes are dumped. Tom makes Nick get out at one of the stops and the two go to George Wilson’s house. George is the husband of Myrtle, the woman Tom is having an affair with. The men take Myrtle with them on the train and then the three go to a party in the city. The people there are drinking heavily and are very obnoxious. Nick doesn’t like it and wants to leave. Myrtle grows increasingly obnoxious and starts talking about Tom’s wife, ignoring his warnings to stop. Tom ends up breaking her nose and abruptly ending the party.

Words:

Levity-This means lack of seriousness, or being lighthearted.

Privy- When you participate in something secret.

Pathfinder- This is an original settler.

-Alyssa![:

Through out this book I will follow Daisy and see how she changes through out the story.  Just a reminder that we only read the first two chapters and Daisy was only in the first chapter so this post may be short.

So far we know that Daisy is Nick’s (who is the narrator and also lives next to Jay Gatsby) cousin.  She is married to Tom Buchanan and lives in New York.  We also know that there is the rumor of her husband having another woman on the side.  Yet Daisy doesn’t seem to be upset about this.  We can tell by this chapter that Daisy is very independent.  She doesn’t let things upset her such as the rumor of her husband having and affair.  She seems well educated and also by her description she is beautiful.  My question for this week is:  What is your first impression of Daisy?  Do you like or dislike her, why or why not?  As a prediction do you think Daisy will change through out the story and if so how?  Enjoy!

~Lauren Gress~

Anil had a had a very different kind of life growing up. She was treated very strictly and had a regimented lifestyle. Even as an adult she seems cold and unmotivated.

So why is it that when she realized that the one body she found was murdered was she so intent on bringing the killer to justice?

Also, why is Anil so suspicious of Sarath?

He seems like he only wants to help her and hasn’t given her a reason to not trust him.
Adam Elizabeth Higgins Berkshire Lough

P.S. I wrote this blog after I came home from a long day of work and after a school sport and before i had to participate in the very time consuming and preplanned activities of my Friday night. Therefore i propose that the blogging dates should go until Saturday morning, there is hardly anything planned on then and they were much easier to do.  Thank you for your consideration.

Adam Lough

Edit-

Guys-still Tag your posts ROTN so that they are easier to find. Brian will tag everyone’s this time.

            First off, I want to say that I had my doubts (and still do, to an extent) about reading the book Dracula. I will stop complaining to you Brandon, at least refraining from complaining about this book. Other matters…I make no promises…

            Well, Bram Stoker is a very proficient writer, making well rounded characters and going into detail about the settings and other such things. I, as was written, am the illuminator for this little “excursion” of Dracula’s meanings. I found a passage on pages thirteen and fourteen, a very interesting paragraph. It reads as follows:

All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had had some particular effect on them. the horses jumped about and reared, and looked helplessly round with eyes that rolled in a way painful to see; but the living ring of terror encompassed them on every side; and they had the perforce to remain within it. I called to the coachman to come, for it seemed to me that our only chance was to try to break out through the ring and to aid his approach. I shouted and beat the side of the calèche, hoping by the noise to scare the wolves from that side, so as the give him a chance of reaching the trap. How he came there, I know not, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and looking towards the sound, saw his stand in the roadway. As he swept his long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back farther still. Just then a heavy cloud passed across the face of the moon, so that we were again in darkness.

            I found this passage important because it is foreshadowing the coachman’s master, Dracula. It is relating him to the wolves and darkness, also managing to intertwine them to all of the superstition that Jonathan Harker has heard of. Why do you think that the coachman has power over the wolves? Do you think that Harker really did dream this? If the wolves are under Dracula’s power, why did he send them/ allow them to go after his guest and coach?

There’s my blog!

-Jenni Kantor

 I think that I am going to connect this book to the Civil War. I am connecting it to the Civil War because presently in the book a civil war is taking place. Also, the civil war that is going on in Sri Lanka is being directed by a campaign which is killing their citizens.

            During the Civil War, the Confederacy wanted to live separate from the Union. Because they lost the war, they lost their own culture that they were striving to have away from the Union. This is sort of like the citizens in Sri Lanka. The campaign killing the citizens of Sri Lanka do not want to be with their citizens because they are killing them. They are killing the citizens to make a statement of some sort. Due to the murders and violence, many people of Sri Lanka are losing their independence and are no longer safe in their own homes. In the Civil War, the south lost and because they lost, they also lost their citizenship of the United States and therefore had to swear oaths and do many tasks in order to be citizens again. So if the leaders of the campaign is ever caught, they will surely be kicked out of Sri Lanka and most likely will not be able to become a citizen again.

            Another similarity is the violence that is taking place. The Civil War was very violent and many civilians most likely lost their lives.

            So basically both the Civil War and the civil war going on in Sri Lanka in the book are both violent and they are both fights that are killing people from the same country for either mutinous reasons or independence from the country.

My questions for you are…….

What do you think Anil will do now that she realizes just how much she has lost her old culture?

Do you think that she will be able to figure out who is in the murderous campaign and stop them?

~Laurisa Varela

Okay, before we get started with the actual blog, I have some reminders and comments for everyone. Remember, we keep our positions (discussion director, connector, etc.) for all four posts. We do not rotate. You should be reading the first 7 chapters for this post. Make sure you are not paying attention to when a diary entry, newspaper clipping, etc. ends in the book to determine when a chapter ends. Pay attention to the numbers!!! Now….Shank I have somethings I would like to say:

Posting on Friday is a pain in the butt. Everyone does it Saturday morning!!! It’s a TRADITION!!!

Now, on to Dracula:

1. When Jonathan is on his way to Dracula’s castle, he is warned not to go. However, they refuse to tell him why. He figures out that they are talking about werewolves and vampires. He also sees the coffin with Dracula in it and the way Dracula reacts when he (Jonathan) cuts himself and starts to bleed when he is shaving. Later on, he develops a serious fever. Do you think that Jonathan believes that Dracula is a vampire? Explain.

2. Bram Stoker never tells the story as a regular narrative. Instead, the story is told through an assortment of journal and diary entries, newspapers, etc. Why do you think he does this?

3. Compare and contrast the characters of Lucy and Mina.

Mr. Shank, if you can see when I last edited this, the last edit will be Sunday because I forgot to categorize it under Discussion Director. Otherwise, it was hard to find.

So, I’m going to summarize what happens to the two main characters seperatly if that’s okay.

In the first pages of the book, we find out about Behrani and his family. He has two jobs, one picking up garbage along the highways and the other working at a mini-mart. But, he is not happy with these jobs or his housing. He wants to be a realestate agent. Behrani checks the house ads every day and one day finds a house he likes. So, he goesto the auction and buys the house. His family move into the house and they are very happy there. Until, Behrai recieves a letter from an attorney saying that the house does not belong to him.  

When we first meet Kathy, we learn that her husband has left her. Then, the police come and inform her that her house will be auctioned off because she and her husband had a home business. She denies this because she says she signed papers to the county saying there was not a home business, but they still are auctining off her house. The one police officer, suggests that she find a lawyer. She takes this advice and the lawyer says she has a good case because of the papers she signed to the county.

An important thing that happened to both characters was when Kathy went to her house and found people tearing off the roof. She runs to stop them and steps on a nail. So, the one worker takes her inside the house where she finds out people are living in her home.

WORDS:

Najar-boy or man. I chose this because it is used repeatedly by Behrani when he is talking about other people who he doesn’t know the name of.  

Tadiq-the crust that develops at the bottom of a pan of rice. I chose this word because it is a dish that is very special to Behrani’s family culture.

~Sarah Light

Well, first off, this book is unlike anything I have ever read before so I can’t really make any in depth connections at this point. It is also unlike any movie I have ever seen. But, a little connection that I can make would be that in the first section of the book the lady named Kathy gets evicted from her house. This is much like what is happening all over the world today do to the horrible economy. Many of Americans are losing their homes due to various reasons. This is the only connection I found in this section.

My question would be, Why do you think Kathy was evicted from her house?

Let me start by saying, that I am doing this Blog in Keyboarding class because I do not have the time to do it at Home.  Mr. Shank, seriously.  We all loved to blog on Saturday morning.  When Blogs were due on Saturday, it was like a party that never ended.  Tonight I have Lax till 7, then I am going to a Lock-In at Adam’s church until Saturday.  It would have been a much more efficient use of time to have the Blogs due on Saturday. 

Anyway, Anil’s(lol) Ghost is a pretty good book.  I have to admit, I was a little sceptical at first, because we chose the book for the sole purpose of Anil sounding like Anal.  Despit the resemblance, the book is pretty good.  We see the world through Anil’s eyes.  She is 33 years old, and is a native Sri Lankian.  Despite this, she prefers the Western style of living.  She enjoys Forensic Science, and is called by the Geneva Human Rights comitte to investigate a series of killings in Sri Lanka.  After arriving in Sri Lanka, she is immediately thrust into a world of violence and death.  We see how she reacts to the uncertainty throughout the first part of the book.  She can trust noone, and feels alone.  We see that the violence in Sri Lanka threatens everyone, and leaves nobody alone.  Anil is continually put into dangerous situations.  We will see how she continues to react in the rest of the book.

My question is do do you think anything will happen between Anil and Sarath?  Is Sarath Married?  Why did he lie to Anil?

Brian Wawrzyniak