Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The Little Things in Life May be the Big Ones

"All Summer in One Day" is a Ray Badbury's short story really interesting that teach us a lot of values. This story is abut Venus, where it has been raining for seven years. Margot is a girl who lived in Ohio and really misses the sun, the scientist had announced that the sun will come out one day just for one hour. William and the other kids in her school had never seen the sun so they always bother Margot for believing in the sun and its beauty, she was different. The day the sun was finally going to come out, the kids locked Margot in a closet and forgot about her when the sun came out. 



Ray Bradbury uses very good imagery in his stories. This quote is one of my favorites because describes perfectly how the sun is. 

"It was the color of flaming bronze and it was very large. And the sky around it was a blazing blue tile color. And the jungle burned with sunlight as the children, released from their spell, rushed out, yelling into the springtime."

Ray Bradbury describes the sun as it really is and it creates a picture in our mind by describing the color of the things. He says, "the color flaming bronze and it was a blazing blue tie color" he describes how the sun sees and how the sky is, that creates the picture in our mind about the sun. 




This author not only uses imagery to make better his stories, he also uses characterization as this example below: 

"She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would be a ghost." 

This quote shows how Margot has lost her vitality by not seeing the sun. The quote shows us how much she misses the sun and tell us a lot of her. For example, that she is a girl who cares a lot about the things that she likes and that changes for her, are really hard. 



To conclude, I think that Ray Bradbury is a very good author that explains perfectly what he wants to communicate. This story taught me to value the little things in life because some day they might become the big ones. 


Friday, January 9, 2015

The Fair One


Jonas is starting questioning himself about this society. He knows they are unfair with everyone but he wants to make a change. After noticing that his friends didn't knew the real significance of war, he knew no one except The Giver would understand him, that's why he needed to make a change. The Giver showed Jonas what means being released and it means death. He watched his father killing a baby! The Giver told him about her daughter, Rosemary, who was the Receiver of memories and "failed", she couldn't handle anymore the memories of pain. Jonas has created a plan with The Giver, Jonas was going to scape to elsewhere which they are shire it's real.    


Jonas wants to recover all what his society has lost because of the committee, he wants everyone to recover memories. I think it's not fair for everyone to be the same just because a little group of people decide it. "It's true that it has been this way for what it seems forever. But the memories tell us they it has not always been. People felt things once. You and I have been part of that, so we know." think Jonas wants to be fair with everyone. Its not fair that some people are obsessed with sameness and because of that they changed everything. People are not able to make their own decisions, know they even kill people thinking that that is normal. It wasn't like this before and Jonas is the only one who took the risk to change this, I think he is a hero. 

Jonas is going to change everything. He is the only one who is brave enough to take a risk. Jonas is a hero. Life is all about taking decisions and risks, people can't do that because they don't have memories. The committee has taking away their lives because they can't do that, they need memories and feelings. Memories are made to share them.


Saturday, January 3, 2015

Freedom

Jonas is now starting to realize how bad and controlled his society is. The Giver is sharing many memories to Jonas, which he is starting to analyze and getting wiser of them. He knows what the committee is doing and he thinks that's bad, he wants to change it. They are controlling the teachings each person learns even is school, they give pills for not filing love and they, they are taking away family and they are hiding the memories people should remember. He wants to share his memories with anyone but he finds out that the only one who receives his memories is Gabriel, the baby. Jonas is afraid that someone finds out he is giving memories to Gabriel but that's the only person he can share his thoughts and feelings.



Jonas has the capacity to change things and he is intelligent enough to see how controlling the committee is with them. "The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away." Maybe the thing that has grown inside of him trough memories is wisdom. The knowledge he has adquire was telling him that taking the pills was bad for him. Jonas doesn't want to be controlled any more, he is the one who is setting the good example. Finally, someone is going to change. A simple thing as a pill may be the start of change.




Dystopia is the idea, someone generates, of a perfect world which is not. Jonas' world is controlled by the Committee of Elders, which are going to do anything therefore their world and their rules are not changed. The first person to realize that the Committee of Elders is wrong is Jonas. Finally, he is going to do something to change the world.

Do you think Jonas can
change his world like one of these
guys who had changed our world?


Sunday, December 14, 2014

Fight Against What Matters To You

Jonas is officially the Receiver of Memories and has new rules to follow. Now he may lie and avoid some rituals he did't like to do, including the dream-telling. The first class he had with The Giver was very astonishing to Jonas because now he can receive the memories that had been kept in secret  for years in The Giver's memory. Jonas has now a vey hard rule to follow, he may lie. Of course he may lie after finding out that seeing beyond means to see color because everyone else sees in black and white, and he also found out that the Committee of Elders controls climate because its easier to grow crops that way. Jonas received memories that teach him about snow, sunshine and sunburn which is very surprising and new to him.

The Giver
The Receiver


While reading chapter eleven of the book, I started to question myself,  what has been the most scariest or painful experience that people in that community have felt? To be released? It called my attention how much it hurt to Jonas feeling a sunburn. "He opened his eyes, wincing with discomfort. "It hurt," he told the man, "and I couldn't get the word for it." "It was sunburn," the old man told him." "It hurt a lot," Jonas said…" A simple sunburn hurt so much to him and that's why it's so easy to control people. They don't know real fear or pain, that's why it's so easy to control them. They are scared of feeling pain.  




I think that Jonas is very lucky because he is going to get to see all of the memories each Receiver has experienced. It really shocked me that no one can see colors and that the Committee controls climate! Hopefully Jonas will do something about it and change the false life everyone is believing  in. I believe people need to fight against their wills and the things they believe are right. Jonas got a very big responsibility when he accepted the to be the Receiver of Memories and now he will need a lot of courage to accomplish his work, specially in the memories that have to do with pain. 









Sunday, December 7, 2014

Pills for Love


Jonas is taking volunteer hours in the House of the Old with Fiona when he started to think of her all the time. Like all the mornings, everyone in the family told their dreams, it was a ritual and Jonas told it first. Jonas was without clothes and he wanted Fiona to get into the tub without clothes but she just kept laughing even though Jonas was    talking    very    serious. 
Mother  told  Jonas that  feeling  was
named    stirrings    and  everyone 
needed to take a pill for it.

The most important day for Jonas arrived, the day when he turned twelve. An Elder    women started the ceremony but she skipped Jonas' name, everyone thought that the women had a mistake but she didn't. At the end of the ceremony the women announced that Jonas hadn't did anything wrong and it wasn't a mistake that she skipped his name, Jonas was selected for   being the next Receiver of Memories.  


While I was reading, this quote made me think that even though people, in Jonas' society, know something is normal, they try to stop it. "The feeling you describe as wanting ? Ir was your firs Stirrings. Father and I have been expecting it to happen to you. It happens to everyone. It happened to Father when he was your age. And it happened to me." "It's just the pills. You're ready for the pills, that's all. That's treatment for Stirrings." This made me wonder, why do people take pills for Stirrings even though they know they are normal? In our society we don't take pills for our feelings, we let everyone be who they want to be without anyone else telling them whats wrong and whats right. Finally, I think people can't be free.

Love makes us who we are but, how can they be themselves if they don't feel. The Committee of Elders don't let people be free. One of the most important things is love but their society wants to be perfect and they pick specific people to be together even though they don't love each other. Elders want couples to be together because of their personalities and they don't care about love, they think it's a disease. In conclusion, I think people need to be free in order to be happy.  

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Jonas' Society and their Obsession with Perfection

  Jonas' society wants people to be perfect and follow all the rules exactly as they are. The Committee of Elders are getting people to do this by frightening them because they can be released. Each time they turn one year older they have special ritual to follow. For example, when people turn nine they get a bicycle for the first time, when they turn twelve people get an assigned job picked by the Committee of Elders and so on. This year Jonas turns twelve and gets to have an assigned job. This is a very important event because jobs make people life worth it or not. Jonas' society views jobs as part of who they are and they determine the social class you are in. Some jobs are better than other jobs even though the Committee of Elders wants to make everyone the same both physically and psychologically. Most of the citizens have dark eyes, this shows me that they want everyone to be the same. When Jonas' family saw Gabriel, the baby, the first thing they noticed was his eyes. Gabriel's eyes were lighter same as Jonas and everyone was amazed.

     "I think new children are so cute," Lily sighted. "I hope I get assigned to be a Birthmother." "Three years," Mother told her firmly. "Three births, and that's all. After that they are Laborers for the rest of their adult lives, until the day that they enter to the House of the Old. Is that what you want, Lily? Three lazy years, and then hard physical labor until you are old?" This quote impacted me because on their society they don't care about what each ones opinion. Their job is so important that they don't let children to have their own wills. People just care about getting their job done and accomplish all the rules, they don't have time to dream.

     I think Jonas' society is obsessed with perfection. No one can have their own opinion and the Committee of Elders have complete power over them. The Dystopia that the Committee of Elders is giving everybody is that they make them think that the Committee is not the only power but that everyone can give their own opinion.  



Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The Giver


I think this book will be about a world where everything is controlled. Every person has a specific role to play in their community and Jonas will make a change. When Jonas turns twelve, they assign him a very important role. He is going to be the Receiver of Memory. For this job, Jonas needs to be trained by the person who had this role before. He is called The Giver, he is the one who holds the memory of agony and the amusement of life. Now, The Giver needs to train and prepare Jonas for this, but first, they need to announce everyone about it. "You will be trained to be out next Receiver of Memory. We thank you for your childhood," they said. Everyone was happy about the new Receiver of Memory, after all, they couldn't express themselves because of the control the government had. Jonas will have no turning back of the truth. 

Lois Lowry,  in his dedication page says, "For all the children to whom we entrust the future." I think Lowry means that children are the future. Children can change the future because what they learn today they will apply it tomorrow. Children have teachings that we think are the right thing to do. We trust that kids will use those teachings on the future so that they don't commit the same errors we have done. Children are the future and are the ones who will make the change. When someone presented Jonas in front of the people, they thank him for his childhood. I think that this book will show us the importance of the roots a person has and how they apply it in the future. 

Jonas thinks he lives in a perfect world where nothing is under controlled and everyone is happy. I predict that Jonas will discover secrets so shocking that he will like to make a change. Jonas will derogate the government and will free the people. He will tell everyone what the government does and a lot of people will follow him.