The Horses in ATPH.

I used to wonder about the book's title. However, after this past reading, I've begun to understand the meaning of it. Horses are all over the place! Rawlins and John Grady find work at the Hacienda de Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion (God that's a mouthfull) which literally means "Ranch of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception" (Irony, maybe?). At the ranch there are sixteen horses. After showing Don Hector his gift with horses, John Grady helps Hector breed a magnificent stallion. Lastly, the Rawlins and Grady are out in the mountains roping horses when they are found by the greyhounds.


Words cannot describe how happy I was when I saw Blevins return to the story. I find it extremely amusing that he had to return to Encantada to retrieve his gun; regaining his horse wasn't good enough for him. It's purely by coincidence that the three meet again in jail. (Well actually, I was kind of expecting this from a novel, but still.) I see Blevins as a sort of enigmatic character. I can't seem to figure him out. On one hand, he's an oversensitive boy scared of lightning, and on the other, he's a daring stuntsman and brilliant shooter who will fight and kill for anything that is rightfully his. Maybe this doubt will clear up later in the novel.


OHMYGOD I TAKE THAT BACK. What is this???!!!!??? That stupid captain killed Blevins? What's wrong with him?? Or rather, what's wrong with McCarthy? What was the point of Blevins in the novel anyway? I mean what did he do? I thought he was going to be a character that appeared in the beginning of the novel and reappeared later, making a significant impact on the plot. But I guess not!!! This is so disheartening.


~xE_Ax

The best of the interwebs.

I could never pick one site to be my favorite. If I was forced to be on one site for the rest of my life, I couldn't do it. I could never make the choice. If I was able to pick two sites, however, I think I might be able to do so without much difficulty.

My 2 favorite sites:
1. Facebook
2. Tumblr

Of course I would have to pick facebook. My social life, sadly, pretty much revolves around facebook and facebook alone. Without this paragon of social networking sites, my life would be in ruin. I would loose connections with literally hundreds of people. Dx
My second choice is tumblr. I lovelovelove that site. It's a blogging site that's not quite like blogger. I think they refer to themselves as a "microblogging" site. It's fun and addicting! If you do not have a tumblr, I would definately recommend that you get one. (:

~xE_Ax

Oh the things I'd do for extra credit.

I thought I'd do virtually anything for extra credit. And today, I realized was right. I've written last minute essays, researched obscure facts, and done extra powerpoints.
But now, I can add another thing to my list. Public humiliation.
I'm doing the Poetry Out Loud contest tomorrow and I already have this feeling that it will not go well. My second poem is only 30 words and I'm going to be reciting alongside great public speakers. Fantastic.
Wish me luck! I'm going to need it.

A Poem I wrote...

This is a poem I wrote some time ago. I just thought I'd want to share it with you guys. Enjoy! (:

 

A Poem
By: Me

What’s a poem but mastery of sense,
Of complex grammar wrought with greatest care,
Of meters, lines, and glistening ornaments.
Steered by winds of wise that to none compare.
A dress of silk so greatly sewn it seems
So seamless, by every tailor its sought;
So perfect that it flows in glossy streams
And sings much softer than a cradle rocks.
From where does it come? This good, loving hand
though sometimes amateur, forever deft
Each syllable and tiny turn is planned
‘Till words do disappear and art is left.
It touches lands that kiss mighty seas --
A poem is beauty, and all of these.

 

~xE_Ax

Nocturne Poetry Analysis

I can't seem to get my poem on this post without completely screwing up the formatting, so I'm just going to post the link to it. (:

Nocturne, by Li  Young Lee
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171756

A nocturne by definition is a piece that is inspired by the night. With this in mind, nocturnes are typically calm and peaceful. However, Nocturne, by Li-Young Lee, is the exact opposite. With its vividly grotesque and distressing imagery, Nocturne embodies a tone of insecurity and fear. The poem begins with the “scraping of iron on iron.” The malicious wind doesn’t “quit,” but prolongs the grinding noise by slowly “dragging back and forth.” The sound is unpredictable; at times it is “faint, far,” but suddenly becomes “close, just beyond the screened door.” The irregularity of the sound adds to its spitefully frightening nature, for the sound seems to exist simply to scare those who are jumpy or anxious in the dark. Lee then intensifies the eerie bleakness by comparing the unsettling sound to a suspicious stalking man who “squats in the dark” “beyond the screen door.” This personification ties the sound to a very real threat. Lee continues by listing a number of disturbing images that have a likeness to this sound; all of which climax into an eventual representation of chaos and disgust. Lee then concludes by ambiguously warning that “something” is “loose” outside that should not be free. By using “something,” rather than a concrete image, Lee hints that the threat does not have to be a person, an animal, or even a thing of this world. By leaving it up to the imagination of the reader, Lee effectively adds another layer of fear into his poem.

Food for Thought. (:

Ironically, I just finished a game of 20 Questions before starting the assignment. (:

Setting

1. Consistantly, there are beautiful passages depicting the scenery around the travelers. What effect do these passages have?

2. Why is the setting of the desert so important?

Characters

3. Based on what we know about John Grady's parents and upbringing, is it a surprise that he turned out the way he did?

4. How are Rawlins and Blevins alike, even though they do not get along?

5. How could John Grady be a Christ figure?

6. Why do Rawlins and Blevins not get along?

7. What is Blevins's real name?

8. Why does a man try and buy Blevins?

9. Mary Catherine Barnett. What's her significance?

10. What's the deal with Blevin's horse?

Action

11. What is the significance of the boys separating from each other?

12. Where are Rawlins and Grady at the end of Part I?

13. What's with the thunderstorm and lightning?

14. Do you think it is odd that their ride has been relatively conflict free? It is the Wild West after all.

Style

15. What's the deal with the lack of quotation marks?

16. How does McCarthy use local color in his novel?

17. What purpose do the longwinded sentences serve?

18. Does this novel follow a quest pattern? If so, how?

19. How is the stereotypical West being depicted?

20. Why do you think McCarthy is being so ambiguous?

Best movie in the world! :)

The King's Speech is by far the best movie I have ever seen. It's sweet, funny, and serious all at the same time. And hey, as an added bonus, everyone is speaking in British accents. ;D
I loved how in-depth the characters were in the film; mainly Bertie (or King George VI) and Lionel. Lionel is played by Geoffry Rush, who also played Barbossa from the Pirates of the Caribben movies. Yeah. I was impressed too.
Anyway The King's Speech nominated for best picture at the golden globes and quite frankly I think it deserves it! I'll be behind The King's Speech all the way!!!

~xE_Ax

My Reading Challenge!

So I've decided to challenge myself in the next few weeks. My goal is to find 5 ordinary, teenage-directed, pop-fic books that have surprisingly spectacular diction in them. This whole idea started when I was reading The City of Bones by Cassandra Clay last year. I was simply blown away by the imagery that book had!

I mean really: the furniture emerges out of the murky depths of the spacious rooms “like icebergs through fog.” The greenhouse, with “glossy green shrubs” and plants with “petals medallioned with golden pollen”, gives off a “soapy” scent that hits Clary “soft as the padded blow of a cat’s paw.” The Manhattan skyline glimmers and “burns like cold jewels.”

That's amazing! And to think those quotes came from a simple "storybook" (as my mom calls popular fiction).
So over the next few weeks, I'm determined to find 5 ordinary books with not-so-ordinary diction. I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck! (:

~xE_Ax

All the Pretty Horses: Western Parenting

One character that I found interesting in ATPH was Grady's mother. She is only thirty six and longs for a life of adventure outside the ranch. I'm really surprised by the extent to which McCarthy goes when describing the Western stereotype. It seems a bit overdone. Grady's mother also wants to try her hand in acting. I guess this hasn't changed since Grady's time; even today many people find it exciting to become involved with the show biz. Anyway, Grady's mother also doesn't speak of his father, and later Franklin reveals that the two have been offically divorced. I thought the scene where Grady bids farewell to his father is also interesting. I thought it was cute the way Grady has difficulty saying goodbye.  (:

~xE_Ax

So I've been doing my research...

I looked up some facts about McCarthy/ATPH. Here are some of the interesting ones I've found:

1. ATPH is part of the Border Trilogy. The second and third books are The Crossing and Cities of the Plain respectively.
2. The movie ATPH stars Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz. It's supposed to be terrible.
3. The book (published in 1992) won many awards such as U.S. National Book Award as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. This was due to the romantism that McCarthy decided to put into ATPH. His previous works were supposed to be very bleak.
4. He wrote No Country for Old Men.
5. McCarthy is said to be very secluded and isolated. He lives in Santa Fe currently.
6. The Road was featured in Oprah's Book Club. Due to this, McCarthy gave his first interview on the Oprah Show in 2007.

These are a few interesting tid bits I found. Hope you enjoyed them! (:

~xE_Ax

To my fellow AP Lit-ers:

The movie Jane Eyre stars Mia Wasikowska (from Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender ( from Inglourious Basterds).  Personally, Fassbender is not at all representative of the Rochester that I had pictured, but I'm still extremely excited to see this movie! It comes out before the AP exam (March 11th), so I hope it will serve as a good exam review!

~xE_Ax

No Commas, No Quotation Marks, No Interest.

Right now, I have read a whopping 7 pages in All The Pretty Horses (ATPH)  by Cormac McCarthy and quite frankly, I'm feeling a mix of confusion and irritation.
I think these feelings started with the monster sentence on pages 1 and 2 and the lack of quotation marks on the second page. Although I do applaud McCarthy for his unconventional take on the rules and conventions of grammar, I have to admit I am getting rather frustrated with it.
So if you haven't noticed, I'm not liking the book so far, but you never know - I may start liking it; I'm only on the 7th page.

Anywhoo... there is one paragraph that intrigued me. The first full paragraph on page 7 gave a snapshot into the cliched life of a Westerner. Out of all of the mystery protagonist's grandfather's siblings, the grandfather was the only one to live past 25. The ones who unfortunately died seemed to die rather violent deaths (i.e. by drowning or shooting). I loved the line "They seemed to fear dying in bed." It made me giggle a bit. I guess it just highlights the "rough and tough" nature of the Wild West. I suppose it could also suggest that the Western life was a competition where one had to "out-tough" the other; if someone "died in bed," then that person probably had the stigma of taking easy way out by not putting themselves on the edge. I also enjoyed the inventive use of the word "borning, " which, after I looked on Marriam-Webster, isn't actually a real word. Lastly, I like the last two sentences of the paragraph. "... Cole. John Grady Cole." I found it entertaining because I was reminded of "Bond. James Bond." From McCarthy's writing style, I always think he is an 19th century writer. I don't know why. But the way he referenced James Bond kind of reminded me that he is still very much alive today.

These are my thoughts so far in the book.  Hopefully after I read a bit more my thoughts will change. (:

~xE_Ax

Intro. (:

Hello! Welcome to A Summer's Day~
I named my blog after a warm summer afternoon, when the sun gently warms my hands, when the cool breezes from Lake Michigan lightly brush my hair into my face, when the sweet smell of hibiscus and lemonade tickle and tempt my nose, and when the slight "tink" of golf balls and golf clubs sound in the humid air.
In this atmosphere I love to lie in my hammock with a good book propped in my lap. The view of my garden and the lake and golfers nearby is so serene and comforting, that for the moments I am outside, I forget the troubles and worries that engulf me in the gray-green house behind me.
I've spent many a summer day wasting outside in my hammock - and it is for that precise reason why I've dedicated my blog to those wonderful times. I also named it "A Summer's Day" after my favorite (and most popular)  Shakespeare sonnet: Sonnet 18.
Enjoy! <3