Cinderella by OIga Broumas

Apart from my sisters, estranged
from my mother, I am a woman alone
in a house of men
who secretly
call themselves princes, alone
with me usually, under cover of dark. I am the one allowed in

to the royal chambers, whose small foot conveniently
fills the slipper of glass. The woman writer, the lady
umpire, the madam chairman, anyone's wife.
I know what I know.
And I once was glad

of the chance to use it, even alone
in a strange castle doing overtime on my own, cracking
the royal code. The princes spoke
in their father's language, were eager to praise me
my nimble tongue. I am a woman in a state of siege, alone
as one piece of laundry, strung on a windy clothesline a
mile long. A woman co-opted by promises: the lure
of a job, the ruse of a choice, a woman forced
to bear witness, falsely
against my own kind, as each
other sister was judge inadequate, bitchy, incompetent,
jealous, too thin, too fat. I know what I know.
What sweet bread I make

for myself in this prosperous house
is dirty, what good soup I boil turns
in my mouth to mud. Give
me my ashes. A cold stove, a cinder-block pillow, wet
canvas shoes in my sisters', my sisters' hut. Or I swear

I'll die young
like those favored before me, hand-picked each one
For her joyful heart.

Funeral Blues

I think that the person that wrote this was talking about a friend or a relative. "He was my North my South, my East and West" this obviously means that the person the poem was dedicated to meant a lot to him. "Stop all the clocks" seems to mean that he would want to turn back time, or wants time to stop, maybe so that he's able to spend more time with him. "The stars are not wanted now, put out every one" I think it could refer to the fact that the start or the heavens don’t need him as much as he does; and having them 'turned off' would be like them not being there, and no need for him to leave. This poem for some reason reminds me a lot of the song Daddy's Little Girl by Frankie J. This is because the song refers to losing people, friends and family, and this is what I think about when I read this poem.

Do Not go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas

I think that the poem represents life and death. Life is supposed to represent light and the darkness is supposed to represent death. Like light and dark, life starts first. Eventually, darkness will eventually fall, sometimes faster then you think. This is like death. You never know when you might die, but all you know is that before death, there is light, because without light there can't be any darkness. Without life, there won't be any death. The poem I think might take place in a hospital, and the son is telling his father no to be scared because it was going to eventually happen, that that it is a vicious cycle, that it has to take place. I can picture him telling his father not to be scared, and to be happy because once darkness falls, the light will be back the next day, a new day.

Outline Survey

I feel that people should not share their outlines. this is because some people that didn't read the book, will be able to get ideas from other people's outlines anyways to use on their essay. It isn't fair to the people that did read the book because they will both have the same information, even though only certain people actually did the reading.

I don't think this would actually benefit Mr. doubt. this is because he would only see the work of the people that copied ideas along to the people that did the readin. He would not realize who had done their work and who hadn't.

Yes I'm looking forward to using the outline i did for the essay, because i did a good job on it and I think it will really help me.

Summary of Skaz Essay

Skaz is a word that could possibly refer to ‘scat’ as scat singing, and jazz. It is used to write in first person form, which is usually used when the character refers to himself. He narrates the story using ‘I’ and uses mostly colloquial speech. Colloquial speech means the language that is used every day. It is not formal, but very relaxed and simple. English people saw skaz as a way to ‘free themselves’ from the normal traditions of England and ‘book speech’. The Catcher in the Rye is apparently a ‘relative’ of the book Huckleberry Finn, the first book to use skaz.

The way that Catcher in the Rye refers to skaz is because it is written is a lot like the way that teenagers speak nowadays. He uses slang, and an sometimes and excessive amount of repetition. His sentences are very short and he usually exaggerates when referring to certain things. Some people may disagree because of the way this book is written, but what makes it interesting is the style of the text. The simpleness of the writing is what makes you keep reading, because of the differences between that and other books. The analysis of why this genre of writing is called skaz is because it is said that there is a poetic trace in the method of writing, making it swing like a jazz musician.

Chapter Review

Chapter 7:
He goes into his neighbor's room (Ackley) and asks if he wanted to play cards with him. After Ackley rejects his offer about playing with him, and having him sleep in his roommate's bed, Holden decides he wants to go to New York. He decides that he wont go back home until his parents 'digest' the situation he's in.

Chapter 8:
When he's on the train to New York, a woman sits next to him. She asks him if he goes to Pencey, because her son goes there. Holden says yes but tells her that is name is Rudolf. They talk for a while and Holden keeps telling her about her son, and what a hotshot and a popular modest guy he was. Holden thought that Ernie's mom was very pretty, and the more he talked the more lies he's say to make himself look good.

About Mike

Mike is a sixteen year old kid that lives in Connecticut. He is very shy and doesn't have many friends. In his free time he either helps his mom at home, or works to make money for the family. His family has always been quite dysfunctional. His dad, and alcoholic had been accused of murder and sexual abuse of his daughter Jennifer. When charged of 18 years of prison after the murder of their neighbor, Mike and his family move to New Haven. After his father was released form prison, and they received a threatening letter from him saying that he would find them, Mike decides that he would find him first.

The 8 Steps

The Call
Mike, a 16 year old guy with big family problems has an awakening call that changes his whole life. Suddenly, his mom gets cancer, and his alcoholic has apparently been released from prison after 18 years of being charged of abusing his 10 year old sister, and having killed their next door neighbor.

The Threshold
After receiving a threatening letter from his father, saying that no matter what he would find them and seek his revenge, Mike decided it was a better idea to find him before he could find them.

The Challenge
Because his father had promised revenge, even before he had been sent to jail, they had moved several times because they were scared he would find them. Mike flew back to Connecticut, where his dad had been sentenced 18 years of jail. He went to all the pubs that he used to go to, and asked all the friends that he used to see. A couple of days after his dad was released, a new case was held about a 32 year old woman being murdered in Wilton. Where they lived before; and that was his mom's best friend. The only person that knew where they had moved to.

The Abyss
Mike was determined to find his father, no matter what. He set off, and used all his college money for flight and train tickets all over the country in search of his dad.

The Transformation
Mike had always been a shy kid that practiced a lot of sports, but had always decided to shut others out. He thought that if he didn't fraternize with people, his dad wouldn't have a reason to do anything to them. Or to him. The journey to search his father though changed him completely. He introduced himself to many different people, and they each helped him in different ways. Some of them had connections with arms shops, so that he got guns and other things so that he would be able to protect himself. Other people who worked at police stations or with the community and believe his story offered state protection for him and his family, until his dad was found. Mike had finally become someone with a goal; and a decision. He was determined to save his family.

Atonement
After two months of searching, he received a phone call from his sister, saying that his mom's disease had worsened. She was taken into care by the nearest hospital, but they wouldn't be able to keep her there long seeing as they didn't have much money left. In the meantime, Mike had figured out where his dad was.

The Return
Mike suddenly had a strong feeling that his family needed him. He took the next plane home and arrived at his house at 3.25 pm. When he gets home, the first thing he hears is screaming. Running into the house, Mike sees his dad hovering over his little sister, and his mom crouched in the other room, unconscious. Jennifer's tear stained face glistened in the light, while his dad held her arm with such a force that cause Jennie's face to twist in pain. Seeing Mike home, his dad immediately lets go of Jennie and throws himself at Mike. A huge fight broke out. Jennie runs into the other room and sees her mom gaining her senses again. All of a sudden a gunshot erupts through the air, and silence. Footsteps seem to break the sudden silence, and the cracking of the floorboard have never sounded so scary. Hearing a third presence in the room, Jennie and her mom turn around to see who would be to person to save them, or kill them. Mike appears in front of them, with a gun in one hand, and a smile on his face. He takes the phone, and dials 911.

What Makes Me Uncomfortable

There are many things that make me uncomfortable in the world. A lot of things change every day in the world, and things get harder and more difficult every day. This however does not mean that things are worse, it just means you have to work more to achieve what you want.

One of the things that I think are really difficulty in the world is racism and sexism. These two problems cause many problems all over the world because they change the way a lot of people think. Racism and sexism has always been a problem. This is because a lot of people see different people as bad ones. It makes them change their minds thinking that because they are different or not male, they don't deserve the same amount of respect.

Another thing that causes me difficulty in the world is drama. Often, both at school and at home drama occurs, which causes mood changes and other characteristics which can affect you and the people around you. Drama at schools gives you a lot of confusing with your friends, and often affects your grades and your attitude at home and towards other too.

Both these things I think are really uncomfortable situations to be found in. They are things I would rather not go through, and hard hard to 'overcome'. I am pretty sure that many other people think this way, and that they would agree with me.

Phersephone

After seeing how Hades was so full of hate, Aphrodite decided that it was time for him to feel some love. She asked her son Eros, to shoot him with a love arrow, and allow him to feel love. After Eros shoots Hades, he sees Persephone and immediately falls in love with her. This caused him to kidnap her, and bring her to his realm in the underworld. On her stay there, she accidentally eats a number of seeds, which didn’t work in a favor. When Hermes come to take her back, they both discover that after 8 months on top of the earth, she would have to return to the underworld, to keep her husband company for another 4 months. On her stay in the underworld, her mom Demeters the Goddess of the earth, would be so sad that she wouldn't be able to make new flowers and plants bloom, until her daughter came back.

Marduk: The God of the Gods

Babylyon, the glorious city of the ancients. This is where my story takes place. The city was built by the mighty Marduk after he slayed Tiamat, son of Ea and Dunkima.


Mighty Marduk, the all powerful war god and sky god of the Babylonians, built Babylon as his home and created humankind to dwell there and toil there for the gods after he slew the evil Tiamat - so myth tells us. Marduk was born in the abyss, at the heart of the holy Apsu. He was born as a leader, who was said spat fire when he talked. He was chosen King of Igigi to destroy Tiamat.

Tiamat was an earth goddess, who's symbol was a dragon. She created monsters such as the Viper, the Dragon, the Sphinx, the Mad Dog and the Scorpion Man, which would have helped her slay Marduk after Apsu was defeated. The battle between Marduk and Tiamat was between good and evil [Marduk being the good, and Tiamat the evil]. Marduk had to kill Tiamat becaus she was an abuse to the Gods, and he called upon a team to set out after Tiamat.

He destroyed Tiamat and destroyed her followers, by trampling them into the ground, recovering the Tablet of Destinies. Her eyes were made into the arc of the sky, while the her udders became mountains. The Gods thanked Marduk by offering him enourmous gifts, along with his fifty names [Marduk: the God with 50 names].

Christopher: The Voice of Autism

Mark Haddon's book The Curios Incident of the Dog in the Night Time explains and puts you in the situation of a 15 year old boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Many of the people that might read this text, will find it unusual or boring, and might easily misunderstand it, seeing as the way Christopher speaks is very different to what we normally hear. The Curios Incident of the Dog in the Night Time thoroughly explains the concept of Autism, and shows you the differences between normal speech and
Christopher's way of speech, and the reaction from other people.

On pages 106 to 107 of the book, Christopher talks about his likes and dislikes in colors. He gives reasons for his opinions, and allows you to really understand why he doesn't like them. When he lists the facts about why he doesn't like yellow, he writes them in bullet points as if he was making a list. After i finished reading the text, I realized that that was how he probably saw it in his mind. Yellow reminds him of Yellow Fever. After the reason, he gives a thorough explanation of what Yellow Fever is, and why it scares him. It is very unlikely that normal people talk that way, and they probably don't think that way either. The way Christopher thinks is elaborated and unique because, one of the symptoms of Aspergers is organization, and making lists seems to help him. He has a very logical way of thinking, and this refers to Vocabulary/ Lexis/ Word Choice, and Evocative Description.



Another usual syndrome of Aspergers is the difficulty of understanding fellow humans. For example, on page 150, he wondered '\“I wondered if this was a joke, because I don’t understand jokes, and when people tell jokes they don’t mean what they say". When Christopher states this, you can understand that he cant percipient a joke. He does not understand weather someone was fooling around, or if they were talking seriously, and he especially doesn't understand the normal chat. HE think that everything is done for a reason, and everything happens for a reason, and that is why he doesn't appreciate sarcasm. His Level of Formality is very scarce, but his Tone and Vocabulary is extremely advance for a 15 year old, which shows how much he knows, and how intelligent he is. His intelligence however, is more of a 'world intelligence' then a 'common sense intelligence'.