PLN #3, Position paper presentations

I personally enjoyed the presentation about the movie ratings and how they are bias and the system is corrupted. I found it interesting how very similar movies have different ratings not because of the content, but because of the persuasion of money and the promise of future business. I liked how there were many examples of different movies it made me wonder about other movies I have recently seen. This presentation left me wondering and wanting more which makes it very effective.

PLN 1/28/11

This week I chose to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a murder mystery, love novel by Stieg Larsson. The book opens with the character: Blomkvist discussing with Aftonbladet, which is also a place in Sweden, on the radio. The plot takes a long time to progress and it is immensely difficult to read. I think this because of the way it is written and even though it is translated from Swedish to English a lot of the terms are still in Swedish. For example, Blomkvist says “Dagens Nyheter”. I have no idea what this means or its relevancy. This book is supposed to be a thriller and at this point I’m bored with it, the plot takes a while to develop. The novel started off at a random point making it hard to understand. I feel like I’m missing a part of the story which makes the plot hard to follow. There is no exposition, or an introduction of characters which leaves me lost and confused. I am thinking that maybe this book is too complex for my maturity, age, and knowledge. It becomes frustrating not knowing what you are reading so; I plan to continue reading it until I understand or I give up.

PLN #3

     PLN#3     

           This past week I read “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell; this short story has changed my perspective on hunting. I used to believe that hunting was absolutely fine as long as it was done in moderation. Now I realize that it is wrong but it is necessary for human survival. Rainsford experiences the feeling of prey while running from the crazed General Zaroff. “The cat was coming again to play with the mouse.” In this story the tables turn and Rainsford gets a taste of his own medicine. Rainsford, being a famous hunter and not thinking anything of killing a living being either for sport or food has felt the terrifying feeling of prey. This story has given me the wonderful idea that you cannot truly live until you’ve lived both perspectives. This idea is played out tin this story by Rainsford: the hunter, becoming the prey. Also, The crazed character General Zaroff takes hunting as a game when in actuality it is a serious matter. “'I hunt more dangerous game.'...'Is there big game on this island?'” Hunting is a serious matter. Not only is it dangerous but is sad for the animals who are being killed. The fact that General Zarroff take it as a game is ridiculous. General Zaroff is so amused with his so called game that he needs a new, more dangerous hunt. Finally, the viciousness and violence of hunting appalls me. throughout the whole story is the tone intense and violent.

The tactics used are gruesome. For example, Rainsford “[dug] The pit grew bigger;... he climbed out and from some hard saplings cut stakes and sharpened them to a fine point. These stakes he planted at the bottom of the pit with the points sticking up.” This tactic of fighting back and hunting caused unnecessary death to the hounds. Hunting proves to be very dangerous and gruesome. Though this story may seem insignificant it can actually change someone’s perspective on hunting, or even life, like it has changed mine.

               

          

PLN #2

PLN #2


Vittorio is a tortured creature that does bad things to survive in Anne Rice’s novel Vittorio the vampire. Vittorio is an intellectual and is in general a very kind person. yet, this perfect vampire has a flaw. He is a vampire. He needs to eat and in order to eat he must kill innocent people.

I believe Vittorio is a metaphor for all of mankind. People are usually nice and have a bunch of great qualities just like Vittorio. Then there “vampire comes out" which is a flaw or two so they are automatically stereotyped as a "bad person".

If I ever met Vittorio, my first impression would be that he is a good guy. He is insanely smart and incredibly nice. That is until he sucked the life out of me.

On the subject of why good people do bad things, the reason is that they are either provoked by some mysterious feeling or that people are required by the laws of nature to be bad because they need to survive.

PLN #1

PLN #1:


In Anne Rice's novel Vittorio the Vampire, I am challenged by the difficult vocabulary. So far in my reading, I have met the main character, Vittorio. Vittorio is over 500 years old. In the very beginning of this novel Vittorio is explaining the hardships of being a vampire. He is giving an introduction to his story of living as a vampire. I have learned that this is a very difficult read. It has difficult vocabulary because of the time period it is set in. Vittorio talks from his time--the renaissance. This book challenges me to think more and comprehend words and writing styles that I do not understand or recognize. I hope that once the real “meat” of the story begins it will become less difficult.

My First Post

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