Language & Literature (The Great Illustrated Classics)

From a company called Waldman Publishing comes a series of books with one purpose in mind: rewrite the classic novels of our modern world into books geared toward young readers. 66 classics ranging from Aesop's Fables to The Invisible Man re-tell masterpieces in abridged versions that are easy enough for children to read. Almost everyone has come across one of these books at some point or another, yet not everyone appreciates the value of these books. The Great Illustrated Classics give young readers the first taste of great literature. They allow them to be exposed to the stories that had the most lasting impressions on readers for ages while still being able to read on a level suitable for them. Another factor that is helpful in the series is that on every other page there is a full-page drawing that corresponds with the text. This helps young readers grasp the content more easily and be able to truly visualize the story. What these stories lack is the presence of the original author's artistic writing and use of literary devices. This, however does not take away from the stories because the purpose of the books is to introduce young scholars to the classics. If they read an abridged story which focuses mainly on the action of the story, they will have a much greater hunger to read the classics in their unabridged forms when these children get older. I have had this personal experience and it has greatly effected me. I own 38 of the 66 books and have read at least half of the ones I own. They have shown me that reading the classics actually does serve a purpose in gaining knowledge. A great facet of the series is that despite the revision of the works, the details remain the same. I proved this to myself when I read The Great Illustrated Classic version of The Picture of Dorian Gray for my summer reading assignment heading into 11th grade. When I was asked to write a detailed essay on the book, I received the highest grade in the class: 100%. I hope to pass my collection onto my children someday in order to educate them in the classic works of literature.

Literature (Apostrophes & Contractions)

In my somewhat-experienced opinion, I believe that many, if not all of the rules of the English language should be investigated and questioned. The questioning shouldnt be done for the purpose of disputing a rule, but for making sure that the rules still relevant and holds merit in the use of the English language. For instance, one shouldnt say "that rule was made by some old dudes who thought they knew everything like 200 years ago. Its probably obsolete." Instead, one should say "there is probably a reason why no one has gotten rid of this rule for a long, long time. Lets see if we can figure out why its necessary." Then if it is found that the rule doesnt serve a clear and necessary purpose, one could begin to question it. I have taken a stab at this myself in an amateur way. Without conducting formal research and basing all of my information on prior knowledge of the language, I have begun to question the necessity of the apostrophe in contractions.
From what i have gathered, the apostrophe is used to denote the fact that a word or words in a contraction have been shortened. It is sometimes used to interrupt diphthongs that would be created in contractions like "shouldnt." From looking at a list of English contractions I have concluded that in all contractions, the pronunciation is normal, i.e. "it sounds the way it looks." The apostrophe is ignored when pronouncing and is therefore, useless in the pronunciation of a contraction.
The idea behind using a contraction is often that the combining of two words makes for easier and quicker writing. While this is not the case for all contractions, some contractions only differ in length from the two words being combined by one or two letters. By combining these two words, then writing (or typing) the apostrophe, the same number of characters is being used. For example, "that is" in contracted to make "that's." Excluding the space between the words "that is" and "that's" contain the same number of characters: 6. How then, does one save time or effort by using this contraction? Answer: one doesnt.
When typing in Microsoft Word, or even the program in which Im currently typing, contractions without apostrophes come up as being spelled incorrectly. While they may technically be spelled incorrectly, how would leaving out the little tick mark trip up a reader? It cant. This point cant be proven very well in any other way than this: go back and look through this blog. In all contractions Ive written in this post, Ive left out the apostrophe. Was it noticeable? Did it change meaning? Throw off the main points of the post? Does anyone even care? No! The use of the apostrophe in contractions is unnecessary and even defeats the whole purpose of contracting two words. Despite my personal beliefs on this topic, I will continue writing with apostrophes on paper in order to avoid losing points from someone who believes that the absence of a simple apostrophe could throw off the Earth's gravitational pull and send us all flying into the sky. (Why, you ask, did i use an apostrophe in "Earth's" if Im writing this whole post against apostrophes? Its possessive.) So consider this post when writing and hopefully decide that you arent going to adhere to a rule that may not be necessary.

P.S. I heard of a famous author who didnt use apostrophes in contractions in his writings. I believe it may have been the author of Pygmalion, but I am not sure. Id like to find out.

P.P.S. I am also brainstorming about the need for capitalization in the beginning of the sentence. Proper nouns of course will be an exception, but its something i would like to look into. Also, is it completely imperative to capitalize "I" all of the time? i dont know...

Homer and Philosophy

In this podcast, Harvard Professor Sean Kelly speaks with a radio show about the philosophy which can be seen in the Homeric epics. First Kelly speaks about the reason why people read Homer. He says how people used to read it to show how Homer's depiction of humans and their nature is wrong. Kelly states however, that Homer's epics may reveal much more about the philosophy of humans than it first appears. He explains how the characters seem to be very robotic and do not reflect on feeling to make decisions or guide their lives. We talked about this in our unit on The Odyssey when we saw how many people of the time, especially Odysseus let "the gods" dictate their lives for them. He goes on to explain how this type of decision making, the more laid back approach may be better for living a happy life because dwelling on every little decision makes a heavy burden. So what many readers first mistook as a careless approach to life, may have been Homer's example of a happy life. This is portrayed by the idea of the donkey between two bails of hay. Over-thinking can lead to ruin in this abstraction. Also, the other end of the spectrum is looked at and Kelly says that one should be cautious when letting decisions be made for them if a mob mentality is taking over one's ability to think.
In this interview, Kelly did a very good job of introducing both sides of the thought spectrum on this topic. After living 16 years and a few months I have decided that in my life, Homer seems to be right. When you have something to believe in such as religion, friends, or family which you can rely on to help you make decisions, life seems much easier and more enjoyable. Bad decisions can teach you to ask for advice and this also spreads out guilt. It is the simple mentality that going through hard times is much more easier with someone by your side.

"Why Read Moby Dick?"

Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of the book, Why Read Moby Dick? and in it he explains exactly what one would think; the importance of reading the Herman Mellville classic Moby Dick. After publication, Philbrick spoke in an interview on NPR. The interviewer started of with the question at hand: why read Moby Dick? Philbrick says right away that Moby Dick is the closest thing to the "American Bible" and also says that it is "full of great wisdom." He explains that Mellville was inspired by a friend to write outside of his normal style and create an adventurous story. Another inspiration was Mellville's respect for Shakespeare's writing, which influenced Mellville's use of language. Mellville drew off of past experiences as well as looking to the state of his nation at the time he wrote the story. By doing this, it makes Moby Dick able to withstand the test of time in our nation. The style of writing in the book, the way it is sometimes spontaneous and seems to go off on tangents opens up the opportunity to include poetry and great imagery. Philbrick states that "the level of the writing is truly poetic and yet he's (Mellville) telling this epic story." Philbrick believes that the story is an allegory for the way of life in the mid 1850's. Within Moby Dick there is a smattering of races who sail together with a common cause, and it wasn't until the book was rediscovered and the genius was recognized that the impact that the mingling of races had was truly appreciated. Philbrick believes that whenever our nation is going to face a cataclysm similar to the Civil War, Moby Dick is going to be a tale that many cling to for this reason. Philbrick defends the story by pointing out not only how it is a literary masterpiece, but also pointing out the effect that the themes of the story have. Moby Dick has had, and will continue to have a lasting effect on The United States of America.

About Language or Literature

I have recently been spending my free time reading a collection of short stories titled Different Seasons by Stephen King. In this collection there are four stories which are all set in one of the four respective seasons of the year: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. While almost everyone knows Stephen King as a "master" of horror, these stories take a turn from his usual style. As this is my first encounter with King's writing, I am relatively new to his writing. Even so, I am thoroughly impressed with his literary skills. He possesses many skills in his writing that I long to be able to use in my own writing. Aside from the fact that King's imagination is extremely colorful, he is also skilled with the use of words. Like most great writers, King blends literary genius with an amazing sense of story telling which captures the reader and keeps people coming back.

King stepped out of his horror stereotype in the first story, entitled Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. In this first story King shows his mastery of character development by creating Andy Dufresne. In the story, which is told from the point of view of a fellow inmate at Shawshank Prison, King uses situations and character descriptions to convince not only the narrator, but also the reader that Dufresne has been wrongly convicted and sentenced. By placing Dufresne in extreme and maybe even outlandish situations while in prison and then chronicling the resolutions to these events, the reader gets a good grasp on Dufresne's nature. King shows that adjectives are not the only way to describe someone but instead, people can be described by the decisions they make in everyday life.

In the next story, The Body King is at it again. Recanting a childhood odyssey in the dog days of summer, King paints a spectacular portrait of four young, bad-mouthed boys and their fall from innocence. This time King seems to focus on the topic of friendship (never straying from his same old detailed character development, of course) and the way it seems to grow the most when you least expect it to. The story can be tricky since it is about 120 pages long, yet it spans about two and a half days. In this short period of time, the main character (who i believe to be a loose sketch of King himself) learns the true meaning of friendship and realizes that sometimes friends know more about you than your parents, or even you, yourself know. The beauty of this story is that almost every reader can easily relate to this type of friendship which comes out of nowhere, yet lasts forever.

In King's Winter story, The Breathing Method he uses a unique technique which was first noted to me by my English teacher Mr. Carty. This technique involves using description in sort of a backwards way. Since it can be difficult to explain, examples seem to work best. Here's one: "He entered the room and was immediately hit by a wall of odor; the smell of dust and black flooded his nostrils. The odor was stinging and sharp." In this example, all of the reader's senses are flipped. How can something smell black? How could a smell feel sharp? It is an absurd thing once you dwell on it. Yet I'm sure in your mind you were able to grasp what this odor must have been like. As Mr. Carty explained, this technique is not new by any means. Shakespeare used this style flawlessly 4 centuries ago. And slightly more recently, the poet and artist Dr. Seuss put this technique into effect. While simply using this technique does not put King in the same class as these literary heroes, it is easy to see how King has been able to build such a successful career.

While I have not yet started reading the fourth and final story in this collection, i expect only more of the same from King. When an author can specialize in a genre the way King has, yet still write stories that are just as captivating in other genres, it calls for praise. The reason i believe King was able to do this is because he has a strong base in writing which is constructed of creative and descriptive storytelling that can transform even the most boring of topics, making them interesting. I am very much looking forward to beginning the final story in the collection.

Like, Whatever...

Taylor Mali issues a great challenge to everyone in his motivational poem concerning speaking with conviction. He starts his speech asking his audience to think about the manner in which people tend to speak. He explains how people love to turn their declarative statements into sentences that end with what he calls an "invisible question mark." He gives many examples of these inquisitive truths while highlighting the reasons why it isn't right to do this. Also, he hits on the unfortunate and over-used phrase "ya know," explaining how it takes away from a statement immediately by making the speaker sound unsure of his or her own points. He uses hypocrisy to make more evident the point he is trying to make. His short speech ends with a challenge to speak with authority and conviction because after all, if you don't even believe in what you say, how can you convince anyone else that you're right?
 I believe that Mali is spot-on with what he is speaking about and he his is spot-on with the way he is conveying his points. This comical, yet meaningful use of hypocrisy is very efficient in making a lasting impression. It seems that all of the world should be forced to listen to (and possibly memorize) this speech. It is very annoying to listen to someone try to convince people of something when they sound like they aren't even sure if they believe what they're saying. While I must admit that I can be guilty of committing this error, I also see first-hand everyday people who do this in school. They have the correct answer, or maybe a great idea to contribute to the discussion, yet they begin with "I don't know if this is right," or "I could be wrong, but." This completely strips what they are about to say of any solidarity. This is definitely something to think about, especially in school. Overall, I guess this was a pretty good like speech or poem or whatever because it like showed the problems that like a lot of people have and stuff, ya know?......Just Kidding.
-Mitch

Interview With The Term Paper Artist

Nick Mammatas, "the term paper artist," is a man who took up the business of writing "model" term papers for students in order to pick up quick cash. This line of business was something that appealed to Mammatas because of his expertise in writing and the ease he seemed to be able to finish assignments with. When he got wind of a legal system in which he could write papers for money, he took advantage of it. Years later, after dropping the trade, Mammatas wrote an article detailing his experiences in this line of work. Soon after, he was invited for a radio interview for WNYC (the link can be found here https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8oJcRp-Ff7OZWZiZDczYzYtNGY3OC00YjE2LTkzZDgtZTExNjI1NTc2YWMx&hl=en_US).

 The interviewer makes it very clear from the start that he is opposed to the idea of selling model term papers because of the questionable legality of the trade. Mammatas responds to the skepticism as if he has explained it to hundreds of people before saying that because of the first ammendment, Mammatas can sell his work to anyone as long as the client does not violate the clause by turning in the work of Mammatas. With the legal aspect out of the way, the conversation moves towards the types of clients who use Mammatas's service. Mammatas says that more than half of clients are dumb and cannot even explain their assignments to the brokers who then contact Mammatas. Despite this, Mammatas still insists that not everyone cheats. He explains how clients do what is intended with the service; they get the model paper, gather the information they need, then write the paper in their own terms. This is how the system is intended to work. But beyond these "dumb clients" there are many competent clients who are just up against the wall, so to speak, and need a quick paper. Mammatas helps out here too. He talks about how he has done papers for big business men and companies who need reports and the like on a deadline. A "cost-benefit analysis" is the basis for people who request Mammatas's work. In other words the client may ask themself, "do I have the time to sit here all night and write a half-decent paper, would it be worth it to spend a few hundred bucks to get this easy A?" This is what the whole business comes down to.

Mammatas preys on the dumb and lazy, those who would rather give up hard-earned money than work a little harder for the satisfaction of completing an original work. Mammatas should not be found in fault. He uses a perfectly legal system to help people who request it. The sneaky and unethical action comes in when the client abuses the model and does not use it as a true model.

-Mitch Peiffer