Post-Reading March Book Clubs; 1984

Fear and false happiness in a government are both bad traps that you don’t want to fall into. I believe however that it is worse to be falsely happy because you don’t know what is happening. I will use two texts that we have read in class to help me prove my points. They are “Harrison Bergeron” and Antz.  

    “Harrison Bergeron” is an example of a fear-ruled society. Their citizens have handicaps that limit their good qualities like strength, looks, and intelligence. They might put weights on someone who has good strength because they want everyone to be equal. The citizens know about the handicaps but can’t or won’t do anything about it because of the fear. They have seen their dictator kill anybody who overthrows the government. Harrison Bergeron is no exception. He is a 14 year-old boy who is so intelligent, strong, and handsome that he has extreme handicaps. He knows what is right and after seeing his family bow to the dictator he has enough. He crashes a ballerina show and for about five minutes, shows everyone that they don’t have to follow. Then the dictator came in and shot him to show they did have to follow. But at least you can see that in a fear-ruled society there is a higher chance for overthrowing the government.

    Unlike “Harrison Bergeron”, Antz is about a colony of ants where everything is for the colony. Their jobs are decided at birth, they are either a worker or a soldier. The workers work very hard and are even used as machine equipment like a wrecking ball when needed. The soldiers are sent into battle knowing most of the time that they will die. But they do it for the colony. They believe that their world is fine and that this is how everything is supposed to be. This is very dangerous because nothing will ever be overthrown. If they think everything is fine they won’t do anything.

  In conclusion, a false happy society is worse because you don’t know anything. How are you supposed to do anything if you don’t know what is wrong?

Pre-Reading, March Book Clubs;1984

It is hard to say a perfect utopian environment. No utopian environment comes without the dystopic side. That is why those stories are called a utopic/dystopic book. Also our world is not perfect at all. Everything seems to have a bad side and even the simplest things can be followed up with something bad. For example, riding your bike can be fun and entertaining but it can also lead to a concussion if you hit your head hard enough which can happen simply by bumping over a rock. This makes it super hard to imagine everything. So right now I am going to try and think of every childhood dream, every adult wish, every selfless or selfish desire.

I would make it so that travel is quick and easy. It wouldn’t cost so much to go to the other side of the world. I would also make travel as safe as it could be with a record of no injuries since it had been built and forever from that time. I would do this because my best friend/cousin lives in Alaska and often since her mom died, she hasn’t been able to come for Christmas. I only get to see her in the summer and Christmas time if I’m lucky. I have many fond memories with her and I often miss her very much.

   I would also make there be no health problems because they limit the world. I often see the world as a giant handicap. Humans could do so much individually and as a whole if we didn’t have anything holding us back or scaring us away. People wouldn’t have diabetes or cancer and everybody would die by natural means. Yes heartbreak is something that we all need to experience but it doesn’t have to be by someone dying.

   I also have always wanted a personal horse. I would like there to be a genie or something that grants wishes in each family for everybody to have one selfless wish per week. I would wish for a horse. However, the genies must be wise enough to see the future of what the person will do with that power. They have to make sure for example that I don’t want to use the horse to run over an old person.

   In conclusion, people need to watch what they do with their utopian places. It should be used lightly and have everything taken into consideration.

Mr.Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore; Post-Reading

Books are very powerful things. They can be your best friend or they can destroy you. In this novel, however, the books have a way of speaking to all the members of the Unbroken Spine. They especially help Clay find how to combine two of his favorite things, books and technology, something people like Corvinia don’t believe go together.

In this book, the people belonging to the Unbroken Spine were busy searching and decripting codes and trying to live forever. What they didn’t realize was that they needed a new approach to things. They knew what books could do for them, they just weren’t getting the right kind of books. In a way, Clay was their savior book. Like the quote from the book says “All you need to do is find the right book at the right time”. They found Clay and his new methods and as soon as they did, their minds began to open a little bit. If Clay hadn’t linked computers to books, he would never had seen the Reading Room and would never have gave the people the new approach they needed. 

I have often had a rough day when all I wanted to do was to go inside on of my fairy tale books. I would find my book at just the right time and whatever happened disappeared. It saved me, and possibly others too, if the thing was severe. Sometimes you don’t even need to open the book. Even something related to that book will do. I have also had many times when I thought that I couldn’t make it to the book so I just thought what would my favorite character had done. The right book can make someone happy and the wrong book can drag someone down. 

I think what this quote is trying to tell us is that if we can remain positive and use our knowledge we can do great things. For a while there, Clay didn’t think that they could copy the sacred book that there was only one of but he found a book, or an article, and got help from Grumble. This is a perfect example of us being helped by just a book.

Mr.Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Pre-Reading

    Books. They are probably the best friends you will ever have. You can even fall in love with the character it produces. It stays with you all day in your hardest times and in your triumphants. It can also displease you by leaving you on a cliff hanger. It may take a while for you to find a book that you in love with. But when you do, you won’t ever forget it.

    Books can help you get advice on anything. You can read about what your favorite characters would do in your situation and then you even know how their plan turns out by reading more. They can be your family if you don’t have the best family. Maybe your character is even going through the same thing you might be going through. It’s always nice to know when people are going through the same thing as you. They can be used for motivation and knowing that what you’re doing is good. It can be used to compare yourself to. You can look at one character and try and be more like them or look at the villain realize that you aren’t as bad as people think you are. Books can also take you into a world that isn’t you own. They can expose you to many different places and so many different types of character.

    They can also be that one thing you are rewarded with. In my personal experience one of the best things you can get for Christmas or your birthday. I got 4 books for Christmas and three of them were continuing off of my favorite series. I just finished two of them today. Of course even though I am sad that it is over, I know that it gave me a sense of happiness.

    Books can be so amazing and life changing. In this book, I hope that the main character loves books too. I also hope that something exciting with a kind of mystery because the best books are those that keep you waiting for another one. After all, they can destroy you or empower you.