An  Upside Down Day

In Roald Dahl's short story "Man from the South" a man in a pool tries to have just a "little evening sun" when a man came and put his day upside down. While sitting down, our narrator sees a man walking besides the pool that asks him if he could sit down near him. The man had a southern accent, and a really crazy idea. Two young adults sat on the table near by, the boy offered the two men cigars, the southern man didn't take it, instead he grabbed one of his, the other one did accepted the kind mans cigar. While the boy lighted his cigar he made a comment that would've changed his life, he told the 2 men sitting nearby thet his lighter never fails. The southern man made a bet, if the boy could light his lighter 10 times without missing one, he would get a Cadillac. But if he missed even once, he would lose something little, that he never uses, perhaps, the little finger of his hand. Later on they went upstairs to the mans room to complete the bet. The boys hands were tied up with strings and the southern man had a chopping knife right up his finger. When the bet was almost to an end a women entered to the room, when she saw what the man was about to do she yelled "Carlos, Carlos!" and the bet was put to an end, yet the man had nothing else to bet, because his wife took it all at a little cost. 

Dahl uses characterization and imagery to put more depth into the story, one example of characterization is:  
        "Oh, no! Dat would be no good. And you might be tempted to refuse to hold it out. What I should do I should tie one of your hands to de table before we started and I should stand dere with a knife ready to go chop de momint your lighter missed."
This example shows how the author uses words as "momint" that when read can show an accent an can personalize the character. Carlos, is a man that comes probably from southern america so the author personalizes him with misspelled words. 

Imagery is what our 5 sences can see, smell, touch, listen or taste, on the book "Man from the South" at the veryu begining theres an example I like a lot. 
"It was a fine garden with lawns and beds of azaleas and tall coconut palms, and the wind was blowing strongly through the tops of the palm trees making the leaves hiss and crackle as though they were on fire. I could see the clusters of big brown nuts handing down underneath the leaves."

This shows how the setting of the book looks like and helps the reader understand better the setting. In my opinion, what makes Roahl Dahl´s stories so good are this two effects he uses, yet they put more suspense to the story and becomes more suspensfull

Not a Normal Holiday

An UNSCHEDULED HOLIDAY was announced through the speaker, since that moment something changed. Jonas hadn't take his pills for 4 weeks now. Something was not the same, somehow the day  lacked of SAMENESS. Jonas will never feel the same about his family or friends. When he goes to play, its different, with memories, he realizes that what the elder told in the ceremony was true. His friends, were playing war, and Jonas couldn't understand how they could do that. The next day, when Jonas went to The Annex Room, he asked for the memory of release, The Giver told him who was the other Receiver that failed. Her name? Rosemary. She asked for a release when the Giver had showed her psychological pain as losing a child. This girl was very important to the giver, she was his child.


"He killed it!"My father killed it! Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realizing. He continued to stare at the screen numbly.

In this point of the book we can see how the author uses a language that at first its difficult to understand but after we read the book further away, we get to understand the authors point. In the quote above Jonas starts to realize that without memories people cant difference right from wrong. Jonas' father just KILLED a child, but how they call it RELEASE it makes it seen good. 

My point in a quote...

when going further away, into the end Jonas starts feeling empty inside. Yet his friends CANT love him. Because they don't have STRONG FEELINGS

The Colors of the Wind

What a wonder full life:

Jonas, who wanted to believe that his community was fair with everything, started disappointing himself.  And also he started questioning the WHY in all this rules. No love? No animals? No colors? All this led to one thing, there were NO decisions. He started seeing peoples fear to make a difference. A decision against the Committee of the Elders. Even the Elders were afraid... To make decisions against their normal life. 

The Giver started deciding to increase the painful memories within Jonas´ days at work. He gave him the most terrible memories, like WARFARE, HUNGER. But also starts giving him more intense feelings like LOVE. The Giver´s best memory, his favorite, FAMILY, FRIENDS. A warm feeling that came from them. 

He also starts talking to him about why all people don't have this HONOR. Having all the memories, it has to be a hard task, a PAINFUL one. Hard to contain, without telling your fear, without expressing your FEELINGS. 

It’s living a life without yelling to a blue sky, or to the green mountain, and without telling me the colors of the wind.

This is "The Color of the Wind"of the movie Pocahontas by Walt Disney Pictures

In this song the lyrics say:  We need to sing with all the voices of the mountain, we need to paint with all the colors of the wind. 
This phrase can be connected to the book because Jonas has started to see all this colors but until he sees them all, he WONT be able to paint with all the colors of the wind.


"The Giver told him that it would be a very long time before he had the colors to keep.
-- But I want them! Jonas said angrily. It isn't fair that nothing has color!
-- Not fair? The Giver looked at Jonas curiously. Explain what you mean
-- Well.... Jonas had to stop and think it through. If everything is the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one? He looked down at himself, at the colorless fabric of his clothing., But its all the same, ALWAYS." 


This quote makes me wonder, What if Jonas finds out how did they erase the memories of the others? If Jonas is so curious about why did the did this, maybe he should ask The Giver to give him that memory. 

If at some point in our life we want to be happier than you are now, maybe you should change something you do every day. Because if not, nothing will change. EVER. Jonas is starting to realize that. Who will give Jonas this clue?

PS:  

Book Worm

Last week in class we read from chapter 9 to 12 and thers a bunch of things I was able to took notes about.
We can see  that when the Ceremony o the Twelve ends Jonas starts feeling DISTANT, like o one can be near him; when i was reading I realized that we can connect this part with "Los Ojos del Perro Siberiano" by Antonio Santa Ana, a book that we read in spanish. Shortly after whe Jonas meets the Giver, he start talting about how he can see beyond, but The Giver tells him he now sees SEES. This part MAKES ME WONDER, how did they ELIMINATE all the colors, making everything the same? Are Jonas and the others really clones of us in BLACK and WHITE?

Another thing that made me wonder was Jonas rules by being a receiver of memory is the eighth question that read "You may lie" In this part I was stunned. How would he know that in all this time everyone was not telling the truth? How was he supposed to trust ANYBODY. How coul he be BRAVE in his place?

In the past chapters, Lois Lowry has shown us the imporance of memories, Jonas never knew what was snow


, or summer. In his world of sameness Jonas feels NOTHING not even sun burn.



This world shows how POWER can be handeled wrongly and how it is a TRUE HONOR being selected as a Receiver, yet it is the only way you could ever know about seasons or colors.

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Seek Peek. Chapters 5-8

Though out the week I read chapters 5 to 8, this chapters have one thing in common; Jonas FEELS something. In chapter 5 Jonas tells about some odd dream he had and that that dream made him feel  some "stirrings". Like for everything in the community this feeling can be controlled, Jonas´mom gave him some pills so he wouldn't feel the stirrings anymore. This makes me think about how controlling feelings cant always be good. Yet to have a good life you need to be able to difference pleasure and pain. Passing this chapter, on chapter 6 Jonas and all of the other families are getting ready for the different ceremonies. In this auditorium everyone seated were they were supposed too. Like for example in the earliest ceremony, the nurturers sat in the front with the babies on their laps. Father didn't have Gabriel, he was given one extra year to complete his weight, father had pledged the committee of the elder so they wouldn't release him. Forwarding to chapter 7, The ceremony of the twelve starts. At birth every kid is given a number according to in which order they were born. when Jonas' number is about to be said, the  Chief of the  skipped Jonas. Everyone realized. In chapter 8 Jonas was finally told his job as the Receiver of Memory.
"Jonas prepared himself to walk to the stage when the applause ended and the Chief of the Elder picked up the next folder and looked down to the group to call forward the next twelve. He was calm now that his turn had come. He took a deep breath and smoothed his hair with his hand."(57).
With this, Lois Lowry shows us that this community is absolutely perfect everything goes in order. When the Chief of the Elder skipped Jonas even the one who is reading has a tiny heart attack, like if we were on Jonas'place.
If we, as Ecuador, have this rules, do you think all people follow them? Or do you think mos people would be "released?"And why?
This link will  get you to youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNNugNe0Wo


and a meme..

Discussions with Connections!

27/11/14

When reading the first four chapters of the book by Lois Lowry  The Giver I realized his society stops being flawless. Part by part of the book you get to know how is the life of the characters such as Jonas and Lily. For the first chapter Jonas starts making himself all of this questions like when he is talking to his parents after dinner about the ceremony of 12 and Jonas asked "Where any of the Elevens disappointed, your year?". His parents have answered his questions throughout the book. By chapter 3 we start involving more in Jonas´ father´s work; he is a nurterer. when going deeper into the story, we met Gabe ( Gabriel). He is a baby which jonas´father takes care of. For Gabe jonas´father breaks a rule and he saw the baby´s name. He also saw if he had a family. Probably if all of jonas family fond more with the baby and decide to hide him and take care of him in a hidden way they will get seviredly punished and get released.

Starting with chapter 4  Jonas goes to the house of the old.  In here we start understanding what kids do when they volunteer in different places. In each place they've got different places to work like in the house of the old they can shower them or make other activities. This time Jonas goes to meet his friends Asher and Fiona, they were bathing the eldest In this chapter we find about another rule "And nakedness too. it was against the rules for children and adults to look at anothers nakedness; but the rule did not apply to newchildren or the Old."(30). In the house of the old he met Larisa who told him about the release of Roberto. Roberto was an old man who got to their life limit and had to be released. In the book we find two types of releases which are good. One is the release of newchild, this were child who were´nt good enough. And the second release was the release of the Old, this was a thing to be proud of, as in the ceremony they retold all of their life of the released. As Larisa told Jonas, there were some of the Olds which had a meaningful life as Roberto, but also there were Olds who had a less meaningfull life as Edna who was a birthmother, yet according to Larisa she was good for nothing. To end this four chapters Jonas neither us now what happens with the released. Do they get killed? Or just expelled out of town?    

The Giver
by lois lowry

In the book by Lois Lowry, Jonas is a boy who at the age of 12  has a perfect life. Until he is chosen to be the student of The Giver who is to keep all of the memories of the pleasure but also the pain. Lois is a very detailed author, I know that because ive read Numbering the Stars by herself. Although its a very sad story it is also very interesting. In the dedication, Lois wrote ´´For all the children to whom we entrust the future´; perhaps this means that this book is for the children or teenagers which parents are trying to form they were formed too, yet they try to do the best  in their own way . When I revised the book I thought it would be like Lego the Movie, yet it starts as a perfct pretty world where EVERYONE sings and dance and then Emmet ( protagonist) was chosen as the Elected One to save everyone. In conclusion, maybe this book would be as interesting as counting the stars but with the sequence of lego the movie.

this is Numbering the Stars by Lois Lowry