slumberland

slumberland

Even the title of the fourth part hints at something happening. Slumber. Land. Someone is going to die. Or fall into endless sleep. And that someone is going to be Violet. This analysis will be short, but still quite descriptive, because I did not have much time to do this. I just shifted house (again) and had to help in the unloading and fixing process.

It starts off in the hospital where Violet has been fixed and Titus, I believe, has finally realized that he was in love with only one part of Violet, and he only wanted a perfect her. He didn’t want a broken and scarred Violet. He wasn’t in love at all. We also begin to see another form of degradation; the environment. They can turn on and off the climate, and sun.

Later, Violet expresses her life wishes to Titus, but we see Titus is reluctant. It feels as if he’s a jerk, who was only using Violet. Titus is beginning to distance himself from Violet. I find this quite sad, because we could see in the beginning to middle of the book that Violet was helping Titus, and Titus was quite dependent on her. She supported him, and showed him a new way around things. And when she needs him, he’s shying away and slowly becoming a jerk.

Then, I found something quite interesting. On pages 222-223, Quendy is acting quite mature and smart. She tries to understand what’s happening to Violet, and even searches things up on her feed. She also indirectly calls Titus an unemphatic person for not even caring to know what his happening ‘re: Violet’.  Also, it is pointed out that Quendy’s blood is blue. This is a possible reference to two things; one, that there is not enough oxygen in the atmosphere, and two, a possible hint that Quendy is quite “royal” in terms that she cares.

 Also, we see that Titus is scared and tries to shirk his responsibilities. He goes into mal, and winds up at Violet’s house. She takes care of him anyways, which is quite ironic, and goes on to stay with him outside, while the father silently judges from inside the house. Moreover, Violet, after that incident, sends all her important memories over to Titus. And makes a weekend plan with him. But he deletes everything. He can’t handle all his emotions.

When they do end up going to the mountain under the pseudonyms Mister and Missus Smith, Titus freaks out when Violet starts to get intimate. Her last words to him were, “Oh, shit.”

After that incident, Titus moves on; they have broken up. He doesn’t even look back at her. He starts dating Quendy, and goes on holidays with his mates. When his dad comes back from a whale expedition, he projects memories. And that’s when Violet’s dad’s message comes in, saying that Violet was gone.

Titus rushes over, only to meet a body, with barely any life signals, covered in discs. He doesn’t feel any grief. Violet’s dad attacks Titus and tells him to go play with the Eloi. This is a reference to the book, “The Time Machine” by H. G. Wells, where the Eloi are the superior race that live on the surface of the earth and don’t perform menial task; only play. What a wonderful reference.

When Titus gets home, I think he finally understands what Violet meant by resisting. He orders the same pants all the same colour until his credit is depleted. Completely. This is a different way of resistance. It makes the corps believe that Titus really likes those pants, and completely conforms him to a category that he is not. So, kudos to him to find a non-damaging way to fight the feed.

Two days later, he goes back to Violet. And he tells her short stories. You can see he is very aware now, and no longer obsessed over small irrelevant things. He knows what’s happening in the world now. And he starts to cry. Which is very unusual for that future. He understands finally what his love for Violet was, he starts to feel bad.

Everything must go. 

Everything must go.

Everything must go.

My favorite quote though was: “There’s an ancient saying in Japan, that life is like walking from one side of infinite darkness to another, on a bridge of dreams. They way that we’re all crossing the bridge of dreams together. That there’s nothing more than that. Just us, on the bridge of dreams.”

I liked the ending. It was quite intense. I would, though, give this book a 7/10. It’s not really my favorite book, but the ending was just my style. So it got bumped up. Anyways. Thank you. Bye. 

utopia

Part three is entitled utopia. It was quite surprising, and the ending especially was quite shocking, although expected. Below are five quotes that I found interesting, or appalling.

1.       question of moral        

“Intercrural or oral! Ain’t a question of moral!” (pg. 127)

Smell Factor is watching a kids broadcast during dinner. What surprised me was the language usage in the world of the future, and the message being sent to the kids. It is affirming that either of those sexual orientations are alright and perfectly fine to be carried out. Honestly, perhaps for a late teen that would be a fine program, but a child?!

2.       observe the remarkable verdure

“’He says the language is dying and that words are being debased. So he tries to speak entirely in weird words and irony, so no one can simplify anything he says.’” (pg. 137)

                At least a few people in the world realize that the world is dying, and language is going with it. Slowly the world is declining through the constant usage of the “feed”. Words and speech are being used less and less in the future which is probably less vocabulary and less parts of speech are utilised.

3.       a day in the country

“But we have entered a new age. We are a new people. It is now the age of oneiric culture, the culture of dreams.” (pg. 149)

                This is basically an elaboration of the previous point. We finally understand that the people don’t really talk at all in the feed. Communication, advertisements are all done as a flow of images and videos; not previous speech usage and writing. DECLINE OF HUMAN CIVILISATION.

4.       fight and flight

“She whispered, ‘Talk to me. In the air.’” (pg. 169)

                Possibly, Violet and her father are one of the few people who realize what is really happening in the world. She realizes that she is dying and would prefer to discuss the issue in the open, using speech, as she wants to rebel till her last breath. Also, perhaps she doesn’t wish to document her emotions on this topic on the feed.

5.       our duty to the party

“She had broken somehow, and she was broken, and, oh fuck, she was sagging and I grabbed her to help her, and she was shaking, and her eyes were all white and rolling around, and she couldn’t talk anymore-

-she was choking- “(pg. 202)

                We finally understand what is happening with Violet completely. The feed is really controlling every part of you. It takes all of your movements and actions. It also takes the brain, and all possible control. We already knew that Violet really believed those things that she said as true, but all control was wrenched from her, so she couldn’t stop herself from saying it out loud.

eden

Finally, here’s the second blogpost on the book Feed. Actually, it was supposed to be posted earlier, but perhaps you can see why I had to get it done today (what a hectic weekend) So here’s the second part:

6. awake

“It felt like I was in a little room.” (pg. 43)

                The feed plays such a big role in the lives of the future people. Without the feed, they feel emotionally unreliant on themselves. They don’t know what to do, or say, and are so confused as to what is actually happening. Truly, this sentence proves how oppressed they are. Once oppressed for a long time, and then released, one is in confusion and feels small, scared, and even stressed.

7. college try

“Everything in my head was quiet. It was fucked.” (pg. 44)

                Reaffirms on the point stated above. The feed was a constant thing, that played a constant role in their lives. They used it as a crutch, and find it disconcerting to live without the constant talk and information stream in their head.

8. boring

“I couldn’t figure out even the littlest reason to paint a picture like that.” (pg. 45)

                The lack of creativity is quite astounding. Since they are dependent on technology to do most of their work, they cannot think for themselves. They don’t even understand the purpose of the painting; they don’t interpret it as ‘art’ or even ‘expression’. It also shows confusion, or an introduction to foreign ideas, lack of understanding, and even uncertainty. As my earlier post had touched on, this may be a recurring symbol or theme.

9. still boring

“Suddenly, our heads felt real empty. At least in the hospital they had better gravity than the hotel.” (pg. 46)

Oh, no. How will they survive without the feed? They feel as If they are missing something extremely important in their life, in their heads. Since they are so uncomfortable, they look for a point of solace, another recurring symbol; better gravity. It had been mentioned before, and they always comment on how gravity is very important, since all gravity on the moon is artificial. Gravity makes things fall back down, a centrifugal force. Therefore, it enhances the theme that all things must fall, or will fall eventually.

10. missing the feed

“Everything we think and feel is taken in by the corporations mainly by data ones like Feedlink and OnFeed and American Feedware, and they make a special profile, one that’s keyed just to you, and then they give it to their branch companies, or other companies buy them, and they can get to know what it is we need, so all you have to do is want something, and here’s a chance it will be yours.”  (pg. 48)

I don’t think that much needs to be said about this one. It’s quite self-explanatory; everything you do is noted. The corporations and the governments know your every move, step, all that you do. It is all noted, confirming my earlier suspicion that everyone is under control, their every step is tailored for them. They are controlled completely.

11. cache & carry

“I flipped through them sadly. I went back and forth between them.” (pg. 50)

                Although he may be talking about cached pages that he had saved earlier, it also represents his uncertainty, and furthermore proves that he may be a dynamic character. He is unsure and doesn’t know what to do. He goes ‘back and forth’ showing that he has a lot of choices and he doesn’t know what to choose. This may be a point later on in the story where he won’t know what to do.

12. night. and boring

“I hoped she could see my smile in the light of my brain.” (pg. 54)

                Violet is slowly changing Titus, and he really can see that. Both his heart and brain, not the Feedware, agree that she is someone important, and without bias wants to have her as a someone important in his life. 

13. father

“’Oh. Shit. Yeah, I forgot. No m-chat. Just talking.’” (pg. 55)

                People are so reliant on the Feedware for all their information and daily requirements. People even talk through the Feedware even though the person is right in front of them. This is quite saddening, as it shows that human civilisation is dying slowly, and once again, the species is going to die, although this is actually quite pathetic.

14. salad days, w/sneeze guard

“…and her eyes were vacant like she was seeing some other world, which I guess she was.” (pg. 58)

                The feed represents another mystic world, a world of want, rather than need, where everything one wants is right at their feet, or in their hands. It also represents that the feed takes you somewhere else, and controls you in a way that would not seem intrusive, but rather mystifying. At least that’s my opinion of it.

15. garden

“But a long time ago the glass ceiling over the terrarium had cracked, and so everything was dead, and there was moon dust all over everything out there. Everything was gray.” (pg. 62)

                Everything that is dead is grey. Sorry, I like the British spelling for things. Anyways. This terrarium could represent earth. The atmosphere may have stopped working, the ozone layer just dissipated, and the world is dying. That is why, probably, there is so much pollution, lesions, people aren’t really aware of the world dying. Perhaps, this is a symbol for death, and perhaps, we may see this symbol recur later on in the novel.

16. dead language

“She looked me in the eye. ‘No,” she said, ‘but that’s what I told you.’” (pg. 67)

                Deception is a great device. Also, Violet is portrayed as a slightly vague and mysterious person. She has lied, but is now telling the truth. It also symbolised uncertainty. Should we trust her or not? I predict she will cause great changes in Titus and make the book very exciting.

17. release

“It came down like frickin’ spring rains, and we were dancing in it.” (pg. 70)

                Water represents life, freedom and running free. All the friends found freedom and solace in the feed. Refer to above analysis.

What a weekend...

Heyo guys...

Yeah. I'm sleepy. It's morning, and I'm writing a blogpost. About my weekend in general. It was really fun, and productive, but really, I need some rest right about now.

So basically, this weekend, I had this MUN (Model United Nations) conference at my school, or JoMUN. I was apprehensive, since I was the only 9th grader in my committee, ECOSOC, and I thought I was going to do bad. Actually, what 9th grader joins the Economic and Social Council. (*points to me*).

Actually, I had so much fun, I don't even know what to do anymore. I was representing Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. And my issue was the creation of a free trade zone in Africa. So basically, we have to write a resolution, actually, lemme just attach it for you so that you can see what we do.

Then we have to debate and make amendments. 

A few people made amendments, that really made no sense. I was like, "The delegate wishes to say that the delegate at the podium is very wrong....." Yeah, so basically, my resolution passed with no amendments. Congrats me. 

Actually, I really enjoyed my experience over the weekend, and I hope to have many more conferences as such. Anyways, guess I'll just go over to my bed and call it a day.... (even though it's morning XD)

moon

So this is going to be my first blogpost about the novel “Feed” by Matthew Tobin Anderson. It contains dialectical journals of the first part of the book. Without further ado:

1.       your face is not an organ

“The thing that I hate about space is that you can feel how old and empty it is. I don’t know if the others felt like I felt, about space?” (pg. 4)

I really liked this quote from chapter one. It was quite thought provoking, and if you search for it, it has sort of a foreshadow and/or symbolises a bigger concept. It foreshadows the possibility that Titus, our main character, is going to go through some dynamic changes, due to the fact that he questions whether others feel the same way as he does. Also, this quote symbolises the old, empty and mysterious ways of the world. It shows that the main character is very uncomfortable with silence and the thought of how things were before.

2.       impact

“It was at least good to get out of the hotel, because the rest of the city had pretty good artificial gravity, so if you dropped things, at least they fuckin’ fell.” (pg. 10)

                This statement was ironically contradictory. Titus and his friends are on the moon to enjoy. They do not like their hotel, as it is very “crummy”. They are new to the moon, and wish to explore what is the unknown, to them. They find comfort in the uncomfortable. They do not know the place, therefore it is a slightly uncomfortable experience, but the fact that the artificial gravity is decent, and lets things fall is their sole solace after coming to moon. Also, it shows that eventually everything falls, and everything ends up going after all. This may also be a major concept in this book; of sacrifices and letting things go.

3.       juice

“When she thought no one was looking, she opened her mouth. Something trembled there. Juice. She had filled her mouth with juice… I shifted. I watched the juice. For her own amusement, she was letting it go, gentle and sexy.” (pg. 18)

                This quote was quite interesting. It reaffirms the innocence and gayness that young people possess, and also how oblivious they are to their surroundings. It also may show a theme, perhaps, of breaking the rules. The girl (Violet) waits for the workers of the club to be preoccupied by another issue, and makes sure that nobody is looking at her when she does this. And the concept of ‘letting it go’ is mentioned once again.

4.       the nose grid

“Wrappers were turning through space like birds.” (pg. 21)

                This simile is very powerful. This shows that not only is civilisation failing through communicating problems, but it is also suffering through pollution. The world is slowly crumbling, and there is nothing that is being done to stop it.

“’There are times when you just want to sink through the floor,’ she said, ‘but then you realize there’s no air out there.” (pg. 23)

                I did a second one for this chapter as it did not seem fair to leave out this quote. This quote perfectly captures how one feels in a society of uniform order, when he or she is different. Violet is also a very logical person and her thought process is quite mature; similar aged people are quite confused, or amazed by her sophistication.

5.       the moon is in the house of boring

“I felt like a kind of kicking in my face and I discovered it was my mouth, which was saying the time of calamity thing, but at the top of my lungs.” (pg. 39)

                This is a very important quote representing how it feels to be oppressed and out of control. Titus cannot control his body, his thoughts, his broadcasting, his words. It is all out of his control. I believe that this will be another important theme in this book; not being able to be you.  I believe that everyone is being controlled, and their just not realizing. 

In short...

In English class, we've been going through a lot of short story analysis. First off, we did a project involving an infographic, which was in my last-to-last post. Right now, I'm prepping a TEDtalk for my  I've probably read a ton of short stories in the attempt to find the one I would like to use on my project. Finally, though, I've found one that I guess I can do a 5-minute presentation on. I chose "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway. It's a really nice story, and I regret that I'm about to spoil it for whoever is reading this post.

Ugh. Me and the GIFs. It shouldn't even be legal. Anyways. I shall continue. I really like this short story. It was published in 1927, but the storyline still fits in the modern day world. At a first glance, it seems as though it is a simple conversation between a man and a woman waiting for a train to Madrid. But short stories are never as simple as that. Turns out, they're talking about an abortion.

Yeah, I know, right? How did we reach the point of abortion? From a candid conversation in Spain waiting for a train? (Please congratulate me on the point of making that last sentence rhyme). Okay. This story has a few symbols. The most important one, according to me, are "white elephants". According to the Oxford Dictionary, a white elephant is "A possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of." This is quite relevant, as a baby, especially in an unwanted one, back in 1927, would have been extremely hard to take care of.

Actually, what I found most interesting about this story, and my personal connection to it was the difference between talking, and communicating. The couple does a lot of talking but does not seem to be able to tell each other and communicate their point of view effectively. We see them arguing about an abortion, but they do not call it by the name, only as an "operation". We see that the woman wants to keep the baby, but it is obvious that the man wants to have nothing to do with the baby.

The quote that I feel was really controversial in this story follows:

"Do you feel better?" he asked. 

"I feel fine," she said. 'There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine." 

This was  controversial to me because it could mean two entirely different things. Either that:

a) The woman decides to have the abortion and is blindly (and numbly) following all that the man says.

OR

b) The woman decided to keep the baby, implying that nothing was wrong in having a baby, therefore, she is disobeying the man and following her own lead.

I would strongly recommend reading this short story; it's really nice. I'll have the link below. 

If you were one of my readers that reads my blog for fun, then I'm sorry... I'll have a proper blogpost maybe by next week. (I'm so busy, there's too much work).

Here's the link: Hills Like White Elephants

OK... so what now?

Heyo all!

I'm back, not with boring english infographics (probably in your opinion) that would help you on an analysis, but with a real, heartfelt blog. Haha. Lies. But yes. This will be a me & mine weekend blog.

It's been a tiring sort of week, and I'm finally happy that it's over. Thinking back, I think I had like 6-7 summatives (basically tests or essays that have weightage in your overall grade). But oh well. That means I got a bit more to tell you. At least I could tell you I felt so accomplished with what I did this week.

Yeah. So proud. Anyways. I'm new to my school, and I joined as many activities as I could: volleyball, MUN, service activities, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and also a musical (but more on that later). So basically, I joined volleyball for fun, because I naturally like volleyball. So I got kicked out because I wasn't good enough for the team. One of the reasons were because I couldn't serve the ball overhand.

Couldn't find a better gif, sorry. The next day, I try the overhand serve again, just because I pity myself for being really short. Lo behold. I can do it. And I can do it so perfectly. So I'm pretty much like "Y'all better watch out next year." But the story of my life, I'll fail anyways. 

Yeah so, I don't even know anymore. Then on the subject of MUN. So in MUN, I have to write this thing called policy statements. These things are pretty hard. So I look on the school website, find my issue, and finish one of the issues. So I feel so happy I almost partied. But then I figured out that the school website was not updated, and I did the wrong issue. I could literally hear karma laughing at me.

Hehe, Assassination Classroom reference.

Oh well. More homework for me. Then, well the highlight of my week; service learning. So we had to choose a service activity; it had to be either two onsite, or an offsite activity. I chose a service activity involving horses. You need to know that I have no idea how to take care of horses, but when they asked for volunteers to lead the horses in from the field, I raised my hand. Idiot.


But it was great actually. We had to groom the horses and clean their hooves. I even got to braid his hair. The horse I took care of was named Icon. How iconic. There were ponies and donkeys and a beautiful black stallion, that we were not allowed to go near. But yeah. It was a fun time. When we got back, I was literally tired, and slightly hysteric over how a horse kept nudging my friend like;


So STEM= not worth talking about right now. So let me rant about the musical. The musical is called AIDA, by Elton John and Tim Rice. And no, I am not singing. Don't get me wrong; I like to sing, and I think I am okay at it as well. I just don't like singing for people. Instead, I opted to play the piano for the musical, and was accepted. Woohoo. One good thing!


Actually, I'm proud to say that I am feeling slightly involved. I like this school, the people are nice and we are going on a trip. Whoa. I forgot completely. The next week I will be completely MIA, because we are going to a place called Drakensberg, or Dragons Peak mountains. With no technology whatsoever. So like, be warned. It's going to be fun; there'll be hikes, archery, rock climbing, abseiling etc. It's a school funded trip, so no additional expenses. So I'm pretty hyped. I've got all my stuffies packed and done. Can't wait to get there. BUT I'LL MISS MY MUSIC. MY BOOKS. AND FAMILY. And nothing else.
Hope you enjoyed this update. Okay so here's another fun quiz:

WHICH FOOTBALLER WAS HERE?

The answer will be on the next blogpost next week. Find out what Ishita did in Drakensberg on next weeks post.

LOL, is it only me who thinks that sounds like a news article prompt?

The Anticipated Infographic.

Here's the english class part I warned you all about.

Here I present the amazing english infographic on "The Open Window" by Saki.

Although I promise to do a blogpost by the weekend.
{EDIT 1.5 hours later} Click on any image, and it enlarges like a photo slideshow. That is so sick, just realised!

My Weekend is all BOOKed.

Heyo!

I get home today, and I'm like, wow. I've got very little homework. Just some decent amount of everything, and my math and english homework is due on Monday. When everything's really going good, you know something's definitely wrong. I get home and remember: I have to be at school on Saturday, my Sunday is filled with house hunting, and all my homework has a train stop for Friday. And then I hold up for a second: Why am I not booked with books?

Oh well. I've been asked absurd questions before, including whether we're breathing the same air as dead people. No, no we are not. At least some scientific website from a year ago said so. But the most absurd question to me is whether or not I like to read.

Please. I need a moment to process.

If you've seen me before, then I would be a bit flabbergasted (I love that word) as to how you wouldn't know. It is unfathomable, the amount of books that I like to read.

Oh Ish, have you read this book (insert book name). Yes, I have. I shall fangirl/boy with you. I don't think that I can hate any book. I mean, I believe we have to appreciate the amount of work the author has put into a book. I may dislike certain parts of a book, but definitely not the entire thing.

What kinds of books do I like to read? Am I the masochistic kind of person to read The Fault in our Stars? The kind who reads the informational mysteries of Dan Brown? A fangirl of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl? Being a proud Gryffinclaw, and the devotee to Cassandra Clare, C.L. Stone, Richelle Mead, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Leigh Bardugo, and many more, I am proud to say that I enjoy every kind of story or book. One of my favourites is actually The Twelfth Night, or A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare. So when in doubt, buy me a book that I haven't read.

In the past year or so, place your bets on me reading a bit over a thousand books. I've been rehashing series like a madwoman. I've been reading Sarah. J. Maas over and over, just because the new book is coming out in 2017. But I don't really have that many books. It's really sad. There basically isn't enough space anywhere in the house, and I like hard copy books. And I just shifted. And I have no books as of now. And I'm lonely. And sad. I don't even know what to do with life. I have no books )';

Books are my everyday stress buster. Some of us listen to music, (Yo, I do that while reading. #multitasker) some of us are gamers, sleepers or even the conversion of emotion into art. Reading is mine. I would rather die knowing that I've read my book, than just not enjoying at all. Reading is important after all. It helps our brains information lift. It's just like a muscle, but it lifts important mental stuff rather than weights.



Lastly, who is a good reader. A good reader is not a person who subscribes to Goodreads. Rather, he/she is a person who has a balance in what is being read. For this reason, I believe I am a bad reader. Now, wouldn't you think that a person who reads so much should classify themselves as a good reader. No. I read for pleasure, happiness and that warm feeling of reading something that you relate to. There are people who like red wine. Drinking in healthy amounts is good for you. Drinking too much makes you drunk, tipsy, spoils your liver. Drinking too much is bad for you. Likewise, I believe I don't have much moderation. I see a book, I stand there and read. It's like a brain control function that you open and press: Read now, read in 10 seconds, eat, or sleep.

 Pop quiz: Guess who?

Post your answer below in the comments!

See you next time!