Scene Response

I honestly think the most important scene in this movie is the very beginning when the narrator is talking about how he wishes he could fly like a hawk and not be jealous of anyone, then the scene switches to a basketball game and we see that they are behind by a point and it is here where I think the plot of the story is established because we see how proud the narrators dad is of one of the players and when they win the game and the other player is lifted above everyone else we see the narrators jealousy begin to form towards the other player. This scene is the setup for the rest of the movie.
There are a few techniques used in this scene that help show its importance. One of the techniques is the close up the director uses on the bird while the narrator is talking about how he wishes he was like a hawk and fly away not being jealous. He also uses long take with the birds and even short take with the group of kids in basketball uniforms to emphasis a point such as the importance of a hawk and in the second half of the scene where the boys are sitting listening to the coach we see the immense pressure they are under, and how the coach and the teammates look at at the player the story talks about.
I think that this scene is important to the rest of the film because it is the set up to the way the rest of the story plays out. I think it is the scene that shows us the events that began that cause what happens at the end of this story. I liked it because after watching the movie a few times I realized what exactly the meaning of the birds at the very beginning was. I also see that this scene is the focal point of the movie.

Freestyle Blog

This summer I have noticed a lot about reading in general. Last week I was in the book store and I noticed that the sale of graphic novels is becoming more and more popular. I noticed that the amount of kids in that section of the store had a lot more people then any other part. The thing I found interesting about this is that it was a reflection on how the culture today is so much different from the culture of 19 years ago. It actually makes sense in this new age where technology is becoming more prominent because now graphic novels are a reflection of online comics.
I guess my biggest question on this whole subject is: Will the reading of normal literature novels become extinct because of the reading of graphic novels soon? It also makes me wonder about how this will affect what people read to.
The one thing I have noticed about graphic novels that I do like is how quick they are to read especially like someone for me. I personally like mixing up the reading of normal Literature novels with graphic novels because I feel like sometimes I just need a quick read. I think that is why I decided to write about this topic.

Quote Response (Entry 14)

In Persepolis on page 31 a scene is depicted where the father went to the hospital to take pictures of a group of people that were carrying a man out that was killed by the army and right after him another group of men are carrying another man but his widow gets upset when they start to call him a martyr.
"Please! Stop It! Stop It!
What? What is it?
Stop it!
Who are You?
His Widow!
Are You a Royalist?
No, but my husband died of Cancer" (Satrapi, pg 31)

What I found most interesting about the illustrations for this particular quote and this situation was that the people yelling about the martyrs were angry and upset but the widow didn't look that angry. I also found it interesting that in this particular section of illustrations the widow after telling them what her husband died of ended up yelling about how bad the government was and began to protest with the rest of them. I think these frames are important to the novel because it shows how the people in the country progressed over time after the government was overthrown and how it affected the people emotionally. I guess my big question to this section is did they begin to call the man a martyr after they found out what he died from just to draw attention to themselves? Why did the widow start to protest with them?

Quote Response

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth" (Frost, 610)

I think that this poem even though it was written a while ago is still a very important poem. This poem itself talks about how life has two different paths and you chose the path you go down by the choices you make. This particular stanza reflects that the author is at the point in the path where it splits off into two different directions and he is sad he cant travel both to see what they each hold and that he stood there and really thought about which one he wanted to go down. I think this is important because everyone does this in there life they stand at a cross road in life and try and see what the outcome will be before they actually take the outcome and I think this poem is a good reflection on how taking a certain path can change your life then the other and how once you start down that path you cant just go back and change to the other one because you dont like the outcome.

Poem Paraphrase

This poem paraphrase is from William Meredith "The Illiterate" on page 577

"Was unfamiliar but, truth is, the man
Has never had a letter from anyone;
And now is both afraid of what it means
And ashamed because he has no other means
To find out what it says then to ask someone."

I think what the author is trying to say is that there is a man who has gotten a letter but it is not normal to him since he has never received one before. It is saying he is afraid because he cant read it since he never learned and that he is ashamed because it means the only way he will find out what it says is by going to someone else and asking them to read it to him and tell him what it means.

Quote Response

"I shoot the Hippopotamus
with bullets made of platinum" (Belloc, 544)
I guess the thing about this phrase from the short poem by Belloc that go to me was the fact that the person is shooting a hippopotamus because it makes me wonder why he would shoot the hippo. I also find it interesting that he shoots it with platinum bullets because he thinks it will make it thru the armor.I think it is important because in the second part of this poem he talks about why shooting the hippo with the platinum bullets is important. I just thought this little poem was kind of adorable and sad at the same time.

Song Quote Response

Katy Perry is a popular pop singer among many teenagers. This is from her recent song "Firework"

"You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July" (Perry)

I guess the words that leap out to me the most are ignite from the first line and Fourth of July in the last line. I feel like the reason ignite is important is that the stanza is talking about opening yourself up to people around you and letting them see whats inside and ignite makes me think of opening a lighter and a flame burning. I also think that Fourth of July is important too because she is comparing opening yourself up to the Fourth of July because of all the fireworks and things that go on that day.
I think that this stanza is important to the song not only because it is part of the chorus but because it helps you understand the song. This stanza talks about how you shouldn't let people get to you and that you need to open yourself up to the world and shine and let people know who you are. Its telling you to own your own life and be like the 4th of July and explode with life to people.
I guess what interests me about this stanza and this song in general is that it is telling you to be yourself and be proud of that and don't hide it just enjoy your life and be you and people will love you for that.
I like the way that they relate opening yourself up to the 4th of July. Here's a link if you want to listen :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw