Daniel Asher Greenman
802
Wednesday, 11•19•14

Reading Response Essay: "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

          War is an experience that few can truly understand. In the book "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Billy Pilgrim, experiences the firebombing of the German city of Dresden during World War Two. He later claims to have been abducted by an alien race from the planet of Tralfamadore. The book shows how war desensitizes people to death through Billy Pilgrim realizing that death is not the end of knowing somebody.

          Billy Pilgrim is desensitized to death in the book from his otherworldly experiences. When he describes his abduction by the Tralfamadorians, they tell him that they pity humans for not being able to see time more than one moment at once. It is illustrated in the book how Tralfamadorians do not mourn the dead:

          The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies, he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral...It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone, it is gone forever."

This shows how Billy does not look at death as the end of experiences with a person, and therefore is not saddened by death. In addition, whenever death is mentioned throughout the book, he thinks of the Tralfamadorian mantra "So it goes," which is meant to illustrate that every event is just another point in time, no more important than any other. Billy Pilgrim is desensitized to violence because of his being abducted by the Trafalmadorians.

          Billy Pilgrim is also desensitized to death from war. When describing a war reenactment, Billy thinks, "The umpire had comical news. The congregation had been theoretically spotted by a theoretical enemy. They were all theoretically dead now...What a Tralfamadorian adventure with death that had been, to be dead and to eat at the same time. This shows how Billy looks at death casually, relating it to an experience that is so routine. Also, Billy is not disturbed by death multiple times in the book, showing how he is not saddened by it because he has seen it happen so nonchalantly.

          Billy Pilgrim has been numbed to the sadness of death. He has been led to believe that death is routine by constantly being exposed to it, during the war, specifically the firebombing of Dresden. He thinks he was abducted by the alien Tralfamadorians, and taught that death was just another event, not the end of anything. This book taught me how even though death is the last you will se of a person, you can always experience more things about that person. In battle, people's lives end often, and instantly. But they exist just the same to you if you do not know that they are dead. People are only to you what you remember of them. People are only gone when you forget them. 

Daniel Asher Greenman
802
Wednesday, 11•5•14

Reading Response Essay: "Lord of The Flies" by William Golding

     Society is only as successful as those in it. The book "Lord of the flies by William Golding is about young boys that get stranded by an island by themselves, and have to survive amongst each other. The author thinks that society will not be successful if citizens blindly follow those in power, and pick them for superficial reasons.

     In the book, the wrong leaders for the children are picked, and for for superficial reasons. The smartest of the boys, and also the fattest, would be the ideal choice for his wisdom and calm in difficult situations. For example, the boys have devised a system where the one who is holding a certain conch shell gets to speak in front of everybody. During a heated discussion about whether or not there are dangerous animals on the island, one of the smaller kids are trying to speak, but cannot get a word in through the clamor. Piggy silences everybody and makes sure the boy gets an opportunity to voice his opinion. Piggy is not chosen to be leader, however, because he is overweight and bespectacled. The boys pick Ralph, who is the one who found the conch. He is also handsome, and one of the older boys. Ralph is not an adept leader, as he does nothing to keep the children together. For example, when another boy, Jack, is taunting him in front of all of the other boys, he does nothing to stop him. As a result of this, Piggy's glasses are broken, which the boys used to light fires. This causes distress among the group. For example:

The three boys stood in the darkness, striving unsuccessfully to convey the majesty of adult life.
'They wouldn't quarrel-'
'Or break my specs-'
'Or talk about a beast-'

The boys are distressed about not having a functioning society, due to Ralph's flimsy leadership. The children did not choose the correct person to lead their group, and it ended up hurting them.

     The author also shows how citizens follow their leaders unquestioningly. The small children in the book obey Ralph , or whichever older child is giving them instructions, throughout the book. For instance, when Ralph calls a meeting, "The children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the men with the megaphones." This shows their willingness to submit to authority. Elsewhere in the book, the two boys with the most power, Ralph and Jack, go to war. The boys are easily persuaded to join in, and which sides to pick. It is shown how the smaller boys do not make their own decisions.

     In the book "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, it is shown how those with less power in society do not make their own decisions, and because of their leaders being picked for the wrong reasons, it decomposes and results in turmoil. Ralph is picked simply because he has the conch. He turns out to be a flimsy leader. The boys go to war because the less powerful ones, who make up most of the society, do not intervene. In a group of people, the society has to be led by someone who is more of an extension of its citizens, and less of a controller of its citizens.

Daniel Asher Grenman
802
Wednesday, 10•22•14

Reading Response Essay: "Ashes" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

     Many children have to choose between their parents. In the short story "Ashes" by Susan Beth Pfeffer, the main character, Ashleigh, has to choose between her divorced parents: an irresponsible but idealistic father and a responsible and accountable mother. Ashleigh values her father's positive traits, but can't respect him because of his actions.

     Early on in "Ashes," Ashleigh speaks highly of certain aspects of her father's personality. After describing how her mother made her feel badly towards her father, she gives an account of his better side:

                But then dad got me roses or sang me a song he'd written for me. Or maybe he moved two                   buses away. And I realized he still called me Ashes, where Mom couldn't hear him to be                     annoyed. And that made me feel special all over again.

Ashleigh admires her father's compassion, since it makes her feel liked as an individual. She acknowledges that he helps her feel better about herself. Another piece of evidence that suggests Ashleigh treasures her father's qualities is when she says that "the sun and the moon dreamed with him." This illustrates how she thinks that his idealism is important, as important as essential parts of the day like the sun and the moon. Ashleigh appreciates her father's character.

     Though Ashleigh's father's relentlessly positive outlook strikes her as idealistic, it also begins to feel inauthentic and even manipulative. She gets tired of her father for constantly commending her, and telling her that she is "one in a million." His compliments come to seem insincere to her; she thinks to herself, "Last week, he told me I'd be an astronaut." With a hint of sarcasm, Ashleigh sheds light on how her father's adulation is growing less meaningful when he bestows it upon her without grounds or restraint. This point is also illustrated when Ashleigh's father asks her to take money from her mother to pay off a debt of his. When driving to Ashleigh's mother's home, she and her father do not talk to each other. This shows how Ashleigh feels awkward doing this favor for her father. When her father tells her where her mother's money is, she thinks, "I don't think either of us was supposed to know that." This suggests a dwindling level of respect for her father in Ashleigh, as she learns another way that her father has crossed her mother. Ashleigh finds it hard to like her father because of his ways.

     In conclusion, Ashleigh finds it hard to maintain respect for her father despite admiring his values. His irresponsible and disingenuous behavior outweighs his optimistic personality. Her father teaches her to be insightful and find ways to enjoy her life, and she loves him for it. But her father's own life is in a shambles as a result of his irresponsibility and unwillingness to address important situations. Her mother is relatively safe and secure, but is significantly limited in what she can teach Ashleigh about becoming her own person—she is very rigid about her ideas, and not very passionate about them. To be successful in her life, Ashleigh will need to combine aspects of both of her parents. She will need to be a dreamer like her father, to enjoy her life and keep herself entertained with ideas. But she will also need to be responsible like her mother, to maintain a secure environment for herself and stay afloat in society. Ashleigh will have to learn to avoid the extreme attitudes of her parents, find a middle ground, and rise to her full potential for the rest of her life.

Daniel Asher Greenman
802
Tuesday, 9•16•14

Essay: "Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Illustrated by Dave Gibbons

     "Watchmen" by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons is about an alternate version of our world where there were costumed vigilantes fighting crime in New York. A law was then passed stating that all vigilantes not employed by the government were outlawed. Some of the vigilantes, however, still operated, against the laws. A prominent message in the book is that justice is relative. This is supported by the character Rorschach, the character Dr. Manhattan, and the character Ozymandias.

     To the character Rorschach, justice is maintaining justice no matter what the price is. Rorschach did not stop being a vigilante when the law was passed, for he believes that justice is something that always needs to be fought for. He thinks that the world has good and evil, and that evil has to be punished. Rorschach uses excessive force on those he fights, often breaking their bones or killing them. When Rorschach is being analyzed by a psychiatrist in prison, he says he was "soft" when the psychiatrist says there was no record of excessive violence on criminals against him. Rorschach thinks of justice as black-and-white.

     Another character in the book, the Comedian, thinks of the world as a joke. He knows how corrupt it is, and is very cynical about it. He is without remorse. He raped another hero, the Silk Spectre, and killed civilians in Vietnam. He is out for himself, and does not care about justice.

Ozymandias , the book's villain, thinks of justice as the general welfare of the world. In the world of the book, nuclear war is threatening to break out between the U.S.A. and Russia. Ozymandias sets off an neutron bomb in New York, uniting the world and avoiding war. He is willing to kill those who try to stop him. He is willing to sacrifice millions to save billions.

In conclusion, "Watchmen" is about the relativity of justice. Rorschach believes that justice is punishing evil, the only thing that exists other than good. The Comedian believes that the world is a joke, and that trying to save it is futile. Ozymandias believes that sacrifice is needed to make the world a better place. All of these people have helped their societies, even if it was at the cost of others.

First Post / Sample

This is a test post, a first post, the beginning post, all of which is occurring prior to the launch of the Mothership.