Title: Gym Candy
Author: Carl Deuker
Published 2007 in Boston
Nonfiction novel
297 pgs long
The book should be challenging for me beacuse of the context. It is about highschool football players who expiriment with drugs, which is right about at a sophmore level of context.
I chose this book mainly because i havent really read a book that I'd "want" to read about in a while, and I really liked the topic of this one so i decided to give it a shot. I am excited to read it bieng that we had no restrictions to choose a book so I chose one id enjoy.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Sea Inside 3
1.) To start the film, there was an Extreme Long, High angle shot on the sea to show where he loves to be. The signifcance was the set the scene and put it out there that the sea portrays a huge role in the film.
2.) There is always an angle a little above eye level (maybe 15 or 20 degrees above eye) when it is showing him in bed, to give us the perspective that he is lover than us and not a capable. The significance of this is to show that Ramon is never going to be like us normal people again and that he is injured and quadrepalegic for life, and will always lie lower and steriotypically less important than us.
3.) When Ramon is telling the story about his accidnet, and it shows him as a young man, the shot is a medium, low angle shot to show that he is more powerful than he is now. The significance is to prove that nowadays he is physically "less" than what he was in his "before the accident" life. It portrays him as a much more powerful human being and gives us the feeling that he is greater and stronger than us and that he is superior to who he is currently.
4.) There is always an eye level, medium shot on Julia when she is talking to Ramon to give us the feeling that we are there and its a normal situation. This was the most common shot in the film, because it gives us sence of real life and makes us feel like we are actually there.
5.) There is an extremely fast Dolly over the span of the ground and forest all the way to the sea when he is "flying." The significance of this is that it shows he is allmighty and powerful when he just lets his spirit fly away in his dreams, and he can do whatever he wants.
2.) There is always an angle a little above eye level (maybe 15 or 20 degrees above eye) when it is showing him in bed, to give us the perspective that he is lover than us and not a capable. The significance of this is to show that Ramon is never going to be like us normal people again and that he is injured and quadrepalegic for life, and will always lie lower and steriotypically less important than us.
3.) When Ramon is telling the story about his accidnet, and it shows him as a young man, the shot is a medium, low angle shot to show that he is more powerful than he is now. The significance is to prove that nowadays he is physically "less" than what he was in his "before the accident" life. It portrays him as a much more powerful human being and gives us the feeling that he is greater and stronger than us and that he is superior to who he is currently.
4.) There is always an eye level, medium shot on Julia when she is talking to Ramon to give us the feeling that we are there and its a normal situation. This was the most common shot in the film, because it gives us sence of real life and makes us feel like we are actually there.
5.) There is an extremely fast Dolly over the span of the ground and forest all the way to the sea when he is "flying." The significance of this is that it shows he is allmighty and powerful when he just lets his spirit fly away in his dreams, and he can do whatever he wants.
The Sea Inside 2
There are many similarities and differences between The Sea Inside and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the main similarity bieng the fact that the two main characters are quadrepalegic, meaning they cant move any part of their arms and legs. In DBATB, Jean-Dominique Bauby uses the bink of his left eye to write the whole book from a specific alphabet code that he developed, Whereas in The Sea Inside, Ramon edits up his old poetry books to for a magnificent book of poetry with the help of a close friend Julia. Another difference is that Bauby is in the hospital during his writing of the book, and dies in the hospital, whereas Ramon is always at home, and he is transported from place to place by his family and close friends. Another similarity is that both are men who set their goals high and work until they achieve them. Bauby set his goal to finishing that whole book, and he died two days after it was published. Ramon set his goal to finishing the book and then commiting scuicide, which he also accomplished. A final difference is that Bauby just died of the failure of his body, whereas Ramon died by commiting Scuicide. Overall i believe that DBATB was much more powerful, just because the man (Bauby) is in a hospital, and sets the analogy to a Diving bell and a Butterfly, which really hit me hard. I thought that was the best metaphor/analogy i had ever heard, and that struck me to be a very powerful statement. To add to the power of the memoir, Bauby wrote a whole book by blinking an eye, whereas Ramon already had his poetry written so all he had to do was edit.
The Sea Inside 1
My reaction to the film is it was a very dramatic film with tons of agony, and there are alot of crucial decisions that take place in the film. In General, I believe that if one should wish to die, and they are in a situation in which they have no way of functioning, their wish shold be granted. But in this case, Ramon is still breathing without oxygen tubes, and functioning in every way except moving. I believe that the courts responce to him was fair, for he should not be granted that wish because it would honestly be commiting scuicide, and Ramon is too good of a person, and too "functioning" to do that to himself. There are people out there who are simply living on the hospitals equipment, and in that case, i would say yes, but in Ramons case, if you ask me, its a capital NO. I think that his freinds that agreed to help him are not trying to be mean, but just simply good friends. If you see a friend in that much trouble, i think i would help them out. Morally its wrong, but ethically, in the situation like with Ramon, there really wouldnt be more you can do but help him die, for he is your friend, and youd want for him what he wants for himself.
Week 6, Post 1 (Summary pt 6)
Sorry Mr. Hatten, once again, our internet has been down over the weekend so ive been using my grandmas computer, and I posted this on friday, but for some reason it didnt go through.
In The final Part of this memoir, Chris Gardner is "in" his internship at Dean Witter, in training to become a Stockbroker. Meanwhile, Christopher Jr. is kicked out of his daycare program because Chris doesn't have enough money to pay the ignorant lady who wont settle for anything unless there is money involved. So Chris has to take Christopher Jr. to Dean Witters office everyday when he leaves for his internship, and Dean Witter kindly lets Christopher Jr. stay with him, actually he seems to like him alot. Chris Gardner keeps working hard and studying to the point that he is exhausted the next day at the office. The big test is the deciding factor as to wether or not he is chosen, and he completely surpasses everyone esle in the class with a score of 98%, and becomes the next new Broker. His life now begins to shine. They purchase an apartment, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and big living room, etc... Christopher Jr. finally gets a warm bed to sleep in, and Chris has a place to do his work on his new computer at home which he purchased with his rapidly rising salary. He works his way up at Dean Witter, and eventually becomes one of the top brokers, and brings in a huge income. His story is one of the biggest "life-changing" stories ever, as in he started on the street with a son, and became as big as he is by hard work and persistancy.
In The final Part of this memoir, Chris Gardner is "in" his internship at Dean Witter, in training to become a Stockbroker. Meanwhile, Christopher Jr. is kicked out of his daycare program because Chris doesn't have enough money to pay the ignorant lady who wont settle for anything unless there is money involved. So Chris has to take Christopher Jr. to Dean Witters office everyday when he leaves for his internship, and Dean Witter kindly lets Christopher Jr. stay with him, actually he seems to like him alot. Chris Gardner keeps working hard and studying to the point that he is exhausted the next day at the office. The big test is the deciding factor as to wether or not he is chosen, and he completely surpasses everyone esle in the class with a score of 98%, and becomes the next new Broker. His life now begins to shine. They purchase an apartment, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and big living room, etc... Christopher Jr. finally gets a warm bed to sleep in, and Chris has a place to do his work on his new computer at home which he purchased with his rapidly rising salary. He works his way up at Dean Witter, and eventually becomes one of the top brokers, and brings in a huge income. His story is one of the biggest "life-changing" stories ever, as in he started on the street with a son, and became as big as he is by hard work and persistancy.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
W5, P2
~Sorry Mr Hatten that this took so long..we upgraded to high speed internet and something with my Xbox Live messed up our internet connection so it was just fixed last night.
The fifth section of the book starts with Chris and Christopher Junior scared at night all alone sleeping in a dark alleyway because Chris Sr. Has gone broke. All he can say to his helpless son is to never let anyone tell you that you cant do something, you can do anything you want if you set your mind to it. Christopher seems not even too frightened though in the dark, wet alley, he seems to be handling it alot better than the everage 7 year old would be. The next morning is the big morning for Chris Gardner, in which he gets the once in a lifetime chance to be the interviewee of Mr. Dean Witter himself, the founder Of Dean Witter Stock Broking. Chris spends the whole morning getting ready, because he knows if he blows this then he will have to spend a whole new 6 months finding a new job, which will drain the money even quicker and Christopher Jr. might starve. At the interview he introduces himself kindly and they talk for awhile, and Chris seems to be doing very well. Dean Witter offers Chris an internship in which one of the interns will be hired to actully work for the company, and Chris gladly accepts this offer. Not knowing that this intern job does not pay, he goes home happy, and he celebrates with Christopher Jr., and Chris is ready to head to his very first day at "Work" the next day.
REACTION
I strongly feel that Chris Gardner has shaped up so well as a man in this book that it is almost unbelieveable. We, as readers just read the book for pleasure most of the time, but when I really think deeply about his situation, I wonder, how is this possible? The man has come out of poverty, spotted a shining new red ferrari, and now has his heart set on something we would normally say is extremely out of his reach. He is raising a son to top it all off. He is the most wonderful father one could ask for in my opinion. Though he hardly has any money, and cant even afford a house to keep his kid under, he cuddles up with him night after night, and reads him to sleep. He keeps assuring Christopher Jr. that one day it will all be better, and as i said in the previous paragraph, he is constantly telling him not to ever let anyone tell him he cant do something. Chris Gardner has really shaped as a man and a father throughout this memoir, and it will be very interesting to see how the book ends because he is just starting to find his trail in life.
The fifth section of the book starts with Chris and Christopher Junior scared at night all alone sleeping in a dark alleyway because Chris Sr. Has gone broke. All he can say to his helpless son is to never let anyone tell you that you cant do something, you can do anything you want if you set your mind to it. Christopher seems not even too frightened though in the dark, wet alley, he seems to be handling it alot better than the everage 7 year old would be. The next morning is the big morning for Chris Gardner, in which he gets the once in a lifetime chance to be the interviewee of Mr. Dean Witter himself, the founder Of Dean Witter Stock Broking. Chris spends the whole morning getting ready, because he knows if he blows this then he will have to spend a whole new 6 months finding a new job, which will drain the money even quicker and Christopher Jr. might starve. At the interview he introduces himself kindly and they talk for awhile, and Chris seems to be doing very well. Dean Witter offers Chris an internship in which one of the interns will be hired to actully work for the company, and Chris gladly accepts this offer. Not knowing that this intern job does not pay, he goes home happy, and he celebrates with Christopher Jr., and Chris is ready to head to his very first day at "Work" the next day.
REACTION
I strongly feel that Chris Gardner has shaped up so well as a man in this book that it is almost unbelieveable. We, as readers just read the book for pleasure most of the time, but when I really think deeply about his situation, I wonder, how is this possible? The man has come out of poverty, spotted a shining new red ferrari, and now has his heart set on something we would normally say is extremely out of his reach. He is raising a son to top it all off. He is the most wonderful father one could ask for in my opinion. Though he hardly has any money, and cant even afford a house to keep his kid under, he cuddles up with him night after night, and reads him to sleep. He keeps assuring Christopher Jr. that one day it will all be better, and as i said in the previous paragraph, he is constantly telling him not to ever let anyone tell him he cant do something. Chris Gardner has really shaped as a man and a father throughout this memoir, and it will be very interesting to see how the book ends because he is just starting to find his trail in life.
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