Dadinho

“The Pearl” by John Steinbeck is an extraordinary novel, far beyond having a good a plot or just a diverse range of creative imagination. “The Pearl” has an internal meaning; how possession and greed can affect and to a further extent, destroy our lives. The theme and the internal meaning is an essential aspect of this novel, as for it teaches a valuable lesson, perhaps worth more value than the actual pearl which appears in the novel.

The story takes place within a Mexican community. Kino and Juana are couples who live in a modest house by a sea. One day, they face a terrible event when their son, Coyotito, is stung by a scorpion. Desperate to save their son, Kino and Juana find a doctor, but are dejected when the doctor refuses to help due to their insufficient amount of fund. Later that day, Kino searches out for a large pearl in order to pay for the cure and fotuanately, is able to find a humongous pearl. Therefore, the doctor provides medication for Coyotito, but many conflicts are aroused by this pearl. First, he encounters a thief, presumably the doctor, who attempts to steal the pearl which is buried in Kino’s house and after a violent struggle, Kino is left injured. Not only that, but Kino is filled with greed which leads him to beating his own wife for trying to get rid of the pearl because she felt the pearl was ill-willed. Afterwards, Kino is involved in another conflict with a group of men who tries to steal his pearl and later ends up murdering one of the men of the group. As if it’s resembling an omen, tragedy and conflicts follow the path of Kino, Juana, and Coyotito, as they possess the pearl.

“The Pearl” taught me many things, particularly in relation to the moral behaviors. This novel carries the theme of greed and how it can be detrimental if it is taken to an extreme point. The pearl found by Kino is the factor which causes Kino to become greedy, malicious, and vicious. Therefore, a lot of conflicts are also brought to his life. This reflects well back to the lives of many people. In the world, people have ambitions and certain ambitions aren’t always achieved positively. People use devious methods to obtain what they want and in this case, the pearl is the determinant which causes such excessive greed.

“The Pearl” is far more than just a portraiture of tragedy. It shows the extent of greed and all the kinds of atrocities it can bring when it is misused. “The Pearl” teaches the moral behaviors of human and it surely must be read by everyone in order to avoid such conflicts as Kino’s.

It’s been quite a while since I read the fascinating tale of the young Dragon Rider, Eragon, and I was finally able to come to an end with this astonishing novel. The novel, consisting of merely 748 pages, was indeed a long and tedious journey for me, but throughout the novel, I was able to see and imagine some of the tedious tasks Eragon had to face. After completing a trilogy of the Inheritance Series, I felt that I’ve achieved something valuable since I could see the life of Eragon all packed into merely three novels, approximately 2000 pages in total. However, the fourth one is still imminent so that is when the world will finally be able to view the epilogue of Eragon’s life. However, in “Brisingr,” there were many aspects revealed which have been concealed from previous episodes. Also some twists and unexpected outcomes such as Eragon and Saphira’s victory against Murtagh and Thorn (considering the fact that Eragon lost to Murtage in the previous series “Eldest”).

By looking at my enthusiasm and love for this book, it is predictable that I am in total, complete love with the book! I have mostly enjoyed the suspense and action which occured often in the book In addition, I also enjoyed reading about how Eragon solved his way through certain enigmatic situations and handled his internal conflicts wisely. Besides the life of Eragon, the book also constantly switched the settings back and forth by showing Eragon’s current actions and later changing to a scene which occured within The Varden or Roran’s conflicts. This way, I was able to see the life of both Eragon and other characters, although it was fairly confusing to cycle through so often.

However, if there is something to be criticized from this novel, it is the lack of the effective use of literary devices. If I had to pick some out, it would be the use of imagery. In fact, Christopher Paolini has done very well by implementing the use of imagery when explaining the background of the novel. For example, the environmental features would usually be very detailed and would include methods of metaphors or similes to create a contrast between the environment and an object which is seemingly more familiar to the readers. Nevertheless, the novel still included very few examples of literary devices which would be the only and major flaw of this novel.

The novel is indeed an exciting story. It is more than just a story of fantasy, but it carries a large theme of heroism and responsibility as well as how to handle pressure. In the novel, it is well demonstated by Eragon how to carry on the responsibility despite the immense pressure on him. “Brisingr” is indeed a fabulous work of writing and I would recommend it to anyone of any age to read it what so ever.

The Internet, or the World-wide Web, has been utilized consistently throughout the lives of modern people. When looking around from the people right next to you and even on a larger scale, the world, it is easy to find that the Internet is being used in our lives on a daily basis. Honestly speaking, I, myself is a daily user of the Internet and never been all that cautious about the consequences or the effect of excessive use of the Internet, until I have encountered an interesting issue brought up by Nicholas Carr, a technology critic. He has spat out some unpleasing criticisms towards the Internet, but looking at it from a realistic point of view, I think he may be right.

Nicholas Carr is an American writer who publishes work particularly based on business, techonology, and culture. In addition, he was also educated at Dartmouth College and Harvard University. From this, we can already visualize how much of an intellectual he is and his criticisms would hurt. I mean literally. And indeed, they did hurt. Starting from his first book, “Does IT matter?”, he argued how the purpose of the IT (information technology) has transformed into a business strategy and also corroded in competitive advantage. From then on, he has been a real pain in the butt for many IT and technology experts. However, it was soon after when he really bombed it. His most controversial work, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains.” has seriously aroused conflicts due to his criticisms mentioned in the article. In the article, he has praised the Internet for its allowance of quickly absorbing information while encouraging us not to scrutinize the information. His utterly sarcastic comments certainly demonstrates his dislike towards the internet. Carr’s main argument is subtle, the Internet seems to be providing the information quickly, but is actually decreasing our attention span, therefore diminishing the actually information we are interpreting. As a result, we are able to develop our skimming techniques and are left with vague information. The internet not only affects our attention span in the world of the internet, but affects us on the long-run. Our ability to properly intake information from written materials such books and articles will deteriorate due to the detrimental effect of the Internet.

This nerd has certainly said a lot of stuff and I wish to be incredulous about what he had said. However, he isn’t a nerd for no reason. His words are most convincing and even when I recall from my own experience, it all fits like a puzzle piece. It was since middle school, when I gained wide access to the internet. All the gargantuan information out there in the world were accessible to me and the Internet was really, my most reliable and the only source I tended to use. By reading the articles from the Internet, I always felt my ability to interpret different reading passages were developing, which is quite ironic. Soon, I was proved wrong  when I encountered the nefarious “book.” It wasn’t my first time reading a book, but after reading so much Internet materials, ink print on paper just wasn’t suitable for my eyes. Carr must be pretty darn fortunate to be able to vindicate all of his criticisms.

Looking at it in a real point of view, the Internet is certainly helpful. I have absolutely no doubt about that. But put your hand on your chest and think to yourself, ‘Have I really understood everything I’ve looked through from the Internet? Or was I able to retain the knowledge I gained from the Internet?’ If you are able to answer “Yes” to both questions, shame on you. Perhaps it’s about time that we get out of the grasp of modern technology and fix our atrocious habit of relying too much on the Internet.

For more information, feel free to browse the following:

http://www.roughtype.com/

http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/index.shtml

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9962935-16.html

Introduction

-Introducing the issue/conflict

-My brief opinion about this issue (Do I agree or not)

Body

-Carr’s brief biography

-Carr’s argument points on this conflict

Conclusion

-My detailed opinion with support

The novel “Brisingr” by Christopher Paolini is a fantasy novel based on a courageous Dragon Rider. “Brisingr” is the third novel of the four which continues the Inheritance Series. The series starts off with the novel “Eragon.” It continues on to the second novel with “Eldest” and the most recent novel of the series is “Brisingr.” The fourth novel, which concludes the series, is still imminent, but I have full conviction that the novel will be fantastic like the previous novels. Before reading “Brisingr,” it is highly recommended that you read both “Eragon” and “Eldest” in order to interpret the story of Brisingr.

“Brisingr” is based on a young Dragon Rider called Eragon who is given gifted with honor, pride, strength and his dragon, Saphira. However, he faces the burden of defeating the evil king, Galbatorix, who also used to be a prominent Dragon Rider, but was tainted after losing his dragon. Eragon forms alliance with the elves, dwarves, and a human faction called the Varden. With the alliance, Eragon and Saphira fights hard against the corrupted forces of Galbatorix, but faces a difficult challenge due to another Dragon Rider, Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn, who are aiding the legion of Galbatorix. Although Eragon and Saphira have the help of Roran (Eragon’s cousin), Oromis (Eragon’s master), Arya (a female elven warrior), and more, but the outcome of this war is unknown…

This novel taught me how to write creatively and also a large amount of vocabulary words, particularly related to the SAT. Christopher Paolini has a very distinct method of writing. He pays particular attention to the surroundings and the environments. Many objects are always written in detail which further refines the writing and allows the reader to know the information better. In addition to that, the plentiful SAT words in the novel also helps you to refine your vocabulary knowledge which will aid you well when taking the SAT.

The thrilling plot of the novel and the prospect of the outcome of the battle between Eragon and Galbatorix urges me to continue reading “Brisingr.”

Hello, coach!