Character Study: Acceptable Risk by Robin Cook

1. My character, Kim Stewart, is a woman in her 20's to 30's with some crazy hair. She has deep green eyes that have the ability to mesmerize any man. I picture Kim as a small, not ostentatious and down to earth girl. She is employed as a nurse, so therefore she much be pretty clean at all times too.

2. Kim's personality is somewhat mixed. She is a very shy, timid person that doesn't like confrontations. You could say that Kim is more helpful than the others because she is a nurse and she cares a lot about people. She is loyal, intelligent, and sensitive.

3. I don't know if you can say that my character has any motivations, however, I can think of a few. She is motivated to search and search through mounds of material in order to prove her ancestor's innocence in the Salem Witch Trials. I also believe she has motivation to survive when all of the staff members transform into beasts and hunt her down. Otherwise, I can not really find any other motivation that Kim might have during this book.

4. Kim experiences a lot of conflicts during this book. She first has to deal with the break up of a long time romantic partner. Kim can't handle coming into contact with him for a long time, however, in the end the two become friends and eventually move in together...again. Next, Kim experiences a constant struggle with her father. He doesn't support anything she does and is always criticizing and discouraging Kim from doing what she really wants to do. Then, she meets a new man that convinces her to transform her family acreage into a state-of-the-art laboratory. Kim then spends countless hours trying to make the place as good of a home as possible. At the very end of this book, Kim faces a life and death situation with the staff members of Omni (a company started by her boyfriend to develop an experimental drug) hunting her down. She uses all her resources and survives. In the process, she burns down a house and kills most of the staff. I think that Kim handled all the conflicts as best she could besides with her father because she never did get the courage to stand up to him anywhere in the book.

5. Kim does not undergo many changes in the course of this novel. At the beginning of this book she was a timid, shy woman that avoided any possibility of a confrontation. By the end she was still relatively shy, but she did gain a lot of confidence and courage from the near death experiences she had just faced in her life. Although, she had gained some courage and confidence, Kim was still not likely to go up to a random guy on the street and ask him out.

6. I can honestly say that I had no personal connections with this character. Kim was a shy, quiet woman that didn't like conflict and I feel I am the exact opposite of that. I am outgoing, loud, and don't mind a little mix-up in the plans that I had. I couldn't really relate to the problems she was having in the book because I seldom experience any problems in my life other than having a lot of homework. Therefore, Kim and I will most likely not end up getting married. I know that sounds weird, but I think you will get my point.

7. I think that Kim was the perfect character for this book. She was pushed around and used throughout the book, but she still persisted through in addition to gaining some confidence of her own. Next, she had the perfect background for this story...I know it would have taken ages to come up with a good storyline like this one and have the parts of the story relate so well. I believe Kim couldn't have been made better for this book because she was exactly how I would have pictured her.

WE MADE IT!

Yes...we finally made it to our destination, but of course we had our mishaps along the way. We left Redfield around 12:30 and arrived here at 6:00 AM. It usually doesn't take that long, but we got lost. Our GPS navigation system was all kinds of screwy, my sister dana was crabby (this is the longest she has been around us since she went to college), and it was very early in the morning when we were lost. However, my dad managed to put us back on the right track; he drove from 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM. I'm pretty sure that I would have pulled off and drove the rest this morning, but anyway we made it and we are all in better moods now. Lets just hope the same thing doesn't happen on the way home...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Jack London's Call of the Wild depicts the transformation of a loyal, family dog into a primordial beast of the wild. I could not believe how good this book is especially because it is about a dog! In this book Buck, a dog, experiences several life changing events while becoming a famous dog of the treacherous Northwest Mining Territory.

First, I want to start with my opinion of the book. For being such a short book, it infatuated me more often than not. I think London does an incredibly unique job by making such a good book out of the actions and adventures of a dog. I couldn't put this book down after I started to read it. London fills this book with extraordinary feats that would surely not be possible for any other dog except for Buck. Before I began this book, I wasn't sure I would like it because it was only about a dog. By Buck's actions and description in Call of the Wild, I want to find a dog comparable to him for myself. I give this book two thumbs up because it really captured my attention and kept me wanting more.

Buck lived a perfect life...he had a good family, comfortable home, and undivided rule of his land. But one day he is sold by an indebted man and shipped north into Canada. It doesn't take Buck long to learn the trade of dog-sledding and pretty soon was smarter than the other dogs. He has more than his fair share of dangerous encounters during his time dog-sledding too. Almost immediately after arriving in Canada he was nearly clubbed to death, however, he soon learns the rule of club and fang (which he will use all throughout the book). Later on Buck becomes one of the best leading sled-dogs in the world; a name he rightfully owned. Yet, he is traded among owners numerous times throughout the book until he finds refuge with John Thornton. From the day the two met, they are inseparable. Buck saves John's life and makes him a ton of money, but in the end Buck thinks he let John down.

Call of the Wild is a must read for all students. I was captivated by Buck's adventures and marvelous character. Jack London will intrigue readers to not put the book down and to want more and more. Do not overlook this book just because it is about a dog's experiences; Call of the Wild is a fascinating novel that will definitely not let the reader down.



These two sites provide an abundance of extra information on the Call of the Wild. You can find in depth summaries, related information, and interactive activities.


http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/call/

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0211900/call/call_of_the_wild.htm

Getting the Grade

So there I was sitting at my house last night going through all of my homework and I realized that I didn't have a third post done for my blogging assignment. I have already completed the three comments on everyone else's blog, but I just needed to finish up my own. I still think that posting three comments on every blog was a little much not because it was hard, but because it was time consuming. Well whatever I guess, it's done and over with now and I can only hope that I met all of the requirements. At the very moment I'm sitting in a computer lab with Kuehn because he doesn't have his blogging done either, however, he has a lot more to do than I do-sucks for him. But anyway I had better head off to band to sit in my highest chair placement to date of 2-2. Until next time...

The Crucible, The Red Scare and Other Witch Trials

1. What was Miller's point in writing The Crucible?

This is a good site because it discusses several different views of Miller's possible reasons for writing The Crucible. This site provides insight of the true historical events in Salem, states that Miller was a moral writer, and shows Miller's different techniques for dealing with the devil. I believe that this site is good because it gives a wide variety of background on Miller and his reasons for writing The Crucible.
http://www.evangelica.de/The_Devil_and_Arthur_Miller.htm

2. How are McCarthyism, the Red Scare, Arthur Miller and The Crucible interrelated?

This site actually includes all four components of the question and provides information on all too. In this site you will find the different phases of the Red Scare from the effects on movies to the changes in government. I also found valuable information on different phases of the Red Scare. This site gives details to what actually happened during that time period and how these four are interrelated.
http://drhill.tripod.com/ssi3240/pdf/lecture8.htm

3. Document other times in American History when 'witch hunts' were conducted and discuss the outcomes of the Salem witch hunt and the other witch hunts you find. What do they all have in common?

This site provides information of 'witch hunts' to expose gay clergyman. People have found two Roman Catholic Priests gay. One person is responsible for uncovering the shameful truth behind all of this. Even though, she is receiving criticism for her actions, I believe she did the right thing. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1945860.ece

I'm sitting in English class and I just created my first blog

So I'm sitting here in class being pretty bored. This week is pretty slack because we don't have school on Friday and we get out early on Thursday. Today isn't the best of days though because we lost our playoff game last night 42-13, which was not what we were expecting. I would really like to ramble on about something but today just isn't a good day to start an open conversation in which I would be willing to talk about. But anyway tomorrow is another day so if you have a good story to tell let me know, I'm here to listen. Well until next time...