Into the Wild

1. My first impression of the novel is that it is a very interesting story and Chris McCandless was a very interesting person. I like how the author opens each chapter with a quote from one of the books that inspired Chris to go to Alaska. The fact that we know that Chris dies on the cover of the book is good in my opinion because then we are not disappointed at the end of the book.
2. I don't think that Chris can be described with only one word. The words that come to mind are intelligent and independant. He is a well educated guy, he was smart enough to stay under the radar. Clearly he is independant because he is all alone traveling across the country.
3. I think that the author is saying that individuality is good, but Chris took it to the extreme and ended up paying for it, along with his family. I think that when people try to be too indivudual they don't think how their actions will impact others and people end up getting hurt.
4. This book reminds me of the movie "Wild America." It is a movie about three brothers that go out on their own to film a movie. They meet lots of interesting people and encounter lots a danger, fortunatly they all made it out alive.
5. The only connection that I personally can make to this novel is that sometimes I just want to disappear and not deal with the stresses and expectations that society has placed on us.
6. A connection to the greater society is like I said above; people sometimes want to escape the pressures and stresses that society puts on us.

Book Review

The Constant Princess

Philippa Gregory

The Constant Princess is a wonderfully written piece about Queen Katherine of England. Born Catalina, Infanta of Spain, she marries the Prince of Wales, Arthur. When Arthur dies shortly after their marriage it is up to Catalina to fight for her life and for the throne of England. After lying about her marriage with Arthur she eventually marries his younger brother Henry, and finally gains her title as Queen of England.

I believe that the plot is very exciting and a real page turner. For someone like me who loves historical fiction this novel is a real winner. We know from history what happened to Katherine of Aragon, but Gregory does an amazing job filling in all the other details of her life. This story is full of suspense and drama that could only be found in the English Court.

One theme of the novel is love. Catalina dearly loves Arthur when he dies and promises to do as he commands her-lie she may one day be queen. Ambition is another theme-Catalina herself, England, Spain, and of course the young King Henry.

Catalina is a young and ambitious girl who believes it is God's will that she be Queen of England. She will stop at nothing to do the will of God and of her mother, Isabella of Spain. We meet the future King Henry when he is only a boy, but a very ambitious boy at that.

The child was as iron-spined as her mother. "I am all right," she said.

"You weren't afraid?"

"Not at all."

The woman nodded her approbation. "That is good," she said. "That is what I expect of a princess of Spain."

"And a Princess of Wales," her daughter added.

Gregory uses a mix of dialogue and description to describe her characters. The reader also gets to know the inside of Catalina's head through multiple monologues throughout the novel.

The Grudge 2

Also know as the worst sequel ever. The first Grudge movie was not very good and it still perplexes me as to why they would make a second movie. The plot is much the same as the first; there is a "haunted" house in Japan and if you go inside you will be cursed and eventually killed. The movie attempts to tie up some loose ends and answer questions brought on by the first movie, but really it just leaves the viewer more confused. The film jumps around between two different time periods, the past and the present, making the lack of a plot hard to follow. As my father so bluntly put it "It's about some dead asian brood." This movie is marketed as a horror movie but in reality has all the criteria of a comedie. I had seen the first movie and still had almost no clue as to what was happening in the sequel. This is by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen. So if your lookin for a good laugh...this is a good option.

President Obama

Part One: The Sit Down

If I had an opportunity to sit down with the President of the United States to two main issues I would focus on would be about the enviroment and the economy. I would ask him how he plans to cut down on pollution and how we as a country are going to prevent further damage. How much money/ time is he going to invest in finding new cleaner energy sources. I also think that the economy needs to somehow be stimulated and more jobs created.

Part Two: In the future

1. I hope that in four years we are working towards a cleaner enviroment and I hope that we have new energy sources. I hope that our troops are out of Iraq and that there is no war going on.

2. When I am in my forties(which is really weird to think about) I hope that our world is a better place. If I do have kids I would definetly want the world to be in better shape than it is now. I haev no idea what the world will be like or what issues we will be facing in 2035. I hope that there will be no wars, maybe we will get world peace at last.