Tuesday, May 17, 2011

the count of monte cristo pg 37.65

At Dantes and his Mercedes reception guards barge in and arrest him. The people there are confused and Dantes cant thinkg of anything that he has done to be arrested. In a different area there is another gathering happening. It is of the a man named Gerald who is the public prosecutor. He also talks about his father and anounces to the crowd that he will punish if they fall in his hands. I dont really know who I was confused at this part. He is taken away from his own feast when someone comes in and tells Gerald that they have found out someone who was plotting against them.


I see a difference in the two feast from Dantes and the one of Gerard. Gerard's feast seems much better than Dantes. Also I think they are going to charge Dantes with plotting against Gerard. I still cant believe Mercedes own cousin would betray her and try to get the man she loves imprisoned. Dantes hasnt did anything wrong or so he thinks he hasnt. Things are going to get way more interesting now because drama is now happening. This book is very different than the movie. In the movie they dont even say that he likes his own cousin.

the count of monte cristo pg20 - 37

Dantes goes and meets a girl named Mercede after he arrives back. He goes to see her and sees that she is with her cousin who loves her and wants to marry her. She gives him a hug and her cousin storms off because he is angry. Her cousin starts drinking with these two other men.The couple tells Fernand who is Mercedes cousin that are getting married the next day because Dantes has to fulfill his captains wish and deliver a letter. Fernand doesn't want to kill Dantes because his cousin said she would kill herself if he ever died. He wants to have him to prison instead. He and 2 other men decide to mail a letter to a prosecutor and get him imprisoned. They think he is arrogant and talk about how much they dont like him and think hes like his father.

Dantes seems like a good guy and Mercedes seems to love him a lot. Her cousin is jealous and wants to have her to himself. thats really weird that her cousin likes her like that. She has no feelings for him like that at all. He still respects her and doesnt plan to kill the man that she loves. He plans to get him put in jail though. Im not sure if he really thinks that Dantes is bad or if he is just jealous. Dantes is going to Paris to fill out his dead captains wish but he doesnt tell why or what he is doing. I dont think he is doing anything wrong. But then again how can a person be perfect? They have to have flaws maybe he is doing something against the law.

Monday, May 16, 2011

the count of monte cristo

The book starts of in France where a crowd watches for a ship at a port. The people hear bad news and find out the captain has died. The first mate reassures his peers that the trip went smoothly. His "boss" is excited to hear that the trip went smoothly and that the first mate stood up in the situation. this man who is responsible for all financial things for the ship tries to say that what he did was nothing important.. He also says that they they had to stop the ship and that cost them time. When the first mate confronts the other character about this he says that the captain wanted him to deliever some sort of package and thats why they were late. He also says why they were there he talked to the emperor of France.



I recently watched the movie of this book on HBO and my mom had the book and said it was good. RIght now this is pretty boring and from what i remember from the movie it kind of is boring the middle but maybe it is different from the movie. The who keeps making the first mate look bad is annoying. I dont like when people try to make people look bad. And i was sort of confused on the way the captain dies. He seems like a good guy though and he is very humble from what im reading. He also could ruin that guys career but he chooses to keep his mouth shut.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

the odyssey

Penelope and Odysseus both have trouble sleeping. Odysseus worries that he and Telemachus will not be able to get so many suitors but Athena reassures him that anything is possible. Tormented by the loss of her husband and her commitment to remarry Penelope wakes and prays for Artemis to kill her. As the people in the palace start to wake up Odysseus and Telemachus meet in secret the swineherd Eumaeus, Melanthius, and Philoetius, a kindly and loyal herdsman who says that he has not yet given up hope of Odysseus’s return. The suitors enter, once again plotting Telemachus’s murder. Amphinomus convinces them to call it off. Athena keeps the suitors all through dinner to prevent Odysseus’s anger from losing its edge. Ctesippus, a wealthy and arrogant suitor, throws a cow’s hoof at Odysseus, in response to which Telemachus threatens to run him through with his sword. The suitors laugh and laugh, failing to notice that they and the walls of the room are covered in blood.



To me the suitors laughing it seems that they dont take him seriously at all. They think he is a coward and cannot do anything. They dont think he is brave or like his father so they dont fear him. I think something is going to happen thats big between Telemachus and someone else and he will gain courage and bravery and he will be feared and he will slay one of the suitors. Also when Odysseus is revealed I think the suitors will be astonished and dumbfounded. The end of the story is near and I can tell things are getting hectic everyone is waiting for Odysseus to appear.

Monday, May 9, 2011

the odyssey

When the suitors went to sleep Telemachus and Odysseus remove the weapons as planned. Athena lights the room for them so that they can see as they work. Telemachus tells Eurycleia that they are storing the arms to keep them from being damaged. After they have safely disposed of the arms Telemachus goes to sleep and Odysseus is joined by Penelope. She has come from the women’s quarters to question him. She knows that he has claimed to have met Odysseus, and she tests his honesty by asking him to describe her husband. Odysseus describes himself, capturing each detail so perfectly that it makes her cry. He then tells the story of how he met Odysseus and eventually came to Ithaca. He tells her that he should be there within the next month or so. Penelope offers the beggar a bed to sleep in, but he is used to the floor he says and declines. Only reluctantly does he allow Eurycleia to wash his feet. As she is putting them in a basin of water, she notices a scar on one of his feet. She immediately recognizes it as the scar that Odysseus received when he went boar hunting with his grandfather Autolycus. She throws her arms around Odysseus but he silences her while Athena keeps Penelope distracted so that Odysseus’s secret will not be carried any further.


Odysseus is making a master plan so he can take control of his home. To me Penelope is getting even more anxious when she hears from the "begger" who is actully Odysseus is coming. When Eurycleia washes his feet and finds out its him to me it seems that everyone missed him not just his wife. She seems very excited and its good that she promises not to tell anyone becasue that would be very bad. It also shows that there is still trust in his house. Im just waiting for everyone thing happen and Odysseus to take over

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Telemachus leaves Odysseus at Eumaeus’s hut and heads to his palace where he receives a tearful welcome from Penelope and the nurse. He tells Piraeus not to bring his gifts from Menelaus to the palace he thinks that the suitors will steal them if they kill him. When he sits down to eat with Penelope Telemachus tells her what little news he received of Odysseus in Pylos and Sparta but he does not tell her that he has seen Odysseus at Eumaeus’s hut. Meanwhile, Eumaeus and Odysseus set out toward town in Telemachus’s footsteps. Odysseus receives a similar welcome at the palace. The suitors give him food with great reluctance, and Antinous goes out of his way to insult him. When Odysseus answers insult with insult, Antinous gives him a blow with a stool that disgusts even the other suitors. Report of this cruelty reaches Penelope, who asks to have the beggar brought to her so that she can question him about Odysseus. Odysseus, however, doesn’t want the suitors to see him heading toward the queen’s room. Eumaous leaves Telemachus and Odysseus with the suitors


To me the suitors are scared now that Odysseus is back and they are listening to him and fearing him. Antinous is the only one who isnt scared of Odysseus he actually insults him more and more. He also throws a stool at him. To me that is very disrespectful. I think he is acting like that because he knows he and the other suitors can not live off Odysseus's wealth and land anymore. I think they are going to have a epic fight between the two of them and obviously Odysseus will win.

Friday, May 6, 2011

For Monday


Theme: Working & Jobs
1. Traveling Salesman- Stuart Dybek
2. Banking Coal- Jean Toomer
3. Mowing- Robert Frost
4. Day and Night Job- Andrew Hudgins
5. Laundry- Ruth Moose
6. What work is- Phillip Levine