So a wonderful summer class comes to an end. I initially enrolled in this class because my mother wanted me to take a summer class, and I found one with a teacher I knew from high school. When class started however, I soon learned that this wouldn't be an ordinary college class. Ms. Scott had us do many different activities, from discussing short stories, to writing flash fiction, to preforming poetry in front of the class. Although this was challenging, it was also an enjoyable departure from the usual summer boredom. I learned about nonstandard ways of writing stories, such as The Best Of Betty's magazine column format. I also experimented with various ways of writing poetry. The flash fiction project greatly expanded my creative writing talent, as did the weekly blogs. The blogs allowed me to do what I like to do best; talk about books, movies, and video games that I enjoyed. All in all, this class was worth it. I very much enjoy studying literature, and Ms. Scott is a fun teacher. I had many fun experiences this summer.

Anaylsis of dystopian fiction

Lately, I have gained quite an interest in dystopian fiction, as you may have noticed from my posts about Half-Life-2 and Uglies. For my independent novel, I am reading the dystopian classic Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It is a story about a future where human reproduction has been industralized: human empryos are grown in labs and processed like an assembly line. Indeed, one person revered by the populace is Henry Ford, who first applied the assembly line concept to cars.

I have noticed that there are two kinds of dystopian settings. One of these is the bleak police state type empire, like in 1984 and the video game Half-Life-2. In these settings the government directly oppresses their citizens. The other type of dystopia, seen in Brave New World and Uglies, is a world that seems like paradise, but but when you think about it, life is rendered pointless. Oftentimes there are sinister secrets behind the happy facade. This type of dystopian literature provokes many interesting questions about humanity and civilization.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas is a moving poem about not fearing death. The narrator's father is dying, and the narrator is telling him to face the end and not be afraid. Death is a natural part of life, and you should not fear it. So do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Anaylsis of Star Wars

Star Wars is in many ways a science-fiction themed retelling of an old-fashioned adventure story. Luke Skywalker represents the everyman turned hero, although he yearns for adventure, he is reluctant to leave the life he knows. When his only family is killed by the Empire, his life changes forever.

Obi-Wan represents a wizend mentor type character. He helps Luke train to fight the Empire, then sacrifices himself so that the others can get away. His advice gives Luke the strength he needs to become a hero.

Han Solo is the morally ambigious antihero. Although obstainly one of the good guys, he makes his living doing clearly illegal things like smuggling who-knows-what across the galaxy. Although at first he was only interested in money, he later realized the rebellion needed him. Han's decision to return to the rebellion at the cost of further infurating his crime lord boss represents character development.

Princess Leia at first serves as the cliched damsel-in-distress role, but after being rescued she proves that she is just as capable, if not more so, than the men.

Darth Vader is the iconic Evil Bad Guy. His all-black costume face-concealing mask, and deep, semi-mechanical voice inspires terror in even the bravest of heroes. The moment you see him you realize that he is the embodiment of evil.

Half-Life 2: Shooting your way through an Orwellian dystopia

I am a major fan of video games. Not just playing them, but enjoying the storylines, some of which can hold their own against books and films. Recently, I bought the Orange Box for my XBOX 360. I found myself greatly enjoying it, not just for the stellar gameplay but for the well-crafted storyline

The main game in this collection is Half-Life 2, the sequel to the groundbreaking first person shooter Half-Life. Half-Life told the story of Gordon Freeman, an employee of a top secret research institution. One day, an experiment went horribly wrong, allowing aliens from another dimension to invade Earth. Gordon seemingly managed to stop them in their home dimension, but was then frozen in stasis by an enigmatc figure. Half-Life 2 picks up some 10-20 years later, when Gordon is released from stasis to find that aliens have took over the earth and are ruling over humanity with an iron fist.

The game has a very Orwellian atmosphere. Propaganda blares from large television screens, while masked police officers beat up anyone who is even slightly out of line. People live in you make your way through all of this, you begin to understand what happened while you were dilapidated apartment blocks with sparse furnishings. The city looks run down and neglected. As out. The soldiesr and cops speak in electronically masked voices, making them sound inhuman. The police dispatcher can be heard speaking in a distinct semi-British voice issuing ordersto police and citizens alike

The Best Of Betty: How You Need To Learn To Laugh At Yourself

One of the short stories we read, "The Best Of Betty," consisted of letters to an advice column; the titular Betty responding in increasingly snarky ways. By the end of the story, she is outright telling her readers that their life sucks. This is what I really liked about this story, laughing at someone elses misfortune is fun. Sometimes the stupidity of the world just makes you want to vent. However, it can be quite useful to laugh at yourself. Nobody is perfect, not even yourself, and realizing this and learning to make fun of your own problems can make a bad day go by faster. Life can be furstrating. Sometimes a quick jab at someone, even yourself, can liven things up.

What if all of the problems facing humanity could be overcome just by making everybody beautiful? This is the question posed by Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. They are the story of the world 300 years in the future, when after modern society was destroyed by genetically engineered oil eating bacteria, mankind built a new society where everybody is made "pretty" on their 16th birthday. After this operation, they get tolive a carefree life with no responsibilities.

The story follows a girl named Tally who is looking forward to her 16th birthday and the operation. However, her new friend Shay isn't excited at all about it. When Shay runs off into the wild, The government gives Tally an ultimatum; find where Shay ran off to, or never turn pretty.This series is surprisingly well-written, especially for something aimed at teenagers. The setting is well fleshed out and feels believable. Although the books at first glance don't look particularily interesting, once you start reading them you'll be hooked. There are a lot of interesting gadgets such as hoverboards, which the books go into some detail about how they work. I would wholeheartedly recommened this series to this class.