Red Harvest Review

Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest" opens the door into a California town called Personville, in which the Op takes part of a job to clean the town up. After being called for a job, Hammett's protagonist opens and exposes the town after a critical murder.

Hammett keeps the reader engaged with character shifts and plot twists at a page's turn. Hammett shows an abnormal, yet extraordinary, approach by the Op's identity a being unknown through the book, and exposing the character's true thoughts and emotional changes. Hammett keeps your pulse pumping with each word while still satisfying the reader's perception of justice and killing. Hammett's views and meanings in the book coincide with the text, resulting in a true emotional attachment, sympathy, and hatred toward characters. Despite keeping the text reserved to only the events in Personville, Hammett shows the harsh decisions a detective has to make, and the cruel world of mobs and gangs. The reader feels the world of Personville crumbling around him as the Op digs deeper into the twisted,corrupted web of the town.

"Red Harvest" has the traditional detective feel, with a fresh breath. The book flows through moral decisions such as following regulations, the "fun" of killing, and true allies. As the Op solves the murder and cleans the town(with the help of some alcohol), the reader is bound to be swept away as the Op retells his views of the case, and how he was unwilling to keep with the codes. After reading "Red Harvest", you will never be able to view Sherlock Holmes as the true detective.      

Red Harvest Reading Quiz: Top 10

Ten reading Questions from Chapter 1-16

1. Why does Noonan hate Thaler?

2. What does Mcswain say that is a game-changer?

3.Why doe Elihu want the gangsters gone, and why did he bring them in the first place?

4. Due to the "fixed" boxing match, what happens to the inhabitants of Poisonville?

5. What does the Op send Dick and Mickey to do, and is it important?

6. How does the shootout with Thaler, at Dinah's, end?

7. What was going on while the Op and Noonan were at Cedar Hill Inn?

8. What does the Op tell Mickey and Dick to do if they want to send deatils of the job to the Old Man?

9. What happens when the Op goes to talk to Thaler at his place?

10. How killed Donald?

Prediction for Red Harvest #2

Based off what we have learned that the Donald's case has been closed and the Op has not gone rouge yet, I believe the rest of the book will be less gruesome than first predicted. I believe that keeping Noonan and Thaler separated will not go as planned and Noonan will get whiff of Thaler's location. Then Noonan will somehow realize that the Op purposely kept it a secret and will try to kill him. Meanwhile, the Op is slowly pitting the gangsters against themselves and watching them fall one by one. As the money starts to get low, he will ask Elihu for more. His co-workers, Dick and Mickey, will start leaking information to the Agency and the Old Man either go to Poisonvlle himself or tell Dick and Mickey to take him out. Either option will result in the outcome of the the Op going rouge for his own life, even after the gangster are dead. Noonan and the Old Man might team up to take out the Op. Thaler will somehow have stayed alive and the Op and Thaler team up, against Noonan and the Agency. There will be several quick fights, but the main characters will eventually have a final fight where, Thaler, Noonan, and the Old Man all get killed. The Op, now realizing that even the agency is corrupt, resigns and moves on to be a man for hire.    

Red Harvest In Class Essay 1

Like every superhero movie and comic book, the hero goes on a quest against his arch enemy while at the same time cleaning up his city. Similarly in Red Harvest, the Continental Op (Op) cleans up Personville from its corruption. The Op has many reasons as to why he cleans up the city, which are: he wants to clean up the town from personal matters,he deeply despises the injustice, and it was part of his job.  

The first reason that drives the Op  for cleaning up the city is it is part of his job. He was hired by Donald Willsson, who was killed shortly after the Op arrived. By finding Donald’s murderer, the Op starts to clean up the town  by discovering how the town truly works and putting away one crook. After the Op goes to Elihu to tell him the job is done, Elihu asks to have his money back as the Op did not use it all. The Op replies with “I’ll give you nothing except a good job of city-cleaning. That’s what you bargained for, and that’s what you are going to get” (64). Here the Op forwardly states that he is going to clean up the town because that is what the job asked. Elihu’s job further asks that the town be restored by getting rid of all the gangsters, resulting in the newspaper being able to write freely. The Op demands money for the cleansing, reinforcing that his entire reasoning is just part of the job. “I’m not hiring out to help you kick them back in line...If you want a complete job gone you’ll plank down enough money to pay for a complete job” (44). The Op offers his services, and since Elihu wants it done, he pays the money, which is given to the Continental Agency as funding.  

Another aspect of how he drivenness to clean the city is part of the job is because he brings in extra agents. Since the Op realizes he needs help for this job, he brings in his own people, Mickey and Dick. If the Op was doing the purge own his own terms, he wouldn’t need to bring in his men. Instead, Elihu paid for the city to be cleaned up, meaning that the Op has to use his agency and his own men. Besides just finishing the job, the Op also the is driven personally.

After finding Donald’s killer, the Op has seen the true colors of several characters such as Noonan, Dinah,and some of Thaler. The Op despises these people because they are either corrupt, tried to kill him, or morally ill people. For example, Noonan and the Op go to Thaler’s joint. After a long-standoff, the Op goes to Thaler to talk to him. As soon as he does so, Noonan shoots at “the gang”, with the Op in direct crossfire. As the Op puts it, “Noonan had slipped me a pretty dose” (52). After surviving the incident, the Op then goes to Elihu and asks for the money to finish the job of cleaning up the city. Being shot at by your so-called allies would give anyone a good reason to clean up the town of backstabbers. The Op knows that this town clearly needs to be cleaned up from the beginning, as Donald’s wife tells him “You’ll find it a dreary place” (4). Perhaps the Op just wants to give the town justice as he comes to clean it up with full force and hidden guns. As Mickey and Dick leave, the Op says “don’t kid yourselves  that there’s any law in Poisonville except what you make yourself” (119). So there is definite hatred toward the town.

Much like a ourselves, the Op drives himself to clean up the town through personal matters and his job titles. Like every other man on earth, the Op is driven to do good from some form, resulting in a better outcome for Personville.      

Detective Book Cover and Back Cover

The Op, for he needs no further defining, guides you in his critically acclaimed book through the methods of his own outstanding detective work to show you how to be a super sleuth. He will show you how to use techniques such as deception, interrogation, and intrigue to your own advantage. For example, rigging an already rigged wrestling match to catch a crook and expose a crime boss. He will also tell you about how he used a corrupt political chief’s cash to bring down his own empire. The Op shows you how to get away with drinking and questioning criminals at the same time, rather than putting them in a small dark room. Have you considered working with a criminal to take down a villainous police chief to take down a criminal to dismantle an empire? While it may sound like an explosive method to take down crime, the modern detective knows this is how you get true justice. He will show you how the classic detective of clues and deduction is clueless compared to his method of to-the-point investigation of villains. Tearing apart towns with literal and metaphorical sticks of dynamite, you’ll find, is a much faster way of justice than what you learned in elementary.   

What will Happen in Red Harvest

I believe based of pages 41-48, that the Continental Op doesn't actually know who the murderer is despite his answer to Mr. Willsson. He is going to arrest Whisper and probably interrogate him “wrong” questions to expose the real culprit. He will either go down the civil path and keep interviewing people, especially the Noonan, and slowly piece together the puzzle. Or, which I hope happens, but probably won’t: the Continental Op keeps the ten thousand dollars for himself and becomes a self-employed hit man, who takes out the gangsters of Poinsonville, or brings them to prison. Either way, the Continental Op will go away from the Agency and do what he thinks as justice. Along the way as he is cleaning up the town, he will interrogate each gangster, either manipulatively or ruthlessly, and find the true killer from one of them squealing. He will then go into a state of shock, got drunk, and go on a man hunt for the killer. He will lose all sense of right and wrong, hunting down the killer. There will be an epic gun fight, as the killer hired protection. After eliminating the thugs, and maybe having a short chase, the Continental Op stares down the killer. Cornered, the killer goes into long detail as to why he/she did it. The Continental Op gets flooded with emotions and either winds up killing the killer or just arrests him/her, because he regained his felling of justice. The town is now cleaned up, and the Agency calls with another case he needs to go to. Then there are maybe a couple of pages at the end of the narrator reminiscing about the Poisonville case.  

Paradise Lost Album Release

•    The songs that I titled and made (in no particular order):  

In Adamantine Chains

•        The Narrator is talking of how the rebel angels got kicked out of heaven (the ways of god to man) during lines 35-50 in the first book. He further talks about the direct punishment that the angels are facing, such as being tied to Adamantine Chains on a burning lake. I think that the genre of music for this song is classical rock since you can make it remorseful but at the same time reflecting in a positive way. The man instrument would be a bass, saxophone, and a piano. It would open with a saxophone solo with a blues tone. The piano would then pick up the tempo to more of a blues-jazz rhythm . For tempo, the song would be around 86 (Andantino). The concept of the lyrics would be along the lines of “We fought him real good, but we still got the boot, and now we are burning in this lake. We are stuck on this rock, tied by/burning in these ADAMANTINE CHAINS.” Finally, the reason I picked this song title was because the Adamantine Chains is the best “prop” that is used to show how the devil is stuck both physically, and metaphorically.  Agony of Hell

      Serve in Heav’n

•       During this passage (lines 260-265, book 1), the Devil is talking about how they can rule here and need not to worry about God. It would be better rule in this Hell then go back to Heaven and serve God. I think that this song title shows the oppressive nature of god than theirs because serving in heaven means you are under someone’s command instead of being equals. I think the song genre should be hard rock since the passage has a rebellious and hatred aspect of Heaven to it (like the Black Crowes’ Hard to Handle). The song would open with a drum and bass. The drum would have high hats and a steady 16^th notes on the snare (with maybe some rim shots). The bass would be doing “slap-bass” (which is just syncopated rhythms on the bass that are used with the thumb and palm of the hand) similar to Push comes to Shove by Van Halen. The tempo would be about 125 or Animato. The lyrics would about how to is better to be free in Hell rather than be in Heaven and being in this fiery hell, and  be along the lines of “Well I served my time in Heaven till it came to judgement day. And I took to the roof, my eyes set ablaze. Cause we fought and died and rose again. That battle was never gonna end till HE called upon his friends. It was us against Stalin, Hitler, and al-Qaddafi, um, some fine men. Well we shot out like a bullet from a gun, and now we’re here in these flames. Cause its better to be in this eternal cavern than ever to serve in “hell”.      Oppressive Nature of God

Of present pain

•        The quote is from the book 2, lines 30-39. The devil is talking how the pain that they have endured unites them and that they are all equal. He also starts to open the debates on what to do next. I think this title is better than others is because the demons are all united by the same pain so that is what they fell brings them together. This genre would be Rock anthem because the demons need a song that they can use as their “national” anthem. The tempo would be slower than your average rock anthem. It would be similar to the start of American Pie, but would speed up during the middle and end of the song. The tempo would start at 90, and work its way up to 130. The song would have trumpets, guitar, and piano. They song would encompass their rise to seeking revenge. Like a Cats and the Cradle meets Hall of Fame. The lyrics would talk of fighting God well, and how they would rise up out of Hell and ‘show him’. “We just here a day ago, and now let the madness ensue. “Dum Dum Dum We will ruin him for eternity, and never let him live peacefully. So we will burn his throne, break the clouds, tear down the gates from Heaven’s sound. Take his heart, tear it out, cause we ain’t ever gonna let him live this down.”          The Unity of the Demons in the Devil’s Democracy 

 Receive thy new Possessor

•        During this quote (book 1, lines 245-253) says goodbye to heave since he will never go back and hello to his new home which will become a place that will never change. I think that this title is the best because Satan completely discards Heaven and embraces his new life without the tyranny of God. The song would have dark and happy lyrics to signify the lost of Heaven, but the gain of Hell. The tempo would be fairly fast, around 140, and the measure would be in 6/8 so it would be against a triplet. The song would have a long guitar piano combo break during the middle of the song like Voodoo Child. The song lyrics would be more dark of him saying good riddance and getting used to his new world, “If this man ever wanted to be my friend, he would’ve set me free. Oh, but no all he did was make us do his needs. Well, I got tired of it and now I rule this place, cause I’m better than that ruler, I am much chiller and they call me the new po-sses-sor, better than him, the new po-sses-sor, I rule this land!” The Rebellious, Anti-Establishment of the Devil

 Deliverance

•        This quote takes place in book 2, lines 260-270. Here the devil tells everyone that he will go up through heel, face all the perils to get man kind on their side. Deliverance is the best title because he is doing this deliverance for his people which is quite heroic. The song genre would pop with some folk rock. The song would be played with only acoustic guitars and a piano. It would have a similar feel to Don’t mess around with Jim. The song would be fast and upbeat, about 110. The lyrics would have them describing what they came out of and going to take over the human world. “We were banished, yet we stand tall, we don’t know defeat but we will live for infamy. So we rise out the pits and sail across the sea, we will rule with an iron fist. This, this, this is our deliverance.” I feel like this title is the best for the album cover because it captures the devil putting his plans into action, and showing his ways. Also, the devils shows both his sides during the debates, so we can see how he is manipulating all of his demons when going to the human world.   The Heroic Strength and Power of the Devil

  

Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth's psychological breakdown is due to all of the murderous events that both she and Macbeth have done. For instance, when Lady Macbeth says "Here's the smell of blood still. All/ the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (5.1.53-4), she is describing that her hands are stained with so much blood, that they will forever smell like blood, no matter how much perfume she puts on them. These murders include Duncan's, Banquo's, and Lady Macduff's. It appears that Lady Macbeth is most distraught about Lady Macduff's death and Duncan's. Lady Macbeth says "The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where/ is she now?"(5.1.45) and Yet who would have thought the old man/ ti have had so much blood in him? (5.1.42-3). Lady Macbeth is portrayed deeply upset in the movie and is truly affected. Shortly after she says these quotes, she also begs her lord to stop "that" , most likely referring to the murders. The core of Lady Macbeth's breakdown is her husbands rampage murders wearing her down. Her husband has turned into a mad men who sees ghosts and kills every "threat".

Sonnets

Sonnet : Traditional Sonnet

Toaster’s True View

Innocent they seem, with springs and dials

Plugged in waiting for the command to brown

Toasting bread to perfection with style

No effort they use to make a great frown

They humbly wait for your command each day

With only the intentions to please you

They fulfill your command without a pay

And always make crunchy toast that you chew

But the great machine is an evil beast

Turning your white bread into a burnt brick

It does not care about your morning feast

It waits each day with eager to burn your toast

Turning each morning into a dark roast

Sonnet 2: Untraditional

The Drop Fly

The fly whipped upstream of the Musconetcong

Free-falling into the ripples below

Plunging into the depths, forever gone

Streaming the line out of the reel quite slow

The fly clumsily darts through the clear stream

Catching the eye of the glimmering beast  

It spontaneously jumps at the nymph

Creating tension, the weathered line creased

Old in age they are, living life day-by-day

The trout keeps fighting, losing ground

The trout is in the net, still

The man looks through its mouth, the fly now found

The beast is released, slowly gliding away

The flys’ casted back out, it lives one more day  

Trout= Life

Fly=day

Man= death

Explication:
The meaning behind the three characters are life, time and death. The trout represents your life, swimming around freely, with no knowledge of death. The fly, with no life itself, mirrors time. Each it is reeled in shows time moving forward and at one point, a creature will hit time and no longer have life. The man behind the reel is to represent death. This death would not be your typical grim reaper, but more of a godly figure, deciding as to when it is one's time to go. The inconsistent rhymes are to create of sense of awkwardness as the fly would be creating in the water. Also, death is a misplaced phenomenon in the world, making death  awkward in life as well. During lines 10 and 11, there is a major loss in syllables, wavering from the traditional 10. The reason behind these lines is to create distress from the pattern, much like the fish is feelings now that it is caught. In near death experiences, your breathing slows down and it is shorter. Thus when the trout was about to be "killed", it would be slowly breathing, thus the reason for not using as many syllables, then when the trout escapes death, it resumes its life normally, with the iambic pentameter resuming. In short, this poem is about becoming old and living each day without the true understanding of death. When you think you are hooked by the fly and cannot escape, death might just through you back on into the stream, because there is a bigger fish to fry than you.   

The other Essay Outline

Based on The Canterbury Tales, to what extent is Chaucer progressive in his views of the social hierarchy of his time?  Does he ultimately display reverent or irreverent view of this hierarchy?  

Thesis:  Through his characters, Chaucer disguises his progressive views and his irreverent views of the hierarchy.

Paragraph 1: What Chaucer’s progressive views are.

v  Small Complaint about the: going to many places in his time.

v  Goes down the ladder, gets more insulting of people.

§          Miller= steals from people, yet good at his job

§          Merchant=is in debt

§          Doctor=Cheats people with his medicine.

Paragraph 2: How his progressive views intertwine with his reverent views.

·         Chaucer shows the flaws in those higher up, but only mock the morals of the lower classes

o   Squire is a ladies man, but is in gaudy clothes and stays up to late

o   The prioress is fat and a bad eater

o   Pardoner sells pardons by scamming people.

Paragraph 3: Why Chaucer is more outspoken with the lower classes than the upper class

·         Chaucer uses double meaning to portray the knight et. others

Paragraph 4: How Chaucer’s real view is irreverent.

v  Mocks the high class with 

Death Tale Similarities and Differences

The “Pardoner’s Tale” and J.K. Rowling’s three brothers story are similar because both stories encompass three friends/siblings that encounter death and try to overcome it. For instance, in the “Pardoner’s Tale”, the three friends go on a hunt to kill death, but in his place they find gold coin. The friends then kill each other to get the coins all to themselves.  Similarly in J.K. Rowling’s story, the three brothers encounter death when they cheat him by successfully crossing the river and get rewards for doing so. Although both tales have a similar meaning, they vary in actions taken, character personality, as well as the plot. The actions taken by the three brothers vary quite differently from the “Pardoner’s” friends. The brothers were offered gifts from death and set up their own demise by the gift they asked for.  The brothers got a powerful wand, a power to bring the dead back to life, and a cloak to hide from death, but in the pardoner’s tale, the friends saw gold, but did not get gifts. The gifts that the brothers did get both helped and harmed them.  The brother who has the wand was murdered, the zombie guy killed himself and the other brother died of old age. However, in the pardoner’s tale, the friends kill each other, but ultimately in both stories death gets their lives. The character personalities in both stories also vary. The brothers in Rowling’s tale are both greedy and conservative but getting gifts that will help them, but the youngest son also helps his son with his cloak. The friends however, are ruthless in their greed and kill each other for their own fortune. Instead of helping themselves with still keeping their friends alive. The plots, however, are what differ  the most. In both plots, the characters meet death, but in the pardoner’s tale, death is disguised as a human where with the brothers, death is in his true form. Also, death gives the brothers “gifts” which ultimately kills them, where as in the pardoner’s tale the friend kill each other from greed, not from their gifts.   

Beowulf Film Project Group Assessment

In the Beowulf film project, our group had the Grendel and Beowulf fight scene. We parted the actual scene into four major parts: Grendel entering Herot, Grendel eating the Geat and attacking Beowulf, Beowulf fight scene and Grendel running away. To make this scene more authentic, we decided to film Grendel in the first person to emphasize the fact that he is not described in the book and to show the methods of Grendel’s attacks. The main themes that we tried to emphasize were “heroism” when we switched from first person to third person when the fight began to show Beowulf’s dominance, and “art & Beauty” by showing the chapel floors and stained glass window. Some other techniques that we tried to incorporate for cinematography was reflecting Grendel’s arm in Beowulf’s eye which depicted that we all have a monster inside us trying to come out. Also, we included Mise-en scene in our writing. For example, when Grendel first encounters Beowulf, he is “sleeping” and seems like the Danes. However, as he confronts Grendel, Beowulf goes crazy screaming “How many walls will your head go through?” This emphasizes Mise-en Scene because there is a sudden change in the character which is seen through his speech. 

Our Group performed extremely well in making the scene. Sydney worked very hard and diligently to make the Beowulf costume and get fake blood (even though we didn’t use it). Tim and I made lots of efforts to write the script, as well as, Tim and Kwabena learning their lines. For the actual execution of the film, we all knew the locations to film, where to stand (both actors and cameraman), and what our lines were because we had a successful, organized dress rehearsal. All of the members of the group supported each other to the utmost extent by complementing each other and giving advice. Tim and I sent emails back and forth to make a google doc scheduled time to work on the script which made it easier for both of us to work on the script at the same time. Furthermore, all of us kept in touch with each other to make sure that the our individual responsibilities were going smoothly. 

Halloween Participation Make-Up Work

The first 19 lines of the Prologue in The Canterbury Tales seems to start of with having a peaceful mood, but draws into a darker turn. Chaucer first talks about the budding flowers, and April showers. However, as I read down the lines, I discovered that Chaucer takes a dark turn. On line 10 Chaucer says "That sleep away the night with an open eye" shows that perhaps a person is being hunted and has to make sure that someone is not coming to kill him or it is just not a safe time. The tone of the book textually also differs from the beginning to the end of the 19 lines. Just like the mood, the tone seems to start off lovely with Chaucer describing beautiful scenery, however he throws bits and pieces of words and phrases that show a darker side. For example, on line 3, Chaucer says that "The veins are bathed in  liquor of such power". Why do veins be bathed in liquor? this might show that someone is extremely drunk but I am not entirely sure. The mood and tone for the tales are quite similar but the tone brings about a darker side.  

The Boast of Fishing

To me and my fishing counterparts, a boast on who caught the biggest fish (without letting it get away) is a status symbol. The bigger the fish, the higher the ranking and the smaller reel and rod you use the bigger the ranking. Describing a fishing “fight” to your fishing buddies and how the fish fought also brings into your status. A boast similar to this would be heard at an opening season day with hundreds of anglers or at a fishing club meet, which is much like Herot itself, where fisherman come to fish and tell old stories. Anyhow, the whole premises on how big the fish is, and how well told the story is, determines your status. Many of these terms may be unfamiliar to some, so I will have notes at the bottom explaining this.  Now for the boast.

(Assuming that a fisherman has just insulted me by saying you have never caught a solid fish, but are a foolish beginner, this is how I would respond)

                

“Ah. You say that I have caught no decent fish in my time, yet you forget about the Great Trout Opener* of ’14. When not only I landed myself a 12 lb. trout on 4 lb. test **, but that I caught three more with just a bare hook of equal size. As I recall that day, you were nothing but a pile of jackets sulking over your rod and reel, praying to God to catch a minnow. A minnow! But God would have none of your wishes, as you only ask from him and never thank God. All these great men know what a repulsive-leech you are. Three more hours passed, as all great men caught their limit, yet you sit there, empty handed, your hook rusting in the water. Finally God answered your pitiful prayer with a tap on the rod head***, but as you reeled in, you caught nothing but a wind “fish”, not even of keeper size. I had always assumed that fish loved the taste of bronze, as they were always chomping at bait, but you have proven me wrong. As I watched upon you that day, nothing but wishes you were catching. So let me ask, what did compel you to speak of such lies. Here the fish swim happily inside me while you salivate at the thought of having but a taste. I have and will always reign supreme above you, remaining to catch more fish than you, as God wants me to. If you ever speak of such filth again scrawny-one, then we shall see if trout like the taste of tongue!”

*Opener refers to the opening day of a fish season

**Test is the strength of the line. 4lb. Test can hold a 4 pound fish without breaking

***Tap on the rod head refers to the tip of the rod bending when a fish takes your bait. 

Death and Fate cultural view changes

Death and fate have similar and different views now then back in Anglo-Saxon times. Death unlike Anglo-Saxon times is not viewed as highly to die honorable and be grateful. Instead now, we are trying to stop death every which way with new medicine, carcinogenic freezing, and any other crazy product. Back in Anglo-Saxon time, it was an honor to die fighting in battle, because that is mostly how people did die. For those that somehow managed to survive and die of old age, it would be considered a great lost as they had a lot of wisdom. Now, there is still honor in dying in battle or for your country, it is just not as widely “celebrated”. For example, all the men and women who die for our country each year are commemorated for their honor and bravery, but not that many people care or know that. This probably has to do with the size of our people versus the size of the tribes in Anglo-Saxon times. Fate has also been diminished throughout the years. Back in the good old days, fate was fate, as in completely unavoidable. Now it is a term we throw around to motivate people to get better. If you told someone in the Anglo- Saxon time that it was their fate to be killed by a grizzly bear, they would accept and wait for the time. Now you say that to a person in our era and you have a totally different scenario. You would have a motivational coach shouting from behind that this is not your fate, it is not set in stone and you can change it. It would appear that the only aspect of fate that is still the same as Anglo-Saxon times is not when, where, why and how, but you will die, and that is something no man can change his fate from.  

Character Alignment Chart

Lawful Good: The reason why I choose Spock for this category is because in all the Star Trek films and shows, he always does the right things, but does not go gung-ho crazy as would Captain Kirk. Instead, Spock thinks of the best possible solutions with statistics and laws. Furthermore, Spock always listens to orders by Captain Kirk, showing his lawful side. He is down to Earth and is the logical one of the enterprise crew.   

Neutral Good: Mr. John Keating from Dead Poets Society would be viewed by his students as Lawful Good, but by his colleagues as Lawful Chaotic. The reason why I placed him there is because he does follow the rules set by the Welton Academy, however bends the rules by inspiring the boys to create the dead poets society, not to mention making them march around in a circle or kick balls into a goal.  Since Mr. john Keating does teach with all the rules as set standard by the school making it Lawful good, he teaches his class in his own way which could be viewed as not following orders, hence Chaotic. Mr. keating is neutral good because he could veer into both lawful and chaotic good if you view him at different angles.

Chaotic Good: The face of Gromit is known well by many of us. If you have seen all the specials and movies like I have, there is a logical reason why I put Gromit in Chaotic Good. In all the specials of Wallace and Gromit, Wallace goes on these crazy adventures and Gromit doesn’t follow Wallace’s plan. For instance, in the Wallace and Gromit special A Matter of Loaf or Death, you find Gromit sneaking into a murderer’s house to see if she is really the culprit. Of course Wallace did not tell him to do this, he went there on his own terms.  In the same special, right as Wallace is about to get “murdered”, Gromit comes to the rescue and saves Wallace’s life. Similar plots are found in all the specials. Gromit leaves Wallace, Wallace gets in trouble, and Gromit saves Wallace. According to the definition Mr. Holeman gave us, “He/She doesn’t follow orders, and shows up at the last moment”. That is exactly what Gromit does all the time.

Neutral Lawful: Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory is an iconic character for setting strict rules that range from roommate agreements to how to “properly” play rock, paper, and scissors. Sheldon would be described by most people (including his friends) and very strict with his rules. Sheldon of course would argue that the rules or laws are necessary to maintain a fluid lifestyle that would maintain optimum efficiency. However, when any of his friends come in real trouble, he will (slowly) forget about the rules and help his friends out. Since Sheldon both writes very exact rules and precise rules and sticks with them, thus being lawful, he also will pardon these rules in order to help a friend out, thus being Neutral to the rules.  

Neutral Neutral: The infamous parrot, Iago, is known well in the Aladdin movie series. Once a sidekick of Jafar, Iago moves around with different people in the movies. For this reason I decided to put him under the category of Neutral Neutral. Iago in the Beginning of Aladdin is with the villain Jafar, who stops at nothing to get the magical genie lamp. However, when Jafar is defeated, Iago works to get on Aladdin’s good side who then takes care of him. Iago is willing to work with anyone as long as he is able to survive, making him be universal to move to any area. When he was with Jafar, he could be looked upon as lawful evil, for doing whatever Jafar says no matter who gets hurt. But when he is with Aladdin, he becomes good neutral because he listens to Aladdin, but is not as eager to go into dangerous situations. Since he is like a wild card for the character alignment chart, I decided to put him in Neutral Neutral.

Neutral Chaotic: Han Solo is a famous character for not caring about anything but his ship and blowing stuff up. In the beginning. Han Solo acts like a scruffy rat and doesn’t care, but toward the end cares about Luke and the rest of the gang. Since the space of Chaotic Neutral has the ability to move to neutral good, that is a great place for Han Solo. He loves blowing things up in any way, shape or form but still cares about his friends (as long as they pay him).

Evil Lawful: The battle droids of Star Wars are known for taking orders, followed by a “Roger Roger” and slaughtering entire species. Battle droids do not care about life and species because they are robots. So, any order that they get, they follow through with. They cannot tell right from wrong.  Since they are following orders to the extent of killing several people with no subconscious thought, they are basically future “freedom” fighters, which also fits into the Lawful Evil section.

Evil Neutral: Grendel is a creature that is viewed upon the humans as a pure monster. Grendel is much like that. For example, he got pleasure out of throwing rocks and trees at a "stupid" mountain goat. Furthermore, he will go to the Meadhall and kill several people, including at the end eating people out of their beds. Just like a villain who would be found in the space Evil Neutral, Grendel is power hungry. This power hunger is not in the sense of ruling the people, but actually to just be equally powered and with them. Grendel wants to be equal with the humans, then when he doesn't get his way he kills people in spite.    

Evil Chaotic: The movie Saw is often known for its intense craziness from holding people hostage and forcing them to “escape” even though they will die in the end anyway. Jigsaw, who is the mastermind behind this is definitely Evil Chaotic because he sets up these elaborate mazes and traps to see people cut off their limbs and practically kill themselves. As an added bonus, he created a puppet that he puts on a t screen to scare people. He is like the Joker, but with less explosions. 

What Will Happen Next in Catcher in the Rye?

If Holden Caulfield keeps the same perspective of believing everyone is a phony and wondering about the central park ducks when he takes his “little vacation”, than it will be inevitable that he will most likely spend most of his vacation near and in central park. Since Holden does have a small, limited supply of cash it will be most likely that he goes to a cheap motel in close proximity to central park. If Holden does stay in a cheap motel, he will complain about every small detail and probably keep referring back to what the other boys are doing at Pencey. In order to get to central park from his motel, Holden will most likely walk to Central Park. Once Holden is in Central park, he might sit on a bench near the lake where the ducks swim. Furthermore, if Holden does stay in central park a lot, I think he will be thoroughly engaged with the central park ducks and go on a “mission” to find them. Holden does not seem to be the person who likes fancy restaurants, so I believe that Holden will eat off of hotdog stands or fast food places.  As an alternative solution to what might happen, Holden might just go back to Pencey. Since Holden had a hard time saying good bye in the beginning to Pencey as he laid on the field above the football field. With this in mind, I do believe that Holden will sneak back into Pencey before all the kids leave for winter vacation. If he sneaks back in, it will most likely not be your typical spy, sneaking in through a back window or through the air ducts. What might happen is Holden goes back and stay with Ackley since his roommate is gone for the weekend, or Ackley will help him stay inside Pencey, like make him hide in the janitor’s closet or under the bed when the teachers and principle are walking around.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Letter

Dear Mr. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi,

                I am here to congratulate you on presidential election of Egypt.  I am sure that you will take Egypt to new heights. There are several ways though that you could accomplish this with few riots if any. As the Secretary of State of the United States of America, I have encountered first-hand how to keep a country at peace and have no violent protests. I have observed several ways of taking care of a country peaceful, both what to do and what not to do. The first big step to make your people happy is building a democracy. The people will now feel they have say in the government and will be less obligated to riot. Another strong way to keep your people at peace is to give them more freedom and proper rights. A prime example of what happens when freedom and rights are taken away from the people is Hosni Mubarak’s Emergency Law. By allowing police to arrest people without charge and detain the indefinitely, it was only a matter of time until they revolted, which they did on January 25, 2011. In order to keep your country’s peace, a strong tactic is to change when the people need change. Do not stick to old ways if the people need and what new ones. After all, we do not what you to become like the Muslim Brotherhood, being so strong headed that you are in a position where you have to change or fail as your ultimatum. These are just two of many ways that you should do to keep your country’s peace long lasting. Many of these ways can become out of hand and tumble out of control if not properly maintained. There is however actions you should not do to keep a county at peace.

                The word has always been a cycle for war, making the same foolish mistakes over and over again. These are some ways that you will get out of that cycle. The keystone that will hold your government together is not becoming a dictator. Instead offer your people a democracy; the future will be much calmer since one person cannot become power hungry. Furthermore, as president of Egypt you should not forget who got you to this position. Your people may believe once you forget about them, you become power hungry. Like Brutus said about Caesar, “Whereto the climber-upwards turns his face;/ But once he attains the utmost round/ He then unto the ladder turns his back,/ Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees/ By which he did ascend”. Do not become like Caesar in the aspect of you forget your people and only care about yourself. The final action you need to avoid to keep peace in your country is do not believe you are invincible like Caesar. Caesar was so blindsided by his confidence that he did not see the enemies around him. If you do this, you will most likely have enemies that are your closest friends. Remember, just follow these few things and you will be on your way to being a great president in no time. It will be good to talk to you in the near future on how your country is doing. The best of luck.

                                Sincerely,

                           John Kerry

                  United States Secretary    

Propaganda Poster

 

   The Propaganda Poster I created is anti- Brutus and the conspirators. The Roman Capitol Building, which is the central building for the Roman government, is being supported by sand pillars to demonstrate that Rome is now weakly being held up and will fall. There are daggers in the pillars to show that civil war is going to overtake Rome and cause havoc as well as backstabbing. Which makes the "pillars" even weaker. I decided to put Brutus's name at the bottom of the Capitol Building because it was supposed to represent Brutus being the main reason why Rome is now supported by weak pillars by killing Caesar. The last image that is used is blood droplets coming down from the sky. This is to replicate the dream Caesar's wife had and to show that Rome will be drowned in the blood from civil war. The quote I used "Domestic fury and fierce civil strife/ shall cumber all the parts of Italy" from Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 289 and 290. This quote is said by Mark Antony when the conspirators left and he was plotting to avenge Caesar. I found this a fitting quote for my propaganda poster because Mark Antony talked about how Italy will be at civil war with “Shall cumber all the parts of Italy”. Since Antony said "fierce civil strife", I imaged the city in turmoil and weak, thus giving me the idea for the sand pillars. This image is too directly against Brutus, making it look like Brutus is the main reason civil war will be started.

Trout Fan Letter

Fan Letter

Dear Mr. Trout,

My name is Billy Pilgrim and I am here to tell you how happy I am with your book “The Big Board”. You should remember me, I am the one who talked to you personally and invited you to my wedding. I first read your piece of work while at a veterans hospital years ago. I finally bought the book now at book store in New York City. I adored this book so much because it reminded me of my time on Tralfamadore. My favorite part was when the Zirconians brought in the female stock broker because it reminded me of when the Tralfamadorians brought Montana Wildhack to the zoo. She is still there in certain moments if I choose to go to that moment. You see I can time travel. This book also reminded me of moments of World War 2 which I experienced, and can still experience if I travel to that moment. When to male stock broker stole some of the stock share from the female stock holder, it reminded me of poor Edgar Derby, a school teacher in the war who stole a teapot. Just like the male stock broker, Derby was killed for the theft. So it goes. Another time where your book reminded me of the war was when the stock brokers were beating each other up for making a bad investment. That was like the time Roland Weary was beating me up in Luxembourg because I was too slow. The only parts that were not right were 1. When the earthlings were kidnapped, they aliens did not talk to them. The Tralfmadorians talked to me when I was kidnapped. So that seems a little off. And 2. The Zirconians believe in time as you do, a moment and then it is gone, which is very wrong. The Tralfmadorians and I believe it lasts forever and you can relive that moment, which is the way it really is. All of your books are works of art and I am pleased to own all of them. Have a happy life, and relive all the moments you want.

Billy Pilgrim