Justice or Injustice ENG2D

McClintock, Norah. Taken. Victoria, B.C.: Orca Book, 2009. Print.

     The situation I have chosen is at the start of the book Taken.  The protagonist, Stephanie, lives with her mother and her mother's boyfriend, Gregg.  Stephanie's mother and Gregg both like each other, but Stephanie strongly dislikes Gregg.  She would rather have him out of her life than in it.  This results in a number of fights between Stephanie and her mother.  Even after all of the disputes, her mother continues to allow Gregg to live with her and Stephanie.

     The above situation serves as an example of injustice, yet assigning blame isn't an easy task.  Stephanie's mother is being selfish by disregarding her daughter's wishes.  However, Stephanie is disregarding Gregg and her mother's happiness by protesting their relationship.  In addition, Gregg does little better by moving in when Stephanie is evidently displeased by the action.  The lesson that can be taken from this situation is that, when in a fight, don't assign blame before considering your own involvement.

    

Identify and Sort ENG2D

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.

     In my opinion, the five most important elements of The Road in order of their engagement are as follows:

1. Mood
2. Conflict
3. Suspense
4. Setting
5. Plausibility

      I have chosen mood as the most important element because, without the mood of the story, the reader would not care for the Road's characters.  The Road is not a plot based book.  It tells the story of a father and his son's survival after a world wide catastrophe, relying heavily on their internal struggles.  Without such a heavy mood, the reader can not emphathize well with the characters.  This would lead to a lack of interest in the story as the main aspects of any fiction book are its plot and characters.  For example, here is a quote:

     "She held his (the father's) hand in her lap and he could feel the tops of her stockings through the thin stuff of her summer dress.  Freeze this frame.  Now call down your dark and your cold and be damned."  (McCarthy 19)

     It was hard (at least for me) not to have some amount of pity for the father after reading this.  The quote gave me the impression that, before the catastrophe, the father was a pretty happy guy.  Then, all of the warmth and comfort of his old environment were destroyed.  He was plunged into a new world, filled with a harshness that he had yet to experience.  This new empathy allows me to be further engrossed in the book as I now have a desire for the father to become happy once again.

A Bit About Me

     Probably, I spend more time looking for a good book to read than I do reading it.  Too much romance gets on my nerves, plot holes irritate me and poor characterization is unbearable.  On top of that, I'm quite cheap, always running to the library when I see a book I like.  Then, it's on to the waiting lists. Genre is one of the aspects of a book that I'm a bit more lenient on.  I prefer a story with a complex plot but, if there's a character I really like, I'll read just about anything.

     As for the last books I've read, I can't even remember them.  I do most of my reading on fanfiction.net and occasionally steal my mom's I-pad to go on Zite.  Both of these are good time killers but sometimes only because there are a lot of stories and articles that have to be shifted through in order to find one I like.  Since anything can be posted by anyone, there isn't always quality assurance.  However,  Zite, at least, does a fairly good job of filtering.

     When it comes to my favourite book, my choice isn't that unique.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will always be a favourite of mine.  Having been fond of the Harry Potter series since I was little, it seems only natural that this title should go to the concluding book of the series. The foreshadowing came together perfectly.  There wasn't much else that could have been done to add to it, in my opinion.  And, as stated above, I love a good plot.