What an assembly! What a great day for Reynolds and for all those involved in the Cops for Cancer fundraising.
The task this weekend is simple and set to allow you to get into your reading and to get into commenting on the blog. In your responses, please follow all the formats and expectations that you normally would if you were submitting a paper for assessment (i.e. proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.).
Task
Read 20 pages of your novel this weekend. From your reading, choose the passage (from one sentence to a paragraph) that you wish you had written. It could be beautiful in its descriptive nature, startling in its word choice, or just amazing to you. Please include the passage in the comments and, in turn, make a comment on why you have chosen this passage to share. Please include relevant information as well (Title of the novel and page number of the passage) so others can have context for your passage.
Please email me for clarification, should you need it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
"It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire."
pg.63 of Wuthering Heights.
I love this because it is so honest. Even if it sheds an unflattering light on Catherine’s glaring personality flaws, the honesty in it makes me almost forgive her, almost. I also find Brontë’s comparison between Heathcliff and Cathy interesting because it differs so much from other romances of that era. Usually two people in love are defined as perfectly matched opposites; in Wuthering Heights Catherine states Heathcliff is a vital part of her, making them out to be two halves of one whole rather than two separate, yet complimentary pieces.
dger
"Charlie was quiet for so long that I wondered if he heard the strain beneath my façade."
Pg. 629 of Breaking Dawn.
I had quite a lot of difficulty finding a good quote in this novel, not only because it is almost painful to read, but also due to its lack of depth. I ended up choosing this quote because I liked how relatable it is. It’s one of those situations where you’re acting like everything is okay while talking to someone, but no matter how hard you try to mask or “façade“ your pain, it is still as plain as the nose on your face that something is the matter. Quotes such as these are great for connecting all kinds of people to a novel.
-Bila
"Then she left. The Navy guy and I told each other we were glad to've met each other. Which kills me. I'm always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though."
p. 87 of Catcher in the Rye
Holden Caulfield may be jaded, but he also has a point. If you want to survive in society, whether that's nowadays or during the 50's, you have to make nice. I think this quote is great because it exposes those words for what they are- empty. "Glad to've met you" is a phrase so commonly used, and misused for that matter, that it has lost all meaning. One is expected to use those words out of courtesy, out of respect. Honesty, however is much more respectful. I would've have loved to be the author of those words, if only to spark a sliver of understanding in just one my readers. Maybe, upon hearing those words they would come up with something more imaginative in those kinds of situations. "Glad to've met you" is like saying "no, you shouldn't have" after receiving a present. Or, better yet, saying that "it was nothing." They are lies. It wasn’t nothing. It took effort, time. Yes, you should have, because people will be hurt and disappointed if you don’t. These types of sayings have hidden meanings, and 50 years later, Salinger’s words are still in effect.
Jnna
"For the most part, people do not know that they will live their lives over. Traders do not know that they will make the same bargain again and again. Politicians do not know that they will shout from the same lectern an infinite number of times in the cycles of time. Parents treasure the first laugh from their child as if they will not hear it again. Lovers making love the first time undress shyly, show surprise at the supple thigh, the fragile nipple. How would they know that each secret glance, each touch, will be repeated again and again and again, exactly as before?"
Page 8 from Einstein's Dreams: A novel
-I apologize for the "lovers" bit if it bothered anyone.
I like this because it puts actions into a different perspective then we are use to. This whole book is about time, and although some of it is a bit out there, I enjoy the connections it makes to everyday life and the way we think about it. I specifically like the sentence about the child's laughter. I feel a way similar about birthdays.
Hmik
"I put my feet up on the handlebars and gave Gladys her head. As we shot down the dusty hill, I yodeled a song into the wind:
"'They call her the lass
With the delicate air!...'"
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie p.156
I love this quote because it shows what an interesting character Flavia (the main character) is. I would have loved to have written this because it shows another side of her, who up until now, has been portrayed as a grown-up, she already sees herself as a full chemist, and is planning her thesis. This quote shows that she is still a child at heart and that she enjoys the simple, "childish" things in life.
-Brhc
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.
Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."
Pg.1 of Their Eyes Were Watching God
I love this passage because of the beautiful imagery and rich poetic language used by the author, which contrasts sharply with the unsophisticated, humorous language of her characters later on in the book. It also sheds an unusual light upon the differences in gender and the way in which they attain their dreams. I like how women are portrayed as the more defiant dreamers, who know their dreams and thus do and act in order to achieve these dreams. Whereas men's dreams are either realized or not, by no action of their own and they are consequently resigned to their fate.
Cied
"When people talk about climbing a mountain or riding rough water, they say they become one with it, their bodies so attuned to it that they often, when asked to articulate how they did it, cannot fully explain.
Inside the tunnel, where broken beer bottles, old leaves, and other, as yet indiscriminate, things littered the ground, I became one with this man. He held my life in his hand. Those who say they would rather fight to the death than be raped are fools. I would rather be raped a thousand times. You do what you have to."
- Lucky (a memoir), by Alice Sebold, pg. 6 & 7.
This passage strikes me particularly because of its blunt, forthright diction. I am generally drawn to writing that I know is above my level - writing that can simply and powerfully describe, move you, and even change you in only a few small sentences. Ones, like this, that truly channel the influence of words. The topic she's writing of, rape, is hardly anything to sneeze at, but yet she's captured it so raw, so real, that you have a certain disconnection to the subject - you become entirely enraptured in her words and her pain, forgetting the predisposition you may already have, and simply accepting her experience as THE experience. She manages to re-define by simply telling her story, through honesty. Her writing absolutely blows me away, a style that I can admire simultaneously as I read, and that is why I have chosen this passage.
- Yours truly, Tlem !
Post a Comment