The Life of Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry was born in 1937 and grew up traveling all around America, and even to Tokyo, because of her father's position in the military as a dentist. Her older sister died at a young age and she married young-after one year in college. With her husband she had four children in four and a half years, all the while travelling around the United States, living in six different states. I think it is evident that many of her novels reflect her experiences from her youth. She even claims that "A Summer to Die" is a retelling of the of her sister and how she is missed in their family.

One thing I found particularly interesting about Lowry is her choice of theme in all her works: "the importance of human connections." After reading about this, I've realized going through "The Giver" that her whole story is about human connections- the way children relate to one another in their age group, the way the family unit relates, the way the nurturer relates to newchildren, the way a brother relates to his sister. In her autobiography, she comments that in "The Giver" she built on that common theme and shows, "the vital need of people to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment." Once the reader is aware of her aim, it is especially easy to find.

Ignorance is bliss?

As we were going through the discussion today about "The Giver," several topics flooded my mind. One thing I began to think about was the common phrase "ignorance is bliss." I feel like every character in "The Community" is ignorant. And is there bliss? I believe it's difficult to say. If you're living in that community, where no one knows anything else besides it, I believe that I would be happy, much like all the characters are portrayed in the book. However, having knowledge of color, animals, love, weather, responsibility, etc. I don't feel like I would ever be blissful in that situation but only happy in the position of knowledgable. It is arguable that for one to know of love and joy that one also is familiar with pain and sorrow. However, on any given day I would take the pain and sorrow with the love and joy than be void of all of it. I believe that only because of the pain and fear I experience I know how much more great is the love in my life.

Green Eggs and Ham

As a child, I was never read Dr. Seuss stories, at least not memorably. I've never understood (and actually almost don't like) the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and stories such as "Oh the Places You'll Go," "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish," or "Horton Hears a Who." However, I chose to read "Green Eggs and Ham" because one of my friends began reciting it to me and I realized that if she loved it that much as a child, to read it often enough to memorize it, than it must be worth something. I did enjoy it, although I think it's lost some of the sparkle that it had for my friend, probably because she read it at a young age and it was written for that audience. However, one of the things I noticed is that it is somewhat educational. It teaches about animals (the mouse, fox, and goat), modes of transportation (car, train, boat), and also talks about other basic nouns that would help build a child's vocabulary, such as rain, dark, box, house, etc.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Even though we discussed a little bit of Tolkien's life in class, I was intriguied and decided to do some further research on his life. He was born in 1892 under the name John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. When he was a young child, he was bitten by a baboon spider. It's probable that the spider in "The Hobbit" evolved from this childhood memory. Also contributing to his laters works is the exploring that he did as a young child as well as the fact that he learned Latin at a very young age and could read at the age of four- he particularly enjoyed works by George MacDonald. When he was sixteen, he met his future wife but was to see her until he turned 21 because she was Protestant and he was Catholic. When he finally did turn 21, she had become engaged to another man. However, upon his confession of love to her she returned the ring, converted to Catholism, and they wed. Tolkien was a professor at Oxford. While he was there, he was involved in a literary "club" while he was a professor at Oxford called "Inklings." Many other notable authors were involved in this club, including C.S. Lewis, author of "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Mere Christianity."

The Hobbit Wordsearch

I've created a wordsearch that incorporates most of the major characters in the Hobbit and some of the smaller characters.

Gollum

Even though I've read "The Hobbit" before, it was never for a class setting. Especially reading it so closely after reading "The Princess and the Goblin," something new dawned upon me. I've always been familiar with the fact that Tolkien was religious and there are many metaphors of faith and spirituality in his works. For example, in "The Lord of the Rings," there is a character who controls parts of nature through song and claims he has been there since the beginning of Middle Earth. I believe aspects of him represent the Christian God. Likewise, it occured to me that Gollum may represent devolution, much like the goblins in "The Princess and the Goblin." Much like them, he lives in a dark, cold place, alone with his sin-greed. Tolkien may have been trying to represent the result of sin through Gollum. He is somewhat pscyzophrenic, with a slightly good side, which may represent how there is still a little bit of good in all of us.

Ring a Ring o' Roses

Just for fun I did a little research on the nursery rhyme Ring a Ring o' Roses. There are literally a dozen versions to this song, from around the world. It seems as though it has spread, a lot like fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. However, it is sung to the same tune in most places. It is also believed that today it is sung to the same tune as when it originated, probably in 1790. Around the world the song is also associated with the plagues of Europe, particularly Britain, in the late 1600's. The Opies have given reason to believe that it could possibly be related to the Great Plague, stating, "The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, poises of herbs were carried as protection,sneezing was a final symptom, and “all fall down” was exactly what happened."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o'_Roses