Letters About Literature

Jack Bryant

1301 E Walnut St.

Carbondale, Illinois 62901

Dear Jules Verne,

            Hello I am currently a student at Carbondale Community High School. This year in English class my teacher our teacher has assigned us the task of having a blog and keeping up with it weekly.  This is what brings me to be writing you a letter at this time. As a little added extra to the blogging assignment our teacher told us we were to write a letter to the author of one of the books we read this quarter and I enjoyed your book more out of the two. The book made me catch myself thinking that I would enjoy doing something similar to Phileas Fogg. When I read this book I think of Phileas just having the life, being an inventor who is very wealthy and can just do what he wants when he wants. The reason this sounds interesting to me is because I myself would like to become so sort of engineer or inventor. Through my childhood I have always taken much joy into putting things together and building things whether if it was from my imagination or from the set of instruction that came with the appliance that I was allowed to put together. But this is what probably makes me so interested in the book itself. 

   Something the book showed me about the world today that I have never taken much thought into was how many advancements in technology we have had. Before reading this book I’m sure any kid would think, “Wow, 80 days? That is forever! I could get around the world in 24 hours in an air plane.” But they forget to think about how fast 80 days really is for that time period.  In your book you speak of how Phileas travels around the world by all different types of transportation, including the train, steamer, carriage, and even hot air balloon when really all of those things today have a bigger better form of that transportation or just have major improvements. The train has gotten much faster and it can travel much farther than what it used to be able to. The steamer has been replaced by the luxury cruise liner. The carriage has of course been replaced by the car and the blimp by the air plane. So the world of transportation has changed dramatically which I don’t usually think about. 

   What really surprised me about myself while I was reading this book was about how interested I was in a book written over 100 years ago. I am not a big fan of books as it is so I wasn’t sure how I was going to like a book. So I was unsure about how I was going to like a book that did not speak modern day slang but it was quite the opposite. This different form of English actually kept me more interested in the book because in a way it was more entertaining to me. Sometimes around the house, my brother sister and I go around saying “Indubitably” to everything and so it was funny when I actually read words like that in the book. So thank you Mr. Verne, for writing such a good book that kept me entertained and interested.

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                            Your reader

My Feelings of the 21st Century Classroom

Over the years there has definitely been some changes. Most of these changes were of course for the best but they effect more than just what people think. With the inventions of blogging, tweeting, facebooking, and skyping, the modern English class itself has changed. I'm sure ten years ago there were not many classes (if any) that were assigned to just go blog about a book that they got to pick out themselves and read it when they wanted to read it. But with this assignment, my teacher gave us the option to post our blogs on Facebook or even tweet about them to get extra credit for our blogs. I really enjoy this activity of blogging because mostly every week we get to get out of the classroom just to go blog, which I am getting more and more comfortable with. I have never enjoyed just sitting down and reading because I was forced to do it all through grade school which was not very fun. But now I can choose a book from the Read For a Lifetime list and read when I have the time to.

The activity of blogging overall is great. Every week in the first quarter we were given a different blog to do that required us to go more in depth with our blog and we had to truly know what we were talking about. This quarter was not that much more different except that after the first two blogs we got to choose what we wanted to do for our blogs which I enjoyed because it made me feel like I had more freedom then just following this weekly assignment for my blog. This assignment is also different then if we would've been just doing something boring like sitting in the class room and reading aloud because then you are forced to read something you might not want to read. Also, this quarter we had the ability to Skype a completely different school across the state. Unfortunately we never did this activity which is alright but it would've been something different. As time goes on I'm sure the English classroom will continue to change just hopefully for the better with different activities like blogging.

Round Two! Vlog!

Enlightening Music

http://youtu.be/6q2mFiN7GIc

The song that I chose to embed into my blog was one i actually just discovered or at least haven't heard in a while called "Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. At first I was just looking to find a song that could fit well enough with my book so I could use it, but then after I got lucky enough to find this song I found that it fit perfectly with situations Nailer was in. Along with matching well with Nailer I also just really enjoy the song. I myself learned from it and sense I also enjoy playing poker, I got what he was trying to say. In the song it says "you got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run." I feel that Nailer does a good job of this in the novel because he understands the difference in situations between fate/luck and when he actually needs to strategize.

The situation that I mostly imagine Nailer in when i hear this song is when he is in the air ducts collecting wire. This of course is Nailer's job in the book which puts him in hazardous situations most of the time. In these old air ducts he is confronted with these situations where he has to decide whether to keep going, give up, or just simply decide what he has is enough and turn around and head back. Also in the song it is said "You never count your money when you're sitting at the table. They'll be time enough for countin when the dealins done". This can also be used to connect to Nailer in the air ducts because there is no time to see how much wire you actually have because those ducts could break any second so there is plenty of time for you to do it when you get out. In the beginning of the book, the ducts do just that and break and Nailer falls into an oil pit where he is forced to the decision of risking his life and sinking under the oil to find a way out. That was just one of those times where he chose fate/luck over anything else.

Ship Breaker in Pictures

I read the book Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi for the Second Quarter

The book takes place on the coast.

The old coasts are now flooded.

Copper wire is the wanted item is the wrecked ships.

In the book they have to crawl through air ducts to get the copper wire.

All workers are indentured servants.

The crews always have to work together.

This is how I imagine Nailer

Nailer's dad

Nailer's mom who dies when Nailer is young.

There is barely any known oil in the time of the book.

There are a lot of drug problems.

All workers live in poverty.

Nailer gets stuck in a room full of oil and is considered lucky for finding it when he gets out.

The only thing the pit bosses cared about was money.

They have to work fast, because there are storms that wipe out their work place.

This is what the crews work on.

Critiquing My Fellow Class Mates

Alex Kippenbrock-
Kippy, Kippy, Kippy... you are certainly the pot calling the kettle black. Although I am behind on my blogs you are as well, but I see you put in some work and i applaud you for that. I would like to point out that you said you took full responsibility for not having you're vlog uploaded but yet you still blamed me for it... do i sense some jealousy that you don't have an incredible phone like I do? But enough of that onto you're actual blog. I agree with you that it was weird how our Animoto's were graded but i now understand what Mrs. Hayes wants and I hope you do as well. I myself was really excited for the video chatting with the students from other schools but it's a shame we did not get to do that this quarter. I have also looked at your blog in the past to help me understand the book I am now reading sense you read it last quarter and you have been very helpful! I look forward to seeing the rest of your blogs when they are finished!

Jacob Garwin-
Greetings Jacob, I am here to tell you all the things you don't know about your own blog! Alright so where shall we start? Something that Mrs. Hayes told me at the beginning of the second quarter that I did right was my grammar. I capitalized my I's and the letters after the periods. Here it does not look like you did so. In the blog above it where you were commenting on people's blogs it looks as though you did it though which tells me you were just lazy starting off the second quarter which is alright you just need to fix it! Another thing I noticed was that this was only one paragraph long. This is just not acceptable to Mrs. Hayes and Mr. Lukes so you Mr. Garwin need to fix it ASAP. But enough of being a Negative Nancy, I much enjoyed your 1st quarter blogs and am sorry to hear about the grade you received. But like you said, just forget about the grade you got then, and worry about the second quarter grade! I of course will try and do the same.

Macie Wheeler-
Hello Macie! Let me just congratulate you on getting an A on the first quarter blogs! I am really jealous right now seeing as how i did not get such a good grade and that i am not as good as blogger as you are. I am really happy to see that you are able to but your upbeat attitude into your blogs in some way or another especially in your vlog. I also, had the same problem you did which was not having long enough paragraphs. This was very hard for me to do last quarter because I really didn't know what i was doing, but it looks like you got through the blogs just fine anyway! But if you do find yourself getting distracted a lot I would get checked for ADD and I hope you were able to pay attention up till now. Oh well Macie, best of luck to you with the 2nd quarter blogs! Keep up the good work!

Blog Kick Off: 2nd Quarter

So here we go again, second quarter and blogging again. I didn't get such a good grade last time but I'm hoping to do better this time. Although i didn't the grade i would've preferred but i still did somethings right. According to my teacher, I had good writing, compared to some of my class mates. I made sure to type my blogs like i was typing a paper which turned out to be a good choice instead of writing like some people text or talk on Facebook. Somethings I could have definitely done better were things like, having more paragraphs when necessary. Also, my animoto didn't make the viewer really want to watch the movie like it was supposed to. My goals for this quarter are to try to pay more attention to what the blog prompt is actually asking me to do and to enjoy blogging more.
   My feelings about blogging are kind of back and forth. I do enjoy the break from class work it gives us and how it is something completely different from something I've done before since i have never blogged before. I also do enjoy how the blogs are different every week and apparently this quarter is going to be different then the last so that is something to look forward to. There are some things about blogging that i don't enjoy. Like how each blog requires you to have multiple long paragraphs like the ones i am typing right now. Also if you fall behind on your blogging it can be very time consuming but we do get class time to do it, it's just sometimes i don't get it done in class.
   The book I am reading right now is called Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi. It seems like a pretty interesting book so far. My friends who read it last quarter seemed to of really enjoyed it up to the end but i am not that far yet so i wouldn't know. As to what people can expect to see on my blog this quarter is what i basically said in my first paragraph. I plan to go more in depth with what my blog prompt is asking of me and i plan to enjoy blogging more and try to keep up with it better.

Vlog of me, myself, and I

Around the World in 80 DaysTrailer

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.


This is my trailer for Around the world in 80 Days. It shows who the main characters are and what the point of the book is and with a stumper at the end. I feel it portraits the book very well.

Insightful Comments

I started following Jacob, Macie, and Alex.

Greetings Jacob. i have no idea why i am even bothering to comment on this post of yours seeing as how two people that are obviously much greater than myself have already blessed you with there glorious words. But i agree with Macie and Richard in that you sir are a good writer. You can definitely tell that you wrote this because it matches you attitude so well. But I'm sure you are like me in that by the end of the year you will find blogging interesting and fun... maybe... probably not.

Wow Macie, I am surprised to see that no one has already commented on your blog because of how awesome you are but I am honored to be the first one! Your blog was very amusing to me and I enjoyed every second that I was reading it. Your writing style really matches your personality which is a good thing. You should not be worried about writing these blogs because you are a natural in my opinion. But as the year progresses I am sure that you will enjoy blogging more and more!

Salutations Alex. You should not worry about your blogging skills because this was very well written. You say you are scared but there really is nothing to be scared of, after all Mrs. Hayes gives us plenty of time to do them so you can get them done. I hope you feel the same as i do when i say that blogging is not as foreign to me now and is actually kind of a good alternative to class work. Well stick in there Alex, you will be fine.

Story Through Links

http://www.london.gov.uk/
-There adventure starts in London. This is where they will depart and return on rail and steamboats. This website tells all about London

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez
-From London they go to Suez. They arrive via Mont Cenis. This website tells all about Suez 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brindisi
-From Suez it's to Brindisi. They arrive in Brindisi by steamer. This website tells all about Brindisi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai
-From Brindisi it's to Mumbai. Mumbai is also called Bombay. This website tells all about Mumbai

http://www.calcuttaweb.com/
-From Mumbai it's  to Calcutta. They are supposed to arrive in Calcutta by rail. This website tells all about Calcutta.

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/login.html
 -From Calcutta it's to Hong Kong. They are supposed to arrive in Hong Kong by Steamer. This website tells all about Hong Kong

http://www.jnto.go.jp/-From Hong Kong it's to Japan. They call Japan Yokohama in  the book. This website tells all about Japan

http://www.sfgov.org/
-From Japan it's to San Francisco. They are supposed to arrive in San Francisco by Steamer. This website tells all about San Francisco.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York
-From San Francisco it's to New York. They are supposed to arrive in New York by rail. this website tells all about New York.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Steamer&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=LYz&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=837&tbm=isch&tbnid=6Lrb7_GeF8vUAM:&imgrefurl=http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/scientific-american/sup7/The-Newfoundland-And-Nova-Scotia-Passenger-Steamer-Bruce.html&docid=vPKrYuqwnXhhWM&w=500&h=328&ei=5JiETp7CJeilsAKe05mcDw&zoom=1
-This is a picture of a steamer. The steamer is also know as a boat. This is a very common way of travel in the book.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=1800s+train&num=10&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=EV0&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=583&tbm=isch&tbnid=MnaVnnsZMNDtIM:&imgrefurl=http://www.peoriacountyillinois.info/photos/transportation.html&docid=zTN7jPDuxnSBJM&w=900&h=486&ei=VyONTsXGJuSQsQK7xZXNAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=933&vpy=215&dur=634&hovh=165&hovw=306&tx=163&ty=141&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=112&tbnw=207&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0
-This is a picture of a train. They just say rail in the book when referring to the train in the book. This is also a very common way of travel in the book.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=london+castles&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=583&tbm=isch&tbnid=ftPv-TAJ8TJREM:&imgrefurl=http://www.destination360.com/europe/uk/london/castles&docid=rWcRB5anAdQqEM&w=415&h=332&ei=xTuNTtmlIaPnsQKH-7GfAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=211&vpy=198&dur=2879&hovh=201&hovw=251&tx=181&ty=125&page=1&tbnh=166&tbnw=233&start=0&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
-This is a picture of a castle in London. I imagine these were the type of castles that were around in the book. His house might have even been intended to look like this.

http://coinmill.com/GBP_USD.html#GBP=20000
this is a link to a currency conversion. In the book the bet is 20000 pounds which is different in American currency. So this link converts the pounds into dollars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAycChNq-Is
-This is a movie trailer for the book. it is some what accurate but at the same time not so much. I have seen it before and it does help develop the picture and setting of the book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_Eighty_Days
-This link is to the Wikipedia page for the book. It goes over a lot of major details. It can help you understand the book more.

 http://www.google.com/imgres?q=around+the+world+in+80+days+book+cover&num=10&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=583&tbm=isch&tbnid=wExYiwe9ZsT4vM:&imgrefurl=http://www.experienceplus.com/blog/%3Fp%3D277&docid=4hLxPs5b_GMgFM&w=260&h=350&ei=FDWNTu_ZA4WDtgeitvygDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=294&vpy=208&dur=1062&hovh=261&hovw=193&tx=128&ty=153&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=136&tbnw=101&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
-This is a picture of the book cover. There are very different book covers for this particular book. I find this important because it just starts off the book with adventure.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=monopoly+guy&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=583&tbm=isch&tbnid=TybSXamqQbt0aM:&imgrefurl=http://allthingsd.com/20091123/while-microsoft-is-talking-to-publishers-paying-a-lot-to-rent-content-for-bing-to-thwart-google-is-unlikely/&docid=bQQhs_7xlC4naM&w=321&h=345&ei=_zWNTpuQA8uDsgKzwIy6AQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=192&vpy=185&dur=4134&hovh=233&hovw=217&tx=79&ty=117&page=1&tbnh=172&tbnw=160&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
-This is an image of the monopoly guy. i imagine this is the type of people he is betting with. So it helps with imagining snobby Englishmen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison
-This is a link of Prison on the Wikipedia site. If Phileas gets caught he will get sent to prison. It is significant because there is a segment over English prisons.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=1800s+british+law+detective&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=DTM&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=583&tbm=isch&tbnid=V1hxBdcr1GYkEM:&imgrefurl=http://clothesonfilm.com/sherlock-holmes-downey-jr-law-new-poster-clothes/1884/&docid=zdNNon8PlD9qQM&w=846&h=472&ei=3DaNToe0H6eIsgLdu-iHAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=927&vpy=222&dur=5913&hovh=168&hovw=301&tx=121&ty=95&page=2&tbnh=108&tbnw=144&start=24&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:24
-This is a picture of Watson who is a detective. This is what i imagine the detective who is following Phileas to look like. So it helps me develop the scene.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=pocket+watch&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=583&tbm=isch&tbnid=1eM18q0k3VmRbM:&imgrefurl=http://www.pocketwatchcentral.com/&docid=uqmTLa19PFW5rM&w=300&h=300&ei=VjeNTpm8AfT2sQKlpcXLAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=167&vpy=244&dur=1232&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=115&ty=195&page=1&tbnh=114&tbnw=118&start=0&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
-This is an image of a pocket watch. In the book time is the most crucial  component. So Phileas Fogg is checking the time and day constantly.

Classical Connect

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.classicalconnect.com/files/CCPlayer.swf" width="350" height="120"><param name="movie" value="http://www.classicalconnect.com/files/CCPlayer.swf" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="flashvars" value="playlist=/node/887/play/xml" /><a href="http://www.classicalconnect.com/">Classical Connect - Free classical music online</a></object>

Toccata, by Gideon Rubin is a very close match to the what i think the sound track of the book would be like at times. it is a very upbeat song and has its dramatic moments. The upbeat parts of the song remind me of when the main character, Phileas Fogg, is traveling frantically venturing around the world. The dramatic parts of the song go perfectly for when Phileas finds out he is being accused as a robber and is being chased by the police while still trying to make it around the world in 80 days.

Picture Post

Book Cover

 Setting

 Setting

 Character in Movie



Main Character in Movie



Action

Comedy

Traveling around Earth in 80 days

Main Character has Ocd

Suspense

Main Character is always on time

Adventure

Movie tkaes place in 1800s

Phileas Fogg is very rich

Bets that he can travel around world in 80 days

The police get involved later in movie

Form of travel in book

Form of travel in book

Form of travel in book

Form of travel in book

Be Nice

Hello my name is Jack Bryant. I am 16 and a Junior in High School. English is not my favorite subject and definitely not my best, as you will probably be able to tell as i go along blogging, which in fact is completely foreign to me. This assignment does seem kind of boring and bothersome at the moment but i am hoping it will get better as we advance through it. As you have notice i am not sucking up to my teacher who i know is going to read this blog unlike my friend who is sitting next to me *cough* Jacob Garwin *cough*. And that last statement was also a way for me to take up space so it looks as though i wrote more and i have more sentences to move on. Also, I'm sure you can tell that i am not the over achiever type. I don't really like reading in my free time, probably because of being forced to in grade school made me dislike it. So instead i enjoy watching TV and movies.

The purpose of this blog is for our class to come on here every Thursday and blog about our current book for the school quarter. We, as a class, are participating in the program called, Read for a Life Time, which is a list of books already preselected for the school year. The book that i am currently reading off the list is call "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne. The books i do read i have to make sure i have some sort of interest in them, like almost everyone else. So after seeing the movie made about the book, and figuring out that it was a comedy, i though it would be entertaining to read. If it is anything like the movie then it should have some action, adventure, and some funny moments as well. i will admit that another reason i chose this book is because it isnt that long in length.

Through out this blogging experience we will have to have many different blog entries. So having the same blog prompt over and over again will get boring. Like this one is to first introduce ourselves, then our book, and now to think of different blog prompts, so doing this over and over again would get boring. So some different ideas could be to make us blog about how we feel about the book, or how the book inspires us or if it inspires us, or how this makes us feel about reading, and so on. Hopefully there are many different prompts and way to blog because i am here for the whole quarter and am looking forward to this being fun.