The Wanted Outcome

We all try to be in control. And mainly because we want something to go our way. That is why Seneca Crane and President Snow love their job so much. They can have control over life and death. Seneca Crane gets tod ecide who dies and who lives in the Hunger Games and how he wants the tributes to struggle. Seneca Crane had an announcement saying that tributes from the same district are allowed to become allies and win together. But when Katniss and Peeta a.k.a "The Starcrossed Lovers" are the last two standing, the new rules are revoked, so the viewers can watch the most interesting showdown ever. So this proves it.

Genetic Engineering

In our book club, we discussed that Panem has very complex genetic engineering, with canibal muttations, arenas, and toxic flowers. So far, in our world today, we have created many mutts ourselves. We have a human-made sheep called Polly. Polly has produced more sheeps. We also created a mechanical jellyfish. Scientists can now splice animal DNA and add human DNA into it. Panem is built on these mechanical man-made creatures. So if something goes wrong in the lab, we might have a canibal half-human half-lizard mutt.

Examples of extreme genetic engineering can be shown in not just The Hunger Games trilogy but also Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In it, Victor tries to create his own creature, but he messes up an creates a monster. The monster is just like humans, but because of its appearance it is shunned and abused by everyone he encounters.

The Hanging Tree (Inference)

Are you, Are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, Are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, Are you

Coming to the tree

Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, Are you

Coming to the tree

Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

In the last book of the Hunger Games Trilogy, "Mockingjay", Katniss sings a song that her father taught her, when he was still alive. Katniss doesn't know what the song means, but she tells us that it originated from the hills of District 12, during the olden times. Katniss's father would sing it for her and Prim. They would all make matching necklaces of rope for the song. But Mrs. Everdeen would always freak out when that song was sung. She would also snatch the necklaces away from them. Suddenly, the song was forbidden by her family. It provided them with fear. Katniss states that she began to understand the song when she started getting older, and after her father's death. The song is about a couple who were in love. The girl killed her boyfriend by hanging him on a tree. Then, the girl was guilty. The man's corpse told her to run away and hide. 

I think the story can expand. I think the couple was in the woods, trying escape a crime they committed inside the District. They secretly go off into the woods, leaving the District, which is a crime. As they struggled to stay alive in the woods, the girl goes insane and decides to keep all the surviving resources for herself. So when her boyfriend falls asleep, she decides to kill him with a rope. She ties the rope to a tree and puts her boyfriend's neck inside the loop. There and then, she hangs him to his death. The corpse leaves herself to be frightened and scared. Then she runs off to find a tribe of other runaways. There, she gives birth to children and comes up with song, when her boyfriend haunts her dreams. She becomes depressed and sick for the rest of her life, and her kids carried out the song. And Katniss's father came from the runaway tribe, and he knew the song. The runaway tribe is now part of District 13.

Robert Frost Poem Inference

Two roads diverged in yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I think this poem relates to teenagers because at that time, they have to make certain decisions that will effect their future.

Is Our Fate Called Panem?

"There was once a place called North America. But droughts and fires, hurricanes and tornadoes, and encroaching seas took their toll. Brutal wars broke out as people fought for the few remaining resources. The earth was scarred and desolate, the people terrified and hopeless. But out of the ashes rose Panem, a nation made up of a great Capitol, ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens for many generations." This is the introduction of the Hunger Games. It is not in the perspective of Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of the story. This is the introduction of Panem, a dystopian nation that formed after global warming and disaster. 

This sounds like us... well, kind of. There is also another thing. Our craving for entertainment genres like teens, violence, and romance. Panem's citizens( mostly in the Capitol) love to watch the Hunger Games. They love to watch a romantic teenage violence. We like this too. Why else do we love shows like Jersey Shore, or Big Brother, or Temptation Island. We like drama, cheating, life and death situations. We also like being part of the spies. We watch people be in positions that we never want to be in. 

I read the book, The Girl who was on Fire. There was an essay on muttations. The muttations in the Capitol are cruel and scary and love to eat... EVERYTHING! We see muttations of giant wolves that resembled the tributes of the 74th annual Hunger games. We see tracker-jackers. We see President Snow's white rose. We see the orange monkeys in the Third Quarter Quell. We see the half-human and half-lizard monsters that eat Finnick in the undergrounds of the Capitol. Then we see mutts that don't eat you. The jabberjays and most importantly, the Mockingjays. We have our own muttations. We made a mechanical sheep with human hormones. We call her Polly. We also made a spliced jellyfish. Humans have created life. As long as were not madmen, we can create non-vicious creatures. We have to have to have good intentions for the things we create. Or else it will become another version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  

I have stated three things that could lead to the destruction of the human race( Panem ). It doesn't mean it will, but if it is taken to the wrong and overconfident level, it will. Our cravings and curiosity might lead to Panem. Or have you noticed global warming? The ice is melting. Land might flood. There is more heat. This could lead to the world of Katniss Everdeen. Panem is coming.

Why Katniss Killed President Alma Coin

So we all know that in the end of Mockingjay, Katniss doesn't shoot President Snow, her torturer, to death.   Instead she shoots President Alma Coin, the president of District 13, putting us all into confusion. We are confused, because Katniss didn't even aim her arrow at President Snow.

Let's start with the beginning. It all started from Rue's death. Katniss and Rue were both in the 74th annual Hunger Games, along with Peeta Mellark, who came from District 12 with Katniss. Rue is from District 11. When Marvel, the boy tribute from District 1 shot Rue in her stomach, he ended up killing her. Katniss came in just in time to prevent Marvel from hurting Rue even more. She shoots his neck down and kills him. Katniss then sings Rue to death. But she had to fulfill one of Rue's request. She had to win. If she didn't Rue's death wouldn't be as significant. Now, Katniss became determined. And when she and Peeta were the last tributes standing, she couldn't go home alone. So she handed Peeta a handful of poisonous berries called Nightlock. If both Peeta and her couldn't be victors, then no one would. She and Peeta were going to commit a double-suicide. But they didn't get to. Claudius Templesmith told them to stop. Then he announced that they were the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games. The crowd saw Katniss show up the Capitol. President Snow didn't like this. He knew there was going to be an uprising.

In Catching Fire, he threatens Katniss, telling her to behave, or otherwise lose her loved ones. At first she tries to behave. But after seeing an uprising in District 8, and seeing her best friend Gale Hawthorne be beaten in front of the public, she knows that she hates the Capitol. She knows she hates President Snow. Katniss sparked a revolution. President Snow takes it out on her by reaping her for the Quarter Quell, a special edition of the Hunger Games which occurs every 25 years. Victors have been reaped for this new Hunger Games. Before she steps into the arena, she watches Cinna, her stylist and friend be beaten to death by peacekeepers. The game is full of torture, taking away Mags, an old woman, who was Finnick Odair's (the incredibly handsome victor of the 65th annual Hunger Games ) mentor. In the middle of the Games, the arena is blown up, and Katniss, Beetee( a man tribute from District 3, who won a previous Hunger Games), and Finnick are rescued by a District 13 helicopter. The rest of the tributes are taken away by the Capitol.

In Mockingjay, there is a rebellion and Katniss is the face of it. She is known as the Mockingjay. She watches television from the Capitol. Peeta is beaten continuously. There is a war. Other tributes are tortured. District 12 has been blown up. Peeta has been whitewashed. District 8 is blown up. A hospital of injured and sick people, including children is set on fire. A portion of District 13 is killed. Finnick is dead. Some soldiers from District 13 are dead. There is no sign off Effie Trinket, her escort. But the worst thing happens. Prim, Katniss's sister, who she loves more than anyone else, is sent by President Coin to the Capitol, where soldiers are shooting each other, and bombing everything. Prim is sent to nurse children, when she herself is 13. Katniss watches Prim in a crowd of Capitol children. She also watches President Snow bomb the pool of children, and kill Prim. Katniss's heart just broke and shattered, and died. All of her loved ones were slipping out of her fingertips. No. They were being forced away.

Another bomb forces the Capitol to surrender. President Snow is taken away by District 13. We are now back to the scene where Katniss has to shoot him to death. But Katniss doesn't. She shoots President Coin, the leader of the rebellion. President Snow may have destroyed her life, her district, her home, Rue, Thresh, tributes, Finnick, Mags, Wiress, Boggs, soldiers, Cinna, Portia, children, the injured, the sick, Bonnie, Twill, beaten Gale, beaten Peeta, tortured Peeta, whitewashed Peeta, but it would never be anything compared to what President Coin did. President Coin sent her little sister, Primrose everdeen, the only she was sure she loved, to her death. That is why she shot President Coin.

Civil War Ghosts

So I just finished a book about Civil War Ghosts, which is literally the title of the book. I mean, I don't believe in ghosts, but I read books like this to see how history and noises mess with us. In the book, I read about people who saw a ghost wagon with injured men, dressed in mid-19th century clothes. There were a few witnesses. They claimed that they moaning from the wagon. Wow.

I read about the Luminous Lady whose ghost is supposed haunt a fort in Virginia. Her story is a love story. The woman's name was Camille, and her husband was Captain Kirtz. Kirtz was abusive to his wife. He yelled at her, and beat her. Looking for love, she met a young officer named Peter. Kirtz suspected other men in the town to have stolen his wife from him, but not Kirtz. Camille and Peter couldn't be together unless Kirtz left. They got the oppurtun ity when Kirtz was assigned a job, and he left.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

The dead woman gets her finger cut off by a poor man. He brings the finger home to cook it. He eats it for dinner. He goes to bed, but he hears a noise. It's a hoarse voice, coming closer and closer, saying, "WHERE IS MY FINGER?"  Everything in his room clatters and clutters. They clink and clank. The voice comes closer and now the man hears footsteps. "WHERE IS MY FINGER?" Suddenly the locked door flies open and the corpse of woman enters. She points at the man. "YOU HAVE IT!" 

The book includes tales like these. But not all of them are similar to the corpse-coming-back theme. Some of them are about hitchhikers who are actually ghosts. They come back for a date and the go home by hitchhiking with their date. Their date forget something from them, and go back, only to find the person dead.  And speaking of dates, there are stories of ones that have gone horribly wrong. One may have a hook. A bloody hook. There are different types of tales. 

Do you believe in them? That's up to you. I'm more logical. These stories might have been made up to teach children a lesson. Or they have been made up for entertainment. Some people might believe in them. But people can be scared very easily. During a storm, winds blow so fast, they sound ghostly. Storms make trees move, which might cause branches to knock on your window. So to the ones who are easily scared, it might sound like a ghost is walking around in your house and calling you. Maybe this is why a typical scary story is set to take place during a storm.

There's A boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Bradley is troubled and he sees a social worker in school. Then he makes a friend, but his friend accidentally goes in the girls' bathroom, when his friends sees the couinseler. After that, Bradley does that too, by mistake. Bradley has a bad reputation, but his social worker helps him travel to the good side.

Frankenstein...P2

So I'm starting to understand what's going on in the story. I compared it from my script. Victor is actually telling us his experiences and thoughts in the book, rather than dialogue. So, In the book, Victor's mother has died, and his fiancee, Elizabeth is on the verge of dying.

Obsessed with life and death, Victor goes grave digging. Then he goes home, falls asleep, and has a nightmare. It was about him kissing Elizabeth, and then seeing her features change. At last, he's left with the corpse of his dead mother in his arms.I can imagine what he's saying, and it looks so dark, and ominous.

The next night, there's a lightning storm. Victor, his adopted brother and best friend, Henry Clerval, and his few manservants set up the corpse in a laboratory. Then they create a monster. Victor immediately hates his creation, because it's hideous.

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

I'm reading Frankenstein cause I kind of have to. The  book is boring, because I have no idea on whats going on. All I'm reading is about Victor Frankenstein telling us about his obsession on life and death. I'm understanding more about Frankenstein from my script. I would NOT  read Frankenstein on my own, but my drama teacher told us to read it, so I'm seeing this as an assignment. I can't read it in class because phones aren't aloud. So I can only use iBooks on the train, or at home.

So, on to my review. I have not finished reading this, but what I account has happened is that Victor is crazy. He's a mad scientist! His father and mother adopts his future wife, Elizabeth Lavenza. Then they adopt Henry Clerval, to be his best friend, and have Clerval tutored. After that, they adopt Justine Moritz, to be a nanny, and Ernest. The Frankensteins have another son around the age of eight, named William. 

In the story, Victor is upsetting his college master, M. Krempe, meanwhile his mother, Caroline, and Elizabeth, are dying of Scarlet Fever. I still have to read more. It's kind of like slow reading on an iPhone, so yeah, it might take me another week or two finish this book.

Always Running... Finished!!!!

Always Running is the autobiography of a man named Luis Rodriguez. In the book, Luis tells us his story of life inside a gang. He talks about his experience with guns, violence, drugs, alcohol, murders, deaths, and suicide attempts. Luis grows up as a Mexican in the racism era. I think he was motivated to do all these after seeing his older brother get beat up.

Luis was only six, as he got picked up by white teenager and was forced to watch his nine year-old brother get stepped on, thrown, punched, and kicked. I think that in some way, he wanted to get revenge for this. So he became a gang member.

He ended his criminal teenage life by realizing what pain he caused to man. The man struggling to survive, just because of Luis.

Luis's son, Ramiro, inherited life as a gangster, and is now serving time in prison. Luis wrote his book and dedicated it to his son.

The advice he gives at the end is to stop running. And to get out there become a good person.

Catching Fire... Putting Them in an Arena... Let Them Extinguish Each Other

This is the blog post I have never gotten around doing. I read Catching Fire LAST YEAR... and now I'm writing about it THIS year... the new year... I almost forgot... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! I'm writing about Catching Fire in 2013... the year the movie is coming out!!!!!!! (November 22nd 2013) But, of course, the wait will take 11 months. The movie is still being made. This post is going to be a review, and what I think Catching Fire means.

In the story, Katniss and Peeta are both the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games. For the next Hunger Games, or specially known as the Third Quarter Quell, the special feature will be... a Hunger Games full of victors. They will be reaped from the existing victors in each district, one male, and one female. And since Katniss is the only female victor, she's going back into the arena. Haymitch is reaped as the male tribute, but Peeta volunteers.

Katniss and Peeta start the game, and they form an alliance with other tributes. They figure out that the arena is in the shape of a clock, with each hour bringing new horror and torture. For example, muttations, acid rain, and screaming jabberjays.

One day, Katniss's alliance goes all around the arena, hooking up electrical wires, to blow up the borders of the arena. Well... the girls go. The boys stay back and work on survival and other things. When Katniss and the girls get back, the arena is exploding. Peeta is screaming for Katniss from far away, but Katniss gets annoyed. A District 13 hovercraft arrivess and takes her and a few other tributes away. Peeta is left behind, a captured by the Capitol.

In Catching Fire, nothing catches fire. So what could the title mean? It means Katniss truly knows what she wants at the end. She catches fire, the fire of the Capitol, and knows that she has to get her revenge and break free from their reign of terror and torture. Katniss, the girl on fire, has really caught fire.

Jerry Spinelli's Fourth Grade Rats

First grade babies, second grade cats, third grade angels, fourth grade rats! That’s how things happen in George( a.k.a Suds )’s school. Last year, in third grade, Suds was an angel. He loved being one too. But this year, he’s a rat. Suds wants to be an angel forever.

            Being a rat means being a troublemaker, according to Suds’ friend, Joey. Now, even as an angel, Joey was rotten. So it’s no kidding that Joey would be the first and worst rat. Suds doesn’t want to be bad. Suds sees Joey, changing himself drastically. Joey is dumping his neat room, eating a diet of meat, causing himself pain, and is giving himself tattoos.

            We’re all thinking, What? A nine year-old is giving himself tattoos? Well… it’s not permanent, but he’s committing himself into NOT bathing. Gross. Suds on the other hand always stays in the suds.

            One day, Joey lets a bee crawl on his arm. A school bully shakes his arm, and the bee stings Joey. So, during the entire day, Judy Billings, Suds’ crush, follows Joey around, touching him, and getting all mushy. Joey knows Suds likes her, so he tries to convince Judy to hang out with him. Judy thinks Joey means himself, not Suds, and gets more mushy.

            Joey then tells Suds to be dangerous, so girls will follow him around. So, the next few days, Suds becomes a horrible person. Then, he realizes that Judy is a jerk. And Joey changes. He lost his tattoos. Suds learns then, that it’s better to be yourself, and not to be the person everyone says you’re supposed to be.