Symbolic Objects - Reading Focus Tracker

I'm very proud to say that I have been keeping up with my Reading Focus Tracker. Hopefully, I've included every symbolic object that I've come across so far. However, the significance of certain symbolic objects have changed throughout the first through eleven chapters. 


The first major symbolic object is the conch shell, of course. In the beginning, the conch held a great deal of power. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” (32).  The conch shell holds the unity and order of the civilization on the island as well as Ralph's authority over everyone. But the importance of the conch shell is broken in chapter 11 when it is shattered: “The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist." (181). 


Throughout the whole book, the significance of fire is deeply emphasized by Ralph because he is the only person who truly understands how vital in maintaining the fire is. It represents their hope of getting off the island and being rescued. When the fire burns down, it shows that their hope is also gone. But when the fire is burning, their hope is alive and they also will survive. “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Don’t you understand? Can’t you see we ought to die before we let the fire out?” (80).


The third major object is the Beast. The Beast has also been progressively developed throughout the book. The Beast continuously causes fear among the boys. “He says the beast comes out of the sea.” (88). The children are all scared of the Beast that they’ve been seeing in their nightmares. The Beast symbolizes the evil creature inside each individual. It interferes with everything that they do. Although the others visualize the Beast as an actual beast, Simon senses that the Beast may be inside of them: “However, Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick.” (103). We learn that Simon is accurate when we come across the Lord of the Flies who informs Simon of the truth. 

Book Log and Reading Details

The books I've read so far this semester: (from hardest to easiest)

1. In Defense of Food: an Eater's Manifesto

2. Nation

3. Crank, Ellen Hopkins

4. The Outsiders

5. Lord of the Flies

6. The Coldest Winter Ever, Sister Souljah

7. Purge Rehab Diaries, Nicole Johns

8. This is Our Faith, Michael Francis Pennock

Due to my hectic school schedule, I haven't been able to read as many books as I had aspired to. Even though every book I read was interesting, I wish I had more time to read on my own without feeling restricted because of my time limit. To be honest, I haven't learned anything about myself as a reader this semester. I do notice, though, that if I'm really fond of a book, I don't ever want to stop reading. However, my weaknesses include forgetting some characters that were introduced in the beginning, unexpectedly leave, and show up again. I don't really have a sharp memory, so that's one of my weak points. 

My main goal for the next semester is to read as much as I can, but also keep track of what types of books I read. I'll try to expand the types of books I read. I don't like reading nonfiction books at all, but I will try to find a nonfiction book that I will enjoy (even though that will be hard.) Also, I want to find some books that deal with other cultures and nationalities. I think other cultures are fascinating, but I can't find foreign books that seem interesting or makes sense to me.

Reading details: 

William Golding, Lord of the Flies

12/3: 120 min. (Chp. 6-7)

12/4: 60 min. (Chp. 8)

12/5: 120 min. (Chp. 9-10)

12/6: 60 min. (Chp. 11)

Reading Details

Kay West, 50 Things Every Young Lady Should Know
12/1: 60 min.
Pages: 1-101

William Golding, Lord of the Flies
12/3: 120 min.
Pages: 95-124 

Total time: 180 min.

Symbolic Objects

Well, I didn't start updating my reading focus tracker until after I finished chapter five. So I had to go back to all of the previous chapters to look for quotes to support my explanations. Sigh... I've learned my lesson. However, I could think of the different symbolic objects so far in the book at the top of my head. So it wasn't too bad. I'm glad I chose this topic, because I'm the type of person to over-analyze things which makes analyzing the specific symbols in the book fun and easy for me.

William Golding included pretty specific objects in the book so far. The conch shell definitely symbolizes the unity of the civilization as well as power to whomever holds the conch. Piggy's glasses, I think, symbolizes clarity and truth. Piggy's intellect shines through as he uses his glasses to recognize and understand things that the rest never considered. Piggy knew that nobody knew where they were and that they might not be rescued because the plane was shot down. The rest of the boys didn't know about that until Piggy said it. The final important symbol is the fire. Ralph emphasizes in chapter 5 how important the fire is to the civilization. Without it, they would die. I think it represents their hope of being rescued and getting off of the island. If the fire were to burn down, then their hope will also be gone. But if the fire stays burning, their hope is alive, and they too will survive. I think those are the most important symbolic objects so far (even though I have more on my tracker.)

Reading details:
William Golding, Lord of the Flies
11/12: 60 min., 11/13: 60 min., 11/14: 60 min., 11/22: 60 min.
Pages: 32-94 
Total time: 240 min.

Midterm

Wow, it's ridiculous to think that midterms are already creeping up. I'm honestly pretty scared for the English exam, after hearing how difficult it was from last year's freshmen. Hopefully it won't be hard, though! I think they just want to intimidate us freshmen, or they weren't fully prepared. But I will do my best to be completely ready for the midterm.

I pay attention in English class, and I think that definitely pays off. I don't think I'd have to do much studying. The only things I'm worrying about are the short stories and literary elements, because I didn't do so well on the test. The information is also hazy in my head, too. So that's definitely what I would work on first. I'm going to look back at all of my notes and the prezi online. Everything else, I think I already understand well. I hope to get an exam study guide much earlier than the actual exam, so I can see what's on it and how much into depth I should study for each topic.

Chapter 1 - LOTF

The first chapter of Lord of the Flies was a bit confusing to me. There are a few unclear questions lingering inside of my head: why the boys were on the plane in the first place, what is Piggy’s real name, what happened to Piggy’s parents, and what happened to the pilot? Since the plane cannot be found, did the pilot drop off the boys at the island and leave…? I also feel sympathetic for Piggy. The others mock him for his weight, and he is excluded from exploring the island with Simon, Jack, and Ralph. I think Piggy is jealous of Ralph, especially since he’s become the group’s leader even though he came up with the idea of blowing the conch. Also, after Jack’s attempt at killing the pig, it says in the context, “Next time there will be no mercy.” I’m not sure whether this is important or not, but I think it's foreshadowing some killing in the future.

Honestly, I thought the details of the scenery were tiresome and too repetitive. Although they were significant, I just wanted to find out what was going to happen next. I’m the type of reader who’d rather read more about the plot than the setting.  It aggravated me how there were so many descriptions about the setting. But the plot is really fascinating so far.

Reading details:

William Golding, Lord of the Flies

11/10/12 – 120 min.

120 min, pp. 7-31

Nicole Johns, Purge Rehab Diaries

11/5/12 – 10 min., 11/6/12 – 10 min., 11/7/12 – 10 min.

Total: 30 min. pp. 180-200

Overall total: 150 min.

Plane Crash Activity

The plane crash activity that our class participated in demonstrated how quickly we all can think of ideas. It also showed how efficient we were in working together and combining certain ideas. During the activity, I realized that the main topic our group was discussing about didn’t have to deal with the necessities of survival (fire, shelter, food). Instead, government was the prime issue in our discussion.

I think my group had fairly potential ideas about what we would all do on the island. The biggest strengths about my group, overall, were our ability to quickly formulate ideas and how well we could all agree on certain things. Emory was quick to bring up who would be in charge of what, which led us to our main topic. Our weaknesses were, in my opinion, we didn’t really think realistically. If I were on an island with my classmates, I would first check to see if there were people already inhabiting the area. Then I would see if there was a source of food or shelter. I’d start a fire and try to survive the night. I’m not saying that government is not realistic. I’m just stating that government is not realistic in terms of basic survival when you first arrive stranded on an island.

I think my group would survive based on our discussion in class. However, we would need to think about what is most important first than other less important things. I think we would remain alive. If we will work together efficiently on the island, we might have a chance of survival. 

What is Beauty? Free Post

Although this is a controversial topic, I feel like I have a need to express my opinions on it. 
Why are we all obsessed with beauty? I guess being "beautiful" signifies power. When a man comes across two women, one better looking than the other (in his eyes), he is more likely to start a conversation with the better looking woman. Big corporations in the cosmetic and modeling industry also have a huge influence on our society. In my opinion, they try to make people feel ugly and worthless to trick them into purchasing their cosmetic items or clothing. They slowly inject low self esteem into people, especially young girls, from their "beautiful" photoshopped models on television or magazines. Low self worth stem off of these pressures of perfection. More and more people now low self-esteem, eating disorders, an obsession of perfection, etc. The business industry wants this. They want more and more people to buy products thinking that they'll be considered "beautiful" from a product. And the sad thing is, so far, the amount of people being sucked in are increasing. 

Beauty cannot be defined. The definition of beauty varies from person to person. I have to point out that different cultures in different countries have different perspectives. The majority of Vietnamese people I know look similarly the same. Black hair, pale skin, small eyes, big nose, skinny body. I've grown up with my relatives looking at well rounded body figures, tall height, big eyes, fair pale skin, thinking that those features truly define a good looking woman. My mother scolds me for being too tan, too short, and too skinny. I've noticed, however, most Americans have one common view on beauty: if you're skinny, you are automatically beautiful. And I have to say that this is the most pathetic example. Skinny models may look good with modeling clothes on the screen or in pictures. But look at the people we see out the door each day. They aren't as skinny as models, but in my opinion, they truly look better and healthier. Being healthy is golden. Having a healthy mind and body is when I can consider someone beautiful. I have much much more to say, but I'm done for this post for now.

Reading Response, Purge Rehab Diaries

This week, I went back to reading Purge Rehab Diaries. I had stopped reading it last week, because I felt as if the topic was too depressing. The book revolves around eating disorders with the two main characters being impacted by a certain eating disorder. I was interested in reading it, initially, because I occasionally encounter conversations about eating disorders but am not informed about it much. I went back to it since I I didn't really have another book to read. But so far, it has been a fascinating book. The author drags me into the book as she guides me through the lives of people who have been affected by anorexia and bulimia.

            I used to think that anorexia was just a term for a disease where people refused to eat anything. I didn’t even know what bulimia was. As I read the book, I realized how off I was about anorexia. There are different types of anorexic people, some being anorexic as well as bulimic. I never really thought much about all of the health issues that evolve from eating disorders. The only problem I knew about was an early death. Reading each page, my mind processed over how little they eat and about their messed up eating schedules/cycles. I was amazed reading each page. It's a shame how weight is such an obsession to people with eating disorders. I learned about binging and purging, where people eat heavily in a very short amount of time and throw it all up afterwards. I feel terrible inside of me as I read through these diaries. My eyes have opened to a whole other level of perfectionism and how serious the media plays a role on our society. The media persuades our society into thinking: Skinny is the new pretty, and fat is ugly.

Nicole Johns, Purge Rehab Diaries

10/31 - 15 min., 11/1 - 15 min., 11/2 - 60 min. 11/3 - 60 min.

Total: 150 min. pages 129-180