The Curlew's Cry - J. Leslie Bell

Biography
Born in Nova Scotia, J. Leslie Bell moved to Alberta to pursue his dreams of being a short story writer.  He has won many short stories competitions and is recognized as a very successful author. Many of his stories have been featured in numerous anthologies.

Symbol

This is a curlew bird that the stories title is based about.

Response

More has been written about love, probably, more then any other topic. What does “The Curlew’s Cry” offer that makes what the author has to say on this topic fresh and interesting?

It offers a different perspective about love. It shows that someone can love someone else without having that someone else’s with them everyday. It shows that love can last as long as you work for it.

Does Mr. Sikirski of Sheila – or both of them – deserve sympathy? Explain your answer.

I think they do. It’s sad when you miss someone and there’s no way of them getting to you no matter how hard you try. In Sheila’s case it was a short period of time compared to Mr. Sikirski’s but still they both feel the same pain.

Critical Thinking

Why do you think the author wrote the text?
I think he wrote it because there are so many typical love stories out there that he thought it needed a different take on it.
What does the author want you to think?
That you don’t need to be with someone everyday to love them.
Do you belong to any of the groups in the text?
No, because I am not in love with anyone at the moment.
Does the story remind you of a real-life event (your own or others)?
Nothing to personal to me but my relatives I know have gone through out that at some point in there life.
Does the story remind you of another book or movie on a similar topic?
Yes, the notebook.
How does the story help you think about social issues and social justice?
This story not so much but I still got the moral of it.
What action might you take from what you have learned?
To love everyone around you and be nice to a certain degree because you never no when you’ll get to see them again.
What big question has this text left you with?
I wonder when Mr. Sikirski will get to see his family again and if when Sheila’s boyfriend will come to see her.

All The Troubles Of the World - Isaac Asimov

Biography

Isaac Asimov was born in 1920 and died in 1992. He was an American writer and professor at Boston University. He has written more then 500 books and has written most of them in the science fiction genre. He hasn’t just write novels, he also writes history books and is very involved in chemistry studies. He was a well known author and has made a great contribution to the English world.

Symbol

This picture represents Multivac. The smartest computer in the world.



Response
Why do Ali Othman and Rafe Leemy wait before they tell Bernard Gulliman the whole truth? Are their actions believable considering the seriousness of the crime? Explain.
Their actions are normal because I would be nervous too if I had to tell him that.  He eased into telling him rather then saying it right away so he could tell what his reaction might be.


Would you like to live in a society in which there was a computer such as Multivac? How might it help/hinder the progress of society? Discuss.
It would be really cool if Multivac was real, but it wouldn’t be logical. I don’t think society would be successful if we had zero crime because it’d just apart of life and considering so many peoples jobs depend on it.


What does the ending suggest about the ability of technology to bring about a perfect world? Do you agree? Explain your answer here.
The ending suggests that even the smartest technology wouldn’t be able to handle all that information. It takes people to bring upon a perfect world; no computer could do that on its own.


Critical Thinking
Why do you think the author wrote the text?
To expand people’s thinking about the world.


What does the author want you to think?
That maybe crime is an increasing problem and we should figure out a way to stop it soon.


Do you belong to any of the groups in the text?
No I don’t think so.


Does the story remind you of a real-life event (your own or others)?
No, because I’ve never heard of a computer that could predict things in real life. Besides the weather.


Does the story remind you of another book or movie on a similar topic?
The movie Knowing except in this film it’s apiece of paper with numbers that can predict the natural disasters that will occur around the world.


How does the story help you think about social issues and social justice?
It makes me think of all the crime and terrible things people do every day. People stealing and lying to people causing unnecessary trouble that could’ve been prevented.


 What action might you take from what you have learned?
To maybe look for ways to prevent crime in the future.


What big question has this text left you with?
Will one day computers be able to predict things?

Harrison Bergeron - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Biography

Kurt Vonnegut was an American writer who was one of the most influential of his time. He is best known for his dark (black) comedy and his science fiction writing styles. He’s written novels such as Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five which have been great successes all over the world. He also put much of his thoughts and beliefs “secretly” into his work. He later died from old age in 2007 at the age of 84.

Symbol

This picture symbolizes the ballerina who had to wear a mask in the story.  The mask made her look ugly and not as delicate like a ballerina should look. So, I thought this picture represented that well considering that this picture makes the little girl look sad and not as pretty.

Response

What parts of the story are most exaggerated? 
What do you this was the author’s purpose in using exaggeration so extensively.

The most exaggerated part of the story was the section where they described Harrison Bergeron. They used so exaggeration to prove a point which was to show how much Harrison was higher then everyone else and why they wanted to keep him hidden from the world. So he needed to be the most “handicapped”.

What do George’s and Hazel’s reactions at the end of the story reveal about the quality of life in their society.

It shows that in their world you’re not really embracing your life. You have so many boundaries put upon you that you can’t even live. George and his wife can’t even recall memories they had or what they were just talking about and how are you supposed to live without remembering your past?

a) What is the situational irony in this story? What would you expect a society to be like in which everyone is equal?

b) What point do you think the author is making through the irony?

a) The situational irony is that Harrison ends up over throwing the authority in the end after all the work they did to keep him as equal with the other people.

b) That you should stand up for what you think is right because you never know what might happen.

What are some other books/movies you know about planned utopias that turned out the be the opposite.

I know the movie Star Trek and Logan’s Run were utopian based movies.

Critical Thinking

Why do you think the author wrote the text?

It’s a unique way of showing how the world has natural inequalities that nobody can do anything about.

What does the author want you to think?
That you can’t make everyone equal without taking away from somebody else.

Do you belong to any of the groups in the text?
I don’t think so.

Does the story remind you of a real-life event (your own or others)?
No because this story could never take place in real life.

Does the story remind you of another book or movie on a similar topic?
Yes it reminds me of lots of movie but no any I could think of with this type of story line.

How does the story help you think about social issues and social justice?
It makes me think of all the injustices that are happening around the world. About how people are being ridiculed for just being themselves.

What action might you take from what you have learned?
That I should be more thankful to live in a free country and no take it for granted.

What big question has this text left you with?

It has left me wondering how this world would survive move on this way. And what it would be like if life was actually like this.