The Tell-Tale Heart

This short movie was my favorite because it explains the story very well. Although I didn't like the animation that much, I thought the story was quite good. Another think that I liked was the way the narrator expressed what he was saying in a way that made me feel like he was telling the story to me. Even though I didn't like the animation that much , some parts were animated in a very funky way. Another thing I didn't like, was that it was too long, and slow, and after a while you lose focus.

This short movie, was not as good as the first one, because it was too short, and didn't really explain the story that well. I think that the animation in this clip was better than the animation in the first clip, because it used more color, and it moved, unlike the first clip where the pictures flashed. Even though I didn't like this clip too much, it is better than the next one. Also, this short movie kind of reminds me of a preview for a Disney movie, because it's short and only shows clips.

This 30 second clip was just stupid. But, it was also funny. The puppet talks to fast, and you can't really understand him, but he says the whole story in 2 sentences, and its was easier to understand when you watch it at least 2 times, but I have to admit, it was really funny. It would have been more interesting if there was more than one puppet, but I guess that only using one was what made it funny. So, out of all three videos, the first one was my favorite, and if I had to chose one that would help a reader understand the story best, I would definitely chose the first one.

Truman VS Jonas

Have you ever read a book and then watched a movie, and you realized that the plot was similar? Well, in English class, we read a book called The Giver. Once we were done with the book, we watched a movie called The Truman Show. The plots in the book and the movie were very similar. In this topic, we will be talking about the emotions, the clues, and their desire to leave.

 

       Truman, from The Truman Show, lived a superstar life. Everyone knew him, everyone loved him, and everyone watched him. Truman grew up thinking that he lived a normal life. But, the truth was that everyone around him was acting. He had a fake job, a fake mother, and a fake father who supposedly died. What he doesn’t know is that he is actually living in a controlled studio set. For example, the water in the sea is fake, the weather is fake, the houses aren’t real, and everyone but him knows this. Everywhere Truman goes, there is at least one camera following him very discretely. Truman does receive clues while he is living in the studio. One day, while he was walking to work, something fell from the sky, and it turned out to be a light from the top of the studio. Unlike Jonas’ community, Truman’s community has cars. One day, when Truman is starting to realize that he is living in a fake world, he went into a building, and through an elevator, he saw a part of the studio, that was a clue that the world he lived in was fake. Another clue was when he was at the beach and it started to rain only on him, and wherever he moved, the patch of rain followed him. Truman really wants to leave the community he is living in to go to Fiji to meet the girl that he fell in love with when he was in college, but the actors are persuading him to stay. One fear that he has to go against is his fear of water. (When he was young, his dad died in the water so he doesn’t dare to go across a sea or a river). When Truman finally realizes that he is being watched, he goes across the sea and then randomly bumps into a wall that has the sky painted on it. He then climbs up stairs and leaves the studio set.

 

       Unlike Truman’s world, Jonas’ world is completely controlled. Everyone looks the same, wears he same things, eats the same food, and everyone is assigned for a job at the age of 12. Jonas starts realizing that his world is being controlled at the age of 12, hen he is assigned the job of Receiver of Memory. The elders in Jonas’ community control everything, like who everybody marries, which kids they should get, and what job they should be assigned to. In Jonas’ community, no one has a car, they all ride bikes everywhere they go. When someone wants to leave the community, they need o be released, meaning that they get an injection that kills them. When Jonas saw his dad kill a newborn baby, he needed to escape immediately. So, The Giver and Jonas panned to escape the community by bike, one day during the night. Jonas decided to take Gabe, the newborn baby with him, because he heard that his dad was going to kill him too. Jonas’ escape plan was successful, and they left the community to seek for a place called Elsewhere.

 

       Comparing characters is quite easy because most of the time, they are similar. Jonas and Truman were very easy to compare because they both went through the same things. Although the two plots were the same, I preferred watching The Truman Show, because it was more interesting.

 

       

 

       

The Giver Essay Questions

1) Compare the relationship Jonas has with the Giver to the relationship he has with his mother, father, and sister.

Jonas has a very different relationship with his family than the one he has with the Giver. Jonas can tell the Giver anything like all the feelings he has. But, Jonas doesn't tell his parents anything because they don't know what he knows. He has a normal relationship with his sister, but he doesn't fight with her. He also never tells her anything either. I find it kind of weird that Jonas won't tell his parents anything because it's just not normal. What I find good, is that Jonas can ask the Giver questions and that the Giver can go through pain and love with Jonas. Jonas can also show emotion to the Giver, unlike when he goes home and hides everything. 

2) Explain why feelings and stirrings have been eliminated from Jonas' community. 

Feelings and memories have been eliminated from Jonas' community for a few reasons.

Feelings, or stirrings, have been eliminated because people in the community aren't allowed to chose who they fall in love with, or get married to, or have a baby with. The community organizes this for them. Also, people in the community can't have babies, because that's what birth mothers are for. So, if people have feelings, they might fall in love and make a baby. Memories are eliminated because the community is supposed to be perfect. This means that no one is supposed to know anything about the past, so they can't have books about the past or information about the past. If anyone ever knew about the past or the real world, then the community would be complete chaos.

3) Discuss similarities between our society and the society in your novel.

There are many similarities from our community and from Jonas' community. For example, our community and Jonas' community both have families, although ours are real because our parents chose to make a family, and who they want to have one with. In Jonas' community, the committee chooses it for them, so technically, they aren't real. They also have a government run by elders, like us. In our society, we have plenty of Home For the Old, and, so do they. We have many, many, many memories in our society, but even though they don't, they have a Receiver of Memory, which is someone who receives all the memories of the past. Many children in Jonas' community do volunteer hours, and just like them, we do charity work for a good cause. The most important similarity is that both societies have schools, which is very important for everyone. Like every kid, we have bikes, just like them.  And, last but not least, both societies have rules and laws, which is very normal. 

Scary Setting...OoOoOo

My setting would be:

A dark alley

A dark beach that is abandoned

A basement in the night

A tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere

An abandoned house

My sound/visual effects would be:

Drops of water

Squeaks coming from rats or mice

Fog

Footsteps that you would hear approaching

Cracking noises

Freaky looking shadows

Scary "KEEP OUT" signs

Homework

If I were to write a scary story or to direct a horror movie, i would chose to direct a horror movie. My setting would be creepy. Maybe an alley, a dark one, with spooky noises and freaky shadows. There would be one tiny light that would show you shadows of mice, or people. The perfect effect would be fog, so you cam barely see far from you. Sound effects would include squeaks coming from he mice, and maybe drops of water falling in puddles. I can probably think of way more, but i need to be in the mood to think of scary things. 

Respond to Prediction

In 2155, we'll have no more printed books.

I agree with this prediction because in the future, all books will be replaced with electronic things. For example, instead of carrying a book around, people will be carrying a little device that might open up into a thing that looks like a book, but its all electronic. Sure, people will still keep books that they had from their past, but they'll still use technology. I think that technology will take over our world. Life would be cool in this kind of situation. People would no longer need to carry around heavy books on planes or in bags, they will just need to carry around small devices. I totally agree with this prediction.

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My Favorite Character

The character I am going to focus on is the main character in my book. Her name is Jessie Lou. She is the kind of girl who sits alone during lunch and hangs out with the un-popular boys. She is what you would call a Southern tomboy. Jessie Lou has an enormous crush on Conrad Parker-Smith, the soccer star of the class. Jessie Lou is shy, helpful, and courageous at the same time. For example, when she is around people, she never talks and she never really socializes, but she would help anyone who needs help, even if he/she is the meanest person in her class, and another example of her being courageous is when she is the one who volunteers to investigate an abandoned house in the woods, when 2 of her guy friends are really scared. She doesn’t have many friends, but by the middle of the book, she grew closer and closer with Conrad and one of his geeky friends Quentin. Jessie Lou doesn’t fit in because she isn’t a rich, posh girl, who thinks that breaking a nail would be the end of the world. She is someone who doesn’t care what other people think about her, and she has no interest in girly stuff at all, for example, she goes to school wearing dirty clothes that don't match, and doesn't care if she is made fun of.