The Man With Two Faces

   "Harry felt as if Devil's Snare was rooting him to the spot. He couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.
    Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring  red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake."


Here is where Harry meets his rival of all time, Lord Voldemort. He stood while his rival, ghostly evil, seethed in front of the young boy. He didn't make a sound, or move a muscle. This part is emotionally moving, because it stops one from seeing this young boy, but instead, the reader sees someone of a much older age, fighting off this evil omen. He just stood there while that evil, man of hate, watched him slowly grow into a young man of strength. I wonder if he knew that one day it'd be just him and the boy. He stood there while his thoughts, all jumbled, swam around in his head.

The Sorcerer's Stone

    A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley. . . . He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter-the boy who lived!'



I really enjoy this ending to the first chapter, because it leaves a sense of mystery and curiosity. I used to read a series, a very boring collection, that never left mystery behind. J.K. Rowling, however, implanted that mystery into her books, by creating a very interesting, sad story. Who doesn't love to read those genres? I, who love to read mystery, was hooked instantly and turned the pages fast enough to get paper cuts. I couldn't put the books down, and due to that, I've read the series at least five times. One knows a good series, if one can't put it down.

Stay Beautiful

"Corey's eyes are like the jungle, he smiles, it's like the radio. He whispers songs into my window, in words nobody knows. There's pretty girls on every corner that watch him as he's walking home saying, "Does he know?" Will you ever know? You're beautiful, every little piece love, don't you know? You're really gonna be someone, ask anyone. When you find everything you look for, I hope your life leads you back to my door. Oh but if it don't, stay beautiful."


I don't really care for Taylor Swift's music, but this song introduces the listener to a character that is never described in detail. The listener learns that the guy, Corey, is a unique young man, due to the words, "He whispers songs into my window, in words nobody knows. "So, does he speak a different language, or is he just very familiar with vocabulary? "There's pretty girls on every corner that watch him as he's walking home," so this Corey guy, is left to be viewed as good with words and good looking. This leaves a big open window to a number of possibilities the listener is left to ponder. It left me wondering, was this character really all that she depicts him to be, or was he just the opposite?

The Tale of the Three Brothers

"And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility. Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts. in due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination."


I enjoyed this tale, because I find it interesting how much imagination the author, J.K, Rowling has. Laying in bed reading this, I just couldn't put this book down. It catches my interest, because one, it's by J.K, Rolwing, but also because, I find stories like this one, interesting. My mom, grimacing at this story when it was told in the last Harry Potter film, did not find it interesting. I don't know why it strikes ME as interesting, but I believe that's just how it goes sometimes.

The Gods

"Very important but assigned to no abode whether in heaven or on earth were The Fates, Moirae in Greek, Parcae in Latin, who, Hesiod says, give to men at birth evil and good to have. They were three, Clotho, the Spinner, who spun the thread of life; Lachesis, the Disposer of Lots, who assigned to each man his destiny; Atropos, she who could not be turned, who carried "the abhorred shears" and cut the thread at death."


This paragraph stuck out to me, because I remembered the Hercules movie that included The Fates. In my mind, they seemed a lot more frightening in the movie than they actually were. The movie, Hercules, was inaccurate, but good in the sense it told some of Greek mythology the correct way. The Fates in the movie each shared one eye, so in my mind, the writers of this film mixed The Fates with The Graiae, because those are the women that shared the one eye, not The Fates. I think that the movie was more interesting this way, but I also wonder why the writers didn't just write the mythology the correct way. The Graiae, the one eye sharing sisters, I think were just a group of sisters that writers of Hercules just wanted something to join The Fates with. Weird, but at the same time, interesting. 

Machu Picchu

"Remove that temporary thirty-foot wooden plank link and the site of Machu Picchu is protected by its isolation. The upper gate to the city is in a formidable wall where, again deliberately, one views Huayna Picchu's sheer peak framed in the doorway above the site. This all adds to its magnetic appeal and enhances the mystique surrounding its status as a "lost" city. What seems more and more likely is that Machu Picchu was probably designed to be remote and difficult to find. Machu Picchu is an example of the greatest Inca stone working genius."


I find this book titled "Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History", interesting, but I find this section on Machu Picchu, much more intriguing. The Incas, the "stone working genius", were a brilliant people. In my opnion, the Incas built Mach Picchu TO keep it hidden, because during that time Spanish conquistadors were invading and looking for gold and settlements. The Incas were smart in their building too, because the location itself is hard to find, being it's on top of a mountain hidden by trees, brush, and protected by nature's creatures. It amazes me to think that before all of us, the generation now, a group of people were so smart and so creative enough to leave a place so beautiful behind, unknowingly. I doubt they imagined it would ever be found by anyone ever again. Machu picchu, which was built in secret, is indeed one of the ten greatest discoveries. 

How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

"A moment occurs in this exchange between professor and student when each of us adopts a look. My look says, "What, you don't get it?" Theirs says, "We don't get it. And we think you're making it up." We're having a communication problem. Basically, we've all read the same story, but we haven't used the same analytical apparatus. If you've ever spent time in a literature classroom as a student or a professor, you know this moment. It may seem at times as if the professor is either inventing interpretations out of thin air or else performing parlor tricks, a sort of analytical sleight of hand."


When I read this paragraph included in the introduction, I immediately realized that I had a huge smile on my face spread from ear to ear. I started ACE Charter in the middle of my freshmen year, and it was a very hard adjustment starting there coming out of public school, especially in regards to language arts. I've always loved reading and writing, but ACE was and still is, a step further than me. I remember being very frustrated with the language arts class, because I didn't "get it', and did think my teacher was "making it up".  I eventually started to gradually get the pattern of the class, and I must say, it's because of my teacher.
Many do not care for teachers, but mine, is great! Of course she is on a different level of understanding, but she's supposed to be. When the author mentioned the interpretations part, I laughed, because my class is always discussing interpretations and their meanings. Even today I think, "How on earth did Mrs. Z, come up with that?" I think this situation for students is a worldwide problem, but a humorous one.

A Separate Peace

"No, I don't know how to show you, how can I show you, Finny? Tell me how to show you. It was just some ignorance inside me, some crazy thing inside me something blind, that's al it was. "
He was nodding his head, his jaw tightening and his eyes closed on the tears. "I believe you. It's okay because I understand and I believe you. You've already shown me and I believe you."


I cried here, because not many people would be so forgiving and understanding to someone like Gene, who basically ruined Finny's life. Many people lose faith in situations like theirs, but both of them didn't. A very special woman who was close to my family, died of cancer, and yet, her husband is remaining strong and faithful to God, though he just lost his wife. This, to me, is a sure example of true friendship and love.

A Separate Peace

"The Devon faculty had never before experienced a student who combined a calm ignorance of the rules with a winning urge to be good, who seemed to love the school truly and deeply, and never more than when he was breaking the regulations, a model boy who was most comfortable in the truant's corner. The faculty threw up its hands over Phineas, and so loosened its grip on all of us."


I found this paragraph humorous, because Gene, in my opinion, is making fun of the fact that the school faculty believes every word Finny says when he's in trouble, and making up excuses as to why he is always late or breaking other school rules. It seems like he is mocking adult authority, by implying the adults are naive as well as gullible. He then puts Finny up on a pedestal by admiring the skill he has of getting himself and the other boys out of trouble. I can't tell if this admiration Gene has is sarcastic or genuine, but my hunch is that it's a secret sarcastic admiration, but at the same time a genuine one.

A Separate Peace

"You were very good," said Finny good-humoredly, "once I shamed you into it."
"You didn't shame anybody into anything."
"Oh yes I did. I'm good for you that way. You have a tendency to back away from things otherwise."
"I never backed away from anything in my life!" I cried, my indignation at this charge naturally stronger because it was so true.


I like this part of the book, because this type of argument is familiar between teenage boys. When Finny makes the comment about Gene being shamed by him, it makes Gene sound cowardly and easily influenced. Most boys will do that to one another to look superior and earn the approval and admiration from others around. In Gene's case however, one can tell that he has no admiration and approval for finny, because Finny basically just insulted him. In my opinion, males are humorous in this fashion, because when studied, people around can tell that one is putting on a show, and quietly fighting to become the alpha dog.

The Great Gatsby

"She'll be all right to-morrow," he said presently. "I'm just going to wait here and see if he tries to bother her about that unpleasantness this afternoon. She's locked herself into her room, and if he tries any brutality she's going to turn the light out and on again."
"He won't touch her," I said. "He's not thinking about her."


When Nick said this to Gatsby, I was like, "What the heck?!" Daisy just killed someone, and yet Tom won't comfort her? Granted, the woman Daisy killed was Tom's mistress, but still! Tom shouldn't have been cheating on Daisy in the first place, because the death wouldn't have had any significance, except for the fact that daisy had killed someone. Tom should be thinking about Daisy, because she's probably freaking out. I know that if I had accidently just killed someone, I'd want to be comforted. Tom should get over the fact that his mistress is dead, because Daisy is his WIFE and needs him.

The Ransom of Red Chief

"I jumped up to see what the mater was. Red Chief was sitting on Bill's chest, with one hand twined in Bill's hair. In the other he had the sharp case-knife we used for slicing bacon; and he was industriously and realistically trying to take Bill's scalp, according to the sentence that had been pronounced upon him the evening before."


I thought this part of the short story was hilarious because there are the two kidnappers, and then this cute little boy, who turns out to be more trouble than he's worth. They think that by kidnapping him, they'll get a lot of ransom money, but the whole time they have him, they both have to watch their backs because the boy Johnny thinks he's a Indian. When Bill wakes up with Johnny on top of him trying to take his scalp, is when Sam realizes that they made a mistake in kidnapping someone so young and adventurous. Their plan blows up in their faces, and they are so paranoid that they return the boy for cheap ransom. To me this is just so funny, because I can see this happening in my mind, and the show is quite amusing.

The Red Badge of Courage

"His fingers were twined nervously about his rifle. He wished that it was an engine of annihilating power. He felt that he and his companions were being taunted and derided from sincere convictions that they were poor and puny. His knowledge of his inability to take vengeance for it made his rage into a dark and stormy specter. that possessed him and made him dream of abominable cruelties. The tormentors were flies sucking innocently at his blood, and he thought that he would have given his life for a revenge of seeing their faces in pitiful plights."



This part of the book really makes me feel his pain, because he wants the war to be over, and he's so scared of what;s going to happen. I'd feel the same way, and I know I'd want revenge on my enemies for causing me so much fear and pain. What he doesn't realize though, is that the men fighting on South, want the war to be over as well.

Catching Fire

"I was completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours I'd spent with Gale -watching talk and laugh and frown - that I would know all there was to know about his lips. but I hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed against my own. Or how those hands, which could set the most intricate of snares, could as easily entrap me. I think I made some sort of noise in the back of my throat , and I vaguely remember my fingers, curled tightly closed, resting on his chest. Then he let go and said, 'I had to do that. At least once.' And he was gone."



She was definitely unqualified to make the shot. Most people believed her to be, because of all the "hours of practice" she'd had, but I knew, she'd fail. I'd imagined that maybe, she'd feel motivated. Or maybe maybe even proud to be on such a great team. I think her face gave a sort of scared and anxious look, and I remember her messing with her braids out of fear. The referee blew the whistle and said, "game on." She kicked the ball straight for the goalie, and I knew that it was no good.

"Were in not for a web-footed rodent and a haberdashery fad in eighteenth-century Europe, Minnesota might be a Canadian province today. The beaver, almost as much as the horse, helped shape the course of early American history. Some Mayflower colonists paid their passage with beaver pelts; and a good fur could bring an Indian three steel knives or a five-foot stack could bring a musket. But even more influential were the trappers and fur traders penetrating the great Northern wilderness between the Mississippi River and the Rocky mountains, since it was their presence that helped hold the Near West against British expansion from the North; and it was their explorations that opened the heart of the nation to white settlement. These men, by making pelts the currency of the wilds, laid the base for a new economy that quickly overwhelmed the old. And all because European men of mode simply had to wear a beaver hat."


About five years ago, before the housing market was really bad, my parents decided to sell our house in North Bend, because we were in debt over our heads. We had been trying for quite awhile, but just when all hope had seemed lost, a couple from California with one daughter, had left us with the impression they'd liked it. A few months later, they bought it. All was good, and we were happy. We were happy until my step dad's boss decided to move him up to work in Eugene because the company up there was needing great help. He was gone for nights on end sometimes because we couldn't spend a lot of money on gas all the time. My mom and dad later discussed about us just moving up there. We moved. We moved away from all our family and friends. We hardly see them, and I hardly see my best friend anymore. if we hadn't have moved, I'd still have my best friend.