Kate Silverman

[toastgod500]

Reading The Work 4

At the moment, my book is telling me an anecdote of Dr. Andrew, one of the main founders of the island Pala, and also a practitioner of animal magnetism.  In this anecdote, Dr. Andrew’s medical services are requested to remove a tumor from the Raja’s face.  Huxley sets up the anecdote by explaining that with any usual, non metaphysical methods, this tumor would be impossible to remove.  However, once Dr. Andrew puts his patient under a trance using “animal magnetism,” Dr. Andrew is able to perform the surgery and save the Raja’s life with ease.

Reading this I was very skeptical and confused, since I’ve never heard of animal magnetism in my life.  Surely if this method was as powerful as Dr. Andrew claimed it to be, I would’ve heard of it in my lifetime.  So I looked it up, to find Wikipedia defining animal magnetism as, “ also known as mesmerism, was the name given by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century to what he believed to be an invisible natural force (Lebensmagnetismus) possessed by all living things, including humans, animals, and vegetables.“  My first reaction was what the hell is this shit, this man Huxley is clearly insane.   Why would he spend ten pages talking about some mystical practice?  What is his motivation to insert this passage on animal magnetism with such an elaborate buildup?

I feel like to an extent, many of the practices, tenants, and characteristics of the ideal Palanese society, are implemented in the book because Huxley is an advocate of these methods himself.  On a broad level, the society implements a systematic distribution of psychedelics.  One instance of this is seen In the book, where Dr. Roberts explains a tradition in Pala as, “’An ordeal which is the first stage of their initiation out of childhood into adolescence.  An ordeal that helps them to understand the world they’ll have to live in, helps them to realize the omnipresence of the death, the essential precariousness of all existence.  But after the ordeal comes the revelation.  In a few minutes these boys and girls will be given their first experience of the moshka-medicine.  They’ll all take it together, and there’ll be a religious ceremony in the temple.”

[katesilverman-blog]

Nathan, 

I’m not going to lie to you, this book sounds awful. Just reading your posts makes me so confused. I am sorry that you have to read an entire book lie this. However, I am glad to see that you are taking the time to actually research the materials in your book that you don’t understand, rather that just skipping over and ignoring it. 

As much as all of this is confusing, I find the material that you have explained in these posts very interesting. I don’t know very much on these theories and practices and it is cool to see how much there is in the world that I don’t even know about. I hope that you continue coming to a full understanding of all the allusions and other confusing material in your book. 

[toastgod500]

Reading the Work 3

Recently my motivation to read my book has been a bit drained, and I haven’t posted in a few weeks.

I could make excuses like the book isn’t exactly JUICY yet.  If it was JUICY I feel like I would be more ready to sit down with the book and grind it out.  But I feel like I’ve been drudging through the past chapter that seems to go on about the “Southeast Asia Petroleum” and “royal initiates.”  

Also, something that is difficult is the book’s constant use of allusions, which are understandably difficult to understand, since they are allusions from 1962.  A lot of these allusions are Huxley using famous deceased people’s names as adjectives, such as “Baudelaire” and “Voltairean.”  The thing is, these are used in an obscure context that would make no sense to the person who doesn’t know who these people are.  For instance, Huxley writes, “and the bony, emphatic mask of Savonarola positively twinkled with his Voltairean smile.”  How the hell would I know what a Voltairean smile is unless I had the internet to look it up!?  Even with the internet, I can’t really find what a Voltairean smile even means.  What did Huxley expect people to do in the 1960′s reading his book who couldn’t even begin to conceive of a “Voltairean smile”?  I feel like to an extent maybe his audience is people who will readily understand these allusions.

Some other allusions include, “Antinous,” “Manichean,” and a lot of “Savonarola.”

These allusions aren’t terrible, it’s just that it takes extra effort to understand, so I can’t really just sit down with the book and get on a roll with reading it.  I end up having to read it with the internet at my side, so I can look up some arcane word or reference that Huxley uses.  I’m going to continue on with the book, but I’m aware now that it might take some extra effort to understand.

[katesilverman-blog]

Mr. Reichenbach, 

After reading your original “Choosing the Work” post, I was afraid that you were going to run into this issue. I remember reading Brave New World a few years ago and I hated the way Huxley wrote because I found it very unnecessarily confusing. However, it shows some great determination that you are choosing to stick with this book, and I hope that it becomes at least a little more bearable. 

In regards to Huxley’s allusions, I have a few thoughts. I did a little research on his education and found that we went to Oxford University in Balliol College. Knowing this, it shows me that Huxley is a well-educated and studious man. Attending such a prestigious university, Huxley clearly assumes that the audience is just as educated as himself. I can see how this must be frustrating to read, but, like you said in a previous post, it is an important fact to know about Huxley when understanding his themes, motives, etc. 

The best advice I can give you moving forward is to dedicate a page in your writers notebook to make a list of all the allusions Huxley makes and write down the different page numbers you see these allusions. Maybe after every 10 or so pages you can go to the internet and research the allusions in chunks, rather than every time you see one. It might make it a little easier to get in a rhythm while reading.  

[toastgod500]

Reading the Work 2

When describing the main character, Will Farnaby, Susilia McPhail reflects that he has, “’The physique of a Messiah.  But too clever to believe in God or be convinced of his own mission’” (Huxley 28). Reading this made me curious of what Huxley’s own views on religion were, so I began to look it up.  

I found that, in Brave New World, Huxley satirizes the “feel good” religions that involve dancing and tambourine smacking and singing.  While he has explored man’s disillusionment with organized religion in Brave New World, he still could be appropriately labeled as a spiritual man, and has apparently attempted to get in touch with spiritual creatures.  He has also taken various hallucinogenic drugs in his time and written multiple books on his experiences with them.  (https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-was-aldous-huxleys-backround-religion-how-173469)

No matter the book, I think it’s immensely important to understand the context of the author’s life at the time the book is written if one wishes to understand the motivation behind the theme, purpose, and characters within that book.   Furthermore, one must understand the context surrounding the author’s life, and the time period in which the author is writing, and how the historical context might shape their writing. To look into the context and have a solid grasp of the author’s possible motivations is something I don’t do enough, and I’m going to make an effort to do for Island.  

So going forward, it’s important for me to note that Island was published in 1962, 8 years after The Doors of Perception was published, wish I understand to essentially be his account of his first experiences with hallucinogens.  What this means for Island, is that this book is surely hinted with some of his spiritual insights from taking hallucinogens.  I already see this coming through the theme of paying attention to the present moment, since that is all there ever is, which is a common insight one can have from taking hallucinogens.

[katesilverman-blog]

Nathan, 

I am glad to see that you have recognized the importance of the author’s personal life when analyzing a text. I, myself, have not taken the time to do such research yet, but you have reminded me to add this to my own research. The quote you chose to include in the first paragraph of your post is fascinating. How does one describe the physique of a Messiah? I imagine in my head someone who is standing tall, with confidence and power, and possibly surrounded by others who follow him. After reading a short summary on Will Farnaby, I learned that he works for Joe’s newspaper and travels the world covering events and also is often someone who represents the company. Being chosen to represent a company shows me that he is a social person, who must be pretty well-liked, which makes sense if he is being compared to a Messiah. However, I find it ironic that he travels around following events, when a Messiah is someone who you wouldn’t expect to follow anyone. 

On the topic of Huxley taking hallucinogens, I am glad you looked into when Island was written in regards to that, seeing that would probably have been a big part of his personal life. What point of view if Huxley writing in? I am assuming it is in the point of view of Farnaby because that would be the easiest way to include his internal thoughts, which would be an important factor of the book if he is referencing hallucinogens and spiritual insights from that. Looking forward, I would suggest to pay attention to how Huxley projects his personal experiences onto his characters, and whether they align with, or contradict, his own conclusions. 

[katesilverman-blog]

Process 5

I have finished reading my book! Overall, it was a bumpy ride reading Mrs. Dalloway. I had quite a few hesitations at first, as I have stated in my first few posts. However, as I kept reading it grew on me more and more. I learned to appreciate Woolf’s complex sentence structure, as well as the shifts from character to character. As I have concluded my reading, I have some final thoughts. 

First of all, throughout the novel Clarissa often reflects back on the past and worries about the future ahead. These instances increase towards the end of the novel. Lines such as, “how it is certain we must die” (Woolf 175), are examples of her worrying about the future. This complex mixture of reminiscing and fear of the future leads to the ultimate story about awareness of life. 

In addition, the last page of the novel is what really sparked my interest and excitement about my future research. Sally Seton says, “’What does the brain matter...compared with the heart.’” This line was surprising to me because I didn’t think much about the contrast between what one’s brain and heart will make them feel or think. My immediate thoughts lead me to think about Clarissa Dalloway and how important her appearance is to her. I think that her heart tells her to screw what people think and do what she makes her feel alive and free. However, I think her brain sends a reminder to keep her appearance up, which ultimately stops her from doing a lot of what she wants. 

[toastgod500]

Reading the Work 1

So far, I’m enjoying reading my book, although I’m a bit confused by how what went on in the first few pages.  My current understanding is that Will Farnaby got into a car accident which killed Molly, who was someone he loved dearly.  But I think that this might’ve been a dream?  I’m definitely going to go back and re read those pages.  

After looking back at the first few pages, I’m pretty sure that the main character, Will Farnaby, was in fact dreaming or in some sort of dream state, as he lied mangled on the island he’d just washed up on.  Yet, why would Huxley begin the book with a dream?  I think this was to establish the (what I think is going to be) central theme of the book – that a lot of unnecessary suffering roots from not paying attention to the present moment, and letting your mind wander to the past or present.  While Will Farnaby is in this dream state, his stream of thoughts is constantly interrupted by birds on the island who are chirping “Attention.”

What I’m still confused about is who is Molly? And if Will’s initial dream is of someone dying in a car crash, how did this dude wash up on an island?

I think the choice of writing in third person is to allow Huxley to insert his philosophical insights into the text, which I’m curious to see how this unravels in the rest of the book.  For instance, the narrator remarks, “The really extraordinary thing was that he should be here, he reflected, under the trees and not out there, at the bottom of the Pala Strait, or, worse, smashed to pieces at the foot of the cliffs” (Huxley 7).

[katesilverman-blog]

Nathan,

I find it interesting that this is one of your main themes. One of the main themes in my book also seems to be about looking back on the past or ahead to the future. It is cool to see how two completely different story lines can work out to have very similar meanings to take away. Can you think of any other texts you have read in the past that also connect to this theme? It might be interesting to see the connections, and might help you with your project if you need to find any supplemental texts. 

Also, the first scene or paragraph of a book is typically very crucial to understand, so I am glad that you went back and re-read it to gain a better understanding. When you are done reading the book, I would look back and the first paragraph or so and compare it to the last one. It might help you gain more insight on Huxley’s purpose in starting out with a slight mystery.

[katesilverman-blog]

Process 4

I spoke a little too soon in my last post. I had said that Mr. Dalloway hasn’t even appeared in the book so far, and next thing I know he appears on the very next page. In this last chunk I read, I was given the chance to get to know Richard Dalloway and Clarissa’s daughter, Elizabeth. Here is what I found to be the most interesting about the two:

Richard is a politician, who did not make it to be a Cabinet member. After being with Hugh Whitbread, a fellow conservative, he is disgusted by his arrogance and decides to immediately run to his wife. He buys her flowers, wants to tell her he loves her, but can’t. For some reason he can’t find it in himself to tell his own wife that he loves her. 

Elizabeth seems to be pretty passive. Unlike most other characters in the book, the reader does not have much insight into her internal thoughts. However, I have found that she is adored by her parents and Miss Kilman. Miss Kilman seems to be Elizabeth’s partner, which pisses Mrs. Dalloway off. Clarissa and Miss Kilman are opposite people. While Clarissa is wealthy, conservative, and privileged, Miss Kilman is quite the opposite. Although Elizabeth is loved dearly by her mother, he relations with Miss Kilman seems to put a rift between the two. 

I enjoyed getting to know Mrs. Dalloway’s family. Strangely enough, it took over 100 pages for the reader to really get to know the two. I feel like Clarissa loves her family, but almost values other relationships more, specifically the ones she had in the past. While her family gives her comfort and status, Peter Walsh and Sally Seton give her adventure and more pure emotions. Sometimes the most valuable relationships are not the ones that come easily, and I think that Clarissa is struggling facing the decisions she has made in the past. 

[toastgod500]

Picking the Work

When I was picking a book, I wasn’t that concerned with choosing a work of fiction that would only satisfy my interests.  For one, I try to be open to whatever I read, and find ways so that while a book may not be inherently interesting, there are always things I can take away from it.  I even sometimes enjoy reading about things that I wouldn’t think would interest me, because often through the exposure of unfamiliar ideas, that is what will push me to think differently and become a better reader.  So, in line with this thinking, I picked a book that I thought would interest me, but that I also was aware would be a fairly difficult read for me.  

I’d heard the book I chose, Island by Aldous Huxley, being mentioned by a few authors I’ve read in the past year.  First, Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now mentions how the society in Island is inhabited by talking birds, which are constantly blurting “Attention!” and “Here and Now!”  I found Tolle’s book to be extremely helpful in my own life, the thesis being that to be content and at ease, all you truly need to do is focus your attention on the present moment.  I was curious of how and why Huxley would incorporate this claim into a work of fiction, but at the time I decided to not read it.  Then about a week ago, I heard Sam Harris mention the book again on a podcast about mindfulness, which made my curiosity intensify.

I was first introduced to the idea that Island might be a difficult read when my eyes fell upon the first Goodreads review for the book, where the critic, layman Tom, gave the book 2/5 and began his review with “ This book was simply unbearable to read. “  This was definitely not something I wanted to hear as possible reader of the book.  Still, I chose not to let his review affect my decision to read the book.  I’m always skeptical of reviews of anything, and the biases or hidden agendas that the reviewer might have, resulting in a skewed review.  Reviews are, after all, subjective; but still, this was the top review for the book, meaning that it got the most up votes, so it surely must hold some truth to it.

I almost wish that I hadn’t even looked at the reviews in the first place, and would be impartial to determining if the book was hard to read or not on my own.  Regardless, I am going to find out for myself, since the book is in my possession.  >:^)

[katesilverman-blog]

Nathan, 

I am glad to see that you are so open-minded about reading books that wouldn’t always grab your attention. I agree that it is a great way to expose yourself to more topics and point of views. Even so, I am surprised to see that you chose to read this book after the reviews you read. If it were myself, I most likely would have chosen to continue searching for a more “bearable” book to read. You are right that reviews may have hidden agendas, so one must not chose to read, or not read, a book solely based on reviews. However, seeing that it was the top review that may have been a red flag. I think it is great that you feel strongly about forming your own opinions about the book, rather than being fed the “corn-pone opinions” from the review, but be careful that you don’t get stuck reading a book that is too hard to read all the way through until the end.

[katesilverman-blog]

Process 3

I have had enough confusion for one book. I gave up and just looked up a character chart on SparkNotes ( https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dalloway/characters/ ). I had a very hard time following the plot of the book because the author uses characters’ names and writes about them as if the reader already knows who they are (and clearly I don’t). This chart somewhat helped me understand who everyone is, however it did not explain the connections to the main character, Clarissa Dalloway, if there even is a connection. So far, the only connection seems to be that these people pass each other throughout their days.

Besides my frustrations with the characters, I have some other thoughts. My first being that love sucks! Everyone in this book who supposedly “loves” each other seems to be more tortured by their relationship than anything else. Here are some examples: 

1) Clarissa’s husband, Mr. Dalloway, hasn’t even been in the book so far, he is just a presence (or lack there of). The few times he has been mentioned hasn’t been very positive either, such as the fact that he is meeting with another woman for lunch. 

2) Rezia’s husband, Septimus, is suffering from what seems to PTSD from WWI. However, no one can diagnose it as PTSD because it wasn’t discovered until the 80s. She takes him from doctor to doctor, trying to find out what is wrong and why he is talking about killing himself. Although she loves him and wants to help him, Rezia is unbelievably unhappy, and she doesn’t know anyone else so she is all alone and has no one to talk to about it. Also, she wants kids before she gets too old and Septimus is not in a place to have kids, so some of her dreams are being postponed or destroyed if he does not find proper help. 

3) Peter Walsh just seems tortured. He was rejected by Clarissa, who is married to another man. Now, he loves Daisy from India, who is also married to another man. He is either stuck on the past and mourns about Clarisaa, or he is setting himself up for an unhappy future, falling in love with a married woman. 

Another thought I have is about death. Throughout the book, several characters think about whether or not life is meaningful, if they are worth something, or if anything is worthwhile. On page nine, Clarissa contemplates if she is okay with the fact that everything in the world will go on when she dies. Will it matter if she ceases completely? Woolf uses the quote “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun/ Nor the furious winters’ rage.” It is  song by Shakespeare. I wonder if these allusions to death and afterlife foreshadow a death in the book. But, I am only halfway through and the party (Mrs. Dalloway’s party) hasn’t even begun! Stay tuned for more information. 

[katesilverman-blog]

Process 2

I am about 70 pages into my book right now, and I can feel that I am becoming more engaged with it. Before, I would dread the thought of reading it, partly because I am not a huge reader and partly because I found it dull. However, now, I am intrigued with the characters. It is obvious that the protagonist is Clarissa Dalloway, since the title of the book is named after her. I would say the next “most important” character so far is Peter Walsh, her almost fiance from years ago. Besides these two characters, everyone else seems to have little importance to the plot so far, however I predict that they will all slowly become more prevalent since each of them had a large description.

In addition, I am- although I hesitate to say it- beginning to appreciate the simplicity (though it is not simple even in the slightest) of the story. Here is what I mean. Every sentence in the book is like the first sentence in this paragraph. Woolf loves to use dashes, semi-colons, and parenthesis to show the inner thought of the characters. At first I hated this, and I still don’t love it, but I think that it really helps me read it as if I were inside the brain of each character. It really emphasizes the contradiction of thought and action, as well as the internal conflict within every character. Now, this doesn’t seem simple at all (and it isn’t). The sentence structure is very complex, however the entire book is the time-span of one day. The events that take place seem very menial, which many would think would make to be a very boring novel. I started out as one of these people, but the more I read I am learning to find the importance of these events. This is making me start to contemplate the daily events in my life, and is making me question my reasoning in doing them and their importance, or lack thereof. 

As I continue reading, my next goal for myself is to find the importance of the secondary characters, and why Woolf chooses to describe them and their lives. In addition to characters, I want to start looking into where Woolf uses the most imagery and question why she elaborates on those objects, events, or past events. 

[katesilverman-blog]

Process 1

I started reading my book this week and I have mixed emotions. I don’t like to judge a book based off of the beginning of it because I typically don’t become engaged until the middle of it. However these are my first few questions: why aren’t there chapters and why is one sentence an entire paragraph? As I was reading, I realized that I hadn’t reached the second chapter for a while, so I glanced ahead to see how many more pages until the next chapter when I realized, there aren’t any. I am not a huge fan of this since I like to use chapters as checkpoints in my reading. Also, Woolf likes to use semicolons. A lot. This causes me to get a little lost while reading because she has a lot of side notes while she writes, which are marked by parenthesis and semi colons.

Other than those two things I can’t complain. One thing about this book that I noticed is that it is told from the point of view of a narrator, which is not uncommon. I believe Woolf does this so that she can show the internal thoughts of many characters, allowing me (the reader) to understand everyone in the book. This gets a little confusing at times, but the more I read the more I understand it.

I am excited to see where the plot of the book goes, considering the whole book only covers one day. I have been introduced to a lot of characters in the first 30 or so pages and am curious to see where all of them will fit in with the whole story.

[katesilverman-blog]

Picking the Work

AI first started this search by Googling “fiction books with scholarship.” I quickly found that this was an ineffective way to find a book that I would find interesting that was under 500 pages. My next step was to ask my sister and her fiance for suggestions since they both did this project years ago. When Allison showed me some books they seemed to be too overdone, such as books like Fahrenheit 451. So, I went to Ian. 

His first suggestion was The Alchemist. This book is about a guy who had a reoccurring dream about finding a treasure. He later found out that this dream was known to be prophetical. So he went out to follow his dream to find the treasure. However, I was told this was not the best choice because of the lack of criticism. Back to the drawing board I went. 

My next choice was Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse, which was about a man who found himself to be half human, half wolf. He finds no joy in the world that he lives. The book goes through his journey with this. However, Mr. Kreinbring believed that I should find a female author, someone that I could relate to better. 

My last two ideas were Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf or Night at the Circus by Angela Carter. Between the two I decided on Mrs. Dalloway because the author is more well-known and her work has more scholarship. That will be the book I use for my final project. 

[katesilverman-blog]

Daydreaming

You sit unknown

Unknown to the world around you

Unknown to yourself 

Your mind is wandering

To the field of feathery grass

Long and tall as it blows in the wind

You lay facing up

Watching the clouds and sky

Fast forward through time

Watching the trees above

Turn from green to vibrant shades of fire

That burn through the season

The sun is setting low

And shines a warming glow

On your skin

You think for a moment

That all the clocks and watches in the world

Have stopped suddenly

That all measures of time

Have vanished

Leaving you in this place of peace 

And finally you spent all the moments you can

And you leap awake

Back into reality 

Leaving all your thoughts

All your dreams

And keeping nothing but the vague taste of a memory

@kreinbring65

[katesilverman-blog]

Perks of Being a Wallflower

The movie my classmates and I chose to watch was Perks of Being a Wallflower, and we found that this movie is a much more accurate and believable portrayal of teenage life than Rebel Without a Cause. While yes, the film does work the Hollywood magic, it still allows the audience, young adults and teenagers who feel like outsiders, to truly connect with the characters. 

To begin with, the movie itself represents an entire school year of a teenagers life, rather than just a couple days or a week. This longer time frame allows the speakers, the writer, producer, and director, to go more in depth when portraying American teens and all of the problems and experiences they face.

The scenes in Perks of Being a Wallflower are very real to modern teenagers. Every teenagers experiences many of their firsts in life, almost as a right-of-passage.The first love, first party, and first heartbreak-  all of which are woven into the story of freshman Charlie. 

When discussing the movie with my family, I realized that the movie did not use the stereotypical characters that are seen in almost every teenage movie. The writer used more realistic characters, rather than the classis bitchy cheerleader who’s dating the captain of the football team. Instead, they made the football player gay, and the gorgeous female role a misfit. I do concede that not everything is entirely believable, such as how the freshman boy gets the senior girl, however a majority of the movie is, as it reveals the stresses of the SAT and getting into college. 

I also realized that this movie is accurate for may generations. My parents and my sisters and I could understand the happiness, confusion, and sadness these characters felt. 

[katesilverman-blog]

Rebel Without a Cause

I watched Rebel Without a Cause with a group of people and we could agree that this movie was confusing. However, we tried to overlook our confusion and look deeper into what this movie was about. 

To begin with, we believed the purpose was to depict teen angst. Every kid in the movie had their own set of family problems and other issues in their lives. We discussed the fact that maybe the writer and producer were trying to explain that family problems is the root of teen rebellion. We decided that the speakers was the adult crew who put the movie together, such as the writer, producer, and director. The intended audience, we concluded, was American teenagers.

Overall, my group agreed that the movie is very exaggerated, since none of us had every gotten into a knife fight on a school field trip or risked our lives trying to prove that we aren’t a wimp. This exaggeration makes the movie come across as inaccurate. We connected this to The Jungle by Upton Sinclair because he discussed very accurate problems, however he exaggerated them by making a story where one family faces every problem from during that time period. 

Once we got over the sub-par acting, knife fights, and lack of value for human life, we uncovered that the problems they discuss are very real in teenagers lives, such as family issues, love triangles, bullying, and insecurity. We realized that many teenagers fill the gaps in their lives with each other. In other words, they give to each other what everyone needs and take for themselves what they need. 

When talking with my older sisters, they had the same conclusions that my classmates and I had. In order to find new meaning, I talked with my dad, as well. He found that the representation of the alienation of kids is very accurate, and how that leads to kids rebelling. He understood how teenage boys viewing themselves as invincible, leading them to do very dangerous things without thought of potential consequences. Today’s teenagers do not partake in as physically risky of activities as other generations. However, with the advent of social media, kids often are susceptible to more emotionally and socially dangerous activities. 

[katesilverman-blog]

Paper Planes// M.I.A

It is easy for people to say that everything is a remix and that nothing is original. But is this really true? Is every song, movie, sport, and religion just a play-off of each other? I think that this is true to an extent, but I also believe that every idea is inspired from something. These so-called unoriginal ideas are just using their inspiration to make their own unique creations.

The song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A is as original as a song can be. I realize that it samples the melody from "Straight to Hell" by The Clash, however M.I.A layers this sound so much that it becomes an entirely new song with its own original sound. "Paper Planes" uses a variety of noises, such as bangs and clicks, in the chorus that the sampled soundtrack is completely warped from a punk rock song into a very modernized and altnerative hit. This change in genre allows "Paper Planes" to reach a completely different audience.

Although "Paper Planes" would technically be considered a remixed from "Straight to Hell," it is remixed enough to be considered an original.

[katesilverman-blog]

My goal for this project was to bring more awareness to the stages of accepting grief so that teenagers and young adults are more understanding of those grieving the death of a loved one. It is important to understand that everyone grieves in their own way. Not everyone goes through all of these stages and not necessarily in this order. However, all grief takes time and being aware of these stages will help people be more understanding of those who have lost a loved one and their healing process. I will know if this project was successful if at least 10 people like and/ or repost my video.

[katesilverman-blog]

Last Reading

As I have stated in my last post, Doughty goes through an emotional rollercoaster of emotions and opinions towards death. However, at the end of the book she plummets into a deep depression after she quits her job and Luke is out of her life completely. She even almost drives her car off of a cliff. These confusing shifts in emotion all came together in the end. She believes that people need to come to terms with the fact that death is inevitable. Yes, I know that sounds extremely depressing, I thought it was at first too, but surprisingly it is not. Knowing the death is in front of you helps you control how you die mentally, since you can't control how you die physically. Dying in a good mental state makes death become a "reward for a life well lived," as Doughty puts it. Reading a book about coming to terms with death makes me think about life after death and different opinions or beliefs on that topic. It's not something I want to dive further into for this project, but it's something for me to keep in mind for the future. Also, I am not sure exactly where I want to go with this project but I have a better idea now that I have finished the book.