Water for Elephants Chapters 1-2

The first chapter of Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen, is set in present time. The main character, Jacob, is in his early 90's and in a nursing home, his own personal form of hell. Jacob is a widower, and frequently regrets not having his wife with him until he dies. But he also shows some of his selfishness when he says the following: "Although there are times I'd give anything to have her back, I'm glad she went first. Losing her was like bieng cleft down the middle. It was the moment it all ended for me, and I wouldn;t have wanted her to go through that. Being the survivor stinks" (Gruen 13).
Jacob shows us in this quote that he was and still is immensly in love with his wife and would do anything for her at any time. It also shows us that Jacob is literally willing to die for his wife, and the quote may be forshadowing for a story to come later on in the book. This quote can also tell us about Jacob's character; obviously very unselfish, loving, and most of all, heartbroken.

Reaction To Books 1-10 of the Odyssey

I thought that most of the first part of Homer's Odyssey were quite interesting. It seemed like there was alot of Greek and Roman mythology that the reader needed as prior knowledge in order to understand the book. Taking notes and learning all about the gods and the battle of Troy has helped my exponentially during the reading. I also feel like this is the first book we have read in class this year which keeps me interested because of the complexity of the story, the nature of the characters, and the mystical overall feeling. For example, when we first meet Odysseus, we see him as a humble, sad, hardened man who just wants to get home to his wife and kid. But we quickly learn of his overconfidence and cocky decisions that ultimatly lead him to his doomed fate of drifting for years upon years at sea. Plot and character twists like these are what keeps me interested and urging to read more of the the book.

Quotes from the Outside Reading

Here are a couple of interesting quotes that I found in my outside reading book:
1. "We were brothers. All of us. We had to work together, live together, eat together, sleep together, fail together, and succeed together. We had to know what each other was going to do at any moment and know how we would react to each situation with them. It was our job" (Kranz 83).
2. "At Mission Control, cetain things were understood. Every mission must achieve its objecties, and it ust be accomplished on schedule if we were to keep John F. Kennedy's pledge to land a mon on the moon in this decade" (Kranz 208).

Shakespeare

So far in the Shakespeare book, the story has gone nowhere. I feel like the plot has the potential to be interesting, but it is jsut talking and planning, no action. Yes, the book is literally about nothing, as stated in the title. But I still feel myself getting mad at Shakespeare for not getting the show on the road, so to speak. Although the characters are michevious and often very funny to read about, the story, like I said before, has gone nowhere. I am interested to see what will happen when Don Pedro's plan to set up Benedick and Beatrice goes into action. It seems intruging to me to think about what will happen when these two worst enemies who both hate even thinking about love, fall in love. It makes me chuckle inside already.

Comparisons?

When I look at the two books I am currently reading, Much Ado About Nothing and Failure is Not an Option, I do not see many similarities between the two. Much Ado is a love story and, as the title reveals, really should not be taken seriously by the reader. It is apparent that Shakespeare did not intend to make this a story that people are affected by, but the book is still interesting and fun to read. Failure, on the other hand, is a nonfiction book that gives you insight on the evolution of the space program and also teaches the reading about many themes that they can use throughout their life.

Science in the Book

One aspect of the book that has impressed me was the explanation of the Scientific aspects of NASA. The author explains fairly well how the rocket team had to find a new chemical for all the rockets because the old fuel was not producing enough thrust per pound to get the larger rockets into orbit. After months of experimenting with chemicals, NASA finally found its perfect fuel for the launch. The chemical is called Ammonium per chlorate, and it gave the astronauts the perfect amount of power to lift the multi-ton spaceship off the ground and into space. The chemical is so powerful that the American space program still uses it today for its space launches.

Halfway Reflection of the Book

Like I said before, the writing style of the author is a large negative to the bok. I sometimes feel myself drifting off into other thoughts while reading the book. It seems to me that Gene doesn't try to 'spice up' the books words and writing styles. The thing that keeps the reader interested is the story of his rise through the ranks of the infant Space Program and all the trials, sucesses, and failures of the program, and with it, the U.S. itself.