"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury

Imagine going back in time to hunt a t-rex. A sheet of fog sets in as the t-rex climbs over a hill not too far from where you are. Then it all goes wrong. That is just what happens in the short story "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury. The story fits most of the criteria of the Ironic mode of literature.

"A Sound of Thunder" fits all but one point on the irony plotline. The one point that doesn't fit is the world is in chaos. When Eckels fell off the path, that was the major conflict. And finally, death or loss of sanity is when Eckels gets back to the present. That is so because Eckels noticed the words on the sign were spelled weird, so he looked down at his boots and saw a dead butterfly stuck to the bottom, he had altered the universe. Lesperance, the safari guide, was right when he said it might alter some thing little like the way we speak.

Like the plotline, Ray's short story almost matches all the characteristics. It was highly unrealistic as well as a nightmare vision of reality. For the main character is not in control and also the main character is stupid, weak and can do no right was when Eckels went the wrong way and fell off the path. I didn't find anything for good is weak, but for bad is strong the t-rex was bigger than they expected.

In addition to not completely matching the ironic mode of literature , there wasn't a lot of symbolism either. They mentioned red, from when the safari guides marked the dinosaur. Also, they mentioned nightfall, when they started up the time machine. Maybe the dinosaur could be symbolism because it's kind of like a snake and a dragon. That was really all the symbolism I could find.

Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" almost matches the Ironic mode of literature. In the story, one dead butterfly altered  the way they spoke. What do you think would happen to the present day if someone killed a butterfly a million years ago?

The Island

Author's Note: This was a chain story. I only wrote the first sentence, the class wrote the rest.

It has been 3 hours since the plane crashed. We were flying over the island when our plane went down. Now we're stuck here, but it's okay. The island is great, its beautiful and there are so many animals. But there is one bad thing. All the animals are carnivores. The fourth hour had passed and we have run out of food. We are currently building shelter and sending groups to get more supplies. We have already hunted and eaten 300 lions. We're stuffed! It has been 24 hours since the crash. Our camp was attacked by bears and one ate my legs. Luckily, one of the passengers was a doctor. So much for being rescued… It has been 30 hours since the crash and still, nobody has shown up to rescue us. I wonder where they could be? 7 years later… They finally arrived. I felt like Bear Grills when I had a little amount of food and had to eat liver. When I got home, I got a cool pair of mechanical legs, to replace the ones that were eaten, and a story that will be passed on for ages.

Llamas

llamas are weird,
they spit in your face,
and can't grow a beard,
I don't think they can race,
they need water all the time,
a llama is an odd creature,
they don't have many rhymes,
llamas have a strange feature,
they can spit,
I don't think it's that great,
get too close and you'll be hit,
then llamas you will come to hate,
llamas will always be weird.

Candy

candy is something I like to eat,
but only if it's new,
'cause if you eat it off the street,
it will taste like a shoe,
it can also make you sick,
so do not give your shoes a lick,
'cause that will make you ill too,
when you're sick you might throw up,
and that tastes worse than a shoe,
and if you think it's a lie,
then go ask a grown-up,
because being sick is something you don't want to try.

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Deep Water Essay

In the story, Deep Water by William O. Douglas, William tells the tale of how he overcame his fear of water. After being thrown into the deep end of the pool, he nearly drowns, making his fear of water from when he was three or four, even stronger. Everyone has a fear, for example I'm afraid of heights and William was afraid of water, but it's important to get rid of your fear, like William did, because if you don't you may regret it. William O. Douglas and I both have a few things in common, but we still have some differences.

William and I only have three similarities. The first similarity is that we both know what it's like to be sucked underwater by a wave. I was eight when it happened, we were at a water park and I was in the wave pool. Once the waves started, they pulled me in to the deep end where I couldn't stand and my sister pulled me onto her inflatable tube and we waited until the waves turned off (the waves come on and off every fifteen to thirty minutes). Where as William was three or four and was at the beach and his dad pulled him out of the water. Our second similarity is we both have been trapped underwater. This time I was older and at a different wave pool. They were about to turn on the waves and I was pushing my inflatable tube toward the middle of the deep end, because that is where the waves are the biggest, and the waves started before I was on the inflatable tube. My hand slipped off the handle of the inflatable tube and I went under and I didn't have much air. I couldn't go up to the surface for air because of all the inflatable tubes covered it. When I finally got to an opening, I swam to the surface and took in a deep breath, then I got hit with a bunch of inflatable tubes as I swam back to the shallow end of the wave pool. As for William, he was thrown into the deep end and couldn't get to the surface. Finally, the last similarity between us is that we were both bad at swimming. Those were the only similarities shared between William and me.

Me and William only share two differences. The first is that I wouldn't be afraid to go boat fishing in the middle of a lake. Our second and final difference is I would have more trouble overcoming my fear. I'm extremely afraid heights. All William had to do was put on a harness attached to a pulley and swim across a pool. I would probably have to dangle over the edge of a building or something like that. Therefore, I think that I would have a harder time overcoming my fear of heights. Those were the only differences I could find between the two of us.

Both William and I have similarities, but we still have our differences. After William nearly drowned, he tried to avoid water when ever it was possible. He did so for a few years, then he decided to put an end to his fear of water. It is important not to let fear control your life.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino (the main character) finds a giant pearl and instantly becomes everyone's enemy. Imagine having people breaking into your house almost every night, being in constant fear that your family will be harmed. Imagine being at risk of attack every time you step outside your house. Do you think having a giant pearl would be worth undergoing all those things? The book, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, obviously is a tragedy.

John Steinbeck's book The Pearl, fits the plotline quite well. When Coyotito gets stung by the scorpion and the doctor won't help, that is when the world is in conflict for the main character (Kino). The world is in conflict for Kino because to him, Coyotito and Juana are the most important things in the world, and if anything were to happen to them he would live an empty life. The rise to power is when Kino finds the pearl. The reason why that is the rise to power is because now Kino can afford to hire the doctor. The tragic flaw or human weakness is Kino lets the pearl get into his head. Kino now realizes that the pearl is worth more than enough to pay the doctor and starts to fantasize about sending Coyotito to school, getting married to Juana in the church and so on. The tragic fall is that Kino is constantly being attacked and having people trying to steal the pearl. The reason for the tragic fall being so, is all a result of Kino not selling the pearl. Because Kino decided to keep the pearl, he was attacked, and out of self defense, he killed the attacker, forcing him to leave the village. The death or death symbolism is that Coyotito died. There was also a lot of symbolism that matched as well.

The symbolism from The Pearl matches the tragedy mode of literature. With most of the scenes taking place at night, that plays a large part in the symbolism. The mentioning of shadows as well as the darkness of a moonless night also played a rather large part. A bit of not as important symbolism is that they mentioned a dog barking. That was all the symbolism that I pulled out of The Pearl.

The Pearl has a match for each of the characteristics. I found that the book was realistic. I thought The Pearl was realistic because this seemed like it really could have happened. The second and final characteristic is that the main character (Kino) is in control. Kino was in control because he could have sold the pearl for one thousand pesos, or let Juana throw it into the ocean, but Kino didn't because he was in control and wanted to keep the pearl. There were only two characteristics, and I think that they match the book perfectly.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck obviously is a tragedy. The pearl Kino found was as big as his palm and worth over ten thousand pesos, that is why everyone wanted it. Kino threw the pearl back into the ocean because it ruined his family. If you had a pearl that big, what would you do with it?