The Dead Poets Society

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived.” -Henry David Thoreau

This quote was in the Dead Poet's Society, a movie about poets and the lives of a group of young men at a tough bording school. They all know that they are at this school to become smart young men who will get accepted into the top colleges in the country. This is no easy feat. And as they start a new year at the school, a new teacher, Mr. Keating, is assigned to their English class.

Mr. Keating turns out to be a mentor to the boys and a hero of sorts. The "captain" teaches them how to go beyond the disciplined child to the free-thinking young adults that they turn into. I thought that the movie was exceptional. It strives to teach young adults to use their imagination and become free-thinkers, and I think that this is really respectable. Only the truly free spirited and free minded are able to write successfully. I feel that there should be no discipline when it comes to writing, and that when you write, it should be your full emotions and feelings, and it should include your own personal message to the world.

(This movie was introduced to me by my 9th grade English teacher, Ms. Flemming -Thank you, Ms. Flemming!)

Description

I really enjoy to write, so I'm going to write a description of a mythical creature I am currently using in a book that I'm writing. The post also includes the description of the surrounding forest. The creature, by the way, is called a mngwa.

The night sky was beautiful. The stars shimmered and danced in the sky as I watched the tiger creature standing alone in the forest-surrounded clearing. The cat was beautiful; it had granite grey fur that could only be seen by the light of the bright moon. Jet black stripes were slashed down its majestic back, legs, and long tail. Its green eyes were shining like emeralds, and they narrowed at the sight of me. I stared back, frightened but trying to act bold. It looked away after a moment, twitching its ears and lengthy whiskers as if it knew I wasn't a threat. Instead, it turned away and looked around the clearing it was standing in. The clearing was small, with soft green grass swaying gently in the breeze. Surrounding the whole area, surrounding both of us, were the tall birch and oak trees that made up the forest. Mesmerized by this strange beast that I had found, I stepped further into the clearing. It didn't notice anything until I clumsily tripped over a small broken branch on the ground, causing an earsplitting sound. CRACK! The tiger spun around to face me, its massive paws shifting as it crouched down about forty feet from me. A feral snarl ripped from its throat, passing between its bared teeth. I froze, not daring to move. It glared at me for a moment more before tasting the air. Then it turned away and walked into the darkness, its beauty unmatched by any nocturnal beast I had ever seen before. I ran for my life; even the most beautiful things in the world can be deadly...

Incarceron: Literary Criticism

I just finished reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. I thought it was a good book, and I think that it was well planned out with good details and a great presentation on the theme of this book: prison. I've read a couple of reviews, most were really good, but some contained negative statements that I felt were a good critique of the book.
One review stated that the author takes similar concepts from other books and puts it all together in this book. They called it "the Hunger Games in the City of Ember. I think this statement can be considered true because the main character is in a prison that is (from what they can guess) underground, and there is no way out. Also, the characters are fighting to survive, which is also a main concept to the Hunger Games. Also, the critic comments that the book shares a similar structure to Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld in the way that both books contain a boy and girl main character with action going on with both of them at the same time.
Another book review says that the book was very predictable. It was easy for the critic to guess what was going to happen and who each character actually was. Unsatisfying was another word used by the critic, and she said that the author doesn't end the book that leaves you satisfied. You're almost annoyed at the end. Crowded was one word that caught my eye. The book was a little crowded and overwhelming. There was so much action that it was hard to keep up with what was currently going on.
I agree with both of the reviews: there are certain things about the book that were off, like the similar plot and the crowdedness, as well as the unsatisfying moment at the end. Although I agree with the critiques, I still think that Incarceron was a very good book, and I can't wait to read the sequel Sapphique.
My sources were http://io9.com/5502261/incarceron-is-the-hunger-games-in-the-city-of-ember and http://www.alisonsbookmarks.com/2010/07/review-incarceron-by-catherine-fisher.html which are critiques done by what seems to be a book review websites. It is credible because the authors clearly know the story, and the statements made are relatable.

Genetic Engineering: The adoration of Jenna Fox

In The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, the central idea of the book is that the main character Jenna gets into a car accident. She should be dead, but her father invented a substance called Bio gel which is used to replace her organs and her blood cells and help her body function properly without them. This is a perfect example of genetic engineering, which is why I researched what genetic engineering is, and what the pros and cons are.

Genetic engineering is the changing of cells and DNA to manipulate an organism's genes. This can form whole new combinations of genes that aren't made naturally. With genetic engineering, scientists could take out diseases passed through families, and alter negative traits. Also, scientists could increase longevity and change human structure and function to make them stronger. Unfortunately, there are also chances that the genetic mutations could damage the genes and cause undesirable effects to the organism. Also, procedures for genetic engineering would be very costly, making it hard for the common man to have these procedures done.

Information was found on http://http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/what-is-genetic-engineering.html. This is a credible source because the website has been endorsed by the Union of Concerned Scientists which is a national orginization that researches and studies genetic engineering.

Orson Scott Card: A dreamer for the future

Orson Scott Card, the writer of Ender's Game, first began as a producer for plays in the 60's and 70's. His first actual published work was a short story called Gert Farm. He began to get noticed when he won the John W. Campbell Award for the best new writer in 1978 at the World Science Fiction Convention. In the 1980's, his book Ender's Game and the sequel Speaker for the Dead won the Hugo and Nebula awards. Orson mainly writes sci-fi, fantasy, biblical novels, and books about writing.
Some interesting facts about Orson Scott Card:
He was born in Richland Washington and named after his grandfather, who was the founder of a colony in Canada known as Mormon colony. He grew up reading books, and at age eight he read The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain, a 256 page book. He was about sixteen when his family moved to Orem, Utah. When he grew older, he was an editor of The Ensign, the magazine of the LDS Church. He then proceeded to get married to a lady named Kristine Allen, and they went to live in Greensboro, North Carolina. Soon after, he married another lady by the name of Heather Heavener (Card), and currently lives near Seattle.

Information found from Hatrack.com, Orson Scott Card's official website. This information is credible because I have verified the information on biography sites biblio.com and biography base, and both give the same story.

First post

My name is Noopur Parikh. This is my first year at Kinkaid, and so far I've really enjoyed it.
A little about me: I love wildlife. Especially animals. I show a greater interest in the big cats. Anyone who knows me well would know that I am also a bookworm. Whenever I have free time at school, I head over to the library to check out a book. I also read very fast, and usually end up finishing long 500 page books in a span of two to three days.
Along with reading a lot, another one of my hobbies is writing. I write a lot, usually for hours a day. So far, I am currently working on two novel-sized stories, and hope to finish them soon. Although people say my writing is good when I share it, I haven't told many people the stories. I guess that's because I do not like criticism about my writing, which can be a bad thing at times.
Other then that, I don't have many other hobbies. I draw a lot, do Indian classical dance, and love to listen to music of all sorts.
I hope this blog will share my thoughts freely, and I also hope to continue blogging later on.