I love "The Most Dangerous Game" because it is one of the first adventure stories. It has a bit of a humanitarian vibe to it, but essentially, the message that this story gives is "enjoy yourself." The story follows an avid hunter from America who ends up being hunted by a Russian General. The American wins, the Russian is thrown to his dogs, and they all live happily ever after. This story's progeny are staples of entertainment, from Indiana Jones to James Bond. 

The Venn Diagram is a tool used to compare and contrast two or three things. It is extremely versatile and easy to use, requiring only subjects and circles labeled as them. In its simplicity lies its virtue, as it is very easy to see where things overlap (literally) and where they stray apart. 

There are two types of fiction: Literary and Commercial. Literary is high-brow, meaningful stuff, full of metaphors and allusions which is meant to make a statement. Commercial fiction is intended to make money. This does not mean that commercial can't be well-written, and it doesn't mean that literary cannot be successful or entertaining. It does mean that there are different pre-requisites, though, so we will be reading entirely literary fiction in English class.

When Mr. Belous was put on administrative leave, Ms. Fassbender had us comment on the story that annarbor.com ran on him. We arrived on the scene to find a bunch of ignorant trashy people trying to tear down the school and the district. This made me realize the way that the Internet facilitates lone group think. Someone will agree with you and you can put unmitigated thoughts out into the open on the Internet because no one there knows who you are. The ability to say horrible things is one of the downsides to the Internet.

"All the Pretty Horses" is a movie about cowboys in the mid 20th century that we watched in class. The movie was about a man who rides down to Mexico, falls in love, becomes a rich rancher's protegee, and takes in a teenager. He realizes that he cannot have it all, though, as he comes of age by the end of the movie. He eventually gives up some of the "pretty horses," realizing that you can only have what you need.

Point of view is not set in stone, it can be fluid. Many authors prefer to be consistent, and this does lend itself to cohesiveness, but there are distinct advantages to shifts in point of view. To maintain plot secrets, an author might use merely omniscient with an antagonist, and third person limited with a protagonist. The author might also switch between first and thir

I read a very nice story about people living on in memory called "A Worn Path" in the book. It tells about a woman named Phoenix, who goes to town for her grandson's medicine all of the time, despite the distinct impression that we get from the townspeople that he is long dead. However, Phoenix says that as long as she believes he is alive and she can see it in her heart its true. 

The message that I got from this story was very bleak, but also hopeful in a convoluted way. It says to me that wealth built upon suffering is hollow and sad, where happiness comes from helping others. I cannot find any fault in this, but I do think it is interesting that this view of mutual aid comes from a Russian. I would like to know when in relation to the Russian Revolution this was written.

We learned about a concept called the Locus of Control. This refers to the responsibility that one takes for the actions that one takes, and the consequences. It is a psychological spectrum between totally free will and total helplessness. Some peoples' locus of control is more towards fate, some people believe that they matter more than fate. Neither side is necessarily better. 

Third person omniscient is exactly what it sounds like: omniscient. The author is an all-knowing entity that can see and hear everything from every character. This point of view is very useful for books of wide scope, allowing you to view all of the characters, and learn about them from their actions. Typically, though, omniscient doesn'