IRA ANALYSIS VOLT

This book was a collection of short stories which I really enjoyed, and that's saying something since I hate to read and all.  But I actually liked these stories, it could be argued that these are the first non children's books that I have liked, the children's books being Percy Jackson and HARRY POTTER (of course).  I do recommend you to read this collection for your next IRA book for more than one reason, 1st they are good books they do have some slow parts but all and all they keep the suspense and action up.  2nde because it was really easy for me to stay on task reading with Volt, because I read one story each week and then wrote about that book, it kept me from reading at the last moment or forgetting to read.  For the review I'm going to go through them in order to state pros and cons of story and which were my favorites.  I also liked that the whole book was based in the same town so many different facets of that town stayed throughout the story, like the sheriff was in about 3 of them, the flood was referenced in quite a few, and all the people had some alike traits (they were all babtist).
Peacekeeper was my favorite book of the collection, it had a great backstory of the sheriff trying to protect her friend from the horrors that actually happened to their daughter.  She took the law into her hands and made a decision to hide the body, and kill the murderer.
My second favorite was probably the straying freight.  I liked the story alot, the farmer gets into all kind of trouble and eventually runs off, all triggered by the accidental death of his son.  He goes to another town and starts a new life, never even thinking of where he had been.  But by far my favorite part of this book is the reoccuring appearance of the train driver, it is probably a illusion of his mind to remind him of where he came from.
My third favorite book was Volt  I never really fully explained this one in a blog but it focuses on the life of a boy growing up in poverty and the sheriff again.  It plays on the role of Nature vs. Nurture, meaning you are either born that way or you are raised that way.  The boy tried to live a good life, unlike his brothers, but made one mistake and was put away in jail for it.  The sheriff is soft on him because he knew her mother who is now sick.
My 4th favorite story was The Daughter, even though this one had a dark undertown to it it was really good.  It shows the relationship between mother and daughter and how nothing can mess that up, even murder.
My 5th favorite book was Lazarus, it was extremely sad since it had letters from a dead boy but it was a good story giving background on a preacher and his ex wife and his final days as a preacher.  Would of been higher but had some boring parts in it that I didn't like reading.
My 6th favorite book was Smoke, dealt with the realizations of a man after he murders someone and how a boy is tied up in the middle of it.  This one had some parts that confused me on what they were saying though.
My least favorite story was . . . . It's a tie . . . I didn't like either Furlough or Fort Apache.  The prior just made no sense first the people are walking and talking and then out of nowhere they walk up to a "satanic" ritual and she runs away?? Idk I didn't like it.  The later again made no sense since the kids are at a movie then throwing rocks at windows then running around naked, it jumped around so much and I couldn't find meaning behind the story.
OVERALL RATING:   90/100  Great set of books that I recommend anyone reads.

IRA: VOLT: LAZARUS

The story starts out with the pastor of the town going to visit his ex.  The pastor is in a bit of trouble since he hired a bad kid to play the organ at church and the town people will be meeting next Sunday to get him kicked out of the Church pastor position.  Him and his wife have been divorced since their son died in a war and they had a big fight over whether or not to read the letters he sent, they decided not to.  On this day the pastor brings the letters and they read them.  The letters are extremely sad and they end up crying and falling asleep in each others arms to comfort each other.  The pastor leaves after a bit and returns to his church to fall asleep.  He awakes to a beautiful song being played by the boy and asks him to play the song on Sunday to let the people know that the boy is good at playing te organ.
The part that his son died is exteremly sad and got me bummed out.  The letters were written like nothing has happened to the boy but he is dead and these are the last words they ever recieved from him.  I think the organ boy represents his new family, his new son.  He likes the organ boy and believes in him even when no one else will.
what surprised me is that I'm looking forward to reading this last story VOLT, I don't care for reading but this is a good series of stories and I've been told that the last one is the best so I'm actually looking forward to this.

IRA: VOLT: The Daughter

This was a quite long short story.  After Miriam's mother died she has been living on her secluded at her house with her daughter Evelyn.  they made a corn maze in one of their feilds so the two McGahee boys have been coming over trying to play in the feild but always weren't allowed.  The boys got violent toward Miriam.  Suddenly the youngest boy went missing and the whole town showed up to try to find the boy in the maze and they eventually cut down the field.  After the first day of looking Evelyn takes off since she had a dream the people will find the boys body in her trunk.  Miriam goes to see her daughter at her apartment but finds our that she hasn't been there since she left her house.  Later the boys father is convicted as the murderer since he seemed to despise the boy.  But no one goes to look at the McGahee place for the boy since they think they are bound to find the boy dead there.  When Evelyn returns she admits that she murdered the boy and her and Miriam make up and are fine with the murder.
There are 2 parts I was intrigued by, first that everyone came to find the boy at Miriams field with the hopes that they will cut down the corn and get some type of profit from it since Miriam wouldn't allow the corn to be taken down.  When the corn is taken down they find nothing and continue with there lives.  What surprised me about this was that when they wanted to find the boy at the McGahee's place no one had the time to show up.  They considered that McGahee was guilt without finding any evidence.  2nd thing I was intrigued by was that Evelyn killed the boy and then was taken in by her mother even after that crime.  And neither of them care that an innocent man now is in jail and just lost his loved son.

IRA: VOLT: FORT APACHE

In this short story a group of kids have just burnt down a bowling ally.  They then go into the movies by sneaking in the back door.  Walt decides to go get some food but gets caught by the manager and gets thrown out and the person who was supposed to keep them out gets fired.  Walt gets the job by getting all of the people that can with him out of the theater.  Everyone in town is gone to see a girl from their town sing so the town is deserted.  The group of kids destroy everything by throwing balls at glass.  Then they break into the dress shop and they all start getting naked or trying on dresses.  Then it ends with them walking off without getting into trouble.
I didn't get this book really, hard to understand.  First I thought it was about a boy growing up when he got the job, but then they were running around naked so I was completely lost.  They did talk about going out west but it was always shot down saying u had noone to back u up there.  Maybe it's about how family ties tend to keep people where they are and that oportunities don't happen often since u can't leave ur family?? idk

sorry I'm a day late with this post.

IRA: Volt: Furlough

The short story Furlough I really didn't get, it is about a man that is walking a lady through the counrty to go meet up with her boyfriend.  She asks him many questions and they talk about when is the guy going to ask her to marry him, and about his pet bird.  He seems like a nice guy and the girl offers to get him a date with a girl she knows.  Then it gets weird.  Once they arrive to the barn the guy has been worried about the corn which has been moving around which wasn't normal.  They open the barn door and right infront of them is a deer in a dress with a wedding veil on!!! Messed up right!  The lady takes off running, I think they are going to kill her but it never says.  All around a messed up story that I just didn't get, and their is no sparknotes for this book to help me get the underlying themes of it.

IRA: Volt: Peacekeeper

This short story takes place over three different timeframes, December 19th -20th, Christmas and Christmas Eve, and Sping of the next year.  On December 19th-20th a girl goes missing and a police woman finds her naked and dead.  She finds the murderer the same day and ties him up.  She also desposes of the girls body in a quarry to try to make it look like a accident.  Christmas (Eve) time the murderer is still alive and Helen (policewoman) is keeping him alive and figuring out what to do.  She ends up hitting him with her gun then shooting him through the scull with a shotgun to make it look like a suicide.  In the following summer a huge flood comes and she is saving people then she falls out of her boat and has to stay on a tree for a day.  She gets saved and is told they found a body, she thinks it is the girl but it's another person and she ends in a hysterical state bawling.
She tries to cover up the murder because it is very grevious for a small town.  The girl was always a good girl so she didn't want to break the mothers heart by telling her.  I think the girls body will never show up and that family will never get the closure they deserve.  Although Helen means well she should have just told she had found the body and got it over with and the man spends life in prison.  The book was predictable because I guessed the coverup and the death after like 2 pages.  It was still a great short story.

Loves Labours Lost final

This is all in all not a terrible play, not a fan of the crazy language, hard to understand fully.  Some good humor in it, like that they agree to not see women for 3 years and then break that within 1 week.  Then they have to wait a year regardless of the vow they broke, KARMA.  All these guys work really hard to woe the women and they take the words litterally, come on son, and in the end all their Love's Labour's are Lost.  But my favorite part of comedy in the whole play is still Costard being dumb and continually asking "Me??"

Love and Truth

I think that truth and love have to be put together.  If you are in love you have to be true to yourself and true to the one you love.  You can't tip toe around it by putting on costumes like in the play.  If you are truely in love you must act on it and take a chance.  Unfortunately I think of people not taking a chance as the ones creeper stalking outside someones house.  When in love you must be true not put on a costume and lie.

Love's Labour's Lost Prompts 4 and 5

Biron's Speach

In Biron’s big speech about Love he goes off on the three other scholars for swearing off women and then instantly falling in love.  He is found out to also be in love and goes on another tangent about how women are beauty and in order to do their studies of beauty and poetry the only way for them to be inspired is to fall in love and that is when they will learn the most.  I think they are just making up excuses to see women, but they do have a point, seeing women will inspire great works.  If they only did the scholarly studies like they said they would end up dry and dull like Holfernous, never knowing love so not to be able to use their skillz.  He uses many slick ways to say that men belong with women and they need not avoid it.

In their shoes

I can see me in Holfernous’s shoes, he is talking smack about inferior minds.  I can see me doing this, but never in English, more in Math I would talk smack about how they can’t do the simplest problems.  I would also sugarcoat it and not be entirely mean spirited about it.

lOvE'S lAbOuR'S lOsT more characters!

Holfernous - He talks very fancy but he isn't quite as bombast as some of the others.  He looks down on the less educated. 
"Most barbarous intimation! yet a kind of
insinuation, as it were, in via, in way, of
explication; facere, as it were, replication, or
rather, ostentare, to show, as it were, his
inclination, after his undressed, unpolished,
uneducated, unpruned, untrained, or rather,
unlettered, or ratherest, unconfirmed fashion, to
insert again my haud credo for a deer." TO DULL

Nathaniel - He is a bit easier to understand but I don't get any of them.  Doesn't talk as much though.
"Sir, I praise the Lord for you; and so may my
parishioners; for their sons are well tutored by
you, and their daughters profit very greatly under
you: you are a good member of the commonwealth."

Dull - like his name he is not as smart as the others but he is still a quite smart fellow.  He  is a follower and tries to copy the others excentric talk.
 
"HOLOFERNES

The moon was a month old when Adam was no more,
And raught not to five weeks when he came to
five-score.
The allusion holds in the exchange. 

DULL

'Tis true indeed; the collusion holds in the exchange.

HOLOFERNES

God comfort thy capacity! I say, the allusion holds
in the exchange.

DULL

And I say, the pollusion holds in the exchange"

Don Armado - He is a know it all he is always trying to use his slick words to impress people.
"

I give thee thy liberty, set thee from durance; and,
in lieu thereof, impose on thee nothing but this:
bear this significant

to the country maid Jaquenetta:
there is remuneration; for the best ward of mine
honour is rewarding my dependents. Moth, follow.

Jaquetta - very simple girl not all that eleguent of talk but not brutish talk.
"Good Costard, go with me. Sir, God save your life!"

Moth - Moth is short sweet and to the point, he doesn't care to be learned in eleguent talk or do it.
"By my penny of observation.
'The hobby-horse is forgot.'
Negligent student! learn her by heart."

Charactachure speach

THE KING:  The king is very noble and really speaks kingly, He says stuff nobably but doesn't try to be over bombast.     "Fair princess, welcome to the court of Navarre."

BIRON:  A super complainer he tries to get out of everything.  He also tries to elaborate his satement to where it can lose it's sense  "So study evermore is overshot: While it doth study to have what it would It doth forget to do the thing it should, And when it hath the thing it hunteth most, 'Tis won as towns with fire, so won, so lost."

PRINCESS: The Princess is quite smart and tries to show off using whitty banter.  "You do the king my father too much wrong And wrong the reputation of your name, In so unseeming to confess receipt Of that which hath so faithfully been paid."

COSTARD:  Costard is a fool, he gets by saying dumb funny things being a jester.  He is the least intellectual here.  "With a wench . . . I was taken with none, sir: I was taken with a damsel . . . This was no damsel, neither, sir; she was a virgin . . . If it were, I deny her virginity: I was taken with a maid."

ROSALINE: Rosaline is quite smart too, she uses her charm to pick up Biron.  Too me she seems kinda "bitchy"  "BIRON: And send you many lovers!   ROSALINE: Amen, so you be none."

IRA: VOLT: SMOKE

I have continued reading my IRA book and have completed the second short story so I will take this time to go over it. : )  What happens in this story is, a father kills a man and has his son help him clean in up.  I think the theme of this story is the afterlife and religion.  Throughout the story the father talks about he he is now damned and how he wounders about Hell and if it's real or not.  He wants his son to go to a church after this and tell what is father did so the church will raise him up right and use him as a symbol of God's saving might.
Also in this story they talk about how quick and easy it is to kill a man.  The father hit the dead guy one time with a tire iron and he saw the life flash out of him.  It wasn't like a fire where it kindles for a bit and then goes out and still leaves the smoke (this is the background of the title) once a man dies he is dead.

PROverbs

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Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
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Look Before You Leap
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Birds Of A Feather Flock Together
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Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
5)     Neophyte's Serendipity
Beginner's Luck

Humor?!?! Love's Labour Lost

Well I didn't really get the lesson on if this is humorous or not but here is me winging it:
First part that could be construed as humorous is when the guy is argueing about what to call a woman, first he was like, I'm not with a woman I'm with a damsel, then a maid, then a mistress or whatever I don't really remember the exact names.  It doesn't matter what you call a lady she is still a lady.
Second would be the part where they were argueing about the rules and he kept argueing then signed it anyway.  Also, after they sign it they make a loophole because they have women that will be over soon. 
Thats the only two parts that I remember that could be seen as humorous.
#LOL

IRA: VOLT: The Straying Freight

Winslow gets his mouth wired shut then goes to work for the guy the destroyed it with his gun.  While there the farmer arranges for Winslow to get in "Fights" where people paid to hit him and whoever could knock the wind out of him in one punch made money (They never win because Winslow is a beast).  The only reason that Winslow agrees to this is not for the money he gets, but because he sees this as a pennance for his wrongdoing.  After a while of doing this he misses his wife and wants to see her again.
He gets in a final fight and while scoping out the competition he sees the Train driver he keeps looking for the driver and spots him again, he doesn't prepare for the fight and gets knocked down for the first time.  He wakes up in the hospital, and a day later his wife walks in!  She takes him home and they don't talk lot.
The foreshadowing that I thought would happen happened, Winslow goes to church and sees all of the people that he thought would judge him kinda freaks out and runs away from his wife into a muddy feild toward the woods.  The congregation comes out and the preist runs toward him and gives him a hug.  In this foreshadowing Winslow was the dog, and the congregation was Winslow trying to accept the "dog".
The very last words that are said in this story are "Your hair has turned so white."  White hair is the one of the only things that Winslow remembers about the Train conductor.  This makes me think that when he saw the conductor in the bar all he really saw was himself in a mirror.

IRA: Volt

So far this is a great book.  It is a collection of short stories written by the same author.  I'm only a little ways through the first book and so far what has happened is this:  He runs over his son and kills him when his son slips and falls below his tractor while he is discing after the harvest; the after a long time of being sad he gets back to work on the farm but he gets hit by a train when he wasn't patient for it to cross, the train driver comes running back and yells at him because he might of killed him;  then he hits his wife after she got him mad and he started just walking away from all of his troubles; after about 2 weeks of walking he is attacked by a hunting dog and hunters and he is tied up.
First thing I can relate this to is of course, Forest Gump, he just started getting away from his problems and giving himself time to think, he has no real place to go and no objective just walking.
The train conductor actually appeared to the farmer while he was walking away, I think the conductor will appear in the book alot but I haven't figured out what he symbolizes yet.
I think that the dog attacking him will foreshadow his return to society.  He tries to hug and pet the dog even though it is biting him, since this was the first time he saw civalized things in weeks.  So when he returns to society one of two things may happen, he will try to get in with the community but they will chew him up, or the community will try to accept him back with loving arms but he will try to keep his distance and be defensive.

Things Fall Apart Critique

I really enjoyed reading this book.  I liked that it was more up to date and not like beowulf which was an epic written in old english.  Once I got started reading it I was hooked because their aren't many dull moments or parts where you are just thinking "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!?!?".

I enjoyed the subject of the book and how people are forced to deal with change and how they take on that change.  Okonkwo lived his whole life knowing one thing, that a man must be a man, get titles, and do hard work.  Then within the course of 7 years his world is turned upside down and he doesn't like it.  I too am a person that is not keen to change, I hate that the laptops don't have word, even though I lose my flash drive and that is more practical technically I just hate it.

My favorite part of this book has to be when Okonkwo shows up after Enzima is taken.  this is the only time where he stops being all manly and really cares for someone.  If he showed this compasion more he wouldn't have lost his son to the church.  All in all this was a good book that I enjoyed reading.

Tragic Hero

In my deffinition of a tragic hero would be a person who tries his/her best to do what they think is right, but they are plagued by everything going horribly wrong.  Okonkwo is a tragic hero because in his mind he is doing everything he should do.  However he is cursed with bad luck, he accidently kills the boy at the funeral and has to leave.  Another time when he thinks he is doing the right thing is when he kills the messenger assuming everyone would join in and support the war but they don't.  He kills himself because he loses everything he holds dear, his way of life and his honor.  No matter what he does it never works out.

FEAR!!!

I know that every one fears something, even if they won't admit it, all the tribes fear the Umofia because lets face it they are just awesome and would win any war vs. another tribe.  Okonkwo doesn't fear much and he is a brave man but he does fear weakness, ever being thought of being weak; and he fears the loss of his loved ones, which he will never admit.  When he loses Ikemafuna he is distraught and doesn't eat or rest for like 3 days and is all depressed.  When the witch doctor comes to take Ekwefi to the caves he tries to stop the priestess because he loves Ekwefi and fears what will happen to her.  If I had to go away from my family for a long time I would probably be fine wih it for awhile, unless I was ripped away like Ikemafuna, then after awhile I would start to miss my family.

Live Life

I really don't care to put all the stuff about my life on the internet.  If something important happens to me yeah, I'll post something, but I post very rarely.  I also only get on like 3-4 times a week.  I do agree that social networking sites document too much stuff, I'm just trying to scroll through stuff and look for interesting things and all I can find is "so-so answered a question about so-so".  It's useless and takes up too much space.  People think they need to say everything that Happened in their life like "just drank sour milk" no one cares!!!!  Thats one reason that I will never get twitter because thats just too much.  I do like facebook too learn stuff like birthdays and know stuff like if someone says "broke my leg" thats important and I would read.  I also don't care for the Idea of blogging, it's me thinking my life is important enough that everyone should read, It isn't.

Hero vs. Epic Hero

There is a huge difference between a hero and an epic hero, to start out with the epic hero is just that much more awesome than a regular hero.  Beowulf would be an epic hero since everything he does just eminates his power, I mean come on he ripped off a mans arm that takes so much force to do that it's not even fathumable.  A regular hero is just a normal person that does right, they wont be remembered for their heroics they just do it because they know it is good.  Epic heros look the part too, they have ripped bodies, chisled abs (like mine), perfect hair, and have BA armor and weapons.  Normal heros may have a good appearance but

they don't give off the same vibe as a epic hero.     IDEAL EPIC HERO
 Beowulf though probably is a more rugged hero than the typical epic hero.