The End

During this semester of literature class I felt as though as the semester began that I would dread this class because I was not a fan of reading or writing at all. With all the different novels and different things we began to read i realized myself being challenged by the readings. I actually began to enjoy reading and writing about the things that i learned during the readings. Blogging about my thoughts about the reading really helped me to solidify my thoughts on different things that i learned in each  book. The Hunger Games was probably my favorite novel that we read as a class. It opened up a whole different thought about what we are entertained by. It made me really sit back and think about what entertained me. It made me feel guilty about getting pleasure out of reading or watching a movie where people are getting hurt. This semester also really got me to go out there and find my own things that are good for you. I want to gain more knowledge about all aspects of life and i know now that a big way to gain knowledge is to read and to explore the arts. I really never knew that i would respond to literature in the way that i have. Reading good literature makes you look at yourself and really begin to question the things you do. I learned a lot from my classmates and especially my group mates and of course Dr. Mortimore.. I felt like my group and I got along really well and we all discussed everything thrown at us very well. Literature is important and I know that now.

To read or not to read

There are so many different books in this world. Books link us to our past. Without the books that we have now, we would not be able to know much about the past and be able to move forward. We would not be as advanced in technologies that we have now if it wasn’t for the books that people have written for us to use to learn from and develop. I by no means see myself as much of a reader, but ever since the start of this lit class I have been more open to reading. It is actually becoming more interesting for me to sit down and read a book. I am realizing how important reading really is. Reading is very important, especially because I am a college student and reading is always needed. I have realized that I need to read more, and it is helping me with my grades. I have seen an improvement ever since I have started reading more. There are many different kinds of books in this world. There are books for ever person; it doesn’t matter if you are interested in sports, cooking, fiction, nonfiction, or anything else you can think of. There is definitely a book for you. I think that it would be a very negative effect on people if books were completely gone.

I think that without the books that we have and the ones that authors will continue to write us as a society would suffer. We do have the internet and Google and different things, but technology always breaks. Books are pretty much not breakable. All you have to do is open a book and begin to read, you don’t have to log on or turn on a computer to do so. Even though we do have all this technology people always turn back to books to educate themselves. Books should be a huge part of everyone’s life.

If we continue to “burn books” our society will continue to decline. We cannot always rely on “Google it”.  I believe the reason why we are always relying on our technology is because we want everything to be faster, we everything to happen right now. We don’t want to take some time out of our “busy” schedules to do things the old fashioned way. It really is not that hard to sit down and read a book instead of sitting in front of our televisions or computers and watching Jersey Shore re runs. When you read it is a proven fact that people become more knowledgeable. With the help of reading you become smarter and have a wider vocabulary and learn the views of others instead of your own. I know that when I am older I am going to enjoy sitting down on my recliner after a hard day’s work and enjoying a nice book. Hopefully we don’t burn too many books by then.

To be entertained....

To be honest I really wasn’t looking forward to reading The Hunger Games that is why I put off so long to read it. I ended up reading it the two days before we had the quiz. I was really surprised at how great this book really was it held my attention the whole time.  I am not much of a reader, usually just when it is about sports especially when it is about the Phillies is when I read. The book was incredibly interesting and once I started reading it I couldn’t put it down. I found myself reading for 3 and 4 hours at a time. This book was surprisingly similar to the lottery where picking people to be sacrificed was such a normalcy. The shocking thing is that not 23 people are given up in The Hunger Games, not just 1 like in the lottery. It is really sad that people get entertained from watching people die on television. It is different when we watch movies, but in the Hunger Games people where dying in real life and people still got a kick out of watching it. I know I would not be able to sit back on my couch and watch something on tv where someone is actually dying. That is just unreal.

I didn’t know what to think for the 24 kids that where put into the games. I just couldn’t see myself in their shoes. The person I really looked out for in this book would have to be Katniss. She was my favorite character because I would do the same thing that she would have done to save her sisters. I have 5 younger brothers and sisters so I know what is like to feel very protective of them. I would sacrifice myself over them in a heartbeat.  I have the same type of responsibilities for my family like Katniss has for hers, maybe not to the extent of going out into the wild and grabbing food for breakfast, but making sure everyone eats their breakfast is more my job.

This book shares many similarities to the other book we read 1984. In both of these books the authors preach the point of watching over their people and keeping in complete control. The people in charge use scare tactics to get their people to cooperate with how they want their country ruled. Although Big Brother was not broadcasting the peoples’ lives, they were watching over their every move. In both books the people talk about different consequences for going against the rule of the government.

In the Running Man, a man is on a tv show where he is put through various tasks and has to survive. The thing of it is he is actually doing all of the stunts for real and could die. This goes hand and hand with the Hunger Games because the children are aired on tv and have to try and stay alive infront of every one watching.

Real TV?

I myself do not really like to watch reality tv. One of the only reality tv shows that I watch is The Bachelor. I watch this show because my girlfriend watches every single season of it. I think much of the show is staged for television. There have only been a few people that have stayed together on that show and it has been airing for like tenish years. The show i decided to watch for this blog is Jersey Shore. I watched Season 2 episode 26. I chose to watch this show because I think it is the most unreal show out of them all. It is so incredibly fake. There are no people that live the way that they do in real life. So in this episode, Ronnie's girlfriend Sammi made out with someone else so Ronnie is mad at her and they hold a grudge the whole time, they go out and party and get drunk, then they make up in the end. There are only a few things that see in this show that are actually real. They are real people, they live in a real house, but all the drama and everything else that goes on is definitely staged. There is no group of people that have as many issues as these people do. When I watch this show it makes me laugh because everytime you watch it you know what is going to happen. The same things happen every episode. They fight, they hook up, they get drunk, they make up and every thing is ok in the end. The attributes that are valued in this show would be sex appeal, the women have very revealing clothing, and all the men show off their huge muscles. The people in this show are not intelligent. I think that might be why people watch it. To see stupid people dressed up in barely nothing. I responded to Ronnie in this episode because his girl cheated on him and I would be upset too. I didn't really enjoy the show. I don't like to watch girly drama. This show is alluring because people like to watch good looking people have issues on television. This show is probably mainly watched by women. I don't think there are many guys that would be attracted to this type of show, but then again I don't know if that is true, it's just a guess..  Reality TV works because it gives people something to watch that they think is real because they don't like what is going on in their life.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/jersey-shore-season-2-ep-26-at-the-end-of-the-day/1660579/playlist.jhtml#name=shows

Security vs Privacy

In many ways we do not have full privacy like we did when we did not have as advanced technology as we do now. As technology advanced privacy lessened. The government can track everything about everyone. It is not hard at all for someone to find where you live and find out who you are with what the internet has turned into today. There are security cameras everywhere. We have to be careful about what we do in public because many of us know that we are being watched. I do agree with the fact that they have security cameras in public. I think that it prevents a lot of crime from happening, and if they need to catch someone that has done something wrong in the future they can look back on cameras and find the perpetrater. After 9/11 security has really heightened in the United States. The government does not want something like that to happen ever again. I think that security is  a good thing, just not the extent of what it is in 1984. Privacy does exist. We all have the privacy in our own homes.

In 1984 the way that they have security is way too over the top. They have telescreens that watch the people, and the children of the country watch over their parents to find out if they are committing thought crimes. This is a terrible thing to have. By Big Brother having all of these security measures I believe that it shows weakness in him. I think that he is truly scared that the people are going to over run him, that is why he has to always keep watch on everyone. He shows many similarities to Hitler, but if Hitler thought someone was against him he would kill them on the spot.

Advertisements on my Feed

The advertisements that would definitely be in my feed would be Penn State Football, Reeses, Nike, and Applebees. These would show up on my feed because I love all of these different things and they help to describe all of my likes and personality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXP7KUH4cA8
Penn State Football- This ad would would be on my feed because I am all about Penn State football. Ever since I was little I have been a Penn State fan. Believe it or not my first outfit was a nittany lion get up. My whole family loves Penn State. I have been going to at least 3 or 4 games a year all my life. My dream growing up was to become the next great linebacker at "Linebacker U". This dream was going good for me because I was a very good linebacker growing up, but then my sophomore year of high school, during the football season I got my first of six concussions. So my dream was shot. I still love Penn State football and always will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0oDaA-cWZ4
Reeses- A reeses commercial would air on my feed. It would be on my feed because I love to eat reeses. That was always my favorite candy ever since my first Halloween when I ate my first reeses. I love the taste of chocolate and peanut butter put together into one bite.  I would never get sick of reeses. Reeses are without a doubt the best candy there is out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55BZ2gSsSmY
Nike- Nike would be on my feed. Nike would be on my feed because I have tons of nike clothing, and nike shoes are also the shoes that I wear the most. I believe they are the best brand. In every sport that I have played I have always worn their brand of shoe. I wear nike cleats, wrestling shoes, and I have  a nike baseball glove. I have always been happy with all the nike products i have used. Nike would be on my feed not only for shoes, but also for every other product they have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihJqUpS6EaE&feature=related
Applebees- Applebees would be on my feed because it was my all time favorite restaurant to eat at. I love their meals, appetizers and their desserts. It is also the place where I took my girlfriend Kayla on our first date. So every month we go to Applebees to celebrate us being together. It is a wonderful tradition. I have had many great laughs at Applebees. It is in my opinion the best place to go with family and friends. I suggest if any of you are looking for a place to eat with your friends, you should chose Applebees.

The End of the Challenge

So challenge is over. I made it through all seven days of this challenge. My last day was actually friday. It was not a difficult day for me to stay away from the technology because I knew it was the last. My girlfriend and I threw football outside on friday because it was incredibly beautiful outside. Having the nice weather outside was a great distraction from technology. We spent the whole day outside, then we went for a walk and got Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's later that night. After that was over we played the board game called life. This challenge really opened my eyes to how much I do truly rely on technology. It was a very hard challenge at first because I had been in an every day routine that involved some use of technology. It was quite relaxing finding other things to do without the distraction of cell phones or the TV or any of that. When I started using technology again on saturday I didn't find the need to be sitting in front of the TV all day, or texting all the time. I know now in the future when I feel like I need a brake all I need to do is put the technology away for a few days.