Book Review #1

Book Review On "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" by Frederick Douglass

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".
                                                        -Nelson Mandela

I chose this quote because it is the perfect example for this literary work. Frederick Douglass' ability to read opened his eyes to the realities of slavery. Besides, after learning how to read and by educating himself more, he understood that the ability to read was a pathway to freedom. This shows us how education can be used as a weapon to change the world. This novel is about the story of Douglass' life as a slave from childhood until he was free. Also, on how he addresses adversities of being enslaved and racial discrimination with the help of education. Douglass' main objective was to get educated and to bring an end to slavery. In the meanwhile, enhancing the society and creating equality amongst the people. This novel has enhanced the way I view things and convinced me to be grateful of everything that I have and not complain about it. According to the novel, it states slave children during that time were not told anything about their age and were separated from their mothers. In fact, Douglass was not even allowed to go to his mother's funeral nor did he know about her death until later on. This starts to make me think how some people's right are consistently being violated everyday. Yet, we still tend to complain about little unnecessary things. This type of ruthless cruelty still occurs in some parts of the world today and there is nothing to stop them.

The author mentions a lot of the things that the slaves had to confront, but the one that most significantly relates to my life is about the kinds of clothing and foods the slaves were provided. The slaves were provided with very little foods and sometimes weren't provided at all. The children were naked and had nothing to sleep on but a rough wool blanket. Looking at this event, I can learn a lot about myself because sometimes I complain to my parents about getting me a junk food and new fancy clothes. In the meanwhile, some people don't even have these things and some live their daily lives with no good clothing nor food. This makes me realize that I am very thankful to have a family, home and a variety of clothes to wear. As a result, I am starting to view things in a different perspective and by doing this, it allows me to open my eyes and see the mistakes that I make and also to think broadly. As one can see, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a very rare and unique book that gives us a view of what life was like as a black slave and making us view things in a different perspective.

My Analysis of "Advice to Youth" by Mark Twain

Analysis of Advice to Youth

The author of the essay starts off by making a valid statement which we all agree to. Also, bringing up facts and advices that elders nowadays gives to their younger ones. With that said, I felt that the author was right and knew what he was talking about. But then later on, the author made a little twist by giving advices to the readers that parents and elders usually don't do. This article is a very good example of satire since it uses irony in a very unnoticable way. Also because of the way how the author makes a twist after giving couple of good advices. 

Literary Term Quiz

Tenzing Younten

Period 8

Literary Element Assessment

• Plot - The sequence of events that happen in a story.

• Setting - The time and place in which a story happens.

• Theme - The lesson or message the reader learns by the end of a story.

• Imagery - Highly descriptive language that appeals to the five senses.

• Conflict - A problem, struggle or obstacle faced by characters in the story.

• Symbol - A person, place or thing that represents something else, usually an idea or belief.

• Narration - The particular perspective from which a story is told.

• Foreshadowing - Indications or hints given in a story for what will happen later on.

• Characterization - Using a character's actions, speech or thoughts to determine who that character is in a story.

• Metaphor - A figure of speech in which two unlike things are directly compared without use of like or as.

• Protagonist - The central character in a work of literature in which the action of the story revolves around.

• Antagonist - Any opposing character or force that acts against the protagonist in a story.

• Climax - Part of the plot structure; the point in a story when the fate of the protagonist is forever changed; the turning point.

• Resolution - Part of the plot structure; the ending of a story when events are usually resolved.

• Exposition - The beginning of a plot of the story when the setting, characters and initial conflicts are introduced.

• Genre - Any category of literature, such as fiction, non-fiction, memoir, etc.

• Simile - A figure of speech in which two unlike things are being compared using the words like or as.

• Personification - A figure of speech in which non-living or inanimate things are given human-like qualities.

• Alliteration - A figure of speech in which the same consonant sound repeats at the beginning of a word.

• Hyperbole - A figure of speech when comparisons are made in an extreme or exaggerated way.