Book introduction: 1984

Author name: George Orwell

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Copyright: 1948

Number of pages: 336

Synopsis: The novel takes place in London, England, and the author predicts what might happen in 1984. The story is about a low-ranked member (Winston Smith) of London’s ruling party in Oceania. Wherever he goes, the Party is able to monitor his actions, his thoughts, and his speech. The figure that seems to follow him around is known as Big Brother. In an attempt to censor the thoughts of the citizens, the Party has invented a type of language known as Newspeak, which prevents citizens from talking about the political injustices. What is worse, just thinking about rebelling against the government is illegal (this is known as a thoughtcrime). However, Winston decides once and for all that he will attempt to overthrow Big Brother. Will he be successful?

Link to a Book Review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10076568?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1

The reviewer posted a positive review and since there is a lot of suspense, and I realize that it is on most high school reading lists, I decided to read it.

Why I chose to Read this Particular Novel: I chose to read this particular novel because I enjoy suspense. Also, the cover seems pretty interesting (since there is a large eye on the cover). Because the reviewer provided an excellent review of the book, I decided that it was the best for me. Since it talks about a totalitarian society and it is about censorship, I am curious to find out what an individual would do in order to attempt to overthrow the government and whether he will be successful. I look forward to reading this novel to see just how the government is able to brainwash and control its citizens, as well as try and experience the tension that is experienced by living in a totalitarian society.

Annabelle

Name of the movie:   Annabelle

Movie company: New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster Productions, The Safran Company, RatPac Entertainment

Actors/actresses: Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Alfre Woodard

Plot: This movie is about a family whose mother Mia was willing to have another baby. Her husband John knows his wife likes to collect dolls, so he bought a doll for her wife as a surprise. At night, they hear some screaming from the neighbourhood, and when they open the window, they see someone killing people. They call the police and go to the neighbour’s house. However, after the killers see them, the killers try to kill them too. After the police come to the house to save them, one of the killers gets killed by the police. After the police explain that the killer was the couple in the evil group, the group believes if you kill someone that can appear evil, so they kill her parents. After a few days, they see the television open by itself and somehow the house was consumed in a fire. They go to the hospital and the newborn baby was being born, so they figure out to throw the doll away and move to an apartment. When they move to the apartment, the doll is sent to the apartment, too. Mia thinks the doll really wants to follow them so she keeps the the doll in the house. After a few days, the doll looks like it is running and playing in the house and try to hide the baby somewhere. However, the doll has more evil plans for the family.

What you liked? In this movie, the doll has a very scary appearance, which builds suspense. Also, it is based on a true story.

What you didn’t like? This movie background intro is good, but the movie only shows the doll has powerful abilities. However, there is not too much action other than a few scary moments.

How many stars? (out of 5) and why? I would give 3 stars to this movie since it is based on the real story. I think the actors are good but the story maybe scarier or have more sound effects.

Goodnight Mommy

Name of the movie: Goodnight, Mommy

Movie company:Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion, GmbH

Actors/actresses:Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz

Plot: This movie is about a single mother who has 2 ten-year old twin boys named Elias and Lukas, but one day, their mother went somewhere else.

Elias and Lukas are playing everyday outside the house. One day, they go to the nearest pond and then they find out their mother came back home. They are so happy to meet their mother but they can sense that something is wrong. They feel they are being scared, unhappy, and the mother seems to get more easily angry at them. They try and test their mother by making each boy’s hair look identical, or asking questions to their mother. However, they do not trust their mother, so they mistreat her. That is only the beginning of their nightmare....

What you liked? In the beginning, the two twins are very happy everyday, but after their mother’s car came back, the mood changed from happy to serious. I feel that the mystery of the woman underneath the bandages may not be the mother, and that creates a lot of suspense as well.

What you didn’t like? I think this movie wanted to show some meaningful in the story but it was hard to understand to know this movie first time. Usually, this movie has to be watched at least two or three times in order to pick out details that I didn’t catch before.

How many stars? (out of 5) and why? I would give this movie 3.5 stars because when I watched the movie, I had a lot of questions, and because the storyline was a bit hard to follow the first time, I spent more time asking myself questions than actually enjoying watching the film.

The boy

Name of the movie: The Boy

Movie company: Lakeshore Entertainment

Huayi Brother Pictures

Vertigo Entertainment

Actors/actresses: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans

 

Plot:

Greta wants to escape her life, so she gets a job that is far away from her town. The job is to take care of their 8 year-old son. When she goes into the house, before taking care of their son, Mr. and Mrs Heelshire go over with Greta what she needs to do. There are ten items on the liast, and if she misses one of them, she will be punished. After she finds out that Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire’s son had perished in a fire 20 years ago, they had this doll as a way to cope. When the Heelshires leave the house, Greta begins to violate the rules, thinking that nothing will happen. However, that is just the beginning of her nightmare. Greta begins to believe that the spirit of Brahms lives inside the porcelain doll.

What You Liked?

The part I liked about this movie is that the porcelain dolls shows up acting very strange. Throughout the movie, the protagonist knows something is wrong when the couple asks her to babysit their son. However, that wouldn’t be much of a movie if she just left the house. I feel that because Greta is the curious type of person, she will be able to investigate whether the spirit of the boy actually lives inside the doll.

What You Didn’t Like?

Even though Greta is curious, I feel that she should have left the house after the couple introduces the “boy” to them. It didn’t provide too much background information, so the viewer had to infer most of the time.

How many starts? (out of 5) and why?

I would give this movie 3.7 stars out of 5. I know it sounds weird. I feel that it is a bit more than 3.5 stars, but not quite 4 stars. I am not going to spoil the ending; you will have to see it for yourself, but it requires a lot of piecing together for the movie. For those who like horror movies and solving puzzles, this may be the movie for you, and you will disagree with my movie rating. Watch if you dare...

Lights Out

Name of the movie: Lights Out

Movie company: New Line Cinema
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Atomic Monster Productions
Grey Matter Productions

Actors/actresses:

Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Batema, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, Maria Bello

Plot: This story is about a single mother who had already gotten married twice. The first time her mother and husband died. After getting married again, she gave birth to a little boy, but the second husband died too. Her sister and brother found out that the mother was always talking to someone else in the dark. However, the sister thought her mother was too scared to stay with her, so she moves out. However, after the sister moved away, her mother felt worse than before, and she wanted to introduce the man to her son. In this dark place, her son also felt shocked, and after that, he chooses to live with his sister. One night, everything seemed to be moving by itself and the writer wrote some words to indicate that he has been there before. After that day, the sister and brother went back home to ask the man if he is still living or not. However, the mother cannot explain what is going on or why the man always stays in the dark. However, the worst has just begun...

What you liked? I liked how this movie establishes a very suspenseful mood. The fact that the mother appears to be talking to someone establishes this mood. Throughout the movie, the audience has to guess why the mother keeps talking like that.

What you didn’t like? I found that even though it way scary the first time watching it, the movie spends too long creating that suspenseful atmosphere.

How many stars? (out of 5) and why? I would give this movie 4 stars. This movie cannot provide me with clear information about what happens or why the man can only appear in the dark.

Conjuring 2

Name of the movie:Conjuring 2

Movie company:The Safran Company, Atomic Monster

Actors/actresses:Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe

Plot

This story takes place during 1977 in London, England. A single family with four children move to the town of Enfield and lived in an old house. However, a few days later, this house had some strange occurrences, such as someone knocking on the door or violently moving the furniture around. After the family tried to get a hold of the authorities to investigate what was going on, the police officer passed this case to Mr. and Mrs. Warren in order to solve the mystery.

What I liked about the movie? This movie is easy to understand what is going on at the beginning to the end. In this movie, the director managed to use sound effects very cleverly, since they build suspense, when in reality, it turns out there is nothing appearing. Near the end of the movie, there is one ghost that is pleading for help to Mr. and Mrs. Warren, which is something I have never seen before. In this case, the ghost is relatively friendlier than others. The director has the audience believing that the person is possessed, but it is a sign to tell the family to get out of the house.

What i didn’t like about the movie? Since this is the first scary film that I have seen where there is a plot twist, I could not find anything I didn’t like about the movie.

How many stars? (out of 5) and why? I would give the movie 4.5 stars out of 5. I feel that Hollywood will perhaps release another sequel to tie up all the loose ends of the movie.

The Kite Runner final post

Describe a problem faced by the main character.  Explain how the main character deals with the problem.  Make a personal connection to this (either your own experience or that of someone you know).

Amir knew what is right and wrong when something happened but he always chose to hide behind Hassan or hide his own feelings to protect himself instead of standing up. Like Baba mentioned, Amir would be someone who can’t stand up to anything; this shows the relationship between Baba and Amir. It is a tough relationship because Baba feels he knows what is good for his son, and Amir feels he can never make his father proud. The relationship becomes even more strained when Amir finds out that Baba had an affair and ended up having Hassan as an illegitimate chld. Despite that, Baba still treats Hassan with greater respect than Amir.

When Amir became an adult, he found Hassan’s son to save him from Assef. He reflects on the brotherly bond that Amir and Hassan had and realizes that he did not treat Hassan with the same level of respect. This becomes more apparent near the end when he feels guilty over how he treats Hassan. He makes the decision of going back to Afghanistan to save Hassan and his son. By saving Sohrab and bringing him back to the US, Amir will feel a sense of redemption.  

I remember one day later was the final exam but I chose to go outside with my friend instead to stay at home to study for my final test. I knew that if I didn’t study I will fail my test, but whatever I study or not I don’t think I can pass my test but I know I chose the wrong choice. When I went to go write my exam, I completely blanked out on the questions. I only wish I listened to my instinct and stayed at home to study for my final. I now learned from my mistake to focus on my studies, since I can always hang out with my friends another time. However, I only have one chance to take my exam.

Would you recommend this book to another reader? Why/Why not? What kind of person would you recommend it to? What would you tell the person about the book?

I would definitely recommend Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner to other readers because it contains a lot of suspense, and it makes readers know more about Persian culture. One of the elements is kite flying, and it shows how different it is from western culture in terms of the entertainment. I would say that teenagers and adults would enjoy this kind of literature, as well as those who enjoy a suspenseful and action-filled story. I am usually one of those readers who does not like others revealing the ending, so I would only tell them to keep reading and find out. All I would say is that the protagonist Amir has to make a very difficult decision and the outcome can change his relationship with his family. Overall, this was an enjoyable novel study, and I learned a lot more about Persian culture and expanded my vocabulary in the process.