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Showing posts from December, 2014

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

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The Pearl by John Steinbeck                  Kino is a diver looking for pearls. Pearl diving is how he provides for his family, just like his father before him and his father’s father. He lives in a brush house away from the town with his wife Juana and their son Coyotito. When Coyotito is bitten by a scorpion Juana prays for a way for them to pay the doctor to heal their only child.   When Kino dives that day he finds a pearl the size of a sea gull’s egg. The people in the brush houses refer to it as the “Pearl of the World” and can only imagine the fortune that will come to Kino and his family. But the pearl doesn’t bring the fortune Kino had hoped. It brings greed, suspicion and betrayal.                 Based on a Mexican folk tale The Pearl is simple and precise in its delivery. In less than one hundred pages Steinbeck produces a novel that highlights many different aspects of human nature, examining each briefly and thoroughly. He questioned the faith of Kino and his

Banned Book: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath                 Esther Greenwood thought she was on the right path in life. She was given a scholarship to attend a university and was enrolled in their honors program. She won a fashion magazine contest and was given a job in New York as a prize with all expenses paid. During her time in New York she was given the opportunity to meet famous people from many different walks of life and attend shows while in the city. Yet she was extremely unhappy. She returned home and attempted to kill herself. From there she received a ticket to a mental institution, undergoing shock treatments and therapy. She was stuck under the bell jar and saw no way out of the enclosure she was trapped in.                 The Bell Jar is an examination of the life of a woman being crushed by her own indecisions and the expectations she felt were pressed upon her. Would Esther ever marry? She didn’t know for sure but she doubted it. She wanted too much for herself but wha

Maleficent adapted by Elizabeth Rudnick

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Maleficent adapted by Elizabeth Rudnick                 Maleficent was born in a time of great trouble in the Moors. The faeries were once again at war with King Henry, a human intent on stealing away the precious land from the faeries. Hermia and Lysander, Maleficent’s parents believed that there were good humans that could be trusted and who loved the land as much as the faeries. They lost their lives in the fight to protect the Moors, leaving their only child to be raised by those who lived in the Moors. Grow she would into a beautiful faerie with strong wings like her mother and piercing green eyes like her father. Maleficent also held the same faith as her parents that there had to be good humans in the world. Stefan would be the embodiment of that hope. Stefan and Maleficent became friends as children and their friendship grew and blossomed. Then Stefan betrayed Maleficent taking from her not only her wings but the faith she had in humans. One act of betrayal changed the