Science rant

I believe that today most scientific endeavors are held inside corporations today instead of research colleges. This is in direct contrast with actual scientific research which is for the betterment of the human race instead of financial gain. This commercialization of science is ridiculous as it not only demeans science but makes it so that normal scientists have less chance of succeeding as universities will never be able to compete in funds against the corporations

Book review

Title: The Children of Men 
Author: P.D James
Genre: Sci- fi 
The book begins with an introduction to the Europe of 2021 where the entire human species has become infertile. The last generation to be born on the planet was in the year 1995, the generation was called the Omegas and they were studied beyond belief but humanities final hope of saving themselves proved fruitless. Instead they resigned to slowly die of as much of the pain of death had been removed. The older people going to the Quietus do commit suicide publicly, some against there own will. After the general information on 2021, Theo discusses his life with the reader and then it reverts back to current day oxford where he meets Julian. He then gets caught up in a small rebellion which ends with the saving of the human race. 

There are several main characters in this book, in order of importance they are: Theo, Julian, Xan, Marian, Luke and Rolf. Most of the characters react as they should under the circumstances except for Theo, he displays a distance from the world around him and only starts to care about life near the end of the book. Some of the characters in the book are stock characters such as Xan who is a stereotypical evil doer who can only see his way or Julian, a person who can do no wrong. Out of all of the characters in the book children of men I would have to say that Xan would be my favorite character as he manages to rally the people of England to his cause and still get away with the horrible acts that occur daily. In the story, Xan is the new leader of England. He runs the country with a council of four members to control the different aspects of the lives of the people. He is the “villain” in this story and becomes a key character near the end of the book.

The book theme I would have say would be sci fi as well as human emotion. In the book the plot shows what would happen when all order dissolves in a society. Some examples of this in the book would be the painted faces who have turned to insanity and the mass suicides also known as the Quietus. This book makes me think about what would happen if the entire human race was about to be destroyed and what I would do in that situation. 

I enjoyed the second part of the book more than the first as the second part of the book is the where the real rising action and climax take place. My favorite part of the book would have to be when Xan dies at the end and Theo claims the ring of the warden of England. I could identify with Theo’s position for the first part of the book as if the human race were in a crisis I would try to distance myself from the problem. I would have to say that I did learn something from reading this book, it would be the reaction to life when you know there is nothing left for the entire human race.

discussion 4

Summarizer
From chapters 13 to the end, Theo manages to become more human throughout the story, he steals a car, gets the car set on fire. He becomes a very strong character in the book and focuses mainly on protecting Julian. Rolf after the battle with the painted faces and finding out that Luke was the father flies into a rage and Rolf then leaves to go see Xan. From there on it is a desperate bid for survival by the remaining three people, Theo, Julian and Marian manage to get another car and supplies and make it to a small area in a remote place. Marian dies near the end, killed by Xan and the first human to be born in 25 years is born.

questions for discussion 3

1. do you think that it was a good idea for Theo to talk to Xan?

Yes i think that talking to Xan was a good idea as Theo and Xan grew up together so there was no danger in talking to him.

2. why do you think that Theo decided to talk to Xan?

he decided to talk to Xan because after the Queites he emotionally moved by the event. 

3. In your opinion, was the Queites a good idea?

The queites itself was a good idea if it was not so public and the people who took part wanted to die.

4. Was the prospect that the SSP were killing the people to much for Theo to grasp?

No he knew they were capeble of killing innocent people, just witnessing it for the first time was to much for him.

5. Do you think that the drivers view on God was justified?

Yes i think that the drivers view was justified because up untill that point God had abandoned them 

6. Is Theo a pirate?

THEO IS A PIRATE

I am the discussion director for this week 

Journal 2

1. What point of view is your story told in? the story was written in both first person and third person as part of the book is Theo’s diary and the rest is real time.

2. Is the point of view effective? I think that the point of view of the story is effective as it shows us a glimpse of the main characters views as well as a traditional story line. The first person shows Theo’s thoughts on society while the third person view gives us the author’s opinion on the novel.

3. What is one of the most important/memorable events that have happened so far? Think about that moment and re-tell it from another point of view. For example, if you were reading We All Fall Down as your Literature Circles novel you may re-write from Will’s fathers Point of View(min. 300 words) so far in the novel I think that the most important part would be the first couple pages of the book where they are describing the death of the last human being to be born on the planet. If I were rewriting this part I would write it on behalf of Theo as he would be able to tell us about his thoughts on the subject of the world no longer cares. Theo would have commented on the fact that not a single person in the world would have cared about the death of the person and that is echoed throughout the book as we see the breaking down of human society. 

Discussion three

Vocabulary for this week 
1. Compulsory: Page 30 chapter 3 “nothing is compulsory at woolcombe only unhappiness “ required by rule 
2. Pretensions: Page 32 chapter 4 “ my mother had artistic pretensions” a false or unsupportable quality
3. Lucrative: page 33 chapter 4 “ my mother’s hobby was not unlucrative” profitable 
4. Triumph: page 34 chapter 4 “I enjoyed these solitary excursions, the risk, the thrill of discovering a treasure, the triumph of returning with my spoils” ultimate success 
5. Averted: page 35 chapter 4 “she would speak with eyes averted” turned away