Alice's Multiple Wardrobe changes!

Alice's character in the Tim Burton version of the movie Alice in Wonderland goes through sooo many wardrobe changes. Our activity for this book in class was to encourage everyone to design their own costumes. Colleen Atwood, who designed the wardrobe for the movie, won an Oscar (the only Oscar the movie won). I think she is an amazing woman with such wonderful creativity and I truly admire her!!
One thing I particularly loved about Alice's wardrobe changes was that they changed according to her size. At the beginning, when she first drinks the liquid that shrinks her, her dress becomes too big for her and she dawns her stockings as a dress.
Then, when she gets big again, her dress is too tight on her. I also loved the dress that the Mad Hatter made for her in like five seconds! Her dresses were truly couture!

Mad As A Hatter

The highly popularized nail polish company O.P.I. generated hundreds of money last spring, when their one of a kind color "Mad As A Hatter" hit salon shelves across the United States. Paired with 3 other colors, "Mad As A Hatter" set itself apart from the rest with it's multicolored facet of glitters that was unlike any other glitter polish seen before. Despite the rave about this color based on Tim Burton's movie, I think the fans failed to acknowledge the true origin of this color, and the brilliant author that gave birth to the character off of which it was inspired.
Either way, this limited line of nail polish colors isn't available anywhere anymore, which makes me extremely sad. D: Take a look at all of the colors in this collection, they're cool!! Haha, what can I say? I'm a nailpolish geek
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Absolutely Alice-glittery blue. This color definitely goes hand in hand with the main character Alice. In the original Disney version based off of the book by Carroll, Alice was depicted as having a blue dress. In the Tim Burton remake, she dawns a lot of different dresses because of her multiple size changes and therefore multiple wardrobe changes. This color ties both versions of the movie together.
(:

The Alice in Wonderland collection-The collection was made up of four different colors. All of them had names that went along with the Tim Burton movie. The different colors were: Off with Her Red!- a hot red color, Absolutely Alice- a glittery blue, Mad as a Hatter- a multi colored glitter polish, and Thanks So Muchness!- A shimmery red color.

Mad As A Hatter !!!!- It is such an amazing glitter polish that truly embodies the Johnny Depp's character as the Mad Hatter in the Tim Burton remake of the movie.

Hermione Granger: The Misplaced Ravenclaw?

Hermione Granger, as depicted by the Harry Potter books, is a character that should truly be admired. Not only did Hermione possess the wisdom and intelligence of a wizard with multiple PhD's, but she also exhibited courage as well as a strong character in moments of grave danger. As to the validity of her placement in the Gryffindor house, there is no doubt that Hermione was indeed a Gryffindor at heart. However, one cannot help but to wonder whether her unsurpassable wisdom could have landed her a worthier place in the Ravenclaw house.
Rowena Ravenclaw, who along with the four other founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, declared one of the four houses of the school for students who held certain characteristics. Throughout the series, it is affirmed that students in Ravenclaw hold the characteristics of intelligence, wit, creativity, and resourcefulness. The students in Ravenclaws were always regarded as being the brightest thinkers at Hogwarts, and some even possessed a certain level of arrogance, fed by their confidence in their own intelligence.
Ultimately, the question is: did Hermione really belong in Gryffindor? Or would she have fit better in the Ravenclaw house? No doubt, the Harry Potter series would have been a LOT different if Hermione had been placed in Ravenclaw. Harry and Hermione probably would not have become such good friends, and her relationship with Ron would have probably never of had the chance to blossom. I believe that if Hermione had been placed in Ravenclaw, she would have never changed the snobby attitude she had in the first Harry Potter book, before she had met Harry and Ron. I think that the friendship that the three developed helped to soften Hermione's uptight character. In the last books of the series, one can really see Hermione's character unfold.
The fact that she dropped out of school to help her friends proved that Hermione did indeed deserve her place in Gryffindor. Looking into the process that a student underwent when being sorted into a house by the sorting hat, I noticed that in reality, the hat ultimately gave the student a choice. Harry was told that he would have gone far in Slytherin, but when the sorting hat read Harry's mind and heard that he did not want to be a Slytherin, it understood Harry's choice and placed him in Gryffindor.
Hermione has always been one of my favorite characters. What I have always admired about her the most is her thirst for knowledge. I think that a lot of readers view Hermione as having a natural intelligence, but actually, I think that her constant studying and researching in the library has helped her gain all of that wisdom and information. I believe that without her, Harry would have never been able to defeat Voldemort all of the times that he did, not to mention all of the other spells she helped him apply to other situations. Hermione Granger truly deserved her spot in Gryffindor. She was a student that would have made Godric Gryffindor proud.

Bibliography
O'Demus, Nick. "Ravenclaw." Harry Potter Wiki. 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London, Bloomsbury. 1998. Print.
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: A.A. Levine, 1998. Print.

Jacob Parsley - My Anti-Hero

Name: Jacob Parsley
Age: 23
Jacob is a tall lanky guy with shaggy brown hair that covers his eyes. He tends to bump into things a lot, and people wonder if his hair prevents him from seeing where he is going. Well, the reality of it is that Jacob is blind. Not only that, but he is also deaf and mute. Yes, it's true. He might seem like an unlikely hero, and yeah he kind of is, but he has the tendency of being at the right place at the right time. No, he does not have a superpower, but he does have pretty fast reflexes. His daily walks around the city get him into some pretty dangerous situations.
One day, he was walking his dog when all of a sudden a robber ran out of a bank that he had just robbed.He didn't see Jacob and he crashed into him. Jacob stopped, not being able to see or hear what was going on around him. Little did he know that he had just knocked the robber out, and the robber was laying on the sidewalk unconscious. The police arrived at the scene 20 minutes later, and thanked Jacob for his help. Of course, Jacob could not hear a word they were saying so he simply walked away and finished walking his dog.

His Master: The physical therapist he visits weekly that helps Jacob work on his disabilities. Think of him as being like Annie Sullivan (Helen Keller's teacher) in the movie The Miracle Teacher.

Villain: Any of the typical city criminals. You have your robbers, peeping toms, child molestors, teen pranksters (graffitti writers), and men who try to steal old women's purses.

Why he is an anti-hero: His lack of senses make him more imperfect than your typical human being, in the way that these defects restrain him from developing useful skills. However, his coordination is very good. Also, the fact that he does not even know that he is saving lives makes him unlike your typical hero. He never gloats or brags about what he does, because he is not even aware of it.

How's that for an Anti-Hero?! :D

Bibliography
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London, Bloomsbury. 1998. Print.

Pondering Potter: The Movie Adaptation

The movie adaptation of Rowling's second book in the HP series, was a little strange for me... I have made a list of the ups and downs of the movie (things I liked, and things that bothered me)

Like:
-the casting for this movie (and all HP movies) was great. Although, I think that the hair & makeup people should have teased Emma Watson's hair a bit more to make it look like the description of Hermione in the books. The Weasley's looked spectacular. Ron and his family all have the flaming red hair. It was brilliant!
-The setting. I think that for the first two movies, the brightly lit rooms and colorful props were very appropriate. I noticed that with the original director, the HP movies had a little more feel of happiness. When the director changed, the movies became a little darker and more sinister looking (which would be appropriate because the series also changes in regards to overall mood).
-The score. I absolutely LOVE the Harry Potter movies score. I actually like it so much that I have it on my ipod...ehh don't tell anyone, thats kind of embarrassing... I love the fact that it has a mixture of happy and upbeat segments and slower more mysterious segments. If you research the soundtracks of each of the HP movies you will notice that though the HP theme score remains the same, there are various changes within the song that adapt it to each movie.

Dislike:
-The special effects. Okay, so it is true that this movie was made a while back when special effects had not completely evolved to what they are now, and also, there was a different director. Still, I can't help but cringe at the cheesiness of some of the special effects. I guess it bothers me because I have watched the Harry Potter movies backwards, and I'm used to the intense graphics and special effects that the later movies have.
-Snape's hair. BLECHH!! In the book, Snape was always described as having long black curtains of hair that covered his face most of the time. Also, in the books, Snape has a mustache and a little goatee. I like how Snape's movie character has evolved over the years, however. His hair is now much longer and greasier looking, which is more appropriate for his character.
-All the parts that were left out! I understand that many of them are not important to push the plot forward, but still!!

Pondering Potter: The Dursley's and Dobby (Chapters 1-8)

I am so glad that Mrs. Watson is letting us read Harry Potter in class this semester! I fell in love with the series when I was in middle school, and I never get tired of re-reading the books. One of the things that I love the most about the way that J.K. Rowling writes, is the fact that she is able to cater to so many different crowds through her writing. Her vocabulary is easy enough for kids to understand. Though the HP books are pretty thick, Rowling finds a way to make ever chapter flow and never get tedious. In contrast to Tolkien (I'm not hating on him or anything), whose choice of words in his writing made his books heavy, and not so easy to grasp.
In the first part of this book, and all other HP books, I always dreaded reading about Harry's misfortunes stuck in the Dursley's household. I always anticipated the moment that he would finally be able to leave their house at the end of summer and go back to Hogwarts. In Chamber of Secrets, Harry endured a long summer at the Dursley's depressed because he had not received any letters from his friends. He soon discovered that Dobby a house elf was holding all of his letters as a part of his plan to keep Harry from going back to Hogwarts. I have to admit that the first time I was introduced to Dobby in this book back in 8th grade, I was soo annoyed with him! His thinking wasn't too bright, and he only made things worse for Harry by producing a levitating spell in the kitchen, and getting Harry locked up in his room. Though in a way doing all of those things to Harry was his goal in order to keep him from going back to Hogwarts, Dobby ended up getting Harry almost expelled from school and (as is later revealed) made him miss the Hogwarts train...*ooh, that was a small spoiler*.
All in all, I felt that in this first part of the book Dobby was introduced as sort of a nuisance, whose motives were good but were just not carried out correctly.

A Dangerous Obsession

(I'd just like to point out that I have never watched the first two movies of the "Lord of the Ring" series so the only information I know, I got it from the movie we watched in class.)

The things life throws at us can make or break us. Much can be said about the ring that Frodo carried around his neck. Not only did it hold strong powers, but it also affected whoever wore it greatly. Frodo's mission was to carry the ring to the (dark city) where he would destroy it, and in doing so he decided to carry it around his neck to avoid its dangerous powers. However, the ring's power did not cease when he wore it around his neck. Instead, the influence that it had on Frodo was somewhat subdued. Sadly, Frodo still held a desire for it deep down, and it was that desire for it that led him to believe that anyone and everyone was trying to take it away from him. His paranoia helped make him an easy target for Smeagle, who in an attempt to steal the ring for himself, convinced Frodo that Sam was trying to take the ring from him.
In life, there are those like Frodo who under the influence of an external danger/obsession see the world in a distorted way. Many people driven by addictions can become obsessed with said addiction and in turn become slaves of that addiction. Alcoholics glued to a bottle of vodka see the world differently and lose conscious of those they once loved and cared about. Families that are torn apart and the alcoholic family member finds himself or herself completely and entirely alone, isolated from the rest with only alcohol as their comofort.
A more popular obsession within our generation can be found in shopping. There are teens who claim to feel an adrenaline rush after making a purchase of nice clothes. The obsession that many teens have with fashion and material things can be mirrored by the obsession that Smeagle had with the ring. Such obsessions also come with great sacrifices. To afford the bundles of expensive clothing housed in a teen girl's closet, someone must make the sacrifice to give up their hard earned money to buy the clothes, whether it be the girl or her parents. This economic trade-off is one that can place many families in economic distress. By choosing to remain obsessed with the ring, Smeagle gave up his comfortable life as a hobbit, and transformed into a horrible looking creature that survived off of raw fish. Making the decision of sacrificing important aspects of our lives to enjoy the pleasures of an obsession with a material object is a predicament we might find ourselves in someday.
I think that the most important thing to remember if we are ever faced with having to make that choice, is who we are. We must weigh the importance of our loved ones and various other endeavors that we may have had before having met that problem, and decide whether those things are worth giving up.

A Christmas Carol

A prominent theme in Dicken's A Christmas Carol, is that of selfishness, and the impact that it had on the different social classes of that time period. Ebenezer Scrooge, a successful businessman, had allowed himself to be transformed by the evil of the money that he horded over the years. His character, which had at one point been sweet and humble had turned into the complete opposite. His family had abandoned him in hopes of escaping his cold demeanor and cruel temperament. Scrooge was a greedy businessman who had no shame in demanding money from those who owed him, as poor as they may have been.
A Christmas Carol was set at the start of the 19th century, at the dawn of the industrial revolution. Social classes in Britain were well defined, and the poor had hardly any hopes of moving up in social rankings. However, in his novel, Dickens was able to depict the poor as being joyful and happy despite their economic situations. By doing so, Dickens introduced an interesting concept into the ideal of social classes. The poor, though they may have had no money, seemed to value the more important things in life more than a richer person. The bonds of family became stronger in poorer families, because many times that was all they had: one another. During Scrooge's exploration of the "present", he is taken by the ghost to the humble home of his worker Bob Cratchit whose family is suffering of poverty. Dicken's portrayal of the poor in his novel, truly defied previous stereotypes of the miserable lower classes in society and shed light on the idea that happiness in its purest form can be found in various places and does not have to be linked to material things such as money.
Much could be said about today's society and the differentiation of the social classes within our country. Despite the ever present greedy capitalists that have remained throughout the years, in today's society one can work their way up the social and economic ladder through hard work. Rather than being tied down by social labels, one can easily break away and become their own person.

Deformities Breed Hatred?

Growing up with glasses was never an easy venture. Constant taunts and nicknames throughout my elementary years kept me bitter for most of my childhood. I always perceived my eyesight to be a horrible deformity that separated me from my peers through an invisible boundary. Though my classmates never ran screaming from me when they laid eyes on me, my low self esteem was fed by my self imposed judgments.
Reading about Frankenstein's creature has kept me reminiscing on my early years as a four-eyed outcast. My worries were childish, and of no comparison to the horrors that Frankenstein's creature experienced, yet I find that I can relate to his experiences very much.
Have you ever wondered why we as humans tend to cast out those who are not like us? People born without limbs many times suffer through the same experiences that Frankenstein's creature suffered through--of being gawked at and whispered about. Though in today's society, people with deformities are not treated in a hateful way, but rather a cautious one, I still wonder whether by instinct we would react this way. For example, when I was in kindergarten, there was a small boy whose arms stopped at his elbows; beyond that, there was nothing. I remember sitting two seats behind him and watching him with amazement as he struggled to pick up his pencil with his elbows. As I conversed with my mother about the small boy in my class with no arms, she scolded me fervently and told me to never stare at him, and to treat him the same as everyone else. If it had not been for my mother, my childhood ignorance would have led me to continue to stare at him too long everyday in class which could have very well made him feel very uncomfortable. Need we, as humans, a constant reminder of how we should treat others who have physical differences from the rest of us? I would hope not.
The hatred with which the human characters in Frankenstein treated Frankenstein's ceature with, helped me to reflect on my own character. True, Frankenstein's creature was a little more than just a human with a slight deformity, but despite the fact that he was horrible in appearance, the family (De Lacey, Felix, Safie, Agatha) could have been a little kinder to him. I wonder whether I would have had the same reaction as that family. Would I have been as emotionally weak as Agatha, and have fainted at the sight of such a horrible creature? Or would I have ran away screaming like Safie? OR, could I have been able to find the courage to approach the creature the way Felix did, and have tried to harm him? Truth be told, if i'd been in that position, I could have very well embodied all three of those characters. However, I would like to think that if I had been in that position, I could have tolerated the creature's appearance for a moment, long enough to discover whether he was there to harm my family and I or not, and give him a chance to speak for himself rather than judge him by his appearance.