Frankenstein Chapters 18-20 Analysis

What is Henry Clerval's symbolic significance and what does he foreshadow? What do these chapters say about the theme of this novel?

Throughout chapters 18-20 Henry Clerval foreshadows impending doom for Victor. Henry's attitude towards life and science being so peppy and excited about the world mirrors that of Victor's when he was a young man starting college. This shows the reader that because Clerval is so similar to Victor that Clerval's life must make a bad turn some time soon. This is because when Victor was young and excited about science it was soon ruined when his experiment caused him to go mad. This example demonstrates an ongoing theme that life can only be so good for so long.
This theme is also emphasized by Clerval's purely romanticized personality. With romantic poetry of Shelly's time there is always a dramatic theme where things go from good to bad or vise versa quite quickly. Since Clerval has such a romantic attitude, it suggests that his life will also mirror that of romantic poetry, giving the reader an idea of the problems soon to come.
All of this foreshadowing combined is later confirmed when Victor realizes the monster has killed Clerval. (Spoiler alert!!!)

Water For Elephants Movie Review

In writing this review I must admit I have broken one of the biggest rules of english. I did not read Water For Elephants before seeing the movie, however, the movie is amazing so I will review it anyway.

For anyone who has not seen this movie it stars a young man, Jacob Jankowski, who has recently experienced a horrible tragedy. On the day of his final exam for veterinary school both his parents die in a car accident. This causes him to not finish his exam, and lose his house due to his parent's debt. The now homeless Jacob begins traveling by foot trying to find a place to start over when he jumps on a train car that is the home to many carny's of the Benzini Brother's Circus. He later becomes the circus's vet and falls in love with the ring leader, August Rosenbluth's, Wife, Marlena Rosenbluth. This causes conflict as Jacob discovers August's violent temperament towards Marlena and the animals. As he tries to save everyone involved the circus eventually collapses and Jacob and Marlena are able to run away together to live a happier life.

The theme throughout this movie focuses on the power of love for all humans and animals alike. The fact that the audience sees Jacob studying to be a vet in the beginning of the movie hints at his caring personality. This is then emphasized by his disobedience to August when he puts down an injured horse against August's wishes in order to end the horses suffering. Lastly Jacob Jankowski's biggest moment of helping someone he loves is the lengths he goes to free Marlena. He risks his own life to run away with her knowing that they may be followed and he may be killed. When that doesn't work he goes back to the circus, the most dangerous place for him, and fights August for Marlena's safety. This proves how love is so powerful it can cause a man to risk his life. It also proves why this movie is amazing.

Frankenstein Chapter 11-12 Analysis

Discuss the relationship between the monster's development and typical child development paying particular attention to the theory of multiple intelligences, and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

   Compared to that of a human child of the same age, the Monster develops at a much faster pace. Throughout this chapter it is obvious to the reader that the Monster has developed much faster than anyone else of his age showing multiple intelligences through his ability to meet many of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. 

   At only a year old he is already completely self sufficient, and has become that way with no direct help from any human being. He began through gaining kinesthetic intelligence as he discovered how his body works demonstrating how in some ways he is similar to an average one year old. However, he takes it a step farther when he is able to recognize the feeling of hunger within his body and solve the problem for himself. This shows how his intelligence exceeds that of an average child growing up. Another sign of the Monster's intelligence is his ability to fend for himself so that most of his needs are met. Not only does he show having naturalistic intelligence through his ability to find wood, start fires, and navigate the wilderness but he is also able to, without help, meet many of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
   From the start he is able to meet all his physiological needs of food, water, sleep, etc. without the direct help of any other being demonstrating how his development exceeds that of an average child. Also, while he is incapable of human interaction due to his unfortunate look he has lived vicariously through the people he observes and in doing so somewhat meets the needs of safety and belonging. He found friendship in the family he observed daily and through watching them was able to understand how a family works. This shows his intelligence as he makes due with what he has been given and finds different ways to meet human needs. He is also able to meet the need of self-actualization through his obvious problem solving and acceptance of facts showing that he has met the highest of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs at the young age of two.
   The Monster's overall ability to fend for himself and meet many human needs is proof alone that his intelligence is above all others. Through his short life experience he has been able to understand and make sense of many things without being taught. This shows that his development is far more accelerated to that of an average child of his age.

College Essay Advice, Tips for writing something decent

Although I am not the most experienced in college essay writing nor have I been accepted into a college yet, I do have an experience I'd like to share with the rest of the teenage world. In my quest for writing a decent essay I have taken some wrong turns indeed, and here are some tips I've decided that if I'd known earlier would have helped me a lot.

#1 Don't Settle for a Prompt
With my first essays I chose a prompt just because I was too lazy to find a better one and because my portfolio teacher chose it for me. She had given the assignment to write an essay by the end of the week and forced me to write about the most boring prompt ever. "How do you want to improve as a dancer, choreographer, performer." I guess if you have a good story to back this up it isn't too bad but I had nothing. This gross prompt with the limited time I was given caused me to create my first ever failure of a college essay.
#2 Take Your Time
Being forced to write a decent college essay in a week and failing horribly led me to my next realization. College essays take a while... In my mind it's a work in progress. You take one or two prompts you are really interested in and spend the rest of your time working on them. It doesn't have to take a lot out of your day either. Just five minutes to look at your essay you can find something you may have missed the day before. Your essay is one of the most importing things that will help you get into college. So spending a lot of time on it will be worth it I promise.
#3 Get Help
I'm not necessarily telling whoever is reading this to go out and spend a couple thousand dollars on some college counselors, sure I would of loved one if I could afford it, but thats not the only way to fix up your essay. Ask school counselors, old english teachers, even siblings. If you have an older sibling that's gotten into college, they obviously had to have written a decent essay to get in, so use them! Also if you ask nicely you can get english teachers to read over essays and check for not only grammar but just whether or not its decent and believable. There are so many free resources at your disposal that you don't need lots of money to get help writing your college essay. Just some polite emails and maybe a cookie bribe or two and your set.
Last but not least, #4 Make Sure it's You!
This is a college's main way of learning who you are, if there's no part of you in it, then what's the point? Your essay needs some sort of anecdote or at least part of your personality that will set it aside from all the rest. Remember my failure of an essay I talked about earlier? Its main fault was the lack of personality in it. It was like a page of boring facts with nothing tying them together. The essay I plan to use for college contains a story that is really important to me. I'm really proud of this essay and know it will be a big part in getting me into college.

There you have it, my experience when it comes to writing college essays. I hope it helps you or someone you know get into college because especially for seniors getting into college is kind of a big deal...