Walls’ establishes two very diverse tones, by telling two different stories of her parents. One is being a happier time and her not realizing the financial troubles of her family, creating a tone of innocence. As she grew up, she then realizes these financial problems and the tone becomes judgmental. The narrator gets you on side, by trying to help her parents in the best way she knows how. In my opinion, when the narrator was much younger it is easier for the reader to be on her side, because it describes the parents as people who truly cared about family values. The narrator does use tone and words to idealize her parents when she was younger. However, you see her true personality as she grows older and is embarrassed by her parents, and how they live on the streets.
The author is masterful in her diction, as illustrated by the following examples; “I’d tried to make a home for myself here, tried to turn the apartment into the sort of place where the person I wanted to be would live. But I could never enjoy the room without worrying about Mom and Dad huddled on the sidewalk grate somewhere.” This passage intrigues the reader, as it creates an image of poverty and wealth. There is an interesting transition, between her description of her wealth and her parents’ lives on the street creating a vivid contrast of two different lifestyles. Curiosity is aroused by this passage. “I looked up to the stars and tried to figure out which was the best one. You could see hundreds, maybe thousands or even millions, twinkling in the clear desert sky. The longer you looked and the more your eyes adjusted to the dark, the more stars you’d see, layer after layer of them gradually becoming visible.” This passage can really make you imagine that you had been there looking up at all the beautiful stars and realized that the simplest things in life can astonish you.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Obama's Eulogy by Michael Dawson
1) Describe how visual media enhances the eulogy. Provide specific examples.
Ted Kennedy, not just a Senator to the United States, and was a hero to his country. A caring individual, whom always went out of his way to help people, by calling all the mourning families from 9/11, treated everyone equally from his co-workers to his family. He is a hero who will always be missed by the American people. During Obama’s eulogy, there were pictures of this amazing man, which really helped provide people with a good look of how personable, and caring he was. He was always smiling; it portrayed him well as Obama was describing his outstanding life and what he gave to so many people. He gave the gift of happiness, by either caring or occasionally using humor as a way to put a smile on a person’s face. The best caption that was shown in the eulogy was the photo with his two brothers. They all had the exact same expressions on their faces, it just seemed that they were all in a good place at that time.
2) Comment on Ted Kennedy's history of service. Provide examples.
He was a Senator that had provided a great amount of service to the United States. It was near the end of the eulogy where Obama mentions his actions after the horrific incident on September 11th. Mr. Kennedy had gone out of his way to call each one of the 177 families that had been affected. Not only did he just call them, he invited them sailing, played with their children and wrote letters to them. Ted played a key part in helping with these all these families pains and sorrows. Families were torn in half but Ted Kennedy was there to lend a hand for their pain. As well, he created many laws up to 300 of them for the very long span of time he was a Senator.
3) Comment on effective use of rhetoric (e.g. contrasting images of light/dark, good/evil) and (word choice...objectives used to praise him, verbs etc.)
Sure Obama did a fantastic job in presenting his eulogy for Ted Kennedy. However, it was his young 26-year old speechwriter, Jon Favreau, who came up with the words that so elegantly worked in describing the Senator. It seems near the ending of the speech where Obama discusses Ted Kennedy’s legacy that the speech would be over. This is a perfect example of contrasting images that were light and then to dark. First, talking about Kennedy’s legacy and then turning the tables and mentioning the darker days around September 11th. To conclude, Jon Favreau’s diction used during the eulogy was very humble and detailed in describing this wonderful man, who will certainly be remembered for his loving heart.
Ted Kennedy, not just a Senator to the United States, and was a hero to his country. A caring individual, whom always went out of his way to help people, by calling all the mourning families from 9/11, treated everyone equally from his co-workers to his family. He is a hero who will always be missed by the American people. During Obama’s eulogy, there were pictures of this amazing man, which really helped provide people with a good look of how personable, and caring he was. He was always smiling; it portrayed him well as Obama was describing his outstanding life and what he gave to so many people. He gave the gift of happiness, by either caring or occasionally using humor as a way to put a smile on a person’s face. The best caption that was shown in the eulogy was the photo with his two brothers. They all had the exact same expressions on their faces, it just seemed that they were all in a good place at that time.
2) Comment on Ted Kennedy's history of service. Provide examples.
He was a Senator that had provided a great amount of service to the United States. It was near the end of the eulogy where Obama mentions his actions after the horrific incident on September 11th. Mr. Kennedy had gone out of his way to call each one of the 177 families that had been affected. Not only did he just call them, he invited them sailing, played with their children and wrote letters to them. Ted played a key part in helping with these all these families pains and sorrows. Families were torn in half but Ted Kennedy was there to lend a hand for their pain. As well, he created many laws up to 300 of them for the very long span of time he was a Senator.
3) Comment on effective use of rhetoric (e.g. contrasting images of light/dark, good/evil) and (word choice...objectives used to praise him, verbs etc.)
Sure Obama did a fantastic job in presenting his eulogy for Ted Kennedy. However, it was his young 26-year old speechwriter, Jon Favreau, who came up with the words that so elegantly worked in describing the Senator. It seems near the ending of the speech where Obama discusses Ted Kennedy’s legacy that the speech would be over. This is a perfect example of contrasting images that were light and then to dark. First, talking about Kennedy’s legacy and then turning the tables and mentioning the darker days around September 11th. To conclude, Jon Favreau’s diction used during the eulogy was very humble and detailed in describing this wonderful man, who will certainly be remembered for his loving heart.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Retreat
Dear David Bergen,
A couple things worked very well in your novel “The Retreat”. Your writing was very detailed and descriptive, and the metaphors used to represent certain situations in the novel were very interesting. On the other hand, I thought that the beginning of the novel was not very interesting and the plot seemed very stationary. I feel there should have been more a “bang” factor at the beginning, but sadly there was not and did not intrigue me as much as I expected. “Lewis had called the play dire. The actors were like spent swimmers who clung together and choked their art. Though these had been their father’s words, Lizzy echoed them now. Everett asked Lizzy what dire was and she said, ‘Desperately bad.’ They were in bed. Fish and William were sleeping. Lizzy was lying under a pool of light, writing in her notebook.” Pg. 87 This quote is good example of how you, the author uses metaphors that are interesting to me.
“Fresh croissants so buttery they melted in your hands before touching the mouth, and whole milk with thick cream, and muesli from the Swiss Alps, and then, after étouffing ourselves, we sat by the fire and smoked une pipe.” This piece of descriptive just makes your mouth water while reading, and having that feeling of waking up in the morning and having a wonderful breakfast. This practically describes your perfect type of breakfast to wake up to.
“Hart moved back to allow Raymond room, and as he did so, Raymond turned and swung his feet up and kicked out against his door. The door bucked outwards in a wild arc and caught Hart on the chest and waist and crotch. His face showed surprise as the air went out of him, and then he fell. Lizzy screamed.” Pg. 249 This part of the novel approaches near the end and is where the action starts to begin. After reading this part, I just intrigued me to keep on reading cause you could picture the scene so well.
Your novel seemed very sexual orientated why was that?
Why would you choose the main character, Raymond, to be a Native instead of another culture?
If you could re-write the ending of the novel how would you write it?
Sincerely, Michael Dawson
A couple things worked very well in your novel “The Retreat”. Your writing was very detailed and descriptive, and the metaphors used to represent certain situations in the novel were very interesting. On the other hand, I thought that the beginning of the novel was not very interesting and the plot seemed very stationary. I feel there should have been more a “bang” factor at the beginning, but sadly there was not and did not intrigue me as much as I expected. “Lewis had called the play dire. The actors were like spent swimmers who clung together and choked their art. Though these had been their father’s words, Lizzy echoed them now. Everett asked Lizzy what dire was and she said, ‘Desperately bad.’ They were in bed. Fish and William were sleeping. Lizzy was lying under a pool of light, writing in her notebook.” Pg. 87 This quote is good example of how you, the author uses metaphors that are interesting to me.
“Fresh croissants so buttery they melted in your hands before touching the mouth, and whole milk with thick cream, and muesli from the Swiss Alps, and then, after étouffing ourselves, we sat by the fire and smoked une pipe.” This piece of descriptive just makes your mouth water while reading, and having that feeling of waking up in the morning and having a wonderful breakfast. This practically describes your perfect type of breakfast to wake up to.
“Hart moved back to allow Raymond room, and as he did so, Raymond turned and swung his feet up and kicked out against his door. The door bucked outwards in a wild arc and caught Hart on the chest and waist and crotch. His face showed surprise as the air went out of him, and then he fell. Lizzy screamed.” Pg. 249 This part of the novel approaches near the end and is where the action starts to begin. After reading this part, I just intrigued me to keep on reading cause you could picture the scene so well.
Your novel seemed very sexual orientated why was that?
Why would you choose the main character, Raymond, to be a Native instead of another culture?
If you could re-write the ending of the novel how would you write it?
Sincerely, Michael Dawson
Monday, April 20, 2009
Rock Band 2 Vs. Guitar Hero World Tour
Rock Band or Guitar Hero it has always been a debate which one is the better game. Both Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2 were released during the holidays this past December. This created a huge frenzy between kids and teenagers to choose which game they were going to ask for a gift for the holidays. In my case, I chose Rock Band 2 for my PS3. My reasoning for this was that Guitar Hero is not made for PS3 in the first place, the song selection had much more variety and the drums were much simpler to use. In comparison, Guitar Hero also has a wide range of great songs to play, from Jimi Hendrix to some Sublime. Guitar Hero World Tour was the first to include the drums, guitar and microphone, out of the whole series. However, before Guitar Hero, Rock Band had already created their full set of instruments and got a head start on the competition. Even though Rock Band had a head start it gave the creators of Guitar Hero to make changes those instruments by: creating a touch pad for guitar notes, extra pieces to the drum set by having 5 notes instead of 4 on Rock Band and new/innovative game modes than Rock Band.
Rock Band Positives/Negatives:
Positives: Graphics are very realistic in comparison to Guitar Hero, where the characters look more like cartoons. The song selection is amazing for every person it mixes some darker, louder bands with some light, easy listening songs for the girls. Drums are easy and simple to use.
Negatives: Switching difficulty of songs is annoying because if you want to switch in the middle of the song, you will have to reload to the beginning page all over again. Guitar is much harder to use than the Guitar Hero ones.
Guitar Hero Positives/Negatives:
Positives: The wide range celebrity characters you can chose to rock out with. The new drums, which create a new challenge for the player to experience and the new, touch pad for keys on the guitar.
Negatives: The clunky guitar, which is bigger than the old version of the Guitar Hero guitar, the smaller one was much easier to handle and play with. The drums seem to break fairly easily in time, and are not covered under a good warranty.
In conclusion, if I would choose out of the two games and I had an Xbox 360 I would purchase Guitar Hero World Tour as it provides a fun and more entertaining format for players.
Rock Band Positives/Negatives:
Positives: Graphics are very realistic in comparison to Guitar Hero, where the characters look more like cartoons. The song selection is amazing for every person it mixes some darker, louder bands with some light, easy listening songs for the girls. Drums are easy and simple to use.
Negatives: Switching difficulty of songs is annoying because if you want to switch in the middle of the song, you will have to reload to the beginning page all over again. Guitar is much harder to use than the Guitar Hero ones.
Guitar Hero Positives/Negatives:
Positives: The wide range celebrity characters you can chose to rock out with. The new drums, which create a new challenge for the player to experience and the new, touch pad for keys on the guitar.
Negatives: The clunky guitar, which is bigger than the old version of the Guitar Hero guitar, the smaller one was much easier to handle and play with. The drums seem to break fairly easily in time, and are not covered under a good warranty.
In conclusion, if I would choose out of the two games and I had an Xbox 360 I would purchase Guitar Hero World Tour as it provides a fun and more entertaining format for players.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
"Men Who Stare at Goats" - Jon Ronson
The novel I read over this past month was Jon Ronson’s “Men Who Stare at Goats”. The author of this novel did a very good job in making it entertaining and humorous. He also writes very well in keeping the reader entertained by always having a joke that you laugh at, every time you turn the page. The plot of this novel is just so bizarre, that it’s hilarious that US Intelligence Agencies actually come up with these ideas, towards fighting the War of Terror. An example was their Special Forces, which came with ideas, believing that they could walk through walls and stare at goats and stop their hearts. The title itself sums up the bizarreness of this book, the funny thing is that this book is not fictional and totally the truth. Throughout the novel, Jon Ronson goes around the United States interviewing former military personnel and former Special Forces Unit. The madness of “staring at goats”, all started will General Stubblebine (1981 to 1984), when one day he decides that in his mind he could walk through walls. The General’s imagination runs on, and he goes to the Special Forces and suggests some of his bizarre ideas to them, military personnel were always wondering what was going in the General’s head. The story carries on, and in our present day, George W. Bush calls up for Stubblebine’s ideas in dealing with the war in the Middle East.
“Except for one last thing. Ten years later, Guy said, three Special Forces soldiers covertly traveled to Cleveland from Fort Bragg, having heard on the grapevine that Guy had once successfully stared at a goat to death on their base. They wanted to know if the rumor was true. They wanted to see it for themselves. They wanted Guy to kill a goat for them.” Pg – 65. This passage appeals to me because it very humorous and bizarre that people actually believed that this guy actually killed a goat by just staring at it. “The ‘high values’ were what the U.S. army called the suspected terrorists, insurgent leaders, rapists, and child molesters, although things were so out of control in postwar Iraq that many of the high values might have just been passersby picked up at checkpoints because the soldiers didn’t like the look of them.” Pg-174. This appeals to me because it shows the true racism that was going on in the paranoid government of the U.S. after 9/11. This quotation just describes how poorly people were just judged by appearance, for a being a terrorist, which is morally wrong.
1. Where did you first learn about the Special Forces in the U.S. army? 2. What bizarre subject will you talk about in your next novel? 3. Do you believe that Special Forces will be an important organization under new U.S. President Barack Obama?
“Except for one last thing. Ten years later, Guy said, three Special Forces soldiers covertly traveled to Cleveland from Fort Bragg, having heard on the grapevine that Guy had once successfully stared at a goat to death on their base. They wanted to know if the rumor was true. They wanted to see it for themselves. They wanted Guy to kill a goat for them.” Pg – 65. This passage appeals to me because it very humorous and bizarre that people actually believed that this guy actually killed a goat by just staring at it. “The ‘high values’ were what the U.S. army called the suspected terrorists, insurgent leaders, rapists, and child molesters, although things were so out of control in postwar Iraq that many of the high values might have just been passersby picked up at checkpoints because the soldiers didn’t like the look of them.” Pg-174. This appeals to me because it shows the true racism that was going on in the paranoid government of the U.S. after 9/11. This quotation just describes how poorly people were just judged by appearance, for a being a terrorist, which is morally wrong.
1. Where did you first learn about the Special Forces in the U.S. army? 2. What bizarre subject will you talk about in your next novel? 3. Do you believe that Special Forces will be an important organization under new U.S. President Barack Obama?
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Dear Mr. Tom Wolfe,
I thoroughly enjoyed your novel, “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” as it was very well written. Every word on the page I read I could clearly picture in my head what was going on, it was like no other book I have read. Your novel had a very strange plot, dealing with adults experimenting with drugs, but more specifically acid.
Your book first attracted me, because you inspired the novel “On the Road” by Jack Karouac, as the plot of your novel related to Jack Karouac’s work as it was about an adventure literally on the road. The journey had been partaken by Kesey and his gang of Pranksters. The story begins with Kesey getting out of jail and the extensive journey then begins with him and his friends going on a bus across the country. The bus they traveled in was a DayGlo a painted bus called the “Furthur”.
This was one of my favorite quotes from the 3rd chapter, “Mountain Girl fishes around in the debris over beside a bunch of theatre seats and gets the shirt, a brown buckskin shirt with an open neck and red leather lacings. Kesey takes off the shirt he has on. He has huge latissimi dorsi muscles making his upper back fan out like manta-ray wings.” I love this quote because it catches your attention and describes something so simple, in a more detailed and explicit way.
In the 9th chapter, the “Crypt Trip”, Kesey and his gang of Pranksters find themselves at Leary’s house a drug addict that was experimenting with acid on three-day trip. It is a very funny chapter as everything described about the house is very interesting. “When they got in sight of the great gingerbread mansion itself, all towers and turrets and jigsaw shingles, Sandy Lehmann-Haupt started throwing green smoke bombs off the top of the bus, great booms and blooms of green smoke exploding off the sides of the bus.” This quote describes in such perfect detail, the reader can imagine Sandy throwing the smoke bombs at the bus and the big explosion that they would cause.
Near the end of the novel, is “The Graduation”, I found a quote which is a brief description of the “The Danger of LSD”. The graduation is pretty much a conclusion of all the things that occurred on Kesey’s adventure, including all the weird events and concoctions they tried over their huge adventure. “-coming on in big letters on the screen of the monitor sets in the studio, with a drawing of three sugar cubes under it…the symbol of LSD, of course, like four XXXX’S for whiskey…and the voice over”… (and author Ken Kesey…). This a final quick detailed description of the view of LSD in the eyes of Kesey.
I really enjoyed the novel, thank you.
Sincerely, Michael Dawson
I thoroughly enjoyed your novel, “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” as it was very well written. Every word on the page I read I could clearly picture in my head what was going on, it was like no other book I have read. Your novel had a very strange plot, dealing with adults experimenting with drugs, but more specifically acid.
Your book first attracted me, because you inspired the novel “On the Road” by Jack Karouac, as the plot of your novel related to Jack Karouac’s work as it was about an adventure literally on the road. The journey had been partaken by Kesey and his gang of Pranksters. The story begins with Kesey getting out of jail and the extensive journey then begins with him and his friends going on a bus across the country. The bus they traveled in was a DayGlo a painted bus called the “Furthur”.
This was one of my favorite quotes from the 3rd chapter, “Mountain Girl fishes around in the debris over beside a bunch of theatre seats and gets the shirt, a brown buckskin shirt with an open neck and red leather lacings. Kesey takes off the shirt he has on. He has huge latissimi dorsi muscles making his upper back fan out like manta-ray wings.” I love this quote because it catches your attention and describes something so simple, in a more detailed and explicit way.
In the 9th chapter, the “Crypt Trip”, Kesey and his gang of Pranksters find themselves at Leary’s house a drug addict that was experimenting with acid on three-day trip. It is a very funny chapter as everything described about the house is very interesting. “When they got in sight of the great gingerbread mansion itself, all towers and turrets and jigsaw shingles, Sandy Lehmann-Haupt started throwing green smoke bombs off the top of the bus, great booms and blooms of green smoke exploding off the sides of the bus.” This quote describes in such perfect detail, the reader can imagine Sandy throwing the smoke bombs at the bus and the big explosion that they would cause.
Near the end of the novel, is “The Graduation”, I found a quote which is a brief description of the “The Danger of LSD”. The graduation is pretty much a conclusion of all the things that occurred on Kesey’s adventure, including all the weird events and concoctions they tried over their huge adventure. “-coming on in big letters on the screen of the monitor sets in the studio, with a drawing of three sugar cubes under it…the symbol of LSD, of course, like four XXXX’S for whiskey…and the voice over”… (and author Ken Kesey…). This a final quick detailed description of the view of LSD in the eyes of Kesey.
I really enjoyed the novel, thank you.
Sincerely, Michael Dawson
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Poor Tom is Cold by Maureen Jennings
Michael Dawson Poor Tom is Cold by Maureen Jennings October 26, 2008
Character Profile
Detective William Murdoch, is a very smart and cunning man who completes his work very thoroughly. As the story goes along, we follow Murdoch’s dedication to find the true story behind the supposed suicide of Constable Oliver Wicken. He believes that Wicken was murdered and did not commit suicide and sets out to prove it. Murdoch shows his courage by retracing the morning “beat” or route that Wicken took the morning he was killed. This leads him to Mrs. Bail’s bakery leading to the beginning of a series of clues. Murdoch is also shown as a dedicated and caring cop. He did not know Wicken very well but felt compelled to find a way to prove the murder. This level of dedication makes you feel that Murdoch was related to Wicken but he was not. This diligent detective finds some clues which lead him to believe that the murder of Wicken occurred so that greedy relatives could inherit money from an old man, who was married to a younger mentally unstable young wife with a devious stepson.
Clues
The clues begin with the meeting of Murdoch and Mrs. Bail at her bakery. She provides information about Wicken and his mother. Murdoch then questions Wicken’s mother who provides information leading to the Eakin Family. The Eakins’ are a well-off family who have family issues dealing with inheritance. The stepson Jarius Gibbs resents his new stepmother. He reveals that he is worried she will have a baby which will affect his inheritance. Jarius does everything possible to make Mrs. Eakin unstable so that she will be put in a mental asylum. On the night of the murder, Mrs. Bail said there was a woman’s cry in the night. The cry was from Mrs. Eakin and she was then sent to a mental asylum. Murdoch visits the asylum to interview her. He learns she fears being poisoned or killed by her family. She reacts strongly when Murdoch questions her about Constable Wicken’s death. After this meeting ,Mrs. Eakin escapes from the asylum as she suspects another patient has been poisoned after eating a tart intended for Mrs. Eakin. This is a perfect clue because it leads the detective right back to the relatives of Mrs. Eakin. Murdoch is then able to solve the crime by following Mrs. Eakin, Jarius Gibbs and Mr. Eakin.
3 Passages of Effective Writing
“She moaned and began to rock slightly back and forth in the chair. Suddenly, he had an image of a young cougar that a sailor had brought into the village when he was a boy. For five cents you could go into the hot, musty tent and view the animal. For a further penny, the sailor handed you a stick and you could poke her through the bars of the cage and “make her roar”. The expression in the eyes of Mrs.Eakin and the tormented animal were the same.” (Pg. 337) This is a very interesting quote from the book, as it is a description of Mrs. Eakin’s reaction of being told of Constable Wicken’s death. It was very well described and gave you a good image in your head about him and his cougar encounter creating fear and suspense. It also creates a visual clue for Murdoch to help him solve the murder. He realizes she didn’t see the murder but her scream attracted Wicken’s attention and put him in danger. “She’s told you a nailer, my lad” (pg 353). This quote displays how language was used differently in 1895 to help you step back in history. The reader feels that the setting of the book is in a much different (earlier) time. “Thursday, November 12, 1895..I write this entry in good health. My tongue is furred but my pulse is quite steady. I have pissed copiously in the chamber and my water is of good colour…” (page 25) This quote is effective because it is a unique way to describe an entry in a diary kept by Jarius Gibbs. This helps the reader understand the criminal’s state of mind in his own words after he committed the crime.
Character Profile
Detective William Murdoch, is a very smart and cunning man who completes his work very thoroughly. As the story goes along, we follow Murdoch’s dedication to find the true story behind the supposed suicide of Constable Oliver Wicken. He believes that Wicken was murdered and did not commit suicide and sets out to prove it. Murdoch shows his courage by retracing the morning “beat” or route that Wicken took the morning he was killed. This leads him to Mrs. Bail’s bakery leading to the beginning of a series of clues. Murdoch is also shown as a dedicated and caring cop. He did not know Wicken very well but felt compelled to find a way to prove the murder. This level of dedication makes you feel that Murdoch was related to Wicken but he was not. This diligent detective finds some clues which lead him to believe that the murder of Wicken occurred so that greedy relatives could inherit money from an old man, who was married to a younger mentally unstable young wife with a devious stepson.
Clues
The clues begin with the meeting of Murdoch and Mrs. Bail at her bakery. She provides information about Wicken and his mother. Murdoch then questions Wicken’s mother who provides information leading to the Eakin Family. The Eakins’ are a well-off family who have family issues dealing with inheritance. The stepson Jarius Gibbs resents his new stepmother. He reveals that he is worried she will have a baby which will affect his inheritance. Jarius does everything possible to make Mrs. Eakin unstable so that she will be put in a mental asylum. On the night of the murder, Mrs. Bail said there was a woman’s cry in the night. The cry was from Mrs. Eakin and she was then sent to a mental asylum. Murdoch visits the asylum to interview her. He learns she fears being poisoned or killed by her family. She reacts strongly when Murdoch questions her about Constable Wicken’s death. After this meeting ,Mrs. Eakin escapes from the asylum as she suspects another patient has been poisoned after eating a tart intended for Mrs. Eakin. This is a perfect clue because it leads the detective right back to the relatives of Mrs. Eakin. Murdoch is then able to solve the crime by following Mrs. Eakin, Jarius Gibbs and Mr. Eakin.
3 Passages of Effective Writing
“She moaned and began to rock slightly back and forth in the chair. Suddenly, he had an image of a young cougar that a sailor had brought into the village when he was a boy. For five cents you could go into the hot, musty tent and view the animal. For a further penny, the sailor handed you a stick and you could poke her through the bars of the cage and “make her roar”. The expression in the eyes of Mrs.Eakin and the tormented animal were the same.” (Pg. 337) This is a very interesting quote from the book, as it is a description of Mrs. Eakin’s reaction of being told of Constable Wicken’s death. It was very well described and gave you a good image in your head about him and his cougar encounter creating fear and suspense. It also creates a visual clue for Murdoch to help him solve the murder. He realizes she didn’t see the murder but her scream attracted Wicken’s attention and put him in danger. “She’s told you a nailer, my lad” (pg 353). This quote displays how language was used differently in 1895 to help you step back in history. The reader feels that the setting of the book is in a much different (earlier) time. “Thursday, November 12, 1895..I write this entry in good health. My tongue is furred but my pulse is quite steady. I have pissed copiously in the chamber and my water is of good colour…” (page 25) This quote is effective because it is a unique way to describe an entry in a diary kept by Jarius Gibbs. This helps the reader understand the criminal’s state of mind in his own words after he committed the crime.
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