Lil

One thing that we've been talking about a lot during class is the way in which  Libra  depicts our obssession  patterns. We are constantly looking for patterns in the information that is given to us, despite whether or not there is even a pattern to be found. I liked the way that Mr. Mitchell put it today - he said it's like the way that we impose constellations on random collections of stars. Are stars really meant to look like frying pans? Probably not, but we're always trying to find something familiar in things that we don't understand, or things that are bigger than us. Can you give me one other reason for the existence of math?? Because god knows it makes no sense, we just pretend it does so we can explain all the other things that make no sense (ironic that we explain confusing phenomena with even more confusing formulas !!). We've talked about how the event which Libra  is centered around - the assassination of JFK - is a shining example of this aspect of

When I started reading Kindred, I was really struck by its resemblance to Slaughterhouse. In terms of their structures and overall premises, the two books are super similar.         Both start with some form of foreshadowing which gives us a look into the very end of the book. The functions of these prologues are super similar in that both of them grab the reader's interest and leave them wanting to more. The prologues are both narrated by survivors of whatever is to come. Right off the bat, in Kindred's prologue, readers know that whatever happens to Dana, she will survive, but she will also suffer from it, both physically and mentally. In a similar vein, Slaughterhouse-Five's prologue establishes the fact that the narrator has survived the tale he is about to tell.         We discussed in class how part of the significance of Kindred's prologue is the fact that it establishes the normalcy of the situation. In the hospital, Dana and Kevin discuss the events leading