《永远的蝴蝶续写集》是2019中文母语班的作文集锦，其中包括十四为同学基于作家陈启佑著作,“我”与樱子在一个雨天去寄信给母亲，樱子却为了寄出这封信被一辆车撞飞。十四支笔，十四种可能，十四个樱子，十四只蝴蝶。

Para 1:

From whose Point of View is the novel written? (1st person narrator [from whose eyes and mind], 3rd person omniscient, or 3rd person limited?) Explain why this point of view is effective for this novel.

The Novel is written in first person point of view, but not of a particular person, but of a number of different protagonist's successive interior monologues. There are lots of subjective opinions of events from each character, and there are also factual observations. This is very effective for this novel. Through showing the character's thoughts and feelings, the readers can not only find out the facts about an event but also can experience the event in the way the characters went through.

Para 2:

List Four Characters and explain their importance or significance to the novel as a whole. (At least four detailed sentences for each character are needed. Mention character traits!)

1. Darl
Darl Bundren is one of the most important characters in the whole book. He narrates nineteen of the novel's fifty-nine chapters. He was the second oldest child in the family. He was alienated by the community around him, and people found him strange and unsettling. Moreover, he usually found out private things about people around him. For example, Dewey Dell's pregnancy and the secret that Jewel's dad isn't Anse.

2. Cash
Cash is the oldest child in the family. His leg was broken twice, once when felling off the church and the second time when he was kicked by Jewel's horse when crossing the river on the trip to Jefferson. He was a carpenter and was making a coffin for Addie for the first few chapters of the story. He rarely spoke to Addie and showed his love to her simply by making the coffin.

3.Vardaman
Vardaman is the youngest kid in the Bundren family. He has a lively imagination. When Addie died, Vardaman catches a fish and starts to think about the concept of "death" for the first time when the fish dies. No one in the Bundren family tells him what death is and what happened to Addie, so he get confused between Addie and the fish and is keep thinking that his mother was a fish throughout the story.

4. Addie Bundren
Addie is the mother to Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell and Vardaman. Her death triggers the novel's action. Her life with Anse was loveless, which causes her to despise her husband and gives all of her love to her favorite son, Jewel, instead of the rest of the family or God.

Para 3:
Main Conflict or Challenge in the novel for the protagonist (main character): (Three – Four sentences)

The conflict of the novel is that Addie's body had to be taken to Jefferson, her burial site. The Bundrens struggles from the forces of nature (the river that they had to cross) and internal conflicts (Darl's decision to burn the barn out of some reasons). Both the external forces and internal forces made the journey to Jefferson challenging for the Bundrens.

Para 4:
Climax of the novel (the main turning point): (Three to Four sentences)

The climax of the novel is when Darl starts a fire in the barn and Jewel goes into the fire to save Addie's coffin from being burnt. This action leads to the arrest of Darl and the end of the trip. Although the burial of Addie is supposed to be the climax, Faulkner barely mentioned it.

Para 5:
How the main conflict or challenge is resolved by the end of the novel: (Five sentences)

The conflict is resolved at the end of the novel when Addie's body is transported to Jefferson and Anse gets new teeth and a new wife that he longed for. Almost all the goals of the journey are achieved (except that Dewey Dell did not get an abortion) so the story ends naturally.

Para 6:
State two main themes of the novel, and explain why they are themes of the story, using specifics of the story to justify your point (at least 3-4 sentences needed):

1. Alienation
Alienation is a possible theme of the novel. The readers are able to know the feeling of all the characters. However, they never actually tell each other what they were thinking about. Addie was keeping all the thoughts to herself that only a clairvoyant like Darl knew that she had an affair and that Jewel wasn't Anse's son. It is the same with Dewey Dell. No one knew that she was pregnant except Lafe, Darl and herself. For Darl, he was quite rational at the outset of the novel when describing how Jewel and he himself walk home. However, he turns out to be insane and is sent to a mental asylum. This might be also caused by alienation. A possible cause of his insanity might be that he realizes the absurdity of the transportation of Addie's corpse to Jefferson or that he finds out that everyone went on this trip for their own benefits (Dewey Dell wants an abortion and Pa wants new teeth and a new wife). If he had communicated more with the others and his family members were more willing to hear from him instead of considering him as a weirdo he would probably be normal and would have a smarter choice than setting fire to the barn.

2. Meaning of being and Identity of Self
In the novel, the meaning of being and identity of self was considered again and again by Darl and Vardaman. Vardaman is getting confused between things that are now existing and things that existed, in other words, things that are being "is" and "was". This is a reason why he did not understand why he could not be united with his mum after she died. Darl was confused by the identity of the self. He was comparing the difference between Jewel and he himself even before he went to bed: “I don’t know what I am. I don’t know if I am or not. Jewel knows he is, because he does not know that he does not know whether he is or not.” He was always pondering and interrogating himself, which leads to his madness and at last he was sent to the asylum.

Para 7:
Name three literary devices the author used to help make this novel meaningful and interesting and explain how and where they are used in the novel and SPECIFICALLY WHY the use of this literary device enhances the meaning of the novel. Cite two specific examples from the novel where these literary devices are used. (include page numbers) Literary devices include: symbolism, foreshadowing, flashbacks, irony, diction, figurative language, creative/realistic imagery, satire, syntax, persuasive/rhetorical devices,

1. Symbolism
Symbolism was a literary device used in the novel. There are a lot of animal symbols, for example, horse and cow. The horse symbolizes the freedom Jewel had from the family. Firstly, to buy the horse, Jewel worked at night secretly for a long time to earn enough amount of money. During the time, Addie asked other children to cover his works for him. This is a sign that Jewel gained freedom -- he did not have to do housework. Also, before crossing the river, Jewel was "riding on ahead on the horse". This also shows his willingness to gain more freedom. The use of symbolism shows Jewel's personality in a vivid way.

2. Monologues
As the book was written in the first-person point of view of several characters, it has many subjective opinions towards an event. For example, in Chapter 4, Darl was standing on the side of Addie's bed. He appeared to be indifferent towards his mother and the three-dollar load. However, in Cora's perspective, Darl was a loving son and his heart was too filled with words. Such use of literary device shows not only how the plot goes, but also the inner thinking of the characters and the relationships between them.

3. Repetitions
There are many repetitions in the novel. In the first chapter, repetition was used to vividly emphasize the noise Cash made when making the coffin: "Chuck, chuck, chuck." Also, in Chapter fifteen, Vardaman asked a few questions to Cash: "Are you going to nail her up in it, Cash? Cash? Cash?", and "Are you going to nail it shut, Cash? Nail it? Nail it?". These question and repetitions show the innocence of Vardaman and the worry and unbelief inside his heart, as no one told him what happened to his mother. This also shows the Bundren family’s lack of attention to Vardaman.

Para 8:
Choose two quotes from the novel, write them down, AND the page number, and explain how these quotes are especially meaningful or significant to the novel’s themes or to the development of character. (At least 4 Sentences for each)

1. “What you got in you ain’t nothing to what I got in me, even if you are a woman too”
This quote is from Dewey Dell before she milked the cow. It is meaningful because the cow moaning due to its swelling udder symbolizes Dewey Dell. She was pregnant and was worried that other people might find out about it. She was trying desperately to get an abortion from the doctors but no one wanted to help her and she was just given a placebo. Dewey Dell's worry was very much like the cow that mightily wanted to get the milk out and this leads to her strong approval of sending Darl, who found out about her pregnancy, into the mental asylum.

2. “Meet Mrs. Bundren,” he says.”
This quote marks the most ironic scene in the novel. Anse borrowed a shovel to bury his wife Addie, the next day he was married to the woman whom he borrowed the shovel from. The quick replacement of Anse's wife suggests that the entire was an effort to replace Addie and that that family is just a set of roles to play, rather than a true unit of people. This also shows Anse's selfishness, which might be caused by poverty.

Para 9:
In 8-10 sentences, explain why you would or would not recommend this book to others: (Please spell the word recommend correctly. ) Be analytical and specific – Do not say: “because this book was exciting” or “because it was a good book” …) Mention how this book relates to your life…how has it inspired you…with what character do you most identify…strengths and weaknesses of the novel…etc. Use PROOF from the novel to back up your assertions.

I would not recommend this book to others. It is interesting to read a book that reflects the life of a poor family in the 1920s that is written as a series of stream-of-consciousness monologues, but it is just quite confusing to understand. As all the chapters are monologues, they never start with names. Instead, the characters in the chapter (except the narrator) were all mentioned as "he" and "she" starting from the first sentence, and readers will have to think hard about which character can possibly be that "he" or "she". For example, Chapter 49 begins like this: "Against the dark doorway he seems to materialize out of darkness, lean as a racehorse in his underclothes in the beginning of the glare." A "he" was mentioned but readers were unable to know his identity from this sentence. Furthermore, the word "he" was used for half of the chapter and the readers still did not know his identity. I believe that stream-of-consciousness monologues were to let the readers feel that they were the narrator in the chapter and were experiencing what the narrator has experienced, but instead, this style of writing just causes more confusion. Overall, the book is very interesting, but readers have to put lots of effort into understanding what was happening. Therefore, I would not recommend this book to others.

    《边城》是沈从文的代表作。故事以20世纪30年代的边城小镇茶峒为背景，讲述了少女翠翠的故事。翠翠父母双亡，由爷爷抚养大，在端午节看龙舟时偶遇船总顺顺的小儿子傩送，心中留下了深刻的印象。殊不知，顺顺的大儿子天保也喜欢翠翠，在与弟弟比赛唱歌却因毫无胜算，自觉放弃，心灰意冷，驾船去做生意，却出了事，淹死了。傩送因此不愿再提亲事，离家出走。翠翠的爷爷眼看翠翠婚事无望，心力交瘁，在一个雷雨交加的晚上与世诀别。翠翠依旧守在渡船上，等待着傩送。

    翠翠与傩送的情感，是一条线索，从端午节开始，一直到最终天保与爷爷的离世，贯穿全文。它是纯洁不掺杂质的，是懵懂的，也从某种程度上来说造成了两人最终爱情的悲剧。

    翠翠与傩送的感情，是纯洁的。在大老淹死后，在王团总的女儿以一个碾坊作为嫁妆向傩送提亲时。傩送立即果断地拒绝了。傩送虽然对翠翠的爷爷有些不满，认为他害死了大老，心里不悦，但宁可继承翠翠爷爷的渡船，也不要那座碾坊。从他与脚夫的对话中，我们课以了解到，一座碾坊的出息，每天可收七升米，三斗糠。如果傩送与王家闺女成婚，那么不但门当户对，未来的日子也将非常繁荣。但傩送毅然决然地选择了真正对自己有感情的翠翠。两人之间的爱情无关金钱名利，是纯洁的。这反映了傩送对翠翠这份感情的认真和深厚。


    翠翠与傩送的感情，也是懵懂的。在书中的第四章中，与傩送初遇时，翠翠的心中就已萌生了情感，对傩送印象深刻。这体现在她回家后的表现：“但是另一件事，属于自己不关祖父的，却使翠翠沉默了一个夜晚。”在同一章中，当翠翠听说王团总的女儿要向傩送提亲时，心中突然有了一种“不分明的东西”：“ “是烦恼吧，不是！”“是生气了吧，——是的，她当真仿佛觉得自己是在生一个人的气，又象是在生自己的气。”这时，翠翠已经有些懂得自己喜欢上了傩送，但又对这种心中的感觉，那点悸动的情感感到有些陌生，有些不知所措。

    翠翠与傩送的感情是单纯美丽的，但也正是他们的感情，在各种机缘巧合之下，造成了最终的悲剧。假如翠翠早些意识到自己对傩送的感情，并在天保提亲时将自己的心中所想表达出来，那么天保一定不会继续纠缠，大家都能各得其所，一切尽如人意。如果傩送没有那么执着地去追求翠翠，那么也许老船夫，天保和顺顺都能皆大欢喜。但一切却没能如愿以偿，寒冬已至，翠翠却仍守着渡船，等着心上人的到来。

    边城是作者想象中的美好社会，翠翠和傩送之间的爱则是人与人之间最本真的情感。虽然这种素朴的善最终产生了悲剧，但也体现了作者理想中正直、朴素、善良、美丽的人性美。

Glass Sword is a novel written by Victoria Aveyard. It is the second book in the "Red Queen" series. In the story, Mare was trying to gather all the "New Blood" to revenge Maven, who framed his brother and Mare into killing their father.

Different Opinions towards the revenge
The characters in the story all have different opinions towards the revenge.
Cal, the silver prince thought that:
- Mare was being a bit selfish when doing this, because lots of people, silver and red (especially silver) died in the revenge.
- Although Mare was trying to do something to make the silvers to treat the reds in a better way (like not forcing them into war, no more discrimination), she was actually doing the same thing without realizing it: asking the newbloods to fight even though some of them are not willing to (like Cameron Cole. She just escaped from the newbloods' jail built by Maven and felt the taste of freedom. She did not want to be commanded by anyone else and refused to join the Newbloods' army but was grabbed by Mare.) This was kind of like using the New bloods to do something that Mare herself wanted to do.
- Mare was seeing the newbloods' lives more important than the reds without realizing it. While she fought for time to rescue the newbloods that were going to be killed by Maven, there were millions of red kids that were commanded by Maven to join the army and fought the other country (and will eventually die as they do not have any powers). If Mare did this, Newbloods and Reds, would not be equal anymore, just like a few years ago, when the silvers differed from the reds, they reinforced the difference between their status, which resulted in the situation now which the silvers ruled everything.

Mare's parents:
- They thought that Mare would be in great danger to revenge and stopped her from going. However, they were born as reds, grew up and work in red societies and knew the difference of status between silvers and reds, therefore knew that the job of revenging and helping the reds to be equal with the silvers was very important. They compromised with Mare at last.

Plot
Mare was starting to gather the newbloods to revenge Maven. Lots of Newbloods were gathered and recued more newbloods. However at last, Mare and several volunteers were captured by Maven. Mare was taken to Archeon where Maven put a collar on her in front of a crowd of silvers.

The ending reminds me of the ending of the last book in the series "Red Queen". Mare and Cal were also captured by Maven and were brought to be executed in front of lots of silvers. Mare and Cal seemed to be losers in every book. I think it implies that:
- It is very hard for people in a lower status, with no political rights and no one supporting them, to gain respect and to change the way they are treated by people. This was like the African Americans in Slavery in the early 1900's. They were captured to a place where they have no rights and no one helping them. Even at last, their freedom were from the American abolitionists, the Civil War of the Americans.

Summary
Fahrenheit 451 talks about a time in the future when books were banned as people think books makes everything philosophical and there would be melancholy due to this. People’s main entertainment is the high-technology parlor walls in their house. They are completely ignorant of the world around them and its problems and are not even aware of the upcoming war. Its hero Montag, was a fireman who burn books to prevent people from reading them. He set fire to people’s houses for years until one day he met his new neighbor Clarisse, who loved thinking and ask Montag questions. In a recent mission he met an old woman who insisted to stay, protect and be burnt with her books when the firemen came. These gave Montag a new perspective of the world. He started considering if burning books is a right thing to do and out of curiosity, he read his first. Later his act of reading books is reported by his wife to the police and he was listed as wanted. He escaped all the way to the countryside and met a group of renegade intellectuals, who try to rebuild civilization from the war by memorize one book each.

Quotations
“Do you ever read any of the books you burn?” Then she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. “Are you happy?” she said. “Am I what?” he cried. But she was gone—running in the moonlight. Her front door shut gently. “Happy! Of all the nonsense.” (Clarisse)

“I had a nice evening,” she said, in the bathroom.
“What doing?”
“The parlor.”
“What was on?”
“Programs.”
“What programs?”
“Some of the best ever.”
“Will you turn the parlor off?” he asked.
“That’s my family.” (Mildred)

“School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?” (Beatty)

The woman knelt among the books, touching the drenched leather and cardboard, reading the gilt titles with her fingers while her eyes accused Montag. “You can’t ever have my books,” she said. “You can stop counting,” she said. She opened the fingers of one hand slightly and in the palm of the hand was a single slender object. An ordinary kitchen match. (the old woman)

Conclusion
Bradbury once described himself as “a preventor of futures, not a predictor of them”. I think a main reason he wrote the book is to warn people to prevent future to be like the one shown in the story. Book burning isn’t inevitable and it can be prevented by us. A lesson Bradbury taught us is that if people cannot accept ideas of others, the society will become a world of ignorance and prejudice.

Firstly, people will start to be ignorant if they are always closed-minded and cannot accept ideas of others. It was mainly explained by the fireman captain Beatty, which strongly agree with book burning. He explained: “Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book.” As everyone was offended by something in the books, so, burning them made it so that people don't have to read "offensive" material and unhappy. However, in my opinion, if everyone is offended easily and could never accept an idea they do not concur with, they will be very ignorant, knowing nothing else than what they like. This will undoubtedly prevent people from being dismal in a way, but being ignorant is even worse than weeping. The idea can also be shown by the lifestyle of people in the story, which can be represented by the lifestyle of the fireman Montag’s wife, Mildred. The main entertainment of Mildred every day was the parlor walls, the big interactive screens in her (and everyone else’s) house that allowed her to play an interactive row in the story line of a drama: “‘I had a nice evening.’ ‘What doing?’ ‘The parlor.’ ‘What was on?’ ‘Programs.’” The conversation between Mildred and Montag shows that Mildred was so into the walls that she was not interesting and did not care about anything in the reality, which also means that she had zero experience of the reality. Einstein once said: “The only source of knowledge is experience.” This reflects that Mildred, and many others in the society in the story learns almost nothing from the parlor walls except from knowing the lines in the shows better.

Secondly, there will be prejudice towards the intellectuals if people cannot accept ideas from others. I think it is mainly out of two reasons. The first reason is autarchy and ignorant. People have no experience in the reality and they only have one kind of entertainment, which is the interactive walls. They were brain-washed everyday by the concept the walls wanted to deliver and this was very likely to make the way people choose what to believe in unreasonable and impulsive. Therefore, people are easier to be controlled by the actual person behind the walls, which is probably the government or a leader. They saw what the leader wanted them to see, heard what the leader wanted them to hear. When the leader did not want people to have “dangerous” thoughts from the books, he could easily infuse the idea to people through the walls. People could also have prejudice out of their own reasons. In the story, conformity is everywhere, people have the same perspective about things, the same routine, the same kind of entertainment. When they saw someone who think differently, someone who read books or used to read books, they would think that it is against what they agree with. The person is different. He did not fit in the society of uniformity. Clarisse was such a character. She was always curious and asked questions like “Are you happy?”. Additionally, her family walks instead of taking cars, talks instead of watching television. Thus, her whole family was seen anti-social. This shows how people were being prejudiced towards people that were different in some ways.

As a conclusion, Bradbury wrote this story to warn us not to be closed-minded to prevent the future shown in the story. Bradbury had predicted that book burning will happen within forty or fifty years, now more than sixty years passes and book burning have not happened. However, this does not mean that aren’t any closed-minds at all. We still face lots of issues such as racism and prejudice. We should encourage people to be creative and think outside of the box. We should support each other’s idea. We should try to listen to everyone’s opinion.

击节  评论 偷书贼   2008-01-20 18:47:28

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