Final Blog!!!!!

     I am so thrilled that this is my last blog! I have mixed emotions about this class.  I enjoyed it as some points, but was very frustrated at others.  I liked discussing things with my group, but when we did whole class discussions I would often feel like screaming at certain people because I disagreed with them, but that was kind of the point I think.  I thought the books we read were common in theme, which included a sort of above the influence sort of mentality.  All of the books had a powerful entity in charge, and the protagonists were fighting against that entity or idea.  Hunger games was very entertaining and I may even read the rest of the books, but as for the others such as Culture Jam and 1984, I was thoroughly bored.  The stories were good, but they just weren't my style so I really did not find them entertaining.  This class has sort of taught me to stand up for myself and make my own decisions based on what I think is right, not what the media or other figure heads tell me to do.  When I added this class I was expecting to read Poe, Frost, Whitman, Tennyson, and other literary figures that I am familiar with, but I think this class was more relevant to the present rather than the past.  I would say that over all I had a good experience with this class. 

No Books?!

     If there were no books in the world there would be a lot less entertainment.  How many movies were first books? People would be very illiterate and communication would become much more difficult.  The world would essentially fall apart at the seems.  Books can also be dangerous because a good book makes the reader feel like he or she is part of the story.  If the story is compelling enough, and enough people read it, a new idea will be implanted and can cause people to act in a certain way  based on their reaction to the book.  I know that I have read thriller books and become apprehensive and nervous in situations where I wouldn't have cared before, but because of the tension in the book I look over my shoulder just in case.  Books with political and religious viewpoints can have a similar effect.  If you are immersed in a story that you like, you begin to accept the views of your favorite character.  This can effect large numbers of people.  In history such situations have caused revivals, revolutions, and revolts.  Everything you take in influences you even if you think its just for entertainment.