CPR Blog #2

I think what it means for a book to be a classic is that it has been around for quite a long time and it's still read and liked by each new generation and has a great story and style of writing. It is also powerful with its words. I think that the book, Great Expectations is a classic because it has been around for quite a long time and it is still liked and it  has a strong powerful story about the growth of the narrator, an orphan called Pip, and a great style of writing. It is even considered by many to be Charles Dickens's finest novel. Throughout the book there are many powerful words and phrases and descriptions of what is going on in the story. There are also very unique characters that have a major part in the story.

As I started Reading Great Expectations, I was having a little bit of trouble reading through it because I am not used to that writing style and this book was written a long time ago. This book really thought me to think about my expectations for myself and seeing if they are reachable or just way over my head. It also thought me to always stay humble and never forget about the people who have loved me the most because they should always be an important part of my life.

Great Expectations talks about an orphan boy, who when invited to play at Miss Havisham's mansion,and sees what it is like to be rich and educated, he has great expectations for becoming a gentleman to become good enough for Estella, Miss Havisham's adopted child. This makes him separate a little from his family and even his best friend, Joe, his brother in law because he is ashamed that they are "common" and not like Miss Havisham and Estella. Pip really hopes that Miss Havisham will give him a gentleman's fortune but is very disappointed when she offers to help with the papers to officially make Pip Joe's apprentice. This teaches us that with great expectations come great disappointments. As the story progresses, we notice as Pip starts losing his innocence due to his increasing hope and dream of becoming a wealthy gentleman and becoming good enough for Estella. As he becomes working with Joe, he wishes to visit Miss Havisham and see Estella and be around her.

Although it seems as if it is not possible for Pip to become a gentleman anymore since he is currently working with Joe, Pip still keeps dreaming and he is overjoyed when a lawyer tells Joe that Pip will soon inherit a large fortune and his education as a gentleman will soon begin in London, but the person who is giving Pip this wants to remain secret so Pip assumes it must have been Miss Havisham. As he leaves for London, he starts to feel a little bad for having behaved poorly towards the people who actually cared about him.  He keeps dreaming that Miss Havisham is his benefactor and that she wants him to marry Estella.  

Later on Pip finds out that his benefactor was a convict who unlike Pip, worked hard in Australia and earned a huge fortune. He is disappointed again as he finds out Miss Havisham wasn't his benefactor and that he isn't going to marry Estella. Towards the end of the book we start to notice how as Pip becomes older and more mature he starts to change and realize that maybe that his great expectations for himself and his life might not have been the best for him because he had became distant with the people who had loved him, and had also treated them poorly because he thought he was better than them. As he changes, he decides to help his friend Herbert and also tries to help his benefactor, the convict to escape and takes care of him. I think if Miss Havisham would have been Pip's benefactor, Pip wouldn't have changed, because he wouldn't have became of the reality and what kind of person he had become. He would have also still keep dreaming of marrying Estella and just worrying about himself and being a gentleman. When, I began reading the book I didn't really understand why the author had put the story of what happened with Pip and the convict if he was just going to leave but when I finished reading the book I noticed why he put it there and it was kind of like a loop because the convict shows up towards the end of the book and changes Pip's life. I think a big theme for this book is ambition, because of how Pip changes because he wants to become a gentleman to impress Estella.

I think two of the most captivating characters were Pip and the convict. Pip because he was the main character and as he tells the story, when notice how he grows from a little boy who was scared of a convict and being arrested for giving him food, to a gentleman who was willing to help the convict until the end. The convict was, I would say, one of the most important characters in the book, and even though he is not always mentioned throughout the book, he has always been there because he was Pip's benefactor. He was in the beginning of the book and then at the end of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone because, as Alejandra said, everyone should read Great Expectations at one point in their lives.

"I took the opportunity of being alone in the courtyard to look at my coarse hands and my common bots. My opinion of those accessories was not favorable  They had never troubled me before, but they troubled me now, as vulgar appendages...I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too." I thought this was an important quote for the book because it shows the first time Pip brings up the idea of what if he was more like a gentleman. It shows how he becomes aware of how "common" he is and those things began to bother him.

Sound Blog #7

1. “Evander and I had a dog named Lassie ... ”
Link:  http://storycorps.org/listen/bernard-holyfield-and-charles-barlow/

This was one of the best stories I heard from all the sound blogs because it was very interesting, it had the rule of empathy, and it kept you thinking about it even after it was done. This story was a really good story because it was not just a story about a dog being shot, Bernard starts by describing his dog so that we are drawn to like Lassie and so that when he is shot, we also feel that sadness that Bernard and his brother felt. 

Bernard also adds to the story by mentioning how the sheriff was like their hero, but he was the one who shot their dog. He says how his brother and him would play cops and robbers so for them the cops were like the heroes so it was more shocking for them to see that their "hero" was the one who shot Lassie. Bernard also mentions how the skin color was important in this story. Lassie didn't do anything wrong but because the man that bothered Lassie was white and because the kids were black, the white sheriff shot Lassie without questioning the white man's word, he just believed him and shot Lassie. This story kept you listening from the beginning until the end. 

2. “As he's walking away, I'm like, 'Hey, you forgot something...'”
Link: http://storycorps.org/listen/julio-diaz/

This was another story that I thought was really good because it just so unique and not the kind of story you hear about all the time. This story is good because it flows together, and it is very powerful. It expresses emotions in the listener. After you are done listening to the story you are left with lots of emotions and feelings, emotional engagement, like amazed, shocked and happy to know there are still nice people in this world, like Julio, the guy saying the story, who do nice things for people who aren't nice to them, because as Julio said, "you should be nice to everybody." 

I also liked how he added some humor to the story. It includes the rule of empathy and makes you laugh and go wow and aww. It also teaches us about the experience Julio went through when he got robbed, and he has a very interesting story because it is not like any other story of someone being robbed. It has a defined main character, which is Julio and is a very nice person, and also specific details to make it a really good story.

3. “I called his name into the phone over and over...”
Link: http://storycorps.org/listen/beverly-eckert/

This another story that I thought was really good because of the person who is telling the story's voice because with her voice and as it breaks when as she remembers that last conversation she had with her husband, it makes us feel what she is feeling. It is even hard to understand a little because she is almost crying and that adds to the sadness in the story. It makes the listener want to cry too.

 I think this story is very powerful because of how it makes you feel as you listen to it. It makes you feel that sadness Beverly must have felt after she realized she had lost her husband and that he would not come back. It also leaves you thinking on what you would have done if you were in her shoes or if you lost someone you really love and have been with for a really long time. I also like how it starts off by having Beverly describe her husband and how he was a good huger. I also noticed how she never mentioned this happened in September 11th but the way she tells the story you know for sure that it was during September 11th. I really like the ending and how Beverly says that she lives life for both of them now and that she knows he would be proud of her.