For this final project, I chose to design and create a house in Minecraft. I chose this because I wanted to create a visual for Holden’s house in the West that he would have been living in had he actually moved out there. The visual aspect was very important to me, as I am a visual learner, and to see things helps me understand them, and I think that Holden’s loneliness and angst that he felt when he wanted to move out West was a point in the book that not many people fully understood. To create this piece, I thought about what house I wanted to build, and came up with the western forest house idea. Then, I designed and built, with some trial and error, in Minecraft, making changes and additions along the way. I really like how this house came out. I had a fun time making it, as I could be as creative and ambitious as I wished, and yet be able to make a house that looked good and was very symbolic. I also liked that because I didn’t draw the house, I could start over or get rid of things without having to get a new paper, or erase. I am very happy with my house overall, and I think that my symbolism and design worked out too. I really like the reflecting pond behind the house, as I think that was my most creative part of the house, and because it makes the house feel more unique. I also liked the trees and tall grasses surrounding the house because it gives it more of a forest vibe, and that was key for me while designing the entire structure. I disliked the open floor plan after looking at it recently, and I think I should have made more individual rooms. I disliked it because I think that even though it’s a little more realistic, more rooms would be much more visually appealing. I really enjoyed making this project, and I had the ability to work on it anywhere, which I loved. I was able to spend more time on it, and therefore get a better result. Also, the many blocks and items you can put down in Minecraft gave this project a very cool feel, as my house was nowhere near similar to any of the other houses that were presented, as I had put some of myself in it and individualized it. I think that my project overall did well in the design specs rubric. In the “Make it Beautiful” part, I think mine did very well. I loved the outside view of the house, with the moss covered cobblestone walls, and the tall trees, flowers, and grasses surrounding them. I also loved the reflecting pool and the bits of glowstone that I used as a cool-looking lighting surrounding it. In the “Make it Relevant” category, I think I also did well. I think that if you look at the house and think about the emotions Holden would be going through as he lives in this house, I think that it adds an interesting view. My explanation on the parts of the house that I submitted with the project also makes it relevant because in that, I talked about how each part of the house is connected to Holden in a certain way, for instance, the bookshelves all over represent Holden wanting to get back to reading, as he read D.B.’s works as a small child. In the “Make it Unique” category, I also think I succeeded. My house was nowhere near close to any of the other houses that were submitted, and I tried not to go for the obvious symbols in the books to include, more to represent the emotions and feelings Holden would be going through at the turbulent time in his life when he would be living in the house. I did not just add in the duck pond for no reason other than it was a symbol in the book, and the same thing goes for the hunting hat and Allie’s glove. I went for a very different approach than just trying to add in every symbol I could find in the book. In the “Make it Poignant” category, I think I did my best to represent Holden’s sheer loneliness and peacefulness while living in the house in the woods, but I think this is the one category in which I could have done a little better. I think that my house invoked an emotional response, as the explanation showed what the parts of the house meant. I do think, however, that I could have added in a few more details that would have made it more clear to the viewers the emotions that Holden was going through while in the house. All in all, I think I did a good job addressing all of the design specs, but the one thing that I think I could have done better would be in the “Make it Poignant” category. That would be making more of the objects that represent Holden’s feelings and emotions so that the viewer gets more of an emotional impact when he/she sees all of them. If I had the chance to do this project over again, and after seeing all of the other houses that my classmates made, I would make some changes. I would definitely take a look at adding more rooms in my house to make things more interesting inside. I would also consider adding more elements on the outside of the house, rather than making a square with windows. I would add maybe a bay window, or a room that is surrounded with floor to ceiling windows so that Holden can see the beauty of the outdoors. Also, I would consider making my house farther away from the others on the map, so that I could put in more trees and plants and make it seem like it’s actually in a forest. In addition, I would possibly make changes to the landscape around the house, like adding in a river, or a small pond, to give it more of a forest feel and add originality. A goal that I want to set for myself next time is that I want to wow my classmates with the sheer beauty and effort that went into the project. I liked how my project turned out, but I also think that if I made more of an environment around the house, I would have made it much more beautiful and it would have made the viewers more interested in the house in general.
0 Comments
When I read the article about how Holden was becoming irrelevant and stuff, I thought it was pretty true. I feel like Holden is just not like the teenagers that we are today. Like it says in the article, Holden is a rich kid who lives in New York and goes to a fancy prep school. It’s really hard to feel bad for him when you also realize that he has a weekend free in New York City, with no parents and no place to be. That’d be so much fun considering he has cash to blow on basically whatever he wants. When you think about that, I find it harder to feel bad for him, as he has pretty much everything he could ever want. I also think that Holden is just not relevant anymore because we actually have a happy medium between the adult world and the little kid world. The teenage world is just something that wasn’t there back when Holden was actually popular. Now, it’s just tough for people like me to really relate to someone because their culture is very different. Holden switched between getting a hooker and then going to see a girl. Those are very different things, and I think that because there was no middle ground back then, being a teenager was really different.
Throughout the book, I have noticed that Holden has become a lot more hostile towards others, especially at the end. He was always pushing people away from him throughout the book, but it became more and more pronounced nearing the end of the novel, like when he insulted Sally. Holden acts a little differently towards his sister Phoebe. This, I think is good in part because if he acted to his sister how he acted towards Ackley, than he would not be a very good person. He acts almost like he wants to relive his messed up childhood through hers. His childhood consisted of being sent away to an all boys boarding school, and then having his brother dying as well. I also think that when he tells Phoebe about wanting to be the “catcher in the rye”, that showed that Holden isn’t always such a hostile person. I think that him catching the kids that may run/fall of the imaginary cliff is sort of a metaphor, almost like he is stopping them from leaving the happy world of childhood. I think this because Holden had a great childhood at first, but then as he started to grow up, he had trouble finding his place in the world, and he also had a traumatic experience with his brother dying at a very early age. He knows that growing up is really, really hard, and if you’re like Holden and can’t find a place where you fit in, it’s really awful. I talked with my mom about this and from what she remembered about the book, she said that because Holden had such fond memories of childhood and such bad ones of growing up, the metaphor signifies that he almost wants to try and stop people from growing up. When it hit me that I was growing up and leaving childhood for the first time, it was unpleasant, and jarring. Right when Holden starts talking to Phoebe, it says, “Then, all of a sudden, she said, ‘Oh, why did you do it?’ She meant why did I get the ax again. It made me sort of mad, the way she said it. ‘Oh, god, Phoebe, don’t ask me. I’m sick of everybody asking me that,’ I said. “A million reasons why. It was one of the worst schools I ever went to.” That kind of shows just how bitter and almost frustrated Holden is with being forced to be someone he doesn’t want to be. Also, I have noticed that Holden is acting more and more angrily at the very end of the novel. I think that anger is mostly towards the world in general, and it was triggered by seeing the curse words carved into the walls. Holden is sort of rejecting the world around him, because he wants to just move away from everyone and everything, and live in the mountains somewhere. I think he’s just tired of trying to be molded by his parents into some person he is not, tired of all of the phonies in society, and mostly tired of him not finding his place in the world. Holden has a very interesting relationship with his sister and acts differently in the relationship. I pity him for this, because that feeling of being lost must tear him up inside, and the stress of being something your parents don’t approve of is also really hard to deal with. In chapter 17, it says, “The worst part was, the jerk had one of those very funny, ivy league voices, one of those very tired, snobby voices. He sounded just like a girl. He didn't hesitate to horn in on my date, the bastard. I even thought for a minute that he was going to get in the goddamn cab with us when the show was over, because he walked about two blocks with us, but he had to meet a bunch of phonies for cocktails, he said. I could see them all sitting around in some bar, with their goddamn checkered vests, criticizing shows and books and women in those tired, snobby voices. They kill me, those guys.” This shows that Holden is not giving in to be the rich, snobby, well educated person his parents and society thinks he will become, but his very own person. This also shows that he doesn't like the people that his parents want him to become, and that he doesn't even want to associate with them. Another quote from the book is from chapter 25. It says, “I figured I could get a job at a filling station somewhere, putting gas and oil in people's cars. I didn't care what kind of job it was, though. Just so people didn't know me and I didn't know anybody. I just thought what I do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf mutes. that way I wouldn't have to have any goddamn stupid useless conversations with anybody. If anybody wanted to tell me something, they’d have to write it on a piece of paper and shove it over to me. They'd get bored as hell doing that after a while, and then I'd be through with having conversations for the rest of my life. Everybody to think I was just a poor deaf mute bastard and they leave me alone. They’d let me put gas and oil in their stupid cars, and they’d pay me a salary and all for it, and I build me a little cabin somewhere with the dough I made and live there for the rest of my life.” This shows that Holden is fed up with the society he lives in and just wants to move away so he doesn’t have to talk to or deal with any phonies. It also shows that Holden is becoming more and more frustrated with the world he lives in.
Up through chapter 12, I learned a lot more about Holden and I experienced a lot more of his language. In this section, I see Holden in a more open environment, able to make his own decisions and do what he wants. I also saw Holden in more of a social environment, like when he goes to a bar and sees Lillian Simmons, a girl his brother used to go out with. In the section, it says, “I started toying with the idea, while I kept standing there, of giving old Jane a buzz-I mean calling up her mother to find out when she was coming home. You weren’t supposed to call students up late at night, but I had it all figured out.” This sort of inner monologue is quite entertaining and really makes it feel like you’re listening to a teenager and what he is thinking about through all of the events that happen. I am definitely seeing more of a sexual drive, as he tries to meet up with a stripper, and many other girls while he is in the city. He also seems standoffish, and he doesn’t give in to the rich, “phony”, stereotype that he keeps seeing wherever he goes. Holden’s actions right now are pretty much solely driven by his desire to have sex, and that makes it harder for me to like Holden as a person. In these other 3 chapters, I learned a little more about Holden. Holden is somewhat of a loner as iI said in the previous post. In this section, Holden asks Ackley, “‘Listen. What’s the routine on joining a monastery?’ I asked him. I was sort of toying with the idea of joining one. ‘Do you have to be a Catholic and all?’” I think Holden is considering becoming a monk because he has no real direction in life, and I think he enjoys the simplicity and serenity of being quiet and alone. I also think it is because he hates all the “phonies”; the rich people who are completely fake to one another. I like that Holden is honest, and doesn’t put up with people’s crap. I also like that he is his own person, not trying to be like someone else, and he doesn’t care at all what people think. I don’t like that he is so negative, but I think that goes back to having his brother die at a very young age. That could have caused him to think the world is unfair and give him that really negative outlook on life. I also don’t like the fact that Holden keeps trying to get girls, like when he called that Faith Cavendish lady because he thought she would come over and sleep with him. That turns me off Holden, because that isn’t right, but I can understand that when growing up in an all boys school and having money that that idea is not completely out of the question for him. Today, I read Catcher in the Rye up to Chapter 6. The story went through Holden's night at the dorm. We met Ackley, one of his roommates, and we also met Stradlater, Holden's closest roommate. Holden to me is a very unique and intriguing character. I don't know too much about him quite yet, but I do know that he is somewhat of a free spirit, that he does what he wants and no one can really make him change. I also know that he doesn't really have any super close friends at Pencey. When he yelled and woke everyone up as he was leaving, it made me think that Holden just didn't care. It says, "I was sort of crying. I don't know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, 'Sleep tight, ya morons!' I'll bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor." Also, when Holden talks about toying with joining a monastery, I realized something. Holden likes to be alone, and this book from his point of view sort of also proves that. I don't like how bitter he is about a lot of things, and how he does not speak his full mind if he has a problem, like when Stradlater went out with Jane. The video on the unreliable narrator does play a part here. I thought that the whole idea of Holden saying things about himself that weren't entirely accurate, but then Salinger coming in and giving hints to what were accurate was spot on. I think that I will find more evidence for this later on in the book as we learn more about Holden, but right now I can see how he could potentially be an unreliable narrator. The first chapter of The Catcher in the Rye was very interesting to me. I was immediately sucked in with the in depth descriptions. He describes everything in a sort of sarcastic tone, and that made me read more and more. Also, the way he spoke was alluring. He was very stereotypical teenager in that way, more negative about the world around him. That was very different for me than any other book I have ever read. Also, the language he uses is very different. The only time I have read more cursing is in Game of Thrones. The word crumby also made me think and put me in the shoes of a teenager in the 1950s. At this point in the novel, I can't tell if I like Holden or not, just that he is a teen that does not really care about his life, and has no plans at all for his future. Also, I know that he is quite careless and attends a prestigious prep school, paid for by his wealthy parents. I think that Holden is a person that is lost, and that has not ever been driven to do things and do well in life, because everything he ever wanted or needed was given to him. When the school kicked him out, he was so nonchalant about it. In the novel, it says, "I wasn't supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all. They gave me frequent warnings to start applying myself-especially around mid-terms when my parents came up for a conference with old Thurmer- but i didn't do it. So I got the ax." Hey, I'm Andrew, and I am in the class of 2020 at PVHS. I enjoy reading and math, and someday, I hope to become a lawyer or work in the business field one day. I love to golf and ski. I also enjoy listening to music, and my favorite band is Panic! At The Disco. On here, I will mostly be talking about my English work and my current reads, but I may also mix in some bits about my other classes, like my AP Government course, and maybe my Intro to Business course and other miscellaneous work. This will be my portfolio/blog and it will help me showcase the best work that I can possibly do, and it will give you all a great look in to the life of me, and what I've been up to recently. I hope to post weekly, with some updates throughout about books I am reading. Posting on one certain day may be tough, as I am on the PVHS Golf team. Hope you all enjoy!!
|
AuthorI am Andrew, a high school kid attending PVHS. I enjoy golf, track, Xbox, and skiing. I have a passion for cars. I love reading, and my favorite book is Game of Thrones. Archives
January 2017
Categories |