The book that I read over the summer that I found most interesting was Jane Eyre. My criteria for making a book interesting is that it "rolls along" and doesn't make you want to fall asleep. Also it has to have a plot that throws unexpected surprises at you while still staying true to the main storyline so that you don't lose track of what has already happened. Finally the book has to have characters that have depth and that I can associate with in some way. Even if I have nothing in common with these characters I have to be able to feel like I know where they're coming from in order to find them interesting and worth reading about.

     Jane Eyre met these criteria perfectly because I was always engaged in the reading and the sudden changes in her life (such as the mystery of the monster, the foiled wedding, and the final reunion with Mr. Rochester) kept me in suspense throughout the entire novel but kept the question of Jane's future constantly in mind so that I was unable to lose track of her ever changing life. With all of this in mind it was also very easy to associate with Jane, Mr. Rochester, St. John and the other characters because everyone in history has at some point needed to find a way to better their lives, and just like in the novel, has faced great struggles to achieve it.

     Over the summer I read a lot of home improvement magazines, like Home and Garden, Southern Living, Martha Stewart, and Cottage Living as well as AP Gov. briefing papers, "The Post-American World" for AP Gov. and a lot of handbooks for a fine arts academy I went to in June. I also skimmed the newspaper just about everyday, read instructions for how to build a porch swing, and finished it off with a lot of college material and a lengthy book on the history of modern music. Out of this list the most interesting to me was the collection of home improvement magazines because I was really interested in finding some cool decorating ideas and I like to read about other places and homes that I might want to visit or live in someday. The magazines didn't match my above criteria for an interesting read because they were a totally different style of literature and didn't really have plots, characters or suspense but even so they kept me interested because I was so fond of the topic already and they were full of new information I had never thought of before.

** What a nice (and eclectic!) summer of reading you had! I am thrilled to hear someone enjoyed an old classic like Jane Eyre! Many people see her life as rather dull and "manipulated". I see her as someone who keeps seeking for her destiny as well while holding her standards. So many women (in real life or even more modern novels) sell-out their values for mere companionship. Jane is tough and I like that!

Consider the novel you read for the theme SELF-DISCOVERY.

What exactly was it that the novel's main character discovered about himself/herself? Explain how this discovery was an integral part of the novel's substance or core.

How was this discovery applicable to you as the reader? In what sense could it be applicable to ALL readers? What did you learn about YOURSELF as you watched the character change within the novel?

Answer this on your personal page by 5pm on Friday, Aug.21st.

I read "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway for the theme of Self-Discovery. In the novel the main character, Jake Barnes travels from France to Spain with a group of his peers, seemingly enjoying "the good life." They get drunk, attend the bullfighting festival at Pamploma and participate in a variety of questionable activies. However, there is much more to this novel then the partying conveys. Underneath it all, Hemingway discusses Jake's tragic life and how he will never be with the woman he loves because of some tragic accident in WWI. Throughout the novel Jake is attracted to Lady Brett Ashley who appears to have been involved with him in the past, but because of his own disability and her habits of cheating and alcoholism they both know it will never work out between them. However, Brett still relies on Jake for moral support in all her struggles, which makes the pain of Jake's life even more real. By the end of the novel Jake discovers many things that he already believed in early in the novel, such as no matter where you are, life doesn't get any better, and drowning out your sorrows in fiestas and drunkeness don't really help to drown the pain of reality. They only seem to numb it. As Jake cements all of these discovers in his own mind, he does however realize on new sensation that he has never known before. Instead of returning to Paris and continueing in his easy-going lifestyle, Jake chooses to continue to help Brett out, even at the risk of his own feelings. In effect he chooses to live his life, even though it is painful and tragic, rather then continue to try to drown in his sorrows and numb the pain with good times. Jake's discovery is that, while you can't change your situation and how life has treated you, you can choose to live as normally as possible and try to move on, for the sake of possibly finding companionship in the future.

As you can see Jake's discovery is an intregral part of the novels core because all of the characters in the novel struggle with some feeling of being alone or failure. Mike can't get Brett to stay with him, Cohn has failed in every attempt to attain the life he idealizes and Pedro Romero, even though he wins the bullfight, eventually loses Brett and has taken a hit to his pride by being beaten by Cohn. The main plot of the novel is entangled with these characters all trying to find what makes them happy, but in the end Jake (seemingly the most unsatisfied of them all) is the only one to realize this discovery that is his only chance of ever moving on. That is why his discovery is so important to understanding the novel because without it, you are left confused and wondering how Hemingway thought up this plot with seemingly no point. The discovery is what links everyone together and makes Jake's story so sad, yet at the same time so hopeful compared to everyone else's situations.

This discovery was applicable to me as a reader because it didn't follow the normal outline of a great heroic discovery. I believe that I along with all readers can find that there is a sense of being lost and permenently unsatisfied in this world at times, if one doesn't learn to move on after you have had a setback. Everyone, at one time or another, has to come to terms with whatever life has given them and make the best of it, even if in the short term it means experiancing more pain. In a horribly twisted way this means that the discovery can be applied to all of our lives in that it shares with us that reality doesn't usually include fairytales and if we want to live a satisfied life we have to experiance a little tough love.

**Great Post Rachel... Jake's discovery shows him that "the sun also rises" (it doesn't only set...) in other words, there is always hope for tomorrow... and we go ON to the next day... your insights are spot on target! 

As I watced Jake change throughout the novel I realized that I have a pretty good life as it is, but if I was ever to encounter some huge life changing tragedy I would want to learn from Jake and take the pain forward with me in order to learn from it and have a more positive outlook for what may happen better in the future. I realized that I have a pretty positive outlook on life in general and that perhaps I should take time to consider what effect obstacles and pain can have on my life so that one day when I do encounter them (because everyone will) I won't have to go through the period of denial that Jake experienced. Life is not what you make but what God plans for you and if you remember he has a plan through even the toughest times, those trials don't seem so tough anymore.