Anotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Ostrom, Carol M. "Initiative 1000 would let patients get help ending their lives." The Seattle Times 21 Sept. 2008.

In this article, Mrs. Ostrom explores the different opinions that people held in regards to Initiative 1000, which was introduced to Washington state law for people to vote on, during the 2008 elections. Initiative 1000 was passed with 58% of Washington's citizens approving it. The reasons for why they did or did not approve it however, varied greatly. Duane French who spent 40 years of his live paralyzed, stated that Initiative 1000 is going to be used as a tool to kill off people who are terminally ill or disabled. However, Initiative 1000 is closely based off of the policies that Oregon uses for their citizens who would like to participate in assisted suicide. In Oregon, no more than 30 people per year have ever taken advantage of the freedom to commit assisted suicide, so French's fears are thought to not become an issue in Washington.

ProQuest Staff. "Assisted Sucide and Euthanasia Timeline." Sirs. 2008. Sirs. 7 Dec 2008 .

This database time line helps the reader get a rough estimate of when assisted suicide was first a common thing to be discussed not only in America, but worldwide. In Ancient Greece and Rome, it was already defined that suicide itself was a horrible not to mention illegal act to pursue. During the enlightenment in Europe from the 17^th to 18^th centuries, the general public was not very concerned with suicide, so it was not a widely discussed item. However, the year 1828 was the year when the American colonies first established laws saying it was illegal to give or aid in supplying drugs, weapons, or any other item that could help aid a person in taking their own life.

Q2: Blog Entry #4

Today, in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, we are already on the brink of solving our first mystery in the book's first sixty pages. There's a few things to consider after realizing the book moves just -that- quickly.

How does Sir Conan Doyle manage to keep the novel engaging and not overwhelming the reader with information, when it moves to fast? It's like a long short-story, if that makes any sense at all. What ended up happening though, is that Holmes was never shot when he collapsed in the street. He had set off a fake pistol noise, collapsed on the ground, and brought his hand to his face. His hand was painted red so that when it made contact with his face, red paint would get all over his face and look like he had been bleeding. It just so happens that the Woman who has the King of Bohemia's photo, was the same woman that saw Holmes collapse in the street. The Woman ends up allowing Holmes to recover in her home. Holmes requests that she open the window, so she does, and Watson comes out of no where and throws a smoke-bomb into the home. Seeing the smoke, Sherlock shrieks "Fire!" and the Woman immediately runs off to grab her most important item- The photo which the King of Bohemia has wanted so long so badly.

If Sherlock can find a way to get back into the Woman's house to steal the photo, then that will be the end of his first case in this novel. The man truly does quick work- He only had about three days total to get the photo back.

Doyle, Sir Aurthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1996.

Q2: Blog Entry #3

Alrighty- Time for me to get super technical about this blog's due date. I was told it was due Sunday evening, but since I go to bed later than about 80% of people, evening for me is around midnight. It is 11:44 as I submit this blog, so ah well.

Back to my book- I've stated before that things such as blackmail, scandalous relationships, and treacherous happenings amongst adults are some of the only things that keep my attention to a book. Along with death and violence.

So my surprise with seeing some violence in this novel was HUGE and it felt abrupt, and yet it was just what I had been waiting and hoping for. This novel is already becoming one of my all-time favourites. The violence occurs when "Holmes dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached her, he gave a cry and dropped down to the ground, with the blood running freely down his face" (Pg 38) The book goes on to say that they do not know who hurt Holmes, but he is not dead. The only reason why Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chose to keep Holmes alive was... You simply can't kill the protagonist in a novel within the first fifty pages.

And yet- What if Holmes had been killed so quickly in the book? The narrative is from Watson's prespective after all, so would that mean Watson would step in and take Holmes' place as the protagonist? Doyle is a detailed orientated person who has a reason for everything, and he probably has grand plans for Holmes later on in the story. We'll see as we continue to read.

Doyle, Sir Aurthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1996.

Q2: Blog Entry #2

The first adventure in "The Adventure(s) of Sherlock Holmes" is titled, 'A Scandal in Bohemia." The chapter was given this title because Bohemia's king traveled to England in order to meet with Sir Sherlock Holmes and ask for his assistance. A woman that the king had flirted with and exchanged suspicious pictures with in his youth, is now threatening to publish the pictures when the king publicly announces his marriage to a different Bohemian woman.

Call me a corrupt person, but thoughts of black mail and shattered relationships that are the foundation for conspiracy, are genuinely interesting. I'm already entranced by Sir Conan Doyle's writing style as well, because his sentences aren't too long, nor too short. Just right.

But it's time to get back to the plot! Sherlock Holmes just so happens to live near Madame Irene Adler, the woman who has these suspicious photos of the Bohemian king. So he disguised himself as a beggar so that he could explore Adler's neighborhood and try to dig up some dirt on the woman. It turns out Adler has a love interest that she is also getting married to, the very day Holmes ventures out to her neighborhood. So why does Adler still insist on blackmailing the Bohemian king? What are her motives? We, the readers, don't know quite yet.

Another funny thing about this novel, is that it is not narrated by Sherlock Holmes even though he is the main character. It isn't written in the third person perspective either; but first person from Watson's perspective.

"He disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a few minutes in the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and benevolent curiosity, were such as Mr John Hare alone could have equaled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime." (Pg 32.)

From this quote alone, it's easy to understand that Watson highly respects and looks up to Sherlock, even though they have a best-friend type relationship where both people are of equal skill and equal footing. However, Watson is essentially saying with this quote, 'How can you NOT look up to Mr. Holmes?' because his disguises which he uses for his work are so believable. Sherlock puts so much effort into making these disguises his life, like Sir Conan Doyle puts so much effort into trying to make his characters come to life. Already we can tell, the author Mr. Doyle highly respects and values hard work, and Sherlock Holmes might be Doyle's idealistic representation of himself.

Doyle, Sir Aurthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1996.

Q2: Blog Entry #1

For our outside reading project, I will be reading the novel "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The thought process that went through my head as I was selecting this book to read for the project was very simplistic, but made sense to me nonetheless.

'Hm, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Didn't they used to make you read that in school? ...Why haven't I read it yet? It's probably important if someone's been forced to read it. Okay, I'll read it.'

Agatha Christie has been cited before as looking to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for inspiration in her novels, and Agatha Christie is one of the few mystery / suspense authors that I truly enjoy. Her stories such as "Murder on The Orient Express" and "Curtain" leave you hooked and waiting for more, with each and every single word she has written. That simply must mean Mr. Doyle has written a good piece of literature!

From the introduction alone, written by a man by the name of Eric Ambler, we can tell Doyle is very attached to his profession of writing. "In that one year he abandoned medicine to become a full-time professional writer and suffered a bout of influenza that nearly killed him." (Pg 11.) By the sounds of what Ambler said, Doyle had his career path set and destined. Yet Doyle took the time and effort to completely destroy his plans for the future and go into writing. That, is true dedication. Reading something written by a man who is that immersed in his job, will be a true treat- Something I rarely say when reading books. After all, it's easy to tell when someone has put effort into their writing and enjoys it, versus someone who does not.

Doyle, Sir Aurthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1996.

English Blog Entry #7

The topic of today's blog is Stephen Colbert's "I Am America: And So Can You!" While the book that covers different parts of life according to Stephen Colbert is in no way serious at all, many of his opinions he expresses are believed by many Americans. Consider the average American and how they feel, about the religion of Catholicism.

Most Americans sot of have a 'don't know, don't care.' type attitude, which allows for total religious tolerance like what we have in our country. However, according to Stephen Colbert in his book...
Catholicism is the only reason that should be allowed in America. Catholicism is the only 'good' and 'pure' religion that will help you be saved by God. Whether or not Stephen is being serious, no one knows, however. We NEVER know when Stephen Colbert is actually being 100% serious on his show either, however!

The ironic thing about Catholicism however, is that there's lots of extra traditions in that religion, which are not talked about or discussed in the Bible. So how is a religion pure for having all these extra features and traditions which might actually go against the actual Bible itself?

For example; Think of how the Pope is worshiped and adored around the world. Could you consider the way he's treated as worshiping an idol? Which is one of the strictest no-nos in the Ten Commandments? Just a little something something to ponder.

Please do not take any offense to this if you are Catholic Mrs. Burgess. I apologize. I myself am agnostic.

English Blog Entry #6

Yes. Ladies and gentlemen; It is time for another song-lyrics related blog. Only because I was listening to this song, and I noticed literary terms in it that coincide with our poetry unit! Oh snap! Seriously speaking, I love the song "Angels" by Robbie Williams to bits and pieces because my boyfriend, Chris, told me it was 'our song.' It has deep meaning to me, especially because I've been lucky enough to hear him sing the song to me. He sung the song to me one evening was when I was severely depressed. An emotional wreck of sorts, and that was around last July.
[Music Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF8unwxhNho]

And because the two of us are especially dorky, he would replace every part of the song that said 'Angels' with 'Cindy.'

Some of the lines outshine the rest, and it's these lines that will make -any- person who chooses to sing/recite the lyrics to someone, the true romantic.

"and through it all she offers me protection
a lot of love and affection
whether I’m right or wrong"
Right there, we get to see a bit of Robbie Williams experimenting with rhyming his verses of lyrics. A part of me is caught off guard seeing a guy admit to the fact that his woman is protecting him in a sort of way. Not to be sexist or anything, but normally, guys will take pride in and brag about being the protector of someone, and the dominant one in a relationship. [Hetero-sexual relationship speaking.] The idea of someone loving you no matter what happens though, is something we just don't see in modern music all that much either, and its' refreshing to find a song that actually discusses that.

"and as the feeling grows
she breathes flesh to my bones"
This segment of figurative language is probably one of my favourite in the song; it's rare to find someone who really does 'bring you to life' like what Mr. Williams is talking about.

The man who sings this to me is my angel.