Meaning Of Strange Creatures By Thomas Blackmore

“Monster”, a 1999 novel by Walter Dean Myers, is an incredible story told through the fictional movie script of a boy on trial for murder and robbery. It’s an intriguing read that triggers deep thought and empowers the hearts within all. A book notable for its messages against implicit bias, encouraging the notion of truth within yourself, you can speculate on its events from start to finish and beyond. But it’s worth pondering of its connection to real life. Does “Monster” truly reflect the criminal justice system of our country’s society today? Read on to discover the shocking answer.

In today’s culture people are not individuals they are consumers and they have lost their ability to have their own experiences. In “The Loss of the Creature” by Walker Percy, he talks about why people have lost their sovereignty and how they can get it back. There are a lot of things that people can do differently and regain their individuality back from the consumer culture that they live in.

“Fear and euphoria are dominant forces, and fear is many multiples the size of euphoria” - Alan Greenspan. New York author, Alan Greenspan, here is explaining that the threat fear presents is really no different than the state of intensity caused by euphoria. In Andrew J. Hoffman’s anthology, Monsters, there is substantial evidence that both fear and euphoria are inflicted upon men, by female monsters. The two threats men typically face against women are temptation and emasculation. Thus, in mythology and folklore, female monsters exemplify the impulse of desire (sexually) for men, and male weakness. These are creature that are lusted after and yet, still feared because of their power. Men find female monsters both fearsome and euphoric and will always threaten their dominance and control.

There is such kind of monsters, remain their appearance as a human, yet the things they do can only describe as monstrosities. They are not monsters in books and literature, a fear of unknown or sexual desires. People were, or still are facing actual brutal violence or psychological terror from those monsters. More importantly, the monster being talked here is one of our kind. They are human, yet described as “inhuman”, under the inhuman category of Stephen T. Asma’s book On Monsters, a bloody history, a dark past of humanity have been introduced as a monster. It is Khmer Rouge’s infamous security prison S21: the representation of the massacre took place in Cambodia in 20th century and this kind of monster, unfortunately, is still relevant to the world, even till this day.

How would you feel to be put on trial for a crime you did not commit? In the book, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, this is the case for a sixteen-year-old Harlem boy named Steve Harmon. Steve is on trial for felony murder because he has been accused of being involved in being the lookout for a robbery that took place on December 22nd in an uptown convenience store that resulted in the shooting of Alguinaldo Nesbitt, the convenience store clerk. Steve Harmon is innocent for the reasoning’s of he does not know who Richard Evans is, the convenience store was not empty, and there was no signal.

The tide was coming in and there was only a narrow strip of firm beach between the water and the white, stumbling stuff near the palm terrace. Ralph chose the firm strip as a path because he needed to think, and only here could he allow his feet to move without having to watch them. Suddenly, pacing by the water, he was overcome with astonishment. He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one 's waking life was spent watching one 's feet. He stopped, facing the strip; and remembering that first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly. He turned then and walked back toward the platform with the sun in his face. The time had come for the assembly and as he walked into the concealing splendors of the sunlight he went carefully over the points of his speech. There must be no mistake about this assembly, no chasing imaginary. . . .

Mopping unsanitary floors on hands and knees but looking out the window seeing joy-filled kids. Behind cold steel bars in a lonely cage, however able to relate to other prisoners who have faith for the future. The Monster masterpiece by Walter Dean Myers puts Steve Harmon—a sixteen year old black kid in jail—on the hot seat for the crime of robbery and felony murder of an innocent man named Mr. Nesbitt. On trial are two men--Steve Harmon and James King—that not only have a chance to be given a minimum sentence of 21 years and 3 months but a maximum sentence of life in jail. While being called a Monster by the prosecutor, Mrs. Petrocelli. this dark time for Harmon results in having no true place to escape where only doubt runs through his mind. However, the progression that Harmon makes, not only in jail but during the trial with his defense attorney, Miss O’Brien, allows us to understand that during many situations, doubt and hope intertwine.

Krakauer uses the symbol of a beast in Into the Wild to reveal that as Chris’ journey continues his inner beast continues to develop. To begin, the beast reveals Chris is “strong in Buck” (Krakauer, 38). As a form of resistance a beast will buck; it does not worry about who it may hurt but just kicks, throwing a rider off its back. In the same way Chris does not agree with society so he bucks and runs away, he had “an uncanny knack for making a buck” (115) “there was no way to stop him” (118) his leaving was “one abrupt, swift action… completely knock[ing] them [his family] out” (64). This is significant because this symbol reveals Chris rejects society and thus leaves his family to fuel his own desires. Just as a beast will buck to resist its master

In “The Monster” by Walter Dean Myers, there are many things in prison that most affects Steve Harmon which can cause him to change. First, within the prison, is said that all they talk about is drugs and sex. This is important because it affects Steve because he has nothing to do with that and now knows what it is like which could change him to be like that. Also, in that terrible place they call jail there are many fights that occur in it. For example, Steve Harmon mentions in the story that someone was hit in the face with a tray during breakfast. This shows that Steve hates fights and does not want to be in any. This affects him because of he in jail with a bunch of grown men which start the fights. Finally, prison is a place where Steve

Think back to the earliest Christmas you can remember. Try to remember the feelings you got when you got to open your presents. Not knowing what was inside the shiny gift wrap and the nicely tied bow. The excitement, the awe, and the joy you felt when ripping the gift wrap on your own presents. You did not know what to expect, but not knowing made this moment a true experience. Walker Percy’s essay, “The Loss of the Creature,” tries to explain the loss of true experiences because of media portrayal. The losses that Percy is mostly concerned about is “value P .” Value P is the experience and beauty a person feels in a moment. Walker says at the end of his essay, “…unless he also struggles for himself, unless he know that there is a struggle, he is going to be just what the planners

The narrative, “The Black Cat”, includes many symbols. The black cat is more than just the title; it is the legend, Pluto, that leads the narrator down the path toward insanity (“The Black Cat”). Pluto was the ruler of the underworld and the judge of the dead in classical mythology. This connection is not just an accident that Poe put together. A home is supposed to be a place where an individual feels safe and secure with or without others. Within this story, a home becomes a dark and tragic place, full of madness and murder. “I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife. At length, I even offered her personal violence” (Poe 719). The narrator turned on his pets before his wife; maybe the black cat and his wife was just too much for him to handle. The narrator kills the black cat, and then proceeds to kill his own wife. A couple in a home, would normally be happy and intact with a cat as a pet, but in this narrative, this household is not happy and healthy; his wife and pet become prey to his deteriorating mental state. Another symbol found in “The Black Cat”, is his wife; she could have been a hurtful or demanding force in his life. The narrator describes her as having “that humanity of feeling” (Poe 721). His wife at any point could have either saved him, herself, or both. She could have saved herself by running away from the alcohol-induced man. The symbols that were incorporated in this narrative made the narrator’s psychological state more comprehensible. The conflicts within this narrative were more easily understood because of the symbolism used, to tie the depressing narrative together.

In the essay, The Loss of the Creature, written by Walter Percy, he discusses multiple stories relating to an unknown “creature” in our lives. Life is about our experiences. It is important to explore the world whenever we get the opportunity, but we must look at the world through a new perspective in order to truly see it. Walter Percy indirectly tells us, the most worthwhile kinds of experiences are not the ones we plan, but the ones we don’t quite expect to happen. My mother planned a vacation for my family and I looking for that once in a lifetime experience. She decided that experience would take place in Hawaii, the Aloha State. Unfortunately, that once and a live time experience she was searching for, would not be the highlight of our vacation. It would be something simple, yet surprisingly beautiful and euphoric. It was my “true experience”, my “creature”.

(MIP)My meme is about advertisement and how it affects people in the world of F451. In the world of F451 advertisement is bombarded at you to keep you from thinking on downtime. Supporting idea 1: The Advertisement in F451 is blared at you in train stations to keep you from thinking. It keeps you distracted on your down time to think. It distracts you from thinking by flooding you with so much noise, you can't focus on what you were previously doing.

A person’s 21st birthday is a milestone here in the U.S. Not only is it a time to celebrate the passing of another year, but it is also a time to celebrate finally being allowed to drink alcohol legally. The U.S. has a higher drinking age than most countries, and on someone’s 21st birthday people tend to go overboard with the drinking. A popular drinking game on someone’s 21st birthday involves drinking 21 shots or more within a 24-hour limit after turning 21. Binge drinking games such as this can lead to horrible consequences, such as alcohol poisoning. Alcohol abuse is a big problem here in America, but how does alcohol abuse relate to 21st birthdays?

Edgar Allan Poe uses a great deal of symbolism in his story. He often uses symbolism to illustrate his views of nature. One example of Poe using symbolism in this short story is when he talks about how every time he see’s the black cat, he feels angry and paranoid. A black cat naturally symbolizes evil and for Poe to say that when he see’s a black cat, he feels anger, this gives the reader an ideal that the black cat in Poe’s short story, also symbolizes evil. Poe uses symbolism to impact the overall tone of the story by using symbolism and imagery throughout his story.