Journal 4: Time

In "Contents of a Dead Man's Pockets", Jack Finney makes time pass slowly as Tom Benecke is standing on the ledge, barely able to balance himself. He does this by describing in detail every emotion and feeling he has as his life flashes before his eyes. This happens often in real life as well. In my experience, time slows down when we are feeling negative emotions and want the time to pass faster. Some examples would be when you are feeling uncomfortable, sick, tired, or bored. Time drags on, and it feels like hours when it has only been minutes. On the other hand, time passes quickly when you feel positive emotions, such as when you are having fun, or taking a break from hard work. It can also happen when you aren't feeling positive, like when you need more time. An example of this would be when you are staying up late to complete a homework assignment.

Journal Entry 3: Values

The values that I think should be most important in people's lives are love, friends, and having fun. In "Contents of a Dead Man's Pockets", at first Tom Benecke values his job and advancing in his work the most. He neglected his wife, and focused much of his time on his work, and side projects to try and get a promotion. His values change after his near death experience, and his values move towards spending time with his wife. In my life I value love and friends first, then family, then having fun, then education. Love is most important to me, but since there are few people I actually love, this category usually doesn't apply to me. Friends are next important to me, and I would literally do anything for a really close friend. Family comes next, because they are the closest to you physically, and they will always be there, while other people you meet come in and out of your life. Having fun is next important to me, because after college there won't really be any more opportunity to be happy. Education is the final value on my list, because I want to be able to support myself financially when I grow up.

Journal Entry 2

     The focal point of this picture is the person in the center, wielding a Bo, or a staff used in martial arts. The picture is probably set in the 1600s, somewhere in China, because there are ninja-looking people dangling upside-down from bamboo shoots. Also, their clothes look like those people from ancient China would wear.  In the picture, four ninjas are descending upon the girl in the middle, but she looks calm and ready to take the challenge. The contrast of color between the mist on the forest floor, and the green scenery around it emphasizes the mysterious nature of this picture. The perspective is shown from directly in front of the girl, but also angled in a way so that the ninjas on the bamboo shoots could be seen. This gives you a view of the entire situation. One setting from my own life would be my house at night. The focal point would be me, and the time would be at 1 AM. I would be struggling desperately to complete my homework and not fall asleep, and the mood would be dull and dark.

Journal Entry 1: Common Experiences

     I agree with Willa Cather when she says "There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before". In our lives, we all experience interesting events. We tend to think that what has happened to us is so incredible that few, if any other people have been through the same thing. This, however, is not the case. If you think about it, all the interesting stories we have to tell have all probably been told millions of times by the people before us who have already done it. For example, the first time we like a girl, and get our heart broken, we think that no one has ever felt as strongly as we did, and no one understands the pain we feel, when in fact almost every teenager has. Another example would be depression. At one point or another, almost every teenager will have experienced depression. Its just part of growing up, and when you think back later, you will realize how dumb you were. At the time though, you feel like you are alone in the world, and you are the only person who ever felt the way you do. These examples show how Willa Cather was correct in saying that humans have only few stories to tell, but tell them over and over to people for whom it is new.