My Riddle

My owners love me
and everybody wants me
i'm used for trade
and I have many faces
some have more than others
I can be used for anything if you have a lot

Is Grendel a Monster?

Well, my answer to the question "is Grendel a monster?" is that he is definitely  not human. He is a monster but I only think that he is a monster on the outside, but I certainly wouldn't call him civilized. I think that he acts the way he does because he uses his instincts. It is in his nature to eat when he's hungry just like it is his nature to sleep when he's tired, just like everybody else. It's not necessarily his fault he acts the way he does. He is the way he is because he doesn't know any better. I'm pretty sure that nobody ever taught him basic manners and courtesy. He is just like a wild animal, if not tamed then they act on what their instincts tell them, and that is exactly what Grendel is doing. His instincts are telling him that there are very tasty people bothering him and it would not only be easy, but it would also get rid of the noise that is causing him pain and it would fill him up. Why not kill two birds with one stone? We don’t call uncivilized people monsters, so why would we call somebody that is just like one of us a monster?

September 11th

What happened on September 11th of 2001 was a tragedy. Two planes were purposely crashed into the twin towers in New York City killing thousands of people. On the same day, a plane crashed into the pentagon and another, headed to Washington, into a field in Pennsylvania. Nobody survived from any of the plane crashes so how can we really be sure about what happened? We can't. People say that the whole thing was a big conspiracy , others believe what they see and here in the media and from the newspapers. There were rumors that U.S. government officials were involved in the planning of the attack. What or who, are we supposed to believe? I think that we have to use the limited resources that we have, and put the pieces together ourselves. There are two sides to every story, and if two people told me the same story but I didn't know who to believe, then I would have to listen to both of the stories and gather things that I know for a fact are true. Things that were consistent in both stories. 

Nabokov's Good Readers and Good Writers

"Good Readers and Good Writers" by Vladimir Nabokov

I agree and disagree with Nabokov's views and opinions about how to be good readers and good writers. I agree with him when he says that a good reader should have imagination, memory, and sometimes you do need a dictionary. I do not think that you need any sort of artistic sense at all and sometimes memory isn't even needed (but that depends on the book). I also disagree with him when he says that "one cannot read a book: one can only reread it". 

I think to be a good reader you should have imagination. In my opinion that is the only thing that matters (other than actually being able to read). If your reading a book and your constantly coming across words you don't know then I would probably tell you to just book the book down. If it was mandatory literature then I would suggest a dictionary. Some authors like to tell you facts that you will need throughout the book or at the end so you do need some sort of memory when you read otherwise there is really no point in reading. 

When Nabokov said that you needed some artistic sense, I thought to myself, why would you need artistic sense when you've got your imagination. As I said before, imagination is all you need. If you can read and imagine what's going on in the book, then to me, you are a great reader. I also thin that you should be able to relate yourself to the characters. I do it all the time. If anything it helps to relate yourself to the characters. It helps you understand the story or the situation a little better because then you can say to yourself, Hey I've done that before I know exactly how that person feels. As far as him saying that you can only truly read if you reread, I think he was wrong. I think you can totally read once and get it, but I think it's best if you read aloud. It helps a lot if your getting confused or not really paying attention and you don't even have to read the book again because you read and got it the first time.