100 Years of Solitude (Chapters 1-5)

1.I chose to write about Aureliano Buendia, because I feel he has an important role in the story, and it will continue to grow. I think that it shows how strong of person he is when he decides to become a commander in the Liberal army, because he doesn’t like what’s going on and what’s to see change. When he went to Gerineldo Marquez’s house and spoke with an authority in his voice, that was when I knew that he would become a strong character in the rest of the book. Even though they didn’t have any weapons, Aureliano still wanted to make it happen by taking the opposite sides weapons. They attacked with table knives and sharp tools, which I think is kind of crazy and they should have found another type of weapon, but it worked. I think that Aureliano will become a great leader of the army, and will remain and important figure in the book. But also, I think that this war might maybe change how Aureliano feels, and acts, because War can do that to people, when they least expect it.

2.A theme that I see in here is expanding the village, and trying to overcome insomnia and amnesia. Jose Arcadio Buenida went through the village, trying to put names on items, like table, chair, desk, etc. He didn’t want the memory loss to have a negative impact on the village, so he wanted to place names in locations for them to remember what they are. They put a sign on a street that said Macondo, and God Exists. I think its good how they put that God Exists on the sign, to keep their faith up. Even though they had a loss of memory, they still believed that God would help them make it through the day. It was interesting how when Jose went to the house and the visitor opened the door, he felt himself with the forgetfulness of death, not the forgetfulness of the heart, which is totally different.

Grimm's Fairy Tales (Day Two)

In Rapunzel, the reoccurring theme here resembles a Disney fairytale story. The story began with “Once upon a time,” which is the normal words that begin Disney stories that we all grew up with. This story also included a tower, where a beautiful girl was trapped, and the prince went to save her. Usually in Disney stories, the prince saves the women, and there is usually an evil lady, in this scenario the witch. The beautiful women always stays in the highest tower, trapped without much hope, until a handsome young prince comes to rescue her. The witch tried tricking the prince, and pretended she was Rapunzel, but the prince still ended up finding Rapunzel in the end. The Disney story usually has an evil character to set up some kind of conflict of the prince trying to save Rapunzel. It would not have considered a Disney story if the Prince did not find his wife that he loved at the end. One that always concludes the story is the Happy Ever After. The Prince saves the “Princess” and they live happily ever after.

This was also a reoccurring theme of a Disney fairytale story in True Bride. Again it started off with “Once upon a time,” and ended with a “happily ever after.” This story starts off by introducing the “beautiful young girl” who had a stepmother. In all these Disney stories, the Stepmother is the evil one. She said she would beat her up if she doesn’t finish what her Stepmother wanted her to do. Of course in a fairytale, there has to be someone to help out the main character, which in this case was the old women who completed everything the Stepmother wanted the princess to do. It was “love at first sight”, and the story wouldn’t be complete without the prince magically finding the princess after the three chances he had, and they lived happily ever after.


In the Thumbling fairytale as well as The Travels of Thumbling, a reoccurring theme here is violence of getting eaten by an animal, and still ended up surviving. In Thumbling, he was eaten by a cow who got cut up, and the Wolf just happened to be there and eat Thumbling too. In order to get Thumbling out of the cow, his father used an ax to cut up the body. There is no way Thumbling could have really survived, and he could magically talk inside of the animal. In Travels of Thumbling, once again Thumbling was eaten by a cow. Maybe it was related to the cow who ate Thumbling in the other story. Once again Thumbling was able to talk to the animal while inside the body.

Grimms Fairy Tales Day 1

2. I think that gender plays a big role in these stories, in how the men and women act. In Hansel and Gretel, the stepmother was the one who gave the children the bread. Usually the mothers are the one’s who cook, and feed their children. In the story, Hansel would drop stones on the path so they could find their way back easier. This shows how Hansel was stepping up to be a man, leader for his sister to bring them both back to the house safely. It also reminded me of Hansel being a Boy Scout, and leaving marks on the trails to find their way back. In Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, Snow White was left motherless, so she had no choice but to become a mother. She was on her own, so she had to take care of herself. The dwarfs said she could stay if she could take care of the household, cook, make beds, wash clothes, sew, knit, and keep everything in order. These tie into the roles of woman in real life. They are usually the one to keep all these tasks in order. In Rolland, there was also an example of female’s taking care of the household. Rolland found all the work done, room swept, chairs and tables dusted, water fetched, and the table set. The Handmaid was the one who put this all in order.

3. I think there was a lot of violence in these stories for being targeted for children. I don’t’ ever remember reading any violence in stories, maybe the children don’t pay much attention to it. I think more people pay attention to the violence when they read the stories when they are older, and think “How can this book be targeted for children with all this violence?!” I think violence plays an important role because it grabs the children’s attention, they will enjoy the stories more. The children don’t realize the intensity in someone cutting up a girl and eating them, or chopping off a head with an ax of their own daughter. In “Little Red Riding Hood”, the wolf’s body was cut open with a pair of scissors to find Little Red Riding Hood. In the “Handless Maiden”, the daughter’s hand was cut off. Though it ties with the title being the “Handless Maiden”, so it would be assumed that the Maiden wouldn’t have a hand. In the “Robber Bridegroom” they cut up the girl, and ate her. So a lot of these stories included some kind of cutting up girls and eating them, or cutting open an animal. In “Rolland”, the witch chopped off the head of her own daughter with an ax. This reminds me of something that would be in a slasher film, with cutting off heads. Another scene of violence was in the “Juniper Tree”, where the sons head fell off because the lid slammed against him, and the lady tried putting his head back on the body, but it fell off again. There is too much violence in these stories, but the children don’t pay attention to it much. I think the Grimms Brothers put on a whole different meaning of these stories.

Don Quixote 46-52

3. In chapter 47 it says, “Learned and very grave historians of knights-errant have I read. But I never read, saw, nor heard of enchanted knights being transported in this manner, and so slowly as these lazy, heavy animals seem to proceed; for they were usually conveyed through the air with wonderful speed, enveloped in some thick and dark cloud, or on some fiery chariot, or mounted upon a hippogriff, or some such animal. But to be carried upon a team drawn by oxen- before Heaven, it overwhelms me with confusion! Perhaps, however, the enchantments of these our times may differ from those of the ancients; and it is also possible that as I am a new knight in the world, and the first who revived the long-forgotten exercise of knight-errantry, new modes may have been invented.” This is an example of what Don Quixote wants to see in reality. He reads about these chivalrous knights who had quick speed, and rode an animal. The only time in this book that Don Quixote imagined this kind of travel was when he was fighting and imagined Rozinante growing wings and flying. Don Quixote reads about how these knights travel in these books, and wants to travel the same way. Don Quixote wants to be quick like these knights, he wants to travel like them. Don Quixote says that he is a new knight, so he is the one to be a leader.

2. In chapter 51, “I will not say it in one, you must immediately release that fair lady, whose tears and sorrowful countenance clearly prove that she is carried away against her will, and that you have done her some atrocious injury. I, who was born to redress such wrongs, command you, therefore, not to proceed one step farther until you have given her the liberty she desires and deserves.” Throughout the book, a recurrent theme was Don Quixotic as a quixotic figure. He promised Dulcinea that he would stay with her and protect her. He kept his promise until the end. People thought he was crazy to help someone who wasn’t who she really is. Don Quixote saw everyone as being equal, and wanted Dulcinea be treated as an equal. After everything Don Quixote has been through, he still kept his promise in protecting Dulcinea. Quixotic figures had a big impact in this book, and these figures never gave up.

Don Quixote Chapters 36-45

Lela Zoraida has multiple identities, and it I was able to distinguish in different circumstances. I think the novel presents us with this character because it tries to give a different perspective in their religion. The first description we have of her is, “Her face veiled, a brocade turban on her head, and covered with a mantel from her shoulders to her feet.” This first description leads me more to thinking she’s Muslim, because she wears the veil. When she took off the veil, it said she had the most beautiful face they had seen. She doesn’t understand much of the Spanish language. She isn’t really a Christian yet, except by heart. It’s interesting how the author wrote about Lela because she looks like a Muslim by clothes. She is a Christian by heart, but will be baptized soon. She also doesn’t understand the Spanish language much. If I were to pick one religion that I see her most as, I would pick the Muslim. She is not really a Christian yet, except she believes she is. But she dresses like a Muslim, and bows her head like them too in thanking others. Her character has to say about 17th century Spain and today is that you are free to practice whatever religion you want.

In chapter 37 it says, “I verily believe it,” answered Don Quixote, “for I have had the most monstrous and dreadful battle with the giant that ever I expect to have in the whole course of my life; with one back stroke I tumbled his head to the ground, and so great was the quantity of blood that gushed from it, that the stream ran along the ground like a torrent of water.” I thought this was a creative way in how Don Quixote thinks he defeated the giant. In reality, he fought wine-skin. This was a nice scene for me to visualize, because it said there was so much blood like in a stream of water. I could imagine the blood flowing down the stream. This was again another time when Don Quixote imagines fiction, but this time, it’s in his dream. He thinks he’s dreaming of the giant, so tries to fight him. He thinks he fights him in one punch. If Don Quixote were really fighting the giant, he would not have beaten him in one try. It would have taken several hits, to make it seem like a close fight. Don Quixote doesn’t like to hear that he was dreaming, and was really fighting something else. He doesn’t’ want to believe it.

Don Quixote 28-35

In Chapter 29, it says, “The curate then informed Cardenio and Dorothea of their plan for Don Quixote’s cure, or at least for decoying him to his own house. Upon which Dorothea said she would undertake to act the distressed damsel better than the barber, especially as she had apparel with which she could perform it to the life; and they might have reliance upon her, as she had read many works of chivalry, and was well acquainted with the style in which distressed damsels were wont to beg their boons of knights-errant.” I see a recurring theme as dressing up to get Don Quixote’s attention. This was also represented in chapter 26, where the barber dressed up as a damsel. It’s interesting because I can see this theme reoccurring in the book, with people dressing up as damsels in distress to get Don Quixote’s attention, because he won’t pay attention to them any other way. In the beginning, Don Quixote was the one who saw people and thought they were someone else, like the protestant’s seen as princesses. Now, the people disguise themselves to get Don Quixote’s attention. I don’t think this theme will stop. Don Quixote has to learn to listen to the people so they don’t have to disguise themselves. It makes me wonder whether Don Quixote will also disguise himself in this story to make the other’s listen to him, as they did to Don Quixote.

In chapter 35, it says, “So saying, he rushed into the room, followed by the whole company; and they found Don Quixote in the strangest situation imaginable. He was in his shirt, and on his head a little greasy red cap which belonged to the innkeeper. About his left arm he had twisted a bed-blanket, and in his right hand he held his drawn sword, with which he was laying about him on all sides, calling out as if in actual combat; his eyes were shut, being still asleep, and dreaming that he was engaged in battle with the giant: for his mind was so full of adventure which he had undertaken that he dreamt that, having reached the kingdom of Micomicon and engaged in combat with his enemy, he was cleaving the giant down with a stroke that also proved fatal to the wine-skins, and set the whole room afloat with wine.” I found this to be an interesting part because Don Quixote thinks he defeated a big giant even though he was sleeping. So this goes along with the fiction, and what is not really there. This was an unexpected encounter with the Giant because Don Quixote thought he was in actual combat, even though he was asleep. He dreamt he was in battle, even though he wasn’t. This was the first time that Don Quixote had a dream of being in battle, even though he wasn’t, and I can see it occurring again later in the story.