Gullivers Travels- LAST ENTRY!!

Jenna Souther

April 5th, 2009

So I finished my book. It was pretty good, the way they went into detail about the strange people he comes into contact with was really interesting. I think that how off-the-wall some of these things are is how I stayed interested so long. 

For his next voyage he went to a place called Laputa. To me, this voyage wasn't as good as the ones before. He set out on another adventure on August 5th, 1706. His ship was then attacked by pirates, and then they abandoned him near a small rocky island near India. But he was rescued by the flying island of Laputa. They had sent down a chain with a chair attached to the end of it and pulled him up. It was a kingdom that was fully into math and music. They described "The Engine" which sounds a lot like a computer, and they also talked about aerial bombardment, so they would take advantage of the flying island. He ends up going to a magicians house and talking to him about ghosts and historical stuff. He also sees the struldbrugs, who are a group of immortals who look super old. They seem to be considered unfortunate. Gulliver is taken to Balnibarbi to wait for a Dutch man to take him to Japan. He ends up getting home and he is determined to stay there forever. 

Even thoguh he said he would stay home forever, he sets out on another voyage. This time its to a voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms. I have no idea how that is supposed to be pronounced. His crew is still all full of pirates and he gets abandoned in a landing boat and the first people he comes into contact with are a race of hideous deformed creatures. He meets a horse and comes to find out that they horses (Houyhnhnms) are the rulers of the creature things (Yahoos). Gulliver becomes a part of the horses household and comes to admire them. Then there is a meeting with the horses and they decide that he is just a Yahoo, and that he is also a danger to their society, and he gets banished. He is rescued by a Portuguese ship, and comes to realize that the captain is a Yahoo, and he is actually a really nice person. He returns home and spends the rest of his life at home, kind of away from his wife. He also talks to horses a lot at the stables. 

Okay, so over all it was a pretty cool book. It had really good ideas and for the most part it kept me interested. 

Jenna: Entry No. 1

I just thought I'd say, I am really confused with this silly blog thing, and I think I am the last poster. High five.

So, the book I chose is called "Gulliver's Travels" and it was written by Jonathan Swift. So far, its pretty cool. I havent read as much as I should have by this time, but I'm getting there. He got tied up by tiny people. They are all about 6 inches tall and they tied him down when he was sleeping. He is an adventurer of sorts and he went on an adventure over seas and ended up in a place called "Lilliput."

Literary Elements:

"...before I could seize them; whereupon there was a great shout in a very shrill accent, Tolgo phonac; when in an instant I felt above a hundred arrows discharged on my left hand, which prickled me like so many tiny needles..."

- I'm going to call this a simile, because its comparing the arrows to needles. I thought this was a good way to put the tiny peoples size into perspective. 

"When I found myself on my feet, I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country round appeared like a continued garden, and the inclosed fields, which were generally forty foot square, resembled so many beds of flowers. these fields were intermingled with woods of half a stag, and the tallest trees, as I could judge, appeared to be seven foot high. I viewed the town on my left hand, which looked like the painted scene of a city in a theatre."

-Long quote. This is a combination of metaphors and similes. I, again, thought it was a really nice way to describe the scenery. It really painted a picture of what it was like. When he said he viewed the town on his left hand, I wasn't quite sure of what it meant, but I think it was putting the size in perspective again. Look at your left hand, how tiny would a town have to be to fit on it?

Theme:

I'd say that the theme of this book (so far) is something along the lines of adventure, and things way out of the norm. He is in a very foreign place and has been tied down by tiny people. 

Reflection:

So far, I'm liking the book. The totally off-the-wall events and details are keeping me interested. He met the Emperor of Lilliput and the nobles taught him the language. They have a strange language, it seems to me like a cross between Spanish, French and German. Weird. They begin to favor him because he has a mild disposition, so they kind of befriend him in a way. 

Sorry it was so late guys. And I don't think I did so hot on the blog. Kids, don't break anything over the break. Haha, puns, English homework, WHY?!