The Gold Bug

The story that was given to us for this class, in this opportunity was “The Gold Bug”. This text was written by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was published on a newspaper of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1843. In this blog I am going to write and give a contrast and comparison of this text and “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery”. Also, I’m going to give my opinion about the style of writing of Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie.

Basically, the story is about William Legrand, a man who lived on a very small island. He found a gold bug in the shore and that little bug later will help William, Jupiter and the narrator to find a treasure which belonged to a pirate called Captain Kidd.

I want to begin this paragraph talking about the style of Edgar Allan Poe. This writer has a particular way of writing, mostly he used to write horror stories, but in the case of “The Gold Bug”, as readers we could realize that this short text has an adventure style. In my opinion, for the way of writing of Edgar Allan Poe, this text is very different, but at the same time very good and not boring at all.

If we want to talk or describe the narrative style of Agatha Christie, it is different. She was a writer who her specialty was the detective stories. As Edgar Allan Poe, she was a famous writer with a particular style too, but very difficult if we want to compare her style with the narrative of Edgar Allan Poe. She had a priceless talent in her style and for that reason “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” was not a bored story, at the contrary, was very dynamic but not short at all.

“The Gold Bug” and “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” could be contrast and compare on many ways, but I am going to analyze these two texts in my point of view. First of all, I could realize that the two stories have many differences, for example, the main characters of each story. “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” has as main character to the French private investigator Hercules Poirot. Psychologically he was very particular, mysterious and with an always right way to discover the truth, no matter how difficult the case was. Moreover, William Legrand was a normal person who discovered a treasure (the treasure as the case of “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” was also a very particular mystery) but he was not an investigator, just an amateur in thinks like that. Other difference is the time where the story is developed. “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” is developed in the XX Century, and “The Gold Bug” is in the IX Century. The places are different too. In “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” mostly the places that are described are from Europe (England), the Queen Elizabeth and New York (but the last two are not mentioned in many opportunities). “The Gold Bug” has a lot of open spaces and an isle as main scenarios. The hunt where William Legrand lived was also a very important place the story, because here the parchment with the bug drawn, changed when the narrator put it near to the fire.

If we want to compare these two stories it’s a very interesting experiment. We need to be clear and think that the two texts do not have a lot of things in common, but I could mention that the two has a very mysterious thing. We are clear, the story of “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” IS a detective story, and “The Gold Bug” is mainly an adventure narration, but the two have suspense and some drama, for that reason I think are very interesting and dynamic. The second thing could be the final. The outcome of “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery” is good, Poirot discover that the money was stolen and has a happy ending. “The Gold Bug” has also a happy ending, because William Legrand, Jupiter and the Narrator won a lot of money with the treasure (almost 2 million dollars). Other thing that could be compared in these stories is the help that the main characters received from another people. Poirot could not be helped without the hand of some characters, he just investigate, but by himself could not be so easy. In “The Gold Bug”, William Legrand was helped for his employee called Jupiter. Also, the help of his friend, the narrator was very important, because he saved the secret of the treasure and then helped his friend digging and carrying things to find the treasure.

As a conclusion, I am going to give my opinion of “The Gold Bug”. For me, this text was very special. I have got problems reading the texts, because sometimes for me are very difficult for the vocabulary, that in previous occasions have been my biggest weakness. I have to say that this time was different and I could understand the main idea of the text the first time that I read it. The thing that I like a lot about “The Gold Bug” was, of course the vocabulary. It was very easy to understand and memorize. Also, I think this story mix the mystery with the adventure. It’s hard to find a text that gives to the reader the feeling of being on an adventure, but at the same time with a bit of things like skulls and crossbones (Personally, I love the books and stories of Edgar Allan Poe. It has that dark thing, almost gothic). If we need to read in the future more stories or short texts of this writer, I would be very glad, because he mix a lot of styles in one story and that is hard to find in the contemporary literature. The text was short, precise and concise, for this reason was easy to read and reread. Finally, I have to say that I enjoy a lot this text. It was fun, mysterious and interesting.

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Private Danny Chen was alone when he died. The Army says that he shot himself in a guard tower in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. But, in an extraordinary case alleging criminal culpability in a suicide, it has charged eight soldiers in connection with his death, saying they bullied Private Chen into killing himself. Seven enlisted men face counts that include involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide and assault. One officer, a first lieutenant, is charged with dereliction of duty.

The Pentagon insists that it does not tolerate hazing. But the alleged assault on Private Chen bears the markings of ritualistic abuse. He was dragged out of bed, pelted with rocks and racial taunts and forced to crawl along the ground and do pull-ups without swallowing or spitting out a mouthful of water — all apparently because he forgot to turn off the water heater after taking a shower. Private Chen was the son of Chinese immigrants in Manhattan, and he had written to his parents about being the butt of racial jokes, but it’s not clear that racism was a primary reason for the attack.

It is encouraging to see the Army — criticized for being opaque and insensitive to families in high-profile deaths of soldiers — moving with apparent swiftness to investigate Private Chen’s death. It must pursue every detail and not hide them.

Private Chen’s parents may never know what drove their son to kill himself. But they deserve to know everything that can be learned about his final days and hours., his family deserves to see justice done. Others soldiers deserve to know that the military and if, as Army prosecutors claim, he was pushed into suicide by fellow soldiers who brutalized and humiliated him takes seriously its policy forbidding hazing and its promise to punish those who violate it.

Underlined: Simple

Italics: Compound

Black: Complex

Labeled: Compound-Complex

My friends, family and depression.

-Where you came from is not relevant…– I heard how the secretary said to a person, who was before me –Okay, please leave your number and I will call you as soon as I can… -Okay, bye.

-What you did make me laugh –Said the man next to me to…maybe his girlfriend. The voices in that room were absolutely insane. My head hurt and the only thing that I wanted was being in my room with my cat. I said to myself that this was going to be my last visit to the Psychiatric.

-Miss Anderson! It’s your turn – Said a tall and skinny woman. I just said “Thanks”.

- I’ve been with depression since last year, when my dad died tragically – I said while I was crying inconsolably.

-Well…taking a look to your exams, the depression that you have is severe. You need new medicines. The pills that I’m going to give you are very strong. You must be responsible with it.

-Okay doctor, I will be careful. Thank you very much – I closed the door as I checked my mobile phone. I had ten missed calls from my best friend Anna. We were meeting on a Starbucks at 7pm.

I opened the door and the place where my best friend was sitting was so comfortable and cozy.

-And…tell me, are you ok? – She almost throws me the cup of coffee. I was very sad and confused.

-Mmm, not actually. The doctor who was an expert in depressions said that the medicine I need is very strong…and you know! I don’t want to go to the Psychiatric anymore!

-I know Sarah, I know. What do you think is correct? Since you lost your father in that accident, you never were the same anymore.

-I don’t know. The only thing that I know is I want to be healthy and this sadness can’t be anymore in my head. My dad rest in peace…

-Yes, that’s right. What you need to do is take your medicines and try to leave this treatment as soon as you can.

-…Also, you know that you and your brother are the only family of your mother. You must be strong!

-Yes…I must be strong for my mother and for Bill (her brother), whom are everything.

-Okay, so…what do you think to buy something to carry home while I go to my car? – Said my friend - I forgot my wallet –She run to her car while I ordered frapuccinos and some donuts.

We went to my home. Before, we went to Blockbuster to rent some movies. We are friends since the Kindergarten and now we’re 24 years old.

We invited also our boyfriends. Her boyfriend, Louis, who is very tall in comparison to Anna, came to my house and bought some ice cream for us. My boyfriend Joe, who is the best friend of Louis, came with him. We received our boyfriends and they take sit with us. With Joe, we are boyfriends since two years ago, so he knew my father before he died tragically.

-So, how was your hour with the doctor, baby –said my boyfriend.

-It was fine. I’m ok…I guess – He hug me on a very cute way.

-Everything is going to be fine Sarah…-He smiled.

Since that reunion with my friends and boyfriend, I realized that I was fine with my life. The support that they give me finally helped me to get over of my depression. I was not alone.

Could you help us, Mr. Poirot?

I have been reading the short story of Agatha Christie’s book “Poirot Investigates”. This text is called “The Million Dollar Bond Robbery”. At the beginning, we could think that it is a slow story and sometimes bored, but that it is not right. The video is different and tell a similar but different story. On this blog, I am going to summarize (as I understood it) the short text, and also I am going to compare and give my opinion of the text and short video that we saw in our module of “Competencias Comunicativas”.

Poirot, as we know, is the main character of the series of stories of Agatha Christie’s book called “Poirot Investigates” and has many chapters, but we are going to focus this blog in one of them. In this opportunity, Poirot should discover who stole a million dollars which disappear from the “Olympia”. The money was custody for Philip Ridgeway, nephew of the president of the “London and Scottish Bank”. The reason why this money was on a ship like the “Olympia” was that the “London and Scottish Bank” wanted to expand its business to America and the destiny was New York. One day, this money mysteriously disappears, but this crime has a lot of weird things involucrate.

One day, a woman called Esmee Farquhar knocked the door of the private detective. She was the fiancée of Philip Ridgeway. She was in love with him and was worried about her future husband. It supposed that Philip was involucrate in the crime. For that reason, she went to talk to Poirot and left the problem to him. She told to Poirot the whole story. The money was on a special lock, to prevent the disappearance of the money. Nevertheless, the money was not on the special box, and that was the problem that should fixed Poirot. He and Captain Hastings (his kind of assistant) went to talk to Mr. Vavasour and Mr. Shaw, the first one was the Uncle Philip Ridgeway. Vavasour and Shaw had two of the keys from the lock; and two others were on colleagues hands. Now, the question is “Where was the money?” and anything knew about the million dollars. Another thing curious was that the box never was forced, on the contrary, was opened with one of the keys (but the padlock was forced) but the other two ones that have a key were in London, that is the mysterious thing. The people that were travelling in the ship were registered twice, but nothing could be found. The story of Ridgeway was confirmed by the two directors of the bank, and where was the money? That is still being mystery.

Poirot went to Liverpool, were the Olympia landed and talked to one of the persons who were in front of the big ship. Poirot discovered that apparently the bonds were sold immediately in New York, but the packet was just a dummy. The money should be in London and that package was false. In the reading version, Mr. Shaw is the responsible of the steal money.

The short movie and the reading are different in many aspects. First of all, the reading is focus on the main idea of the story and is trying to tell just central and concrete ideas. The “movie” that we saw in class, shows with many details the story and other things that in the reading are not telling. One of the differences is that Esmee in the reading version go to the office of Poirot and ask for help with the detective. In the video, Poirot receives a letter from the London and Scottish bank and for that way he knows the problem that the bank and the characters had with the million dollars. Another difference that we could find between the text and the short movie is that in the text we could not read about the poison tea and the almost shock. The video is very detailed in that kind of things, trying to show us aspects that give little anticipation which are interesting if we want to know the end of the story by ourselves.

One of the biggest differences that we could find between the text and the short movie is that in the second one we find another character: Miranda. She is the one that steal the money in the movie, but Mr. Shaw is the responsible in the text. They (in the movie) are technically involved. Miranda had the original key and gave a copy of the copy of the key to another person. She poisoned the tea, she travel in the Olympia (Queen Elizabeth in the movie) and opened the box with her key. The money was not found, and Miranda was not arrested.

I could say that this text and movie were very interesting and fun. Agatha Christie is one of the most important writers in her style, the investigation and mystery. We can see that in the text there is much vocabulary that we could use, and it is not normal in our speech. This series of stories are pretty antique and has complex words that we cannot use if we want to speak daily. If we want to write a blog or an essay much formal and we are trying to communicate a message to people that are more professional than us as students of English Pedagogy, the use and reading of this kind of texts give us a big help to our constantly knowledge. Many of the new words that I learned with this text are not normal at the business and work aspects, but are very useful if we want to write a letter to our boss in a not distant future. In my opinion, we should increase the reading of this kind of texts, because are interesting, fun and with a little piece of mystery. Also, the movie helps us to understand in a better way the text just read. It is a way to check our doubts.

To Write Love on Her Arms

To Write Love on Her Arms.

To write love on her arms (TWLOHA) is an interfaith American non-profit organization which wants to help people struggling with addiction, depression, self injury and thoughts of suicide while also investing directly in treatment and recovery.

The main objective of TWLOHA is to avoid and treat issues related to the self-esteem. Sometimes people are careless with the feelings of their pairs and this, generally, is the main reason of the low confidence that the adolescent have.

Depends of the experience that you had on your house with your family, or the relationship with your classmates in the primary, we would have a good or bad image or perception of ourselves. The self-esteem of you could be good or bad, but actually the main objective is having a good perception of us.

The testimony of a few persons (especially one, Renee Hoye) was the principal reason for the creation of TWLOHA. The name of the founder is Jamie Tworkowski and when he read the story of Renee, and without money, he and some friends thought on give moral support.

The main characteristics of TWLOHA are the campaigns. This organization wants to promote a good relation between us and give support to people with several problems. This is not just an organization that gives help between social networks or mail, but also in shows like “Warped Tour” in the US, with the elaboration of t-shirts, receiving help of famous groups like Paramore, Switchfoot or the singer and actress Miley Cyrus.

The attitude that we have with ourselves will be the big gun to kill our fears, our low confidence, etc. This organization just wants to help and don’t want to get any money or gain. There’s just a few of organizations that don’t want to obtain anything, and this is one of them.

These three short readings

The three short readings have points in common. It is interesting to analyze every part of the stories and try to compare each other.

First of all, it is important to emphasize the sentimental side that these three readings have. If we want to highlight one of the characteristics that have in common, we need to compare the central ideas of the stories.

The first of the three stories is “Thucydides”. Overall, the central idea is about a seventeen years-old adolescent who was obsessed with a book about Greece. The most interesting characteristic of this story is the end. The critical outcome of the narrative shows a sad girl who just discovered the cheating that her father was committing. This situation made the girl shyer and she try to hide her grief and pain. She became an alone person and this characteristic can be compared with the others readings.

Dingo was the story of a wild dog called Lucky and its owner. Clearly, in this reading we can see the sadness and the desolation which the man lived. The only holy possession that the man had was his dog, Lucky. He didn’t end his studies and for this he couldn’t find a good job. His shelter was Lucky, but the dog was wild on itself and one day escape. With this situation the man was completely alone in the world.
In the story of the German Boy also we can find an example of loneliness. The narrator was a solitaire person and the German boy too. They were the kind of people that hide their feelings.

The hide of feelings is another aspect that these stories have in common. As we know, in Thucydides the girl always hid her feelings. Since she saw her father with a woman different than her mother, she became a hard person and never told her dad that she was around when he was with that unknown woman.

Something different but related with the hide of feelings occur in the story of Dingo. The owner of the dog should deny in front of the people his love for the dog, because the animal was not very appreciated for some people. If he wanted to be with his dog, should be almost hidden.

“The German Boy” also has the situation. The protagonist should also try to help his friend when he was crying on his bedroom. That shows that his was hiding his feelings.

The friendship is an important topic in relation to these texts. In the first story, the girl does not have friends, just for her obsession with the book. For this reason, she enjoyed most of the time by herself reading, mostly.
In “Dingo” was different but is still related with the friendship. The only friend that the man had was his dog, and for that reason he loved it. However, for many things that the people around him was saying, he should be with Lucky no matter the people said.
“The German Boy” is a story that could show on a right way the friendship. Klaus and the narrator were close friends until the end. They had a confidence each other, like in the part where Klaus was crying, and the hug of his friend could help.

The loyalty is also a topic that these three stories have in common but in different perspectives. In the “Thucydides” short reading, the loyalty is a value that it is broken. The relationship of the father of the protagonist with another woman shows a loyalty and a relationship broken. The second story has loyalty too. The fidelity of Lucky with its owner have been broken after the dog stay away, but they had been always very closed and for that reason couldn’t be taken like a treason. In “The German Boy” the loyalty could be found in the relation between Klaus and the protagonist and showed like the loyalty between friends.

Some differences that are very important to analyze are the economical and cultural difference between the stories. In the first one, we found a girl that lives in a normal house with a dad that worked and a mom on house. In “Dingo” the man should work very hard to have money to survive and also he was completely alone. In the third story, the German Boy was a very rich person, but had not a very happy life. The narrator of the reading also had a good economical situation but then this changed.

The absence or the existent of a family in all the stories is a good point to analyze. The story “Thucydides” has a protagonist and her family as main characters. The relationships were supposedly normal, but the infidelity of her father changed all. As we know, at the end of the reading the protagonist was crying, but she couldn’t say anything about the scene that she saw. Another situation related to a family we could find on “Dingo”. However, here is the absent of a family. The loneliness that the protagonist had living during the text shows that need for affection. His only company was his dog, and then the animal stayed away just for follow its instinct. The man stayed alone because the dog comes back with the group of wild dogs. The third story shows a nice friendship and a family involved too. The German boy had a family which traveled from Germany to try to create a new life. However, the only company that the German boy had was his friend.

Like a conclusion, these three texts show different ways to live and to feel. If we want to link and compare the three readings it is a hard work, because they are very different each other. Although this work was hard, the search and analysis of differences and similarities could have a good ending. These short readings was useful not just for something extremely academy, the orthography and redaction, but also to showing us a variety of feelings, the hurt, the loneliness, the fidelity, the values of the family and the friendship, and the most important of all: The love.

"Do you like these Victorian chairs, Mr. Boggis?

It was a sunny Sunday in London. The breeze of the spring morning was nice and this meant that it would be a good day. Mr. Boggies like he used to do it since 1995, got up early and had some for breakfast. Then he took the keys of his old car and drove to some place, without end point. He used to drive by the west of London just searching for furniture ever seen; he was a dealer in antique furniture and had his own shop. Someday on a Sunday of relax, he found one unique and gorgeous chair, he dribbled and then he got it. Since that day he knew that it was his biggest hobby: be a seeker of antiques.

He drove approximately three hours and stopped in an old but elegant house. Boggis supposed that in a house with those characteristic must be at least a classy chair or a commode. His dealer eyes found a beautiful oak table and three Victorian chairs. After that, he went to the door and rang the bell.

“What do you want, sir” An old woman opened the door. Mr Boggis smiled politely and introduced himself “My name is Cyril Boggis and I am antiques reseller. I was driving by the street near to this house and I thought that in a beautiful house like this one, must be some interesting and unique piece of furniture” The woman looked him with a confused face and kept listening. “Do you allow me to come to your home just for looking something interesting?” She smiled and invited him to enter. “’Im Stella Griffin” –She and Cyril shook their hands. “Ok, Mr. Boggis did you say?” she said “This is my living room. Do you want a cup of tea?” She asked and Mr. Boggis accepted “I’ll call Mary, my maid and you can see with confidence”

“Oh my god” he told himself “What a beautiful table” He touched that oak table, the same that he had seen just a couple of minutes ago. Also, in the room was a big and strong commode that had a French style. But he never thought in the three gorgeous chairs, all the same style. “These chairs are for me and I will do everything to get them” He sat in one of them and he felt the chair was the paradise. In that moment, Ms. Griffin came back to the living room with her maid behind. That young woman served the tea and then she returned to the kitchen.

“Ok sir, did you find something interesting in my living room?” The old woman spoke and then gave a little sip of tea. Mr. Boggis was very excited with the idea of buy the three chairs. Of course, he wanted to buy them on a low price and then sell one by one on his shop and receive more pounds than the normal. It was a pretty hard proposition but he would try anyway. “Yes, yes...Ms. I think this three beautiful chairs should be mine. You know, how much money do you want to receive for them?” The old woman put her left hand on her chin and put a thoughtful face “Least than fifteen thousand for the three I won’t accept. These chairs have more than ninety years and I can’t sell it at a low price. Also, they are an inheritance from my grandmother” Mr. Boggis was actually surprised with the price. Yes, it had good quality, it was beautiful and very old but he was not going to allow a price like that one. “I’m so sorry my dear lady, but it is too much money and I can’t pay. Do you have some offer to me?” The old woman shook her head. Those chairs had a huge emotional value for her. She wanted to sell them, because although she had a big house and apparently a life with luxuries, the debts were many. “Ok, ok Mr. I need the money, I need to pay some debts. For the same and for the emotional price, I won’t accept less than twelve thousand pounds” In that moment, the face of Cyril changed and his lips formed a curvature. “That price is much better” He said to himself. Mr. Boggis settled into the chair, coughed and then began to speak. “Ok dear lady, I’ll accept your offer. The price you propose is much convenient for me”.

“Stop, stop!” A young lady ran to the living room and interrupted the conversation. “Ms. Griffin, you shouldn’t do a business with this man, is a cheater! The last year he wanted to buy a piece of furniture to my dad in a low price but he refused. All the people in my town know this man pick up the furniture and then disappear” The maid of Ms. Griffin was very angry. The old lady opened her eyes and then looked her maid and Mr. Boggis. He was surprised and didn’t know what to say. “What she is talking about?”
“Hey!” The two ladies began to scream but didn’t find answer…

“Hey!"

In that moment, Mr. Boggis didn’t know what to do and quickly ran to the door and disappeared, as he always did when he was discovered. The old car and the man with that characteristic belly go away, again.

THE END.

Between Family and Work

For all of us, our family is one of the most important pieces in our lives. Nevertheless, sometimes we can’t find or it’s hard find time in our schedule to spend with them.
We’re living in a globalized world, we want all the things now and not for tomorrow. We must work or study all the week and sometimes the weekend too and also we must be there to our family. Find that balance is one of the most difficult things and the reason is that all our time is being used in work and studies. It’s hard find an equilibrium, but is necessary if we want care our health physical and psychological.

But sometimes could happen something different. Be focus on job is something that all the year must do, but what happen when our heart speaks and we want to run to our objective, the thing, the job or the person that we love?

The last question sounds interesting and how can be a perfect example of a person who is able to leave her life in Canada is Gail of the short story “The Jack Randa Hotel”. She left all her life in her country: Her house, her store, etc. The reason was a man, her ex-husband Will. After the relationship with him, he left her for a woman called Sandy, his actual wife. Gail in my opinion was a very strange woman, because who can leave a very normal and quiet life for a man who did not love her? Also, the last night before she landed in Australia, she did herself a makeover and changed all her look, a very weird and not wearable look, according her.

I think that her decision about the trip to Australia and sell her shop just to try to find Will was really insane. She was blind or obsessive with her ex-husband but she shouldn’t travel to another continent, with no enough money and a “love” that didn’t love her. Also she didn’t think in the future and just wanted to wait a magical reaction of Will. I think that she needed some support of her family or some friends, but she didn’t want to receive it and she didn’t tell anything about her trip.

When I was reading this text, I couldn’t find the sense of this. It was hard to read, but I rescued a lection. We cannot act just with the heart but also with the head. If we trying to do our things with a balance –thinking in our family, our job and ourselves of course –Our lives won’t be stressed and we won’t be regret about anything. Gail left everything for a man but If she were a person and not a character, I think she actually regretted about her quick decisions.

When we’re young, we’re passionate, free and don’t think enough in tomorrow. But in the future we must stand with our feet in the floor in think in the consequences of our actions. There is a way to equilibrate our lives, our families and our jobs.