Independent Reading #10

prompt #3 

The main character had changed throughout the book. Thompson started off living the life and not worrying about anything just having fun on this road trip with his attorney. In the beginning of the book he started out not caring and doing drugs because it gave him that feeling he liked. In the middle of the book in Part 2 he goes to a drug convention and learns the effect of long term drug abuse and it really affected him. So at the end of the book after dropping off his attorney at the airport, he started a new life. I think that it was because his attorney had bad influence on him too and once he was gone Thompson was free with a new beginning. 

Independent Reading #9

Prompt #15 

I chose this picture to represent the book because the book is about two guys going on a road trip with drugs and alcohol living a carefree life. I think that this picture explains that very well because this picture is of two guys, in a car, drinking beer. Even their attire fit well with it because the setting was in Las Vegas, near the hot desert. 

Independent Reading #8

Prompt #10

While reading chapter 8, it had reminded me of the Great Gatsby. It reminded me of the Great Gatsby because of the two different social class how one part of the town was the rich and the other part was the poor. Well in chapter 8 the casinos represented the rich and the bad neighborhood that they went to represented the poor. They are very similar because the books was about the "American Dream" and about greed. The difference was The Great Gatsby was in a different time period around the Great Depression and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as in the 70's time period about experimenting with different types of drugs. 

Dipity

http://www.dipity.com/09cplunkett 

TMD Wrap-Up

After finishing the Motorcycle Diaries what did you think about it? Was it what you expected it to be? Do you think Che knew which road he wanted to take?

I chose this because I thought that it shows how Ernesto changed throughout his trip and how he transformed into Che.

Independent Reading #7

Prompt #4

In chapter 8 in Part 2 I thought it was interesting how they went to the dinner in a bad neighborhood. I thought it was surprising because they go from casino to casino living the life and then to a bad neighborhood where there are drunks and prositutes. By Thompson talking about the two different worlds in Las Vegas shows the two different sides of the American Dream. The side with the luxury and the money represents the American Dream having money and the luxury. The bad neighborhood represents the reality to some people's lives because some might not have that same kind of lifestyle and struggle to find money. 

Independent Reading #6

Prompt #18

My independent reading book is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. I think that he called it that because one of the theme is the American Dream but in the book he doesn't talk about the American Dream he talks about the ugly side of the dream. Fear is a emotion of something dangerous and loathing is a dislike. I think he named it fear and loathing in Las Vegas because of the drugs and the trouble they got into in Las Vegas. Also because the book is mainly about the ugly side of the American Dream so the dangerous and dislike of the American Dream. If I could choose a new title it would be What Happens in Las Vegas, Stays There. I would name it that because they get into a lot of trouble and some call it the sin city so what happened there you wouldn't want it to haunt you forever. 

Independent Reading #5

Prompt #14

"So we would have to drum it up on our own. Free Enterprise. The American Dream. Horatio Alger gone mad on drugs in Las Vegas." (p. 12) 

"old Americans go out to the highway and drive themselves to death with huge cars."(p.18) 

I chose these two quotes because it shows you the theme of the book which is the "American Dream". I think the purpose of Thompson's writing was to show the ugly side of the American Dream like doing drugs and greed. The first quote shows the drug influence during that time period. Thompson says the American Dream is like Horatio Alger gone mad on drugs in Las Vegas and he says it like that to show you that many Americans did drugs during the 70's because it was a time period of peace. 

The second quote is an example of greed that Americans has. It is shows greed because it is saying how Americans buy nice and huge cars just to drive themselves into death. Some say that you are more likely to die from a car accident then in a plane crash. This quote is saying how the Americans love to drive and they drive recklessly and it shows you the American lifestyle. 

Colombia and Venezuela

"... will the barricades or the trenches, will take my bloodstained weapon and, consumed with fury, slaughter any enemy who falls into my hands." This quote is about how he would fight everyone who gets in his way. I chose this because it shows how much passionate he is to helping the people that he would kill enemies who falls into his hands. 

"I now knew... I knew that when the great guiding spirit cleaves humanity into two antagonistic halves, I would be with the people." This quotes is about how he is changing into a different person. I chose this because I thought that it showed how he has changed because he says that his spirit had split into 2 antagonistic halves and he said that he would pick the half with the people. 

"I steel my body, ready to do battle, and prepare myself to be a sacred space within which the bestial howl of the triumphant proletariat can resound with new energy and new hope." This quote shows that he knows what he wants to do and he is ready. I chose this quote because it shows that he is ready to fight for what he believes in. 

independent Reading #4

Prompt #13

Some of the choices made by Thompson and his attorney are very poor decisions. They live a carefree life not caring about anything except having a good time. By having a good time in their mind is to do drugs that will give that high. But by doing these drugs all they do is get into trouble and black out not remembering anything they did the night before. If I were to give an advice it would be drugs might give you that exciting feeling but it really gives you a pernament damage. I would give them that because drugs can ruin your life. It can kill them from an overdose or he could lose his job as a journalist. 

Theme #6 Introduction

I think that the most useful site was the Indiana University because it tells you what a thesis is and why it is important to a paper. It also shows you how to make a good thesis and how to tell if your thesis is a strong one or a weak one. 

Ernesto Guevara went on a journey as an adventurer and an inspired doctor. He traveled through out Latin America and saw the indigent lifestyle and wanted to help the people. From this expedition, he transformed into Che Guevara leaving behind Ernesto and impacted the world with his revolutionary ideas. 

 

Independent Reading #3

Prompt # 1

Right now on Chapters 7-10 on part 1, I like the book. I like it because its something new, I never read any book like this and its an easy book to read. So far in these chapters they have just came back from the race and his attorney is upset because he thinks that a photographer stole his woman that he met. So he goes back to the suite and sits in the bath tub upset and angry. While he is angry Thompson is taking drugs and passes out. When he wakes up, he wakes up to an empty room where his attorney is no where to be found because he left for L.A. early that morning so Thompson decides it is a good time to leave Las Vegas. He leaves the room messy with many room service bills. When he was leaving on the highway he gets pulled over by a cop and was told to go to the closest rest stop to get some rest. On the way there he sees the hitchhiker that he met earlier from the book and turns the other way. Thompson decides to give his attorney a call saying he is stuck in the middle of no where. Then the attorney tells him to go back to Las Vegas to the Flamingo because he had adranged a suite for him there. When Thompson arrived there he see his attorney under the influence with a girl he met on the plane up to no good. So Thompson thinks it is a good idea to get rid of the girl so they would not get charged of anything. 

Peru Diction Quiz

On Ernesto’s journey with Alberto they traveled to Chile and now to Peru. In Peru they saw many INDIGENT people and it was something they were not used to seeing. Back in Argentina “where the poor have as much as the rich and the Indian isn’t exploited or treated as severely as he is in this country” (p. 91, Guevara). He was very DISQUIETING by this and thought that they should be treated the same as the rich. When he arrived to Cuzco, he described it as alluring with colorful tile roofs and the people there were MESTIZOS. He had also described the Incans and their BEFALLEN empire. He described the different social classes such as the PARIAHS which were the social outcast people. The Incan’s empire was RAZED by the Spanish. When they left Cuzco Ernesto became TEDIOUS and he asthma became more FATAL. They did not have that much money for food so SUSTENANCE was hard and they had to beg people for money just so they could eat and live. 

Essential Question #2

Ernesto had wanted to become a doctor so in 1948 he enrolls into a medical school at the University of Buenos Aires. He had a part time job at a hospital but he had to quit and decided to go on a trip with Alberto, his best friend. Before he left for his trip he had "to take exams in as many subjects as possible"(p.33, Guevara). He decided to go on this journey because he wanted to see things through his own eyes. Ernesto Guevara was an adventurer and a dreamer.  On this journey with Alberto, he saw many things that lead up to who he actually becomes. By seeing how the poor people were struggling he wanted to help them and adopted the idea of communism. He had impacted everyone around him like the poor people because he said that he wanted to help them. He also impacted everyone else because they thought he had great charisma. His daughter who wrote the preface in the Motorcycle Diaries thought he was such a great guy and an adventurer. 

Independent Reading #2

Prompt #17 

The setting of this book is in Las Vegas during the Vietnam War time period. So far the plot of the book is about a journalist and his attorney going on a trip to Las Vegas. On their trip they bring along a suitcase full of drugs and alcohol. They went to Las Vegas hoping to find the "American Dream" which is also one of the major themes to the book. In the beginning they talk about finding the "American Dream" and I think everyone has different interpretation of what that dream is. I think that their American Dream is going on a trip with drugs and having a good time but all they do is get into trouble. 

Independent Reading #1

Prompt #11

In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson's style is easy to read because he writes in slang like he is talking to the readers. For his use of language, he uses a lot of foul language. Also there are comic pictures every chapter and I think that it adds on to the book because the pictures summaries the chapter and it allows you to get a visual image. The pictures are over exaggerated because on their journey they are taking drugs and from the drugs they get hallucinations and the pictures shows that. I think that his style is effective because it is easy to read and the pictures gets the readers attention because its a little exaggerated. 

Independent Introduction

For my independent reading project, we had to choose a book with related topics or cultures that we are studying about in class. It was either a latin american author, latin american culture, or a travel narrative. I chose to read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. Fear and Loathing is a travel narrative about two careless guys under narcotics influence trying to find the American dream. The assignment for our independent reading project is to create a blog and post a minimum of ten prompts frequently.

Chile

In this section there were many events that lead up to who he became. On page 77 he talks about how he met a married couple who were communist "There we made friends with a married couple, Chilean workers who were communists" and that could have helped him become Che. Also on page 86-89 where he was talking about how they had free health care and that there were more poor people there then in Argentina "Free, public hospitals are extremely rare".