Response to ATPH prompts

The best prompt is quarter rose's idea prompt..

Idea: How does McCarthy's portrayal of the modern western myth compare and contrast to the typical idea associated with the "American western myth"

I think this would be a good prompt to write because it relates the novel to other sources of literature and events. This helps us draw connections between the novel and related stories. McCarthy does follow many of the western myth ideas with his characters, like Blevins. Blevins epitomizes the western myth and the free spirited hero. The image of John Grady riding off into the sun at the end of the novel is also related to the western myth and image. He does not settle down and stay in a town, but rather he searches for adventure and the next frontier. In most western myth stories, the main character usually returns home to solve the problem, but in this novel John Grady only passes through his hometown, realizing it is not where he is too stay. There are many other things that can be writen about this prompt and many ideas that can be explored.

Final All The Pretty Horses Reading

To my readers of ATPH,

Now that I have finished ATPH I have realized how much I enjoyed the book.  It really has a bit of everything from violence to romance.  I did not expect John Grady to go back to Encantada to take the horses.  Although it was very brave, why did he put himself through that danger?  First of all, John Grady has now come to the realization that he has no idea what he is going to do with his life.  The reader finds this out when John Grady thinks, "all his life led only to this moment [with Alejandra] and all after led nowhere at all."  John Grady failed in his relationship with Alejandra which was a devastation to him.  Also, John Grady may have taken the horses back to avenge his dead companion Blevins and at the same time blow off some steam.  It almost seemed like a heroic but careless act.  Miraculously, he made it out of the situation alive and eventually made it home after consulting the two "wise" characters, the judge and the real Jimmy Blevins.  As our western hero, we know that John Grady cannot stay settled in one town.  He must move on, and like in many other stories about western heroes, he walks off into the sunset in search of a new frontier.  Rawlins watches him disappear as "He stood holding his horse while the rider turned and road out and dropped slowly down the skyline."  This line is filled with visual imagery and truly epitomizes the western hero's figure as an adventure.  With no place to call his home, he must set out again to live in freedom.

All the Pretty Horses -- Response through page 252

Dear readers of ATPH,

At the beginning of part four, John Grady begins his quest back to La Purisima because of his love for Alejandra, the driving force in his life now.  He no longer has his companion Rawlins.  I think this shows that John Grady is really maturing.  He is able to go all this way by himself now, and with little fear.  What does he have to lose or to fear now that he has faced so much adversity in prison.  He is tougher now and driven to see Alejandra again.  When he returns he has a long talk with Alejandra's grandaunt, Alfonsa.  Personally, I despise Alfonsa, as she acts so elegant, and snobby.  My favorite thing she does say though is when she describes her life metaphorically as a puppet show.  What it comes down to is, who is really pulling the strings in this life.  After her story, i did not feel sorry for her, only because of her stuck up attitude.  He finally meets up with Alejandra again and we find out that her father tried to come after John Grady to kill him.  He did not though because of how depressed Alejandra would be.  The father did however have John Grady and Rawlins arrested, which was no surprise to me.  Finally, my favorite quote from this section is from Alfonsa when she says "his trust in the basic goodness of mankind became he undoing."  This relates to the other books I've read this year including Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness.  Both of these titles deal with the inhuman side of people versus the basic goodness.  In both the inhuman triumphed over the good.

All the Pretty Horses -- Response through Part 3

To others reading ATPH,

During this next reading assignment the setting really changed.  Blevins was killed previously and now it is just John Grady and Rawlins in confinement.  Imprisonment really is not the place for either John Grady nor Rawlins.  The two boys need their freedom and openness to go where they please.  In prison the two boys got in fights, many of which seem to have started for no reason.  Is it just because the Mexicans hate the American boys or do the American boys provoke the fighting?  I found it very interesting when Perez said that "It is not a matter of finding.  It is a matter of choosing."  Perez refers to the "crime" that the boys committed.  They really did nothing wrong but the Mexicans could pin any crime to them with just for the sake of convicting them.  Luckily, the boys were bailed out of the jail by their friends from the ranch.  Unfortunately though, Rawlins and John Grady are finally parting.  John Grady will go back into Mexico while Rawlins goes home.  Personally, I think they will meet up again because it is inevitable that John Grady will go home eventually.

Super Bowl Prediction

Green Bay 35 - Pitt 24

I'm only posting it now just so i can brag about my pick tomorrow at school and how accurate my prediction was. 

Green and Yellow.  Green and Yellow

My Snow Day

A typical day with the bros.  Unfortunately the ramp did not make the video.  The truck later ended up in the snow bank also.