True Grit and Western Novels

Last week we read Pride and prejudice, a love story and this week it is a completely different topic!! True Grit is a very good story, that touches very deep and serious topics such as honor, determination, revenge and strength.

Another main difference is the way the story is narrated, in this novel Mattie Ross is the one narrating what is happening, it feels very personal in the story because  she narrates what happened to her when she was 14 years old. We see since the beginning that her character is very independent and strong minded. she has a mission and it is not a delicate one....her mission is to avenge her father's death. Since this we see that she had to grow up really fast and didn't have a very sweet and happy childhood.


Last week we read Pride and prejudice, a love story and this week it is a completely different topic!! True Grit is a very good story, that touches very deep and serious topics such as honor, determination, revenge and strength.

Another main difference is the way the story is narrated, in this novel Mattie Ross is the one narrating what is happening, it feels very personal in the story because  she narrates what happened to her when she was 14 years old. We see since the beginning that her character is very independent and strong minded. she has a mission and it is not a delicate one....her mission is to avenge her father's death. Since this we see that she had to grow up really fast and didn't have a very sweet and happy childhood.

The genre of this novel is Western. A genre is "a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style or subject matter".
Some of the characteristics that the western novels are:

• The villains are usually the indians. 
• There is usually a scene with a shooting involve, between "cowboys" and :indians" or other cowboys.
• It takes place in a Western location, such as a ranches or old towns.
• The cowboys hat are an iconic part of the main character. 
• The characters usually have guns as weapons. 
• The western movies romanticize the ideas of loyalty and virtue. 

Personally, I don't really see too much Western movies or read them. The closes experience I have with this genre is Little House on the Prairie, and the Zorro.  

Movies: Bride and Prejudice/Pride and Prejudice

                                   

I want to recommend these two movies! I have watch both of them and even though they have the same story, they are completely different because one takes place in India and the other one in Europe.
The first one I saw was Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley  and it was a very romantic movie, but it has a slow pase in some shots. Everything is classic and it is more about the cinematography and the story is more true to the book.

Bride and Prejudice, has the same story, but it is in India! and it is a musical. It is a more cheerful story, it is fast paced and it is more colorful than pride and prejudice.
I think it is very interesting to watch both movies because even though they are based on the same book, each one has its own point of view and they each are original!

I recommend both of the movies I am sure you will love them both :)

-Ximena.

Women in the Book: Pride and Prejudice

There is a clear difference between how women behave in the present day with the way the women are portrayed in the book: Pride and Prejudice.

Now women are allowed to work, and think and own their own business and choose who they want to marry or not. Back in the day, that was a dream for a woman, they were supposed to learn one artistic skill and they were seen lower than the men.

Jane Austin shows us a family that lived that way, but one of the daughters, Elizabeth is different than the rest because she is willing to fight for what she believes in and she doesn’t want to have her future planned out for her. Elizabeth learns from her dad, she is outspoken like he is and she is the complete opposite from her mother. Through the book, the author leads me to really like Elizabeth’s character and personally annoyed me with the sisters and mother’s one.

Why? Because they were only thinking about looking good for a man and that if they don’t marry they will die.

I think the mentality of the Mom and the sisters is just flat, because they are not trying to be the best version of themselves by learning or making their own decisions and letting someone to love them because of who they are and not because of the money. 

Elizabeth is different, she makes mistakes and recognize it, it takes for her a while to admit it but at the end she does, and she allowed herself to grow and to choose what she wanted in life.

Because it is a classic book it is hard to understand the words and you have to be paying good attention to the reading, because how they talked back then is not how we talk now.

So a good advice would be to have a dictionary next to you in order to look for a word that you don't know what it means. I thought that it was hard for me because English is not my first language so I tried it in Spanish, but it was the same thing. There were words that I had never heard before or that they are not used in literature that often any more.

Anyway Pride and Prejudice is a good book that tells us a different love story and that everyone that reads it probably would end up cheering for Elizabeth and in love with Mr. Darcy. 

-Ximena

In Class Assignment.

MY ORIGINS. -

I am a Guatemalan girl, that came to the States to pursued my dream of learning animation and visual development. It wasn't an easy decision but there is no Computer Animation in Guatemala and I wanted to learn from the best.

I lived in Guatemala my whole life. Guatemalan culture is a very hard working one, and families are very close together. Mine as well, I grew up with my brother and cousins and with the example of my grandparents and parents I learned their faith and values, and now I can say that I shared them and I am proud of them.

Since we are very close it was hard to leave my country and come to a new one where there is different culture views. But it is easy with technology to keep in touch with everyone back home. It is interesting to get to know the American Culture and to learn from my teachers about animation and illustration.
Even though in Guatemala we speak Spanish, in school we had an American teacher who taught us English, and this was very helpful for me because when I arrived to College, I was able to understand and communicate with everyone here.

I might be away from home, but I have a lot of good memories there, and I am blessed to have many friends who I get to see during the breaks.


-Ximena.

WHO ARE MY INFLUENCES?

Well first of all my parents and grandparents.
I look up to them, because they have been living very virtues and good lives. They are humble and they give good advice when I asked for them. I don't only follow them only because they are my parents and thats it, but because I do see them living a good life and I want that for my futures. I see them also working hard on their jobs and that makes me work hard in my school work and personal work.

I have other influences for example, some my CA teachers have had a certain influence in my work, by the critiques Ive had that have helped me improve in my art and work.

WHAT IS YOUR IDEOLOGY?

I was born and raised Catholic, so my basic assumptions are based on their teachings, I try to live as best as I can, trying to be good, and helping others.
I do believe there is right and wrong, so if something is not good for me, I will just not do it and viceversa.
I guess it is respect others in your work and your artwork, love them and be happy.