Literary Devices in The Road

Imagery
"His hand rose and fell softly with each precious breath"
(pg 3)

Simile
"Their light playing over the wet flow stonewalls. Like pilgrims in a fable"
(pg 3)

Assonance
"Barren, silent, godless"
(pg 4)

Repetition
"If he is not the word of god god never spoke"
(pg 5)

Alliteration
"black burn"
(pg 8)

Personification
"Rain blow across the valley"
(pg 9)

Foreshadowing
"Are we going to die?
  Sometime. Not now"
(pg 10)

Onomatopoeia
"water drip in the woods"
(pg 11)

Apostrophe
"Oh God, he whispered. Oh God"
(pg 12)

Hyperbole
"A corpse in the doorway dried to leather"
(pg 12)

Decisions, Decisions.....

          Are humans naturally born with morality or is it learned from experience? Both have a contributing factor in various decisions making. Every humans are born with the ability to make judgements and decisions based upon their conscience. Conscience that is controlled by their own personal values; based on religious views, philosophical views, and secular views. All these views are acquired from their experiences and values learned growing up or personal experiences from being in those situations. If a person makes their decisions based on their conscience, then they are judging from both the objectivity and subjectivity point of view. Their decisions are made from knowing what is right or wrong from their own knowledge and personal views. They usually "play by the rulebook" and follows the law when making decisions; more than their own personal emotions, "gut" feeling, or any sense of empathy. That kind of decision making are from what they learned from experiences. On the other hand, a person can also make decisions based from what they feel is right from their "gut" feelings, empathy towards the situation, and their sensitive emotions. Instead of conservatively  following the "rulebook" like most people, they tend to ignore it and judge from just the feeling they have towards the situation and is always thinking about the consequences of it. This type of decision making is developed when the person is born. They are born with emotions and feelings so when it is time to make decisions, emotions and feelings are incorporated into the judging process instantly from basic instinct. A lot of people have made decisions from using experiences or values they've learned or solely on empathy and emotions; which they were born with. Both of these are really important contribution to decision making, so it doesn't matter if a person is borned with morality or they've learned it through experiences.

Arachnophobia: Fear of Arachnids

       Ophildiophobia, the fear of snakes. Acrophobia, the fear of heights. Mysophobia, fear of germs and dirt. Anatidaephobia, the fear of a duck is watching you somewhere and somehow. These are some of the most common phobias that majority of the population have. Most of them got these phobias from past experiences, influences, or cultural values. For example, people with Ophidiophobia are afraid of snakes because of their past experiences from getting attacked by a snake, or they were influenced by their religion or parents that snakes are horrible and sin riddled creatures that should be avoided. Avoided because most snakes bite and are venomous such as the Anacondas or Vipers. My biggest phobia that has always been part of me is Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders and arachnids. I have always had this fear every since I was a young child, even though I don't remember how I got this phobia. All I know is that every time I am near a cobweb or a area where spiders are present, I tend feel uneasy, nervous and anxious; all symptoms of paranoia. Once I see a spider I have mini panic attacks until I calm down or the spider is out of my sight. This phobia is holding me back personally because I cannot get rid of a spider without stepping on it, smashing it or try lighting it on fire. Spiders are harmless creatures and do not attack unless threatened, but because of my phobia I always have a instinct of neutralizing it whenever I see one in my sight. In society, adults or older people are not afraid of such small creatures but for me I am afraid of them and it will make me look weak because of my phobia of being afraid of a spider. However, right now I am slowly overcoming this phobia by facing my fear of spiders and learning about them at the same time. Spiders are wonderful and interesting creatures, but because of my phobia I see them as terrifying and creepy crawlers, which one day I hope to overcome as an obstacle.

The Road Quotes

      In my novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I have encountered several quotes that stands out to me and are important contribution to the novel:

"He's going to die. We can't share what we have or we'll die too" (pg 52)

This quote is significant because during the trip, the Man and the Boy encounters a man slouching on the side of the road; dying after being strucked by lightening. The Boy wanted to help him but the Man said they couldn't because of their limited amount of resources, if they share some then they will have less resources and will die eventually. In this situation it is "every man for themselves", meaning that no matter what happens the Man will try everything he can to make sure both himself and the Boy survives, without helping anyone out so they will have enough resources to make it to the east coast.

'"Sooner or later they will catch us and they will kill us. They will rape me. They'll rape him. They are going to rape us and kill us and eat us"' (pg 56)

This is the quote that the Man's wife said before she left him and the Boy to commit suicide. His wife didn't want to go to the east coast with them because she is skeptical that there is nothing there and will get killed before they arrive at the east coast. This is significantly important to the novel because after the apocalyptic disaster, all the resources have ran out and the majority of the population became mindless savages and cannibals.

"Sometimes the child would question him questions about the world that for him was not even a memory" (pg 53)

The Boy was at a very young age when the apocalyptic disaster hit, and he has no memory of the world before the disaster since he was too young to remember the past. He frequently questions the Man about the world before the disaster because he wants to know what it looked like before everything was grey and filled with ashes. This is important because the Man doesn't want to sadden the the Boy by filling him with memories from which the Boy doesn't remember. He wants him to think of the past because there is no past since it is wiped out by the disaster.

Evolution of Computar Language

          Slowly, the computer language and abbreviations are going into formal writings, such as essays, resumes, and memorandums. Words such as "wanna" and "Imma" are used instead of "want to" and I'm a" respectively. Compare Old English to Middle English to Early Modern English, it is different in each period with different pronunciations, dialogues, and new words replacing old words. In the modern Twenty First Century, technologies has been a huge impact on the human civilization. Technologies such as cellphones and computers have major influence on the modern society. It changes our language by making short cuts to words so it can be typed faster on the keyboard. Words like "Asian"and phrases like "I see you" are changed to "azn" and "I C U" respectively. But these abbreviations and acronyms should be avoided in the formal writings because in the world, a lot of people still don't understand or know the meanings of most of the abbreviations and acronyms. Therefore, it leads to misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the jargons being used.  Despite of all the negative changes to the English language, this is more of a natural evolution of the language rather then a degeneration. If you looked at the timeline from very first Old English Period to the current Modern English Period, you can see that it is constantly changing and new words are added and replacing the old words. In terms of the current situation right now, the language is constantly changing and is inevitable and should be embraced instead of prevention. A lot of words are frequently being introduced everyday, but it is more of a meme then a permanent change. Therefore, most words won't last for decades and it will disappear really fast because it's a meme. So prevention and monitoring should not be enforced in society, but instead teach the next generation of how to properly use the language.

The Road Part 1

         In the novel I am currently reading, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the main character is the nameless man simply named The Man. The Man is accompanied by his nameless son named The Boy, as they journey across the United States in the post-apocalyptic land to the east coast. The purpose of this journey is to find resources after the world has been destroyed by an unknown disaster that wiped out most of the living beings. All they have is each other and a cart full of basic survival needs. My first impression of the main character, The Man, is that he is a caring person that takes care of and protects his son, and is determined to reach the east coast no matter what the circumstances are. The man is a relatable character as he is related to a lot the the parents or single parents in the world. In the book, despite all the limited resources such as food and shelter, The Man still prioritize his son's needs and wants before he can tend his own. For example, when The Man found a can of Coke that he hasn't seen for years, he gave it to his son instead of keeping it to himself. He even refused to drink some when his son offered to let him have some. The Man wants his son to enjoy it since it he knows it could be the last time they will ever see another can of Coke.  As the story progresses, the bond between The Man and The Boy will grow stronger as they take care and tend each other's needs since they will be all alone in the world without each other.  Also, on their journey to the east coast, they will face a lot of challenges such as scarce amount of food, shelter, and the cold weather that they must overcome in order to reach the east coast. But they have the unconditional love and support from each other that will keep them motivated to reach their goal.

Lifestyle Changes

           The rural lifestyle is not the same as the urban lifestyle. Everyday there will people moving from a lifestyle in the isolated and quiet rural country, to a more up tempo and fast paced urban city, or vice versa. Those people often experience cultural shock because of the different values and environment. I was raised in a small rural city of Trail, BC, living there for most of my childhood. But I was born in Vancouver, BC. When I moved to Richmond, BC, I didn't experience abundant of cultural shock, but I had to adapt to the different values and environment.
            I was born in Vancouver, BC, in the Grace Memorial Hospital. Not long after my family moved up north of about fifteen hours to a small community of Fraser Lake. I was around two years old around that time. I was always shy around other and speak very little English. My parents spoke Cantonese to me when I was young. At school from what I remembered, I was always afraid to talk to my fellow classmates due to my shy personality. "Hi", "Bye", "Yes", "No", and "Thanks" were the only words I was able to mumble out from my mouth. At home, I often sheltered myself in my room, feeling pleasure as I play with my toy action figures and cars, or watch television in the living room. Those toys of mine were my only friend during that time. Taking the cars apart and putting them together were my favorite past times. Other times I would be playing castles or war with my action figures, soldiers killing another soldier, or and army taking down a castle. My time in Fraser Lake was short lived, after living there for two years, my family moved down south to a small city called Trail.
            In Trail, its the place where i spent most of my childhood in, living there for seven years. Trail is a small city as I said before, it is in a valley surrounded by luscious evergreen trees, stars that twinkles at night time, and snow that pile as high as our chest level. Sports is mostly focused in Trail, followed by being in the great outdoors. Despite sports being heavily favoured, the education in Trail is highly prioritized and is equally important as sports. The teachers and students are highly dedicated to their learning and studies. Living in Trail evolved me from a shy quiet boy that hide in his room, into a more active and outgoing person.
           I have been involved in a lot of sports teams in my childhood; such as soccer, basketball, track and field, volleyball, and hockey. I was never the best player on any of the teams since I not really skilled, but i was athletic enough to stay on a team. Despite being more athletic then skilled, I have been selected for several all star teams for soccer, basketball, and hockey. Since the coaches loves my enthusiasm, dedication, hard work, and athletic abilities more then my skills. Besides playing a lot of sports, I also learned to love the outdoors, hiking in my backyard, camping with my friends, and also climbing up trees and relaxing on the branches. Whenever I'm with my friends we would usually be outside playing sports or biking down a dirt path. Like most children these days, I do love watching television, playing on the computer, and playing video games. I owned a Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube and fifty games in totally from the three consoles. Despite being heavily involved in sports, I also do well in school, completing all my homework and studying were my main priorities before anything. After about seven years, my family decided to move to the big city, because its more beneficial for me to learn more and involved in more activities other then sports.
            I came to Richmond about four years ago, it was a lot different then Trail. When I first arrived, the song "City of Blinding Lights" by U2 came in my mind. The city looks beautiful at night with the city's lights creating a luminous landscape. The values were different then Trail, to the city slickers education was more prioritized then playing sports. The environment is different too, less trees and more buildings, more cars then bikes and skateboards, and a lot higher population of people. At first I felt like I don't belong here with all the differences and changes. I began to doubt myself and constantly thinking: "I won't survive here, I won't survive here". I never liked changes that much, especially coming from a quiet relaxed place of Trail to a high paced city of Richmond. But it changed when school began, I met new friends and new people and they made my adapting process more comfortable and fun. I also got used to the urban environment as I constantly go to different places around the city; such as downtown, parks, and beaches. Now jumping to the present, I am now well adapted to the urban lifestyles and is happy about it. I now have friends, involved in the school and community by volunteering in special events and joining clubs, also I occasionally play sports with my friends.
        The rural and urban lifestyle has a lot of differences. I experienced it during my transition from rural to urban lifestyle. A lot of people in the world would find it difficult to adapt to the new environment, because it is different then what they are used to. Often they would feel shock, depress, and scared because of the changes they have to make. From my experience it can be difficult or overwhelming at times, but it can also be a wonderful learning experience if you are willing to change. Now that I am adapted to the urban lifestyle, deep inside I am still the little rural boy that loves the great outdoors and playing sports. Therefore, it makes me a well rounded person because I accept to change, try new things and have fun in the new lifestyle. Anyone can do this, they just have to accept changes and try new things.