Dark Matter Analysis

Griffin Neary

Mr. Davidson

Period 5

11-13-19

Dark Matter Book Review

          The novel Dark Matter written by Blake Crouch is a tale of perseverance through a turbulent and confusing scientific for Jason Dessen. Jason, a professor at a small college is slightly haunted by the fact that he did not fulfill his potential of being a world renowned scientist. These doubts are put to bed by his loving family, including his wife Daniela and his son Charlie. While on his way back from a party celebrating his former colleague’s winning of the Pavia Prize, he is abruptly kidnapped and wakes up in a world that is not his. With the help of a woman named Amanda Lucas, they try to navigate their way through many different realities and worlds that include other versions of Jason, Amanda, Daniela, and other people they know and love to try and get Jason back to the life that he has come to know and love.

          A theme of destiny plays a huge role, especially towards the end of the novel with the fate of all the Jasons. There is always a constant clash between the ethics of interacting with alternate realities as if it were one’s own reality. Jason 2 is the biggest example of this, because no matter how much he loves Daniela, that is not his world and it will always belong to the Jason he stole it from. As for the other Jasons, it is no secret that they love Daniela just as much as the Jason narrating the story, but it is fate that Daniela ended up with the Jason that was able to outthink the others and get them to safety, and Daniela believes this as well. This is seen when Daniel convinces Jason, “Of all the versions of Jason, it was you who pulled that crazy stunt at the diner, which landed you in jail, which brought us safely together” (Crouch 443). She’s basically saying that they are meant to be together and there is a reason she ended up with the Jason who got her safely back to their old lives. There are literally countless other scenarios that the original Jason could have lived out, but the choices he made from resisting Amanda to begging on the street shaped him into the person who would persevere for his family while still being in a stable mind frame to be that father and husband that they had. Although the lottery for Daniela and Charlie did not go through, Jason experienced winning a lottery of his own by being that only Jason out of an infinite number of Jasons to end up with his wife and son.

          Crouch also illustrates the greatest and worst of people as Jason is faced with versions of himself trying to kill him. Throughout his ordeals and hardships in the box, Jason comes to realize that there other versions of him who took paths that were much worse than his, which proves that people’s behaviors are directly affected by their circumstances. Jason is first introduced to this fact when he first sees another version of himself who is physically marred and walks aimlessly throughout the Box, which hinders the original Jason’s psychiatric state. Another could be the scar faced Jason who holds a conversation with the original, but letting him know afterward that he will kill the original Jason without hesitation. “But if it comes down to you and me, I won’t let you stop me from being with Daniela and Charlie. I won’t like it, but I’ll kill you if it comes to that” (Crouch 377). This unnerving statement by the scar faced Jason shows that the collective love the Jasons have for their old life will drive them to pursue dire and lethal solutions. Jason 1 realizes that all of these people were the same person as him up until a couple of days ago, which proves that the only thing separating him from the other Jasons is the situations that they encountered over their journey through the Box. This aspect of Crouch’s writing makes the story much more interesting and also makes an ending that is suspenseful while not confusing the audience.

          Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter is a thrilling and intriguing novel that I would recommend from casual science fiction fans to hardcore fans. Prior to reading this, I was not excited about it because I am not a fan of science fiction and thought I might have a hard time following along. However, the development of the plot was easy to follow and had a very interesting build up throughout the novel. The twist of Jason seeing more versions of himself at the end of the novel shows a conflict between protecting his own interests versus the interests of his other counterparts. This novel is both thrilling in a scientific and social aspect and is a book that I would rate highly as a book to read.

This I Believe: Belly Backs

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This I Believe: Belly-Backs

I believe in the power of giving and receiving belly backs. You all are probably wondering what this is. One day, I was petting my dog and I really thought that I could do better scratching areas that he couldn’t reach. To do this, I rubbed his back and his belly/chest area at the same time. The result was perfect. My dog could not get enough of it and always acknowledges that my method of giving belly backs is the best. The more I thought about this, the more I thought about applying it to actual human beings. This came before a hockey game sophomore year with my friend Henry Mansky, where I decided to give him a signature belly back. He was fired up.

That game, we played really well, especially Henry, so he urged me to keep that going. Before every game, I would occasionally give belly backs to a few kids, who I assume liked it. This act is not just for a specific pregame or to rile someone up. I genuinely believe that it has a calming effect on the person receiving it and the person giving it. I was glad to see that many of my friends picked this up and gave it right back to me. It doesn’t have to be in a sports setting but it can be in any type of location that the person sees fit. I just think it’s funny that a way of petting for my dog has turned into gesture of fraternity, love, and acceptance.

To extend off of this, the most important thing we can do as fellow human beings is letting people know they are loved in some way. This can be in the form of a high five, hug, or maybe even take a page out of my playbook and give a belly back. The gesture may seem small, but you never know what is going on with that person, so treat them with the respect that you would want to receive. I believe in unconditional love. I believe in acceptance of everyone. I believe in belly backs. 

Art of Racing in the Rain

Griffin Neary
Mr. Davidson
Period 5
10-9-19

Art of Racing in the Rain

        The Art of Racing in the Rain, written by Garth Stein portrays the life of a loyal, loving, and genuine dog and his trial and tribulations. The main character, Enzo, is a dog who was adopted as a puppy by his owner Denny, who he comes to love. After Denny settles to marry Eve and have a daughter named Zoë, Enzo realizes that his role of being by Denny’s side extended to this new family. Although he is a dog, Enzo finds himself a vital piece of the family and loves them the same, if not more. Facing many difficulties, Enzo must keep the family together through misfortune, confusion, and heartbreak.
        Enzo’s narration of the novel and his recount of certain events make the story very unique and interesting. Through the perspective of a dog, the readers can see things in a completely different light. This is exemplified when he senses Eve’s illness long before her diagnosis, and everything leading up to this fateful discovery grows the frustration of Enzo and the audience. “Given a facile tongue, I could have warned them. I could have alerted them to her condition long before they discovered it with their machines, their computers and super-vision scopes that can see inside the human head” (Stein 36-37). His narration also allows readers to dive deep into his opinions, thoughts, and most importantly, readers can see the true unconditional love Enzo has for his family members. One example of this is his growing relationship with Eve throughout the novel. He feels threatened by her at first because he feels she will get in the way of Denny and his relationship together. However, when Eve gives birth to Zoë, Enzo makes a promise with Eve to always protect Zoë. Enzo’s narration of the book is vital to the story and gives a look inside his mind, as opposed to a third person narration where it would simply be a telling of the events.
        The false accusation against Denny and the legal battle that ensues over his daughter put to the test his application of the skills he has a driver to a real life scenario. We get a real look at the injustice being done to Denny when Eve’s parents, the Twins, sue Denny for custody of Zoë. This heated argument really brings the frustration on the audience and leaves them enthralled in the progression of the plot. Denny suffers another injustice when Annika, Eve’s teenage cousin, falsely accuses Denny of rape. This action puts Denny’s custody of Zoë in danger and leaves him nearly broke from all of the legal assistance he needs. The drama and weight of this is shown when Denny confronts Annika about it and spills his heart out to her about how this is impacting him and Zoë. The conclusion of the confrontation comes when Denny states, “Zoë’s my daughter, I love her like your father loves you. Please, Annika, don’t take her away from me” (Stein 284). Denny’s perseverance through these obstacles is something that few people could do, and this all highlights how great the reward was for him by overcoming all of this.
        Overall, the novel The Art of Racing Rain by Garth Stein is a riveting tale of  dog’s commitment and love for his owners. The book’s structure of being told by Enzo is great because it shows the emotional impact that he has on the family and the impact that they have on him. Although it is frustrating to read at times, the drama that this legal battle over Zoë brings a suspenseful build up to the climax. Denny winning this makes it all the more better and shows his true bravery and love for getting full custody of his daughter Zoë. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to people who like a story of love and triumph. It is beautifully written and is such a unique book overall, making it an amazing read.

Fantasy/Science Fiction

1. I like fiction novels for the most part, but there are some sub genres of it that I don’t like all that well. Fantasy allows me to go to a completely different place and look at things from a different perspective. I like my life and how it is playing out, but sometimes it is good to get out of it and live another reality. There are so many possibilities for this, and a really good novel can expand your imagination and creativity. Growing up, fantasy was my favorite type of book because I could easily imagine myself in these places and situations. I can attribute a love for reading from an early age because of these enthralling fiction novels.
2. My favorite fantasy book and more so series has to be the Percy Jackson series. I got really deep into these books in the fifth grade and this love for the books continued as I read them throughout middle school. The whole setting and basis of these novels were so exciting to me and took me to a completely different place. I was around the same age Percy Jackson was, and I was able to see myself as the son of some Greek god, and just another camper at Half Blood Hill along with all of these other demigods. I almost became jealous of Percy and I wanted to desperately live the life of a teenage hero who was the son of Poseidon.

Infographic

Reflection
1. I thought that this topic would be interesting because both sides had many different points that could go either way for a great debate. It is also a big point of contention and heated topic in today’s political climate. I picked this side because many people would not think on this side, and I wanted to get a view on why the government acts this way and has this surveillance. I somewhat believe in this, but there are many downsides to this belief and I feel like there are a lot of flaws that could be exploited in an argument.
2. I think it was somewhat difficult to research just one side of the argument. I needed to find websites that were biased towards my position, and there were very few reliable sources that fit that description. It was hard to focus on just the one topic of research and stay consistent with all of it. It was easy to remain biased but is was hard to push through all of the negatives that my infographic could be pointed out from.
3. I felt that if my infographic had a darker color like it does, then it would fit much better with the material I presented. I found pictures of American theme and pictures relating to computers, because I felt like those two directly coincided with my topic. The biggest downside to my infographic is the lack of charts and graphs, because I just could not find any on the Internet that would have been effective and relevant.
4. I think my infographic is somewhat convincing, but it could have been improved in a major way. The first thing would have been actually figuring out how to work technology to post it onto blogger. It also does not help that there are no visuals to accompany my facts, and that the argument in itself did not really have statistics to go with it. I do think that the information I did present was effective and got people’s attention in many ways. It made a clear argument and pointed out reasons for why my side is right.

Narrators-2019

My favorite narrator out of any book I have read has to be Nick Carraway from the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book takes place in a rich New York neighborhood in the 1920’s where the narrator, Nick Carraway, is neighbors with the rich but mysterious Jay Gatsby, who constantly reaches out for a green light at the other side of the pier every night. As the story progresses, Nick learns more about Gatsby through their interactions and gets to know his true nature besides the one who throws crazy parties in his mansion almost every night. Nick is thrown right in the middle of a conflict that Gatsby has, and Nick is the one who gets a firsthand account into Gatsby’s true nature.

This narration by Nick Carraway is my favorite because he plays more of the role as a bystander who gets thrown into the turbulence of the 20’s. He tells the tale of an interesting development in the character and mystery of Jay Gatsby. I feel that other people will be drawn to Nick too because he is a character who seems relatable to most of the readers. Nick is an average guy who happens to live in a rich neighborhood for a summer, which can be understandable compared to a rich person who lives this as a daily life. He is also committed to finding the truth, which is the basis for what all readers want in a novel, especially one that is as intriguing as The Great Gatsby.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore Review

Griffin Neary
Mr. Davidson
Contemporary Literature Period 5
13 September 2019
AMDG
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore Review
     
        Clay Jannon, a young unemployed man who is desperately looking for work, finds his need as a clerk at a bookstore. The owner of this all day bookstore is Mr. Penumbra, who Clay finds to have many secrets hidden. Unusual customers visiting the store seem to try to crack some sort of code, and Clay tries to get to the bottom of it through technology. With the help of Google tech guru Kat, he is able to create a 3D model of the store, including customers and an algorithm of what these customers will check out next. Impressed with his work, Clay soon sees a face, prompting him to see “The Founder”. Mr. Penumbra’s discovery of Clay’s accomplishment causes Clay to be sucked into a secret book society dedicated to cracking a code that holds something very valuable.
        The main character, Clay Jannon, is poorly written and his traits are inconsistent throughout the progression of the novel. Clay’s unfortunate layoff from New Bagel described in the beginning of the novel also gives a background of his knowledge of technology through him designing the website. However, he goes from designing a website which can be learned fairly easily, to somehow creating an advanced 3D model of a bookstore, also complete with an algorithm. Clay describes, “I transcribe more names, titles, and times from the logbook into my laptop. Then I start hacking” (Sloan 55). This concept that usually takes years of constant time on the computer is accomplished by Clay through Googling it and discerning the language code in minutes. While Clay is incredible at coding, his skills are nothing compared to that of Kat’s which makes his way of figuring things out inconsistent and also takes the things Kat does as something that can be picked up after a little practice. Clay’s mastery of a difficult skill is inconsistent with his seemingly curious clerk manner, and takes away from the characters who actually can code like Kat.
        While changing in setting can be a difficult thing for readers to follow along, Sloan crafts a comprehensible transition of setting that is vital to the story at the same time. The main setting takes place in San Francisco, but that quickly changes when Clay must travel to New York to meet Penumbra. The reason for bringing all of these characters to New York was to introduce the Unbroken Spine and how that society works. The change in setting also presents a contrast between the traditional nature of the society on the East, and the rising technological advancement that is happening in the West. This can be seen with Eric raging about the new books, “What is all of this? What is the meaning of this?” (Sloan 43). Eric, coming from the traditional ways of the East, cannot believe that Penumbra would make the minor mistake of selling new books in his store. This gives the readers a sharp introduction into the strictness of what the society will be and powerful forces that are in control of Penumbra’s operation in San Francisco from their headquarters in New York. The changing of setting gives new perspective into the plot of the book and is an area where Sloan can reveal the Unbroken Spine in a way that is relevant and understandable.
       Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore is a novel that must be read by a certain type of audience if it will gain good feedback. Readers who love a novel with strong support characters and a main character who saves the day at the very end, then this novel will be great. I would not recommend this book to readers who like one sole character who is in charge of all the situations and where there is only one destination for the setting. Despite all of this, the plot does have some very major twists and turns that I’m sure all readers would love. Overall I thought this was a great book to read, but it wasn’t an instant favorite of mine in a couple ways and could have done a better job in some areas.