To Mr. Bradbury
Author of Dandelion Wine
Dear Mr. Bradbury,
I have recently read your book titled “Dandelion Wine”. I loved the way I could connect to the book, being a teenager of 14. I think that the feeling shared about family, and about summer are extremely common in young adults. Though this book was written sometime ago I could see the similarities between society in our current time and in this book’s society.
Yet another way I could connect to this book is in the way that the character Douglas Spaulding felt the sentimental “twinges” that he did. I too feel these “twinges” every time that something of the past goes away and something more convenient for modern society takes its place. During the reading of this book it made me realize how many different things occur at the same time. Even though they occur throughout different parts of the town and with different people I could see it the way that they all had a common point.
I like in which the way this society isn’t afraid to express themselves. I could tell that all the people in the town seemed pretty closely knit and intertwined. Many times during the book people would bring items or matters to the attention of others that I found most interesting, saying that in our modern society we are no longer able to do so. Doesn’t it almost make you wish that you could still do those things that the children did as kids, or the adults participated in; in the modern day society?
A major difference I noticed in contrasting then from now was sports. Now days it is extremely uncommon to see a kid that is not involved in sports or has no plan to. Most kids now are in something like football or soccer. It seems to me that in the older society represented in the book that was not a common thing to see kids missing days during the week to go to swimming practice or football practice or some other organized activity. Though this didn’t keep the children from staying fit, for it seemed to me that they enjoyed very much to go play and hang out with friends. And this normally included playing tag or some other physical activity.
I personally enjoyed this book, and would definitely count it on my favorites list. This book really helped me to realize that even though society has really changed noticeably there are many common factors that still exist. All through out the book I kind of just wished that I could go back and just live in the care free world that some of the characters had even if it were just for a day go back and see what it would be like to live as a care free child in the early 1900’s. I also kind of wished that I would have just as many wonderful people in my life as they commonly did back then.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
State Science Olympiad
Well I know that a lot of you don’t really care about Science Olympiad, and some of you may be even bitter towards it, but that doesn’t mean it still does not mean a lot to me. This essay is simply the one that I turned into Mrs. Brinkerhoff for my term project. All it really states is what the title says, what happened at state for me, and how I prepared to do my best.
State Science Olympiad
State Science Olympiad is much the same as it has always been. One of the major things that set this year apart from that of others was mainly the coaching. When normally we have trained with four coaches, this year we trained with one. We only had one teacher acting as coach this year with all of the other coaching done by volunteers to put it in simpler terms. Many of us thought that this would lead to our downfall, along with the seemingly less amount of students trying out. But we managed once again to prove that Fairfield Junior is still strong and is still the Utah Science Olympiad Juggernaut.
This year I competed in three events: Scrambler, Simple Machines, and Rocks & Minerals. I placed gold in all three of my events, receiving an almost perfect score in Simple Machines as well. In Scrambler our distance to shoot for was exactly 12 meters. We managed to pull this distance off within 4.7 seconds- look at that- 12 meters! We didn’t get quite as close to the wall as we had hoped for but in training for nationals we hope to solve that problem. But our overall score was good enough to pull off gold.
In Simple Machines, we didn’t have quite the coaching situation that we would have hoped for. (Last year in Nationals this same partnership pulled off 10th place) But we made do with an extremely willing parent volunteer, she tried to keep us in shape to do our best. Right before state Mr. Erickson got out all of the Simple Machines from district and let us run through and try to get it all right, (We bombed district quite badly) and this seemed to help us enough to get every single question right on the state test. (Thus, pulling off gold once again in yet another event)
In Rocks and Minerals we have always been known at Fairfield Junior High to have the best possible coach you could get. This was still true this year, but unfortunately she would no coach us! So we had three amazing coaches that had previously been trained by her and had ranked nationally in the event. They did a wonderful job coaching us, and now have joined us in training for nationals with Mrs. Nelson. (And once again we got gold)
So overall I had a really good experience at the State competition doing well in all of my events, and being there for all of my team-mates.
State Science Olympiad
State Science Olympiad is much the same as it has always been. One of the major things that set this year apart from that of others was mainly the coaching. When normally we have trained with four coaches, this year we trained with one. We only had one teacher acting as coach this year with all of the other coaching done by volunteers to put it in simpler terms. Many of us thought that this would lead to our downfall, along with the seemingly less amount of students trying out. But we managed once again to prove that Fairfield Junior is still strong and is still the Utah Science Olympiad Juggernaut.
This year I competed in three events: Scrambler, Simple Machines, and Rocks & Minerals. I placed gold in all three of my events, receiving an almost perfect score in Simple Machines as well. In Scrambler our distance to shoot for was exactly 12 meters. We managed to pull this distance off within 4.7 seconds- look at that- 12 meters! We didn’t get quite as close to the wall as we had hoped for but in training for nationals we hope to solve that problem. But our overall score was good enough to pull off gold.
In Simple Machines, we didn’t have quite the coaching situation that we would have hoped for. (Last year in Nationals this same partnership pulled off 10th place) But we made do with an extremely willing parent volunteer, she tried to keep us in shape to do our best. Right before state Mr. Erickson got out all of the Simple Machines from district and let us run through and try to get it all right, (We bombed district quite badly) and this seemed to help us enough to get every single question right on the state test. (Thus, pulling off gold once again in yet another event)
In Rocks and Minerals we have always been known at Fairfield Junior High to have the best possible coach you could get. This was still true this year, but unfortunately she would no coach us! So we had three amazing coaches that had previously been trained by her and had ranked nationally in the event. They did a wonderful job coaching us, and now have joined us in training for nationals with Mrs. Nelson. (And once again we got gold)
So overall I had a really good experience at the State competition doing well in all of my events, and being there for all of my team-mates.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Why we should Read
Why should we Read?
No! Please! Not another one! Reading to us may at times seem to be a kind of burden that we all feel that we are forced to bear at times. But really, if you look at it, none of us would be able to live without that capability. We read every day of our lives, most of the time without even realizing we are doing so. We also read for enjoyment, most of us find that hard to believe, but yes, we all enjoy reading a good book now and then. And of course, reading, even with all of the new technology in the world today, is still one of the best ways to learn.
Everyday we use reading in our lives, and most of the time, without even realizing it. It seems that almost every teenager in this country has a cell phone and they seem to not be able to live without texting. If we could not read, how could we: 1. Send a text in the first place, and 2. How are you going to read a reply from one of your friends? What about reading signs as we travel around the city? How are you going to know where to go if you can’t read the sign in the first place? So as you can see, already reading plays a big part in our lives. But the importance of reading doesn’t necessarily stop there.
After a long day of going to school and being totally stressed out by you teachers and your parents one of the best ways to relax is to read a book. Reality can sometimes be really hard to live with, but we have no choice. When we read, we can enter a totally different world that you can lose yourself in. You don’t have to worry about any of your own problems, like when your essay is due in English, or if dinner will be ready at five, but instead you can worry about things like if Jane is going to be murdered in the next chapter, or if Dave really saves the world from nuclear destruction. To us, those sort of problems are always less bearing and don’t really seem to “press” as much.
At school one of the most used talents we have is to read. In every class we have to read at some point, whether it is reading prompts in your music in Band, a recipe in Foods, or reading a Shakespearian novel in English, we always seem to be reading. Many times we have to research papers in which we are told we must use book references. And of course, we always ask, why? One of the most probable reasons would have to be that reading something out of a book kind of “sticks” in your mind better than something you read off of the internet. When we are on the computer there are always things to distract us, like getting finished so that we can play games, or checking our e- mail. But when we read, all of those distractions are gone, we can focus on what is in front of us, and we can go to a nice quiet place and just concentrate. And, when we use a book you have to work harder to get what you want, it isn’t any longer “a click away”.
So whether it is checking your text messages, or you e-mail, or if you are just kind of relaxing after a hard stressed out day, or going through what might cause that stress, reading always plays a part in you life. It is something that we should always try to keep a part of our life, and never forget, that without reading, there would be nothing.
No! Please! Not another one! Reading to us may at times seem to be a kind of burden that we all feel that we are forced to bear at times. But really, if you look at it, none of us would be able to live without that capability. We read every day of our lives, most of the time without even realizing we are doing so. We also read for enjoyment, most of us find that hard to believe, but yes, we all enjoy reading a good book now and then. And of course, reading, even with all of the new technology in the world today, is still one of the best ways to learn.
Everyday we use reading in our lives, and most of the time, without even realizing it. It seems that almost every teenager in this country has a cell phone and they seem to not be able to live without texting. If we could not read, how could we: 1. Send a text in the first place, and 2. How are you going to read a reply from one of your friends? What about reading signs as we travel around the city? How are you going to know where to go if you can’t read the sign in the first place? So as you can see, already reading plays a big part in our lives. But the importance of reading doesn’t necessarily stop there.
After a long day of going to school and being totally stressed out by you teachers and your parents one of the best ways to relax is to read a book. Reality can sometimes be really hard to live with, but we have no choice. When we read, we can enter a totally different world that you can lose yourself in. You don’t have to worry about any of your own problems, like when your essay is due in English, or if dinner will be ready at five, but instead you can worry about things like if Jane is going to be murdered in the next chapter, or if Dave really saves the world from nuclear destruction. To us, those sort of problems are always less bearing and don’t really seem to “press” as much.
At school one of the most used talents we have is to read. In every class we have to read at some point, whether it is reading prompts in your music in Band, a recipe in Foods, or reading a Shakespearian novel in English, we always seem to be reading. Many times we have to research papers in which we are told we must use book references. And of course, we always ask, why? One of the most probable reasons would have to be that reading something out of a book kind of “sticks” in your mind better than something you read off of the internet. When we are on the computer there are always things to distract us, like getting finished so that we can play games, or checking our e- mail. But when we read, all of those distractions are gone, we can focus on what is in front of us, and we can go to a nice quiet place and just concentrate. And, when we use a book you have to work harder to get what you want, it isn’t any longer “a click away”.
So whether it is checking your text messages, or you e-mail, or if you are just kind of relaxing after a hard stressed out day, or going through what might cause that stress, reading always plays a part in you life. It is something that we should always try to keep a part of our life, and never forget, that without reading, there would be nothing.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
T.V.... Is it really what it seems?
Matt Munns
Period 4
March 30, 2008
Period 4
March 30, 2008
T.V. in Our Lives
Oh my gosh! Where’s the remote? Turn it off! We all have had a situation like this before in our life, when we find out the program we are watching is not exactly what we should, or want to be watching. T.V. has been blamed for many things in this world, obesity, raised violence, but it really only presents half of the problem. All those problems that it does create probably fall under the category of bad programming.
It has happened to all of us, at one time or another; we have all seen something that we never want to see on T.V. So what do most people do about it? Thy normally just chose to leave it on and watch it until it is over. You could maybe say that the more people watch programs that aren’t necessarily clean in language, action, or dress; it starts to desensitize them to it. The first time they watch the show they may not really like it, but soon it becomes their favorite, they have become hooked, just like a drug. And once again some of us ask, “Are they going to let themselves do this?” and from the looks of things in the world now, they are.
Programs on T.V. today are seemingly rarely clean, or worth watching. Unfortunately programs in our day and age don’t seem to ever follow a plot, or a story line. This makes them seemingly dumb or stupid to watch because they don’t really want or need to go any where, because all they need is for you to watch. Television stations now would rather put something bad on T.V. than good because guess what we are supposedly more likely to watch? That’s right, the bad program. So you may ask “What exactly is a bad program?” Look at it like this; does it have bad language used excessively? Does it promote drugs? Is it in someway explicit? Or does it just promote sex, violence and other actions that seem to be O.K. for T.V. to program? If it has any of these characteristics, it should be considered unclean, especially the latter. In a way this leads to another problem the one the T.V. may be best known for.
T.V. is quite often blamed for physical characteristics in our world, mainly known as obesity. T.V. does promote people just sitting around doing nothing, but watching their screen, also known as in-activeness, and when people start to become inactive, they start to gain weight. It starts slowly at first, and they may not realize it, but soon their weight is just, well, out of control! This is what T.V. gets blamed for, and in a way it should, because it does promote this in-activeness, and it does have programs that do the same; but all it has really done is nullify our decision making skills enough that we soon become happier to be extremely large, than to get healthy, and active.
So look at it, what does your favorite program represent? How clean is it? This is something that we all should ask ourselves before we ever watch anything. But we normally don’t. So is it necessarily the T.V.’s fault? Is it the T.V.’s fault for giving us so much bad programming? Is it the T.V.’s fault for giving this country such a high obesity rate? That is only the tip of the iceberg, in the end it is all up to us. Whether or not we watch the bad shows, whether or not we decide to become extremely overweight, and eventually obese. In the end, it is all up to us to make the decision, so what do you chose?
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Science Olympiad Mania!!!!
Well as most of you know the State Science Olympiad competition was Saturday, and as most of you know, we did really well, and will be going to the National competition once again which will be held back in Washington D.C. this year. Now most of you will hear this on many of the other blogs, but yes, this is our 13th year in a row winning state. Out of 25 events we competed in 20, and out of those 20 events that we competed in 11 medals were gold, two were silver, four were bronze, we placed fifth in two events, and sixth in one. So, overall it was enough to ensure us another first place victory. With the events of yesterday, I still don’t have a whole bunch to really talk about.
So at the Olympiad competition yesterday I competed in Scrambler, which is a small vehicle that is designed to go as fast as possible between 8 and 12 meters, and carry an egg, now you may think, so what? So what if it has to carry and egg? Here is the catch, there is a table at the end of the track, and you can’t hit that wall. If you break your egg, you’re done. So how does this little car get all of its energy? At the start line you put a .75 meter cube that holds a 2 kg mass, (It just so happens that ours is solid lead with a large spring attached to the front) this 2 kg mass comes down and hits this car which makes it speed down the track. Just to give you a small idea about this mass though, it comes in at about 4 times more massive (4 times heavier) than this little car. If you were to take the spring off of the mass and drop it from the .75 meters, and it hit the bone on the front of your leg, it could seriously bruise it, or break it, so imagine how hard this car is getting nailed when you initiate the run. (I competed on this event with Derek Mickinley, and we won the gold medal)
One of my other events was Rocks and Minerals, on which I competed with Nicole Ly. On this event we just pretty much identified different rock and mineral specimens and told facts and stats on these different samples. Nicole and I manage to pull off a Gold Medal in this event.
And now my one other event was Simple Machines. I competed on this event with Brian Adair. I know that a lot of you can remember going through Greenaway’s class doing a lot with physics and Simple Machines. You may think, “Well I didn’t enjoy doing it, and it wasn’t that hard…” Let me tell you, Simple Machines with Science Olympiad is just, well, crazy, some of the simple machines they have are absolutely amazing, and horribly tough, sometimes they make you think the machine through without even seeing it, it just is a description on a piece of paper. Brian and I won gold in this event as well.
So at the Olympiad competition yesterday I competed in Scrambler, which is a small vehicle that is designed to go as fast as possible between 8 and 12 meters, and carry an egg, now you may think, so what? So what if it has to carry and egg? Here is the catch, there is a table at the end of the track, and you can’t hit that wall. If you break your egg, you’re done. So how does this little car get all of its energy? At the start line you put a .75 meter cube that holds a 2 kg mass, (It just so happens that ours is solid lead with a large spring attached to the front) this 2 kg mass comes down and hits this car which makes it speed down the track. Just to give you a small idea about this mass though, it comes in at about 4 times more massive (4 times heavier) than this little car. If you were to take the spring off of the mass and drop it from the .75 meters, and it hit the bone on the front of your leg, it could seriously bruise it, or break it, so imagine how hard this car is getting nailed when you initiate the run. (I competed on this event with Derek Mickinley, and we won the gold medal)
One of my other events was Rocks and Minerals, on which I competed with Nicole Ly. On this event we just pretty much identified different rock and mineral specimens and told facts and stats on these different samples. Nicole and I manage to pull off a Gold Medal in this event.
And now my one other event was Simple Machines. I competed on this event with Brian Adair. I know that a lot of you can remember going through Greenaway’s class doing a lot with physics and Simple Machines. You may think, “Well I didn’t enjoy doing it, and it wasn’t that hard…” Let me tell you, Simple Machines with Science Olympiad is just, well, crazy, some of the simple machines they have are absolutely amazing, and horribly tough, sometimes they make you think the machine through without even seeing it, it just is a description on a piece of paper. Brian and I won gold in this event as well.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Almost... There.....
Well, I find it almost hard to believe that we are almost done with our ninth grade year. It seems that this year is just moving along really fast, except for third term of course, but other than that it has been really quick. By now most all of us have gotten signed up for all of our classes for our next year of paid torture at high school. Some of us will be become Darts, and others will become Lancers, but in the end, we all came from one place, and that makes all Falcons in the end.
Well, I decided to put something kind of fun on here today mostly for lack of anything else to do. So here you go…
Well, I decided to put something kind of fun on here today mostly for lack of anything else to do. So here you go…
Police Humor
So, you thought that cops had no sense of humor… the following were taken off of actual police car videos around the country.
· “Relax. The handcuffs are tight because they’re new. They’ll stretch out after you wear them awhile.”
· “Take your hands off the car, or I’ll make your birth certificate a worthless document.”
· “If you run, you’ll only go to jail tired.”
· “Can you run faster than 1,200 feet per second? In case you didn’t know, that is the average speed of a 9mm bullet fired from my gun.”
· “So, you don’t know how fast you were going. I guess that means I can write anything I want on the ticket, huh?”
· “Yes, Sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don’t think it will help. I am the shift supervisor?”
· “Warning! You want a warning? O.K., I’m warning you not to do that again or I’ll give you another ticket.”
· “The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?”
· “Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven.”
· “In God we trust. All others we run through the NCIC.”
· “Just how big were those two bears?”
· “No, Sir, we don’t have quotas anymore. We used to have quotas, but now we’re allowed to write as many tickets as we want.”
· “I’m glad to hear the chief of Police is a good personal friend of yours. At least you know someone who can post your bail.”
· “You didn’t think we gave pretty women tickets? You’re right. We don’t. Sign here.”
So hopefully none of us will ever get any of these lines used on us, but you never know…. All of these lines were used on people who maybe just weren’t quite ready to enter the real world just yet, in just a few years; we will be in the real world without anybody there to protect us. Well that is pretty much all that I can really think of doing on this blog today… So just remember to keep you chin up this week and batter everything that gets thrown your way.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities: Literary Analysis
The novel that I read was “A Tale of Two Cities,” this novel was set in the French Revolution time period. It tells of the many hardships that were encountered by one family trying to stay together. The theme that I decided to address is about how the noble act of one man can keep a family together. This first passage tells of how a father is torn from his family once again after just being saved.
As he said the word, a blow was struck upon the door.
"Oh father, father. What can this be! Hide Charles. Save him!"
"My child," said the Doctor, rising, and laying his hand upon her shoulder, "I have saved him. What weakness is this, my dear! Let me go to the door."
He took the lamp in his hand, crossed the two intervening outer rooms, and opened it. A rude clattering of feet over the floor, and four rough men in red caps, armed with sabres and pistols, entered the room.
"The Citizen Evrémonde, called Darnay," said the first.
"Who seeks him?" answered Darnay.
"I seek him. We seek him. I know you, Evrémonde; I saw you before the Tribunal to-day. You are again the prisoner of the Republic."
The four surrounded him, where he stood with his wife and child clinging to him.
"Tell me how and why am I again a prisoner?"
"It is enough that you return straight to the Conciergerie, and will know to-morrow. You are summoned for to-morrow." (Pg. 296- 297)
This passage is developed further by this next one, which tells of our noble man acquiring a promise to see the accused before he is to die from a guard.
“Sydney Carton and the spy returned from the dark room. "Adieu, Mr. Barsad," said the former; "our arrangement thus made, you have nothing to fear from me.')
He sat down in a chair on the hearth, over against Mr. Lorry. When they were alone, Mr. Lorry asked him what he had done?
"Not much. If it should go ill with the prisoner, I have ensured access to him, once."
Mr. Lorry's countenance fell.
"It is all I could do," said Carton. "To propose too much, would be to put this man's head under the axe, and, as he himself said, nothing worse could happen to him if he were denounced. It was obviously the weakness of the position. There is no help for it."
"But access to him," said Mr. Lorry, "if it should go ill before the Tribunal, will not save him."
"I never said it would."
Mr. Lorry's eyes gradually sought the fire; his sympathy with his darling, and the heavy disappointment of his second arrest, gradually weakened them; he was an old man now, overborne with anxiety of late, and his tears fell.” (Pg. 312-313)
In the beginning of the previous passage two men walk out of the room, and one leaves. The plan of the others is then uncovered, and our noble man, Mr. Sydney Carton, is revealed. We discover that he is willing to give is life for that of the husband of the girl he loved. Our theme is finally resolved in this final passage.
“Footsteps in the stone passage outside the door. He stopped.
The key was put in the lock, and turned. Before the door was opened, or as it opened, a man said in a low voice, in English: "He has never seen me here; I have kept out of his way. Go you in alone; I wait near. Lose no time!"
The door was quickly opened and closed, and there stood before him face to face, quiet, intent upon him, with the light of a smile on his features, and a cautionary finger on his lip, Sydney Carton.
There was something so bright and remarkable in his look, that, for the first moment, the prisoner misdoubted him to be an apparition of his own imagining. But, he spoke, and it was his voice; he took the prisoner's hand, and it was his real grasp.
"Of all the people upon earth, you least expected to see me?" be said.
"I could not believe it to be you. I can scarcely believe it now. You are not" -- the apprehension came suddenly into his mind -- "a prisoner?"
"No. I am accidentally possessed of a power over one of the keepers here, and in virtue of it I stand before you. I come from her -- your wife, dear Darnay."
The prisoner wrung his hand.
"I bring you a request from her."
"What is it?"
"A most earnest, pressing, and emphatic entreaty, addressed to you in the most pathetic tones of the voice so dear to you, that you well remember."
The prisoner turned his face partly aside.
"You have no time to ask me why I bring it, or what it means; I have no time to tell you. You must comply with it -- take off those boots you wear, and draw on these of mine."
There was a chair against the wall of the cell, behind the prisoner. Carton, pressing forward, had already, with the speed of lightning, got him down into it, and stood over him, barefoot.
"Draw on these boots of mine. Put your hands to them; put your will to them. Quick!"
"Carton, there is no escaping from this place; it never can be done. You will only die with me. It is madness."
"It would be madness if I asked you to escape; but do I? When I ask you to pass out at that door, tell me it is madness and remain here. Change that cravat for this of mine, that coat for this of mine. While you do it, let me take this ribbon from your hair, and shake out your hair like this of mine!"
With wonderful quickness, and with a strength both of will and action, that appeared quite supernatural, he forced all these changes upon him. The prisoner was like a young child in his hands.
"Carton! Dear Carton! It is madness. It cannot be accomplished, it never can be done, it has been attempted, and has always failed. I implore you not to add your death to the bitterness of mine." (Pg. 353-355)
Our noble man arrives in the cell of the accused, and proceeds to start his plan despite the pleas of the accused.
She goes next before him -- is gone; the knitting-women count Twenty-Two.
"I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
The murmuring of many voices, the upturning of many faces, the pressing on of many footsteps in the outskirts of the crowd, so that it swells forward in a mass, like one great heave of water, all flashes away. Twenty-Three. (378-379)
And with that the noble man has done his last deed and not only finishes his theme but also the story.
These last few passages have been almost melancholy, but sure. They explain that one man could care enough to give his life for that of another- to keep the others family together. This really hit me, to realize, that even though they are few, there are people that care enough of others during times of need, to do whatever it takes to help them. Over all I really enjoyed this novel, and once I reached the conclusion of this theme it really wrapped up the book for me.
The novel that I read was “A Tale of Two Cities,” this novel was set in the French Revolution time period. It tells of the many hardships that were encountered by one family trying to stay together. The theme that I decided to address is about how the noble act of one man can keep a family together. This first passage tells of how a father is torn from his family once again after just being saved.
As he said the word, a blow was struck upon the door.
"Oh father, father. What can this be! Hide Charles. Save him!"
"My child," said the Doctor, rising, and laying his hand upon her shoulder, "I have saved him. What weakness is this, my dear! Let me go to the door."
He took the lamp in his hand, crossed the two intervening outer rooms, and opened it. A rude clattering of feet over the floor, and four rough men in red caps, armed with sabres and pistols, entered the room.
"The Citizen Evrémonde, called Darnay," said the first.
"Who seeks him?" answered Darnay.
"I seek him. We seek him. I know you, Evrémonde; I saw you before the Tribunal to-day. You are again the prisoner of the Republic."
The four surrounded him, where he stood with his wife and child clinging to him.
"Tell me how and why am I again a prisoner?"
"It is enough that you return straight to the Conciergerie, and will know to-morrow. You are summoned for to-morrow." (Pg. 296- 297)
This passage is developed further by this next one, which tells of our noble man acquiring a promise to see the accused before he is to die from a guard.
“Sydney Carton and the spy returned from the dark room. "Adieu, Mr. Barsad," said the former; "our arrangement thus made, you have nothing to fear from me.')
He sat down in a chair on the hearth, over against Mr. Lorry. When they were alone, Mr. Lorry asked him what he had done?
"Not much. If it should go ill with the prisoner, I have ensured access to him, once."
Mr. Lorry's countenance fell.
"It is all I could do," said Carton. "To propose too much, would be to put this man's head under the axe, and, as he himself said, nothing worse could happen to him if he were denounced. It was obviously the weakness of the position. There is no help for it."
"But access to him," said Mr. Lorry, "if it should go ill before the Tribunal, will not save him."
"I never said it would."
Mr. Lorry's eyes gradually sought the fire; his sympathy with his darling, and the heavy disappointment of his second arrest, gradually weakened them; he was an old man now, overborne with anxiety of late, and his tears fell.” (Pg. 312-313)
In the beginning of the previous passage two men walk out of the room, and one leaves. The plan of the others is then uncovered, and our noble man, Mr. Sydney Carton, is revealed. We discover that he is willing to give is life for that of the husband of the girl he loved. Our theme is finally resolved in this final passage.
“Footsteps in the stone passage outside the door. He stopped.
The key was put in the lock, and turned. Before the door was opened, or as it opened, a man said in a low voice, in English: "He has never seen me here; I have kept out of his way. Go you in alone; I wait near. Lose no time!"
The door was quickly opened and closed, and there stood before him face to face, quiet, intent upon him, with the light of a smile on his features, and a cautionary finger on his lip, Sydney Carton.
There was something so bright and remarkable in his look, that, for the first moment, the prisoner misdoubted him to be an apparition of his own imagining. But, he spoke, and it was his voice; he took the prisoner's hand, and it was his real grasp.
"Of all the people upon earth, you least expected to see me?" be said.
"I could not believe it to be you. I can scarcely believe it now. You are not" -- the apprehension came suddenly into his mind -- "a prisoner?"
"No. I am accidentally possessed of a power over one of the keepers here, and in virtue of it I stand before you. I come from her -- your wife, dear Darnay."
The prisoner wrung his hand.
"I bring you a request from her."
"What is it?"
"A most earnest, pressing, and emphatic entreaty, addressed to you in the most pathetic tones of the voice so dear to you, that you well remember."
The prisoner turned his face partly aside.
"You have no time to ask me why I bring it, or what it means; I have no time to tell you. You must comply with it -- take off those boots you wear, and draw on these of mine."
There was a chair against the wall of the cell, behind the prisoner. Carton, pressing forward, had already, with the speed of lightning, got him down into it, and stood over him, barefoot.
"Draw on these boots of mine. Put your hands to them; put your will to them. Quick!"
"Carton, there is no escaping from this place; it never can be done. You will only die with me. It is madness."
"It would be madness if I asked you to escape; but do I? When I ask you to pass out at that door, tell me it is madness and remain here. Change that cravat for this of mine, that coat for this of mine. While you do it, let me take this ribbon from your hair, and shake out your hair like this of mine!"
With wonderful quickness, and with a strength both of will and action, that appeared quite supernatural, he forced all these changes upon him. The prisoner was like a young child in his hands.
"Carton! Dear Carton! It is madness. It cannot be accomplished, it never can be done, it has been attempted, and has always failed. I implore you not to add your death to the bitterness of mine." (Pg. 353-355)
Our noble man arrives in the cell of the accused, and proceeds to start his plan despite the pleas of the accused.
She goes next before him -- is gone; the knitting-women count Twenty-Two.
"I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
The murmuring of many voices, the upturning of many faces, the pressing on of many footsteps in the outskirts of the crowd, so that it swells forward in a mass, like one great heave of water, all flashes away. Twenty-Three. (378-379)
And with that the noble man has done his last deed and not only finishes his theme but also the story.
These last few passages have been almost melancholy, but sure. They explain that one man could care enough to give his life for that of another- to keep the others family together. This really hit me, to realize, that even though they are few, there are people that care enough of others during times of need, to do whatever it takes to help them. Over all I really enjoyed this novel, and once I reached the conclusion of this theme it really wrapped up the book for me.
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