Antithesis

Antithesis 
> a phrase using opposite or contrasting ideas.

The use of antithesis gives a sense of balance between two different ideas or elements.
A famous example is:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way"

I personally think that the best use of antithesis within this quote is "we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way" because the mention of 'the other way' ends the section on an unnerving feeling. Dickens never actually mentions 'hell' but instead implies of a darker version of heaven, this makes the reader question what they naturally think especially because heaven and 'the other way' are so opposite.

1950's Adverts.

This is an advert from the 1950's which is encouraging people to buy a new electric cooker. This is a really good example of gender stereotypes within the 1950's as it is directed towards women, who were seen as being domestic and the person within the household who would use the kitchen most. I can see that it is directed towards women because there is a woman who is almost in the center of the advert and it the biggest thing, its even bigger than what they are actually advertising! They have also used a 'feminine' color to show how they are wanting to appeal to women within families.









This is an example of a sexist advert for beer which in
the 1950's was mainly seen as a mans drink. It shows
the man in the foreground of the picture with the woman
behind him pouring his beer for him. It also shows the man
holding tools such as a hammer, this is presumably to create
an effect of hard working and dominance surrounding the
man whilst the woman is there to comfort his needs, which
includes getting him his drink. The use of the positioning
within the advert shows the male figure as being more important which was often how they were viewed in
households because they were thought to be the main bread
winner.

Reading Autobiography

New Reads

My Target for October will be to start reading a biography book. I usually read crime and drama books so it will be different to read something more lighthearted and factual compared to a fiction. For November I would like to start another series of books, as I really enjoy them but never read them much..Then in December, I would like to try to read an older novel since most of what I read has been written and published recently.

Least Favorite Book:

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House, Viking/ Penguin books, 1959

The Haunting of Hill House is regarded as being one of the best literary ghost stories published within the 20th century, however I personally didn't find it as gritty and unnerving as I thought I would. This is because whenever I have read a paranormal book before they have been quite intense and chilling, such as The Small Hand by Susan Hill. Surprisingly enough this book came across as a bit to timid and confusing. The paranormal occurrences weren't given in detail but were vaguely described and the focus was more on Eleanor's mental health. It was confusing because there were quite a few people involved and a paranormal book loses its chilling and scary edge when too many people are introduced because it takes away from the isolation that the reader can feel whilst reading this book. As much as I didn't like how the actual book was written, I did like where the author was going with the story line by showing an inhuman presence taking over somebody's mental state and almost completely changing them as a person. This is a very unnerving thought and personally I think that if the author went into more detail about the occurrences then I would've really enjoyed reading this book.

Favorite Book:

Adams, Richard, Watership Down, Rex Collings, 1972
One of my ultimate favorite books has to be Watership Down. It is simple yet incredible beautiful. You can really start to feel connected to the animals by the way Adams uses short and sweet sentences to deliver some more slightly negative news. The way the book itself is written is very beautiful however the story line becomes even more beautiful as it moves along. Through the use of such an innocent creature, the author makes you feel sympathy and hope for the animals and you find yourself holding your breath when they are put in dangerous situations. I read this book as a child and no matter how  old I am, I will always go back to reading this book because of the way you build a connection to the characters. As a child reading this book all I really understood was that some animals were in danger but as I have re-read it at an older age I started to see to more intricate details behind the book of protecting the creatures of the world.

Books I have read:

Wilson, Jacqueline, Hetty Feather, 2009

Wilson, Jacqueline, Cookie, 2003

Wilson, Jacqueline, The Lottie Project, 1997

Wilson, Jacqueline, Lola Rose, 2003

Wilson, Jacqueline, The Illustrated Mum, 1999

Collins, Suzanne, The  Hunger Games Series, Scholastic Press, 2008

Priestly, J.B, An Inspector Calls, 1945

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House, Viking/ Penguin books, 1959

Adams, Richard, Watership Down, Rex Collings, 1972

Shakespeare,William, Macbeth, Folio, 1623

Lee, Harper, To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1960

Steinbeck, John, Of Mice and Men, Covici, Friede, 1937

Dickens, Charles, A Christmas Carol, Chapman and Hall, 1843

Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, 1818