VBISLIF

=**What is Truth?**=

**Prompt #5 (April 3): Truth in __Of Mice and Men__**
//Steinbeck's __Of Mice and Men__ explores themes of dreams, loneliness, equality and relationships that parallel many of the other texts we have read this year. Which theme do you think is most important? What is the "truth" about that theme revealed in the novel?//

I think the most important theme in __Of Mice and Men__ is dreams. Without dreams, people would have no motivation in life. There would be no purpose for living. Dreams give us a goal to strive for, and even if you don't make it all the way to that goal, you will still get far if you try. Having goals or dreams in life make us work harder. George and Lennie from __Of Mice and Men__ had a dream of owning their own house and living off the "fata' the land". If they did not have this dream, they would not have worked as hard to earn the money to buy them their own land. They wanted to reach their goal, so they traveled to different ranches looking for work that would buy them their own place. The "truth" about dreams is that they give us a purpose in life, even if our dreams are not always reached.

//Think about the different ways Dickens uses the idea of "expectations" in his novel. What is the truth about our expectations, either those we have for ourselves, those others have for us, or those we have for other people?//
 * Prompt #4 (March 30): Truth in __Great Expectations__**

Our expectations exceed what can actually occur, therefore, our expectations are never fully met. We always hope for larger things to happen than is possible. For example, Pip hopes to become a gentleman and to marry the beautiful Estella. In Great Expectations, only one of Pip's expectations are met. He does become a gentleman but he never wins the love of Estella.

//Reflect on our reading from __To Kill a Mockingbird__. We looked at issues of education, growing up, justice, fairness, and others. In our writing, we looked for connections between our personal experiences and those of the characters in the novels. What "truths" can be found in this book that relate to our world today?//
 * Prompt #3 (January 6): Truth in __To Kill a Mockingbird__**

There are many "truths" from __To Kill a Mockingbird__ that are present today, one of which being

//In our reading of William Golding's __Lord of the Flies__, we looked at issues of fear and evil, the "beast within." What can we learn and apply from Golding's work, either on a personal or societal level? What truths did you find in this novel or in our discussions about it?//
 * Prompt #2 (November 6): Truth in __Lord of the Flies__**

From William Golding's __Lord of the Flies__, we can learn about the "beast within". The beast, in literal sense, is a scary, evil, nonhuman creature. The boys on the island truely believe there is a beast: "We saw the beast-"(135). In the figurative sense, the beast is us. Humans create the beast and we make is what it is. We can choose to make the beast something that frightens us or something that we overcome. From Golding's work, we can learn that we must conquer the beast or it will tear us apart, like Jack. He became so corrupt with the idea of hunting the beast that he went crazy. "If there was a snake-thing (beast) we'd hunt and kill it..." (44). His obsessions eventually led him to destroy the island and kill innocent lives. Ralph conquored the beast. He knew there wasn't really a beastie so he choose not to believe in it. Ralph was one of the few left on the island that were sane. The main truth in this novel is that we must conquer the beast or be conquered.

//The general term “mythology” encompasses the stories that a culture creates to understand the truth of the world they live in and their place within it. From a personal standpoint, it is about understanding who we are and where we fit in our world experience. What is the "truth" of mythology as we have studied it? What truth have you learned from our investigations? What personal truths have been revealed to you?//
 * Prompt #1 (October 6): What is the “truth” of mythology?**

I know that mythology and the creatures in it aren't real, but people still believed the stories about them when they were told. We have studied the elements of mythology, many of which are real. Myths were created for the purpose of explaining things that people were scared about or didn't understand. Gods were created to explains natural disasters, like earthquakes (Poseidon), storms and lightning (Zeus), and war (Ares). People needed an excuse for what they didn't understand. They blamed the gods for many of their problems or thought that the gods were unhappy with them if something bad happened. If there happened to be a crop failure that year, people would give more sacrifices to the gods to try to earn their approval again. People would even go as far as to sacrifice people to these gods to that they could live another year with good luck. I think many of the things that happened back the was just because that's how the earth works. There are good times and bad times. When these so called gods, or mythical beings, answered the people's prayer it was just a coincidence.