Theme Response Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring

The theme of the book The Lord of The Ring, Book One, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the challenge of being brave and having responsibility.  In the beginning, Bilbo disappears from his party and goes away, leaving everything to Frodo including his magical ring.  Gandalf told Frodo to keep the ring safe and instructed him to never put the ring on.   Many years later, Gandalf returns and tells Frodo that he must leave the Shire because of Bilbo’s magical ring that possessed a Great dark evil power.  In addition, Gandalf told Frodo to bring Sam (Frodo’s friend) with him in order to watch his back and help him.  Almost immediately after Frodo and Sam stated to leave the Shire, they were pursued by scary black riders.  The theme is responsibility and bravery because Frodo and Sam have to face their fears and protect the ring from falling into the wrong hands.

            In the book the theme of responsibility was expressed when Frodo followed Gandalf’s instructions to leave the Shire with Sam.  This emphasizes Frodo’s responsibility because he didn’t just say, “Not my problem” and walk away like nothing happened or was going to happen.  Also, it shows how responsible he was to do exactly what Gandalf instructed him to do by bringing Sam along to watch his back and help him. These examples show how Frodo and Sam were responsible and brave enough to leave the Shire.

            Frodo and Sam exhibit bravery even though they were frightened. Almost immediately after Frodo and Sam started to leave the Shire they were pursued by scary black riders.  “We have all been scared.” said Pippin another friend of Frodo who got dragged into the chase. Even though they were fearful of the black riders, Frodo and Sam didn’t just give up and go home.  Their perseverance shows their bravery.

The theme of the book is responsibility and bravery.  Frodo is responsible and does exactly what Gandalf instructs him to do.   Frodo is also brave enough to ignore his fear of being caught by dark riders and keep going on his mission.  Overall, Frodo is responsible and brave enough to leave the Shire and keep Bilbo’s ring out off the wrong hands.  

Blog Response

http://chrisdawsome1.blogspot.com/

I enjoyed reading this blog post because I liked how the summary was very detailed.  The summary helped me understand the biography on Steve Jobs. I was amazed that he got fired from Apple.  I also liked how Chris listed the movies Pixar made with Steve Jobs' computer and put in which one was his favorite.  I found it interesting that Steve Wozniak got his credit stolen by Steve Jobs.  I think Steve Wozniak didn't fight hard enough to get the credit he earned.

http://hhyti.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-great-gatsby.html

I enjoyed reading this blog post because now I really know what "the Great Gatsby" is all about.  I liked how the theme "money isn't everything" because money doesn't buy happiness or friendship and when you die money has no value.  I also liked how Justin put "spoiler alert" to tell the reader that he was about to ruin the book for people who are going to read it or are reading it now.  I find it interesting that Myrtle would stand in front of Tom's car to try and stop it instead of waving the car over to her on the side of the road.   

From Baghdad With Love

In the book From Baghdad, With Love by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman with Melinda Roth, the Lava Dogs saved a puppy’s life getting him out of Baghdad.  From the time the Lava Dogs see the puppy in the empty room, a bond between them start, especially for Lt. Kolman who at first follows General Order 1-A and won’t let the puppy get to close to him.  General Order 1-A states that no pets are allowed on base except military trained dogs like bomb dogs.  After thinking about it, Lt. Kolman and the Lava Dogs decide to take the dog anyway and name him Lava.  Slowly the Lava Dogs start to like having Lava around and decide to keep him and not put him out on the streets again.  After that, they cared so much about Lava that it was not an option to leave him in Baghdad when Lt. Kolman went back to the states.  

I thought Lt. Kolman and the Lava Dogs did the right thing by taking Lava back to the base and ignoring General Order 1-A because if they didn’t Lava would probably have been shot or blown up.  In addition, Lava could have starved to death because he is a puppy with almost no way of getting food.  Also, if the Lava dogs didn’t take Lava someone else probably would have found Lava in a building or on the street and would not have taken him with them because most people in Baghdad are afraid of dogs.  I think that Lt. Kolman must have loved Lava a lot because he saved Lava from going back out on the streets after he left by spending hours and hour’s arranging ways for Lava to go to the states.  But in the end, only one way worked.  Lt. Kolman and the Lava Dogs saved Lava’s life by taking him back to base and making sure he was fed and well taken care of, then sent him to the states where he would be safe.