Levels of Literature

For my blog on the "five levels of reading", I have chosen to use J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. Since the novel contains literal, emotional, moral, symbolic, and hyperbolic meanings, it seems like the appropriate choice for this assignment. Also, it's an amazing novel.

The first meaning of the novel, the literal meaning, is that it centres around a young man named Holden Caulfield, and his frequent struggles and problems with society. Throughout the novel, the reader witnesses a disheveled Holden, who leaves his prestigious school to live in New York City. After troublesome experiences and one unsavory encounter after another, Holden realizes what it is that he is actually looking for in his life. Therefore, the literal meaning of Catcher in the Rye is that it is a novel about Holden Caulfield and his soul-searching adventures in New York City.

The emotional level stems from the reader having to choose sides in the novel. The person either becomes emotionally drawn to the character of Holden, as they are able to understand or relate to the problems that he describes, or they see Holden as an extremely pessimistic specimen, and they will be utterly annoyed by his lectures on the human race. As people will either become emotionally attached to the character of Holden, or they will be emotionally disturbed by him, this can be seen as the emotional level of Catcher in the Rye.

A moral level of Catcher in the Rye can be taken from the ending of the novel. After going through all of his experiences, Holden Caulfield warns the reader at the end of the novel that "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.". By Holden stating a direct lesson and supporting it with his personal account, Holden enforces a moral that he wishes his readers to learn.

A symbolic level that can be extrapalated from Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield. Many well-known critics, authors and casual readers have symbolized Holden as a figure of teenage angst. His actions and thoughts reflect typical teenage views and their feelings of "not belonging" in the world. Many teenagers think in a similar fashion (although maybe not as extreme) while growing up, as the pressures of the adult reality finally start to hit them, and thus, Holden can be seen as a reflection of the teenage generations and a symbolic representation of them.

A hyperbolic level that could be extracted out of Catcher in the Rye are the people that Holden encounters during his time in New York City. All of the people he encounters are described to be displaying common themes that occur in every day society. From the girls at the bar's extreme fascination with the "rich and famous" (star-gazing, celebrity gossip, celebrity worship), to the way that characters act at the bar in New York, all of these portrayals are satire of the way that the majority of the human race acts in those situations. Thus, a hyperbolic level can be gained by examining the actions and manners of the people that Holden encounters.

Life in the Hood

My life is one filled with miserable experiences and uncomfortable circumstances. I don't know what it is, but the majority of people that I run into judge me without ever getting to know me. I mean well, and I just wish that people would take the chance to get to know me. They wouldn't judge a book by their cover, so why am I judged in a similar fashion? Perhaps, it's some of the people with whom I associate? Maybe that is my downfall.

An ordinary day in my life starts with getting picked up off the floor where I had been unceremoniously thrown the night before. I guess this treatment reflects the majority of my associate's lack of respect for normal customs. I then make my way down the stairs towards the breakfast table, getting a piggy back ride along the way. I tend to hang off my associates. I hope that this doesn't bother them. Breakfast usually consists of my associates eating a bowl of cereal and some sugary juice. If I'm lucky, I might get a splash of milk to consume from when my associates neglected to be careful while pouring it into their cereal.

Following breakfast, my associates and I begin to make our way towards his school. It is at this point that I begin to see the whole world in a better view. It is as if I had been upside down all morning, and had finally been flipped up to see the world in a clearer perspective. Along our way, my associates run into some of their companions, who are also accompanied by members of my species. We come in all sorts of colours and types. Some are red. Some are blue. Some are white. Some are black. Some have a big hole in their stomach. Some have stitches up their middle. Despite our differences, I think that we all share a common feeling of neglect and unfair judgement against us.

I then spend most of my time in hiding, along with my associates. They tend to not spend much time actually at school and spend most of their time huddled out in the cold at the back of the school. It's alright, though. They say some interesting things. However, I do wish that they would stop lighting that stinky plant on fire beneath the brim of my nose and stop pulling on me while they wrestle and fight.

At home, after a day at school, my associates and I have a nice hearty meal. My meal usually consists of fallen noodles, splashes of tomato sauce and drips of soft drink. Yum! Following dinner, I usually have to take a bath, as I reek of that stinky plant and my associates decide it is a good idea to wipe their food covered hands all over me following their meal. Oh well, after my bath I can curl up on a cozy, warm couch with my associates. It's a nice time to relax before I am neglectfully thrust upon the floor once again.

The Encounter

My name is Dylan Godfrey and I am in grade 12 at Orchard Park Secondary School. I can probably be described as an average person. I enjoy not having homework, relaxing and complaining about my dull and boring life at school. I live in an average house, with an average family, with an average life. Nothing out of the ordinary really happens to me, except for the occasional dentist visit or family vacation. With all of this "averageness" surrounding me, you would never guess what happened to me the other day.

You see, I was minding my own business, returning from a trip to the grocery. I had set out early that morning to retrieve some artichokes for my Grand-mama, and I was eager to return from my voyage and see the look on her face when she gazed at the marvelous artichokes I had discovered. "These are the most wonderful artichokes!", I imagined her saying, and indeed they were the most extravagent artichokes I ever stumbled upon.

I rounded the corner of my street. I was in the straight away, the home stretch! I could see my Grand-mama's white, shrunken cottage in my sight. However, in an instant I found myself on the seat of my pants, covered in mud, the artichokes in a puddle of filthy brown water a few meters away. "They're ruined! The most perfect artichokes to ever exist!". I was in total shock, what had run into me with such force to knock me flat on my behind? With such strength to make the artichokes fly into space! I gazed at my new enemy, and to my surprise I was watching a giant cat pick himself up off of the ground after the horrific accident.

"Waho! Thorry about that!" my giant feline foe stated. He seemed to speak in some sort of catty dialect, and so I had to translate some of the words he said. 'Thorry' means 'Sorry' in cat, and I will make sure I properly clarify the translation of some of the harder words that exist in the language.

"You ruined my artichokes! They were perfect! Grand-mama was going to be so happy!" I yelled at him. My anger was starting to increase. "This damn cat bastard," I thought to myself.

"What can I do to thelp you meowout?" he asked. Perhaps he had some good intentions.

"Well, you could start by getting me some new artichokes you giant oaf!"

"I'd love to thelp you meowout friend, however, I am a cat! I cannot go into a grocery store!" Indeed, that was a problem.

"Well, perhaps you could give me some money, so that I can get some new artichokes for my Grand-mama!" I suggested. I thought that was a good solution.

"Hehehe, well you see, buddy, I am a cat, I do not have any money!" he said with a grin. Indeed, again, that was also a problem. "Is there thome other way that I could thelp you meowout?"

"Well I don't know! In all honestly, Mr. Cat..."

"Please pal, my name is Frederick!..."

"In all honestly, Frederick, I just wish that you had never run into me! I have so many things to do these days and you running into me is just a giant pain in my butt!" I was so upset, angry, frustrated, all of those words that describe a negative mood. The stupid cat was being no help at all. Yes, I realize he was a cat, and life is a lot more difficult for a cat. I couldn't imagine how difficult it must be to not be able to go grocery shopping and have no money! However, he still should have watched where he was going. Don't cats have amazing eyesight? Shouldn't he have been paying attention?

"Well fella', as much as I feel bad for you, I thtill think that you thould have been watching where you were going!" he remarked. That did it, that cat pushed me over the edge. The frustration of my lost artichokes, my busy and stressful life and my unusual circumstance had all accumulated to the point of explosion. The cat was in for it!

I ran towards a small field, conveniently located right beside my place of encounter with the giant cat, and began searching. I knew what I needed to get rid of my stress. The cat needed to suffer. I needed something and that something was catnip, and I was going to find it.

"What tha doin guy?" the cat inquired. I didn't respond.

I kept searching, pulling up roots, rummaging through bushes and picking through shrubs to locate the magical plant. After a few minutes of scavenging, I located my target, a magnificent stock of leafy greenness known as catnip. I grabbed it, brought it back to the scene of the crime and threw it right in front of the cat!

"Where'd you find that, chum? Why don't you pick it up, before..." he stopped talking. He knew I had exposed his cat weakness. Although cats appear to be cool, calm and collected, their major weakness is catnip. It has the ability to drive a cat to the point of insanity, an hallucinogenic state that they have almost no control over!

"I've had it with you, cat! You've pulled my last straw, tranced all over my last nerve and pushed my buttons for the last time," I informed him. All I had to do was stand and wait. A cat can't resist their most desired treat. He was doomed.

After a minute or so of our stand off, he began to become curious and fascinated with the catnip. He began by eyeballing in a manner that an obese child eyeballs double fudge chocolate ice cream, followed by slight pokes, increasing in frequency and tempo as the amount increased. I had him. I had tricked the cat.

He began prancing around like a lunatic! Jumping, bouncing, hopping and bounding all across the street! The catnip had worked and it was time for phase two of my plan. I ran over to the catnip I had picked and ran over to the fence that was located right beside us. I had heard the family of the house outside during my confrontation with the cat and because of this, I had the perfect solution to dispose of my feline woes. With my mightiest of strength, I hurled the bushel of catnip over the fence and it landed with a hearty 'thud'. The cat looked at me, I looked back. He looked at me again, I kept looking back. Eventually, his cravings overcame his sense of judgement, and with one giant leap, the cat hurdled the fence and was in the neighbour's yard. At that moment I knew that my plan had worked, as shrieks of fear rose above the fence. I knew that in a matter of minutes, they would be calling the SPCA to remove the giant euphoric cat from their yard.

I wandered back to my Grand-mama's house to tell her the tale of my trip to the grocery store and my encounter with the giant cat. I hoped that she wouldn't be mad that I no longer had any artichokes for her. After I had told her my tale, she was not upset with me in the least and she gave me a crisp five dollar bill to go and buy some new artichokes. You're probably saying to yourself, "Shouldn't you have been worried to go back to the grocery store? You do remember what happened last time, right?". However, after an experience like that, I now know that I can live my life without worry or fear, because if you know how to deal with a giant cat, you know how to deal with any problem life throws at you!

The Velociraptor at Night

You would never have guessed what happen with my friend David. The other day he wrote something really nice on my homework. However, I was not in the mood to write something nice back to David, and so I yelled, "David! I am so upset with you!", to which David responded, "Have you heard about the story of the Velociraptor at Night?". I was very intrigued to learn more about this Velociraptor at Night and the possibilities of his adventures were ringing in my head.


David started telling me that the Velociraptor at Night was from the Czech Republic and immigrated to the United States after seeing a photograph of John Travolta. He wanted to become John Travolta's best friend and so he took up a job working in a photography lab. Unfortunately, the Velociraptor at night is not very smart and did not realize the giant flaw in his plan. Thus, the Velociraptor at Night spent 47 years working behind the scenes of the photography lab developing pictures. One day, to his great excitement, the Velociraptor at Night discovered a picture of John Travolta and his family that he had been developing. So, the Velociraptor at Night grabbed his iPod and went to the location that John Travolta and his family were pictured at: A and W's.

The Velociraptor at Night spent 28 years sitting and waiting at the A and W's for John Travolta until he noticed a new sign at the A and W's. The sign said that "Velociraptors at Night are no longer permitted to sit and wait at A and W's for John Travolta", and so, the Velociraptor at Night had to wait outside, hopefully being able to catch John Travolta before he went inside the A and W's. Unexpectedly, the Velociraptor at Night became aggressive with a cleaning boy when the boy said that the Velociraptor at Night could not even wait outside the A and W's and it decided to take action against the A and W's.

He brought his story to Molly Ringwald and she and the Velociraptor at Night began protesting against the A and W's. They wore blue t-shirts because they determined that that was the best way to protest A and W's. Eventually, the Manager of the A and W's told the Velociraptor at Night and Molly Ringwald to stop wearing blue shirts because it was offensive to his heritage.

Following the Manager's announcement, Molly Ringwald and the Velociraptor at Night left the A and W's and began to plan a new course of action. They decided to play Scrabble for 5 days straight to gain inspiration. However, due to the Velociraptor at Night's inability to pick up Scrabble pieces, the plan failed. Following the Scrabble, Molly Ringwald and the Velociraptor went and bought some new spiffy shoes to at least look respectful while they protested, despite their lack of plan. Suddenly, a representative of McDonald's recognized the Velociraptor at Night and Molly Ringwald from their earlier protests and helped them destroy the A and W's reputation by claiming that A and W's was the reason for spontaneous combustion.

Following the story, David said to me "... and I swear to you, that is exactly how it all went down."

Digesting Literature

Eating books? I don't recall a time that I've ever contemplated consuming a book, nor do I think that I would be capable of accomplishing such a feat. However, since my present circumstances are allowing me to explore the possibilities of a book digesting scenario, I might as well go and adventure. This task could become rather interesting since I would much rather indulge myself with a steak dinner or with some chicken wings. Personally, I find the nutritional value of books to be questionable at best.

1) To start off my book consuming experience, I will start with an appetizer. This appetizer will come in the form of Art in Miniature by Margaret Hicks. Appetizers are not necessarily meant to fill you up, but are meant to get you excited about eating your meal. Since Art in Miniature is intended to be published in "miniature book" form, it serves as the perfect appetizer specimen. Additionally, my interest in Art will draw me even deeper into the book, making me even more excited to begin my digestive adventure.

2) Being an avid eater, I will undoubtably want more appetizers. I will follow up my first appetizer with a novel called Life of Pi by Yann Martel. This novel is a tale of a boy that is lost at sea, facing surreal everyday events and challenges that he must overcome in order to survive. Personally, I wouldn't be able to last as long as Pi on a lifeboat. While his survival instincts and innovations are beyond compare, my skills are primitive and limited as I would most likely curl up into a ball and hope for rescue instead. Thus, I would hope to obtain his life preserving skills by ingesting this novel, making it the healthiest thing I would ever eat.

3) My main course would consist of consuming an edition of Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. After consuming such a vast quantity of knowledge and information, not only would I be rather full, but I would undoubtably be the most informative person on the planet. There wouldn't be any possible way to deny my intellectual status. I just swallowed a 29 volume collection of knowledge, written by some of the greatest minds that have ever inhabited the earth.

4) It seems that after a meal, most people tend to have a Coffee in order to add a more awake, hyper, dare I say "crazy", element. In order to obtain my "crazy", I will sip some One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. This novel tells the tale of the patients and events that unfold in a psychiatric hospital. After consuming the novel, I am certain that I would be diagnosed with Pica, a disorder whose sufferers consume random objects such as watches, spoons, and batteries. I would fit in well with the other patients, and thus I would look at this situation as an opportunity to make new friends. Yes, they may be certifiably "insane", but hey, who said being popular is easy? I guess Coffee truly is a social beverage!

5) After dinner, I would finish off my eating experience with a handful of Arthur's Halloween by Marc Brown. It's short and sweet and just what you need after consuming a substantial meal as I had just done. Dessert is meant to round out the eating process, and I believe that Arthur's Halloween is not only a fulfilling short story, but can also satisfy your sweet-tooth's cravings as well!

I never thought I'd live to see the day that I would think about eating a book. I guess stranger things have happened before! *bing* Dinner's done! I have to go eat now! What's on the menu? Tonight I am having a healthy serving of Harry Potter along with a stir fry of Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, and to Kill a Mockingbird. Oh no, what's happening to me!

My Writing Preferences

I Enjoy Writing...

1) Scripts
2) Songs
3) Notes For Myself
4) Good Ideas For Things
5) Story Ideas
6) On Facebook
7) To Guitar Companies
8) To Satisfy My Creative Side/Needs
9) Lists
10) On Birthday Cards
11) Letters From Camp
12) Whatever Comes Into My Mind

I Enjoy Writing About...

13) Music
14) The Toronto Maple Leafs
15) The Toronto Blue Jays
16) The New York Yankees
17) Life
18) Movies I've Watched
19) Funny Television Shows
20) The Antics of Others
21) The Oddities of Everyday Life
22) What I Would Like to Accomplish
23) Camp Kitchikewana
24) Working at Wild Water Works
25) Whatever Comes Up

Back on Blogger... Who Would Have Thought?

A hardy "hello" to the world of Blogger! I never thought that I'd see the day that I would have to come back to this site, and I don't know if I am happy or sad about my situation.

My name is Dylan and I am a grade 12 student. I am currently interested in going into the Music and English streams following my academic career. I feel that my creative mind will serve me well in both fields, and hopefully I will find some success. I enjoy playing music. My instruments include, Bass and Guitar, Trumpet, and some drums and keyboards. I also enjoy watching comedy programs on television. However, sometimes this proves annoying as I end up analyzing the shows as I watch them. Oh well, I guess it's not the worst habit to have.

Since this is a course focused on Writing, I deem it appropriate to discuss my Writing interests. I enjoy writing scripts for videos (ones that end up on Youtube), songs, and I don't mind writing down my ideas for stories and novels. Although I am too busy these days to take my ideas more seriously, I hope that I can write literature and music more often in the future, perhaps making a career out of my art.