WizardsFirst Rule -Essay Topics

We have to write an essay on a theme for our ISU novel and when searching for one I found a couple possible themes and topics. The one I'm focusing on right now for being my essay topic is "any boundary can be overcome if you put your mind to it". If you have read Wizards first rule then you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you have not, let me explain briefly. In this book Richard, The Seeker of Truth, is put up against uncountable odds and impossible challenges. This only motivates him more. Just when you think that the story is going to end right then and there and Richard is going to die he does the unimaginable! In the beginning you read about a magical barrier separating Westland from the Midlands. It is made of underworld so if you go near it you could be sucked into the underworld for all eternity. Richard is faced with the task of getting through it. Kahlan had already gone through the barrier. But she had seven Wizards give their lives and their life energy to get her through without being killed. Richard only has one wizard and he needs him for after they get through the barrier. He's left with no where to go. Then he remembers Zedd saying that George Cypher had been through the veil( barrier) to receive the Book of Counted Shadows... so Richard realizes that not only did he cross once..but twice! Once to get there and another to get back. Reasoning sets in and Richard declares there is a trail leading through the barrier somewhere. They do some research and find out the barrier is weakest at a place called Kings Port. They successfully make it through the barrier but not before running into heart hounds and other dangers. Wonder what heart hounds are? Well I guess you will have to read the book then. :P
This is only one example and a physical one at that. Richard is faced with many mental and emotional barriers as well. From having to not care for Kahlan because her power will consume him if he does, to killing people. This story is filled with life messages and I found a couple others that I might touch on in my Essay. Like, Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. ( I know this is cliched! I'm working on changing it...don't harass me for it) This allows Richard to kill Darken Rahl and save the world from his evil ways. Or, pay heed to your friends because you never know when you are going to need them. Chase saves Richards behind a few times in this book and in one specific case risks his own life to save Richard from the heart hounds. This book is not only a fantastic fantasy action novel but a book with messages to be heard. I hope I brought up some things for you to think about!

The Lottery Ticket- Another short story

In class we read the short story "The Lottery Ticket". this story did not catch my eye. When I read it I never really got into it. There wasn't apart that grabbed my attention and kept me reading, I found myself being bored. Also, parts of it were really confusing, I re-read them and still didn't get it. The dialog, I thought, could be improved to make more sence. This story wasn't my favorite... but I'm sure there are better ones to come.

The Cask of Amontillado

In class we read the chilling tale of The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allen Poe. Without reading the short story you can tell what kind of genre and atmosphere are contained in the story by simply looking at the authors name. Edgar always wrote in the horror genre using creepy and gloomy atmospheres to emphasise the events of the story and give the reader goosebumps. An example would be in the Cask of Amontillado when he takes Fortunato down to the catacmobs(graveyard under a house/palace) and tricks a drunk Fortunato into climbing in to a wall. (A.K.A Fortunato's tomb)Montressor locked him in and sealed the doorway with bricks! how much more creepy deos it get!

Even though the story was written back in the early 1800's, it still gives me the creeps, but in a good way. Edgar Allen Poe was a writer that caught my attention on grade 8 when my teacher read to us The Raven. The Raven is such a powerful poem, his writing technique threw me off guard, giving the raven a voice that slowly drove the man insane, and really gave me goosebumps, and interest. After I heard that story I asked him if I could borrow the book he was reading from to read for myself, that piqued my interest in Edgar and all of his works. I've never heard of The cask of Amontillado because when I did my research for various projects I was always searching his poems, not short stories. Now I have a whole new field to look up and I'm looking forward to reading many many more of his works.

(The picture at the top is of Montressor (left) sealing Fortunato(right) into his tomb for all of eternity)

Wizards First Rule- Darken Rahl ( Caution :SPOILER!!)

In my last post I said I would be talking about the villain in Wizards First Rule. Darken Rahl. He is a character that will be stuck into your head for a very long time. The way his description is laid out for you in the book is creative and effective. Richard has been talking to Kahlan and has found out all of the horrible things that Darken Rahl has done to people. For example, he learns information about the people by cutting their stomach open and reading the entrails. Coincidentally that was how George Cypher was found, dead, with his insides spilt all over the floor. Richard has been searching for the man who killed his father since he died and now he knows who it is. Logically he asks Kahlan his name. She replied... Darken Rahl.

Richard is determined to search out and find this horrible man. He starts by learning as much as he can about him. He learns that he is the master of the land D'Hara. He can use both additive and subtractive magic. He is a tyrant to his people, and most importantly. He wants to kill Richard.

His description portrays him as a snake like character, but with charm. He has long white hair that's straighter than an arrow, hes tall and muscular, but with a lean build. His features are flawless except for a scar he has running form his middle down past his groin and down his leg. that scar was caused by the First Wizard...Zedd. During the war, Zedd was putting up the barrier when Darken Rahl's father, Panis Rahl, tried to stop him. Zedd sent Wizards fire through the barrier and it engulfed Panis. alternately Darken was with Panis when he tried to stop Zedd. A splash of Wizards Fire caught darken at the hip and it ran down his leg. Creating the scar he has today.

Darken Rahl wanted nothing more than to rule the world. He doesn't use armies or bombs, but he uses magic. The magic of the Box's or Orden. These boxes will give the person who opens it supreme power and enough power to control all the lands. To do this though, he needs to know the instructions. For if he opens the wrong box, he will die. These instructions were in an ancient book that was stolen from the Wizards keep long ago and has been lost for many a century. This book is The Book of Counted Shadows . Darken Rahl has figured out that George Cypher had stolen the book and has it in Westland. He went there and when George wouldn't talk, he killed him and read his entrails so he could find out the instructions. His entrails told him that Richard knew the book.

Darken Rahl obtained all three boxes and had lured Richard to his palace. Richard using the Wizards First rule ,"people will believe anything they want to believe is true",tricked Darken Rahl into believing that the box he told him to open was the correct box. As soon as the torrent of sand that was engulfing Darken Rahl started to increase, Richard ran after Kahlan who had left in the midst of things. The room was empty except for Darken Rahl being taken into the underworld and Zedd. Darken Rahl looked down and screamed "WHO IS THAT BOY! HOW COULD HE HAVE DONE THIS!!!" . Zedd simply replied...

**CAUTION IF YOU DO NOT WANT THIS BOOK TO BE RUINED BEYOND BELIEF DO NOT READ THE NEXT THING I AM ABOUT TO WRITE! This was the point in the book where I set it down and said wooooooooooooow...and then re-read the part because it was sooo EPIC!**

Zedd simply replied... he is your son, the son of my daughter, which you raped. Darken Rahl just stared back as he was engulfed by the underworld.

NOW....that you are informed on this fact that changes the whole story line. I'd like to hear what you have to say about Darken Rahl. What do you think of him? I personally think he is the most horrid man I have ever read about. He rapes women because he can without consequence, he killed people for no apparent reason he's destroyed thousands upon thousands of peoples lives and he continued to do it right up until the end. But that's just my opinion. Lets hear yours