Kay Drew's Views

Hello everyone! I hope you're well. This quick post is to announce a contest! All you will have to do is answer the 3 questions below.  Please, post your answers as a comment and leave your name and email so I can contact you. The first 5 people with the correct answers will get a short story dedicated to them! 1. What is this blog site about? 2. What was my first  entry about? 3. Where are 2 places can you find me on the internet? *hint look in the links section* Entries start today, April 27, 2013. It will close on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Date subject to change or be extended! 

For better or worse, many are slaves to troubles and experiences, be it a job, bad romance, or illness. Sometimes, it’s important that these bonds are broken. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the idea of slavery and freedom is woven throughout. Many characters within the book are trapped in their own unusual troubles from which they are ultimately are freed. Jonathan Harker is unwittingly enslaved by his employer, Count Dracula. After arriving in Transylvania, Harker is forced to live within a few rooms of Dracula’s castle. During his month long stay, the Count persistently questions Harker about the inner-workings of English life. Ultimately, he uncovers Dracula’s true nature. Fearing for his life (and rightly so), he flees to a convent into yet another form of bondage. This time, it’s a slavery of the mind; Harker suffers a mental breakdown. True to his perseverant disposition, he eventually recovers, slays Dracula, and starts a family. Lucy, a friend of Harker, is also ensnare

The world can be a selfish place. Each country has its own beliefs and political system that is safeguarded. If a government feels their country, its traditions, and the general lifestyle (the way of life) is being threatened, war is declared. Furthermore, people often act to benefit themselves. From an early age, humans work to better themselves in attempts to gain something - be it wealth, items, protection, or sameness. The idea of protecting sameness fuels the monarchy in The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. Argaven, the monarch in the novel, is a being hell-bent on keeping his world at a slow and steady pace, where the normal speed limit is 25 MPH (Le Guin 37). He even shuns an alliance with a solar system 17 light years away; even though chances for war would be slim to none, while economic and educational growth would be bountiful. Is there a reason Argaven chose this path? As a patriot of the country, the King naturally wants to protect his world and its

Man’s need for a simple life was what HG Wells discussed in “The Star”. During his time, the Second Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Things changed rapidly as new inventions were produced. While some approved of the situation, Wells, among others, “lamented the momentous changes… to the landscape, social relations, and the very souls of England's people” (Koot par 4). To understand the situation, let’s remember the inventions from the late-1800’s (Ryan par 12). The telephone, electric light, and typewriter were developed during the 1870’s.   The first skyscrapers and elevators showed up in the 1880’s, while the phonograph, electric generator and internal combustion engine came in 1890’s. These inventions led to machines of travel. To the majority of Victorian Europeans, those things sound like wonderful innovations. This allowed for the freedom of exploration and independent living. However, that freedom brought the disintegration of village life. Previously,