Murder and The Shining

Dear Reader,
      In this post, I will talk about murder and how it relates to The Shining.  I chose the theme of murder because it is hidden throughout the entire book.  For example, Danny (one of the main characters), has psychic visions about the word 'redrum' while staying in the Overlook Hotel.  However, it is later revealed that he was seeing it through a mirror, and the word was really 'murder'.  As you read The Shining, the references to this theme become more and more frequent.  The parts of the book that aren't about murder, tend to be foreshadowing for the parts that do involve it.  Without the theme of murder, this book would be about absolutely nothing.  I hope you enjoy my project.
       -Bailey

"Once that you've decided on a killing
First you make a stone of your heart"

The Torrance Family

"And if you find that your hands are still willing
Then you can turn a murder into art"

"Because murder is like anything you take to
It's a habit-forming need for more and more"



"You can bump off every member of your family
And anybody else you find a bore"

      The first genre that I chose was a character sketch of the three main characters; Wendy, Danny, and Jack.  I did this because there were only a few characters in the book to begin with, which helped add on to their feeling of isolationism.  I wanted to show how few important roles there were in the book, and how I imagined those people.

      My second genre was a postcard that I made.  I decided on this because I wanted to give the reader an idea of what the plot may be about.  I also wanted to, again, add on to the feeling of isolation throughout the book, by showing the setting that this all took place in.

      The final genre that I chose was a wanted poster, featuring Jack Torrance.  Although he was unsuccessful with murdering his family, I thought it would be pretty important to get him behind bars before he tried again.

Works Cited:

"jack-torrance-2." The Tentative Apologist. Web. 26 Mar 2011. <http://blogs.christianpost.com/tentativeapologist/2010/10/im-gonna-bash-your-brains-in-the-shining-and-the-psalms-14/>.

The Police.  "Murder By Numbers".  Synchronicity.  1983.

My Greatest Achievement

What I consider to be one of my greatest achievements, was probably my participation in the colorguard team.  The reasoning for this was because I never wanted to join in the first place, but was eventually convinced to audition with my friend.  I didn't even know what colorguard WAS when I auditioned- that's how much I wanted it.  However, they were desperate, and if they didn't put me on the team, it was going to be cut from the school.  So, I made it.  After that, every day for the next 5 months was spent doing hours upon hours of various training excercises.  I gave up half of my summer to go to band camp- which, believe it or not -was grueling.
By our first performance, I was still terrible, as compared to the rest of the girls.  In fact, I was so bad that they made me sit out for a couple of songs.  Ouch. 
The last game that we ever performed at, we did our routines for Fame and Hawaii 5-Oh.  Looking back at our season, they were definately our hardest songs.  After being out on the field, I felt like I did a terrible job, like I usually did.  But, then we watched a recording from our first performance, and I saw how much I really had improved.
Now, despite how lazy and clumsy as I used to be, I am just as equally good as all of the other girls who have been doing this for years...and that's why it's one of my biggest achievements. :)