M.E.A.T. Blog

It is the year 1940 in the Algerian city of Oran, in the midst of a horrible outbreak of the plague. This is the setting for Albert Camus’s 1947 novel The Plague . (Before I get into what I have to say, it should be mentioned that this is not a true story, and the “plague” this story is referencing is likely based off of a previous cholera epidemic in the same city.) At the beginning of the novel, Camus tells a story of thousands of rats suddenly appearing dead in the streets of the town. At first, this is dismissed and nothing is seen of it. However, at the same time of the “random” deaths of rats, doctors around the town begin to notice a small surge of patients very quickly dying of an unknown disease. Obviously, the doctors notice that there is something very strange about these occurrences, and one makes the claim that the unknown disease must be the plague. This is confirmed by other doctors, and the public is informed that there is an imminent plague outbreak. Soon...

*Light spoilers* The two traveling companions stepped off the bus, headed toward the ranch where they were scheduled to start working. One was a short and sharp man, the brains of the duo. The other was a childlike giant, with muscle power as his only asset. They had been searching for jobs for a while, since their last fiasco at a former workplace. They were migrant workers, wandering around the California area looking for work. Times were tough, in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s, and their state of affairs was far from what one would hope. But they were different from the others; they had a dream that held them together, and a plan that gave them the strength to push forward.  “The best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry.” That line from Robert Burns’ poem To a Mouse was what inspired the title of John Steinbeck’s award-winning novel. Of Mice and Men is a pretty short book recounting the experiences of a pair of workers in the midst of a terrible econ...

          Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a freshman girl named Melinda Sordino, a complete outcast in her school because of an instance last summer when she had called the police at a party. However, no one knows the real reason behind her actions: at the party, she had been assaulted by a senior. The novel opens on the first day of school, and ends with the culmination and reveal of her secret.            Speak will appeal to a teenage audience with its vivid, keen descriptions of the gritty reality of high school life. Its passages are surprisingly accurate and skirt the line of cheesiness in a way very few young adult novels do.           Anderson uses art beautifully as Melinda’s coping mechanism, as an outlet for her pain and trauma. She shows how one individual, the art teacher, helped Melinda stand up and finally speak. Melinda’s journey is both poignant and hopeful, with the moment when she...