Mini Zombie Survival Guide

What if the undead were surrounding you and all you have is a bat in your hand? If you were in this situation, you probably weren’t prepared. Max Brooks warns us to prepare, “ Before the dead rise, before the chaos and carnage begin” (66). Brooks wants us to prepare the home before it is too late. This guide will enlighten you on zombie facts, the necessary equipment, and how you can defend yourself.

The first thing to know to survive, are your zombies. A zombie suffers from a disorder causing many disadvantages. According to Bradley Voytek’s research, “The Walking dead suffered from a condition they called Consciousness Deficit Hypoactivity Disorder” (Voytek).  This CDHD causes many deficiencies, due to brain damage. According to Voytek’s research, we can take advantage of thier slow uncoordinated movements by running, their amnesia by hiding, and their Capgras delusions by mimicking them so they won’t attack you (Voytek). We also have to remember that the CDC will always be prepared to an outbreak. “It’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated,” assures the CDC (Khan). So we have to always keep calm and just wait it out. Always be positive, because the CDC will eventually stop and control the outbreak. Therefor, we must know what we are dealing with before we can prepare what we need.

             

Yes, you are obviously going to need supplies to survive a zombie outbreak. You’ll have to stock up on firearms and blades from long range to short range. Max Brooks gives us a reason why we should stay home, “In your home you have the luxury of storing and maintaining a plethora of weapons” (70). This is very clear on how you can store many weapons in your house, unlike when you are traveling. So it is clear that staying home is a wiser choice, as long as you are stockpiled on weapons. Besides weapons, the most important thing that have to be ready are your supplies and equipment. “Equipment is necessary for your maintenance,” says Brooks, “and perhaps even survival” (71). The supplies and equipment are necessary for surviving long periods of times without the aid of the living. Something that you could buy is an emergency kit, this includes only the essential supplies to survive up to three days. One can clearly deduce that you can’t survive without weapons, supplies, or equipment.

            

Last thing your going to be required to do is to survive the attacks. Something to minimize attacks is to maintain a low profile all the time. “For electricity, always resort to the manual generator,” argues Max Brooks (73). Always use a manual generator, because its not only quitter nut also its electricity is infinite, as long as it is working correctly. The only time to resort for a gas-powered generator is only when manually generated electricity cannot be made rapidly, for example a surprise attack. Something else that has to be done is to dispose of all dead bodies, human or zombie, to prevent health risks. “All bodies within your perimeter should be buried or burned,” explains Max Brooks (73). You should always burn bodies outside of your perimeter, to do this, according to Brooks, you can dump gasoline on it and light a match and drop it on the body (Brooks 73). Although this can attract more zombies, it will help you keep away from hazards. As you can see there are many ways to minimize zombie attacks.

            

You will always have to expect the unexpected. You will have to have smarts on zombies, have your supplies and weapons at hand, and be prepared to fight back. “If your house is not structurally ready for zombie attack, various measures can be employed to fortify it” (Brooks 66). As you can see we can be prepared for an outbreak, it is not impossible. You, I, America, the whole world has to be prepared, a zombie apocalypse is inevitable. 

           

                                

Literary Analysis #2

Dark Angel by David Klass

1. Seventeen year old Jeff thought he would never have to deal with his past again, but when his parents notify him that him that his brother is coming home his reputation in this small town on the Jersey shore was ruined. Jeff’s girlfriend’s parents don’t want Jeff to have anything to do with their daughter and his life at school is harder, because he doesn’t want anyone to know about his brother. His brother, Troy, was supposed to spend the rest of his life for murdering a kid, but his life sentence was overturned. When his brother returns he notices that he is not he says he is. Jeff knows that the cordialness is just an act. But when his soccer rival, Fraser, goes missing, Jeff has a feeling that Troy has something to do with it. Jeff is convinced that Troy is guilty and hasn’t changed, so he investigates Troy, what he finds Jeff could not be prepared for.

2. No one changes- Troy doesn’t change throughout his life even though he was supposed to be a “model of rehabilitation”.

3. I chose this book, because this is a realistic story. This book appealed to me because it felt like Jeff was telling me a story from his past.

4. The book is realistic because it is like a case of a murderer that was never found. The book feels like if Jeff went back to his past to tell the story.

5. The author’s tone is irritated. Jeff repeatedly believes that Troy can’t change by saying and thinking, “ Leopards don’t change their spots. Crab apple trees don’t suddenly grow cherries” (Klass 39). He also says irritated, “As a matter of fact, it’s a boring place” (Klass 41). He also gets very annoyed by Troy for example when they are talking Jeff asks him, “I mean, what do you want in Pineville?” (Klass 69).

6. Personification- Jeff says that winter hit the town, “Winter hit suddenly, with a hard one- two punch” (Klass 231).

Situational Irony- Charley Hu attack someone, but he is the calmest person in school the class president, ”In a flash he knocked Junior down and was on top of him, punching and kicking him” (Klass 86).

Dramatic Irony- The reader knows why Charley Hu is pissing Blue, but Charley was a mess due to his problem, “… Charley was just a shadow of the aggressive and confident left winger we were used to seeing” (Klass 75).

Allusion- Troy mentions Sun Tzu and Machiavelli who made a stupid mistake, “… want to read Sun Tzu and Machiavelli and learn from them the stupidity and pointlessness of picking a fight with an enemy who’s stronger than you are” (Klass 70).

Imagery- Jeff describes Troy, “… Troy had my dad’s thin, serious face, the same cleft chin, the same small mouth, the same sharp, intelligent gray eyes” (Klass 40).

Onomatopoeia- The author uses onomatopoeia in the book, “KA-CLANG, KA-CLANG” (Klass 50).

Sensory Details- He uses sensory details to help you understand the creature, “The creature had a human face, the body of a dragon, the wings of a bat, the feet of a pig, and along forked tail” (Klass 186).

Symbolism- The tattoo Beth has represents that she can stand up to her father, “… it showed that she could stand up to her dad” (Klass193).

Diction- “… like Cain and Abel on a road trip” (Klass 200). The author could have put it in another way, but he chose these words, but Cain killed his brother Abel in the bible.

Simile- When Troy is talking to Jeff he uses a simile, “… bodies can float up through soil just as they float on water” (Klass 201).

Characterization

1.  A. An example of direct characterization is on page 3 when Jeff describes Beth, “The girl was tall and athletic, and she ran in smooth strides that ate up bites of toasty sand”.

B. Another example of direct characterization would be on page 26 and 27 when Mr. Doyle says that Jeff is a nice caring kid.

A. An example of indirect characterization would be on page 99 and 100 where Smitty is bothered by the fact that some swordfish and turtles are endangered, so we can easily depict that he is a nature lover.

B. Another example  of indirect characterization is on page 114 when Jeff was going to get beat up by Franchise Fraser, but Troy got into the action and beat up Fraser for punching Jeff. This shows that Troy love and cares for his brother. 

Over all I think that Jeff is a realistic character who faces his life problems.

2. When Troy is talking he sounds like he knows his stuff for example when they are in the car Troy says, “..we are together, like Cain and Abel” (Klass 200). Or when he mentions Sun Tzu, “… want to read Sun Tzu and Machiavelli and learn from them the stupidity and pointlessness of picking a fight with an enemy who’s stronger than you are” (Klass 70).

The author changes diction when Smitty is talking he is more concerning for example, “We used to hang out a lot right?” (Klass 101). Smitty wants to know what’s happening to Jeff and why he’s acting different.

3. Jeff is a round character, because in the beginning of the story Jeff is only worried about how his life is going to be affected by Troy, but as the story progresses he cares more about how people are affected by Troy. For example, he thinks about how to make his mom happier because she is paranoid about the fact that Troy could have killed another person.

4. I feel like I met a person, because it feels like he was going through problems. He changes from nice guy, “I wish I had shot you in the heart, for what you’ve done, you deserve it” (Klass 309)

Enduring Memory

One thing that I will always remember is what Jeff said about people, that they can’t change. This will always remember that I can’t always trust someone who supposedly changed just because everyone says they did. “Leopards don’t change their spots” (Klass 309).

Task Two: Know Your Zombies

In Bradley Voytek’s pamphlet entitled ”The Science of Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse” he states that zombies have brain damage causing defects that we can take advantage of.  The author starts by claiming that zombies have cerebellum damage causing severe ataxia, which causes them to be slow and uncoordinated, so we can easily outrun them. The author next proceeds to show that loss to the hippocampus in zombies causes them to have amnesia, we can take advantage of this by hiding and being quiet, hopefully they will forget where you went. He next proceeds to state that since their parietal cortices are damaged they don’t feel pain, so you should try fighting them unless you damage their brainstem. Next the author claims that loss of their posterior parietal cortices they are easily distracted, take advantage of this by distracting them by objects. The author finally argues that exhibit a form of Capgras delusion, so if you mimic them it can buy you some time to escape.

Task One: Survival Basics

In Khan’s article entitled “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse”, she suggest that we should be ready for a real emergency. The author supports her claim by saying that we should have an emergency kit ready, Khan says,“…to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp”. She suggests that our emergency kit should consist of something like the following: water, food, medication, tools & supplies, sanitation & hygiene, clothing & bedding, important documents, and a first aid kit. The author next proceeds to recommend that we have an emergency plan planned out before hand. She states examples like learning about the disasters in your area like floods, earthquakes, etc. Secondly, you must plan a meeting place, preferably two, to meet in case of an emergency. Thirdly, you should make a list of contacts of local police department, fire department, and your local zombie response team. Finally, you should have a planned out evacuation route Khan states, “when zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food”. The author proceeds to show that the CDC is also prepared for something like this. “If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any disease outbreak”, Ali Khan. Khan assures us that the CDC will have this under control. The CDC will conduct experiments and break the cycle of transmission.