cat's cradle.... gross

Ya so postmodernism....... not really my favorite, but moving on. So throughout Cat's Cradle we see the influence that religion has on the day to day lives of the different characters. Julian Castle goes on a rampage saying' "You can tell him he isn't my hero, but you can also tell him that, thanks to him, Jesus Christ is." When you hear this you think that Castle is a very religious person, but he later goes on to say that people says things, "just to keep their voice boxes in working order." This shows us that to Castle, nothing truly has any meaning. I think it’s safe to say the same thing goes for many people. Although they may say/believe one thing, they could turn around and believe something completely different. An example of this would be with the people of San Lorenzan. Although Christianity is the forced religion, all of the citizens of San Lorenzan practice   Bokononism in private. Even Papa Monzonio practices Bokononism.

In addition we see that people need to be told the difference between what is the truth and what is a lie. Angela says, “Sometimes I wish Newt would take some lessons, so he could know for sure if he was doing something or now.” Angela needs to be told by someone else, if something is good enough or not. Instead of deciding for herself if her brother’s art work is good, she feels the need to ask a professional if it is good.  This shows us that people have gotten the concept that they need to tell them what truth is. Rather than discover what her idea of the truth is, Angela feels the need to ask someone else for their opinion.

I think that many things have influenced what the characters in Cat’s Cradle believe to be the truth. And many of them just accept ideas that are given to then, instead of discovering what they want the truth to be. 

Strange new ideas

So Brave New World strange book yes? I feel like this book was always making me think, and pulling my brain in a million different directions! I feel like i could go in so many directions with this essay, and it's difficult to decide where i'm going to channel my ideas but i think i got it down.  I remember in the 8th grade we read a book called The Giver by Lois Lowry ( which was suppose to be turned into a movie but it never happened... sad day!) and while reading Brave New World i immanently thought back to this book. Basically The Giver is about the controlled lives of the people, and how one person must bare the burden of being the giver. In both books, drugs are used to increase and decrease emotions and feelings of the people.

I think in my essay i'm going to analyze freedom, and what freedom really means. How do people know if they are free or not if they have never experienced it before? In Brave New World John "the savaged" asks and ponders about this. I think it will be interesting to see what information i find on this topic. I think i might also explore religion in Brave New World, towards the later chapters of the book there’s a lot of references to religion and i think it's something that would be interesting to explore. 

This is just me picking my brain for ideas at 12:30 AM. HA Who knows, I my change my mind about all of this, and go in a totally different direction with this essay. Oh brave new world how you make my head hurt from thinking so freaking much!

That one thing we call education.... ya well it kinda sucks right now.

Well that video made me think. I feel now that i have the right to complain about the education i'm receiving. Wait i take that back, it's my job to complain, and fight back against those who say this is the way, that this is how it's always going to be. Shouldn't those that are being educated have an input in how they are taught?Shouldn't we be questioning the way things are taught instead of just accepting them without questions? In Brave New World, all information is accepted without question, what ever is said is the truth. I don't want to live in a world where i must accept things the way they are. Ideas need to be challenged! Changes are need in order for us to grow. It's sad to see, but in Brave New World the people are limited to what they can and can't read. When John asks if they read Shakespeare Dr. Gaffney says "Our library contains only books of reference. If our young people need distraction, they can get it at the feelies. We don't encourage them to indulge in any solitary amusements." It's sad to see how the education of  those in this "new world" are affected. You are only taught the things that you will need to know for your job, anything else is just useless information to you. This makes me think that its kinda crazy to think that the things we find as common sense, other people don't understand. But going back to Brave New World this lack of education from person, the "government" is able to control pretty much every thing. I think i am very fortunate to be able to receive the education i do, but then again i feel that i could be learning so much more! So frustrating! Well only time will tell how this on going battle of education will end. 

Brave New World..... it's new!

Brave New World fun stuff man! So while reading I found that it was very similar to 1984 in the sense that the government is very controlling over its people’s lives. In Brave New World children are taught at a very young age to value certain ideas, and disregard others. The concept of a family and home, for instance, has been  taught in such a negative way that, as the Controller was describing a  home, “ one of the boys, more sensitive than the rest, turned pale at the mere description and was on the point of being sick” (43).  It’s sad to think that the concept of a home, a place of warmth, family, and love, has been turned into something so negative, that it makes one sick just thinking about it. Right now I’m thinking that the family tie was cut in order for everyone to have the same experiences growing up.

                One thing that caught my attention was how people were encouraged to have relationships, but discouraged in having long term relationships with the same person.  I think because of the slogan “Every one belongs to everyone else” it has been drilled into the citizen’s minds, that being with one person exclusively isn’t the “normal” way of life now, and that everything is shared, including partners. I think this sharing of everything also eliminates deep attachments people feel towards one another. If you’re always sharing something, it’s hard to form an attachment with that person, for there never going to be with you for very long. I also think that most of the thoughts of the people throughout the book are going to have to do with the model T and Ford. With what I have read so far it seems that is the center for the way of life during the book. 

Essay ideas for The Tempest!

In discussions of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, one controversial issue has been over whether or not Shakespeare was in favor of colonization. On the one hand, we are able to have an insight as to how Caliban feels towards Prospero. Because of this, we are able to see that all of Prospero’s customs were forced upon Caliban without Caliban’s consent. On the other hand, we see that Caliban wasn’t always treated as a monster, but as one of the family. It wasn’t until Caliban tried to rape Prospero’s daughter Miranda, that he was thrown out and treaded like a slave. Before that we are also shown that Prospero treated Caliban as his son, caring for him and teaching him how to speak. However, I think that Shakespeare wrote about both sides of colonization so that his readers could decide for themselves what they want to believe. Throughout The Tempest he gives evidence that supports both sides.

In discussions of The Tempest I think the traditional view is that through his writing, Shakespeare was in favor of Colonization. However, there may be other ways to think about this text. For one thing, I think Aime Cesaire’s Tempest shows us his interpretation of what Shakespeare was trying to say in his writing. This is one persons view of what the story means to them. I also think that Stephen Greenblatt and George Will’s debate supports the idea that there are many different ways to approach a piece of writing. They both strongly believe differently how writing should be read and interpreted. Therefore, taking these positions into account, I think that we cannot determine what side Shakespeare was taking when he was writing this play, but we can each have and defend our own opinions of what we think Shakespeare was trying to tell his readers. 

literary study, politics, and Shakespeare oh my! :o

So I really had no idea what George Will was trying to say. His writing was all over the place for me. And the parts that I did understand were just his opinions about other books and how they were wrong in some way or another. “In “Wuthering Heights,” Emily Bronte, a subtle subversive, has Catherine bitten by a male  bulldog.” I have read Wuthering Heights twice, and I fail to see the importance of Catherine being bitten by a male dog. That bit of information is just a minute detail compare to all of the other events that happen in the book. He goes on to take small events from other pieces of writings and says that  they “reflect the imperialist rape of the third world… references to peas and flower buds are encoded messages of feminist rage…” Okay I get that these are his opinions but where is he coming up with this stuff! It just sounds plain crazy to me.

                I really like and agree with what Stephen Greenblatt has to say. He sticks to his own beliefs, but also acknowledges that writing can have more than one meaning. He did this with Will’s thoughts about The Tempest, “Since it is very difficult to argue that The Tempest is not about imperialism. (It is, of course, about many other things as well, including the magical power of the theater.)”  I also really like what Greenblatt says about trying to control and sort out the arts that they like and dislike. “But art, the art that matters, is not cement. It is mobile, complex, elusive, disturbing.” For me this quote means that there is more than one way of looking/ reading a piece of writing. There is no right or wrong way of writing, it’s expressing and sharing your emotions and ideas with others. 

Colonizer vs. Colonized

I think the colonizers believed their ways to be the one true way in doing things. They would conquer an area and find the natives behaving in what they would consider a "savaged" manner. They would then proceed in colonizing them, and teaching them the one true way. I totally saw this with Prospero and Caliban. When Prospero and Miranda first come to the island, they meet Caliban and care decide to care for him and teach him to speak. But i think Caliban was getting along  fine without Prospero and Miranda's help. Caliban says " You taught me language, and all i can do with it is curse" (page 45). I believe that Prospero and Miranda saw Caliban as a savaged beast, but really Caliban just had a different way of living then they did. Although i think Prospero would justify his actions by saying he was helping Caliban live a better life. In Cultural Studies it says that " Often the colonizers justified their cruel treatment of the colonized by invoking European religious beliefs. From the perspective of many white Westerners, the peoples of Africa, the Americans, and Asia were "heathens," possessing ways that must be Christianized." (page 236) I think Prospero thought that Caliban's ways need to be fixed in order for him to live a more productive and happy life.  If i saw someone doing something that could be done in a faster more productive way i would certainly them. But although i don't necessarily agree with what Prospero did, i guess i do understand why he did it.

I also thought that Caliban was perceived to be a savage to Stephano and Trinculo. Stephano even says, "This is some monster of the island, with four legs, who seems to me to have some kind of ache. How the hell does he know our language?" (page 99). To Stephano, Caliban's looks are savaged like, but yet he speaks. I think Shakespeare is actually showing sympathy towards Caliban. I think because we actually get to hear how Caliban feels about Prospero and being controlled, we see that Prospero's ways and ideas were forced upon Caliban. When Trinculo comes, Caliban chooses to be his servant so i wouldn't consider it colonizing.  

I think like in the video clip, when people hear about a certain group being/acting a certain way, they think that all people of that group are like that. It's a single story of how some people are assumed to be like. If we hear both sides of the story, from the colonized and the colonizer, i think we could get a better understanding of why people do the things they do, and how people feel about those actions. And hopefully this could/could have prevent/prevented entire cultures being taken over and being colonized/ controlled.  

Ohhh man, The Tempest Act 1...

Thank the Lord for sparknotes! I don't think I would have understood anything from this play, if i hadn't read no fear Shakespeare! Any who, I read the character overview before I read the first act of the play and my first feelings towards Prospero were taht of pity. I felt sorry for him because his land was taken from him by his own brother, and he was casted away to this island with nothing but is infant daughter. As i got to act 1 scene 2, i began to see the rude, controlling, deceitful, revengeful side of Prospero. He controls his daughter by not telling her who she is, or why they are living on the island. He is rude towards not only his daughter, but to Ariel who does his every wish and towards Caliban, who first showed him the ways of the island. Prospero is deceitful because he tells Miranda that "much luck is on my side, and my enemies have happened to wreck their ship on this island" (page 8)  which is not true at all for Prospero told Ariel to cause the crew to jump off of the ship and to hid the ship on the other side of the island. We can also see Prospero deceitfulness when Ariel says "let me remind you what you promised me but haven’t come through with yet."(page 11) With this quote we can see that Prospero had promised something to Ariel, but has yet to follow through. I have a feeling that Prospero is going to say he will do a lot of things throughout the play, but will not follow through with them. In addition ( and this is just my prediction), i think he will cause his daughter to run away with Ferdinand (or someone else) by the end of the play. Just some ideas. 

Video Response

Wow, great video. It really shows you that your perception of the world isn’t always going to be factual. I guess if you grow up believing a certain thing to be true, you’re never going to know anything different unless you see it differently. In our society today, we have created stereotypes for every ethnicity, culture, gender, religion, etc. People aren’t bothering to learn about other cultures, because they think they have all the information they need from television shows, and newspapers. We need to get back to the basics, and take the time to actually learn about one another and not assume things to be true. Not all Asians are good at math; I am terrible beyond words at math. Not all Italians eat pasta every single night, and not all Hispanics like Mexican food. It’s crazy how all these stereotypes come about, and even more crazy how many people actually believe them. When people meet me, I don’t want them to assume things about me that they think are true. Like that because I’m from Clovis I love the rodeo, or that I eat rice with every meal, just because I’m Asian. I absolutely hate the rodeo, and rice gets super boring after a while. I want people to discover the things about me that are unique, and that separate me from everyone else.

A couple of summers ago we had a foreign exchange student from France come and stay with us, and she was very surprised to learn that we didn’t eat at fast food restaurants every night. In France, and many other European countries, America is perceived as this country with fat people that eat McDonalds every night. We here know that’s not entirely true, but those who have never traveled to the U.S. don’t know that because they have never seen it for themselves. I think it’s all in the way information is delivered. If on a foreign television show, they portray everyone in the United States to have blond hair and blue eyes, image the surprise many people would have when they come to discover that not everyone has blond hair and blue eyes.
This video made me realize that I need to think before I make an assumption about a specific topic or person. Not everything that is said/written is true; we need to take the time to hear every side, for everyone is going to have different stories and experiences.

Global Warming

So i thought this picture was really funny, but it also highlights the important issue of global warming. The humors part of the ice cream icebergs grabs the attention  of who ever may be looking at the picture, while it gets the message across that global warming is a very serious issue. The note at the top is something along the lines of: Greenhouse pollution warms the planet. Now is the time to act.