This was not my first English class and I do not know that it will be my last. I do know that I have learned a lot from this class, a lot more than I have learned from any other English class that I have taken. It seems as if I have been in school forever and it also seems as if I have taken too many English classes to count. In elementary school, junior high and high school you have to take so many classes and many of them seems to repeat themselves, for example have taken Biology classes three times, once in junior high, once in high school and here at Antelope Valley College. To be honest taking an English class has always felt the same. I never really got something drastically different from each class. I think though that when I got out of high school i really assumed that every college class that I took would be so much more fulfilling and interesting but the truth is that many of them are not. I took an English 101 class and it was also online but I was really let down by it because I did not get very much out of it. It seemed as if the work was somewhat pointless and it did not really change the way I looked at English class or the way I approached writing. When it came time to take this English 102 class I really felt that it would be a risk because after taking that other English class and not really taking anything away from it, I was worried that not only would it be hard but it also would be really boring. I was really surprised however and glad to see how different this class was formatted though. From the first week when we were asked to introduce ourselves and give a brief overview of who we are and what we are about I felt that this really helped me, and im sure it helped everyone else too, it helped to feel that we were actually connected and interacting with real people. When it comes to online classes or projects, I think that it often seems as if you forget or fail to realize that you are interacting with other people. I really enjoyed the fact that although everything was done online, we all seemed to feel connected like in a real class that you physically go to. I enjoyed the fact that the majority of our assignments depended in part on the interactions w had with other class members. For example, I think that the Peer Draft Reviews that we had to do really allowed many of us to look at our own papers as compared to others and not only help those others to improve their own papers but it also helped us to improve on our own. So I would have to say that I am really glad that I took this class, even online, because I do think that it has helped me analyze not only education subjects but also life issues. A lot of our work depended on analysis, including self analysis, and I think many of us forget to do this sometimes because we have so many other things going on.

Pg. 1088 #4

When I think of a love song I always think of the song “When You Say Nothing At All” by Alison Krauss. I suppose it is the first song to come to my mind because it is what I imagine love to be like. The thematic similarity that I take from a contemplation of this song and the poems in this section has the most to do with how when someone is in love, everything else fades away. For example in the song I chose it says “without saying a word, you can light up the dark” and the poem entitled “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” states that the narrator will “make thee beds of roses”, I say that it shows that love makes everything else fade away because its thematic theme usage of importance and grand nature of love displays real life, no we usually do not literally make the one we love a “bed of roses” and it is not really true that someone’s words can “light up the dark” but I do think that this is what love makes you feel. It is the reason why people go back for more even after they have been hurt. Love is too grandiose and singular to be left alone. I think happy love songs and poems convey the singular nature of love, these poems brim with longing and impossibility because in many ways this is what love is all about, the struggle and mystery. Although as time goes by words and what they mean change, I think the basic emotion behind some things and topics remain. Love is one of those things and topics, in looking over the poems I noticed that they, for the most part, display and also convey not just the longing that love can create but also the exhilaration that it can evoke. This was really interesting to me because a lot of modern songs convey the exact same principle. “When You Say Nothing at All” is one of those songs, it is one of happy love but it also conveys a longing for the subject of the song and an exhilaration over that subject. When I listen to it, it reminds me of something being like new, it reminds me that love makes everything fresh and exciting. Even if you sit on a couch and just watch a movie with someone your in love with, it will feel like the best thing in the world even if you have done it a thousand times. I think these elements are universal and timeless. No matter what country, race, religion or era you come from some things are universal and unchanging. The poem entitled “Song” is not a happy view on love, but the others are more hopeful. “Song” conveys the realistic aspect of love, the aspect that is practical and the one that knows that you cannot live off of love, no matter how much you might want to. This realistic point of view is not really echoed in the other works nor is it reflected in the song I chose for comparison.

What Myths can teach us about ourselves

By studying and comparing different cultures creation myths I feel that we can learn a lot about how we as a society act, now individuals act and how our ancestors felt and thought. Cultures create creation myths to explain a world that seems so random and violent. From the beginning of time Man has been faced with many problems, the biggest of which probably being death and the universal question of what our purpose here on Earth is. Creation myths in a way answer these questions because many cultures such as the Greek feel that Man was created by Gods. I think beliefs such as this show that man has an instinctual need to feel that there is an order to our world and a reason for every act. I think because our ancestors faced such unique trials in terms of survival, they created Deities that they felt could control the life around them. I have heard of many that think that religions such as Christianity tie into and evolved in some way from stories such as the one of Zeus, being a son of a Titan and taking control. Many see a strong link between Zeus and his human like image as being very similar to the Christian portrayal of Jesus as human like. Whether or not you agree is really a moot point because I do not really take this to mean that God and Jesus are a fairy tale but I do feel that in ancient times people needed to feel that there was something they could look to for protection and meaning. In terms of how individuals acts I think that in the majority they feel a sense of security in their creation myths because they do imply that there is an order to the world and by extension an order and meaning to the world of Man. Regarding what creation myths can each us about ourselves today I think that they can really teach us a lot. I think the fact that so many of us are so interested in creation myths and myths in general show that as a culturally diverse world, we all still search for meaning and purpose in our lives. So many books have been written concerning such myths and much analysis has been done in regards to them and this shows a clear interest in them in not only what they can teach us about the world and its order but also what basic human need is. Which is to know everything, as a species we always want to know everything about every aspect of our lives, and I think this is directly influenced by the existence of the myths but I also think that this need to know is also why creation myths were created in the first place. I believe that creation myths taken alone are very interesting and creative. When you consider and take into account the people who create these myths, you can then achieve some small semblance of the connection we share with them, which is one made up of the desire to find meaning for our own fragile existence.

Bees

In the beginning of the novel Lily does not seem to be overtly racist or prejudiced. She seems to be an inherently kind and observant young girl who does not seem to me to believe that her race is superior just different from that of the Black community. I did get the sense though that being brought up in the South in this time period and with such a Father gave her a skewed outlook on the Black community. For example, when Lily first meets Zach she was really taken aback by the fact that she found him good looking and attractive to her. She was taken aback because she was so used to other people, both young and old, looking down upon Black features as bad or unattractive that she never really questioned it until now. Prior to this, when Lily breaks Rosaleen out of the Hospital she takes control from the get go and eventually Rosaleen takes offense to this because Lily is treating her like the other white members of the community do, as someone who is too slow or simple to take care of her let alone the both of them. These examples and other similar ones did not make me see Lily in a bad light because you cannot help but be a product of your environment, to an extent we are all products of our individual environments. The difference with Lily is that Lily did not blindly follow along the path she was set down upon. She loved Rosaleen as a mother figure and she risked her own life and safety to rescue her. Her concept of race did indeed change, but she was never a hard core “racist” or bigot to begin with. I think deep down inside she always knew that color is the most insignificant factor of a human being. When Lily first meets August, May and June I did not get the sense that she was amazed that Black women were the source of the Black Virgin Mary card rather it seemed as if she was most amazed at their way of life and its dream like quality. To Lily it was a haven and even after May has died and the police man tells her she should not “lower” herself to living in a Negro house she pays no heed because through her time spent with them she has realized more so than ever how inconsequential color is. Rather than saying Lily’s concept of race has evolved I would say it rather expanded. By living in such a strong minority household, one made up entirely of strong Black women, showed her how wrong judgment based on race is. As Lily said, after spending a good deal of time with the women, she wished God has erased any concept of skin color. I think August especially expanded Lily’s mind and what she thought, she became a substitute mother for her, the hearth fire that Lily saw in Augusts’ eyes called to her and told her that she would find unconditional love and acceptance in her. These “calendar girls” and Rosaleen called them showed Lily how race should be and how it is. In society race is a ball and chain when it should be as unimportant and meaningful as shoe size.

Wriitng Topic #1 pg. 1326

My sophomore year of High School my Mother got really sick and she had to stay in the hospital for about two weeks and the only time I got to see her was on the weekends during visiting hours in a hospital that I still get nervous to even drive by. I was only fifteen years old and it seemed that at that age I needed her most, for comfort, advice and simple understanding. My Dad worked long hours so my paternal grandmother, someone I was never able to get that close to, came out from Los Angeles to “watch” out for us and although I do love her and it was nice to have someone there as a distraction, it just was not the same as having your own mother there. In those two weeks it seemed that I became like an Ostrich, I say ostrich because similar to that animal I tried to bury my head in the sand and shut out all the bad things around them and the world. Obviously I did not literally go out into my backyard and bury my head in the dirt. However, during those two weeks I tried to stay out of my house and I stuck to my friends as if they were my life lines and in many ways they were. I looked on them in this way because I did not want to feel the fear that my Mother was not coming back or that I would never see her again. Every chance I got, I would go over to a friends house, go to the mall or even do the homework that I so hated just to keep myself busy and preoccupied so I would not have to feel that fear. Like the Ostrich who shuts itself off from the world, I tried to shut myself off from feelings that I did not want to deal with. I did not feel comfortable confiding in either my father, grandmother or my friends about what I was feeling, yet I looked to those friends to provide a distraction. I never really told them where my mother was because I did not want to talk about it, I looked on them as a distraction so I hid anything and everything about the situation that I could because the whole point of a distraction is to forget about something. At the time it seemed like my only option because I felt like it was essential that every other aspect of my life stay the same because I felt that if I could control part of it, the whole situation would follow along and nothing bad would happen. But I think that being like an Ostrich all through that experience hurt me more than it helped me because I never really dealt with how I felt. Like they say, unfortunately it is the hard times we experience that make us grow and later in life such times actually help us to deal with tough situations that arise, and all I can remember about that time has to do with how my entire attention was focused on just getting through it and not dealing with it. But I do wish that I had let myself experience the whole thing because those times do really make you who you are and I think times like that can make you stronger and im sorry that I did not give myself the time to work through that and confide in someone.

Writing Topic #2 pg. 1211

Contemplating the subject of suicide reminds me of the saying that suicide is “a permanent solution to a temporary problem”, in other words there is really no situation that justifies suicide and any problem that someone is experiencing will eventually go away, even though it does not feel that way. However, I do feel that suicide is something that is different from Mercy Killings, in which terminally ill people are aided by doctors to humanly end their lives. I think that suicide is not only religiously and morally wrong but also wrong for any and every person. Anyone who has ever been at a point in their lives where they contemplated the idea and action of suicide and its seemingly ease can attest to the fact that later when you look back on that time such thoughts will be proven to have been wrong and wasteful. I say wasteful because when you take such permanent action you will never get out of that tunnel, you will never have the chance to find out that those thoughts can and do go away with enough time, understanding and much needed help and will. By will I mean the will power that someone can have to overcome hard times in their lives. Yet I do not think that every person has such a strong will power and anyone who has such thoughts or even contemplations should seek help because it is not something anyone should be ashamed of or something that anyone should be afraid to speak up about. When some is in such a mindset, where they cannot see anything but their own pain I think that this is then the last moment in which they should contemplate such a permanent act. This permanency in itself is so important and monumental and regardless of its subject , be it suicide or abortion or any similar controversial act, it is not something that I feel anyone should really think about, least of all someone who is in such a dark hopeless space. I say that suicide is also religiously wrong because it seems that many forget that the commandment of “thou shalt not kill” includes the killing of the individual self, if you are the type of person who believes in like after death and Heaven then you know as a general rule that someone who takes their own life ends up somewhere that is definitely not as pleasant as Heaven. Therefore, I feel confident saying that suicide in most cases is the wrong answer, one that will destroy not only the individual’s life but also the lives if all that love that individual. Mercy Killings, once again, through helping someone else end their, seems somewhat acceptable in situations in which that persons is terminally ill and in tremendous pain. I feel that this is one of the saddest ways that anyone’s life can end but there are definitely cases in which prolonging life only serves to make that person suffer worse when they are already terminally ill. So in such cases I do believe that Mercy Killings can indeed be justified, unlike suicide which cannot, in extreme cases. However, I personally think that I could not be a part of Mercy Killing or Suicide and even just writing about it makes me uncomfortable because of the stigma and the sad association with the early ending of a life that each has.

Writing Topic #1 p. 937

Becoming infatuated with someone you do not really know is like waiting on the results of a final that will decide whether or not you pass or fail a really important test. When you do not know someone very well and you are barely getting to know them it seems so nerve wracking because like an important test you are so hopeful that the result will be fantastic and that you will pass but on the other hand you are also terrified that you failed miserably and the doubt and fear of both success and failure eats away at you. Sometimes it seems that the things that are most important or the things that will have the biggest effect on you take the longest time to relate their result. An hour can seem like a year and a day a century, but when it comes to something that you feel you really need, like a great score, the time never goes fast enough. The result of this “test” can seem like the end of the world, or the beginning, depending on your result and how dramatic you are. Many times, after walking out of the situation, once the test is finished it can seem like such a sure thing that you aced it, but I have come to the conclusion that it is usually in these situations that you fail, its like the universe plays this huge joke and lets you think you have won, only to later reveal that you have actually lost. In contrast this, I have learned that in many cases you can walk out after a test and be sure that you just failed miserably and often times when you get your results, you will be shocked to find that you actually passed, either by a decent margin or completely. So often times it is no use what so ever to speculate about the test and whether you passed or failed. Most of the time the only thing to do is wait and see what happens. It can be the hardest thing to do because it is not like you can say “ok mind, stop thinking what your thinking”, but there are a lot of times where you have to forget about some things or lose it. I do not want to sound overly dramatic but im sure there are plenty of people that can attest to the truth behind this. Especially when you are young, when you find someone that completely catches your attention and holds onto it; it can seem that, like that much needed good grade, your happiness hinges on the result. Any form of “love” even infatuation brings numerous problems and worries, no matter your age because everyone always has the highest hopes that they will come out the winner. Even though like that test, you can do all the preparation possible, yet that final grade rests with someone else and their interpretation or opinion. It is the same in relationships, you can only try so hard and out so much effort, the rest is up to the other person.

Writing Topic #2 pg.825

People definitely have types, they do not have to be physical preferences, even though they commonly are, but i think for the most part people prefer certain qualities and attributes over others. For example, I prefer people who are outgoing, adventurous and friendly. While others may prefer people who are shy and quiet. Types are relative and there is no accurate way to define them or judge someone on their “type”. People’s types come from many places, the cane be based on inherent prefreces, religious beliefs or even social influences, for some, they are born with a preference fro certain people and for others, types can be learned through remembered happy experiences. For the most part types do not change in my opinion, this I feel is one aspect of types that is inherent, it is there from the beginning, before we learn what is socially desirable. I have always been drawn to a certain type of person and that has not really changed in all these years. I am the type to be somewhat shy when I first meet someone and as I get to know them and feel comfortable my “true colors” come out. I suppose that is why I like extroverts so much, because I sometimes wish that I was more comfortable being open with people I do not know that well. It seems that in many instances people gravitate to others that exhibit the qualities that they themselves wish they had and so this is also a good example of that fact that types are not definable, they mean something to different to every person. I do believe however that in extreme cases types can indeed change. I think when you get involved with someone who is not exactly right or good for you over and over again that types need to be changed. It is not easy to change them but it has to be done so that a person can lead a happier and more peaceful life. This example is similar to those in which people form preferences based on positive experiences. Something as basic as a memory of a nice, friendly teacher from childhood can cause people to form preferences for similar types with even knowing it. As human beings we constantly try to improve ourselves and by making connections with those that have the very qualities we value or respect can improve out own selves by mere association. Therefore, I think is it quite clear that types do exist and only extreme circumstances can change those types. Many like me, are in a sense born with a preference for certain types of people while others learn this preference. Regardless, though of that I would say that types are one of the most difficult things to distinguish or describe. The can be inherent or learned but they are unique in ever case, like a finger print, no two people look for exactly the same things in a person, whether what they are looking for pertains to a love interest or just a friend, it will always vary.

Writing Topic #3 pg. 794

I turned eighteen the summer of two thousand seven and I was so excited because it just so happened that this birthday came about around the time that the Presidential Election occurred. Now knowing that I felt the need to vote and cast my opinion I registered and had my chance to vote, which I did. That winter, I got a jury summons thanks to the fact that I was registered and of all the people that were called in; I was, in the end, Juror number two. From the beginning I was nervous because I had never been involved in something so official nor had I ever been to court, and if you have ever been you know that there can often be a lot of strange, not so nice people, and that it not even counting the guards. So all in all it was my first real experience with being an “adult”.
The case that I was assigned to turned out not to be something violent or something involving the death penalty or something equally controversial, it happened to be a malpractice suit in which an older man, probably in his sixties, was suing two of his doctors for performing an amputation when he felt that he did not need one. As the case progressed the jury learned about various subjects, such as the man’s medical history, his lifestyle, and the doctors practicing history and interaction with this individual man. We learned that the man was overweight, which we could see, but we also learned that he had numerous health problems, the least of them Diabetes and the worst, blood clots leading to amputation. We learned that the doctors had repeadlty warned him that if he did not change his life style he would end up with the amputation, which he did. Even through all of this information and the validity of it, I still found it hard to be totally unbiased because looking at this man in a wheel chair made me feel really bad for him because he was a human being who could not live life as he was used to living it for so many years. By the end of the case, when we had all the information we would need to make a decision the jury was sent to a back room and given all the time we needed to make that decision. After only a few hours in the room we had come to a unanimous decision in favor of the doctors. The decision was not made as easily as it would seem in the time span, of course our decisions had to be made with no bias but it was still hard to tell that man that he had lost. Looking back I know we made the correct decision because it would not have been fair to let the doctors be blamed for something that was to patient’s decision. The decision made was not, for me, the hardest part however; the hardest part was taking part in a process by which one party would loose and the other win. This “official capacity” that was mine two weeks was difficult to deal with because it went against my inherent belief that I am no one to pass judgment on someone and by deciding against this man I could not help but feel like I was passing judgment on him for not getting or staying healthy. Now im almost twenty-one and to date I would say that this experience is the most serious example that I am able to give concerning a situation in which I had to act in a way that clashed with my personal feelings or beliefs.

Writing Topic #1 pg. 655

I chose this topic due to its subject matter and the tone of it. Its tone is not one of despair or loss, it is one of hope and the belief that nothing is ever lost only remade in a more beautiful image. Even the title itself “All Shall Be Restored” gives you the idea and belief that in the end the individual and all his mistakes will be wiped clean. Whatever bad we have seen or done will not matter anymore. Parts of this poem seem to rest in the religious belief in human beings as the flock and a higher power as the Sheppard, as shown in “The grain shall be collected / from the thousand shores” it seems that the majority of cultures and countries do believe in life after death, indeed for the most part most cultures, ours included, believe that if you lead an honorable life you will be rewarded with peace and also restoration in the next life, as the poem alludes to. To a certain degree it would seem that this poem, as many religious teachings also, somewhat gives you something to, maybe not look forward to, but at least feel hopeful and peaceful about. The mistake that many practices make is to try to scare people into being “good” and in the end all that such practices accomplish is to make people turn away and lookdown upon them. Practices and works such as this one serve to promote the idea that in the end, death is just another chapter of life.
Specifically, American culture, at least popular culture stresses the same messages as this poem and its title. From a relatively young age the majority of us learn that life is a cycle where death is not an ending merely a new chapter of life. I do not know very much about other religions however, in Christian circles I have learned that as this poem stresses that we are small pieces of a larger puzzle and at the end of our lives we will be resorted in that more perfect image. Therefore, this poem is very much a comment on out culture and the hopeful way it looks not only at death but also life and the importance of making every moment count.
Although our culture mainly believes in and stresses hope and renewal in death it does seem that many in our culture do try to work against this eventually. For example, plastic surgery is one of the most popular and common medical practices that many people undergo. In many cases facelifts and Botox are the number one choice and obviously people undergo such procedures because they want to look younger but sometimes it also seems that many of them are not just fighting off the signs of aging but also death. I guess despite the lofty ideals of our culture and its major religion, many of us harbor fears not so much of death but the unknown nature of it.
However, I do think that despite to fears of the unknown it is comforting to believe that life is constant change and that “nothing / shall be lost”. More than restoration of the body this poem concerns the ultimate renewal of the soul and spirit, when the poem speaks of the “treasured” and the “bronzed horse” remounting the steps, the meaning seems to be that the spirit will reach where it was meant to be and even then it will continue ever on and renew itself.

I did not feel that it undermined her supposed “heroic act”. In the first place I would not exactly call her decision to leave heroic. Indeed it was sad that she felt that she had to leave her children behind but I understood her motivation. I felt that she took such a drastic action because she did not want to influence her children to be like her, she would not want them to live only to please another and never know who they were or what truly made them happy as individuals. It seemed that her decision to leave her marriage was based on the sudden disillusionment she felt when her husband did not instinctually react as she would have; he did not try to “take the bullet for her”, cared more for his reputation. Therefore, it seemed that her motivation was based on not only her disillusionment in terms of her husband but also her sudden lack of love for her husband. She had lived her life first for her father and later for her husband, she talked about how she adopted each ones opinions as her own and never questioned them. Until this pivotal moment when she realizes that Helmer’s devotion is not like hers does she understand that above being a mother and a wife she must first be a “reasonable human being”. Her believe that she was doing the right thing could, I suppose, make her seem heroic because she was willing to give up her comfortable life, and more importantly her children to not only find out who she was but to also prevent her children from becoming her.
An ending that would involve Nora not leaving not leaving her children would change the meaning of the story drastically, it would undermine it. The resonance and realization that is so central to this work would have been missing with a different ending. Situations in which sacrifice does not have to be made are somewhat pointless because it is the struggle that underlies interaction. Just because a story has a happier ending does not make it a better one. Going off of what Nora explains to Helmer, she needs to figure out who she is before she can help anyone else. Maybe one day she will find her way back to them but in the meantime realizing that she is not the mother she feels she should be has decided her fate in the story. She cannot understand a world in which a daughter cannot spare her dying father worry or save her husbands life and until she understands she feels that she is of no use to her family. It felt like more than trying to be heroic, Nora was just trying to save herself and spare her children. She realized that understanding herself and the world can only come about through reflection and through someone teaching her, yet she realizes that Helmer is not the one to reach her, he essentially already failed her. Therefore taking into account that much of the importance of the story would have been lost I feel that had Nora decided to stay with her family she would have failed herself. Every person deserves the right to know themselves and she is barely realizing this fact.

Writing Topic #1 pg. 371

In general most peoples tastes change with age, for example as children the majority of us played with toys and had imaginary friends. As teenagers most of us were more concerned with the things people around us thought were cool. We dressed, acted and were into things that seemed to be fun and popular at the time. We did all these things in accordance with the segment of high school society that we felt most comfortable and most interested in. As adults it seems that the majority of us have learned to follow our won paths and take part in the activities we are interested in.
For myself I have found that there are some tastes that have not changed with time. Most of my life has been spent in jeans a tee shirt and flip flops, Ive always loved country music, which I was raised on, and I have always preferred a good comedy to a dramatic movie. I do not know that my individual tastes actually define who I am but I do know that they obviously show people, to an extent, who I am and what I am about in a superficial way. We all look to how other people dress and how they present themselves to tell us if they are “like us” or possible friends. Considering all the things that are of interest to me I can see that many of them have to do with how I was raised and who I was raised by. For example in my family owning a truck is a staple and seeing how high you can lift it is a challenge, my dad, my uncles and my brother all have trucks and I guess the good memories I have not just of them but also the cars have influenced my preference and interest in them. On the flip side another side of my family is strongly interested in music, al kinds and types, and art, now I cannot play or paint like some of my relatives but I do have an equally strong love of music and a beautiful piece of art.
In contrast to this there are some traits I have and some things that interest me that are boring to many of the people I know. For example, I have always loved, bordered on obsessed, tennis and during Grand Slam tournaments I have been known to spend hours watching the many different matches offered. So I think that sometimes the things we are interested in do not come from history or influence, sometimes the things we are most passionate about are born into us, they are inherent.
Sometimes I think many of us dress in a certain way because, like in high school we sometimes want to highlight certain facts or features of who we are. For example, many of my friends have decals on their cars with brand names like Volcom, Fox and Burton imprinted on the back window and they do it because first of all it shows other people what they are interested in and also they do it because it is like a signal to other people about the “group” you belong to, I think as human beings this is one of the most vital components to social interaction, we all use symbols, be it clothes, music we listen to or activities we participate in to show people who we think we are and who we indentify with. Therefore, I feel that we all look to symbols to decide who we interact with and who shares our likes and interests.

Writing Topic pg. 164

Collateral damage refers to situations in which people other than those involved become involved and get hurt. In “From the Diary of an Almost Four Year Old” it seems that there is some kind of war going on in the country she lives. It feels like she is probably part of some persecuted group and that is why the soldier attacked her. Collateral damage is brought about by situations in which people that should not be involved are affected and deemed “expendable”. I think this type of damage can also affect things other than human beings. For example in the industrial age our country’s natural resources were damaged and extinguished all in the name of progress. Nature was deemed expendable because it does not ecru money or a product like industry does.
The term collateral damage seems to be commonly used by people to describe situations in which they want to act like there was no other choice. Im sure the soldier felt some sort of justification in harming a toddler; otherwise I do not think he would not have done it. The same principle applies to the scarce natural resources we have compared to when our country was founded. People act like collateral damage is unavoidable when in fact they are just using it as an excuse to excuse the actions they take. The term is a strange one however, because collateral damage is anything you out up like getting a loan from those places you see in commercials and giving them the pink slip to your car and the term damage, well, everyone knows what damage is. I think the strangeness of this term fits the situations it is applied to in a certain way, our natural resources are used to achieve the end of profit and like your cars pink slip it is never seen again.
I cannot think of a situation in which collateral damage is morally justified, in my experience I have learned and I believe that collateral damage implies and leads to people or some aspect of life being damaged or destroyed. The concept of it being morally justified brings to my mind that old saying of “sacrifice a few to save many” and “for the grater good”, who decides what the greater good is and what about those few who are sacrificed to save the many, what about them? It sounds practical and rational to say that something must be given up for the majority to flourish but it leads to the question of where this thinking leads; when we allow ourselves to take the easy way out, which in my opinion involves collateral damage, how do we know when we have crossed the line? When is enough, enough? One of the hardest aspects of life is making decisions, any decision that involves a large amount of people will probably involve some sort of collateral damage but I think the best thing to do is draw the line at allowing important things such as human beings to be compromised in some way and minimizing the damage that is done.

Making Connections # 2

Selfless acts are not common in our society. It seems like as Americans, our main concern is to take care of ourselves and please ourselves. Sometimes when you feel compelled to perform a selfless act you are tricked into thinking that it is the right thing when in fact you are only serving yourself by giving yourself peace of mind. I can attest to this fact by using my real life experience of trying to always fix my family’s problems. I have always thought than when something wrong occurred and someone in my family needed help I would help purely out of my love for them, in part I was, but I also did it to make myself feel better. One day my father lost his job and it was near the time that my mother was putting together a dinner party to celebrate their twenty first anniversary, after he lost his job they decided to put it off until they were in a more secure place. When they told me the news I felt so bad because I knew that it meant so much to them and I decided that I would pay for the party and in my mind I was doing it to boost their spirits. Looking back on the experience I can recognize that I was partly paying for the party to lift their spirits but I was also doing it because it would make me feel better to see them feel a little better and enjoy themselves. Sometimes performing a selfless act can be somewhat of oxymoron, no one does anything for no good reason. When you donate money to the Red Cross, on one hand you do it to help people but you also donate to make yourself feel less guilty when you see than a natural disaster has occurred and you have been spared for not being affected by it. In many cases people perform seemingly selfless acts for the superstitious fear that the same disaster or bout of bad fortune could happen to them. The same principle applies to situations in which you see someone on the side walk asking for money. For example, one day last month I was leaving the Wal-Mart Super Center in Palmdale and there was this old man with an oxygen tank and I thought to myself that someone like this does not deserve to spend his supposed “twilight years” begging for change, so I gave him some money and made my way home, all the while thinking how lucky I am. Reflecting on my decision to give him money when so many would pass him by made me consider why I felt the need to do it. Certainly a part of me felt bad for him but also I thought about this belief that my mother passed on to me and her mother passed on to her. It goes something like “you never know if that person is God in disguise and you wouldn’t dismiss our Lord if it was”. So obviously then a part of me did it not literally thinking it could be God but for the teachings of my faith that teach that you do not turn your back on anyone or refuse to offer them some sort of help. Brownie points aside, I gave him a few dollars because it made me feel better so it was arguably beneficial to me to help him. It isn’t wrong to help someone because you know it will make you feel better, im my book that is just a side benefit.

Blogger # 2

We respond in countless ways to literature, sometimes we respond in ways that we would expect and sometime we may find that literature can inspire us to do things or take actions that we would never have thought we could or would. I think almost everyone has an emotional response when it comes to literature. When you read something and are interested in it, the action becomes more of a pass time than a chore. On the other had when you feel that you have to read something you would not normally pick up your emotional response would probably be one that reflects your negative attitude toward the subject. Intellectually, almost, if not everyone, has some kind of response to literature. More than anything I fell that actively reading, meaning you are truly focused on what you are reading, improves your intelligence and improves your understanding of the world. I know that in the book Animal Farm by reading the story and being interested in it I was able to better understand this individual tale and its mirroring of certain governments and the fine line that exists between having a strong leader and tyranny. A book such as this makes you examine the question of to what degree do we employ the practice of justice and equality. There is no way to have both without sacrificing something important. It is lessons such as this hat cause you not only to examine the world around but also your place in it and your reaction to it. You have to wonder what I would do if I were in this situation. The answer to a question such as this shows you who you are and in many ways I do not think there are many mediums that accomplish this feat as much as literature does. Literature can also inspire you to try new things or to believe in new ideals or causes that might have meant nothing to you before. For example, reading Animal Farm made me more aware of the ramifications of not being involved in my government and how ignorance is not bliss. I think what I am trying to say is that literature can change you, for the better or worse. That is why throughout history governments have tried to stifle created thought and burned books to accomplish that. The change that it can inspire can bring down nations or it can build them up. The ways in which literature can change us, be it emotionally, intellectually or inspirationally, comes about through critical analysis and active reading. When your read something it is not enough to simply look at the words, you have to think about what you are reading and try to understand it. When you are reading literature for a class you need to be able to analyze what you are reading because first of all you will probably going to need the information for a test, but you also need to analyze it so you at least gain something out of the experience, even if it is not enjoyment. When it comes down to it is virtually impossible to read and not criticize or analysis what you are reading. In some way you relate or understand what the story is about or what the characters are experiencing.

Literature is a way to go somewhere without having to leave your seat. It is a way to experience places and cultures that are different from your own and meet people that do not exist. My parents always exposed me to books and literature from a young age and they passed on to me their love of reading. One of my earliest memories is of my mother taking me to the library and helping me pick out books. Later, as I got older, she or my father would read to me and let me read to them, it always seemed like they had all the time in the world to listen to me. I think in part this is one reason that I’ve always loved to read and preferred it over watching a movie. I guess in some ways reading reminds me of family and simpler days.
Sometimes literature can teach you a lesson that life or a movie wouldn’t have time for. Regardless of what era the literature is from or whom it concerns, it can teach you something worthwhile. Even if it is just learning the patience to sit down and finish something you start, such as finishing a thousand page book would or immersing yourself in a world that is not your own. In most cases literature can give you a better appreciation and understanding about a topic or story than another medium could. For example when you read The Handmaid’s Tale and later watch the movie, it is only in the book that you understand and feel Offred’s desperation and raw hopelessness. The movie cannot impress upon you the rigid and harsh rule of Gilead and its people, even after you have finished the book the impression and sadness that you feel takes a while to diminish. I think this is one of the most powerful aspects of literature and the reading of it. It can make you feel things that cannot be explained away, it can create emotion s that may feel as real as any in real life.
I do not exactly know how this class will alter how I perceive literature I probably won’t know till the semester is over. I hope it will make me more understanding of the undercurrents and symbolism of the literature I read. Sometimes it seems that in reading you can get so caught up in the interactions and trials of the characters that you forget that any meaningful story has an underlying meaning. I hope going through this class will help me to appreciate the reasons that writers put pen to paper, not just to pass the time or fill the empty hours but to inform and change people and their outlooks. I think sometimes it’s rare to find really great books that can change how you look at something or how you perceive it. Hopefully, by heightening my senses through literature and the exercises in this class, I will be able to transfer this perception to real world experiences and understand people and what motivates them better. Besides achieving growth in terms of literature and perception I hope this class will aid me in my writing ability. By reading and practicing with exercises’ such as this blog I think I will be better equipped and experienced to do well in future classes, besides English.