Blogging Around

I first commented on Annah's blog on Dialectics. She had great insight about the relationship between creation and war. She did a great job going even further than that and discussing a third dialectic, and also how all three of these play off eachother, and what the effect of that is.

Anna,
I loved your blog post in the way that you took a commonly associated conception, and revaluated how that works in actuality. As I think about it, I can't say that there was ever a war in which everyone, universally, thought that the sole outcome was peace. However, I believe that many would agree that the creation of something was produced; whether that actually was prosperity or destruction relies independently on the opinion of every country.
I also found your insight between theory and actuality very thought-provoking. We often discuss theory vs. reality in social studies when we talk about an Empire's execution of a political, social, or economical objective.
One other thing I liked was when you brought up the point of a 'third dialectic' between war and destruction. Unlike your first dialectic, this one I find more universal because it is such an obvious effect of war. This got me thinking about other things associated with war, and whether there will ever be the possibility of erasing these 'horrors' from wars common image.
Great job Anna!

The second person’s blog I commented on was Taylors post on iMedia. She discussed how Jack Johnson's song, "Sleep through the Static" portrays a much deeper meaning instead of just a catchy tune.
Taylor,
I really enjoyed reading this blog post. Very insightful! I especially enjoyed your angle on music allowing us to realize the mistakes of our very own society. I agree with you when you said that the usual critical analysis of our society comes off whiny and repetitive. However, when we hear such a criticism from something we more closely connect with, these criticisms hit closer to heart. Like Johnson says, most problems with society we put of as 'static', small irritable noises in the back of our mind, but never actually being dealt with. A source such as music, that displays this message has a greater effect on me, than let’s say reading it in the newspaper or on the internet. And why? Taylor, you perfectly answered this question. Because when we listen to music, we open our minds. The mere lyrics of the song replay over and over in our mind, until they become 'subconscious'. This blog post gave me something to think about. Great job Taylor.

iMedia: Ted Rives - Mockingbirds

In this video, Ted Rives explains how he is going to release Mockingbirds into the world and for them to pick up the sounds of life, and then mimic them to the various regions of the world.
I picked this video because I loved Rives ingenious way of explaining how valuable awareness and knowledge truly are. The line that I think best sums up what he is trying to do is this one - "And as I drive through a neighborhood, say where people got alotta, I'll take a mockingbird I caught in a neighborhood where folks ain't got nada, and I'll let it go." I think what Rives is trying to accomplish is to show how voice, and sound give you knowledge. He wants to release these MC's of the animal kingdom, and let them gather all of the words, and to mimic them to others. Then, once everyone has heard everyone, once the lies and the truths have been exposed, once all of the voices are captured, people will gain knowledge.
And what knowledge would we be gaining? It is the mockingbirds that spit reality back in our faces, until we realize what we are doing and the harm it is causing. We gain knowledge about reality. Rives said everyone gets hurt, and that the mockingbirds are the honest witnesses of this terrible crisis.
I agree with Rives when he says this. Unless we come face to face with something, we often disregard it. However, these mockingbirds will show us what is going on, and we will be forced to do something about it. These mockingbirds don't give us the golden key to the city that Rives talks about, but rather the answer to this unfortunate twist of devastating events known as reality. From poverty, to global warming, to killing, to war, to suffering, to starvation, the mockingbirds will capture all of it, and mock it back to us, until we accept and face it.
In conclusion, this video was extremely inspiring, and the metaphor was ingenious, and because of it, the video was ten times as effective. Rives also has a "presence", that Mr. Allen discussed at the beginning of the year, that’s hard to describe, but it makes people want to listen to him. For me, I found this video very inspiring in the way that Rives absorbed the many realms of our modern day society, and portrayed their exposure through the use of mockingbirds.

Connection: Regan and Goneril vs. Media

When King Lear was at the large table passing off his wealth and land to his three daughters, Goneril and Regan told Lear how much they 'loved' him, and told him everything that he wanted to hear. On the other hand, Cordelia, told him the truth, and what she truly felt about him.
Truth, distorted meaning, and portrayed messages: only one word came to mind - the media.
It's been told in numerous ways how the media, from magazines to t.v. to newspapers, and sometimes even books, have outrageously distorted the American perspective of what the 'truth' actually is.
So, when I noticed that Cordelia was the only one to say what she really felt, and the way the sisters were just spitting out their own distorted versions of the 'truth', it showed me how similar the media and Goneril and Regan are. I think that Cordelia represents that small percent of the media that does not distort what is actually going on, whereas her sisters portray the majority of media that completely alter what’s happening, so the news sounds more appealing and outrageous.
Mr. Allen said that the way he memorizes vocabulary words is by using them in a way that is violent or sexual. For Americans, anything having to do with sex and violence draw us in, and have the ability to completely capture us. And the media is fully aware of this, so they distort the truth to make it more appealing to us. They tell us what we want to hear.
Similarly, when Goneril and Regan were talking to Lear, they knew exactly what to say, so they would please him, and in return get his wealth and land. They told him what he wanted to hear.
By realizing this, I feel I've learned more about why Lear got so angry and frustrated with Cordelia, that night at the table. She told Lear the truth, how she really felt about him. In return, Lear got very angry, and disowned her as his daughter. Because he was King, for years he was always told what he wanted to hear. Very few challenged his authority. But, for the first time Cordelia did, and for Lear, it was very overbearing and hardly comprehendible. So, I feel that for most Americans, when we hear something that is actually true, we feel the need to just push it aside. If there is a big conflict happening, we are more likely to reject it rather than deal with it. Here, Cordelia is the conflict, and Lear is the group of collective Americans.

360 Degrees: Dreams

When I was younger, I found this book about dreams, and inside it told you different ways to interpret your dreams. If you had nightmares about being chased by something (dogs, clowns, burglars, etc.) than that supposedly portrayed a fear in your life that you were "running" away from (self-denial, guilt, etc.). Then, last year my opinions of dreams changed yet again. We read a book called "The Epic of Gilgamesh", were dreams were foreshadowed events, or gave clues toward the future.
So, is there a defintion for how we are supposed to interpret dreams? What if they are our minds continuation of work, while the rest of our body is at rest? Do they represent a subconcious part of ourselves? Do dreams portray the reality in which we live? Can you limit dreams to one interpretation?
Up until recently, I didn't think much of dreams. In my mind, they simply just 'were'. However, I have realized that there is more than one way to interpret dreams, and find out what they mean. I haven't pinpointed an exact defenition, but my attempt is as follows - Dreams represent your subconsious, that reflects the reality of your life. In my opinion, this definition, is a blend of the different perspectives of dreams.
Can dreams be pinpointed to one definition, though? No. I don't think they can because they mean something to everyone. While yes it could represent the subconcious, everyone interprets their subconscious in a different way, so we can't break dreams down any further than that.
Thus, I hope that I have explained some of the many possibilities of the interpretations of dreams, and how they are portrayed. For everyone's dreams is their own connection to reality and the possibilities of what they represent are endless.

Metacognition: The Kite Runner

As I began this essay, I thought about some things that we discussed in class to help get my thoughts flowing. I noticed that the same idea kept poping up. This was, the question that Mr. Allen posed: "In The Kite Runner, is it possible that Hosseini, the author, and Amir are having their own conflict? Hosseini is trying to push Amir towards facing past."
While it seems so simple now, at the time I couldn't exactly articulate what it was the answer to this question was. However, my thoughts soon cleared, when I began to write because I realized many of my examples, in my essay, directly related to this. Suddenly, I completely understood what Mr. Allen was getting at, and I found it very fascinating that the book could have such a level of depth as to display this. Realizing this definitely helped my strengthen my paper, as I now had a better level of comprehension of the book, which helped me get my points across. I wish, now, that I had had this realization moment when I was in-class. I think it would have helped me contribute to class discussions more. I also think it would have helped me start my essay with a clearer angle and focus.
I realize that there are many things I like about my thinking, and many things I hope ot improve on. First off, I think that my thinking is very original. One thing that surprised me about my thinking is that while although I may not get to the deepest level of thinking right away, I like to work through things until I eventually reach what, in my mind, is a very valid and deep observation. One thing that I think I need to work on is my confident in my writing. Often what happens, halfway through writing, I start to contradict what I previously thought. This oftens lead to an unclear point, and I don't start off with as strong a focus as I previously had. So, while although there are things I need to work on, I also have many strengths. :)

Blogging Around

I first commented on Graicey's post who wrote about a connection between Kite Runner and a book called the Most Dangerous Game. She was fascinated by one of the book's symbols; how easily humans can adjust to their environment, and how dangerously they can do that. Here is my comment:

Graicey,
I loved your viewpoint in this blog! This blog made me think about what you said; the length humans go to, in order to control or feel comfortable in their environment. While, most of us look upon this as extreme and proposterous, we should realize that people are doing this not just for sport or for game, but rather for the will to live and survive.
I connected this post to Life of Pi, when Pi had to do very un-higenic and just gross things. While reading most of the book that's how I saw his actions: un-higenic, gross, and nasty. But then we started discussing, and I realized that Pi had to do it for survival. Pi had to do these things so he could adapt or at least survive in the environment he was placed.
In a similar way, the charater in the Most Dangerous Game, had to do very unthinkable things so he, too, could adapt to an environment.
Great job Graicey!

My next comment was on Connor's blog. He talked about the best of the week being when Mr. Allen brought up how characters and authors can have struggles within the bok. And also how the author is most often the one pushing the character to face their fear. Here is my comment:

Connor,
I'm really glad that you brought this up, because I was thinking about the same thing when Mr. Allen said this!
I too, found it very fascinating to learn, that a book could have a level of depth, and even ability, to portray a feud between a character and the author.
I liked when you said that you’ve noticed this in many books you have previously read. That is, in most stories, the main character is forced to leave their perfect, happy lives, and face something they do not feel comfortable with. And perhaps, this is similar to the character-author battle we see The Kite Runner.
Your post made me look at Amir's real struggle in the story in a different way. I thought about how while other characters, helped Amir reach redemption, so many outside sources helped him too, literally. Maybe Husseini was the one that pushed Amir the most, out of all the other characters, to reach redemption. It's ironic though, because in a sense, Husseini had to be somewhere in Amir. He was the force in Amir that made Amir want to gain redemption.
Great job Connor!

Connection: Dreams in Epic of Gilgamesh vs. Dreams in Kite Runner

In both The Epic of Gilgamesh and Kite Runner, dreams are very important to the plot development; however, they each portray this in two very different ways.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, dreams fortold the future and often forshadowed upcoming events. During the time period of Enkidu and Gilgamesh, dreams were highly valued because it was believed that they came from the Gods. Their dreams were evidence that the Gods were trying to communicate with them. In this story, the Gods were needed to caste a sense of importance on the dreams.
In Kite Runner, dreams are put in a different context, and represent the change of characters or of perspectives. For example, when Amir sees his father wrestling the bear, he pictures his strong, muscular, and bold father. Then, in the next sentence Baba is no longer the one wrestling the bear, but rather it is Amir. Because Amir has finally faced his fears, his search for redemption is now over. Going back to Afghanistan, and saving Sohrab, Amir is now the hero, thus he becomes the strong-willed man who has vanquished the bear. Now, literally in his own eyes, Amir sees himself as the strong and proud man, the man he saw in his father.
This connection has shown me that dreams often represent something beyond the plain truth, and go further by expressing something about a character or situation in a more metaphorical sense. While at first I did not realize it, looking at dreams and thinking about them in a less literal way, greatly developes the plot, and helps me better understand the story.

Best of the Week: Culture

This week we discussed how culture has such an overwhelming impact on characters and their actions. Culture is evident in every culture. For example, in The Blue Sweater , we noticed how the women felt so empowered becase culture had pushed them down so many times, and told them they couldn't do anything. In that story, women were very limited because of culture. However, culture is different for every part of the world. America's culture is different from Africa's which is different from Afghanistans, and so on.
Anyway, at the beginning of the story, Amir was a walking example of culture. For example, while although Amir never said it, we could see through his actions and thoughts that Amir thought of Hassan as his servant. Why? Only because Hassan was a Hazara. Culture had guided Amir to this conclusion, and would continue to do so for the rest of his life.
20 years later, as Amir asked for Soraya's hand in marriage, he had to be very cautious because Afghani culture would reject the way the marriage was performed. Even at the market, it was his Amir's father who reminded him, not to embarrass the two of them, by doing even something as simple as talking to a woman. While although marrying Soraya in the first place, was a rejection of culture (because of her reputation), the rest of their marriage had to be led by it.
Culture has played a dominant role in Amir's life, and think it will continue to for a very long time. It's so hard to defy something that has been with you your whole life.
This is relatable to Assef's and Amir's childhood. What role does culture play in your upbringing? Whether that is for the better or for the worse. In my opinion, there were many instances where culture brought out the worst in Amir. However, later in his life, while Amir was still under the chains of culture, he did happen to defy it. This was when he married Soraya.
In conclusion, culture played a large role in Amir's life, sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the better. It's up to Amir to decide to what extent it influences the rest of his life.

Change of Mind: Freedom

Free - dom [free – duh m] n. – 1. Exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
2. The power to determine action without restraint.
3. The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.

Of all the definitions of freedom, there is not one that talks about internal freedom. External, action, physical restraint – they all consider freedom as only an outside condition. And up until a few days ago, that’s exactly what freedom to me was. So while reading Kite Runner, I asked myself, is there such a thing as internal freedom? Can you be constrained, forced, or controlled, by something internal? So my new answer to this question is why yes, yes you can.
Amir, the main character in this story, is full proof, that internal freedom does exist, and that he lives with a secret that makes him internally enslaved. His feelings of loneliness, disconnection with reality, guilt, and fear, are all pieces of evidence that inside he feels anything but liberated.
My definition of freedom before reading this story was exactly what Webster thought as well – freedom is physical. That nothing can keep you internally imprisoned. When I thought of freedom, I thought of the Civil war. I thought of the Holocaust and the detention camps. I thought of Paul Revere. I thought of Martin Luther King. I didn’t think that your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, were something that could be caged and locked up as well.
So then, I asked myself another question, is internal detainment something that is brought upon by an outside source, or can you, yourself, bring upon internal imprisonment? This is where my definition of freedom changed again. For Amir, the feeling of freedom was something that he denied himself. After he watched Hassan get raped, he limited and perhaps totally cut off his notion of internal freedom.
As I evaluated how Amir felt internally confined, I realized that internal freedom is something that exists in a lot of other places, although it may, at times, be disguised. For example, similar feelings of lack of internal freedom are evident in women who are abused by men. The thoughts that they are powerless and alone are similar to what Amir felt. Initially, I would have perceived abused womens lack of freedom to be external; but I realize that much of their lack of freedom is internal, too.
The biggest piece of evidence that lead me to change my perspective of freedom was when Amir described what “the past” meant to him - “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out" (pp. 1). For Amir, the past finds a way to interfere and incarcerate his emotions and feelings, which causes him to feel internall imprisoned. In response this influences his external actions.
In conclusion, this book, so far, has completely changed my definition of freedom. No longer will I say freedom, and only think that you can be restrained physically, because I have learned that imprisonment and lack of freedom can be internal as well. No longer will I think that internal detainment is impossible without external enslavement, because Amir’s story has proved otherwise. No longer, is freedom or lack thereof, Paul Revere, the Civil War, the Holocaust, but it is also Amir and abused women. No longer is freedom only physical.