Life of Pi--Prompt #3

            When someone asks a question, they are usually seeking an answer. When literature asks a question, it is seeking an action. I feel that the central question of Life of Pi is: How much of religion is real?

            I was hesitant to write my essay around this prompt because I’m still not quite sure that I missed a deeper meaning hidden within the book, but as I pondered which prompt to write on, I compared Pi’s first account of what happened aboard the boat to that of Christ. They’re similar in the way that they’re both so surreal that it’s difficult to believe either one. So the question Life of Pi left me with was whether or not I truly believe in my religion or if I’m behaving similarly to Pi when he created the story of the animals to protect himself the true trauma of his reality.

            Life of Pi doesn’t offer the answer to this question because Yann Martel never tells the reader which account is true; the readers are merely left to decide for themselves what happened on that life boat. It’s up to the reader to see that Richard Parker is Pi’s way to deal with the things he did on his quest for survival.

C.S. Lewis once said, “Literature adds to reality; it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” I found this quote quite fitting for the central question in Life of Pi, not only because of the content of the quote but also because of the strong religious background of the man who said it.  I feel that Life of Pi does add to reality by showing that what we think is real may not always be so. At the same time, however, the novel also shows that reality and fiction are in our own hands when it comes to religion.

Life of Pi--Prompt #3

            When someone asks a question, they are usually seeking an answer. When literature asks a question, it is seeking an action. I feel that the central question of Life of Pi is: How much of religion is real?

            I was hesitant to write my essay around this prompt because I’m still not quite sure that I missed a deeper meaning hidden within the book, but as I pondered which prompt to write on, I compared Pi’s first account of what happened aboard the boat to that of Christ. They’re similar in the way that they’re both so surreal that it’s difficult to believe either one. So the question Life of Pi left me with was whether or not I truly believe in my religion or if I’m behaving similarly to Pi when he created the story of the animals to protect himself the true trauma of his reality.

            Life of Pi doesn’t offer the answer to this question because Yann Martel never tells the reader which account is true; the readers are merely left to decide for themselves what happened on that life boat. It’s up to the reader to see that Richard Parker is Pi’s way to deal with the things he did on his quest for survival.

C.S. Lewis once said, “Literature adds to reality; it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” I found this quote quite fitting for the central question in Life of Pi, not only because of the content of the quote but also because of the strong religious background of the man who said it.  I feel that Life of Pi does add to reality by showing that what we think is real may not always be so. At the same time, however, the novel also shows that reality and fiction are in our own hands when it comes to religion.

Current event #4

Black ministors say that they don't support Obama's approval of same-sex marriage, but they still love him and want him in office.
Disclaimer: Before I begin my weekly current event rant, let it be known that I am not, nor have I ever been, racist in the slightest.
THIS IS SUCH BULLSHIT! If President Bush had thrown his support to same-sex marriage, do you think preachers would be saying "Well we don't agree, but we have bigger issues. He should still be in office."? No. They would flip out. It's a complete double standard. If you're going to take a stand on same-sex marriage, whether it be for or against, take your stand. Don't be passive just because a black president supports it as opposed to a white person. You should support a candidate based on their views. If they are against what the president believes yet support him because he's Obama, my fellow countrymen, that is indeed racism.
I should also add that some of these preachers have stayed with the beliefs of the church and withdrawn their support for Obama.

Gilgoff, Dan. "Across country, black pastors weigh in on Obama's same-sex marriage support". cnn.com. 13 May 2012. Web. 15 May 2012.

Life of Pi 4

It took me a while to decide which version of the story I wanted to believe was true. I've finally made my decision. I think Pi's second account of the story, the one with real people as opposed to animals, is the true account of what happened aboard the lifeboat. I didn't want to think it was real because it was so gruesome and sad. In the end, however, those factors are exactly what lead me to believe that it's true. I think Pi created the animals to deal with the trauma of what actually happened.
This book is probably the strangest book I've ever read, but it's strange in a fascinating way. The symbols and ideas in it leave you with nothing to do but sit and ponder what you've just read.

Current Event #3

Biden says that he's comfortable with the idea of gay marriage while Obama's view is "evolving".

I think this is a good thing. When it comes to gay rights, my mother has always said "If you support gay marriage, you're supporting sin." But the thing is, if homosexuality is a sin, isn't it a greater sin if it's outside of marriage? I don't know. Personally, I believe if you love each other and want to be together forever, awesome. I think it's great if the president decides to allow it regardless of whether or not what close-minded, extreme conservatives think it's wrong. (looking at you, Mom)

Current Event #2

Facebook has announced that they would like to allow users to sign up to donate organs through their website.
Um.. Pardon? I'm all for changing the world and helping out those in need, but I don't think a social networking site is the best place to locate an ORGAN DONOR. Perhaps I'm just cinical, but I think it's really a quite terrible idea. I understand that we have to find some way to increase the number of organ donors in order to help save lives, but there must be a better way to do so. Facebook is where people go to stalk the crazy pregnant girl or the nasty PDA couple, not to find someone to save your life.

Almasy, Steve. "Facebook encouraging organ donations". cnn.com. 1 May 2012. Web. 1 May 2012.

Life of Pi blog 3

I was so proud of myself for understanding the relgious metaphors in the book, but I'm completely lost. I just can't understand the book. The wording is all very bizarre and foreign to me. I'm not very deep, and I'm almost positive that's why I can't understand a book like this. However, the fews parts that I do understand about Pi's religious journey are beautiful. My favorite part of the book is still in the beginning when he quotes Ghandi about relgion. I find his child-like faith captivating. I feel that Pi has the kind of faith that we all aspire to have.

Life of Pi Blog 2

So here’s my interpretation. Keep in mind that I never claimed to be the brightest, so this may be completely off. Since the book is formed around religion and this metaphor that links animals to religion, I’m assuming the animals that Pi is stuck on the boat with are representative of different religions. When Pi says that leaving the boat means certain death yet he asks what the point in staying is, I think the theme of the book is kind of revealed. It makes you look at your own believes and question whether or not you would survive on a life boat with them. However, I completely accept that this may be the most far-fetched, idiotic interpretation ever. It is late. Also, the description of the poor little zebra’s death, while I’m sure it’s crucial to the book, is disgusting. I could certainly do without it. Yuck.

Life of Pi (1-29)

I put off reading Life of Pi because I was really afraid that the entire concept of the book would go right over my head-- I’m not the deepest thinker. However, I was pleasantly surprised with my ability to pick up on the religious analogies between Pi’s family zoo and religion. While those were probably painfully simple analogies, I wasn’t expecting to understand them. I tend to simply ignore the thought of religion because I haven’t quite decided where I stand, so the part about agnostics really hit home for me simply because I agree that staying undecided forever is stupid. You have to pick a side. So this book has made me think, and those are the best books in my opinion. I regret waiting to start it, but now I can’t put it down.

This is the part where I show my stupidity. I don’t understand the relationship between the italicized chapters and the actual story. I know I’m going to feel like a complete idiot when I learn.

Current Event #1

The beer "Dirty Bastard" is banned in Alabama while the state still allows alcoholic products such as Fat Bastard and Raging Bitch to be sold. The ban is said to be in order to protect children since the beverage would be sold in grocery stores as well as liquor stores.

I completely disagree with this decision. I understand that we should take certain precautions to protect children, which AL also did when they banned a beer with a nude nymph on the bottle, but if you’re going to ban one, ban them all. The board is CONSIDERING holding a meeting to ban the other products, but nothing has been decided. However, I personally see no point in banning them all. If a child is old enough to read the word, he or she has probably heard the word before. And if your main focus is to shield a child, what about the trashy tabloids at the check-out lines? Some of those are inappropriate. Do we ban those as well? If you don’t want your kid seeing profanity on an alcohol label, don’t buy it and don’t let them walk down the alcohol aisle.

Associated Press."Alabama bans beer over dirty name". foxnews.com. 19 April 2012. Web. 19 April 2012.

F451 #2

                My favorite quality of Dover Beach is its idea that religion destroys us. Not because I agree with it, but because that’s the idea of the government in Fahrenheit 451. Personally, I think that, while religion can destroy us, it is the only thing that can truly save us. In Fahrenheit 451, it is believed that “sugar coating” religion so that it offends no one will created peace. Well, that worked out well, didn’t it? Religion is more or less the basis of human existence. When religion is manipulated, human beings become manipulate. An example is the “Jesus” figure that is fed to the people to sell them things. Manipulate their religion, and you can manipulate their purchases. One message I took from the book (and I may have taken the message the complete wrong way) is that we need to spend more time thinking instead of speaking and fighting. We need to cherish our thoughts and our culture because the world as we know it now is a privilege that we take for granted on a daily basis. If we remain so focused on becoming a utopia, we will spiral into a dystopian society.  Sometimes it’s okay to unplug your iPhone and sit down with your family just to talk or curl up in bed and read a book.  If we as a race don’t defy technology to continue intellectual growth, who will? And if not now, when?

The Hearth and the Salamandor

           

                This book terrifies me. I know it was written for a completely different time in American history, but it applies today. As Clarisse says, “No one has time for anyone anymore.” Today, you can’t have a conversation with most people without them checking their phones during the conversation. And the dependency on drugs to sleep is also accurate. Americans pop pills for EVERYTHING. There are anti-depressants to take on top of your anti-depressants. It’s almost as if Bradbury’s fear of what the world may become is indeed happening.  And reading people’s lips while you have thimbles in your ear? Ipod. Most families don’t even eat dinner together, so they certainly don’t sit around all night just to talk. The last time I stayed up and talked to my family was July 2010. The fact that Mildred and Guy can’t remember where they met is just awful.

                The idea that we should all be the same is boring. I don’t want to live in a world where I’m suppose to just have easy pleasure and never be challenged to use my intelligence (intelligence that I have acquired from reading). Beatty says that Clarisse is better off dead, and honestly, I agree. What good could an inquisitive and creative mind like hers gain from a world like this? The depression that consumes this world Bradbury has made is so surprising, yet we’re more or less living in it.

The Great Gatsby

                The American dream is that any man can pull himself up by his boot straps and make something of himself. James Truslow Adams once said, “[The American dream] is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written in a time when the American dream thrived. Fitzgerald was known for his opposition to the materialistic nature of Americans, and while the American dream is to drive up ones social standings, it is impossible to do so without focusing on money and material possessions. The Great Gatsby portrays the withering of the American dream by showing readers that material things and focus social standings bring nothing but unhappiness. Also, regardless of what we obtain for ourselves in life, we all die.

                The title character Jay Gatsby spends his entire adulthood trying to climb social ranks and earn money so that he may have Daisy, the love of his life. Gatsby is new money and has achieved the American dream as he came from almost nothing. After Gatsby’s death, his father “saw the height and splendor of the hall and the great room opening out from it into other rooms; his grief began to be mixed with an awed pride.” Gatsby’s father is proud of his son for making something of himself, but would he hold that same pride if he knew that Gatsby only did so for a woman who cares more for her social standings than love? Or if he knew that Gatsby’s wealth comes from shady business and gambling? The surface of Gatsby’s life looks dazzling, but at the end of the day, he is alone and empty.

                When Gatsby realizes Daisy will never be with him again, he loses everything he has worked so hard to reach. All the money in the world couldn’t bring Daisy back, and Daisy is Gatsby’s only real dream. One would think that with all he has, he’ll be just fine, but money can’t bring happiness or love. In preparation for Gatsby’s funeral, Nick contacted everyone he could, and on the day of the ceremony, “It wasn’t any use. No one came.” Gatsby is known for extravagant parties, and people who have never even met him attend. However, pockets full of money and glasses full of champagne mean nothing in the end.

                Nick says, “These were careless people.” I think that’s the most proper adjective. They’re not careless in the sense that a teenager could be referred to as careless when they make an unwise decision. They are all careless in the sense that they truly don’t care for one another.  At the end when Nick speaks of a drunken woman on a stretcher, he says, “No one knows the woman’s name, and no one cares.” The American dream is to raise your social standards, but this rise in standards offers no true compassion from others.  No matter how much we strive to hold this dream, the day will always come when “the party [is] over”.

The Great Gatsby, 5-9

The message of this book is so heart-breaking and beautiful. My favorite part of the entire book is the last sentence. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Initially, I got very upset when I finished The Great Gatsby. Because the message is, as you said, we live these mundane, meaningless live; then we die. When Nick talks about Tom and Daisy the night after the accident, he says “They weren’t happy…and yet they weren’t unhappy either.” He follows this statement by saying that Gatsby spent the night “watching over nothing”. At first, his last statement seems to mean only that nothing happened between Tom and Daisy that night, but it’s deeper than that. Tom and Daisy were nothing. They were bound to each other still, but they had fizzled out. While they might have loved once, they now simply existed.

                The same is true for Gatsby after he realizes that he has lost Daisy for good. He spent his whole life trying to reach her, and he finally gave up. He accepts that she’s not coming back and tries to make peace with it; then he dies. When no one came to Gatsby’s funeral, the message really sank in for me. Gatsby lived what’s considered the American Dream, but who really dreams of spending his or her entire life constantly reaching for more material things just to die? Sure, people attended Gatsby’s parties, but at the end of the day, Nick was the only person who really gave a damn about him. And I guess, when “the party [is] over”, that’s the bottom line. You can spend your life striving to obtain whatever you wish, but we all die. And when we die, none of it matters anymore.

The Great Gatsby- Chapters 1-5

The very first page of The Great Gatsby says, “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” I feel like I should keep this in mind as I read, but it’s difficult to do so with characters such as Tom Buchannan and Myrtle Wilson who appear to have next to no conscience.

                I don’t believe that I’ve ever detested a character as much as I do Tom Buchannan. In Nick’s first description of Tom, he says that Tom has “a cruel body”. This statement is what led me first to believe that Tom was either verbal abusive, physical abusive, or both. When he broke Myrtle’s nose in chapter 2, I knew that my suspicions were certainly confirmed. However messed up Tom is, it still baffles me that he has no shame about having a married mistress.

                F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for writing about his disdain for materialism, and that disgust shows in the relationship between Tom and Daisy. Their marriage is loveless. As Myrtle’s sister Catherine says in chapter 2, “Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to.” When Nick asks why Tom and Daisy don’t get divorced, Catherine says it’s because Daisy’s Catholic. However, as her cousin, Nick knows that this isn’t true.

                Daisy and Tom are living the “American Dream”. They’re married with money and a baby girl. They have high social standings and friends to have dinner parties with. The only thing that’s missing is the spark that exists between two people who truly want to be with each other. They lack the spark that exists between Tom and Myrtle and Daisy and Gatsby. They’ve put materialistic desires above personal happiness and both suffer the consequences of it.

The Minister's Black Veil

The Minister's Black Veil is the story of Mr. Hooper, a minister. Hooper comes to church one Sunday morning wearing a black veil on his face, leaving only his mouth and chin able to be seen. The town begins to feel uneasy around Mr. Hooper. After many attempts by the people of the town and even Mr. Hooper's own fiance Elizabeth, Mr. Hooper will neither remove the veil nor explain why he must wear it. Mr. Hooper is almost completely shunned by the town unless they are near death, in which case he is sought out. Mr. Hooper becomes a great minister full of love and kindness, but he lives his entire life being fear and casted out because of the black veil he wears. Mr. Hooper is on his death bed when Reverend Mr. Clark tried to remove the veil so Mr. Hooper doesn't die wearing it. Mr. Hooper refuses and speaks of how everyone feared him because he outwardly showed what they all had within, secret sin.

I see two ways to tie this story to the themes in The Crucible.
The first is the idea that social deviance leads to exhile. Everyone in town from members of the church to Mr. Hooper's fiance tried so hard to figure out what was going on, but he refused to remove his veil under any circumstances. Mr. Hooper ended up dying alone because of this. I'm going to be honest though. Personally, I do believe that Mr. Hooper either 1) suffered from mental illness  2) bore a secret sin so great that he could no longer live with himself or 3) sacrificed his life so that, in the end, he could save others.
That brings me to my second idea. It's mentioned several times what a great man Mr. Hooper is. And although people avoided him when they were healthy and happy, they flocked to him when they needed him, and he was always there for them. If my third thought of Mr. Hooper is true and he is indeed a sort of scapegoat for the town, he is similar to John Proctor. Even if it's my second idea that's true, he still showed the town that they all had a black veil; they just didn't wear it physically.

On Writing Essay

                Stephen King’s life was full of change, whether it was his ever-changing cycle of nannies as he mentions on page 19 or constantly moving to different homes in new towns. One thing about King’s life that never changed, however, was his desire to write. King is living proof that proper reading and writing every day yields exceptional literary works.

                One of the many things King learned through his many readings is that he imitates certain authors’ styles and puts his own personality in it. Reading offers you a glimpse into someone else’s mind. However, it’s not just any mind. It’s the mind of someone who cares enough about his or her ideas to sit down and spend hours, days, months, and sometimes years just to get them into your mind. King writes on page 137, “We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style…but as we move along, you’d do well to remember that we are also talking about magic.”

                On page 34, King talks about when his family got their first television set. He states that they were behind the times and purchased a TV when he was eleven. Generations before us didn’t have television, internet, or cell phones, and these generations produced classic novels. Authors who spend their time working with their craft instead of “eating a daily helping of video bullshit” write books with underlying meanings and metaphors that hit home with their audience. If an author sits in front of a television set, how can he or she develop his or her own creative ideas and theories? It’s impossible to be a good writer without exposing yourself to good writing.

                King offers a list of books that he has found particularly helpful in his journey to become a best-selling author, and if one looks closely at the list, it’s evident that none of these books will be found in the Teen Fiction section of Books-A-Million wedged between Twilight and The Vampire Diaries.

                Reading and writing gives us the opportunity to, as King puts it, “turn competent writers into good writers.”

On Writing No. 3

Flashbacks are probably the most confusing part of a book for me. I’ll just be sitting there in the groove of the book, and out of nowhere, it’s 20 years later. I completely agree with King’s idea of using flashbacks as little as possible. I also agree with his theory of showing what’s going on instead of just stating what’s happening. That’s probably the most difficult thing for me to do, but I believe that after enough practice, I might be able to fine tune that skill.

I liked when King spoke of using symbolism and themes in the second draft of a story because I’ve always tried to do so in the first draft, and the result was always a less than acceptable excuse of a story. It’s interesting to think that some stories with beautiful symbolism may have started as just a story until the writer re-wrote it and found the deeper meaning.

I do, however, disagree with King when he says to let your friends read your second draft. Maybe some people have a lot of friends who are brutally honest, but I know the majority of my friends would protect my feelings at any cost, and I’d never know how they really felt about my story.

State of the Union Address

First things first, I don’t consider myself a republican or a democrat. I’m moderate, and I try to listen to everyone’s opinions equally. However, no matter how hard I tried, I spent the entire State of the Union Address wanting to put the television on mute just so I wouldn’t have to listen to President Obama speak anymore. As my mom put it, “He’s his own biggest fan.” I do agree with many of the things than I disagree with, but I believe that’s only because of the way Obama worded his statements. This speech is just another “Yes We Can” campaign.

However, like I said, Obama made some valid points. I know I always do better in a class with a great teacher. I agree that we should pay teachers more. Without teachers, no American would be able to achieve anything. Lowering the cost of higher education would be so beneficial for bright students who work as hard as they can but can’t afford college. During the 1800s workers fought extremely hard to earn equal pay for equal work, so I agree that this should be done in every job field.  Simplifying credit card forms would definitely help Americans who are in a bad spot from making a poor decision.

Only two things stood out to me that I really didn’t agree with. While we are racing other countries, we also owe money that we don’t have. We can’t afford to spend more money to fund things. I like the strategy of using every source of energy we can, but what happens when we run out of those sources?

While my mother makes wonderful commentary, I think the best way to watch this speech would be sitting next to John McCain. I watched the State of the Union Address on NBC, and they got wonderful shots of McCain shaking his head in unashamed disagreement and distain. I think we would have a great time passing snide notes back and forth.

On Writing, No. 2

I would like to begin this blog by saying how much I adore King’s style of writing. His informal, personal style does a wonderful job of pulling me into the book, and it helps me understand the points he’s trying to convey.

The point in the book that has been burned into my brain the most is that writing is telepathy. I love the idea that I can put my thoughts into someone else’s mind without ever uttering a word to them. After really considering this point, I became baffled at how I have thrown away writing opportunities. Now I see writing opportunities as a way to make the world see things my way, which, as a sixteen year old high school student, doesn’t happen often.

Another point I enjoyed was how much proper grammar and high vocabulary affect how well your ideas come across and how seriously people take you. I know I’ve been on Facebook several times and have seen people getting into political debates, but I just can’t seem to open up to their views because when someone writes, “dat mane aint got no clue wut he doin”, I automatically assume that person is a fool. At the same time, when someone says, “I’m going good.”, it gets under my skin as well.

King has definitely sparked the idea in my mind that I have the ability to become a good writer. When King said it was possible “to make a good writer out of a merely competent one”, I realized that I am not, as I’ve always believed, a bad writer. I’m a competent writer, and at some point in my life, I will become a good writer.

On Writing CV

The beginning of On Writing showed me several things about Stephen King, one of them being that his life was more disturbing and upsetting than I could have ever imagined. It’s safe to say that roughly half of my annotations contain the word “disturbing”. An instance that stood out the most to me was when he wrote about his babysitter Eula-Beulah. Although the story was upsetting, I was drawn into it because I saw what he was exposed to. I saw what made him the writer he is today. That’s mainly what I took from this first chapter. I saw the elements that made Stephen King such an exceptional (and disturbing) writer.

Something that really bothered me at the beginning of the book was King’s excessive use of curse words. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not the type of person to get on someone’s case about their language. However, my very first annotation said, “The excessive use of cursing makes it seem like he’s trying to prove a point.” Although it let up after only a few pages, there were so many curse words in the beginning of the book that I felt like King was trying too hard to prove that his book isn’t like every other book about writing.

I feel that this chapter mostly shows King’s relationship with his mom. After he copies his first cartoon, it seems like everything after that is done to please his mom and to see her smile. I also found his story Happy Stamps quite sweet because it too showed just how much he loved his mom.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I think the whole purpose of the first chapter was to get you acquainted with King’s past, so we can understand why he writes and thinks the way he does.