Henrik Ibsen - Literary History

Realism (1861- 1914)

• Focused on everyday life
• Represent events as they actually are with detailed realistic and factual description. 
• Opposed to Idealism, Romanticism, and Nominalism 
• Aims to interpret the actualities of any aspect of life, free from subjective prejudice, idealism, or romantic color.

Naturalism (1880-1940)

• Opposed to romanticism and surrealism
• Naturalism focuses on the realities of life: the everyday life. It is an extension of realism, where realism only focuses on the realities of the subject, while naturalism focuses on the underlying “scientific” aspects that influence on the actions of the subject.
• Naturalists were influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution 
• Naturalists believed that heredity and social environment determines one’s character.
• Naturalist works exposed dark harshness of life 
• racism
• poverty
• violence
• disease
• corruption
• prostitution
• filth

Naturalism in the Theaters

• characters are of working class
• developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries 
• detailed, three dimensional settings (understandings of the determining role of the environment into the stating of human drama) 
• everyday speech forms (prose, not poetry) 
• secular world view (no ghosts, spirits or gods intervening human actions) 
• Plays of naturalism: 
• A Bitter Fate
• The Power of Darkness
• A Doll's House

Realism & Naturalism in relation to A Doll's House

• Nora is a disillusioned wife - flirtatious with Dr. Rank 
• A controlled father (Nora's father)
• Broken marriage
• Corruption - Krogstad threatens to blackmail Nora 

Written Task on The Great Gatsby

Rationale

In Part 4 of the course, we are doing a detailed study of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. Throughout this novel, despite the fact that Gatsby holds raucous parties, readers are given the impression of Gatsby’s remote connection to the public. Fitzgerald writes Gatsby as an unpredictable isolated figure in which society seems to be curious about. Therefore, the objective of this written task is to introduce Gatsby to the public and society.

In order to do this, I will write Gatsby’s statement to the press conference where the character himself will reveal his true stories to the public. I have chosen this type of text because it will allow me to express my creativity in creating new a storyline in addition to what Fitzgerald has written. In this case, Gatsby will be answering questions about his life and in particular about his love, Daisy.

From having done the written task, I’ve learned how to be creative in twisting the plot around. Furthermore, I have also gained a better understanding of Gatsby’s character because I mostly wrote from Gatsby’s perspective. In this case, I learned to analyze and think of how Gatsby would respond to certain questions that the news reporters ask. I now also fully understand the relationship between the two lovers and why Fitzgerald makes Gatsby act in a certain way when he encounters Daisy. Because love plays a huge role in Gatsby’s character, I’ve discovered that love can sometimes be the major driving force in shaping a person’s life.

Written Task

The room was filled a cacophony of clicking shots and yelling voices as Gatsby made his way through the crowd to the table before us. As he reached the table, he bowed to all of us and took a seat as his two bodyguards stood behind him.

“Good morning, good morning people! I am glad to see that all of you are here to attend my announcement for the press today. Now please calm down and take a seat everyone,” he said.

The room turned from a busy market into a complete silence.

“Now let me make a formal introductory speech to all of you guests and news reporters who came to my event today.” Gatsby paused for a second and glanced around the room.

“Welcome everyone, I invited you all today because I have the intention to answer the questions that you may have about me. I have heard of many different kinds of rumors that went spiraling for years ever since I’ve started to hold big parties and celebrations. I don’t want wrong gossips about me to spread so I am gladly here today to tell you the story of my life. Not only that, I will also leave time for questions at the end.”

  

News reporters took notes of his words and video taped his speech.

“Now let me start,” Gatsby said.

“I was born to a deadly poor family in the Midwest of America. I had lived in the prairie grass of the vast isolated land where millions of twinkling stars filled the night skies. Initially, I was given the name of James Gatz.”

When I turned 17, I became deadly tired of the impoverish lifestyle I’ve adopted for years. I ran away from home, leaving my deadly poor parents behind, to aspire for the life I imagined mine’s to be. I knew that I had to run far away from the place I grew up to forget my past, and I ended up in a small town in Minnesota.

That time, I reminisce, all I had with me were my clothes and 15 cents that I have collected from the streets as I made my way to Minnesota. I was more than hungry but I knew that 15 cents wouldn’t buy me even a bottle of water. I had no choice but to sleep the lonely night in the large, cold city. I wandered around the vast area of America without knowing where I am heading or what I am getting into. All I knew was that I had the greatest desire to find a better life.

It was in the afternoon of May 1984 that I went to walk along the shore and saw a drunk man in the middle of a rainstorm in the water of Lake Superior. I remember that the old, rotund man was out there in the deep sea alone without conscious. Without a second thought, my strong sense of humanity drove me out into the sea to rescue him. His name was Dan Cody.

Dan Cody was a very honorable man. He was a very very honorable man. Because he knew that I ran out of money and I didn’t have a place to go, he offered to raise and embrace me as if I was blood-related to him. Never had I thought that he would be such a great impact in my life that triggered me to become a new man in the midst of fatigue and lethargy. He is more than words can describe. Without him, I won’t be the person I am today, Jay Gatsby.

To think back, I was such a brave but senseless man to sail out into the dark ocean to risk my life for someone else that I didn’t even know.  To me, it appears as if God had set out paths and that I was destined to meet him.

Though I lived the rest of my life with the honorable Dan Cody, I was cheated of wealth and legacy after his death. I became poor once again.  

At that point in life, I was recruited into the army and I had attended a house party one night where I came across the most heart-striking woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Her body was as white as porcelain when the stroke of sunlight hit her skin. Never before had I seen such a smile as graceful as hers or the eyes as charming as hers.

At that time, I knew that I could neither resist myself from taking my eyes off of her nor resist myself from following her upstairs. The night passed by quickly as she looked into my eyes and as I wrapped my arms around her. I knew that things were going far from what I intended but I couldn’t help but spend the night memorably.”

Gatsby looked up with nostalgic eyes as he was telling his story about his woman. He seemed to be lost in the bliss of his own life that he continued to ramble on for hours. The crowd grew bored and tiresome of his love story.

“May I ask who that mysterious woman is?” interrupted a news reporter.

The crowd roared with boastful demands. Gatsby stopped and looked straightly into the crowd.

“Ahh….ermm…..She is Daisy Gatsby.”

“Daisy Gatsby?” the crowd fired back with astonishment. “This seems absurd! We have never heard of this name before in the entire town. We have only heard of Daisy Butchanan!”

Gatsby’s eyes grew red with furious and anger.

“I said Daisy Gatsby! How could my woman be linked to the Butchanans?  You are out of your mind! Now please don’t confuse my woman’s name with anyone else’s. SHE IS DAISY GATSBY”, said Gatsby with a loud and affirmative voice. He continued, “Now will you please excuse me? This is the end of my announcement for the press. Thanks for attending everyone.”

Without listening to the guests’ demands of further questions, Gatsby stood up and walked hastily out the door. Left puzzled and confounded, the guests in the room quickly rushed out after Gatsby but it was too late, he jumped onto his Rolls Royce and disappeared into the road.

Aspiration & Idealism

Do people really know what aspirations can cause? What is aspiration? 

I define aspiration as a strong desire to achieve success, which includes love, wealth, happiness, education and job. I think that the act of "aspiring" is closely related to "dreaming" or "desiring" something that may be unrealistic and impractical. Though there are common sayings that dreams make people's imagination go wild and limitless, I personally think that dreams are just dreams in the end. I feel that the desire of perfection causes problems in our society because expectations that are not being met leads to disappointments.

Although I do agree that people should have some goals in life, I propose that these goals should be realistic and not something idealistic. For instance, I believe that all teenage girls have the same dream of marrying Mr. Prince Charming that is rich and handsome. In this case, I would consider this dream as being unrealistic, although rarely possible, because not every male would fit the category of the ideal "Mr. Prince Charming". Although many people would think that there are no such people who would really forage for Mr. Prince Charming because it sounds absurd, I can justify that this is a misconception because it is actually occurring in today's society. From my personal experience, I have encountered a person whose biggest dream is to marry a foreigner in the desire of happiness and wealth after marriage. In this occasion, she tries every way possible to marry a foreigner or what is so-called "farang" in Thai. In the end, her dreams are being turned down and she faces major disappointments because her aspirations did not come true. More interestingly, she did not work hard to earn a status in society because of depending on this dream, which results in only negative consequences of both not being wealthy and happy.

Although dreams do give people hope and push people to reach out for the best, people should not depend on those imaginary dreams too much because dreams are intangible since people cannot control or force it. Therefore, in order to keep people from dissatisfactions, I would advise people to stay in reality and think of things that are practical.

Keep it real.


Picture source:
http://whisperfall.deviantart.com/art/Dreams-144932089

Stock/Bond Speculation

Stocks and bonds are financial economic concepts that deal with money. Both of them are considered securities or financial instruments that are tradable assets, ie. people are allowed to buy and sell stocks and bonds. In particular, the purpose of the stock market is to allow people to lend money to the company for investments. In return, the people will receive a share of the profit according to the size of the stock they hold in that company. Therefore, we can say that the people owning such certain stocks are acting as the "owner" of the company. On the other hand, the purpose of the bond market is also to let people lend money for the company or the government to make long term investments. In this case, the bond issuer (companies and government) owes the holder a debt in which the issuer must pay back with certain agreements, for example, in terms interest rates. Therefore, the holders in this context are the "lenders". In any case of the two, people are able to profit out of these markets by knowing how to play the game and when to or when not to invest. As a result, many people around the world are zealously involved in these markets since they generate ideally high returns through such economic transactions.

Relation to "The Great Gatsby"

The topic of stocks and bonds relate closely to Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby", because the characters evolve around the dream of wealth. In a historical context, many new companies emerged during the 1900s from industrial urbanization, and this introduces the idea of stocks and bonds to the country.
More interestingly, the value of stocks rose immensely after the World War and people who held shares of the stock market profited as an aftermath. It raises the point that people with no wealth or social background can become instantly affluent and make a fortune from participating in the stock and bond markets. Therefore, we can say that the characters, in particularly Nick, engage in the bond market because they aspire to become rich. Not only that, the desire of wealth also reinforces the idea of The American Dream in the novel.


Resources:
http://www.fi-advisor.com/what-is-stock-market.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_(finance)

Importance of Education

Education is the most important thing that each and everyone should have. It frees people from societal conventions, gives people liberty, and opens doors to different opportunities. Though many young adults condemn learning because they think that it is too overwhelming at times, they should acknowledge that living a real, dependent life after 18 is tougher than what they experienced at school. From my perspective, I see education as a very important factor that transforms youth into adults because it makes them become knowledgeably prepared for the real world.


On the other hand, society also demands education off a person. In today's world, there is much more competition in the areas of seeking jobs. Because of this, companies demand higher standards off a person and what distinguishes people apart is education. Therefore, people should strive for the highest level of education as possible so that they could be superior among the other bright leaders of the world. In this case, it is even applicable to say that education guarantees a person for living an affordable life since education enables people to earn money. 

Although education is sometimes tough as aforementioned, people should acknowledge how education will benefit them in the future. In this occasion, people should keep in mind that: "To be happy is to go through the process of being sad, and to be successful is to go through the process of failing". In the end, I believe that people will overcome the hardships and education will lead them to a good life. 



Image Source:
http://www.educationnews.com/2013/03/13/real-winners-of-the-coming-revolution-in-higher-education/

My Ultimate Dreams

Within 5 years

1. Get into Medicine Faculty for University

2. Stay in a nice condo in the city 

3. Get a car

4. Be in a stable relationship 

5. Travel around the world 


Long-term 

1. Have three children(boy, boy, girl)

2. Earn a stable income 

3. Open an aesthetic clinic

4. Be an owner of a resort/hotel

5. See my children get married 

Cartoon from the 1950's

The picture above refers to women in the 1950's period. The words on the picture, "That awkward moment when you realize you spend all of International Women's Day IN THE KITCHEN", is a type of propaganda that is possibly made by male who is biased towards women being the inferior gender in society during that time. However, the cartoon has no purpose of attacking an enemy, it is merely insulting women. In this case, women's role in the 1950's were very limited. They are not treated equally or in other words, have no rights. The phrase, "in the kitchen," is today's common slang phrase of how men in society look down on women as only capable of doing housework. Not only that, the phrase is also emphasized extensively through the use of capitalization and size in this cartoon. Therefore, the common use of "in the kitchen" in the modern society has become very insulting and offensive to women. 


PS:

Some might not understand this cartoon because they do not understand how the phrase is perceived in society. Therefore, the meanings presented can be a total misconception. 

Inquiry to Intelligence

From the picture above, my top three intelligences are kinaesthetic(body smart), intrapersonal(myself smart), and logical(number smart). Personally, I think that this test is accurate because I also feel the same way about myself as the result shows. In this case, I think that I work well with learning things that involves body motion. For instance, I do well in sports and dance. Because I know that I can do these things decently, I tend to do it often and it serves as my stress relief activity. On the other hand, my other top multiple intelligence is intrapersonal. This affects me with my learning immensely. Since I know myself well, I usually plan out things and set goals for myself. For example, if I know that I am going to be slacked off, I would set plans and organize the things that are of superior importance. Lastly, since I know that I am quite logical, I take subjects that requires logic because I know I will be able to master it. I feel that it is best to take or learn things that I'm good. 
In conclusion, I think that it is helpful to know the things that we are knowledgeable with. This makes us know ourselves better and helps us achieve success.  

I am Sam, Moral

The movie, I am Sam, is about a man who has a mental abnormality of a seven years old. Despite his mental abnormality, he tries to be a good father and raises his child to the best of his ability. The selected scene above is when Lucy, Sam's daughter, starts to question about her mom and why her father is different from other fathers. 

To analyze from a moral point of view, I think that Sam feels very guilty and remorseful for being different from other fathers. He pities his daughter that he cannot be the best dad to fulfill his daughter's life.  Lucy acknowledges the situation, thus telling her dad to not feel apologetic towards her. She cheers him up by saying that no one is lucky like her to have a daddy that comes to the park with his children. In my opinion, it is very impressing that a young child can be this understanding towards the situation she is facing. I feel that the conversation between Sam and Lucy is very profound and heartfelt for the audience. It teaches them to be understanding like Lucy. Not only that, in the end of the movie, Lucy chooses to stay with her dad and not any other families the court replaces her with. This reinforces the idea of how much Lucy loves her dad, disregarding his mental abnormality, and this shows the readers of 'unconditional love'.

On the other hand, Sam tries to cheer up Lucy not to feel inferior from any other kids regarding her family issues.  He mentions, "God picks certain people, special people" to answer why Lucy's mom left her. He epitomizes hollywood stars like Paul McCartney and John Lennon that they can still be stars even though they lost their mom. This teaches Lucy that she, having lost her mother like McCartney and Lennon, can also be a star. Personally, I feel that Sam is a very good father. His sayings towards Lucy is very inspiring and uplifting because it teaches Lucy to accept the truth yet become a normal person in society like McCartney and Lennon. 

There are many techniques used in this script. The use of language in this movie is very carefully chosen the way that it is easily distinguishable between Sam and Lucy's verbal expression. From the selected extract of the script above, we can see that Lucy's verbal is fluent while Sam's verbal is repetitive. This contrast effect shows the readers of Lucy being mentally and physically older than her father. 

To conclude, I strongly feel that Sam is just as good as any other fathers can be disregarding the differences. Although Sam might not be the best parent, his love for his child is not inferior from any other parents.

                                   

The Naked Emperor

This article talks about how the Communist Party manipulates its people through the use of propaganda in the cyber world. It entirely relies on the background information of China as a communist country, otherwise, it would be considered ambiguous. Because this article is written by a third person point of view, it writes about how the Party illustrates itself to the public as well as how society perceives the Party's messages. A leader in the Party posted on Sina Weibo that she "wept five times" during the President's opening speech, the common people ridicules or take this saying as a joke by mentioning he "wept five times" after he ate the spicy noodles for instance. The public backfired the leader's posting shows that they are not conceived or manipulated by the Party's praiseworthy sayings that sets them in a decent standing. 

Not only that, Mr. Zhu even wrote, “Ordinary people like us all know the emperor is not wearing any clothes. The emperor himself knows that he is naked. He also knows that we know. And yet he still walked out like this.” Mr. Zhu comments that the public knows that the Party is trying to depict themselves as the hero or the star of China even if it is wrong and immoral, yet they are continuing to draw themselves as the 'good guys'. 

I think that the intention behind this article is to humiliate the Party of how they try to manipulate their people but fails because the public knows what the Party is up to. I feel that this is very shameful and humiliating that the Party knows what they are doing and they are still doing it. Moreover, I also think that the public are working towards becoming a free country or at least warn the Party that they are not that dimwitted to be influenced by such propagandas. 

1984, Ch. 6&7 Analysis

Chapter 6

Critical Position: Feminist

Chapter 6 talks about how Winston desires for sexual encounter with someone from not having for a long period of time after he divorced with his wife, Katherine. Winston broke up with his wife because she is not interested in any sexual acts unless the purpose is for producing children to the Party. Consequently, Winston had a sexual affair with an "old and ugly" prostitute but he did it anyways. From a feminist's position, I think that Orwell's writing is unrealistic and over-exaggerating of how the Party controls its people. I think that both females and males in general cannot keep themselves away from the 'desire' of having sexual intercourse for pleasure. I feel that mankind value 'emotions' over 'righteous' and therefore, the ideal of being chaste is very hard to achieve. On the other hand, I think that females should not find a living by selling love. I feel this way because the culture I live in is emphasizes prostitutes as disgraceful and shameful. 

Critical Position: Moral 

The morals I got from this chapter focuses on being a caring person. For example, Winston divorced with Katherine because she does not perceive or enjoy the relationship  the same way Winston does. From clues in the chapter, Winston respects his wife's decision and does not force her to do things she does not want to. Not only that he also finds out that their relationship is based on the Party's needs for more children, not originally based on love. Therefore, Winston chooses to divorce for the happiness of both him and his wife. However, I dislike the fact that the old woman makes a living by being a prostitute. It is a dishonor to find money by selling one's own body. I feel that she has the ability to find money other ways. 

Chapter 7 

Critical Position: Psychoanalytic

Chapter 7 narrates about how the Party teach their people to believe the facts that are feuded but not from their eyes and ears. For example, the Party feeds in "2 and 2 gets 5" deceiving the people's sense of determining what's right and what's not. I feel that this topic is very bizarre and inhumane. Personally, I feel that the people who thinks of repressing people this way is mentally ill. However, this text still interests me because the idea presented is very abnormal and I find it a mystery to think about. 

Critical Position: Moral 

I feel that the Party should not repress its people by feeding in information rather than teaching them how to think for themselves. This limits people's freedom of thought and therefore, it is no difference from turning humans into robots. The Party should think about the better for everyone and not just themselves who gets to control and overpower the public. 

Questions

1.) Why did you initially choose the theory you did to break down your chapter(s).

I chose to write from a feminist's perspective for chapter 6 because it narrates about how Winston encounters with two different woman in his life. The two women is portrayed differently in this text so I wanted to reflect on how I think and feel about each person. On the other hand, I chose to write from the psychoanalytic position for chapter 7. This is because I feel that the message present in this chapter shows to be very inhumane and mentally disordered. Therefore, I want to write and find out the deeper meanings from a psychoanalytic scope for this chapter. However, I chose to write from the moral position for chapter 6 and 7 because I feel that I can reflect the teaching lessons I got from both chapters. 

2.) How did viewing the chapter(s) through this scope (and the scope or your partner) change your interpretation of your reading?

I feel that this activity made me read between the lines and understand both chapters in depth. It made me analyze why events in the novel happen for a reason, not just reading like I always normally do. Not only that, I think that viewing the chapter from a critical position made me understand about the a particular perspective portrayed in the chapter better because it focuses on one topic but in a great detail. 

Late October Cartoon Analysis

• Cartoon date: fall of 1939
• This cartoon is satirizing the relationship between Hitler and Stalin after they agreed on a non-aggression pact (1939) that Germany and Russia will not invade each other
• The sarcasm of the writing, "wonder how long the honeymoon will last?" implies that they are going to break up just like a marriage when there are ups and downs
• I believe that the color of this cartoon is in black and white because it is drawn back in 1939
• Hitler is the groom (has Nazi symbol on his suit) / Stalin is the bride
• Personally, I think that the artist made the bride (Stalin) looking very happy and trusted to depict how naive and gullible Stalin is compared to Hitler--> Hitler invaded Russia only after 2 years he signed the pact with Stalin

Metacognitive

The cartoon above is illustrating a marriage between Germany's leader, Hitler, and Russia's leader, Stalin. The drawing portrays Stalin's facial expression to be very cheerful but it is rather implying that Stalin will be tricked and backstabbed later on. This impression positions Stalin as a 'clown' who is dimwitted and easily manipulated. Although the drawing does not write or include any clues about the event the artist satirizes, he assumes that the viewers would know the occurrence in 1939 where Hitler failed to follow the terms in the non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia.

Furthermore, I believe that this cartoon represents the artist's view towards non-aggression pact between Stalin and Hitler. The sarcastic tone through the writing, "Wonder how long the honeymoon will last" shows that he disbelieves the non-aggression pact will work since the cartoon is drawn prior to the failure of the agreement. Not only that, I feel that the artist drew this picture to persuade people in his decade that the agreement between their leaders is just a fraud. On the other hand, because the artist is anonymous, we can also interpret that the artist might be a witness from another country in World War II but not Germany and Russia. The way the message is portrayed shows that the artist treats the agreement between this two leader as a joke. Therefore, it can be inferred that he/she ridicules the non-aggression pact as a senseless agreement. 

I feel that this cartoon is very enjoyable and creative on the ideas of satirizing these two leaders. The use of humor and sarcasm plays a role in making the viewers reminded of the failure of the nonaggression pact.

Columbus Day

The Columbus Day I know is about celebrating Christopher Columbus' finding of the "new world" which is known as the Bahamas or the Americas. Columbus is popular for his contributions of finding the new land and not of the derogating sides to his findings. Although Columbus Day appears to be a celebration, it is rather a day that people should be mourning for the Arawaks, the Native Americans on the new land who had been manipulated and tortured till death under Columbus' authority. 

Personally, I find it very frightful of how Columbus made use of these Arawaks who had no harm, thus, had great hospitality towards Columbus and his crews. Howard Zinn's writing about Columbus made me realize that Columbus is very self-centered and greedy. He was on a conquest for gold and the Arawaks did not hoard them away from Columbus but helped him search for it. The Arawaks shared food, shelter, and everything they had with the shipmen. Nonetheless, Columbus cruelly shipped the Arawaks back to his place and sold them as 'slaves'. They were nothing different from cows and buffalos that humans use. 

It is very appalling to hear that such great hero society admires and praises today is very inhumane. Despite Columbus’ successful findings, his actions led to the mass extermination of the Arawaks. The media should not publicize only the favorable things Columbus contributed but should also publicize the absence of his self-righteousness towards the Arawaks. I strongly feel that it is undeserved for those Native Americans who died without receiving the world's acknowledgements. 

Chapter 5 of 1984

The world Winston lives in consists of a very paranoid government. Systems involved in the governance of Oceania is very paranoia including the new character introduced, Syme, who is accounted for cutting down words to the bone, erasing words that existed, and rewriting the Newspeak dictionary. The government is afraid that the existence of words like "independent" "freedom" and "rebellious" makes people seek to achieve it. Therefore, if they erase those words then people would not be able to feel that way and they will be under the government's control for eternity.

In modern society, I believe that there is no such ideas that appears to be as paranoid as the one presented in the novel. The government in that time is deeply concerned about the power and authorities they hold until the point that they are paranoid. This fear can be considered as a mental disorder and results in a paranoid governance. I personally think this way because the governance in the society I live in promotes democracy and the public has freedom and rights. However, if I live in North Korea, then my viewpoints towards this paranoia would be different, I would probably think that the paranoia presented in the novel is common and usual. Not only that, the way I perceive things might also be influenced by my young age. Since I am still young in experience and work, I still have no idea of how reality is of governing people. For example, some adults own a private business and this involves governing massive number of employees. These adults would have a better idea of how it is and therefore, the hardships they faced is legit to lead them to be paranoid like the governance of Oceania.

On the other hand, I do not think that gender influences how I view the paranoia in this chapter. This might be because I consider that both genders are equal in status and is both capable of making decisions. Therefore, it would be the same as it is now if the government of Oceania is of women.

The Scarlatti Tilt

Response to ORIGINAL 

The original wording, “It's very hard to live in a studio apartment in San Jose with a man who's learning to play the violin. That's what she told the police when she handed them the empty revolver" seems to be vague. The author foreshadowed the reader the events that is going to happen or has happened in the story.

Response to DIFFERENT VARIATIONS 

I feel that the variations of this text conjures different feelings in a certain way. For example:

Variation #1:
The change of noun from "man" to a "white man" makes me think that the woman who handed the police the empty revolver is the bad person. However, my friend has another viewpoint. She thinks that the white man is the bad person because he has been racist towards the woman all along until the point that the woman cannot stand his actions so she killed him.

Variation #2:
The change of noun from "man" to "black man" makes me think that the woman is not the bad guy as she was with the white man's case. In this case, the woman is not wrong because my initial feeling of black people is that they are always wrong and usually the "bad guy". I think that this feeling is very surprising of how I judge people from their race. On the other hand, my friend thinks that the woman is wrong because she is racist towards the black man. Therefore, she is always annoyed of what the black man does and this leads her to murder him.

Variation #3:
The change of noun from "man" to "woman" for the violin player and the change of "woman" to "man" for the killer makes me think that the man who killed the woman is wrong. This is because I feel that contemporary men should have sympathy towards women (weaker sex), and therefore should treat women in a passionate way.

Variation #4:
The change of noun from "man" to "children" for the violin player automatically makes the killer the corrupted and wrong. I believe that children are never wrong because they are still young and naive while adults are old enough to handle their emotions and feelings.

Variation #5:
The change of noun from "man" to "baby" have the same effect as variation #4. It is normal for babies to cry and I would rather view that the killer is very ill-tempered or even mentally ill to the point that he killed the baby.

Variation #6:
The change of the killer from "man" to "woman" have the same effect as variation #5. Anyone who killed a baby because of their cry is mentally ill.

Variation #7:
This variation makes me feel that the woman who killed the man that watches football all the time is biased because she does not like Manchester United while the man might like the team. I feel that this is very common in society but I still think that the woman is the immoral person. She should not let her feelings overcome the idea of self-righteous.

Isaac Asimov's Critique on 1984

Isaac Asimov wrote a review on 1984 by George Orwell to represent contemporary reader's interpretation of the text. Although much of this critique talks about how Asimov analyzes Orwell's 1984, Asimov also includes the reasons behind why Orwell wrote the story. This critique shows to be representing both side ideas but leaning towards reader's perspective, or in this case, Asimov’s perspective. Asimov’s intention is to “set people straight”. Not only that, because this text is in the form of a critique and not a text itself, Asimov assumes that readers have a basic background understanding of the novel 1984. 

Asimov focuses on three aspects of the satirical novel, which are the science fiction, the government, and the international relations presented in the content. This organized format of the text makes it easy for the readers to follow along. The language used is formal and contains descriptive dictions. Furthermore, because this text is based on analyzing Orwell's novel, this text does not show bias towards communists or capitalists. Asimov comments only on why the author writes his story in this way and how he does it. Therefore, readers of Asimov's critique would not be persuaded towards either side but will be given various ideas of why the text written in that way. It is important for Asimov to be unbiased in his critique because the text Asimov chooses to review on contains cultural diversity. Therefore, prejudice comments can be offensive to either side easily and this can make people of different culture furious upon his writings. 

Personally, I think that there are many different meanings that can be constructed from this text. Since this writing is based upon Orwell’s novel, 1984, that contains many biased ideas, the critiques would then be based upon those biased ideas. Therefore, readers can misinterpret Asimov’s critique as siding with Orwell’s writing. 

Budweiser Advertisement

The purpose of this ad is to attract male drinkers. The technique behind this advertisement is through manipulating their target audience by using a sexy lady posing in the way that arouses men emotionally and erotically. Although society thinks that this ad will only lure men, it strangely attracts women as since the content on the advertisement stands out and is noticeable. Not only that, the use of red also portrays the tone of extremity. Red is a bright color, it also depicts increased enthusiasm, interest and desire. We think that the illustrator is trying to deceive people to drink Budweiser through convincing them emotionally.

The illustrator assumes that all males are attracted to sexy woman. However, the assumption that is for granted is that some male drinkers might not like this type of woman, they might like conservative woman. Therefore, this ad would not persuade those types of men to their product, Budweiser beer. 

Dao, Prim

Scarcity of Organ Donors

My First Love

Life is unfair. Some are born with 11 fingers, some are born with 2 heads, and some are born without arms. These people have different and abnormal physiques; I am different too but in another way. I was born with a dysfunctional liver. I came to know the truth when I was fifteen because it has gotten worse. I knew that my parents had been keeping this away from me because they wanted me to live happily just like every other ordinary girl.

My life changed now that I know the truth. The daily routines that I do changes and life is not as easy as it was before. I knew that I was not going to live on for so long. I feel weak and useless, knowing that death is nearby.

I can see each day getting worse. One day, I found myself in the hospital without knowing how I came here or who brought me here. It feels as if my life stopped for a moment. I was really confused as a team of doctors and nurses rushed by me, doing all sorts of thing with my body. The situations I witnessed seem so serious as they asked me all sorts of questions that I wasn’t even sure of what to answer. It appears as if I was dreaming, dreaming of a world I never imagined to live in before. As I gained my conscience back, the doctor slowly explained everything to me. He said I wasn’t going to live on for so long because they could not do a liver transplant for me since there weren’t enough livers donated. I was on the 1598^th on the waiting list and I knew that it wouldn’t reach me any time soon.

Life in the hospital wasn’t exciting. The Big Nurse treated me as if I was a kid or otherwise an old lady that couldn’t help herself. They checked on me every hour until I was really annoyed. I was waiting for the moment for the Big Nurse to come in again and I was prepared to shout and throw stuff at her. I was waiting there on my bed silently, listening for the Big Nurse’s loud footsteps. I didn’t wait for so long and I could hear her coming towards the door… I counted… 3…2…1… looking at the door ferociously. *Squeak* the door opened, and I was about to bawl but my eye got caught staring for a moment until I realized it wasn’t her.

He was muscular, tall, and tanned. He was wearing a green shirt that fitted him perfectly. He has dark eyebrows, tall nose, blue eyes, dirty blonde medium length hair, and scrumptious-looking lip. As he looked up at me, I caught myself scrutinizing his face.  I was lost in thought for a moment. I didn’t know where to go from then on, the feeling of hatred and anger disappeared into nerves instead. I glanced at him from the tip of my eyes because I was scared to look at him directly. I don’t know why I feel so awkward looking at him even though he is just an ordinary male nurse. I felt strange because I never experience something like this before. Never had I ever been so sure that he is the right one for me even if I don’t know him or have seen him before. But I could feel in my heart that was beating so hard as if it was going to jump out of my body. Never have I believed in love at first sight until today.

I would wait for him everyday to check on me every hour. The thing I once hated most has become what I have been waiting for eagerly every hour. Before meeting him, I didn’t know what to live for because in the end I would be waking up with the feeling of emptiness knowing that I have to die sooner or later. Now, things have changed. I feel that I have someone to admire even just by looking at him from a far distant makes my heart full and complete. I wish nothing more than just looking at him 24 times a day until my life lives no more.

I just don’t understand why life is unfair. I don’t know what to call it, I would rather say that it is a mixed feeling of half pain and half joy. I admit that it was really painful to know that I am going to die but it was more than words that I could say of experiencing “love” for the first time. I regret how life is unfair but at least, I won’t cry because it is going to be over, but smile in peace because it happened.

My first love and my last love…

Reflection

Personally, I chose to write about the Lack of Organ Donors because I am deeply passionate about the importance of everyone’s life. Although there are some who donate their organs to the people in need, it is only the few percentages. I feel that this issue has not been properly addressed in society that I live in. Therefore, the purpose of this writing is to promote the donation of organs.

The intention of writing a short story is to raise the awareness of “Scarcity of Organ Donors” by manipulating the readers emotionally. The message of this short story is not directly told to the readers but instead indirectly informing the issue and expanding on how the character is affected by this problem. It is expected that the readers will feel the pain and sorrow from the main character in this story, and this builds sympathy towards the people in need of organ donation like this character. Therefore, the condolences towards the main character in this story will persuade or at least raise awareness for contemporary readers of all age groups to donate their organs for those in need.

Metacognitive 5- "A Modest Proposal"

Jonathan Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal" to satirize the Irish politicians' ineptitude and also the hypocrisy of the wealthy class in the country. Swift proposes a solution to the problem Ireland is facing of having overpopulated children that are impoverished. He suggests a solution that would benefit the public socially, politically, and economically which is to make parents sell their children in the meat market to be seasoned and served for the wealthy class and receiving "Shillings" in return. This meat market regulates the economy, helps the government solve problems of these poor children from being a "burden" to their parents as well as being beneficial to the commonwealth.

From the perspective of a modern reader, Swift's proposal seems to be very inhumane and sadistic. He relies on the fact that his readers know about the political issues in Ireland. He excessively uses sarcasm throughout this text to mock the government representing a view of the public who lived under its control. Swift intends to build hatred against or look down on the Irish politicians. Although Swift does not talk badly upon the politicians directly, he deceives the readers through the use self-righteous. As a contemporary reader, this text appears to be a little hard to understand because of its language. It repetitively uses capitalization throughout the sentence and also dictions that have different meanings from today's. Despite its use of language that can confuse modern readers, Swift's writing is still an excellent piece of satire.

Metacognitive Journal 4- 1984

"1984" was written to illustrate how the idea of communism/totalitarianism and democracy co-existed in society. George Orwell writes in an omniscient perspective where he portrays views from both sides, however. He narrates this novel through Winston, the main character of this novel who appears to be a democrat. With reference to Orwell's work, he wrote "Animal Farm", satirizing communist leaders as corrupted pig leaders that deceive fellow animals in the farm. Although Orwell did not attack those Communist Leaders in his time directly, he humiliates these manipulative leaders by making them animal caricatures in his novel. He compares the Communist parties in Russia that overthrew the monarchy to the animals in the story that overthrew the Jones or the owner governing the farm. Animal Farm is an effective piece of writing that inspires the readers to hold on to a bias view of the political world as well as entertains the readers.

In this case, I think that "1984" is also another piece of work that Orwell intends to persuade contemporary readers to believe in democracy. He depicts a society with no freedom where there is a telescreen that capture people's actions and voices all the time. Orwell represents Winston's perspective where he does not like how the government invades his privacy by using the telescreen but he omits about how other people in society feels about it. However, Orwell did point out the fact  points out the fact that the public was okay with Big Brother doing the Two Minutes Hate and that the public roared and growled supporting the Party's side. 

Orwell wrote this novel during the time period when society was much influenced by Communist ideas.  However it has shift over centuries and communist ideas have been reduced. Although democracy appears to dominate the world today, Communism still exist in countries such as North Korea. If I could choose between being communism and democracy, I would choose democracy just like Winston. I feel that being governed under democracy allows people freedom. I believe that people will benefit when they have the rights to make choices for themselves and shape their own lives. Not only that, the economy will also grow when people are governed under capitalism and not collective farms.