Discrimination

Despite what we may see depicted to us through the eyes of the law, people of different culture are definitely still not treated equally. This inequality comes in many forms, from disputes at work or school, down to even simple social daily interactions. As shown in the first video, A Trip to the Grocery Store, there is still much racism even in places where you wouldn't expect it to be, such as a local supermarket. I personally accept the fact that though everyone may be seen differently by one another (For example no matter what may be depicted as right, I still will not appear white to someone that is white) such extreme action taken solely upon the stereotypes associated with a physical trait just seems both pathetic and silly to me. Especially for blacks, this type of pathetic treatment may be a cause with root from this nations history. For example in the second video, the injustice done to Blacks, in which they were intentionally scammed and treated wrongly and unfairly in the housing system is simply disgusting. The fact that the interviewed man talked about how he had to work significantly more than he should have, and ended up being a "stranger in his own house" is just sad and wrong to me. If the land owners simple wanted money, perhaps they should inflict their prices upon those that can shoulder them, and not try to make some twisted statement that they deep correct by causing an already struggling group of people more harm.

Blindness, or Clarity?

As a class, this week we all picked out and analyzed one of many viewpoints on the Great Gatsby. They were all written through unique lenses and viewpoints, most of which I failed to even recognize as I was reading the novel for myself. By even narrowing down Gatsby's sexuality to the color of his suit that he was wearing on an outing, It made me question if I was not analyzing enough, or if these viewpoints were simply skewed towards their method of thinking. In fact, to question on a different level, I also wondered how much of what we discussed in the viewpoints was truly intended by Fitzgerald. For example did Gatsby truly only feel attracted to Daisy in order to "imagine what it would feel like to be part of her word" or was that simply a stretch by the author of this approach. In fact I wonder if even Fitzgerald wondered of intended any of these secondary meanings that years of analysis and breaking apart of his works have yielded. In fact I feel almost as if we look at a novel under a certain lens for long and hard enough, we can force our own viewpoint to shine though that of the novel. Are we truly analyzing more in detail, or is our attention to detail blinding us?

Favorite part of "The Great Gatsby"

Through the whole novel, “The Great Gatsby,” by Scott Fitzgerald, there was a plethora of both action packed and emotional scenes. Between all of these scenes, I found that my favorite part of the novel occurred on page 110, at the very end of the second chapter. After Daisy had just left Gatsby’s house, Gatsby talks to Nick and is worried that Daisy may not have enjoyed their dance, and Nick sais in his thoughts that all Gatsby wanted truly was to know that Daisy had truly never loved Tom. However in an attempt to talk about the reality of his current situation, Nick mentions to Gatsby that he “can’t repeat the past.” This is my favorite portion of the novel, however, due to Gatsby’s response.

“Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”

This shows a lot of how Gatsby tends to think and shows a lot of insight into him as a character. He has blindly placed his faith, as well as his own well being and happiness in his ability to recreate something he cannot, which is his past relationship with Daisy.

After saying this, he goes on to gesture around him wildly, “as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house” which is ironic as we come to know the placing of his house across the water from Daisy’s house was no coincidence. It also shows that his entire fortune and wealth that attracts so many people was all made with the “shadow of the past” in his mind, as his love for Daisy was all that really mattered ho him, and though it may have made him successful to the eyes of many, proved meaningless to himself, and ended as tragic as the unrecoverable love he had lost.

Modernism, Yay or Nay

As the modernist era began to approach, many things began so change. The very viewpoint of things so basic such as literature and knowledge began to change with how widespread they were soon able to become. This draws me to a discussion on a brief question addressed in class, how did authors feel about the modernist era. Personally I can not even begin to imagine how much they must have hated it. With general knowledge becoming more common spread, the value of their individual contributions to the history of american literature must have decreased. Their works must have simply become other pieces of literature to the common person, as they are slowly exposed to more ways to obtain knowledge. Alongside this the greater availability of transportation to people and the more active and present transportation of knowledge and ideas must have also given Authors works less sincerity in their recognition. The more "sudden breaks in viewpoints" that the common man was given took away from the breaks in viewpoints that literature was primarily used to give. Also this must have created the effect that we see so often in today's world where one individual is inclined to feel a certain way based of how another, or how common people tend to view the same matter. Modernism must have created way to the loss of differing and unique individual values and viewpoints.

Pecola's Friend

Throughout our discussion for the past few weeks on Toni Morrison’s Novel, “The Bluest Eye,” we spent class time discussing how Morrison talks to her audience about the horrible impacts of racism and beauty standards. Even if I personally could not make every connection that was talked about in class, The connections that we made in class were both thought provoking and insightful. However, should this have been or Morrison’s intentions or not, there was yet another message I managed to take from the closing moments of Morrison’s Novel, from the final chapter, when Pecola talks with her imaginary friend. As a personal take away from this chapter, I found a message in the importance of friendship, and in having someone being there for you, which is a theme that I found to have been relevant throughout other sections of the novel as well, including the telling of Soaphead’s tale, and the chapter on Cholly. I believe that Morrison managed to tell the importance of company in how it shapes someone specifically in the chapter involving Pecola and her imaginary friend, as this is where we first begin to see the shattered state of mind that Pecola is left with. By having no one but herself to bounce her negative thoughts around, they simply settled and were watered by her surroundings, and they eventually polluted the earth that was her mind. Until the only positivity she could focus on were her eyes, so blue, so pure, and so beautiful, that she was the only one that could see them. Her lack of companionship and support trapped her negative emotions, planted by her society, and caused them to grow into dandelions, killing off the joy that had still yet to grow into beautiful flowers nearby. Pecola’s aloneness caused her to eventually “step over into madness” a very real madness that loneliness always drags around with it. 

The Hussars that we are

This week in 11AP we discussed many different things but at the end of the week we brought our Friday to a close by talking about Baroque and Rococo forms of art. Of these art forms however, we specifically discussed the painting, "Officers of the Hussars," painted by Kehinde Wiley. This specific painting still follows the dramatic and grand details that are usually seen in Baroque art forms, however the most noticeable part of the picture, the black man on the horse, is what truly makes it stand out, and also what conveys the message that is is trying to deliver. In the center of such a grand picture, encompassed in red and gold and covered with gaudy and royal details, Wiley painted a casually clothed black man dressed in, as stated in class, "A wife beater and some timbs" in the center of the piece. I believe that this shows that anyone can be a hero, no matter what our current interpretation of a hero is, or what the public and society's concert of a hero is. This also relates to the discussions we held on the bluest eye, as despite what we associate and brand beauty as being, and the people we associate the word with, it truly is something extensive that can be found in everyone and everything.

Different Races, Different Faces

 As discussed over the past two weeks in class, beauty standards are something that we are made to grow up with in today's current society. Everyone seems to have an image of how the ideal person should look. Through movies, posters, magazines, and of course, toy barbie dolls, the picture of beauty manages to stay constant throughout all of this. However do different races have different beauty standards? After all, despite her white surroundings, it is certainly a stretch for a black female to grow up wanting to have "pretty blue eyes." Personally speaking (Despite not being able to speak from a females point of view) I do not believe that beauty is limited to only those who have blonde hair and blue eyes. Especially seeing that these two traits (in hair color and eye color) are entirely genetic, and are unable to be changed by someone. However I do believe that the sought after definition of beauty is slightly different to every race. After all the Indian definition of beauty is certainty not the same as the American definition of beauty that we are all to similar with. Of course they are not totally different concepts, and many aspects of both are bound to overlap, but much like the different culture in India there is a different set of standards for beauty that accompany that, and though suffering from the same issues that we discussed in class, it should be stressed that people should not get too caught up in images that they were never meant to be able to be in the first place.

The Perfect Image

Once upon a time, long and far ago, perhaps even back to the time of Jesus, there must not have been ideal social images than women were forced to fit. However in today’s modern day and age, everyone is physically expected to fit into our perception of beauty in order to feel liked by others for who they are. For example as portrayed even by something as simple as a toy doll that girls grow up with, the concept that they must be long legged, sleek, or have a “Thirty-nine-inch bust and a twenty-three-inch waist,” are simple norms that are faced in growing up in today’s day and age. This leads to much insecurity within ourselves as we struggle to inch closer to images that are created through shaping plastic, or extensive computer editing. Though irrational, the train of thought is very simple. This is how people on magazines look; this is how I should look. This train of thought is what sets today’s standards as high as they are, and what keeps them always just one step above our reach. Even when considering standards set for males, it is still hard to expect everyone to consist of: A chiseled face, sharp jawbone, abs, and so on. Overall today’s beauty standards are as unreachable as pink elephants, and no matter how much we try to chase the perfect image, or how much of ourselves we sacrifice for it in the end it will always be just another step away from us.

The seen and Unseen

In our daily lives, our race and ethnicity and two very different things that end up determining a lot about us as people, both to all of those around us, and also to ourselves. As concluded in our class discussions this past week, race tends to be knows as how an individual is referred to by other people or how an individual person is stereotyped by public views and perceptions. On the other hand, Ethnicity tends to be seen as how we are viewed culturally or religiously within ourselves or within or families and friends. The public tends to create how we are seen from the perspective of race, often through categorization through skin color or looks etc. In that sense it is not possible for us to change our race, as we are simply to make due with what is given to us and how it is publicly acted upon. Our ethnicity however is not something that we are born with or bound to. It is something that we learn from those close to us in our upbringing and something we look to for internal self definition through our lives. Our ethnicity is not decided for us by society unlike, how as we concluded in class, our race often times seems to be. However despite the social constraints to something as key to our identity as our race, "It doesnt define who we are as a person, because any way of defining it is easily constructed."

Artie's emotional Comic

In Art Spiegalman’s story Maus, the author tells the story of a mouse Arthur and his father’s experiences in the holocaust as repeated to him by his father.  His father tells him how he lived through wartime and the era of the Nazi’s and all the challenges that he endured as his son takes notes in order to create a comic he hopes to sell about the suffering faces by Jew’s during that historical period. During his father’s stories however, there generally seems to be a rift in tone between Arthur himself and his Father. At points it seems as if both of them are each on their own extremes as far as what they want out of their conversations with each other, where Arthur seems to simply want a story, and his Father seems to need company and someone to talk to. However much more of Arthur’s emotional side is revealed when his old comic “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” is found by his Father and Mala. As the comic is shown to the reader, it reveals the struggles that a character (seemingly portraying him) faces when having to cope with his mother’s suicide. This comic is very insightful to the character of Arthur himself in the story as it shows that despite the attitude that he takes on in front of his father, that he feels immense guilt at the death of his mother due to how he treated her the night before, as he stated he “Turned away, resentful of the way she tightened the umbilical cord,” and also how in his comic the voices in his head were given life under the form of other people that told him how it was “His fault” and how he “Had better cried while your mother was still alive.”

Dreams vs. Reality

Dreams vs. Reality

            As perfect as a situation may be in our head, many times it never carries over into the real lives we live in our everyday life. As shown in Kingston’s vision in the chapter “White Tigers”, she views herself as being ferocious, brave, and fearless. She is seen climbing a mountain to meet a new family and to learn techniques to become strong warrior. I believe however that this was simply her way of coping with the issues and injustices that she faced in her real life; Her dream of her being a ferocious warrior was how he managed to compliment the emotional strength that she lacked so much in her real life. This is seen in the difference in how the author addresses herself in her dream as opposed to how she addresses herself in real life. For example how Kingston sais “I leapt on to my horse’s back and marveled at the power and height it gave me”, it is her own subconscious way of giving herself power, and she goes on to imagine all that she would do with this power given to her. She however in reality is forced to submit too many others in her life due to her own lack of power. She is treated poorly by her parents and by her boss at work, and even though it helped her find how she can create long term change for those in her position, no amount of wistful dreaming could help her gain the power and strength to successfully demand what she wanted out of others, unlike her warrior self who was able to. 

Order by Chaos

Order by Chaos

Throughout the discussions this week on Henry David Thoreau’s work, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, as a class we talked through many of the ideas and concepts he demonstrated in this piece on how he viewed the government and how he thinks the American citizens should act toward it.  His central idea, around which many of his ideals were based on, comes from the motto he refers to in his work, “The government is best which governs least.” At the time in which Thoreau was alive, this idea was simply a concept of how an optimal government should be handled. Even in today’s day and age with our social and technological advancements, a nation run by those ungoverned is still an idea far beyond our grasp. So under which circumstances then, would Thoreau’s ideal government then work in? The way that Thoreau intended his motto to be viewed is that in a perfect world, and a nation filled with perfect people, who commit no crime or injustices, and always manage to reach important decisions together, are the people for whom the government that “Governs least” is intended. However even here in 2016 we are far from this endpoint described by Thoreau, and as a society we cannot function without a functional government to provide the nation with a stable backbone.

Equality in the Land of the Free

         Equality in the Land of the Free

            Throughout the course of American history, equal rights for all have always been a hotly debated topic. Even in today’s day and age, there are many groups that still feel that they are treated unequally. For example, there are women who still believe they receive unequal pay, blacks who are convinced that they are primary targets of our society’s criminal defense system, and many more (Including Natives, Asians, etc.) However, in defense of our founding fathers and the words spoken in the Declaration of Independence, I will try to approach this topic from a different point of view. Our founding fathers had, In their mind, only one concept upon which they based the document, that being, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Now looking back on this we can easily claim that this statement was in a sense one hypocritical to make, as even within our nation we practiced slavery, and women played very minor roles in our society, with most property and riches belonging to the men. However, in this same sense the Declaration of the independence never specifically took away from women or from blacks. In fact those “minorities” (Quotations as I don’t see women to be a minority as they are fifty percent of the human population) were probably better off in a free America than they were in an America struggling for its independence.

At the end of the day the inequality faced by Women and Blacks, though unfair by all means, are social issues of how the world operated at the time of our countries independence rather than an issue faced only by America.

The Joys of Week One English

            In a world as expansive as the one we find ourselves living in, there are many breathtaking beauties and wonders all around us. From everything, spanning from the Grand canyon, to others as simple as the rising and setting of the sun, beauty really has found its way into our daily lives. Perhaps the most beautiful phenomenon of them all however, is the first week of English here at troy high. It is full of many wonders, such as acquiring a notebook, alphabetical seating, and the annual “First Vocab Quiz” that always seems to have alliteration as one of the terms to learn. The list goes on and on, but nothing else can even hope to compete with the occurrence that has come to steal my heart, Summer Reading. There’s just too many layers to the beauty of what is known to us as “summer reading”, for me to fully describe its elegance. But to put it simply, I can’t be the only one that spends every day of my summer going to bed with the comforting thought of three books and three essays looming in the near future in my head. I can’t be the only one who finds the concept of reading gripping and relatable classics – such as “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck, or “In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alverez – to be anything short of exhilarating! And these joys are only the half of it. I can’t be the only one who finds joy in scouring 1200 pages worth of sheer and utter brilliance, searching for a couple of quotes. I can’t be the only person who spent the last few days of his summer (not there is ANYTHING else in this world and its entirety that I would rather be doing, mind you) vigorously re-reading my assignments over and over to ensure that they are perfect to every last letter. The best part to this journey spanning three months however, is knowing that the joy and hard work that I poured into these assignments was well rewarded. In fair exchange for the countless hours of bypassing the stories of the three wonderful novels assigned to me in order to find several usable quotes for these assignments, I am rewarded with the satisfaction of being able to claim that (If my mathematical calculations are correct) each assignment, assuming that for maximum enjoyment of reading throughout the summer I read a book a month, took roughly four weeks to complete, and that they are worth roughly Fifty Percent of our first weekly vocab quiz, while taking roughly four times more to prepare and write! (Wow, run on sentences that you can’t focus through, sounds like the SAT reading section.) That’s roughly four times the work for half the number of points! Well I hope that moving forward we can all learn to appreciate the smaller beauties in life, like summer reading for example!

P.S. Sorry if individuals who dislike summer reading took offence, I just find that to be a very un-relatable stance on this subject.