Independent Reading Post #1

For the fourth marking period Independent Reading assignment, I am reading The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff. My favorite part about the book is the author's style. The book is written as if Hoff is actually having a conversation with Pooh, and through Pooh's dialogue, it is very clear why Hoff chose Pooh to teach the public about ancient Chinese philosophy. Pooh's personality matches the ideal Taoist way of life remarkably well. This book is also a very light and happy read, which is a nice change from The Kite Runner. So far, I have really enjoyed this book and have no intention of changing my choice.

"Dirty Mouth? Clean it up with orbit gum."

I feel that if an author wants to convey a certain situation, it may make the book more realistic if obscene language is used. However, the author needs to understand that using this language for any other purpose than to make a scene more life-like can cause controversy and possibly offend the reader. If the author feels that obscene language is necessary to deliver the same shock as the original scene or dialogue, than obscene language could probably have a place in the book. Although obscene language can be used to deliver shock and provoke a strong reaction in the reader, there is a fine line between what is appropriate and inappropriate.

Walk the Line (4/21)

Authors convey powerful scenes in their writing in order to engage the reader, to give the reader an idea of the severity of the situation, and to evoke emotion in the reader. If the book did not consist of powerful scenes, it would be much less realistic and believable, which will compromise the quality of a work of fiction that is supposed to be based on historical events. If the reader is not drawn in emotionally, he/she will not relate to the characters and will not be able to understand what exactly they are experiencing. Society has played a role in influencing the types of scenes that authors choose to depict in their book because sometimes society does not want to know the whole truth. If a book overuses powerful scenes, the book may be too heavy or disturbing for the reader, and the book will get bad reviews, not sell very well, or be the subject of controversy in the media. Instead, society likes to see just enough to be drawn into the book and to be able to relate to the characters and the plot. However, in the end, society likes to see traces of heroism and hope in even the most disturbing books.

To Atone or Not to Atone (4/15)

I believe that atonement is always possible if the person truly regrets what they have done wrong and they have taken action to prove that whatever they did would not happen again. Everyday I make at least a few mistakes that I regret. For example, after getting too impatient with one of my siblings, I find atonement after becoming aware of my actions and trying harder to not get angry in order to compensate.

Write Your Own Do Dow

How has reading The Motorcycle Diaries changed your impression of Che Guevara? After hearing Che's account of the living conditions and oppressed people in South America, have you been able to justify any of his motives and/or actions? If everyone in the United States read this book, would Che still be viewed as one of South America's most infamous villains?

Colombia and Venezuela

"Revolution is impersonal; it will take their lives, even utilizing their memory as an example or as an instrument for domesticating the youth who follow them." (164)

You will die with a clenched fist and a tense jaw, the epitome of hatred and struggle..." (164)

"...the spirit of the beehive speaks through your mouth and motivates your actions." (164)

"I knew that when the great guiding spirit cleaves humanity into two antagonistic halves, I would be with the people." (164)

"I feel my nostrils dilate, savoring the acrid smell of gunpowder and blood, the enemy's death; I steel my boy, ready to do battle, and prepare myself to be a sacred space within which the bestial howl of the triumphant proletariat can resound with new energy and new hope." (165)



The picture above alludes to the first and last quotes because Che is very prepared to fight for his beliefs, just like the soldiers shown from the movie 300. Both the army in the movie and Che were very determined to protect their countries and their ways of life from being overtaken by invading groups of people. This image is parallel to these quotations for its depiction of determination and willingness to conserve a group of people.



The picture above is from the Dr. Seuss story The Sneetches in which there are two groups of Sneetches that live completely divided because the star-bellied sneetches feel that they are superior to the non-star bellied sneetches. This picture alludes to the fourth quotation in which Che talks about humanity being divided into two antagonistic halves. The Sneetches' greed clearly inhibits their development and further divides them as a species, which is parallel to the situation that Che tries to correct in Latin America.

Six Word Memoir

Dreams have no deficits. Budgets do.

Argentina

"One morning the doctor didn't shake his head in the usual way. That was enough. Within the hour we were gone, heading west toward our next destination - the lakes. The bike struggled, showing signs it was feeling the strain, especially in the bodywork which we constantly had to fix with Alberto's favorite spare part - wire." (41)

This quotation summarizes Ernesto's determination through the voice that he uses. He emphasizes that he and Alberto left as soon as possible, without absolute confirmation from the doctor, suggesting that continuing their travels was more important to Ernesto than his own health. He also talks about La Poderosa as if its struggles do not bother him at all, but that they are instead just a part of the whole journey.

"On camp beds, the only beds we'd know from now on, and lying beside La Poderosa, our snail-like dwelling, we still looked into the future with impatient joy. We seemed to breathe more freely, a lighter air, an air of adventure. Distant countries, heroic deeds and beautiful women spun around and around in our turbulent imaginations." (40)

Ernesto's voice in this passage almost suggests that he takes pride in the fact that he and Alberto will only have access to camp beds for the next few months. Despite La Poderosa's lack of functioning, they are still very excited and full of anticipation for what they may encounter on the rest of their journey. In mentioning their "turbulent imaginations," Ernesto suggests that they had a very idealistic view of what this journey might hold for them (heroic deeds, etc), which is something that will definitely change as they continue their journey in order for Ernesto to reach his epiphany.

Theme #5 Introduction

This quote suggests that a couple bought baby shoes for a baby that they were expecting, but the baby wasn’t born or the woman had a miscarriage. The fact that the shoes were never worn gives this quotation a very somber tone. Since the shoes are being sold, the person or the couple selling them probably wants to detach themselves from the shoes because they could be causing a lot of grief. This also connects to “Hills Like White Elephants” in which the couple discusses getting an abortion. Although the woman in the story does not want an abortion, the story leads the reader to think that she may get one to ensure that the other main character in the novel stays with her. This statement could also embody her emotions in getting an abortion.

Essential Question

Who do I want to become and what impact do I want to have on the world around me?

I'm still very unsure of who I want to become in terms of a career. I know that I want to pursue something where I am helping others around me instead of having a career that has little impact on those around me. I think that one of the best ways to do this would be to pursue a career in medicine because I'm interested in science and I want others to be able to trust me with their health. However, it is unreasonable for me to commit to pursuing anything specific at this point in my life.

TMD Introduction

Short story:
I remember walking out to the driveway on my fifth birthday and finding a brand new blue bike with black tires and a giant red bow on the handlebars. Immediately, my five-year-old face lit up with joy. This bike was my first ticket to go beyond the driveway on my own. It was my first experience of freedom.
Everyday my friends and I rode the path down the dirt path that curved along the trees through our neighborhood. Feeling the wind at our backs and seeing our houses grow smaller in the distance made us feel beyond our years. Everyday, while we were on our bikes, we felt that we were the only people on Earth.
"The enormity of our endeavor escaped us in those moments; all we could se was the dust on the road ahead and ourselves on the bike, devouring kilometers in our flight." (22)

Ideology

Throughout the documentary, it is very obvious that Che has distinct values that he is willing to die to defend; however, I really don't think I have any ideals that I believe in nearly as strongly as Che. Just like much of the rest of society, I value honesty, integrity, and several other basic ideals, but I am definitely not willing to go to the same lengths as Che to enforce them. Even though I believe that these values are important, I do not believe that my values should be forced upon others, which was what Che intended to do by liberating Cuba with Castro.

El Che Reaction #1

From the documentary yesterday, it jumped out at me how renowned Che was in Cuba. I knew that he was a national hero for helping Fidel rise to power; however, I was not aware that the people glorified him at such a high level. I also was not aware that he was born into an upper class family in Argentina. It was shocking to me how he chose to lead a completely different life that what he was born into or what was expected from him. The amount of exposure that Che had to political activism and revolutions over the course of the few years after he got graduated from medical school was also very surprising and obviously helped him to determine and dictate how he wanted to live his life.

Timeline Post

The Motorcycle Diaries will be similar to Easy Rider in that throughout his journey, Che will see a variety of poeple across South America, their struggles, and how society has changed over time. Part of the change that Che will view in this novel will be how society is becoming more developed and how this has had a huge negative effect on the indigenous people. This will lead him to consider some of the same ideas presented in Das Kapital that capitalism is ultimately bad for society. In Das Kapital, Marx talks about the exploitation and alienation of labor, which Che will see in his journey as he witnesses the difficulty in living as an indigenous South American in modern day society. At the end of the book, Che will likely conclude that Marx's ideas are ideal because they will allow for a more moral society in which everyone has a fair chance to become prosperous. He will also desire a united South America in which everyone peacefully co-exists, and much of the struggle that comes with commerce and capitalism is eliminated.

Bio and Intro Post

From this type of book, I would expect Che to express his observations much more than his opinions. In order to best communicate the effect of his journey, Che will probably describe the landscape and the people he encounters in great detail throughout the book, and through the observations he chooses to express, the readers will be able to see his growth through his discoveries. In the end of the book, Che will probably be slightly more straightforward with his opinions, but throughout a majority of the book his opinions will probably be kept more subtle.
In The Great Gatsby and Invisible Man, Ellison and Fitzgerald wrote the story based on how they wanted the protagonists to grow, but in this case, the plot and the course of the novel will dictate how the protagonist grows. In this book, each event may not have as much significance as in the previous two novels that we have read this year, but instead, some events may be less important and only minor contributers to his growth in the long run.
The first preface by Che's daughter expressed a lot more pride and admiration for her father as a young man; however, his wife chose to take a much more neutral stance in writing the second preface. Hers was much shorter and much more objective, expressing only a summary of what will happen in the book and how his character changes instead of incorporating her own opinion and relating the book to her own knowledge of Che.

TMD Preface Comparison

Although Ralph Ellison and F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels were clearly influenced by many aspects of their lives, the way that society was changing at the time had the biggest impact on their writing. Both authors had something to criticize about the lifestyle of their time period. In Fitzgerald's case, this was the carefree, lavish lifestyle of the rich, and in Ellison's case, the subject of criticism was racism and the severe lack of equality. The most useful research prior to reading a novel will most likely be about what was unique about society in the time period in which the book was written. It is likely that based on this knowledge, the reader will be able to anticipate what the author has to criticize about his surroundings, and the reader will also be able to determine how much truth is in the author's opinion.

TMD Preview

An epiphany is a moment of realization. Epiphanies are sometimes personal realizations about one's identity or purpose. In these cases, epiphanies can leave enormous impacts on people's lives by changing the direction that someone chooses to go, their goals, or what they choose to pursue. In turn, having an epiphany about one's own life will also impact how that person affects people around him or her. Overall, epiphanies provide people with new insight and result in a new outlook onto their own lives and the lives of others.

Glenn Beck Video

In the video, Glenn Beck expresses his shock and disgust at the public's ignorance to who Che Guevara actually was. He describes Guevara as a "cold-blooded killer" and a "Stalin wannabe," and he condemns the public for wearing Che icons without truly knowing who he was. Beck emphasizes that Guevara was part of a Stalinist regime, helped put Castro in power, and yet somehow got the western media to buy into his "legend." Anyone viewing this video would be shocked at the public's huge misconception of Che; however, this video fails to mention Che's past in which he expressed a genuine concern for the indigenous people. Che's good intentions in his early life do not compensate for his acts as an executioner; however, it is difficult to formulate an opinion from this video because it is hard to tell what else this video is leaving out about Che's life.