Wednesday, July 21, 2010
21st Century American and The American Dream
Americans nowadays are always on the move, stressed out, eating fast food, and never have enough time to get done what they need to get done. It's sad, but that is how most Americans live their day-to-day lives. Also, many 21st Century Americans live in this virtual world. All we see now, is people talking on the phone, texting, on the laptop, iPod, iPad, iPhone, iWhatever, or playing video games. I think the biggest problem when it comes to child obesity is how much our children sit inside on their ass and watch T.V. or play video games. I think if this was cut out and outside activity was better reinforced, we would see this problem level out a little bit.
As for the American Dream, people want a lot of what they cannot have. I still think their is that pursuit of happiness, if you will. People want to have nice things and want to be happy and financially stable. But, in these times, that is hard to do. People nowadays are just looking for any type of employment opposed to the career of their liking. Like I said earlier, the American Dream has changed from the white picket fence to the new Blackberry or iPhone 4. Many of the things we want in our live and for our kids are of the electronic type. The thing is, I only see our lives becoming more driven by electronics. But, I guess time will tell.
Eric
The Woman Warrior
I also liked the second chapter, Two White Tigers. I thought it was cool how Kingston dreamed of being a woman warrior. This chapter reminded me so much of the Disney movie, Mulan. I liked that movie, so maybe that is why I liked this chapter too? I'm not really sure. I just like how she would have done just about anything to become a woman warrior. I think she wanted to do it more just to prove to people that women can do what is perceived to be a "man's job."
I did not care for the last three chapters quite as much. I am just not big into stories when ghosts are in the picture. But, then I started to think.. Are the people that the Chinese women are calling ghosts, all the American people that treat them differently? That is kinda what I took from it. I thought it was horrible that Moon Orchid's husband came to America and found some other woman and told Moon that he wanted nothing to do with her and could get in trouble over their marriage.
Overall, I found The Woman Warrior to be pretty interesting and a pretty easy read. I think it is horrible how women were treated in China. However, I think that a lot of this still goes on not only in China, but around the world. Even in the United States, there is discrimination against females. While I wish this could stop world wide, that is just not realistic. But, I think Kingston did a good job portraying Chinese society/culture from a woman's point of view.
Eric
Monday, July 12, 2010
Hmmm...?
Beloved Reader Response
However, I did think that there was a lot of great history presented in this book. I learned quite a bit about slavery in the past. It is very sad that slavery even existed, but even sadder about how slaves were treated. They couldn't get married, they couldn't be with their families, which amounted them to being nothing more than property. In the book, they talked about Paul D, Paul A, and Paul F. They were all brothers, but their owners decided to call them by these names instead of by their actual names. Another graphic part was when Paul D had to wear the iron bit. Doing this to someone is completely inhumane. The sad part to me is, the owners of the slaves that were doing these things, did not see anything wrong with what they were doing. I guess it is hard for me to picture slavery nowadays or even think about what it would be like, for that matter.
Does everyone think that Beloved is Sethe's daughter that she killed? That is really what I thought throughout the book. However, I was reading some background on this book on Sparknotes.com, and they suggest that that Beloved could also be the ghost of Sethe's mother? Remember, Sethe's mother did hang herself (If I remember right?), so it could be her coming back as well. I just thought I would bring up this question to see what everyone else thinks. I still do think that Beloved is the ghost of the daughter that Sethe killed.
I am glad that I read this book. It opened my eyes about slavery even more. I would really like to see this movie, now that I have read the book. I also would have liked to have seen the biography presentation prior to reading the novel. I really don't know much about Toni Morrison, so it would have been nice to know some about her background before diving into this novel. While it was a slow and somewhat boring read, I am glad that I read it.
Eric
Beloved
Overall, I thought Beloved was worth reading. I thought that the story was very slow going and dry throughout almost all of the book. It was pretty hard for me to get into the book, and I often found myself going back and rereading pages. Maybe it is just the fact that summer session is harder to get motivated, but I really thought this book was hard to get into. There was very little action throughout this novel which was one of the main factors that made it hard for me to get into. I also thought that this story was a little hard to follow at times. In some chapters, there seemed to be so many pronouns being used, that I was not sure which character the pronoun was referring to.
However, I did think that there was a lot of great history presented in this book. I learned quite a bit about slavery in the past. It is very sad that slavery even existed, but even sadder about how slaves were treated. They couldn't get married, they couldn't be with their families, which amounted them to being nothing more than property. In the book, they talked about Paul D, Paul A, and Paul F. They were all brothers, but their owners decided to call them by these names instead of by their actual names. Another graphic part was when Paul D had to wear the iron bit. Doing this to someone is completely inhumane. The sad part to me is, the owners of the slaves that were doing these things, did not see anything wrong with what they were doing. I guess it is hard for me to picture slavery nowadays or even think about what it would be like, for that matter.
Does everyone think that Beloved is Sethe's daughter that she killed? That is really what I thought throughout the book. However, I was reading some background on this book on Sparknotes.com, and they suggest that that Beloved could also be the ghost of Sethe's mother? Remember, Sethe's mother did hang herself (If I remember right?), so it could be her coming back as well. I just thought I would bring up this question to see what everyone else thinks. I still do think that Beloved is the ghost of the daughter that Sethe killed.
I am glad that I read this book. It opened my eyes about slavery even more. I would really like to see this movie, now that I have read the book. I also would have liked to have seen the biography presentation prior to reading the novel. I really don't know much about Toni Morrison, so it would have been nice to know some about her background before diving into this novel. While it was a slow and somewhat boring read, I am glad that I read it.
Eric
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Bit of Frustration
Today, I was going to Chase Bank on Dirksen. As I got to the bank, I noticed a two vehicle accident about a block down the road on Dirksen. So, I drove down there to find both cars blocking lanes of traffic. One person was out of the car and there was an elderly female entrapped in the other car.
I turned around and stopped to see what was going on. The man in the one car was fine and was on the phone with someone, I was assuming 911. The elderly female could not get out of her car and said she was not injured. She spilled hot coffee in her lap, so he had very minor burns. Therefore, I crawled into the car to help this lady out. She was shaking and very upset about what had happend. She told me that she had been sitting in the car for 20 minutes, so I asked if anyone had called 911, and come to find out, no one had. 20 minutes, and no one called 911. Unbelievable. Everyone assumed someone else did. So I called and talked to the dispatcher and they started police our way. The female climbed out the passenger side of the car and ended up being alright. Police showed up, and told me I was free to go and thanks for stopping.
The hard thing to believe was, when I asked the other man if he was okay, he said yes. Then I asked if he called 911 and he said yes, but only told them it was a car accident with damage only. I asked why he didn't check the other person to see if she was okay. His response was, the bitch hit me. I said, I am not the police, and I am not here to figure out who caused the accident, I just wanted to know if he checked on the other person. I found it unbelievable that this man did not even check the other car to see if she was okay.
I guess the moral of this story, is don't assume 911 has been called with the proper information. It never hurts to call again.
Luckily, this lady was not injured too bad, but if she had been, it would have been even longer before the proper care got there to help her. Remember, you never know when it might be you that needs the help.
Eric
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Who is the Indian Killer?
Personally, I think John was the killer. I know that it does not say that anywhere in the book, but it also does not say that he was not the killer. I think Alexie set John's character up from the beginning to be the assumed killer. John was adopted, he didn't live on the reservation, he was a social outcast, and was just not happy with his life. In addition, he also seemed to suffer from some sort of mental illness. All of this leads me to believe that he was the Indian Killer. He had seen how hard life was for Native American's so along with all his hardships growing up, I think he decided to take matters into his own hands. This is just what I personally thought when I read the book, so feel free to argue with me!
When thinking about what he represented, I think the Indian Killer wanted peace in the end. I know killing isn't exactly taking it the right way, but I think he wanted everyone to be happy. The Indian Killer has seen how Native American's were treated and how they were outcasts to society. I think he or she wanted to make people realize that Native American's are just like any other humans and should be treated the same way.
Eric
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Discrimination
I left that restaurant angry. What had happened was not fair. In my mind, it was bullshit. I wanted to go off on all the people there. But, ya know what, I am happy that guy stood up for himself. I am glad he put up a fight. It is an absolute shame that people are still discriminated against, to this day. We are all people. We are all human. What does the color of one's skin matter in the big scheme of things? Nothing.
I hope you guys found this story interesting. It is completely true, and still makes me mad to this day because I know that it is happening to other people in other places.
Eric
Monday, June 28, 2010
Reading Response - Indian Killer
From the first page, I was sucked into this novel. I found the first chapter very interesting and wanted to read on to find out what was going to happen. As I got to the end of many of the chapters, I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.
While the murder mystery storyline was interesting to me, I could not stop thinking about what a hard life John had. He started out being adopted by two white Americans. As we read, we found out that this was clearly not socially acceptable, and still may not be today in some parts of the United States. John clearly had a hard life being separated from other Native Americans and having to grow up in a "white" society. I think growing up apart from his Indian background caused him to have the anger problems and other problems. He felt like an outcast. That nobody liked him. John did not fit in in a "white" society. Seeing the way he was treated by people made me hurt for him. I don't feel like anybody should have to be treated like that. We are all HUMAN!
This book was copyrighted in 1996. This makes me think that this type of discrimination is still going on today. I do not think this is fair or should be happening considering that the United States is considered the melting pot, the land of the free, the place where you can be who you want to be. The unfortunate thing is, there are still people like John who are not being treated fairly because of the color of their skin.
Overall, I really enjoyed Indian Killer. It was one of the better books that I have read lately. I am glad that it was assigned to read, because not sure I would have picked it up off the shelf's.
Eric
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Reading Response - Fear & Loathing
On the other hand, I am glad that we had to read it for class. If it was not for class, I know that I would have never picked this book up and read it. I think it is good for me to open up a little bit and read new literature. I learned a few things from reading this book, such as someone can survive on that many drugs, and from our class discussions. I am glad that a book like this has sparked such class discussions because that makes class a lot more interesting.
Looking back on this novel, I really don't think I connected with it much. Like, I don't feel like I connected with any certain character. I found it very interesting that these people were able to live a life like they did. It makes me realize that there must be other people out there doing it as well.
Overall, this was not a book that I would go back and read again. I am looking forward to the movie, maybe it will help me realize what happened a little bit better.
Eric
Monday, June 14, 2010
What is "The American Dream?"
Another part of "The American Dream" is to have a job and be financially stable. Having money and being able to support one's self is important and brings happiness in many cases. Nowadays, many American's are in debt and therefore are losing everything they have. I think that many people strive to be financially stable.
While there are other factors that come into play, I think the other main part of "The American Dream" is having a loving family and friends. It is important to have these people in one's life as a support system. Without people like this, it is hard to be happy. While there are some people that prefer to do everything on their own, most of us like having a strong support system. I think many people who are not close with their family and friends envy those that are.
Overall, I would say that being happy, financially stable, and having a strong support system are the main parts of "The American Dream." When people who don't have these aspects in their lives look at people who are happy, have money, and loving friends and family, they say "Man, they are living the American Dream."
Eric
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Describe the quintessential 21st Century American
Now, I think of the quintessential 21st Century American as being someone that has great friends who will support him or her no matter what, has a stable job, is doing well financially, and most importantly is happy. I think the biggest thing for me is seeing people happy. If people are happy, then their life is good. Many people don't need money, a nice house, etc. to be happy. While I know America is not entirely like this nowadays, I personally think truly being happy is what matters in life.
I hope this answered the question. I think I got a little off topic at the end, but oh well!
Eric