The beginning of the Gilgamesh text talks about an ox king, Gilgamesh, who rules Uruk, “The keeping place of Anu and Ishtar” (p. 3). Things that he wants done are done. It’s his way or the high way. The old men beseeched the gods of the heavens to help them counter the dictatorship of the wild ox. The goddess Aruru heard their plea and sent them Gilgamesh’s double, Enkidu. Enkidu upset the hunters for unsetting their traps and freeing their animals. “I saw a hairy-bodied man today at the watering place, powerful as Ninurta the god of war; he feeds upon the grasslands with gazelles; he visits the watering places with the beasts; he has unset my traps and filled my hunting pits; the creatures of the grasslands get away free. The wild man sets them free. Because of him I am no longer a hunter.” (p. 6) The hunter went to Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and asked for assistance. Gilgamesh sent with him a temple prostitute to return to the grasslands with him so that she may tempt Enkidu with her body so that afterwards, the beasts will no longer drink with him nor the gazelles run with him. He will become a man. Then there will be no one to undo the traps, and the man can be a hunter once again. Enkidu falls for the trap, laying with the harlot for seven days before deciding to go back to Uruk and challenged the so-called King Gilgamesh. When they meet, it’s two soul-mates uniting. They kiss and hug and hold each other by the hand. Finally, Gilgamesh decides that in order to secure his fame in future generations, he must prove himself to the citizens of Uruk. He decides that with Enkidu’s help, he will travel into the Chedar Forest and defeat Huwawa, a beast who obstructs the way to any traveler who wishes to enter the area. Before their departure, Gilgamesh’s mother, Rimat-Ninsun, adopts Enkidu as her son, so that he may have her blessing during the trip. And there begins the harlot’s tale.
There are two obvious characteristics that can be found within this document that are typical of Mesopotamian literature. Because way of life and beliefs are reflected in literature, one can notice the polytheistic tendency of the text, which matches the common belief of the time. Furthermore, one can be aware of the repetitive affinity, which tends to repeat past information to exactly.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Mission Accomplished
The pupil, who I now believe to be the author of the book, has accomplished his mission not only as a student, but as a path through which the world can be saved. He has acquired what he needed to achieve in order to save the world from utter destruction. My studies aren’t as globally important as that, but I wish that some day, my knowledge will help many people have a better life. I think that when the student, Daniel Quinn (I believe), found out about the death of Ishmael, he thought about two choices he had: Cry and mop for the rest of the week or day or whatever, or simply accept the loss and be relieved that he learned what was intended. “What was to be done? Stand for a moment with the lowered gaze outside the county furnace where they cremate the roadkills? Someone else would have handled it differently, probably better, revealing a greater heart, a finer sensibility. Myself, I drove home.” (pg. 261)
I would have done exactly what he said he didn’t do. What he said others have done. Then again, I haven’t been on the journey of knowledge he has with Ishmael. Or, have I? In a way the reader is also the pupil because he understands and is present in every question, comment, and conclusion. Only at the end does the pupil’s personality emerge. It’s the time when you ask yourself as a reader what you would have done upon the discovery of Ishmael’s death. I have one question though… one I think I can answer myself. Why didn’t Ishmael tell the pupil, tell us, that he was dying of pneumonia? I mean, surely he knew. Maybe he was just happy that he had relieved the weight of knowledge of how to save the world off of his shoulders. Maybe he didn’t have any purpose more to live now that he had fulfilled his destiny, so to speak. We will never know for sure.
The real question is, as Ishmael’s pupils, what do we do now?
I would have done exactly what he said he didn’t do. What he said others have done. Then again, I haven’t been on the journey of knowledge he has with Ishmael. Or, have I? In a way the reader is also the pupil because he understands and is present in every question, comment, and conclusion. Only at the end does the pupil’s personality emerge. It’s the time when you ask yourself as a reader what you would have done upon the discovery of Ishmael’s death. I have one question though… one I think I can answer myself. Why didn’t Ishmael tell the pupil, tell us, that he was dying of pneumonia? I mean, surely he knew. Maybe he was just happy that he had relieved the weight of knowledge of how to save the world off of his shoulders. Maybe he didn’t have any purpose more to live now that he had fulfilled his destiny, so to speak. We will never know for sure.
The real question is, as Ishmael’s pupils, what do we do now?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Obama Speech Correction: Sentence Fragments
OBAMA: As you might imagine for Barack, running for president is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother Craig.
I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.
At six-foot-six, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too - literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today he wasn't looking down on me — he was watching over me,
and he's been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day 19 months ago when — with little more than our faith in each other, and a hunger for change — we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that's brought us to this moment,
but each of us also comes here tonight, by way of our own improbable journey.
I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor my protector and my lifelong friend.
I come here as a wife, who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.
I come here as a Mom, whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world — they're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night, their future — and all our children's future — is my stake in this election.
I come here as a daughter — raised on the south side of Chicago by a father, who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity her compassion and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.
My dad was our rock although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. As he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk it took him longer to get dressed in the morning, but if he was in pain, he never let on he never stopped smiling and laughing — even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my mom a kiss, he just woke up a little earlier and worked a little harder.
He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child can receive, never doubting for a single minute that you're loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go on to college, so I know firsthand from their lives — and mine — that the American dream endures.
And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack, was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, just like we did like my family they scrimped and saved, so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves, and Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values; that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, and you do what you say you're going to do that you treat people with dignity, and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.
Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation because; we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
As our friendship grew, I learned more about Barack, and he introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved to Chicago. After college, instead of heading to wall street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods, devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried up, and he'd been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.
The people gathered together that day, were ordinary folks, doing the best they could to build a good life. They were parents, living paycheck to paycheck; grandparents, trying to get by on a fixed income. Men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut, they were ready to work — they wanted to contribute they believed — like you and I believe — that America should be a place where you can make it if you try.
Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about, "The world as it is", and "The world as it should be." He said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is — even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations, but he reminded us, that we know what our world should look like, we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like, and he urged us to believe in ourselves — to find the strength within ourselves, to strive for the world as it should be, and isn't that the great American story?
It's the story of men and women, gathered in churches, and union halls in town squares, and high school gyms — people who stood up, and marched, and risked everything they had — refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.
It is because of their will and determination that this week, we celebrate two anniversaries; the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day, when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.
Written by Mrs. Obama.
Corrected by: Victor Vainberg, Maria Jose Fabre, Cristyna Folero, So-Jung Jin
I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.
At six-foot-six, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too - literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today he wasn't looking down on me — he was watching over me,
and he's been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day 19 months ago when — with little more than our faith in each other, and a hunger for change — we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that's brought us to this moment,
but each of us also comes here tonight, by way of our own improbable journey.
I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor my protector and my lifelong friend.
I come here as a wife, who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.
I come here as a Mom, whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world — they're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night, their future — and all our children's future — is my stake in this election.
I come here as a daughter — raised on the south side of Chicago by a father, who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity her compassion and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.
My dad was our rock although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. As he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk it took him longer to get dressed in the morning, but if he was in pain, he never let on he never stopped smiling and laughing — even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my mom a kiss, he just woke up a little earlier and worked a little harder.
He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child can receive, never doubting for a single minute that you're loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go on to college, so I know firsthand from their lives — and mine — that the American dream endures.
And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack, was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, just like we did like my family they scrimped and saved, so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves, and Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values; that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, and you do what you say you're going to do that you treat people with dignity, and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.
Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation because; we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
As our friendship grew, I learned more about Barack, and he introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved to Chicago. After college, instead of heading to wall street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods, devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried up, and he'd been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.
The people gathered together that day, were ordinary folks, doing the best they could to build a good life. They were parents, living paycheck to paycheck; grandparents, trying to get by on a fixed income. Men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut, they were ready to work — they wanted to contribute they believed — like you and I believe — that America should be a place where you can make it if you try.
Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about, "The world as it is", and "The world as it should be." He said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is — even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations, but he reminded us, that we know what our world should look like, we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like, and he urged us to believe in ourselves — to find the strength within ourselves, to strive for the world as it should be, and isn't that the great American story?
It's the story of men and women, gathered in churches, and union halls in town squares, and high school gyms — people who stood up, and marched, and risked everything they had — refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.
It is because of their will and determination that this week, we celebrate two anniversaries; the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day, when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.
Written by Mrs. Obama.
Corrected by: Victor Vainberg, Maria Jose Fabre, Cristyna Folero, So-Jung Jin
Failure as Big Brothers
Many times I’ve seen digitally engineered sneak-peeks of soon-to-be urban communities. I see the images full of construction, roads, and bridges. Then, I look at the space of condemned land beside the picture. This action gives me a feeling of depression, of sorrow and grief for the land we’re expanding to, because the virgin land is beautiful and majestic on its own. The only way to prevent this is to renounce our acquired instinct, to expand and conquer.
Not only has mankind surrendered the process of evolution by taking their lives into their own hands, but has also lost the potential of man, which is to be the “big brother” in the area of being a role model to other species, for man is the first organism to be introduced to the challenge of choosing between the tree for gods and the tree for living things. If man kind would have succeeded, it would have showed other species how it’s done and scoot over to let them do it for themselves. On Page 243, the pupil deduces the following conclusion: “In other words, the world doesn’t need to belong to man---- but it does need man to belong to it.” This is so as to demonstrate how it’s supposed to be done. Since we are the first, we are going to be responsible for dragging down not only our culture, but also the other species’ potential, as well as the Leavers’ perfected method for living. It will al go to ruin.
Not only has mankind surrendered the process of evolution by taking their lives into their own hands, but has also lost the potential of man, which is to be the “big brother” in the area of being a role model to other species, for man is the first organism to be introduced to the challenge of choosing between the tree for gods and the tree for living things. If man kind would have succeeded, it would have showed other species how it’s done and scoot over to let them do it for themselves. On Page 243, the pupil deduces the following conclusion: “In other words, the world doesn’t need to belong to man---- but it does need man to belong to it.” This is so as to demonstrate how it’s supposed to be done. Since we are the first, we are going to be responsible for dragging down not only our culture, but also the other species’ potential, as well as the Leavers’ perfected method for living. It will al go to ruin.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
WW3
Mother Culture has always accustomed me to believe that my culture is the civilized one, with all its technology and all. After all, we don’t have to suffer droughts, scarcity of food, or any tough weather (I mean extreme weather is a whole other story). Leavers have to capitulate to the gods’ will, eating what they are offered and not asking for anything else. Their wants are under control, but to the price of faith. They accept their dependency on their trust on way things are as they should be, no questions asked. On page 221, Ishmael describes why we are so eager to cling to our story that is full of stress and overload of work, and not adopt the Leavers’ story with the following remark: “…so it has to be that the other life seems even worse. It isn’t that you couldn’t bear giving up the life you’ve got---- it’s that you couldn’t bear embracing that other life.” The pupil does say something about this earlier when he talks about not being able to want something you know even exists. Maybe man has learned that it’s not worth passing some hunger if the price to escape it is work and stress. Man has been engulfed by the need to fulfill the want in such a strong way, that he has taken his survival into his own hands, a matter which was of no difficulty within the will of the gods. The fact of the matter is, this responsibility we’ve taken on has asked for the sacrifice of our happiness. This is a non-refundable responsibility. The pupil mentions something about the infinite dissatisfaction of man with the following quotation: “What the gods provide is enough for your lives as animals--- … But for your life as humans, you must provide. The gods are not going to do that.” (pg. 226)
This brings me to a grim reflection. The necessity to satisfy our unending wants has given us a life full of stress and unhappiness, which will eventually lead to mankind’s “nervous breakdown”. The population will become so vast that no amount of land in the planet will satisfy men’s hunger. And there will no longer be wars for land or even politics, but for food and water. Yes, my theory is that the third world war will end up being a battle for survival for water and food. The food will come not in sacks, but as acres of land and pounds of seeds. The water will come in gallons. At the end, the fight will be for cubic inches of land and milliliters of water. Humanity will cease to exist, taking the world’s life with it unless we enact another story. The Leaver story.
This brings me to a grim reflection. The necessity to satisfy our unending wants has given us a life full of stress and unhappiness, which will eventually lead to mankind’s “nervous breakdown”. The population will become so vast that no amount of land in the planet will satisfy men’s hunger. And there will no longer be wars for land or even politics, but for food and water. Yes, my theory is that the third world war will end up being a battle for survival for water and food. The food will come not in sacks, but as acres of land and pounds of seeds. The water will come in gallons. At the end, the fight will be for cubic inches of land and milliliters of water. Humanity will cease to exist, taking the world’s life with it unless we enact another story. The Leaver story.
SENTENCE FRAGMENT PRACTICE
Sentence Fragment Exercises—#1
The sentences below appeared in papers written by students. Act as their editor, marking a C if the sentences in the group are all complete and an F if any of the sentences in the group is a fragment. Could you tell these writers why the fragments are incomplete sentences?
F____ 1. Then I attended Morris Junior High. A junior high that was a bad experience.
__F__ 2. The scene was filled with beauty. Such as the sun sending its brilliant rays to the earth and the leaves of various shades of red, yellow, and brown moving slowly in the wind.
C____ 3. He talked for fifty minutes without taking his eyes off his notes. Like other teachers in that department, he did not encourage students' questions.
_F___ 4. Within each group, a wide range of features to choose from. It was difficult to distinguish between them.
C____ 5. A few of the less serious fellows would go into a bar for a steak dinner and a few glasses of beer. After this meal, they were ready for anything.
___F_ 6. It can be really embarrassing to be so emotional. Especially when you are on your first date, you feel that you should be in control.
__F__ 7. The magazine has a reputation for a sophisticated, prestigious, and elite group of readers. Although that is a value judgment and in circumstances not a true premise.
_F___ 8. In the seventh grade every young boy goes out for football. To prove to himself and his parents that he is a man.
_F___ 9. She opened the door and let us into her home. Not realizing at the time that we would never enter that door in her home again.
___C_10. As Christmas grows near, I find myself looking back into my childhood days at fun-filled times of snowball fights. To think about this makes me happy.
___F_11. Making up his mind quickly. Jim ordered two dozen red roses for his wife. Hoping she would accept his apology.
F___12. They were all having a good time. Until one of Joe's oldest and best friends had a little too much to drink.
___F_13. Although it only attained a speed of about twelve miles an hour. My old rowboat with its three-horsepower motor seemed like a high-speed job to me.
C____14. With my brother standing by my side, I reached for the pot handle. Tilting the pot way too much caused the boiling water to spill.
___F_15. The small, one-story houses are all the same size and style. With no difference except the color.
F____16. Being a friend of mine like he was when we first joined the soccer team. Together we learned a lot.
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The sentences below appeared in papers written by students. Act as their editor, marking a C if the sentences in the group are all complete and an F if any of the sentences in the group is a fragment. Could you tell these writers why the fragments are incomplete sentences?
F____ 1. Then I attended Morris Junior High. A junior high that was a bad experience.
__F__ 2. The scene was filled with beauty. Such as the sun sending its brilliant rays to the earth and the leaves of various shades of red, yellow, and brown moving slowly in the wind.
C____ 3. He talked for fifty minutes without taking his eyes off his notes. Like other teachers in that department, he did not encourage students' questions.
_F___ 4. Within each group, a wide range of features to choose from. It was difficult to distinguish between them.
C____ 5. A few of the less serious fellows would go into a bar for a steak dinner and a few glasses of beer. After this meal, they were ready for anything.
___F_ 6. It can be really embarrassing to be so emotional. Especially when you are on your first date, you feel that you should be in control.
__F__ 7. The magazine has a reputation for a sophisticated, prestigious, and elite group of readers. Although that is a value judgment and in circumstances not a true premise.
_F___ 8. In the seventh grade every young boy goes out for football. To prove to himself and his parents that he is a man.
_F___ 9. She opened the door and let us into her home. Not realizing at the time that we would never enter that door in her home again.
___C_10. As Christmas grows near, I find myself looking back into my childhood days at fun-filled times of snowball fights. To think about this makes me happy.
___F_11. Making up his mind quickly. Jim ordered two dozen red roses for his wife. Hoping she would accept his apology.
F___12. They were all having a good time. Until one of Joe's oldest and best friends had a little too much to drink.
___F_13. Although it only attained a speed of about twelve miles an hour. My old rowboat with its three-horsepower motor seemed like a high-speed job to me.
C____14. With my brother standing by my side, I reached for the pot handle. Tilting the pot way too much caused the boiling water to spill.
___F_15. The small, one-story houses are all the same size and style. With no difference except the color.
F____16. Being a friend of mine like he was when we first joined the soccer team. Together we learned a lot.
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Monday, August 25, 2008
Wrong assumptions
Common culture has always been greedy and power-hungry, traits which will ultimately lead to not only humankind’s extinction, but the planet’s as well. This is because the story being enacted my our civilization is not in accordance with the world, with the law of limited competition, which consists of taking only what is needed to survive. In page 84, Ishmael gave his pupil his culture’s death sentence with the following quotation: “There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with people. Given a story to enact that puts them in accord with the world, they will live in accord with the world. But given a story to enact that puts them at odds with the world, as yours does, they will live at odds with the world. Given a story to enact in which they are the lords of the world, they will act like the lords of the world. And, given a story to enact in which the world is a foe to be conquered, they will conquer it like a foe, and one day, inevitably, their foe will lie bleeding to death at their feet, as the world is now.” And all this because Mother Culture of the Takers claims: “The world was made for man, and man was made to rule it.” (pg. 72) Humankind’s ego is and has been causing the exponential acceleration of its destruction ever since Adam took the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This has been in effect because “The knowledge of who shall live and who shall die…” (pg. 160) is only intended for the gods.
By assuming godly rights, mankind took a drastic step into exaggerating his instinct, to expand. By falsely taking a right that’s not theirs, in the first place, our culture becomes obsessive slayers who kill any organism that doesn’t promote their growth. This genocide will lead to the extermination of diversity, the last resort for survival in extreme catastrophes.
If humanity doesn’t regain the lost story they used to enact before Adam, terminal amnesia will cause the crash of man. If Takers were to end up living only on rice, for instance, the life support would become extremely vulnerable to elimination. Takers’ growth impulse will not only lead to their destruction, but to the Leavers’ crash as well, who have hoarded their individual story for generations, perfecting it. The one problem with Takers is that they “… accumulate knowledge about what works well for things. The Leavers accumulate knowledge about what works well for people.” (pg. 206) This is wisdom… the ability to adapt to benefit the environment as well as to the need of the survival of a people.
By assuming godly rights, mankind took a drastic step into exaggerating his instinct, to expand. By falsely taking a right that’s not theirs, in the first place, our culture becomes obsessive slayers who kill any organism that doesn’t promote their growth. This genocide will lead to the extermination of diversity, the last resort for survival in extreme catastrophes.
If humanity doesn’t regain the lost story they used to enact before Adam, terminal amnesia will cause the crash of man. If Takers were to end up living only on rice, for instance, the life support would become extremely vulnerable to elimination. Takers’ growth impulse will not only lead to their destruction, but to the Leavers’ crash as well, who have hoarded their individual story for generations, perfecting it. The one problem with Takers is that they “… accumulate knowledge about what works well for things. The Leavers accumulate knowledge about what works well for people.” (pg. 206) This is wisdom… the ability to adapt to benefit the environment as well as to the need of the survival of a people.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
OH! So this is a Prison?!!!!
I’ve never spoken to someone telepathically like Ishmael does to the student, but I have spoken to someone with their knowledge of almost every intention and emotion that I had at that moment. I think that having a relationship based on telepathy can be an advantage and a drawback at the same time. On one side, honesty is taken to the extreme, but this can also lead to saying, or thinking the wrong thing. I believe that Ishmael’s bond with his student is a strong one because they are transparent to each other. There are no secrets.
I think Ishmael forces his pupil to think out of the box, as if not belonging to modern society, because only from the outside can he see the big picture. For instance, on page 25 Ishmael explains how some have tried to see the box that is holding them captive, but fail because they can’t see the big picture. The quotation goes as follows: “They made an ingenious and disorganized effort to escape from captivity but ultimately failed, because they were unable to find the bars of the cage. If you can’t discover what’s keeping you in, the will to get out soon becomes confused and ineffectual.” The citizens of the Earth are held prisoners to one another. There is also a quotation on page 25 that reads: “You’re captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order to live.” The reason people don’t free themselves is because their nature is to go with the flow to save energy. The student says something on page 35 that can be applied to not only the imprisonment of the destruction of the world, but also day-to-day occurrences like pier-pressure. “I think so. Even if you weren’t personally captivated by the story, you were a captive all the same, because the people around you made you a captive. You were like an animal being swept along the middle of a stampede.”
In conclusion, I have it in my understanding that Ishmael has used his telepathic abilities to penetrate his pupil to a point where he is able to think as a non-human, as an outsider, you could even say as a gorilla. The student has been able to question his whole civilization’s ego which has survived for so many eras that it is barely noticeable. The general self-centered way of thinking that has become the standard “astonished” (pg. 62) the apprentice. I also have the impression that the truth is hard to absorb when you have always lived a lie.
I think Ishmael forces his pupil to think out of the box, as if not belonging to modern society, because only from the outside can he see the big picture. For instance, on page 25 Ishmael explains how some have tried to see the box that is holding them captive, but fail because they can’t see the big picture. The quotation goes as follows: “They made an ingenious and disorganized effort to escape from captivity but ultimately failed, because they were unable to find the bars of the cage. If you can’t discover what’s keeping you in, the will to get out soon becomes confused and ineffectual.” The citizens of the Earth are held prisoners to one another. There is also a quotation on page 25 that reads: “You’re captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order to live.” The reason people don’t free themselves is because their nature is to go with the flow to save energy. The student says something on page 35 that can be applied to not only the imprisonment of the destruction of the world, but also day-to-day occurrences like pier-pressure. “I think so. Even if you weren’t personally captivated by the story, you were a captive all the same, because the people around you made you a captive. You were like an animal being swept along the middle of a stampede.”
In conclusion, I have it in my understanding that Ishmael has used his telepathic abilities to penetrate his pupil to a point where he is able to think as a non-human, as an outsider, you could even say as a gorilla. The student has been able to question his whole civilization’s ego which has survived for so many eras that it is barely noticeable. The general self-centered way of thinking that has become the standard “astonished” (pg. 62) the apprentice. I also have the impression that the truth is hard to absorb when you have always lived a lie.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
English Blog Answers
1. A book is a series of letters that create words, that create sentences, that create paragraphs, which in turn end up establishing mental experiences. A blog is a record of how those experiences make you feel, what your questions are for the future of the book, and your relative opinion on the book's "current events".
2. Blogs have morphed from being a response to a text, to expressing the feelings you experience in real life situations.
3. You might read a blog to get a scoop on how a situation you experienced maked someone else feel. In other words, a blog is a useful way to compare how an even you lived impacted someone else. This is useful because is helps overcome hardships by removing lonliness and acquiring advice. It is used to obtain an opinion concerning a particular subject.
4. My opinion is that the objectivity of a blog MUST ALWAYS be doubted, because the event described has points that are emphasised or diminished based on the person's experience. Something that to one person might have seemed tough will appear a piece of cake to another.
5. If I kept my own blog, I would give it a title that describes not only my usual experiences, but also how I generally feel towards them. I would average all of my feelings and all of my experiences and get one opinion and one situation. This general look would be a reflexion concerning what my mind thinks about most of the time and what my feelings towards that thought are most of the time. In conclusion, I have decided to title my blog "The Determined Musician"
2. Blogs have morphed from being a response to a text, to expressing the feelings you experience in real life situations.
3. You might read a blog to get a scoop on how a situation you experienced maked someone else feel. In other words, a blog is a useful way to compare how an even you lived impacted someone else. This is useful because is helps overcome hardships by removing lonliness and acquiring advice. It is used to obtain an opinion concerning a particular subject.
4. My opinion is that the objectivity of a blog MUST ALWAYS be doubted, because the event described has points that are emphasised or diminished based on the person's experience. Something that to one person might have seemed tough will appear a piece of cake to another.
5. If I kept my own blog, I would give it a title that describes not only my usual experiences, but also how I generally feel towards them. I would average all of my feelings and all of my experiences and get one opinion and one situation. This general look would be a reflexion concerning what my mind thinks about most of the time and what my feelings towards that thought are most of the time. In conclusion, I have decided to title my blog "The Determined Musician"
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