Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Summer Reading Response #1
One element of tenth grade Humanities (Advanced World Literature and AP World History) is perceiving and articulating the connections that exist wherever human beings are concerned- whether across languages, cultures, religions, or time itself. For your first summer reading assignment, choose a passage, between five and fifteen lines long, from one of the two texts you selected off the reading list in the post below, that makes you think of a relevant, current event (in any part of the world). Explain the connection between this passage and the current event, as well as the passage's relation to your text as a whole. Scoring for this assignment will be based on thoughtfulness and effort. (Please see my example and students' examples in the comments below.) Don't forget to tell us the title of the text you've selected and the page number your passage appears on!
Total Points: 30 of 100 for entire Summer Reading Assignment.
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John Peterson
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose to read was Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. The book takes place during WW2 where the main character Yossarian is a bombardier for the American Air Force. During his time serving in the Air Force he struggles to deal with the insanity of war, while trying to get back home. On page 412 to 413 the passage I chose is, " He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused, or abandoned. ... How many winners were losers, successes failures, rich men poor men? How many wise guys were stupid? How many happy endings were unhappy endings? How many honest men were liars, brave men cowards, loyal men traitors, how many sainted men were corrupt, how many people in positions of trust had sold their souls to blackguards for petty cash, how many never had souls? How many straight-and-narrow paths were crooked paths? How many best families were worst families and how many good people were bad people? When you added them all up then subtracted, you might be left with only the children, and perhaps Albert Einstein and an old violinist or sculptor somewhere." This quote speaks of the poverty and corruption going on in the world, while asking who is innocent of it. This revelation happens to Yossarian as he walks through the streets of Rome showing to him the actions happening around the world and the insanity of people's logic. This connects rather well to the current state of our world with so many countries in economic trouble and many more filled with " people in positions of trust had sold their souls to blackguards for petty cash, ". We hear constantly in the news of tyrants in Middle Eastern countries rigging elections to stay in power and we also hear about cases of extreme poverty in Africa. With that said I think it fits the current state of our world perfectly.
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ReplyDeleteThe book "Sold" by Patricia McCormick is very graphical in many ways but you are able to get the insight of what many girls around the world got through when they fall into the clutches of prostitution. Lakshmi, the main character, sees herself forced to have to go out and look for a job to be able to support her desperately poor family. Being lead by lies and promises of a good job as a maid, Lakshmi begins her journey from Nepal to India, with many hopes in mind. To her surprise she comes before to what soon becomes her worse nightmare, as she falls into prostitution where she'll have to "pay" all of her families debts.
ReplyDeleteAll around the world there are cases of young teenage girls getting either abducted or brought in with promises of fame and prosperity by people whose only main goal is to get money by selling their (the young girls) bodies. Yet others choose to prostitute themselves because of their economical situation. Just like in the book "Sold", India is the main sex trade "center" around the world because of the many women who seek a chance of a better life for their families, not quiet knowing what awaits for them at the end of the road. That's why the quote that was of importance to me was the one that Lakshmi lived by "Simply to endure is to triumph", because of many women who fall into prostitution get into a state of mind where most of their hope of leaving is lost. However they make an attempt to endure their hardships and make the best of what they have because surviving another day is the biggest reward many enjoy getting.
Society tries to avoid "the elephant inside the room", as many people don't really give much importance to the abduction and forced prostitution of young girls. It's a really big problem that seems to become invisible to eyes of many because of how "hidden" it is. It's a world wide problem that seems to have no end because of the small awareness it is given when it should be important and brought out for the world to see. This book shows how many innocent people (girls) go through these life scarring moments without others (such as their family) not knowing of the hell they live day by day. Which is what happens a lot now because many teens get kidnapped and put into prostitution and sadly some are never found and are forced to live a life full of horrors, while their families after a long time of search give them up for dead. Which in reality is how these teenage girls feel when their innocence is taken away from them.
"Lord of the Flies", a novel by William Golding, tells the tale of a group of young British boys who get stranded on an island as a result of a plane crash. The story commences with Piggy, a chubby boy with glasses, and Ralph a handsome boy with fair hair. They wonder the mysterious island until they find the rest of the victims of the crash.
ReplyDelete"Aren't there any grownups?"
"No."
Merridew sat down on a trunk and looked round the circle.
"Then we'll have to look after ourselves."
Secure on the other side of Ralph, Piggy spoke timidly.
"That's why Ralph made a meeting. So we can decide what to do." (Golding, 26)
Golding used this quote to show the intitial loss of innocence that the boys go through while on the island. The lack of a strong govern is what ultimatly drove the boys to insanity. Today, children all over the world are suffering the loss of innocence earlier than ever imagined. In Africa, children as young as seven years old are forced into a war. Forced to fight for a cause that they are much to young to comprehend.
The children of Africa, aswell as the characters in the novel,were never given a fair chance at childhood. Their fate was decided before they even got a chance to experince what being a child is really like. "Lord of the Flies" is an almost poetic piece of literature that provides an entertaining message that hits today's world in so many different ways. This timeless classic provides lessons that make for a better future for us all.
Ralph Ellison's *Invisible Man* is a literary work of fiction dealing with very real elements of American history- namely, the struggle of African Americans during the civil rights movement. Ellison's tale focuses on his unnamed protagonist, the "invisible man" ignored by society because of his race and background. On page 315, Ellison writes: "Still it was nothing new, white folks seemed always to expect you to know those things which they'd done everything they could think of to prevent you from knowing. The thing to do was to be prepared- as my grandfather had been when it was demanded that he quote the entire United States Constitution as a test of his fitness to vote. He confounded them all by passing the test, although they still refused him the ballot..."
ReplyDeleteThis novel, which I read for the first time my senior year of high school, continues to shock me with its reminder of the cruelty of human bigotry, and with how not-at-all-far-removed we are from a history of oppression. I think of how great the accomplishment is that an African American man is running for his second term of presidency this fall, when the world depicted by Ellison in his novel in only 1947 presents a place where denial of basic rights is a very recent memory, and where a non-white person still finds himself fading into the background of society. Yes, a black man is president and running for a second term, but have we extricated ourselves from the history of prejudice really? Is discrimination an ongoing human issue with which we will always deal, regardless of any progress we might make? My great fear is that there will always be invisible men and women in some sect of society or corner of the globe, and that as one group finally rises to the surface, human ignorance will allow another to sink below.
Emily Kansler
ReplyDeleteI have selected "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" to read. The section that I picked in this novel is from a journey up north dtransporting slaves. " We didn't know a thing. we didn't know where we was going, we didn't know what we was go'n eat when the apples and potatoes ran out, we didn't know where we was go'n sleep that night. If we reached the north, we didn't know if we was go'n stay together or separate." I chose this passage from this novel beacause to me this reminds me of people trying to make a living and even just trying to get by living from paycheck to paycheck. Some people spend their whole lives working to stay alive now in days. It seems like in this novel its the same way they really are slaves back them but now they are just "the working class."
Angelly Tovar
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the book The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. It follows the fictional journey of Henry Fleming and his experiences during the American Civil War that change him forever. The following passage represents the basic essence of this book. "Presently, men were running hither and thither in all ways. The artillery booming, forward, rearward, and on the flanks made jumble of ideas of direction. Landmarks had vanished into the gathered gloom. The youth began to imagine that he had gone into the center of the tremendous quarrel, and he could perceive no way out of it. From the mouths of the fleeing men came a thousand wild questions, but no one made answers (page 60)." This passage is meant to confuse you to put you on the battlefield like the rest of the book does. Henry is very much like the "fleeing men", fighting for an unknown cause while carrying many unanswered questions as he wanders through the forest. In relation to today, I'm reminded of the experiences of soldiers and politicians, but further analyzes leads me to the Trayvon Martin Case. No matter what actually happened, neither Zimmerman nor Martin had any idea of what they were getting into that day. I imagine that during the case, Mr.Zimmerman must have felt as though he were in the midst of a battle, all the while regretting his actions. To conclude, I consider this book a perfect example of how doing what you think is "right" can have an array of consequences and change your life.
Erin R. Saling
ReplyDeleteI chose to read William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, for this assignment. Lord of the Flies is the tale of several British schoolboys who find themselves stranded on an uninhabited island and attempt to govern themselves, with disastrous and fatal results. This quote is from when Jack decides on a new method to sneak up on wild pigs in chapter four:
"Jack planned his new face. He made one cheek and one eye socket white, then rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw. He looked in the pool for his reflection, but his breathing troubled the mirror.
'Samneric. Get me a coconut. An empty one.'
He knelt, holding the shell of water. A round patch of sunlight fell on his face and a brightness appeared in the depths of the water. He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger. He spilt the water and leapt to his feet, laughing excitedly. Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them. He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered towards Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness."
The mask which Jack is hiding his face (his actual self) behind allows him to feel fearless. Unwary of consequences or peer rejection. Allowis him to act more aggressively than he normally would. The mask also signifies his shrinking humanity and acceptance of a more violent self. I feel that this can be related to the growing ease of being anonymous today. Not having an identity - or having a false identity - attached to one's actions often frees them from backlash. In the digital age, the age of the present, it's quite simple to create accounts online bearing fake names. Or one can choose to interact with other users as a guest or as anonymous. This disassociates the person from what the person is stating. With little chance of other users finding out who they are, some attack others and fear no repercussion. The "mask" of anonymity has the power to make one less kind, less human, just as Jack's literal mask is a metaphor for his descent from a boy into something more wild and animalistic.
Wilde, Hunter
ReplyDeleteJack London’s *Call of the Wild* is a piece of fiction that follows Buck’s experiences from the time he is robbed from his sun kissed California home to the time that he turns from civilization to the wild. On page 59 London writes, “He had learned well the law of club and fang, and he never forewent an advantage or drew back from a foe he had started on the way to Death. He had lessoned from Spitz, and from the chief fighting dogs of the police and mail, and knew there was no middle course. He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness. Mercy did not exist in the primordial life. It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of Time, he obeyed.” This passage reminded me of the current lgbtqia movement because we have already struggled and fought so much to achieve some of the things that we have recently achieved that we never have a solid state of peace and are always fighting for our rights and always on guard. I think the passage shows that we can never truly take down our guard because there will always be something that is blocking or barricading the path. This passage relates to the text in showing that Buck is truly becoming the wild and it shows his understanding that the wild is a place where you either live or die and that it has and always has been that way.
Paola Gonzalez
ReplyDeleteThe book "Night" is an autobiography of Elie Wiesel. His anecdote is told in the year 1944, when his entire family was taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. "If you don't give me your crown,it will cost you much more!... Unfortunately, Franek knew how to handle this; he knew my weak spot. My father had never served in the military and could not march in step.... That presented Franek with the opportunity to torment him and,, on a daily basis, to thrash him savagely(55)." During this part of the book Franek, the prison foreman, is forcing Elie to give up his gold crown. I thought this is an interesting part of the book because it reminded me of how we can all be vulnerable at some point in point in our lives. We can all be exposed to anything, because of that weak or soft spot we all have.
Levi Ramsey
ReplyDeleteI chose to read "Frankenstien" written by Mary Shelley. The book starts off with Captain Robert Walton who is sailing in the North Pole for science. During the expedition they come across a stray man named Dr. Victor Frankenstien, who then tells the captain about why he, a man from wealth and success, was stranded and in bad condition. He starts from his childhood up and explains how he created a monster from corpses, commonly known as Frankenstien, and chased him to the north pole, where he became stranded. I chose the quote:
" The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this i had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being i had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep."(pg.51)
This passage represents wanting something desperately, without considering or understanding the consequences; then when u finally have what you wanted, everything u did was a waste and u have to spend more time and energy ridding yourself of the new burden. An example in one of today's current events is the conflict within Egypt. When Egypt was against their leader Mubarak, they spent so much time, effort and loss to rid themselves or their leader to later replace him with Morssi. But when Morssi was in power, he was worse than Mubarak and they had to spend more time, effort, and lives lost in conflict, to overthrow him from his power. This book is a great example of loosing yourself in dedication for a great desire, and when u finally get what you've longed for, your struggle and pain only continue and worsen.
For this summer reading assignment, I decided to read the famous "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley. "Frankenstein" is about Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss scientist who seeks "the elixir of life". When he creates a "monster" he abandons and rejects it, leaving it to be shunned by anyone who lays eyes on it.
ReplyDelete"I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me? You would not call it murder if you could precipitate me into one of those ice rifts and destroy my frame, the work of your own hands. Shall I respect man when he condemns me? Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness, and instead of my injury I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears of gratitude at his acceptance. But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union. Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery. I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my arch-enemy, because, my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred"(182-183).
After creating what Frankenstein believed to be a monster, he abandons and rejects it, automatically being filled with regret. Later, his creation becomes overwhelmed with anger and vengeance after being ridiculed and shunned by society and his own creator. In this passage, the "monster" expresses his hatred and resentment toward his maker for isolating him and not accepting what he had created.
In my mind I related this to the issue of parents abandoning their children at a young age. Children who grow up parent-less can become resentful and full of hatred like Frankenstein's monster did. Because of this, they might act out and be ridiculed or ignored by others in society. I think the amount of people who grow up without one or both of their parents is becoming more and more of a problem, and I think this book highlights why children need someone to guide them and love them in order to become strong individuals who can also reciprocate the feelings of love and affection for others.
The book I chose to read was "Pride And Prejudice" by Jane Austen. This book is about prideful people in the society that judges by class and manner. The piece I chose is in chapter seven when Elizabeth Bennet arrives at Netherfield. She was alone and the bottom of her dress was covered in mud, the ladies of the house were quick to judge her and were creole to her because of her first impression toward them. In our society to day we are quick to have an opinion about someone, we meet them and quickly decide whether we like them or not, and like the ladies we treat those we don't like with disrespect and cruelty without even realizing it. In this we carry history with us were ever we go, the pride of bake then continues and we make our own opinions out of this by the way we think of people and the was we think of different things.
DeleteAileen Martinez
ReplyDeleteThe book I read is “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker. It’s about a girl named Celie, she was sexually and physically abused by her father and married a man who does the same to her. She grows up seeing woman be abused just like her, but they know how to handle it. Celie learns to stand up for herself and fight back with the help of Shrug Avery who becomes Celie’s friend /lover. She also helps Celie find her sister which she meets at the end and reunites with her family like she always wanted to.
"When I see Sofia I don't know why she still alive. They crack her skull, they crack her ribs. They tear her nose loose on one side. They blind her in one eye. She swole from head to foot. Her tongue the size of my arm, it stick out tween her teef like a piece of rubber. She can't talk. And she just about the color of a eggplant." pg. 88-89
Sofia denied Miss Millie’s offer when she asked Sofia if she can be her maid. Sofia replied with “hell no” when Miss Millie’s husband the Mayor ended up beating Sofia and putting her in jail for denying Miss Millie.
I think it relates to how men treat women, there are men out there who believe women are meant to stay home and take care of children also there are men out there who miss treat women and think it’s normal to beat or rape women. For example Mayor Bob Filner sexually harassed women that worked for him.
Eduardo Sanchez
ReplyDeleteThe book I read was The Diary of a young Girl by Anne Frank. This book was about a Jewish girl living in Holland during the extermination of Jews (ww2).When Anne turned 13 her parents got her a diary. Anne wrote about her life, her grades, and events. She had a good life going on but felt she was not being understood. Her life was going well but when Germans occupied Holland everything changed. One day Anne's sister, Margot, was called to the authority but
her family then knew about the extermination of Jews and were almost sure Margot would be taken to a concentration camp. Anne and her family then started hiding in her father's office building. They lived there for two years and more people were added to the "Secret Annex" later on. Anne's childhood was spent hiding, her life was miserable. Anne spent a lot of time trying get better in literature and tried to learn more about how politics worked. Soon Anne was angry at her way of living, once she thought it would have been better to be captured and die than
to live in the Secret Annex. She then wrote differently and later didn't write anymore. After her last entry the Secret Annex was discovered and everyone was taken to concentration camps. Then nothing was really known about the people in the Secret Annex.
The book I read was "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. This book is about a beautiful young country girl. Tess at age of 16 goes to a wealthy home in search of work. There she is raped by the wealthy young man Alec, and has a child who dies being a baby. Overtime she falls in love with Angel, and happily marries to him. Angel abandons her when he finds out about her passed. At the end Tess is put to death because she kills Alec and Angel marries Tess' sister since Tess had told him.
ReplyDeleteI connect this passage to a real event in the world since there are teens who want to help their parents and they go in search of jobs, leaving their homes being innocents, and not knowing what kind of harm there is.
Poor Tess is an example, she got rape at age of sixteen.
'O mother, my mother!' cried the agonized girl, turning passionately upon her parent as if her poor heart would break. 'How could I be expected to know? I was a child when I left this house four months ago. Why didn't you tell me there was danger in men-folk? Why didn't you warm me?'
Ismael Ramirez
ReplyDeleteThe book i decided to read was called Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. The book is about an old but successful man named Willy who believes wholeheartedly in what he considers the promise of the American Dream—that a “well liked” and “personally attractive” man in business will indubitably and deservedly acquire the material comforts offered by modern American life. Oddly, his fixation with the superficial qualities of attractiveness and likeability is at odds with a more gritty, more rewarding understanding of the American Dream that identifies hard work without complaint as the key to success. Willy’s interpretation of likeability is superficial—he childishly dislikes Bernard ( foe ) because he considers Bernard a nerd. Willy’s blind faith in his stunted version of the American Dream leads to his rapid psychological decline when he is unable to accept the disparity between the Dream and his own life.
The passage i decided to choose is as follows:
Pg. 56 " Linda: Then make charley your father, Biff. You can't do that, can you? I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person. You called him crazy-
I relate this passage to everyday issues that happen to everybody almost everyday. This passage basically summarize about conflicting issues between two people. An example will be when two best friends fight about something silly. But in the end they both feel guilty and make up with each other because they know thats the right thing yo do.