Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress

3) There are many ironies present in the story. Choose one major irony and explain how/why the irony shapes the meaning of the story.

Dai Sijie's book is full of ironies, especially at the end of the book. One of the major ironies is hat at the end of the book, Luo and the Little Seamstress "switched" places. By the time Luo had started to see the world differently because of the re-education, the Little Seamstress wanted to go back to where Luo came from. Sijie set up this irony because it was unexpected and this made the book have more meaning. By showing that what Luo expereinced during those months on the mountain had changed him, and by showing that reading from a Western book about the city which the Little Seamstress had never seen before changed her, Sijie underlines the idea that a smalll amount of exposure to something can change the way one percieves life completely.

Another irony similar is that the books that we illegal and forbidden were thought to have brought beter things as an escape from the strict society, and at first theyt did. But after a while the books turned out to be he cause of many problems, particularly between the Little Seamstress and Luo. The book swere suppoesed to be a way that Luo and the Little Seamstress could free their minds from the confines of the society, but instead the books forced the Little Seamstress to leave in an ironic, unexpected way.

Irony is the major factor that makes te book what it is and Sijie uses it perfectly in a slightly subtle way that keeps the reader intrigued and gives the feeling that is intended.

Tree of Othello

The tragic vision in the play Othello is what the entire play is about. The tragedy of the play is what makes it great. Frye's metaphor about the tragic hero of the play being the great tree that is struck by lightening is perfect in the case of Othello. Because Othello is the tragic hero, he is the tree and is therefore struck by the lightening. Iago is the lightening that strikes Othello's life so suddenly and so forcefully. In the tragedy of the play, once one fire is set, it spreads to all of the other clumps of grass, which are the characters in the play who are not Othello. In fact, the characters other than Othello who get affected by Iago's lightening are, in some cases, affected more than Othello is.

Emilia is affected by Iago trying to make Othello suffer becasue she will obe and hang onto her husband through anything and do whatever she needs to do to make him happy. And in her blindness to the truth, while doing what Iago asks, she actually helps him to complete his evil plans to destroy Othello. This sets fire to Emilia because without knowing it she is doing evil and is betraying her friend Desdemona and Othello. Emilia's obsession with pleasing Iago blinded her from what he was doing and what she was doing to help him.

Roderigo and Cassio are also characters that are affected by the fires that started with Iasgo and spread through his plans to destroy Othello. Iago uses Cassio as an excuse for Roderigo to feel the jealousy that Iago feels. Through his manipulations, Iago gets Roderigo to attack Cassio because Iago is jealous of him. Roderigo is Iago's puppet that he uses to corrupt the lives of the other people in the play. Iago is also the lightening that strikes the tree because he tells Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio and that sets Othello off on him. This is where the lightening strike spreads through the smaller clumps of grass.

All that Iago does to affect the lives of the different characters is all chaneled through Iago hatred and jealousy of Othello most of all. All that Iago tells people ad makes people do, he does so that he can get something that Othello has that he doesn't; Desdemona is one of these things. Iago is jealous of the love that Othello has for Desdemona and so he wants to destroy Othello because of it. Eventually, Iago attacks Othello's life and reputation so much that it leads Othello to commit suicide.

The tree of trgic vision in the play Othello is Othello himself. The lightening that strikes that tree is Iago and his actions. And in striking the tree with eil, Iago causes many more tragedies in the lives of not only Othello, but of all people that had any relation to him or Iago. Even though the lighening hit the tree dead on, the effect was felt by the grass around it as well.

Ah, Love....What?

Love is complicated because, well, look.

-Is it true love?
-Is it that you feel when you think it s true love?
-Is it that you have to love, like your parents, even if you dont like them?
-Is it love for a close friend?
-Is it love like you do the guy who brings you your wings with extra celery at Taco Mac?


Love is complicated because there are so many types of it.
You can't just like someone for doing something, you have got to have a reason.

Also, you cant really express the way you feel for someone that you love, you can only say that you do love him/her. And if someone asks you why and you reply because hes funny or shes smart, you know that you are not sayong everything because there is always that one unexplainable detail tha lets you know that you love them.

It Ain't Easy

Listen, being a teenager is not all the fun ease that you see in the movies. Its tough work. You are always worrying about something and someone is always worrying about whether or not you are worrying about that first thing you should be worrying about; Exhibit A: college.

Growing up means responsibility, and by the way things are lookin', I don't think anyone is ready for that. Lets just take one step at a time.

1) College: Being this age means that we have to start looking at colleges. It means we got to keep our grades up and have a social life at the same time. For some people, this could be a challenge. Right now, I'm sure that everyone is worryed about their grades and whether or not they will get into that one college that they've always wanted to get into. For me, I worry that with the hope scholarship letting lots of people in and making it tougher, that I won't get into my favorite school. And people are always like,"don't worry, you'll get in" and I'm always like "I'm not worried". Come on people! Of course I'm worried! Its college! Everyone is!

2) Jobs: Growing up means making a living and I don't want that. My parents told me hat I got to get a job this summer and that only makes me feel closer to being on my own. I know people always say that they can't wait to get out of the house or that they don't want to be with their parents anymore, which may be true, but how many do you think really don't want to live off of their parent's wallet anymore? Really? Everyone likes not to have to worry aboutt their own bills and incomes and spending limits and that shit.

3) Social Life: Being his age means that everyone got to be coola nd have friends. If you don't you're a loser. This can be very stressful and when combined with exhibits A and B, there can be problems. Its hard to keep up with school work and jobs when you are also trynig to "have a life".

Pretty much growing uip and being a teenager is not as easy as it sounds, but enjoy it while it lasts, it is still part of everyone's lives (and after this you on your own!).

Ma Famille

Your asking me about my family? Why? I mean, I dont know where to begin, you know? Lets see... I've got my mom, um... my dad, my brother.
First things first. I have a very clse relationship with my family. I know you hear people say I hate my parents, they suck, they never let me blah, blah, blah. Well my family isn't like that. I've never had to say that before so I dont know where they are coming from.
Everyone in my family is lots of fun, and I'm not just saying that. We go places and we do things. I like my whole family. My parents take my brother and I on vacation a lot and we always do fun stuff.
My mom is a lot of fun. She funny, shes crazy, she likes sports and TV. Both of us get along very well and there is hardly ever a time when one of us is mad.
My dad is the funniest person I know, and I know that sounds cliche because everyone says that, but its true. He always can come up with a joke that has to do with anything that ever happens. He also makes fun of everyone, even me. As a matter of fact I am his favorite victim. He is always calling me a moron or a jackass, but he is not doing it to be mean, he is normally doing it to make my brother laugh or because I was being a moron or jackass.
My dad went to UGA and my mom to Florida so there is always a sense of rivalry hate between the two and that is always a lot of fun. (When Auburn played Florida, he said he was rooting for injuries)
Now last and certainly least, my little freshman brother (he really is little: 4'6"). He is sometimes fun, but very often he gets into a bad mood and takes it out on me. When ever he is annoying, he will start trying to get me in trouble by yelling or something and then saying that I was bothering him and I provoked it. Whenever he is not being annoying or is in a good mood (1 out of 3 days), we are good friends and get along.

If you ever met my family it would seem normal, but if you were invisible and just saw us some random week night, you would think that we are the most functional disfunctional family ever.

Fate.... Fate?

All I know about fate is that it is on my side. Either that or I control fate.

No, but seriously, after studying and looking at how fate works, I walk away not knowing, I walk away wondering, questioning. None of what we have done in class has helped to clarify fate, it only adds more uncertainty. Though Oedipus has led me to come up with my own theories (see Fate vs. Freewill: Phase 2).

Harold Crick led me to think that maybe we aren't in control of our life and that the only way to change our fate is to finds our author. I think that there is no way of knnowing whether or not we are in control of where we end up and there never will be.

Anyway, Im not saying that I didnt learn anything, Im not saying that it was a waste of time, Im just saying that Oedipus makes me wonder more about fate. And in this class wondering is good, isn't it?

Fate or Freewill: Phase 2

I just thought of this after our discussion in class today.
Fate and freewill might not be different. Maybe freewill shapes our fate. Like cause and effect. Freewill is the cause and fate is the effect. They are the same thing. Choices you make are your own freewill, but what happens because of your choices is fate. FREEWILL (cause) --> FATE (effect)

Fate or Freewill

Freewill. Theres no question. It isn't my fate, my destiny, to write this post, but I'm doing it because I want to. Everything that happens in your life happens because you made it happen. Everything happens as a result to something that you have done before.

If certain events that happened in your life were part of your fate, then how would you know what you did for yourself or what was going to happen anyway because of some higher force. Everything that you do has an effect on everything else you do. If every action has an equal reaction, then that means that every action I take has a reaction that would vary depending on the action I took in the first place: freewill. But if events in your life were a result of fate, then that would mean that every action does not have an equal reaction because fate would have happened anyway and the action would have no reaction based on it. Get it?

Live Or Die?...Live

I would much rather live a long life and remain in my small group of friends. I don't need to have to be famous to feel good about myself in the long run. As long as I am known to the people that care about me and that I care about, I'm fine. If you live a longer life, than you can affect more people, maybe not on a grand scale, but everyone that you ever interact with in your life gets affected by you and your actions. That is why I would rather live happy than die famous (not that beong famous doesnt make you happy).

My Story: Toy Story

When I was a kid, I was OBSESSED with Toy Story! It was like my favorite movie of all time! I used to watch all the time and all the time was pretty much when ever I had the chance. I loved the way the toys all came ot life whenever Andy was not in the rom. And I loved to sit in my room with all of my toys and pretend that they came to life also (I also talked to them telling them that it is okay if they are alive, I wont tell anyone). And Sid? What a perfect little antagonist! A kid who throws dynmite at other toys! I mean come on!! Perfect. And then at the end when all of the toys crawled out of the mud and stuff, awesome. That is brilliant. When Woody turns his head around and speaks to Sid and Sid goes running into the house, arms flailing and everything. My mom tells me that when I was little, I would say, "Sid runs like this!" and then I would run around the house waving my arms.

And don't forget the great, the almighty Buzz Lightyear. I mean who in the history of all existence would not and does not like Buzz Lightyear? He the best! Not only does he have a sweet space suit with wings and karate chop action and can fly, can fly. How could it get any cooler than that. Oh I know, how 'bout you give a sweet space name like Buzz Lightyear. If only there were any other Buzzes in space...

My only regret was that I never was Buzz Lightyear for Halloween...
To infinity and beyond!

Siddhartha Philosophy

The philosophy behind Siddhartha is that throuhgout life, one already has within them the knowledge and wisdom that one needs to get through life. That there is no need to search throughout your life for wisdom and understanding, that to realize that one already has the wisdom within them is true knowledge and understanding.

The problem wih the western world is that we, and I do include myself, think that throughout life you gain your wisdom from your experiences whereas the philosophy in the book says that experience helps to bring out the wisdom that was already in you. Westerners think that the older one gets, the wiser one gets; Easterners think that you are already as wise as you will ever be at a young age, old age just helps to show it.

High School

My high school life has been like a maelstrom. People are always worrying about stuff and are getting sucked into a black hole of hectic activity and confusion. People are always in a hurry and sometimes I seem to be in a hurry to get through it. Sometimes I feel that I cannot control what is happening in my high school life. Sometimes I wonder why people change the way they are in order to fit in, even though high school is only four years long. If you take off the senior year of worrying about college and the freshman year of worrying about high school, people only get 2 years to slow down through it. And even then you always ave the constant reminder of your grades having to be good.
I measure my life out in days off where I dont have to worry about school or grades or anyhthing.

Icons

One icon that I think pervades the lives of people in his day and age is the iPod. Everyone has one and those who don't either wish they did or have something like one. People listen to iPods where ever they are going whether they are walking or running or biking or flying in a plane or taking a road trip. One can hardly ever find an iPod owner that does not have it with them. Music has become so popular in the past several years that people cannot go anywhere without being able to listen to it.

My Favorite Quotes

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." -Neil Armstrong

I like this quote a lot because I feel that it is important to everyone. When Armstrong was climbing down the ladder of his lunar lander, he said this famous line. This quote does no only mean that it is a big step for man to make it to the moon, but it also means that mankind has entered a new age of technology and it has taken them many had years of work and research. This quote als means that man has extended his boundaries from the sky, to space, and finally to the moon and beyond. This quote represents the fact that man will eventually have no boundaries, no limits.


"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narow field." -Neils Bohr

I think that this is a good quote because it means that everyone can be an expert at anything and that no one is any better at something than anyone else, they just have more experience. Once all the mistakes have been made, you learn not to do them anymore and you become more experienced at what ever you are doing.