This reading on "This Sacred Soil" was extremely meaningful to me because it showed exactly what it meant to be a Native American in the time in which white Europeans were invading their lands. It provided an account of a representative's exact thoughts and feelings on the whole situation.
Seattle's state of mind was that the world is apt to change at any moment, and she used many similies such as comparing the number of Europeans to the number of blades of grass in a prarie, or comparing the attack on her people to the "scattering of trees in a storm-swept plain".
It is an interesting first-person account because it shows how the natives strongly believed that they, the natives and the Europeans, could not exist together in harmony, as they were opposites in almost every aspect. However, the Native Americans were willing to attempt at tolerance, like brothers.
I enjoyed this piece because many states of mind that the natives exhibited should be emulated today in interacting with other countries, such as peace, tolerance, and abstinance from war. One interesting quote from the reading shows why the natives were so outgoing towards the Europeans: "There is no death, only a change of worlds." Because of this mentality, they seemingly had nothing to fear. This is a mentality that has the power to adjust many lives for the better if applied in the modern-day.
A Presto,
Simon
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Our King Governs Ideals
Is Martin Luther King Jr. Still the "King" he was back in the 1900's? I believe he is more of a king nowadays, seeing as we remember him as a seemingly fearless rights activist today, when he was shunned back then for saying and doings his actions. These actions were remembered after the time of segregation, though our generation today does not consider King's actions as much. Instead, most of us just recognize that we get a day off of school for his birthday. However, he was much more than a name, a face, and a list of facts.
Martin Luther King's ideas are still very prominent, though there does not exist much physical need for them anymore. Instead, people are now segregated in the mind--which causes some to think certain things about other peers, cultures, etc. In class, his ideas are useful for learning about history, and that the Civil Rights Movement happened, though we are now moving into an age in which one needs the rights to believe something, as opposed to existing in sync with others, which Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideals certainly cover.
Is King still King? Yes, but only in some ways. He governs not a state of being, but instead a way of thinking. We as the a generation can use King's ideals and apply them to our own troubles as a society in order to surpass them.
A Presto,
Simon
Martin Luther King's ideas are still very prominent, though there does not exist much physical need for them anymore. Instead, people are now segregated in the mind--which causes some to think certain things about other peers, cultures, etc. In class, his ideas are useful for learning about history, and that the Civil Rights Movement happened, though we are now moving into an age in which one needs the rights to believe something, as opposed to existing in sync with others, which Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideals certainly cover.
Is King still King? Yes, but only in some ways. He governs not a state of being, but instead a way of thinking. We as the a generation can use King's ideals and apply them to our own troubles as a society in order to surpass them.
A Presto,
Simon
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Epistolaries are like Waves: Undulating Back and Forth....
Children of the Sea is a short story written as an epistolary, or a tale told through the sending (or in this case simple writing) of letters. It deals with the struggles of the Haitian people as a whole. The story itself is quite interesting, as it could have taken place during any one of Haiti's troubled time periods, though it was written in 1994, in Edwidge Danticat's book Breath, Eyes, Memory.
First of all, the writing styles of the two lovers writing back and forth are very different. The man's writing is much more descriptive and sophisticated, and he obviously appears to have been educated. However, the woman's letters, or journal entries, use no capital letters whatsoever and they are dull, lack general description, and use simple language. Her words are also very repetitive. The style of epistolary is also very interesting because the letters are obviously not being sent to one another. There is no way they could be, as he is on a boat and she is stuck on mainland Haiti.
The story unfolds very easily through the tale the two letters reveal. On Haiti, the military breaks into houses at every turn and arrests and injures people for no good reason. Eventually, the woman/girl's family leaves and finds a place to stay in the mountains, though the girl's father made them become poor by paying the military not to arrest her. This makes her forever in his debt.
On the ship, the man is traveling near the Bahamas. The boat floods at different intervals, though the holes get patched up with tar, a girl on board gives birth to a still baby and commits suicide by jumping off the ship with her deceased child. The ship is also rank with human waste, which makes the living conditions terrible. Eventually, it is implied that the man joins the sea, or will in a short while, and drowns. In the next letter written by the woman, many black butterflies float down to her, trying to touch her, and she takes it as a sign that her lover is dead, as it is most likely not a coincidence that she heard a boat sunk near the Bahamas on the radio.
One of the most important quotes from this reading to me was "the sea is endless like my love for you". This was written by both of the lovers, though they hadn't seen each other or received each others' letters. This is what we should all strive for in our relationships--to have this kind of tight chemistry in order to fully understand each other in perfect harmony. This is something these two people obviously experienced, and I hope to in the future as well.
A Presto,
Simon
First of all, the writing styles of the two lovers writing back and forth are very different. The man's writing is much more descriptive and sophisticated, and he obviously appears to have been educated. However, the woman's letters, or journal entries, use no capital letters whatsoever and they are dull, lack general description, and use simple language. Her words are also very repetitive. The style of epistolary is also very interesting because the letters are obviously not being sent to one another. There is no way they could be, as he is on a boat and she is stuck on mainland Haiti.
The story unfolds very easily through the tale the two letters reveal. On Haiti, the military breaks into houses at every turn and arrests and injures people for no good reason. Eventually, the woman/girl's family leaves and finds a place to stay in the mountains, though the girl's father made them become poor by paying the military not to arrest her. This makes her forever in his debt.
On the ship, the man is traveling near the Bahamas. The boat floods at different intervals, though the holes get patched up with tar, a girl on board gives birth to a still baby and commits suicide by jumping off the ship with her deceased child. The ship is also rank with human waste, which makes the living conditions terrible. Eventually, it is implied that the man joins the sea, or will in a short while, and drowns. In the next letter written by the woman, many black butterflies float down to her, trying to touch her, and she takes it as a sign that her lover is dead, as it is most likely not a coincidence that she heard a boat sunk near the Bahamas on the radio.
One of the most important quotes from this reading to me was "the sea is endless like my love for you". This was written by both of the lovers, though they hadn't seen each other or received each others' letters. This is what we should all strive for in our relationships--to have this kind of tight chemistry in order to fully understand each other in perfect harmony. This is something these two people obviously experienced, and I hope to in the future as well.
A Presto,
Simon
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