Charlotte and Wilbur were alone in the pen at the state fair grounds discussing their friendship and how each meant so much to the other. This is when Charlotte revealed to Wilbur that she would not be returning to the farm with him, she was too sick and would soon die. Wilbur threw a fit and once he realized there was nothing he could do to get Charlotte to return he woke up Templeton and asked him to quickly go get Charlotte's egg sack so that they could bring it back to the farm with them and make sure her children were safe. Templeton would not agree, saying he always runs errands and always does favors for them and they never do anything for him in return. Wilbur is quite annoyed and calls him a spoiled child at one point, when he remember how much Templeton loves food. Wilbur tells Templeton that he will let him eat first everyday when he's fed and he won't go near the food until Templeton is done. With this Templeton agrees and goes and gets the egg sack and brings it down to Wilbur. Wilbur puts the sack in his mouth and winks at Charlotte as he is being placed in the pin to go back to the farm, Charlotte uses all her energy to wave back. Charlotte dies the next day, alone and no one at the fair grounds even noticed. Wilbur watched the generations of Charlotte's children and grandchildren and so on. He loved them so much but none of them as much as Charlotte for she was a true friend and a writer, which is not happened upon often.
This story is America in a nutshell. There are few people who do things for others out of the goodness of their hearts, few true friends that would do anything for others no questions asked. Charlotte and Wilbur are those rarities that are true friends and would give their lives for one another, as Wilbur mentions in the reading. Templeton seems to be like most people in America now. What's in it for me? Why would I want to do this if I don't benefit from it? If you take a moment and just step back to observe people this happens everywhere. Selflessness is so uncommon that no one can truly know what it is. We're all guilty of wanting something in return, whether we think so or not.
How did America come to this? I think it's quite clear that we have always been like this. There are few people in our history that can say they were truly selfless. In the beginning of our country we had slaves, people were owned who were not paid and essentially did free work for the white Americans. There are few selfless acts in our history.
In the bible there is a story of two women who claimed a baby boy was theirs. They told the two women that they were going to cut the baby in half and let the women split him. The woman who would give up the boy is the mother because she didn't want her baby boy to get hurt. I think this is a selfless act in that the woman was putting aside her feelings so the baby would survive, even though she wouldn't see him or get to raise him. The other woman was willing to cut the baby in half, showing her selfishness and that she didn't even care about that baby boy. It was decided who the real mother was and that is who got the baby, could you imagine the relief to that mother?
The question that lies here is how can we get back to be selfless, to wanting to help other just to help others? I think that this society has gotten to the point of no return. There is no way that we, as a society, could ever be selfless because we all care about ourselves too much. When there's a homeless man on the street we tell him to get a job instead of going to McDonald's and buying him a burger. Whether or not that man is really homeless is irrelevant because that person who just passed the man doesn't care one way or the other. Helping someone in need is so rarely done because you couldn't get anything in return, and if you do help someone in need it's almost always because you get something in return. You say that a lot of people help those less fortunate with nothing in return? I disagree. There is always something that someone gets in return, even if it's just a sense of satisfaction.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Li-Young Lee
This is a short poem with the theme revolving around peaches. It seems very positive and loving, showing the stages of the peaches as they go through until the writer eats them.
I think that this poem reflected life as a parent. Life starts small in a womb, from blossoms, and as your child grows up you watch them. You enjoy everything they do, whether watching them fall to learn, to when they learn to succeed. As you grow older you take the memories with you "O, to take what we love inside, to carry within us an orchard," through everything you always have everything inside. You carry your children with you forever and where ever you go. "There are days we life as if death were nowhere in the background," you don't look to when times won't be as good because now you have love and life. The time it takes to grow the peach, water it, shade it, adoring it and eating it. You are taking in a living thing and making it you. You raise your children and they are part of you forever. They are "impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom," showing they are sometimes difficult, as all children are, but they are still so sweet because they are yours and you love them.
I think that this poem reflected life as a parent. Life starts small in a womb, from blossoms, and as your child grows up you watch them. You enjoy everything they do, whether watching them fall to learn, to when they learn to succeed. As you grow older you take the memories with you "O, to take what we love inside, to carry within us an orchard," through everything you always have everything inside. You carry your children with you forever and where ever you go. "There are days we life as if death were nowhere in the background," you don't look to when times won't be as good because now you have love and life. The time it takes to grow the peach, water it, shade it, adoring it and eating it. You are taking in a living thing and making it you. You raise your children and they are part of you forever. They are "impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom," showing they are sometimes difficult, as all children are, but they are still so sweet because they are yours and you love them.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Donald Barthelme
Summary? There's a class and everything died that was associated with the class. everything. including two class members. There was always a "lesson" that went along with everything dying, although the teacher doesn't always know why things died. The students questioned the meaning of life, was death what defined life, the teacher responded that life defined life. The class then asked if the teacher would make love with Helen so they could see how it was done, he responded no because he would get fired. Helen came over and he kissed her above the brow, the students were excited until the door opened and the new gerbil came into the room.
So is the moment where she goes over and he begins kissing her kind of like something I want to do before I die? I don't want to have any regrets? I find it very strange that the class asked them to have sex so they could see how it happens. Although I'm not surprised it didn't happen because this all seems to be about death and the negatives in life. Sex is supposed to be the epitome of human intimacy and love and hope. Yet instead of that happening the class gets a new gerbil, which brings temporary hope because we all know the gerbil will die. It's what always happens.
I think that death does define life. Aren't we moving everyday towards death? Don't we say we want to do things before we die? Aren't people lives remembered once they're dead but not really seen when they're living?
So what has this world come to that life is not defined by what we are doing while living but what will be remembered once we're dead? I'm guilty of this, guilty of thinking I should do something to be remembered. I have a motto that I want to make a difference in the world, one person at a time. But do I do this really to help or do I do this so I'm never forgotten? Isn't that everyone's fear, to be forgotten?
So is the moment where she goes over and he begins kissing her kind of like something I want to do before I die? I don't want to have any regrets? I find it very strange that the class asked them to have sex so they could see how it happens. Although I'm not surprised it didn't happen because this all seems to be about death and the negatives in life. Sex is supposed to be the epitome of human intimacy and love and hope. Yet instead of that happening the class gets a new gerbil, which brings temporary hope because we all know the gerbil will die. It's what always happens.
I think that death does define life. Aren't we moving everyday towards death? Don't we say we want to do things before we die? Aren't people lives remembered once they're dead but not really seen when they're living?
So what has this world come to that life is not defined by what we are doing while living but what will be remembered once we're dead? I'm guilty of this, guilty of thinking I should do something to be remembered. I have a motto that I want to make a difference in the world, one person at a time. But do I do this really to help or do I do this so I'm never forgotten? Isn't that everyone's fear, to be forgotten?
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Feed Part 1
Titus and his friends decide to go to the moon for spring break because there wasn't anything to do at home. Titus tries to sleep on the ride but his friends were being loud and obnoxious and he wasn't able to. When they got to the no gravity zone he decided there wasn't a use trying to sleep when everyone else was having fun. They got to the moon and the girls got their room and the boys there. Titus was hoping to find someone on the moon to hook up with, he tells us how lonely it gets after the party going home alone. The group tries to get into a party, most of the time it works because as a group they look older than they are, but this time it didn't. They went to a club where there's no gravity and you fly around and hit each other. It was there that Titus saw her, the beautiful girl that stood in the food area just watching all of them like they were idiots. He followed her when he could, she was in the snack bar so he ordered a snack and watched her, she was wearing wool. When she thought no one was looking she would let her juice come out of her mouth and watch it in the no gravity and she would lick with her tongue again. The group came over then and he hoped they would shut up because they didn't really sound that smart. The girls went to the bathroom because hairstyles had changed, Titus was talking about the girl and Link asked what she was wearing. Titus replied that it was wool, like from an animal. When Quendy returned from the bathroom she was upset that no one told her that her lesion had spread. They all had lesions, everyone was getting them. They assured her that it hadn't and if she met someone she didn't know before they wouldn't know what she looked like without it. The guys told her to ask the girl in gray, and she said that it showcased her face because of where it was on her head. It wasn't on a main line so it actually brought attention to her face, her's was on her neck and she wanted it to go all the way around her neck to look like a necklace but it wasn't there yet. After this all of the other guys became fascinated with her and kept asking her to help them with their lesions and kept hitting on her. At one point she stopped and looked at Titus and only at him, looking to see if he was going to say something too to hit on her, but he didn't have anything to say. The girls and the girl in the gray spent time arranging Quendy's hair so that it showcased her lesion, which was good for Quendy because she's usually not the one in the center of attention. They were all bored and decided they wanted to go to a club but first they wanted to get drunk. They tried a place that wasn't supposed to ID but it had been torn down a year ago and there was a mall there now, so they all went in and went shopping. No one really found anything that they liked but some people bought things anyways. When they were done it was later and they still weren't drunk so they went back to the hotel and tried to break the locks off of the mini fridges but it was no use and all of the girls were watching something on their feeds. They decided to go to the club without drinking and on the way there was a protest against the moon and even some were shouting about the feed, a chip in my head is death. When they got to the club it was clear that Violet was uncomfortable but she said she would get used to it. Titus and her were talking for a bit and they didn't like each other when all of the sudden the artificial gravity got turned off and Violet grabbed Titus, she apologized as they were floating down and he said it wasn't a problem. They were all there when an old man with a bow tie came over to them and with his iron hand touched them and they all started broadcasting, yelling "We enter a time of calamity," over and over. They couldn't speak even when they tried, they couldn't move, they couldn't do anything. Titus saw the police coming and they beat the old man over the head which was when he finally stopped and they all stopped. That's when Violet and Titus were finally able to hold hands and the police were saying in all of the kids' ears that they were going to have to turn them off now and when they did they all fell to the ground and that was it.
There were also what seemed to be advertisements that were in-between different chapters for different shows, products and places to go.
I was very confused what the feed was until the group passed the protesters and said the rant about the computer chips in their heads. It's a tough reality to face but this almost seems where we're heading. Everyone is obsessed with technology and people my age say that their phone is their life! It seems no one can go anywhere without their cell phone. When my father went to school there were only a few people who had laptops in class because only a few people could afford them, now there's only a few people with laptops in class because their laptop is too big to bring to class so they have their IPad 2. When you're hanging out with anyone they're always on their phone texting, whether it's people who are in the same room as you or people elsewhere. We have the internet on almost every phone and if you don't have a phone that is capable of using the internet you're seen as having an "ancient" phone and people tell you to upgrade. I'm sure there are many people who would see the benefits in having a chip in your head so that you didn't even have to have a phone you could just do everything in your head. Having a tv right in your head would be so "beneficial" to people because then they wouldn't have to be at an actual tv to watch tv they could watch it at anytime.
I love how the fact that Violet is wearing wool is so strange. She seems like she's from a different time, not like the others. However, she does have a computer chip because she is turned off at the end of part 1 so she couldn't be from another time. This is her first experience to the moon and doesn't seem like she's been to Mars either. This seems rare for this time because it almost seems fairly inexpensive to go to the Moon because this group of high school students did it last minute. I thought it was very strange, the Moon. I think the reason the Moon is so great is because it is so rare to go to and such a special experience for astronauts. Yet Titus described the moon as cold, full of trash and nothing but boulders. He said that once the novelty has worn off there really isn't anything that wonderful about the moon, just that it brings him loneliness.
These lesions almost seem like acne today, but way grosser. Everyone is still obsessed with how they look and Quendy is stressed that hers is on her face. Violet's reassurance that it accentuates her face gives her confidence and makes the others want to know about their lesions. I want to know what they're from and why people are getting them. Titus says that the lesions are something that people are starting to get now. So what are they that we're getting them now?
There were also what seemed to be advertisements that were in-between different chapters for different shows, products and places to go.
I was very confused what the feed was until the group passed the protesters and said the rant about the computer chips in their heads. It's a tough reality to face but this almost seems where we're heading. Everyone is obsessed with technology and people my age say that their phone is their life! It seems no one can go anywhere without their cell phone. When my father went to school there were only a few people who had laptops in class because only a few people could afford them, now there's only a few people with laptops in class because their laptop is too big to bring to class so they have their IPad 2. When you're hanging out with anyone they're always on their phone texting, whether it's people who are in the same room as you or people elsewhere. We have the internet on almost every phone and if you don't have a phone that is capable of using the internet you're seen as having an "ancient" phone and people tell you to upgrade. I'm sure there are many people who would see the benefits in having a chip in your head so that you didn't even have to have a phone you could just do everything in your head. Having a tv right in your head would be so "beneficial" to people because then they wouldn't have to be at an actual tv to watch tv they could watch it at anytime.
I love how the fact that Violet is wearing wool is so strange. She seems like she's from a different time, not like the others. However, she does have a computer chip because she is turned off at the end of part 1 so she couldn't be from another time. This is her first experience to the moon and doesn't seem like she's been to Mars either. This seems rare for this time because it almost seems fairly inexpensive to go to the Moon because this group of high school students did it last minute. I thought it was very strange, the Moon. I think the reason the Moon is so great is because it is so rare to go to and such a special experience for astronauts. Yet Titus described the moon as cold, full of trash and nothing but boulders. He said that once the novelty has worn off there really isn't anything that wonderful about the moon, just that it brings him loneliness.
These lesions almost seem like acne today, but way grosser. Everyone is still obsessed with how they look and Quendy is stressed that hers is on her face. Violet's reassurance that it accentuates her face gives her confidence and makes the others want to know about their lesions. I want to know what they're from and why people are getting them. Titus says that the lesions are something that people are starting to get now. So what are they that we're getting them now?
"Deserve"
So we were supposed to count how many times we heard the word deserve in commercials, on tv and in life in general.
Now let's be honest we weren't really going to go home and get a piece of paper and tally everything down, but I definitely did. I was watching tv when I heard someone say deserve and it just clicked in my head, so I got a piece of paper and every time I heard deserve I would tally it down. Grand total? 48
Also, give me a break I had the flu all weekend so all I could do is lay around and watch tv.
Example of a commercial with the word deserve:
Everyone deserves everything right?
A Silver Dish
Woody Selbst's father has died and he's trying to mourn. His pop being a crook of a man with a wife and a mistress, was always looking out for himself and his gambling. Woody remembers a story that took place during the depression after his father had left him and his mother and sisters. Pop had told Woody a lie to take him to the widow that paid for Woody's tuition at the seminary. While there Pop convinced the widow that he needed money to keep his business afloat, when the widow left to pray over her decision Pop stole a pure silver dish. Woody and Pop got in a physical fight and Woody made Pop promise to put the dish back, and he did promise. After they left and went to the bank, Woody found that Pop had not put the dish back. Upon finding the dish missing the widow and her servant confronted him with the head of the seminary as well. Woody swore that he had nothing to do with it and they would feel bad when they found the dish which they had simply misplaced. He was expelled from school and his father didn't care. By end Woody is remembering the hospital and how his Pop passed away. Woody had climbed into the bed with him and held him because Pop was trying to pull out the IV cords that were in turn keeping him alive. Again there was a struggle that made Woody remember the fight back at the widow's mansion, but this one was very weak and it wasn't really a struggle at all. Yet Pop still found a way to die by his body heat dropping until he died as his son held him.
There was also a lot of talk of religion but the type of religion and who is which and what just confused me. I understand that Pop was seen as a crook by his wife and sister?(she was the aunt but I don't know if it was Woody's aunt or Pop's).
They also made a statement of how Woody was considered a crook because he still spoke to his father. Yet he took care of his Pop, mom, two sisters and his Pop's mistress. He would foot the bill if they needed help and he sent them all on vacations. He would dedicate days and a lot of time to make sure everything was taken care of. When his Pop died Woody personally dressed him, and shoveled the dirt on top of the coffin. Feeling this is the last duty a son could do for his father.
I know that there is something significant with the meaning behind all of the talk of religion and converting and who is what and why but I just don't seem to quite grasp it. I find it very sad that Woody was kicked out of seminary because of his father. His father kept telling Woody that he felt bad for the girls because he couldn't teach them what life was about. Woody's sisters remained single and lived with their mother and very christian. Maybe Pop meant that hiding behind religion meant that you wouldn't ever do anything with your life but sit around forever. Pop, although a crook, has done so many things in his life, he lived on the edge. He put the trench coat down in the airport and was prepared to tell them that nothing in there was his, he put marijuana in the family turkey on Thanksgiving and again no one caught him. That's when the downhill began in his health, when he was no longer getting a thrill. I still want to know what Pop meant when he was saying they'll never get to live.
There was also a lot of talk of religion but the type of religion and who is which and what just confused me. I understand that Pop was seen as a crook by his wife and sister?(she was the aunt but I don't know if it was Woody's aunt or Pop's).
They also made a statement of how Woody was considered a crook because he still spoke to his father. Yet he took care of his Pop, mom, two sisters and his Pop's mistress. He would foot the bill if they needed help and he sent them all on vacations. He would dedicate days and a lot of time to make sure everything was taken care of. When his Pop died Woody personally dressed him, and shoveled the dirt on top of the coffin. Feeling this is the last duty a son could do for his father.
I know that there is something significant with the meaning behind all of the talk of religion and converting and who is what and why but I just don't seem to quite grasp it. I find it very sad that Woody was kicked out of seminary because of his father. His father kept telling Woody that he felt bad for the girls because he couldn't teach them what life was about. Woody's sisters remained single and lived with their mother and very christian. Maybe Pop meant that hiding behind religion meant that you wouldn't ever do anything with your life but sit around forever. Pop, although a crook, has done so many things in his life, he lived on the edge. He put the trench coat down in the airport and was prepared to tell them that nothing in there was his, he put marijuana in the family turkey on Thanksgiving and again no one caught him. That's when the downhill began in his health, when he was no longer getting a thrill. I still want to know what Pop meant when he was saying they'll never get to live.
Howl
Alright so I read this 3 times. First I just read it, second I read it out loud(which the people I was in the library study room with appreciated) and the third time I just tried reading it again and I can honestly tell you I do not understand it. I don't even have any specific questions because I don't understand any of it to ask questions about!
I definitely got something about people using a lot of drugs, some musicians, artists, and psychiatric patients and hospitals. I hope that's a good enough summary to show I read it because that's honestly all I can give you.
Any help??
I definitely got something about people using a lot of drugs, some musicians, artists, and psychiatric patients and hospitals. I hope that's a good enough summary to show I read it because that's honestly all I can give you.
Any help??
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