How Isolated Are We?

Living here, in this bubble called Orange County, going to Santa Ana for Service Learning makes us feel alien from the world we live in-and that's twenty minutes away. We go to their school and learn about their lives and the struggles and differences they have, which most of us a fortunate enough to not understand fully. 

Then take that alien feeling, and apply it from instead of 20 miles away, to 9,000 miles away. Sure, there are places like Orange County in Europe, some in Asia, maybe a few in South Africa, but when you go into the heart and soul of Africa, into Umuofia, it really is a different world. 

When Obierika and Okonkwo are speaking of a white-man, or caucasian, they speak in shock and disbelief. To them, a white man was like seeing a fifty pound yam, minus the glory of the yam. Basically, it was incredible, whether they liked it or not. 

"We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas, but no one thought the stories were true" (Achebe 140-141). To them, the idea of there being a different kind of people on its own was radical, let alone comprehending the extreme differences we have. 

Yam isn't our currency like it is for them. Winning wrestling matches doesn't make you famous (unless you're Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather or whatever). The differences are so amazingly significant. And yet, they know almost nothing about it. 

Amazes me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epdGEhLpReg

This is an interesting video I found. It is a documentary on the village life in Africa today. 

Okonkwo of Africa: How would he fair elsewhere?

The main character in "Things Fall Apart" is a man named Okonkwo. He's that tough guy on the block, but by no means is he that bully looking for trouble. Okonkwo is considered a leader in his village by many. He has had many wives, who seem to be simply chefs and caretakers of his children. Okonkwo is the man of the village in the depths of Africa, but by no means would he be a man in the depths of other continent or countries.

Okonkwo's personality makes himself look wise and manly in Africa. Let's just say marrying multiple wives and almost shooting one of them, along with determining whether or not you are a man through the use of guns and yams, wouldn't necessarily be considered too manly here in the wilderness of Newport Coast.

Through reading "Things Fall Apart", I have learned how different the world is and how much of a bubble we reading. Heck, if I lived where Okonkwo lived, with my yam skills and firing ability, I'd be considered a baby. Here, I'm considered a man simply for growing an each in between visits with the grandparents. It definitely puts things into perspective.

Okonkwo would almost actually resemble a "hobo" living in urban areas, based on the way he lives in Africa. That does not justify the fact that he could not have survived or even thrived by adapting to the ways of more developed areas, but that would be far fetched. His ways are simply too radical in his corner of the world for him to happily live elsewhere.

In order to be a man

Having an Open Mind

Let me just start by saying how much I love TED Talks, and Chimamanda Adichie's talk really made me change my perspective from everything that I've been shown through media about that country called Africa. Before her talk, Africa was what it was, which is a media haven where they can manipulate the rest of the world into having one common perception on this great continent through exploitation.

Adichie's TED Talk

After watching Adichie's talk, I am able to engulf myself in Things Fall Apart with an open mind to Africa and the different perspective of this place brought forth by the author  Chinua Achebe. In reading the first few chapters, I have become increasingly intrigued as to what Africa has kept hidden from the Western eye through the firsthand knowledge of a native African. Not some white guy getting paid thousands to go to the most impoverish areas to make a headlining story in the media.

Chinua Achebe

Adichie has given me a unbiased perspective on Africa, and subsequently, I now am thrilled and open to understanding the true Africa and what they really go through, whether it is good or bad. Already I see myself reading every word with a greater level of curiosity and intrigue to gain an enhanced, and more accurate, more rounded perspective on the continent in which, oh by the way, every human technically originated from.

Rough Childhood

I've found out through now reading four Shakespeare books that this is just not a happy guy. There is never a "happy ending" or any of that. Something tells me he had a rough childhood.

"A Shakespearean tragedy is a five act play ending in the death of most of the major characters" (David Chandler). Even the definition of what Shakespeare does is in line with death. Chandler also does state "Defeat, shattered hopes, and ultimately death face us all as human beings." So I guess Shakespeare may have been one who simply accepted the glum reality of life. Still, not an optimist.

Hamlet fits into Shakespeare's realm of pessimism by obviously dying, and also by the continuous struggles he is faced with throughout the play. Gertrude's act of incest, Ophelia dying, his inner struggle of not being able to genuinely voice his emotions, along with many other aspects of his life post Old Hamlet's death all fit into Shakespeare's puzzle. 

In my opinion, the most tragic event was the death of Old Hamlet. He seems to have been one of the rare good people in Denmark, and his death lead to the downward spiral for everyone else. The death of all others was, to a degree, understandable or deserved. Old Hamlet on the other hand did not deserve to die, and only died because of the greed of power from Claudius. One thing led to another, and boom, everyone's dead. Horatio was the one exception, but it wasn't necessarily tragic that he had to go with young Fortinbras. It was his death that predominantly led to there being "something rotten in the state of Denmark", and the story only goes down from there.

Shakespeare obviously is a classic author, and his writing will always be remembered, but enjoying his tragic style of writing was something I would rather not endure through again.

http://www.lcurve.org/writings/Tragedy.htm

Rogue and Peasant Slave

"This is most brave
That I, the son of a dear father murdered,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore unpack my heart with words
And fall a-cursing like a very drab,
A scullion!" (2.2.611-616)

This sentence is basically the tipping of the iceberg to Hamlet deciding he will kill Claudius. He is fed up with simply speaking his discontent in the scenario he is forced to live with, and sends out his players to kill Claudius and gain vengeance instead of being all-talk. He realizes that he should be taking action for what has been done, almost pumping himself up in this sentence by saying he doesn't want to be a scullion (a servant).

This is important to the play because it is this epiphany that will ultimately depict that fate of not only Hamlet and Claudius, but also the state of Denmark. In general terms, attempting to kill anyone of high power will wreak havoc, and now that Hamlet has set his ambitions to do so with Claudius, it can only result in chaos and tragedy--both of which are Shakespeare's fortes apparently.

Before anything, I am most definitely not a Miami Heat fan. Lakers all the way. But, there's no denying that after all the talk before they even stepped on the court that Miami was going to win not one, not two, not three, yada yada yada, they lost the championship in their first season. Losing that championship was a loss of a season, because the Heat themselves depicted it as a Championship or bust season. In the next year, talking went away for the most part, and the Heat got to work, played hard, focused on the goal, and won it all.
Hamlet now is taking that turn into the second year of the Miami Heat, and is gearing up towards gaining that championship-in his case, revenge for his father's death.

Horatio

Horatio immediately strikes me as a tough guy, and someone who fears nothing and knows everything. He tells Marcellus and Barnardo that this ghost they are seeing is "...but our fantasy" (1.1.28). He is reassuring the others that this "ghost" will not appear and it's simply a figment of their wild imaginations. "Tush, tush, 'twill not appear" (1.1.35). While he initially comes off as nonchalant and a know-it-all, he completely changes after he becomes yet another witness to this mysterious ghost. "It harrows me with fear and wonder" (1.1.51). Exit know-it-all Horatio. Enter the humbled, bewildered Horatio. Immediately he becomes frightened but some of the old Horatio remains within him as he states he is filled not only with fear, but wonder for how this mysterious figure may be.

I think that Horatio wants to obtain knowledge of this ghost in particular and what its meaning and point was. I believe that throughout the story he will be trying to finalize the meaning behind this ghost, and what it wants not only with him and Marcellus and Barnardo, but also with the land of Denmark.

Horatio reminds me of those scientists from Jurassic Park, who are initially shocked at this land of dinosaurs, but are also fearful of their potential, which we all known is grossly displayed eventually. Hopefully this ghost is nicer than those dinosaurs.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMhKmps1jdIyhrv4_mezvnBi28xQmknZQukG60V5qnF5leXXS82z9ssbOvtA-t25zbc14BGTk1dWSAVQFT3O3XBgppYXSIZHPurpywuEodbTuPnTxEfIrtkH2MbHkMqdf7bvrtHozF3Y2/s1600/JurassicPark.jpg

http://www.chud.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/35.jpg

The Radical Expectations to be Perfect in “Barbie Doll” and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”

[W2] In the texts read this year, expectations clearly hinder the development of the individual. The radical expectations to be a perfect girl in the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and the expectations to maintain a perfect society in the short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin hinders the development of the individual because the universal pursuit of perfection does not allow the individual to be happy just the way he or she is.

            “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is loaded with expectations for a young, innocent girl to be accepted as beautiful. Although she does [W3] everything else accordingly, the simple fact that she is not beautiful hinders her acceptance of herself. “She went to and fro apologizing./Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (Piercy 10-11). No matter what she did, the common perception to who she is as an individual is the fact she has a fat nose on thick legs-the fact that she is not beautiful. Throughout the poem, Piercy describes this “girlchild”[W4]  as a girl who tries to be accepted by being “…healthy, tested intelligent/possessed strong arms and back/abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (Piercy 7-8)[W5] . Eventually, these expectations catch up to the girl. “Her good nature wore out/like a fan belt/So she cut off her nose and her legs” (Piercy 15-17).[W6]  She deals with the constant put-downs by simply taking off her legs and nose as an attempt to look pretty. Ultimately, she kills herself for that[W7] , and never gets the opportunity to mold her individuality. “Doesn’t she look pretty? everyone said./Consummation at last./To every woman a happy ending” (Piercy 23-25). [W8] These last, chilling lines of the poem sum up the desire of this poor girl, who essentially kills herself and cuts off the criticized parts of her body in a vain attempt to look pretty. This radical expectation to be a “Barbie” [W9] clearly hinders her development to be an individual, but in “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas”, the expectations to maintain a perfect, “Barbie Doll”-esque society was what hindered the citizens to mold a personality.

            In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, Ursula K. Le Guin uses a small child to depict the fate of the cite of Omelas. [W10] The child is extremely malnourished, and barely lives each day, but there is nothing the people of Omelas can do. “No matter how well the matter has been explained to them, these young spectators are always shocked and sickened at the sight. They feel disgust, which they had thought themselves superior to. They feel anger, outrage, impotence, despite all the explanations, they would like to do something for the child. But there is nothing they can do” (LeGuin 325).  These expectations to simply accept the dark reality of the child disallows for the citizens of Omelas to be individuals in their respective ways, and to be happy knowing everyone else is content in their own ways. It is the universal pursuit of perfection that the citizens of Omelas have that frightens them to not let the child be happy. “They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it, [W11] others are content merely to know it is there” (Le Guin 325). Clearly, the people of Omelas comply with these expectations, and are content with it. They somehow, someway believe that if the child is treated properly, “…all the prosperity and beauty of delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed”[W12]  (Le Guin 325). Instead of helping the child, the people of Omelas opt to maintain perfection and do nothing. Eventually, they leave Omelas instead of taking a risk against perfection to help the child, resulting in a lack of a personality and opinion, which plays along with a lack of solid individuality. “The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness” (Le Guin 326).

            Expectations to be perfect are what hinder the development of an individual, and that is clearly shown in the readings “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and “Barbie Doll”. The issue to be perfect not only hinders the development in these texts, but it also hinders the development of people today, in real life. If you aren’t perfect, you will be criticized, and that radical expectation is what hinders[W13]  so many people today from having their own, unique personality and be happy with it.

---

 [W1]That’s not even the name of the story

 [W2]This is analytical. Not chat

 [W3]Make present tense throughout whole essay. There’s a lot of past tense verbs

 [W4]Just use girl. Piercy never refers to her as the “girlchild”

 [W5]Incorrect citing. Since you start in the middle of the line, you have to put … to denote that there are words before the part that you cite. Also, its more than three lines so you have to take it out as a separate paragraph. You also cited the lines wrong. Its (Piercy 7-9)

 [W6]Same problems. Need to add that … in. Also is three lines so need to take it out again

 [W7]For what?

 [W8]3 lines, take it out as separate paragraph

 [W9]“ Barbie Doll” capitalize thie d

 [W10]In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”,  LeGuin uses a child to ultimately depict the fate of the city of Omelas.

Some weird syntax here, also Omelas is a city not  a state.

 [W11]What?

 [W12]Add the … at the beginning. Im 100% sure that the sentence doesn’t start like that. OH 100%? ALRIGHT.

 [W13]hinders