Namesake

Throughout the novel the characters all struggle with feeling isolated. Ashima feels the effect and impact of a distant family perhaps the most of any other character. In a passage, Ashoke describes his wife's unhappiness. She presses, "'I'm saying I don't want to raise Gogol alone in this country. It's not right. I want to go back'"(Lahiri 33). Ashima desires to go back to India so that she is surrounded by her family, especially at a time when the family should be the liveliest, upon the birth of a new member. She is struggling to remain Indian and hold on to her traditions, but in this case it seems impossible since her family cannot come to her support in America. Gogol won't be surrounded by his grandmother, he wasn't even named by her. Ashoke's experiences are described, "On more than one occasion he has come home from university to find her morose, in bed, rereading her parents' letters. Early mornings, when he senses that she is quietly crying, he puts an arm around her but can think of nothing to say" (33). Ashima's connection with India is becoming more noticeable as she tries to assimilate into a new, foreign world. She isn't ready to let go of anything she has left behind in India, parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins, and siblings. This often times leads her to weep in her bedroom reminiscing to times when she didn't need to start over in a new world. Ashima's struggles are both personal, as she misses her family, and cultural for her heritage is slowly diminishing as the family starts to adopt a more American lifestyle.

TFA 1-7 Blog

     Achebe tries to provide the other story, the story that remains untold about the Africans and their culture before European influence. This side of the story is often unknown, but Achebe makes it hard to overlook the vastly different viewpoint that this story provides. In a passage, he describes how conversation was such an art in the village of Umuofia. They preach about proverbs, and how the ones who excelled in conversation were held in a higher regard (Achebe 7). The typical "one story" that is told is that these Africans are illiterate and uncivilized. However, if something such as speech is held in such a high regard it indicates the importance of intelligence and wisdom in the village. This shows that these villagers are not uncivilized as most people assume them to be. They value similar things, and Achebe makes that point when he draws these important similarities between the two cultures.

Final Paragraph

Sometimes the extreme challenges and situations that a person is placed in can impact their perspective of life overall, like when Hamlet is so depressed that he is contemplating suicide. This is evident when he exclaims, "To be or not to be- that is the question:/ whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,' or to take arms against a sea of troubles/ and, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep-" (Shakespeare II.i.64-68). If Hamlet is in a place where he is seriously considering killing himself, he is definitely not stable emotionally and mentally. Therefore, his logic cannot be trusted. It is tragic that a mind capable of making normal choices based off of a reasonable logic is affected in such a way that even the darkest of thoughts, like suicide, is considered. He even questions if it is more "noble" to suffer in the mind than actually face problems. His life is in the hands of his unstable mind, which is a tragic situation. His lack of logic is killing him on the inside since he could be the cause of his own death if  he chooses suicide. However, it is not only his logic that was changed for the worse, but his desires where altered as well.

Service Learning Visit 2

This visit was harder than last time's visit for my group. They were definitely more comfortable around us which contributed to a more unsettled environment. Kids who where eager to write paragraphs last time where way more reluctant this time around. Overall last time the kids where a lot slower in doing their work and the mistake we made this time was telling them that the crafts where saved for after we write our paragraphs. Naturally, they rushed their exercises to get to the crafts. This put us a little ahead of schedule compared to last visit which was perfect time wise. There is also one girl in our group that likes to do as she pleases. For example, she decided to draw a city instead of a picture of her family, and I had to kind of stern with her and make sure she understands that it's important that we get to our goals.  Those where the only challenges we had, which compared to other groups is very minimal. I think that the biggest victory this visit was that the paragraphs the kids wrote where actually really good. It took a little to get them to really get the idea of what to write about. At first they only wrote about their parents and then after we observed their writing, we made them go back and incorporate things about all of their family members. Once they had a good idea of what to write about, they did a relatively good job writing their paragraphs. Their sentence fluidity was much better, and some wrote a lot more than the the paragraph from last visit. I think that overall the positives are a lot more than the negatives. I think that once we establish that relationship where they are comfortable around us while also recognizing our authority.

"To be or not to be" Blog

Hamlet's soliloquy is pretty much a back and forth internal conflict Hamlet has wether or not he should commit suicide. He describes his battles between, "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (3.1.66). He argues that we can just end all the pain, however we don't because we are fearful and scared of the unknown. I think that in most scenarios that no one should commit suicide. It shows weakness and a lack of faith. You must believe that things will get better and eventually it will. To end your suffering is to give up; and its never okay to give up. Hamlet explains, "Or to take arms against a sea of troubles/And,by opposing, end them" (3.1. 67). Why should one forfeit the battle when there is a chance of winning. Sometimes, the outcome is clear and that is the one exception in my opinion. In reference to a more modern situation. If someone has for example cancer, is in a state where they are half dead, old age has consumed them, and they only have a week to live, then one can say that it really may be best for that person to end the suffering. The chances of recovery for someone in that situation is near impossible, but that's really not the situation in Hamlet's case. I think that if heaven and hell really do exist, then we should take advantage of all the time we have on earth to maximize our opportunity to go to heaven. Hamlet may be in a place that most people really don't even imagine, but it's testing Hamlet's strength. He must prove himself not coward away, as he describes.

Polonius

I am suspicious of Polonius and his keen manipulation, or more like control. He's the right hand man of Claudius which makes it unusual for him not to be skeptical of King Hamlet's sudden death. Therefore, I presume that Polonius is in fact involved in the death of Hamlet. His behavior makes me view him negatively. He seems to be fearful of many things, such as his family name and how Laertes behaves as he demonstrates when he says to Ophelia, "you'll tender me a fool" (1.3.118). However, at the same time he takes advantage of people and tries to be someone who wants to make everyone happy, like Claudius. These are contradicting actions, therefore I predict that Polonius is selfish. Yet, being unpleasant to Claudius will not raise his advantages. For example, he uses Ophelia to perhaps gain recognition if they marry or even inherit some money. His intentions are not very clear, but assumptions can be made. He is very demanding and controlling. He is determined to monitor his son's behavior or reputation. The information he seeks is not obtained through communication with his son though. He sends someone to in a sense spy on him and ask around about his actions. We can analyze a lot about Polonius himself through his actions. He exclaims, "And there put on him what forgeries you please- marry, none so rank as may dishonor him, take heed of that" (2.1.22). Polonius is so detailed in his instructions to Reynaldo, the spy, that it makes the reader wonder why he is so thorough. This knowledge is only obtained with experience so one can predict that this is not the first time he has spied on someone. He can probably get whatever he wants and needs through these sources. His actions prove him to be untrustworthy of his kids. They should be old enough to be able to take care of themselves without their father monitoring their moves. He is concerned with his reputation rather than the happiness of his kids. I wonder that if Ophelia was madly in love with Hamlet and Polonius knew then would he let Ophelia be with Hamlet just for the sake of her happiness. He also gives Laertes his consent to travel but it is more of a test to Laertes to see if he is capable of this freedom. I value the concept of trust and if my parent would not be able to trust me, especially after years of learning from them, then I think that Polonius is one to not be trusted as well. How I view this is that if someone made bad choices in their earlier years, then when they have kids they are more protective of them since they do not want them to end up like they did. Therefore, one can conclude that Polonius may have done bad things that he either does not want his children doing or his children finding out. I would feel unfortunate if he was my father, because he favors his son over his daughter. This was clear when he warned his daughter not to ruin the family name but just told his son to be true to himself and be wise (2.1). I understand that in those times it was usual for sexism to take place within the family, but that does not make it acceptable and it gives Polonius an even larger negative connotation.

Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron is the story of a boy who is intelligent, good-looking, and strong. However, he lives in a society where everyone is supposed to be equal in everything, even the sounds of their voices. Those who have certain advantages and good qualities, such as Harrison and his father, are required to wear handicaps that weight them down. These handicaps differ in intensity based off the individuals's strengths. Harrison who was imprisoned escapes and appears on his parent's tv during a ballet recital. He announces that he is the new emperor, picks an empress, and instructs everyone to remove their handicaps. His parents watch as this unfolds, however their handicaps make it hard to remember events that have occurred as recently as minutes before. The Handicap General then enters the recital and kills Harrison and the empress and orders all the other ballerinas to put their handicaps back on. The message this story shows is that those who are supposed to aid society and make a better future can become crazy and power-hungry when they are forced to be like everyone else and are shoved down. In complete contrast, a New York Times article entitled, "Losing Is Good For You" argues that when everyone is praised for things that they do not deserve praise for, it turns out to be disadvantageous for them and their future. For example, if a child is awarded with a prize at the end of everything and there are no losers, the child may not put as much effort into something they desire. This is bad because the child will no longer find motive, perseverance, or determination. If there are no losers, those who don't put effort into learning a skill are rewarded equally as those who might spend countless hours trying to perfect that same skill. This teaches the person who slacks, that it is okay to slack and it discourages the person who tried so hard and didn't receive any additional recognition. This does not allow growth or reaching one's potential. My experience was that in 8th grade, the headmaster made an announcement that everyone had to write an essay about the middle school experience and what it means. Only two people of the 70 would read their essays in the graduation. I for one thought that it would be really cool to be able to give a speech at graduation. It made me feel like this is a competition to see who is valedictorian. I was determined to read my speech and make it amazing. Overall, it was not the hardest thing ever but it required a considerable amount of effort. I wrote my essay, and I was indeed chosen to read it. This gave a great sense of pride and achievement because it made me feel like I was not like every other 8th grader in the room. I would not have tried so hard if none of the essays were to be recited. However, I have also experienced the opposite of this as well. I had a really hard biology final coming up and I had spent countless hours studying for it. I spent weekends in my room with a book, when people where at the beach with their friends. The test came and I got an A- on the test, raising my overall grade to an A- as well. I felt ecstatic. My other friend, who studied for maybe one weekend got a B on the test and that dropped her overall grade to a B as well. I felt bad for my friend but I was also proud of myself for making the smarter decision that would aid my future. However, there was a curve on the test which raised my grade by 0.2% but raised by friends grade 1%, giving her an A- in the class when she had a B before. I was happy for my friend, but also felt that this was unfair at the same time. I spent a lot more time trying to learn everything but got the same grade as someone who slacked off a bit. I felt that it was unfair, but it is life and life is never fair. The way that both of these works connect is that they messages both encourage a society in which we are all different and can show our strengths and improve our weaknesses. They tell the reader to live in moderation, do not praise someone for every little task, but do not ignore the potential of others to be great and others to fail. Failure is natural and necessary, but succeeding is just as natural and necessary. No competition is bad, but a lack of competition is also unhealthy.