Response to Personal Relationship Question

Why does Western man wish to suffer this passion which lacerates him and which all his common sense rejects?

I believe that people love for a number of reasons.  One reason why people love is because we are taught by society that there is someone out there that is perfect for everyone, and if we want to find them, we have to love in order to do so.  Another reason why people love is because humans are social creatures, and loving is a part of our social skills that are innate to us.  Lastly people love in order to receive love in return.  To be loved is a warm, comforting feeling, and in order to receive it to others, we have to give some ourselves.

I believe that the main reason why people continue to allow themselves to fall in love is because of the high regard that society puts on it.  In the days where most marriages were fixed and young adults had no control over who they married, "falling in love" was not an option and, therefore, did not hinder them.  Also, human beings are social and interacting with others in a way to show love is a part of who we are.  Finally, people love because they like to receive love back.  If love was a feeling that others did not enjoy, they would not readily inflict that feeling on people that they care about.  For this reason, I believe that love is a positive feeling that people give off because they expect to get it in return.

There are many factors that contribute to the reasons why people choose to love --- society, human nature, and the reciprocation that love entails.  All of these factors contribute to the reasons why people fall in love and work together to keep the bond between two people as strong as it is.

My Favorite Song

My favorite song is "Maria Maria" by Carlos Santana.  The first time I heard this song was when I was ten years old, and it was during my first trip back to New York after my family and I relocated to South Carolina during the same year.  I will never forget the first time I heard it because I remember feeling like I was listening to a song that would change my life and was so different from anything I had ever heard before.  I was in the car with my aunt, and we were on our way back to my sister's house after shopping.  It came on the radio, and my aunt knew all of the words.  I remember thinking out lucky she was to know all of the words to such a beautiful song and, in my mind, making it my duty to one day learn all of the words.  At that age, I did not know what the song actually meant, but now that I am older, I have a less superficial appreciation for it, and it is still my favorite song of all times.  "Maria Maria" is my favorite song because it represents everything that I remember and what means the most to me about New York: the blended cultures, the poverty and the endless hope.  When I listen to this song, I feel like a piece of my city is always with me, and that is why it means so much to me.

Here are some of the lyrics to my song courtesy of lyrics007.com: 

"Stop the looting, stop the shooting

Pick pocking on the corner

See as the rich is getting richer

The poor is getting poorer

See mi y Maria on the corner

Thinking of ways to make it better

In my mailbox there's an eviction letter

Somebody just said see you later."

What is a "soul mate"?

A "soul mate" is someone that you completely connect with on a mental and emotional level.  No, I do not believe that searching for a soul mate is a good idea because it is not realistic.  Times have changed, and people's values and beliefs are so broad and different that the likelihood of one finding someone of the opposite sex that is just like them is rare and probably not going to happen.  I also believe that in order for a person to find someone out there who is perfect for them, they would have to be, in essence, perfect.  Because I am not a perfect person, it is hardly likely that there is a perfect person out there for me.

The Red Trenchcoat

The red coat signifies the years of marriage that the two people in the video have been involved in.  The attachment of the woman to the coat is similar to the attachment of the man to his wife. Although the woman would say every year that she would throw the coat away and get a new one, she would always find herself holding on to the coat for another season.  This is a lot like the way the man decides to hang on to his wife and now leave her. He is attached to her, and for some reason other than love, he decides to keep her around.  And by keeping her around, his love for her grows.  Courtly love is one of the only things holding this marriage together.  He loves her because he feels that he is obligated to, not because the feeling is still there.

My Autobiography

Born to experience. Living for myself.

Political Cartoon

This political cartoon illustrates the biblical story of the birth of Jesus Christ and the three wise men who travelled to see him.  This cartoon makes fun of the fact that Americans consider Barack Obama to be the "savior of the nation," by having one of the wise men say that he was hoping for Barack Obama as opposed to a baby.  It humorously puts Obama on the same level as Jesus in terms of admiration and greatness in the eyes of some people, which ironically makes fun of how much people idolize him.

English Lab: Most Memorable Image

The most memorable image I have ever seen was the image of the World Trade Centers burning down on September 11, 2001. The first time I ever saw an image from that event was during my second period math class in the seventh grade.  I remember that day so vividly, and I can remember precisely what I was doing and how I felt about the images I saw on the television.  I can recall my classmates and myself speculating as to which group would do something so terrible.  I thought it was the Chinese; some of my classmates thought it was the Africans. At that time, I did not know the magnitude of the situation, but it was only a matter of time before I realized how serious it was and the impending danger of the state of our nation.

Strawberry Fields & Visual Rhetoric

In this video, some of the statements that are being made are the tragedy of war, the consequences of drug use, and the difficulty of art. It also shows how the world is quickly changing and how it can be seen as a bad thing by different people.

The strawberries that were illustrated in the video can be symbolisms of the blood and horror of the Vietnam War. The way the character dropped the strawberries into the bucket of paint was the same way that the bombs were dropped on Vietnam. Also, he found such difficulty in creating his art work, and it showed how hard and daunting the task could be. Lastly, his frustration with the girl bringing a new television into his house shows the pessimism he has about the world changing into a more technologically-charged environment.

My Favorite Movie: RENT

My all-time favorite movie is Rent based on the broadway play of the same name.  It stars Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Rosario Dawson and Taye Diggs.  This movie is based on the lives of six Bohemians in an apartment building in New York City and their struggle to survive.  They each have their own issues with which they have to deal, such as drug abuse, disease, sexuality, and the overwhelming threat of failure.  Nonetheless, they are forced to overcome these obstacles while performing the most difficult task of all, sticking together. I have scene this movie more times than I can remember, and I know practically the whole dialogue verbatim. I even have the soundtrack on my iPod so that I can listen to it all the time.  I love this movie because it offers hope in the dimmest of situations and it shows that power of togetherness in one of the most divided cities in the world, New York City. I recommend this movie to anyone, especially young adults who like empowering and uplifting films.  I do not, however, recommend anyone to watch this movie with me because I like to sing all of the songs, and I definitely am no Beyonce.

My Plans to Ensue My Academic Success

The first semester of my college career was not nearly as successful as I originally anticipated.  I made two C's, two B's and one A.  To most people, this range of grades would seem to be normal but to me, they are not up to par.  Throughout my high school career, and I had only made two C's in any of my classes: one was from spanish in 9th grade, and the other was from statistics in 12th grade. I contribute both of those grades to a lack of motivation and concentration and not because I was unable to comprehend the material.  In college, however, my reasons for obtaining those two C's were much different. Now I receive C's at the end of the term, not because I do not apply myself, but because the courses in which I am enrolled are hard as hell.

Anyone with my level of academic motivation would find this revelation largely discouraging.  In order to keep this anomaly from ever happening again, I have decided to take the following measures: deactivate my Facebook account, spend at least three hours in the library Monday through Thursday, and get to bed by at least 1:00 AM every night.  I feel that these steps will contribute greatly to helping me gain a fresh start so that I can pull up my GPR and make the most of myself during my time at Clemson University.

Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

On Wednesday, our class was assigned to read a letter that Martin Luther King wrote in 1963 after he was wrongfully arrested and sent to a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. We also read a children's book called "Martin's Big Words," which referred to some of the same historical events but with a more didactic tone. One thing that I found most significant about reading the two selections was that, even though they were written to appeal to two totally different audiences, they both still used the same element of argument, pathos, which is "appeal to emotion." The children's book did this mostly through its illustrations of young children and walking men. King's letter, however, did this by making references to his own small children and by repeatedly apologizing for taking up the people's "precious time" which his lengthy letter.

Academic Integrity Pledge

In English 103 Lab, we were assigned to come up with our own academic integrity pledge. While writing the pledge, I found that it was a lot harder than I originally anticipated. Even with our group of four people were brainstorming, we could only come up with three solid and meaningful points that we felt needed to be there. Every other point we tried to create seemed repetitious and not as important as the first three. This assignment made me realize how hard it must be to come up with an academic integrity pledge that can be understood and relevant to an entire student body.

Julius Caesar

In Antony's speech, he uses pathos to gain sympathy from his audience. He points out how honorable of a man Caesar was and convinces the audience that he did not deserve to be assassinated. He also uses ethos to show how wrong it was for Brutus to be apart of the murder. Since Brutus and Caesar were best friends, it does not make moral sense for Brutus to be one of the murderers.

Brutus, however, uses logos against Caesar and for himself as a way to explain why he helped to murder Caesar. He tries to convince the audience that he did it for him and not for himself; he forces them to believe that killing Caesar was the best thing for the whole of Rome and that he was benefiting them by killing him off.

What I Expect Out of the Class (Eng 103 Lab)

This semester in my English 103 Class, I expect to be able to organize my papers better, to become a more persuasive writer and to have a better understanding of more difficult text and literature. 

Throughout my high school career my teachers have always expressed to me that I have the potential to become a very good writer. One of the main obstacles that are in the way of me reaching my goal is my disorganization when writing. I tend to jump around from idea to idea, which causes me to confuse myself as well as my reader. If I could organize my ideas better, I know my readers will have a better grasp of what I am talking about.

Also, I would like to focus on getting my opinions across better in my literature. I need to learn how to make strong points and provide evidence to appropriately support them. In doing so, I will become better at writing how I feel and give my readers a better understanding of who I am as an individual.

Lastly, I would like to get a better understanding of what I am reading when faced with challenging and complicated books. As of right now, when the language is difficult to read or the words are strung together in ways different from what I am used to, I have a hard time staying focused and understanding what I had previously written.

From my English 103 class, I expect to be able to organize my ideas better and create more persuasive arguments to become a better writer and read for better understanding to become a better reader. All of these ideas are essential to the the idea of literature, and I look forward to bettering myself in this class.

Eats, Shoots, & Leaves

I agree with Truss's view of punctuation in this excerpt of Eats, Shoots, & Leaves.  Punctuation is very important to the comprehension of language around the world. Without it, written documents would be just a jumble of words with multiple interpretations, which would completely defeat its purpose: to inform and gain understanding.  One thing I do not agree with Truss about, however, is her assertion of the importance of punctuation in text messaging. It reads:

Meanwhile, in the world of text messages, ignorance of grammar and punctuation obviously doesn't affect a person's ability to communicate messages such as "C U later." But if you try anything longer, it always seems to turn out much like the writing of the infant Pip in Great Expectations.

In my opinion, the shorthand that is used in text messages does not equal ignorance, but rather a strong and useful understanding of the English language. Text messages are designed to be a convenient and fast means of telecommunication, so to clutter it with periods, commas and capitalizations, which can be easily overlooked, would take away from its main job: simplicity.

Language: The Power We Love to Hate

Lakoff, Robin. "Language: The Power We Love to Hate" (pp. 17-31) from The Language War. (US Press, Berkeley, 2000).

"The common thread in the explanatory narratives spun by the mralists and experts is a belief in the intellectual deficits of a populace in veigled into an addiction to trivia. The real stories, it is said or implied, the ones a serious and intelligent public would be paying attention to, are complex. We decadent Americans are drawn to these narratives by their very simplicity --- all we postmodern consumers can understand.

According to Lakoff, the interest of American people in the lives and controversy of trivial celebrities stems from our inability to understand the more important controversies effecting the world around us. It is not that we are uninterested in the more complex; it is simply that we are too lazy to gain understanding of it. This quote is important in proving the author's point because it supports the idea that Americans are most interested in the lives of other Americans because, although it may be less significant, it is indirectly about us.