e-journal #3 (2/17)
Choose an Exercise from the section Actions and Events on p.31-32 and complete the task asked of you. If you decide to complete number three you will receive extra credit, as this prompt is more demanding than either number one or two. (Due 2/17)
Exercise 3
ReplyDeleteThe speaker of the poem, ”Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka, is African and he/she is looking for a new apartment. The poem basically describes a phone call the speaker has with the landlady. The landlady is portrayed as respectful but is proven to be racist. “But self-confession. ‘Madam,’ I warned, / ‘I hate a wasted journey—I am African.’” (l.4-5). Once the landlady answers the phone, the speaker decides he/she must confess about his nationality, as if it was a crime. This led to me to infer that the time period of the poem was most likely during the time of discrimination. One complication is the problems in history which lead the speaker feel it was necessary to speak about his background. Another complication is the landlady being racist, this leads her to be somewhat offensive and eventually hang up the phone. I believe the second complication is more important because if she wasn’t racist, she wouldn’t have hung up the phone and the speaker would have gotten their apartment. But my thought process would have probably been different if I lived through it, due to the fact a majority of people discriminated blacks. The speaker states, "Wouldn't you rather see for yourself?" leaving his/her question to the reader (l.34-35).
“Complications” (Question #3)
ReplyDeleteThe reading that I chose was Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka. Some information about him that I found useful was the fact that he is from Nigeria, was born in 1938, and has been around segregation. Another big detail that is rather important is that it took place in 1960. These details would prove very important in understanding Soyinka’s story.
The conversation was between Soyinka and the landlord of an apartment that was just made available. The apartment was reasonably priced, was in a reasonable location, and renting the apartment seemed like a no brainer. However, as the conversation goes on, he mentions to the landlord that he is African. The landlord’s response, however, is anything but decent: “HOW DARK…ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK”?
As can be expected from this situation typical to this time period, the rest of the conversation did not seem to end well. Despite the fact that Soyinka behaved like a proper gentleman through and through, that still did not stop the fact that he was black and that his landlord clearly was racist towards him. Now, the main complication here is apparent from the very beginning: he is black, therefore he is not welcome. It is not just implied there, but throughout the phone call, as they continue to talk about how dark he is as if it is an important issue. Unfortunately for this circumstance not only could this cause a big problem, but it could result in effects of the catastrophic range.
The main question that was on my mind: could this have been avoided over the telephone? My opinion on this is potentially it could have been, but what would happen if they were to schedule a meeting to discuss the details and the landlord sees him? Right then and there, I realized that this conflict is inevitable because we are talking about a time when segregation is popular even though the concept of “separate, but equal” is illegal. Hence, the best way to answer this is that there is absolutely no fool-proof method as to avoid skin color because in itself served as a barrier for many things and in many neighborhoods despite everything that had been done to establish a protection of rights for African Americans. As an aside, it just makes you wonder…how far have we really come from this dilemma?
Number 3... “Complications”
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, “Traveling through the dark” by William Stafford, the narrator comes across a few complications. One of them is finding a deer nearly dead on the road. But the narrator did not only find himself with a deer but with a decision to make. Should he just role the deer into the canyon, which in fact it is known to be best because of the narrowness of the road, or should he help her out? In my opinion, if I saw that the deer could not be helped and it was dead then I would not give it a second thought and just rolled her into the canyon. But in this poem, something that you may not normally encounter yourself with occurred.
The second complication arouse. While making his conclusion in my opinion he comes to witness that the female deer is pregnant and that the baby deer is awaiting to be born. The reason why I make this conclusion is because on line 9 to 12 Stafford says, “ My fingers touching her side brought me the reason-her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting, alive, still, never to be born.” So what do you do now? I strongly believe that the narrator wanted to help the mother birth her unborn child.
The climax does come to picture when he comes to see the light of which seems to be another car coming his way. Now another complication aroused, the most important in my opinion. The narrator had to choose whether to put his life at risk or saving himself. On line 17, Stafford writes, “ I thought hard for us all- my only swerving-, then pushed her over the edge into the river.” At the end he had made his decision. He had decided to roll her into the canyon.
In my opinion, I feel like the narrator did not have any other choice. This road seemed to be a dangerous one because of the narrowness that was described. Once you go deeper into what one would do when put in such complications, you probably would of done the same thing. In fact, maybe he could not do much to help the deer and he saw that it was too late to help. So I would not have changed any decision that the narrator decided on.
I am now watching a Chinese drama called “Palace”. The drama is about a modern girl named Qingchuan cross time went back to Qing Dynasty, experiencing ancient palace life. One of the conflicts I remember is when Qingchuan discover that Fourth* tired to kill her before they were in love. She was very sad and angry about this, so she asks Fourth for a reason. However, when Fourth tries to explain, she stopped him, and made a conclusion that Forth is cruel- he can sacrifice her and many other people just for being the next emperor. The resolution is Qingchuan decides to change the history by help Eighth to get the throne. I will not make the same choice as the main character. I think, at least, Qingchuan has to give a chance for him to explain. And I also disagree with her decision to change the history. I believe history cannot be changed, if something happen differently, the entire history will not follow its direction, the life we have now is going to be totally different, and there is a chance that we didn’t even exist.
ReplyDelete*Eighth- 8th son of Emperor Kangxi
*Fourth- 4th son of Emperor Kangxi
*Qingchuan is now in love with Fourth when conflict happened
In the poem “Telephone Conversation” Wole Soyinka, introduces a person of African descent looking for a new apartment. The poem indicates that the speaker makes a telephone call to a landlady. When the speaker speaks with the landlady he/she is interested into the apartment. When the speaker revealed to the narrator that “I hate wasted journey-I am African”. After the speaker indicated that she was African the landlady began to question the speaker about his/her skin complexion. “HOW DARK?” or “VERY DARK?” The speaker begins to give the reader (me) signals that they are unsure of how to respond to the landlady. The speaker is now in a situation where he/she is unsure whether or not to tell the landlady their complexion. Being that the speaker is now stuck in this situation she begins to tell the landlady that he/she is a brunette and peroxide white with a black bottom color then says “See for yourself?”.
ReplyDeleteThe poem ends with “See for yourself?”. This indicated to me that the speaker was of a dark complexion. Being that the speaker expresses great interest in the apartment they seemed hesitant in giving a truthful answer to the landlady hoping she would accept him/her as a tenet based off of a first impression or money.
My reaction to the speakers complication of being antagonized to answer a question based on complexion for an apartment outrages me. If I was looking for an apartment and that questions was asked to me i would not answer or even hesitant to disconnect the call. It shouldn't matter a person’s racial/ethical background for an apartment. The landlady gives me the impression that she is racist towards darker complexions. Instead of asking the speaker useful questions such as when do you plan on moving in? or Are you financially stable? She is worried about skin complexion.
Over all one particular complication that I thought was more important than the landlady’s racism of complexions. Is that the speaker is unable to speak up for his/her self against the consistent questioning of skin color. He/She should of express some form of anger, disappointment, or confusing to the landlady. I felt that the speaker was uncomfortable with themselves because he/she began to give multiple complexions to the landlady instead of her true complexion. As someone of light or dark skin complexion, or any if that, should not want to be in an environment where skin complexion is of so much importance.
In the short story “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”, the narrator faces a big complication where he has to choose between his hobby and his love interest. This 14-year old boy loves fishing and is fascinated with bass. Unfortunately for him, his crush does not like the idea of fishing at all. En route to the speaker’s date with Sheila Mant, the speaker happens to have a rod in his boat, which hooks a bass. This is the biggest bass he’s ever hooked and he doesn’t know what to do with it. He drags the fish through the water for basically the whole ride without Sheila knowing but in the end lets it go. Which pretty much signifies that he chose the girl over his hobby/the fish. When the night is done, Sheila finds another guy who drives a Corvette and does not even ride back home with the narrator. Making him realize it was a mistake for him to ever let that fish go. Now he has nothing and the whole situation is a lose-lose on his part. Back on that boat, if he were let Sheila see his true colors and reel that fish in, he might not have been so upset when he discovered that Sheila was leaving him. He would still have the bass to show that something good came from that night. Because of this incident, the narrator almost has this mind-set of “stick with what you know”. One can tell the narrator the noted quote, “There’s other fish in the sea” but it’s much more complicated for him. He might never get to have another encounter with a huge bass such as the one from that night all because of his naivety along with a girl who didn’t care much for him.
ReplyDeleteI recently watched the movie “The Great Debaters” and is about a debate team, from the small town of Marshall, Texas and an even smaller school Wiley College that wins a national championship. The movie is based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. It starts out showing how many things they have going against them, and how their chances of winning are impossible, but as it goes on it shows how four students come together and become victorious in the end. Melvin B. Tolson who played by (Denzel Washington) created quite a name for himself by making powerful award-winning debate team at Wiley College. Melvin B. Tolson was also a social activist. He believed that all people were equal, white, black, rich and poor it all didn’t matter to him. He did his best to help out the poor farmer so that they were able to get the money that they deserved. Things like this were the reasons why he was so hated by most of the whites in Marshall, Texas. He wanted his students to get the education they deserved and needed. With the help of his odd teachings and cocky attitude he was able to make many changes in this day and time that wasn’t really happening everywhere. Tolson is obviously radical, perhaps even a Communist, and he actively opposes racial injustice. In one scene, the young Farmer follows Tolson as he sneaks out in the middle of the night to organize an integrated sharecroppers union, and barely escapes arrest as the police raid the meeting. Later, the police track down Tolson after torturing some of the sharecroppers, arrest him at Wiley and drag him to jail. Even through going to jail, being shot at, he still kept his beliefs and he didn’t let anyone changed the way he felt. This movie gave me a history of our ancestors, what they went throw for us to make our life better. This movie was educational and entertaining at parts, I really wanted to cry when I saw a black man was lynched. When the debate team witnessed the lynching and burning of a man, just to know that something like that was legal and considered as right in some people’s eyes just made me sick to my stomach. I always knew about things like that, but just to see something like that actually happen, even in a movie, it shows the worst thing god ever created in this world is human and that’s sad. Human should be the greatest thing god ever created because human has so much power that no other creation has. This movie has taught me that the whole world could be against me, but I can’t let anybody change the way I feel, like the Tolson didn’t let anybody change the way he felt about the reality that he was living. He wasn’t just inspiring but he was also a hero because the change that he made for us and I hope we could finish what he started.
ReplyDeleteThe movie I recently watch was called “The Last Song”, in this movie a young boy and girl goes to stay with their father for the summer and although the little boy is excited to, the girl was very uninterested. Throughout her time with her father she falls in love with one of the local boys in the town, and she also begins to get a little close to her father. While falling in love she is hit with a lot of difficult news such as the boys parents not like her and that one of the reasons her father wanted them to visit was because he was diagnosis with a terminal illness. With all this bad news and many others the girl breaks up with her love and decides not the go to college, but to spend her time with her father and take care of him during his last days. During her time taking care of her father she never forgot about the boy. At the end of the movie the two were reunited and got back together. They also went to college close by so they could be together.
ReplyDeleteIf I were in her shoes I don’t think I would have handled the situations she went through the same. If I knew my father was dying I would want the one person that I loved to be there to take care and console me during the hard times that I would have to go through I wouldn’t have pushed him away.
Exercise 1
ReplyDelete"Cop Out"
I recently saw a movie (comedy) called "Cop Out". The plot of the movie was that one of the cops (Bruce Willis) daughter was getting married and he wanted to pay for the wedding rather than let his ex wife husband pay for the wedding and the only way he could afford the wedding is if he sold his valuable baseball card. The place where he tried to sell the baseball card got robbed so him and his partner try to track down the thief to retrieve the card.
The baseball card was in the hands of a gangster who collects valuable sport souvenirs and in order for Bruce Willis to get his card back he had to find a specific car for the gangster. Finally Willis defeated the gangster and got his card back but it was ruined so it had no value and his daughter step father ended up paying for the entire wedding.
If it was my daughter's wedding I would also put all my blood and sweat into paying for her dream day cause that is my child and I refuse to let a want to be mother or father figure pay for my child's wedding. Like Bruce if I can't afford a big wedding then I should at least be able to pay half. The entire role Willis played in the movie was for his daughter and he took action to try to make her happy so I think it was realistic that he felt it was his fatherly duties to pay for his daughter's wedding rather let some other man pay for her wedding and making him seem like he is not such a perfect father.
There is a show on ABC family, which is based on a book series, called Pretty Little Liars. The show/book series is about four friends that each have a secret that they once shared with their friend Alison before she went missing and was found dead in her backyard. The four friends are now being taunted by a stalker named "A" who is black mailing them and somehow knows about all their secrets. A seemingly knows who Alison's killer is. A sends them text messages, emails, and letters and somehow always knows what they are up to and where exactly they are. To deal with this, the friends make sure that they do not tell their parents or anyone else that could possibly help them so that they would not risk having their secrets be exposed to the world. In the process, they try to figure out who Alison's killer is and who A is. Even though it would be a smart idea to tell someone, I think that it's even better for them to solve this mystery with each other and nobody else. I think that they need to keep quiet because if their secrets get exposed, it can do a lot of damage to their reputations which can be very life changing in a negative way. I probably would have done the same thing even though it also seems life threatening. In reality, I think that their reactions to this situation is realistic because people do have things to hide sometimes and sometimes people get blackmailed when someone finds out about their dirty laundry. People will do whatever they can to protect themselves and their reputations. That's just how life is. People just want to be able to not let anything prevent them from living a comfortable life. When it comes down to solving the mysterious death of Alison and figuring out who A is, I think it is a very dangerous thing to do. However, I see the reason why they would do this. I think by doing this, they feel like they could prevent any bad situation that A creates for them from happening after finding out who A is. Once they find out who A is, they could find out what A knows about their friend's murder and could maybe find out what A has against them and why he or she has been blackmailing them and wreaking havoc in their lives. I think some people would do what they are doing considering the fact that their lives are at stake. I think some people would just leave the mystery as is or even go to the cops to report what is happening. Looking at this makes me that life is about choice and making the wrong choices can lead you into a much more deeper hole than you dug yourself into.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, “Traveling through the dark” by William Stafford the speaker sees a dead dear while driving his car on a mountain road. The speaker faces complications as soon as he gets out of his car to clear the road. When the speaker says, “it is usually best to roll them into the canyon” it shows that he has been thorough this situation, and knows what should be done. But everything changes when he finds something odd about this deer. This is where the complication arises. As the speaker drags her body over to the side of the cliff, he notices that the doe is pregnant. In line 8 he says, “she was large in the belly.” The speaker struggles, because he has to make a decision whether to push the doe off from the cliff or not. Pushing a pregnant and helpless doe off of the cliff is inhumane. As the speaker thinks about it, the complication gets intense. He finds out, as he examines the doe, that “her side was warm” and warmth indicates life. The speaker also notices that the baby is still alive, because in line11 the speaker says “still alive, never to be born.” This takes beyond the complication and to the climax. The speaker is now in dilemma. The speaker says, “I thought very hard for us all” which exhibits that the speaker’s decision is very important, because his decision affects fawn’s life as well as his. If the speaker makes a wrong decision, he might regret this day. The speaker also has to act quickly, because as he says, “the road is narrow” and “to swerve might make more dead” In the end the speaker comes to the conclusion that he must move on to the road, so he “pushes her into the edge into the river.” I think the narrator did not have any other choice but to push the doe into the canyon but, if the speaker had at least tried to save the baby, even if it was impossible, then this would have ended less tragically.
ReplyDeleteIn Culture Diversity class, I watched a movie titled, Million Dollar Baby. This movie is about the journey of a woman named Margaret who wants to be a champion boxer. She wants to be trained by Frankie, an excellent boxing trainer, but he initially refuses because Margaret is a woman. She eventually wins him over through her persistence and her work ethic. She becomes a very strong boxer, and then fights for the championship title. Frankie knows that the champion is a dirty fighter, and worries for Margaret’s safety. Sure enough, Margaret is injured during the fight, and is paralyzed neck down. Her condition worsens, and she begs Frankie to euthanize her. After Margaret’s attempt to kill herself, Frankie gives in to her demands. I think I would have made the same decision as Frankie. Margaret was really depressed and she could not do the things she loved. Even her own family did not sympathize with her. The only ones who cared for her were Frankie and his friend. I believed that Frankie reacted realistically, seeing his prized fighter and close friend in a state of depression. He wanted to let her die with the glory of victory and the cheers of her fans still fresh in her mind.
ReplyDeleteExercise # 3: “Traveling through the dark”
ReplyDeleteWilliam Stafford, “Traveling through the dark” comes across a few complications.
He narrates the great tension between two realities. “Traveling through the dark” is speaking about a man who was traveling along a road at night when he came upon a dead deer at the edge of the road. The first complication is when the narrator mentioned that the road was narrow and fatal accidents have already happened along that road to swerve might make more dead so it was usually best to roll the deer aside. The second complication arouse once realizing that the deer was pregnant he "hesitated" Line 12, because he had make a decision on whether he should save the unborn fawn that was still alive in the stomach of the deer. The poet uses language that appeals to the senses and are sight, hearing and touch. The car is personified and is portrayed as a weapon "the car aimed ahead" Line 13, "under the hood purred the steady engine" Line 14, suggests that an animal has been killed. "The warm exhaust turning red" Line 15, portrays blood and death. When the narrator mentioned "I thought hard for us all, my only swerving" Line 17, it meant that he had to make a big decision and he thought for all of mankind, his hesitation and the idea of not knowing what to do was his only swerving causing another complication. The title of the poem "Traveling through the dark" aside from meaning that the man was literally traveling at night also means confusion, the man is on his own to make a decision, alone in the dark; no one else is there to help him.
The movie “Letters to Juliet” directed by Gary Winick is about a girl Sophie, who goes on a quest to help an old woman find her long lost love. Sophie and her fiancée decided to take pre-honeymoon to Italy. While in Italy Sophie’s fiancée is unmoved by the romance of Italy and utilizes his time to do research to open a restaurant, ignoring Sophie. Soon Sophie decides to discover Italy on her own. She then finds an unanswered letter to Juliet that was left for 50 years in the lover’s Verona courtyard. Sophie decides to reply to the person who wrote it. Few days later the elderly Claire comes to visit Sophie to thank her for replying. Along with Claire, her grandson Charlie comes with her. Sophie and Charlie take an instant dislike for each other with Charlie behaving very rough with Sophie. Sophie suggests to Claire that she should find her long lost love Lorenzo. Soon after Claire, Sophie, and Charlie are on a journey to find Lorenzo. Throughout the journey Sophie and Charlie fall in love, but they didn’t tell each other. On the last day of searching they accidently find Lorenzo. Back with her fiancée, Sophie is distraught because she does not know who chose. But at the end she decides to take a chance to see if Charlie loves her back. At the end her n fiancée decides to split and she goes back to Italy to attend Claire and Lorenzo’s wedding. There she finds Charlie and they both express their love for one another. If I was in Sophie’s position I would have probably had made the same decision. I think it would have been a tough decision but in life you have to do what makes you happy. If Sophie hadn’t made that decision, throughout her life she probably would have been thinking the “what if” situation.
ReplyDeleteI think Sophie’s reaction to her conflict was realistic because in real life there are some people who have to chose between their true love and hurting people who they love.
Exercise # 1:
ReplyDeleteA film that I have recently seen called "Dear John" shows a character facing a conflict. It is about a girl who meets a guy and within two weeks they both really like each other. The conflict however falls between the relationship that they have. The guy is part of the army, while the girl goes to school in another state.The two weeks spent between one another is something special for the both of them. This relationship that they have brings many conflicts because the long distance. Some other problems that could have occured were a serious injury, presence of someone else, or even the lost of emotion between the couple. The fear of these problems is what led them to keeping in contact by writing letters. This worked for a while until feelings started to change. The girl eventually married soomeone else and continued on with her life. However even though this relationship did not last forever, both the guy and the girl remained friends.
If I were her I think I would have made the same choices. I say this because of the situation that she was put in. It is not easy to just let a guy that you really like go back to a job that can lead to severe injuries. Her reaction to this conflict was very realistic. Even though they were not face to face most of the time, both still kept in contact. I felt that this helped the two communicate and also led them to a soltuion that is best for the both of them.
Traveling Through The Dark Question #3
ReplyDeleteIn reading this poem, it is quite noticeable what the complications were. Unlike some stories with only one ultimate dilemma, this poem had several. The poem can be summarized as the speaker finding a dead deer on the side of the road that he was traveling and contemplating on whether he shoulf remove it, so that it wouldnot be a problem to the other drivers. While first reading it, that seemed to be the only complication. As i continued reading he described the deer's stomach as being warm and basically gave the reader the conclusion that the deceased deer was pregnant. With saying this, the second complication was the fact of whether the speaker should just leave the unborn fawn to die or try any possible solution in helping it to live.
In my response to the complications i do feel that one dilemma holds more strongly than another. Giving the fact of not knowing how long the deer has been dead for, trying to help the unborn fawn survive would be quite impossible without some help from another source or the mother deer herself. In saying this, I feel the major dilemma at hand that should be first priority is getting the deceased deer out of the way, so that way, he does not cause an unecessary accident or an incident that can be prevented beofre hand.
In closing, the speaker seemed not to happy with pushing the deer into the river, but he felt a little bit well in knowing that he did what he could of given the time and situation that he was in. Especially due to the fact that he was alone.
Exercise 1
ReplyDeleteThe last television program I have seen was an episode from “Supernatural, a fantasy-horror/action show about two brothers that hunt evil creatures for a living. In this particular episode, the older brother, Dean, is put into a situation where he must wear a special ring to become a Grim Reaper for a full day in exchange for a favor from Death, the main Grim Reaper. The favor being Death going into hell to fetch his younger brother's soul from being further mutilated by Lucifer and the archangel Michael, and returned to his human body. Dean's job starts out easy enough, killing an armed robber, and a old overweight man who gets a heart attack. However, the next person on his list is a sick twelve year old girl in the hospital; the only family her single father has. Dean is unable to kill her, which then sets off a chain reaction of other deaths. Since the little girl has made a full recovery, her nurse leaves early who then gets hit by a car and dies. The nurse's husband is devastated and then tries to kill himself. Dean finally breaks his deal by taking off the ring to rescue the man, and then goes back to kill the twelve year old girl to restore the order of things. I like this example very much because I feel I probably would have done the exact same things Dean did for the same reason. He gave up the chance to get his brother's soul back so he could save a stranger's life. His actions were selfless and show that he is a good person deep down despite his “tough guy” exterior. Whether or not his reaction was realistic depends on one's perspective. It could be thought that he was simply written that way just so he would be the “good guy” in the end since some people may believe it is stupid to save a stranger than your own brother, or it could be realistic because some people may not be able to believe someone could simply watch someone kill themselves like that without trying to save them.
“Traveling through the dark “ by William Stafford
ReplyDeleteAt first we can tell the narrator is talking about the setting. As the narrator describes more about the setting the complications begin. At first the narrator seems so come, yet until the narrator gets out the car and see that there is a deer on road. He tried pushing the deer, and he noticed a bump on belly. At that moment I had chills I knew it was a baby. I felt as if that was the climax was right there. The words that hit me the most are “ hesitated” line 12 “stumbled” line 5. That fact that it was a dark night and nobody was around he was alone. There are many complications in this poem one as we can see is that the deer is on the road, and secondly the fact that the deer is pregnant and the baby maybe alive. I see these as complications because when you look at the he was normal until he ran into the deer and it rose to the climax when he knew the deer was pregnant. If these didn’t happened something would happened like he was alone, and maybe out of the place he was I am assuming a forest because there was a deer, a bear might come out or it could get foggy and he might have an accident.
Well a recent film that ive watched that shows a characther facing a conflict would have to be no string attached with ashton kutcher and natalie portman. The conflict in this comedy is that of the man who agrees to have sex with a girl but wit no relationship or love involved but as it progresses the man wants to make more out of the relationship while the woman doesnt believe in the principles of monogamy therefore creating a conflict between them. After considering and looking at all the possibilities at the end decides to stay with him as she herself has fallen in love with him. I believe that everybody exoected this to be resolotuion therefore im not shocked at all as many romantic comedies finish with a happy ending. i believe that i would have not made a deciion like this as i believe in monogamy and dont see the point of the type of relation the characthers were having at the beggining as in real life ill mostly not lead to any future serious relationship. I find the characthers conflicts realistic as many peope dont believe in the principles of monogamy therefore i personally have seen conflicts like this in real life therefore the characthers conflic is realistic.
ReplyDeleteA television program that I’ve seen that shows a character facing a conflict is “Dexter” which is a series that centers on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department but who is also a serial killer. The conflict Dexter has to deal with is his “Dark Passager” which is the name he has assigned to his urge to kill. This “Dark Passager” was created when Dexter witnessed his own mother’s murder infront of him at a very young age causing a trama. Being orphaned at the age of three, Dexter Morgan is adopted by a Miami police officer Harry Morgan and his wife Doris. A few years later after discovering that Dexter has been killing the neighborhood pets, Harry believes that he is destined to be a serial killer and teaches him "The Code of Harry" as a way to channel his violent urges towards people who deserve it. In this code, Dexter's victims must be killers themselves who have murdered and will likely do so again. Flashbacks throughout the series show Harry, who died several years before, instructing Dexter in how to kill but appear normal and cover his tracks. Therefore “The Code of Harry” becomes his resolution for his “Dark Passager”. Personally I can’t decide if being a serial killer is the right decision for his conflict and if I was I wouldn’t say it because I don’t want people too look at me like I’m crazy. But in my opinion the only way to decide what is right or wrong in that situation is actually going through the same trama. As further proof in the first season it is shown that Dexter has a brother that was there with him to witness his mother’s death. His brother turned out to have a “Dark Passager” too but he didn’t kill criminals that were killers, he killed prostiutes. So even though another person that went through the same trama he still turned out the same, so maybe him killing but following “The Code of Harry” is the right choice for him.
ReplyDeleteIn the story “The Bass, the River and Sheila Mant”, the speaker has a crush on a girl whose family had rented the cottage next to his for the summer. He constantly tried to gain her attention by swimming endless laps or diving to the best of his ability. The speaker finally gained the courage to ask Sheila out to a concert. He picks up Sheila in a canoe with his fishing equipment still inside the canoe. During conversation Sheila makes it known that she dislikes fishing; not wanting to appear “dumb” in her eyes the speaker moves his equipment out of site. Later he realizes that there is a fish hooked onto the pole and probably the biggest he has ever hooked. Now the speaker is faced with the decision of reeling it in or letting it go. The rest of the trip he debates what he do. In the end he cuts the line and lets the fish go, choosing the girl over his hobby. When the night is over Sheila leaves in Eric Caswell’s Corvette and after that the spell she held over the speaker was broken. The speaker reflects on this night and still regrets not reeling in the bass.
ReplyDeleteIf the speaker had responded differently by actually reeling in the bass he would have had the bass and then maybe Sheila would want to leave because of her dislike for fishing. The speaker may regret reeling in the bass later on in life which would have gotten him no where.
1.)
ReplyDeleteA television show that i've recently seen with a character facing a problem is the show Vampire Diaries. In the show, a character named Elena is trying to be used by certain vampires and wolves in a sacrifice in which she would have to die. These vampires and wolves are trying to bring her to an original vampire named Clause. As as result of these vampires and wolves trying to bring her to Clause, her friends and family keep getting hurt. As a resolution to the conflict, Elena makes a deal with another original vampire named Elijah to protect her friends from getting hurt. In exchange for the protection, Elijah will use Elena for him self in the sacrifice. Either way, Elena has to die. I think that what Elena is doing is nice, however i think that she should just kill herself so that she cannot be used in any sacrifice and so that her friends wont get hurt for trying to protect her themselves. I would not have made the choice that Elena made. I would have killed myself as another character in the show did in order to avoid being used in the sacrifice. I think that Elenas reaction is realistic because in reality, people actually do try to protect friends and family by somewhat sacrificing themselves.
2)
ReplyDeleteI'm not an avid tv watcher so i decided to write about a more realistic occurence. While i was on the train one day coming to school on the opposite facing side of the train to my near left was a homeless man, or bum as often called. I sat there with my ipod listening to an instrumental titled 'Shadows', and looked around at everyone in the one same cart. I find this situation as being sad irony because in my ears were the words "dead or alive, can't tell a lie" being repeated continuously from the dubbed instrumental. It was sad and ironic in the sense that everyone in the cart sat in the farthest corner and appeared as if all wa normal and nothing had been a problem, while i sat there closest to him hearing "dead or alive, can't tell a lie". I looked up and the man was now laying on the seats as if he was really dead. At this moment i felt so unreal and shocked, as people gglimpsed at him, however i know in their minds they had no sense of empathy or pity for this man who they all scorned. Still the beat played in my ears and it looks though as we were all alive and breathing in the one same same cart which brought us on our journey in unison, but we all were savages in disguise.
As i continued on my way and repeatedly listened to the instrumental i began to draw a big picture and a better visualization in my head. we as American citizens live by certain ethics. One of them being 'United we stand, divided we fall', but it is so ironic that we do the complete opposite of that saying. We rather divide ourselves and watch each other fall instead of coming together and upholding ourselves as a society with such a belief would do. And like the dubbed chorus of the instrumental i was listening to whether we try to make everything seem all perfect, lively and nice, there's still going to be that evident fact that we don't always follow our beliefs. At a microscopic level it seems we nature this sort of unwanted, problematic relationship in a way that we have total disregard for others, yet we find the existence of the problem bothersome, and somehow self-developed.
I believe we can all contribute to people different and lesser fortunate than us both on a micro level and on larger scale by being more considerate, kind-hearted, offering consolement and keep in mind that the welfare of humanity depends on us all as individuals.
Well I don't really watch too much television shows but the show I choose is “Supernatural”. The conflict that goes on is that there are two brothers who fight evil creatures and while they do this they try to hold on to their humanity. By the word humanity I mean emotions like loving caring and not letting their "job" take over their personalities. The choices that the characters whose names are Sam and Dean make are the same choices that I would have made in that position as well. I feel that the choices they make for the situations are very realistic. The reason for this is because you can actually feel the emotions and the hardships they go through and these characters actually do have good hearts. The two brothers have no other family besides each other and they both love each other so much that they would die for one another. This is also their weakness because all the demons and monsters they fight know that this is their only weakness and they try to use it against them. There is some truth to this show because while some siblings don’t get along; there are some who would do anything for one another. The message in this show is that family is very important, and you should never let your “job” get in the way of your life.
ReplyDeleteGuideline #3- "Traveling through the Dark"
ReplyDeleteThe first complication of the poem is the protagonist coming across the dead deer on the road. This is a complication because the deer was at a dangerous part of the road which might cause people to swerve in to the canyon. The driver has to pull the deer off to the side of the road to push it in to the canyon. The next complication is when the driver realizes that the deer is pregnant. "Her fawn lay there waiting, alive, still, never to be born" (Line 10-11). The driver realized this is a problem because if he pushed the deer in to the canyon the unborn fawn would die. "Beside that mountain road I hesitated" (Line 12). I feel that this discovery should have made the driver pause and consider a new course of action. I believe that this is the most important complication of the entire poem. It is the most important complication because up until this point he was certain that pushing the deer in to the canyon was the appropriate move. The unborn fawn gave the driver pause but he eventually realized how much of a threat the dead carcass posed to drivers. There was also not much he could do for the fawn at this point. This discovery however was not enough for the driver to do the right thing in my opinion, and call for help. If he had chosen not to kill the unborn fawn then the entire mood of the poem would be lighter.
A television show that i've seen when a character faces a problem is Family Guy. During one of the episodes when the year was just about to be 2000, some people spreaded a rumor about a Y2K virus. The Y2K virus was suppose to affect all the eletronics in the world and shut everything down. In this episode Peter was told that all the nuclear missles would launch by them selves and destroy the world. Peter Believed it and convince his family to stay in the basement locked up during New Years Eve and his family did not believe him. It turned out to be true when the missles were launched and the earth was turned to just wasteland. Now ofcourse this is just a cartoon show and that would never happen but it shows that no matter how ridiculous something sounds it might just be better for you to think about it.
ReplyDeleteI was recently watching an episode of the cartoon "South Park" where one of the main characters named Kenny tries to find out the cause of his recurring resurrections from the many deaths that happen to him, all of which his friends do not remember. He and his friends dress up as superheroes, pretending to have powers, to find a way to help the victims of the BP oil spill. Ultimately, the BP oil company causes a hole to open in the ocean floor leading to an immortal interdimensionsal monster named Cthulhu, a creature created by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft in 1926, to be released and wreak havoc. One of Kenny's friends, Eric Cartman, becomes angry after he is kicked out of the group for being a jerk. Eventually, he recruits Cthulhu to help him destroy things that he hates, i.e. attacks on a Justin Bieber concert and at the "Burning Man" festival. Finally, when Kenny is about to fight the monster, a floating message from space arrives telling him of his alien origin, a la Superman. The message however turns at to be directed at a friend of Kenny's whose alter-ego is Mint Berry Crunch. Kenny obviously is dumbfounded at this development and at the end of the episode, it is revealed that Kenny's mom simply gives birth to him every time he dies and he just grows up overnight. The resolution is pretty ironic as Mint Berry Crunch is constantly insulted for not having a typical power other than "combining the awesome taste of mint and berries" and he turns out to have the only actual powers, other than Kenny. Also, the explanation for Kenny's powers are that his parents got drunk when crashing a cult meeting. It was entertaining as South Park usually is when the episodes end unexpectedly. Along the way, Kenny kills himself several times during the episode over his frustration with his deaths being constantly forgotten. I would not have made this choice, since this is from a cartoon and is irrational. Kenny's reaction is not realistic since he seems to have a nervous breakdown and he kills himself several times.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie “The Hangover”, the main characters face the conflict of being in Las Vegas for a bachelor party and losing the groom. They were engaged in a night of excessive drinking and when the wake up in the morning, they need to retrace their steps using clues that were left. Ultimately, they find the groom on the roof of the hotel, left there as a result of a practical joke. The crisis is resolved when they arrive at the weeding on time despite the many hysterical situations that happened during their quest. I think that, since they succeeded in recovering the groom, that it did not matter how indirect their journey was and they consistently found new information to help them in the journey. I probably would not have made the same choices as they did since they dealt with some fairly extreme circumstances. The reaction to the conflict is probably realistic since they are in an understandable panic with the loss of their friend before the most important moment of his life.
ReplyDelete