Final Blog

This class was absolutely the hardest class to keep up with because of the massive workload. This semester I took a total of 5 classes and this class had more work than the other 4 combined. A few times during the semester I wanted to give up because it would have made this semester a whole lot easier and I would have been able to do better quality work. But I stuck through it and I’m glad I did. I knew this time would come, where I can see the end, and it’s amazing to think this is my last blog. This semester was the toughest one for me so far and I learned a lot about myself and my limitations. On the other hand, this class although a lot of work taught me more than I would ever imagine about literature, especially trying to analyze it. I have never been a literature type of person and I never thought I would be analyzing it as much as I did. But I did it, and got through it but not without complaining all the way through. Towards the end I was actually getting used to the class and I worked out a system and sacrificed a lot of fun to get work done on time. Until the end of the semester came and all the finals and papers were due. I cannot wait till summer break and the little bit of time off I will have. I am not going to waste any of my days off, and I’m going to do something fun and hopefully new every day. After summer I have to start getting back in the school mindset because I’m transferring to a university, it should be interesting.

Everybody in this class had strong opinions and I enjoyed reading the responses to my blogs and I also enjoyed reading others student’s blogs. It was fun seeing everyone’s different views and when they didn’t agree with something they were still respectful. I saw the class size shrink little by little until the select few were left. I congratulate the few that made it through this class, it wasn’t easy, unless this was your only class and obligation. I’m not really used to online classes and the nonexistent physical interactions with other students. But this class was set up to interact the most we could with other students for an online class. But I still prefer to take campus classes. It would have been nice to have at least one campus meeting to give advice, help each other out, and meet our fellow students. It seems like students in online classes don’t want to socialize with other students than students in campus classes do. But it was an experience to say the least. All in all, this is one class I will always remember.

Pg. 1088 #4

For me this blog is going to be hard to squeeze 500 words out. I don’t really know or listen to any love songs and I wouldn’t really be able to relate it to the readings, but I am going to try. I asked a few girl friends of mine, what their favorite love songs are and they gave me a few. I looked them up and listened to them but I couldn’t see myself writing about those because I don’t feel that way in my current stage of life. Those songs were so over dramatic and they made love seem like it was the only thing that mattered and what they strived for. The poems also gave metaphors for love and made outrageous comparisons that I couldn’t fathom, just like some of these songs I listened to. But I guess that’s where women currently get their idea of love from, from the songs and literature tv shows. But others may argue that the artist writes and sings about how they feel when their in love or when they are longing for it. But it is hard for me to think of love that way because I have never felt it as strongly as they write and sing.
But back on the real subject, I found a song that sort of relates to the readings that a friend pointed me to, the song is “U got it bad” by Usher. I thought this was funny because it’s so old but I listened to it and it sort of has some similarities to the readings in a small minute way. A part in the song talks about everything else doesn’t matter when you find the one you love. The song also says love can induce exhilaration and that they crave and desire it, just like a few of the poems suggest. So now I guess this is the song I’m going to think about when I think about love, but not really. Right now when I think about love the songs I lean towards is “Tie me down” by the new boyz or “Daddy’s home” by Usher and “Crazy B****” by Buckcherry, these can’t really be compared to the readings. I’m more drawn to the poem “Song” and its realistic point on love, it’s something that people shouldn’t search for, just let it find you when you’re ready. You need more than love to make things work.

Creation Myths

While watching the myths of creation by the different groups on different continents, I noticed they all had some parts in common. All of them wanted an explanation to why they are here and what their purpose is, so they made up stories to “answer” these questions. The three I watched had gods who created everything step by step including the first human beings. A lot of the myths are of course false and very hard to believe but I understand back then they were not to smart. I don’t even know how these myths can be called legit, did they really have comprehensible forms of writing and communication back then? I’m not sure where they came from and I doubt they are authentic, by that I mean I don’t think these are the original myths and stories. It’s pretty hard for these stories to stand the test of time and not be altered with and for us to truly decipher and know what they were saying. At the present time, it’s hard to watch some of these and take them seriously, I guess that’s why they are called myths.

On the other hand, one interesting comparison of some of the myths are how the groups all had some sort of god or multiple gods who created them and they control everything around them such as the sun, water, and earth. They were created to worship the gods and do the up keep of the earth. You can even see a lot of similarities to the religions now a day if you look closer in detail. You just have to see the symbols that they used back then to see what they are trying to portray. It is kind of hard when they have an elaborate story of a raven flapping his wings and a woman comes out or a man being born from a pea pod. I think it is amazing that all these different groups on different continents, which had no way of communicating to each other, come up with similar creation stories. And some of these stories are closely related to some of today’s religious creation stories. This made me think a little more about if there is “some” truth in these myths. But all I could come up with is that when people are vulnerable and looking for answers to how and why they are here. They can’t grasp the concept of evolution in those times, they immediately gravitate to a higher being placing them here and I think that stuck through the generations. But I also don’t believe us humans and every living thing on earth evolved from one type of organism or bacteria. I believe in a hybrid of beliefs and ideas from religious to scientific, and I think that’s the only way to think until we know for sure. There is a missing link somewhere and I think we will discover it in my time here on earth, at least I hope so.

Lily’s relationship with Zack expands her understanding of herself and society immensely, especially her greater understanding of the society around her. Her relationship with Zack was a very controversial subject in those times because it was an interracial relationship, she was white and he was black. Before her newfound connection with Zack, she wasn’t as experienced and she has never really been involved first hand with the bias, discriminating, and racist views of society. Of course she knew how people treated minorities but its different when you are actually experiencing the discrimination. It makes you grow as a person if you can get through the hatred and this expanded her understanding of society. Lily also never really thought she would be attracted to someone outside her race, this in turn, affected her understanding of herself a lot. Especially when this is one of her first relationships of her life, she has never felt any feeling before and now all of a sudden she is developing feelings and compassion for this guy. This will make a person have a better understanding of themselves as they develop different feelings and learn how to handle them. For me, when I go through different things in my life especially different feelings, I learn from them and grow. Learning how to manage all the different feelings in your life is key if you don’t want to be an emotional wreck or make bad decisions based on the feelings you’re experiencing at the time. But this all comes through your experience in life unless you have someone there giving you good advice. The other question I am going to answer is what are some examples of characters suffering from the “burden of knowing”. One example is Lily; Lily has the burden of knowing that her mother’s death was kind of her fault. She always has that in her head and this can torment someone for their entire life. Also she later finds out that her mother left her and that her mother did not want her. This is a very big burden on someone and something that people shouldn’t really find out or know. This is a very big “burden of knowing”. This is something someone has to learn to accept or get over because if they don’t this will affect them in different ways their whole life. In the end, societies view in general as a whole has changed tremendously. Now a day’s people are more excepting of interracial relationships. It is really not a big deal and nobody really talks about it anymore from what I’ve experienced. But a few more years down the way I bet it would be almost nonexistent, a thing of the past.

Strong feelings

WT pg. 1326

I usually have strong feelings about something when I’m endeavoring into something new. When I haven’t done it before and I don’t know how it is going to turn out. I get very anxious and have, at times, felt over whelmed with the unknown or if I making the right decision. I always push through these feelings but I’m the type of person that wants to always be in control of my life. I know we can’t always control certain aspects of our lives but I try to stick to my goals and plans I set for myself. When something occurs that wasn’t planned, this is when I start to have strong anxious feelings. I immediately try to figure out the pros and the cons of the situation to try to combat the interruption. I don’t think I can compare myself to an animal when I have these strong feelings. I wouldn’t even think an animal would have plans and feel anxious when their plans are disturbed. An example of when I felt a strong anxious feeling was when I recently was offered a job from a better company than I’m working for right now. I had to make the right decision because I didn’t want to jeopardize my current employment in case the new job didn’t work out or it wasn’t as expected. The new job offer is who I want to work for but I wanted to finish my degree for I could be hired for a higher position than the one I was offered. I was very anxious thinking what I should do, maybe if I accepted their offer I could work my way up. I ended up deciding to stay with my current employer and finish my degree, I don’t have much longer to go. And then I will hopefully earn the position I want. This is one type of strong feeling I get from time to time, another strong feeling I have once in a while is right before a race. I race motocross in my spare time and when I’m at the starting gate I feel very nervous in a good way. It is an overwhelming feeling that I can feel through my whole body. It’s like adrenaline, excitement, and a nervous feeling all combined into one. Then when the gate drops the nervousness and anxiousness disappears and all is left is adrenaline and excitement. Over the years of racing I have learned to redirect and focus my adrenaline in a good way. When you have to much adrenaline it can result in people not making precise and correct decisions. And one bad decision can cost you a couple spots when you’re racing against semi pros. These are really the only strong feelings I encounter that I can think of. Except for the love I have for my family. And comparing these two feelings to animals, I don’t think I can. I don’t know what animals think and I don’t know what feelings they have. But maybe the feelings I have before a race starts can be compared to a race horse. When the horse is in the gate ready and waiting to be released to run as fast as the can and win.

Suicide ever justifiable?

WT #2 PG. 1211

Suicide is one of the most selfish things someone can do. The family and friends of the deceased are the ones who are going to suffer and have to deal with the suicide of their loved one. The person who took their life took the easy way out and doesn’t care about the feelings of others. They don’t have to deal with it so who cares, what a coward and very self centered. I can only think of a few reasons how suicide would ever be considered justifiable. One is when someone gives their life to save the lives of others. This occurs from time to time but mainly in the movies to make the character seem heroic. When this occurs, let’s say in the military, a soldier can jump on a grenade to save the lives of his troop. He or she will be seen as a hero and noble for his or hers self-sacrificing act. This suicide in my opinion would be considered justifiable. Another way suicide would be considered justifiable to me would be when someone is terminally ill and they have a very slim chance of pulling through. If their treatment and life support is going to hurt the financial well being of their family or if the patient is going to be in excruciating pain. This would be costly and more emotional to their family than if they just decided to pass away. It would also make the patient go through pain for nothing if they are kept on life support but have no chance of surviving. These types of suicide which are selfless and justifiable should be called something else, not suicide.
On the other hand, committing suicide just because your depressed, going through a hard time in your life, or you get made fun of is very pathetic. Most of these people who feel like suicide is the only way out need immediate treatment. Who would take dying over life? But the others are doing this just for attention. As I said in the beginning of my blog these people are selfish and cowards, the only people truly being hurt are their loved ones. After people attempt to commit suicide but fail, a lot of them are glad they didn’t die. In the movie The Bridge, they interview people who have attempted suicide and they also show a lot of people actually doing it by jumping off the golden gate bridge in San Francisco. I had to watch this movie in a previous class and I learned a lot from it. Whatever the case I don’t think there is to much else we as a society can do to prevent and discourage suicide. If they want to do it they will. Already there are tons of hotlines, information, and medication to help people in that situation. Most of the time the people who want to commit suicide don’t tell anyone or if they do, the people or person they tell, don’t take their claims seriously.

WT #2 Pg. 1062

I personally don’t believe anyone has to tell anything to anyone if they prefer not to, even if people make it out to be morally responsible. Of course everything can be construed as morally obligated and people can even go as far as making you feel bad if you don’t do what they want you to. As for Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in the story, I believe that it is up to them to tell the county attorney what they know about the murder. And they shouldn’t feel morally obligated to do this. They didn’t do anything wrong and they don’t have to be involved more than they already were. I experienced this kind of situation first hand when I was in jr. high. I was visiting a few of my cousins on summer break down by Palos Verdes. My cousin and I, who was the same age as me, decided to go to a party down the block. Early in the day a girl he knew invited me and him to come hang out with her and her friend at the party. When we showed up everything was going good, then later in the day a crime occurred and I was a witness to it. I did not want to be involved and I didn’t want to deal with everything that comes along with being the only witness. I did not know the people that the crime happened to or who committed the crime, and I couldn’t care less. I know that sounds harsh but I just wanted to enjoy the rest of my vacation and go along with my life. Also it wasn’t a type of crime that I would solve a murder or be a hero for testifying, it was a lame one but serious to the police. When the police showed up before I had a chance to leave, they kept everyone there until they sorted some things out. Some people knew I seen what happened and they kept telling me I had to tell the police and it was only right. And of course one of them told the police that I seen what happened and I wanted to deny it, because I did not want to get me or my family involved. But they ended up making me feel like I was morally liable to tell them what I had seen. And of course the polices planned magnificently chosen words made me feel like I was morally obligated to tell them what I witnessed. I was young at the time and I was always taught to listen to the police. After I told them what I witnessed, there it started, it seemed like an endless system of writing and speaking, for months. It ruined my summer vacation and the rest of that school year. I wish I never did fall for the morally obligated nonsense. I didn’t do anything but I was the one who suffered. But you learn from your mistakes and I now know that I will never be conned into someone making me feel morally obligated. It is up to you if you feel apt to it or not.

Types?

WT #2 pg. 825

I believe everyone has a certain type or types their attracted to. People’s types can be an attraction to someone’s physical or personality attributes. If someone always find tall men attractive or if someone mainly finds slender women attractive, then those are their types. Whatever the case without types, everyone would be attracted each other. Sometimes you can be attracted to people outside your usual type, this happens all the time. Your type is just what you are most attracted to in someone at that certain stage of your life. Your type can also change, maybe after you dated a certain category for a while and they never work out, you might change. Or maybe your taste just change with age and your certain stage of life. But mainly people usually go for their types unless their desperate. An example of how types can change is a couple years ago I was attracted to women with tattoos; they were mainly my type at the time. When I was out and I seen a girl with tats, I would immediately be drawn to her. Also if I was talking to a girl and later I found out that she had a tattoo or tattoos, I would have more interest in her. Now a days, a few years later I don’t have such a preference or a liking to girls with tattoos. That stage of my life has passed and my type has changed. Of course I still find them attractive but it’s not what I notice that I’m immediately drawn to. As for the origin of types, I believe it came from women. I believe this because women are more selective in who they date. For women they have a list of qualities for the man to fill but for men, all the girl has to be is hot. Also women have more leverage into picking their mates then men do, men try to pick up girls but it is ultimately up to the woman to say yes or no. It is mainly up to the woman to choose who she dates, it depends if the guy hitting on her is her type or not. I’m not sure what makes people have their certain types. Maybe when we are growing up through puberty and we find certain things attractive. Or maybe we get our types through experience and finding out what we like. Whatever the case, most people develop a certain type in their life. In the end types can be overcome, I believe everyone is capable of liking and falling in love with anyone. Ultimately everyone’s types mean nothing when you find the one for you. But this is all just my opinion.

Gender Bias?

WT #1 pg. 783

Women in today’s society have just as many rights as men do. The attitudes towards women have changed so much since Woolf’s argument was introduced. No one really cares if someone is a man or a woman when it comes to jobs and careers. The only situation I see where women can’t do certain things if they want to, is in the military. Women in the military have less rights and opportunities than men do, this is more prevalent in a war zone. Women are excluded from ground combat and other areas in the military; I believe this occurs for a good reason. Other than this I don’t see or know of any instances where women are not able to do something they want. Woolf’s arguments have almost completely lost its relevance; we would have had a women president if Barack Obama didn’t run for office at the same time. Hilary Clinton would have definitely won because the easily influenced Americans would have voted for the woman candidate. We might have another opportunity to elect a woman president in 2012 or 2016, if Sarah Palin runs for office. I believe she will have a great chance of being elected. It all depends how well our current president does in his first four years. If something drastically happens in Obama’s first term, before the next election, expect Palin to run and most likely win the presidential seat.

If a woman is qualified for a position than she will get the job, it’s not like the movies make it out to be. The movies I’m talking about is of a qualified woman who doesn’t get the job and the position gets filled by a less qualified man. These ideas are outdated and are exaggerated for the movies. If everyone stops believing, doing, and being influenced by what they see on tv, magazines, and movies the world would be a better place. Also I believe when women or men complain about not getting the job, they blame it on anything they could think of except themselves, including gender bias. When in reality the reason why they didn’t get the job is because they weren’t the best qualified or they tanked on their interview. These type of people need to take responsibility for themselves and by doing this they can start working on fixing themselves for they can get the job next time. All in all, the arguments of Woolf have lost their relevance. It’s a different world than it was even 10 years ago, there are equal or even more opportunities for women now. There are even rules and regulations people have to follow to hire an equal number of men to women, and also hire a diverse group of people. Whatever the case, there will always be instances where there is bias going on, everyone is different. But the main attitude in our culture is men and women are equal.

Parents View on Marriage

WT #1 pg. 589

The parent’s attitudes towards marriage as portrayed in Achebe’s story are the complete opposite as my parent’s attitudes. In Achebe’s story the father does not like the women his son is going to marry and he will disown his son if he does choose to marry the women. This is a regular occurrence in different religions and cultures all over the world. Cultures who participate in arranged marriages do this to set their daughter up to marry a man that will give her and her family better status and financial opportunities. As for my parents, they trust my judgment in choosing a wife if I ever decide to be serious enough in a relationship. When I visit my parents and I tell them I’m bringing a friend, they know what to expect. Usually when I go and visit my parents I bring someone with me, not always a girlfriend but a girl I’m casually seeing. I do this for I can have a better reason to leave that day when my mom asks me to stay, as she always does. But when my parents see me and the girl I brought, they usually know if I’m serious or not. When my friend gets along with my mom and dad it makes me like my friend more and know that she’s girlfriend material. Only a few times my mother came up to me or called and told me that I should “keep this one around”. My parents are totally different in what they want me to do relationship wise. My dad wants me to not get serious with any girl and on the other hand my mom wants me to sort of settle down. I actually like that both of my parents have different views in what I should do, but they have similar views at the same time. For example, they both want me to be happy in my relationships and also if I decide to marry someone I know they will both respect my decision because I am very selective. I also know they will not disown me if I do marry someone they don’t like, as in the Achebe’s story. Even when it comes to religion, my parents accept all religions, except the extremism ones. I’ve had friends with all sorts of religions and my parents never had any problems or concerns. Of course any parent who is religious would prefer to have their son marry someone in their religion. It would make it easier when the couple decides to have children, but if everyone accepts it, it shouldn’t be a problem. At the end of the day, everyone should marry whoever they love and believe would be a good wife or husband. Also only marry if they are sure they will stay with them for the rest of their lives. There is over a 50% divorce rate in this country, and this needs to change. People are marrying for the wrong reasons, they marry because they believe it’s no big deal, or they think they’re in love, and also people marry to early. People should be together for years before they get married, and they don’t even have to get married. Just pretend you are and be in a committed relationship. All marriage is, is a piece of paper.

Response to the Middle East

WT #2 pg. 516

I don’t believe any nation would want to be ruled under an authoritarian government, especially if they held a fair and open election. Also we wouldn’t know if the election was truly fair and open unless the United States controlled every aspect of the election to make sure there was nothing illegal and immoral happening. But this will never happen because you can’t control every aspect, somewhere in the process will be tainted. There will be threats to people and the authoritarians would keep people from going to the polling place. There wouldn’t be a way to control who and how many times they voted because of the non proper, nonexistent, or fake identification of the citizens.

But if there were to be an election where it was held fair and open and the results came back that they chose an authoritarian type government. Then I believe the United States should respond by accepting and congratulating them on their choice and advise them that there are other types of governments to have. Respond by saying we respect their decision and we will stop pushing freedom and democracy on them. We still have a job to do in the middle east and its not close to being over, but our presence in your government aspect will be minimal. Ofcourse will still have to be a “watchdog” and make sure they are not planning terrorist attacks or developing nuclear weapons. But our push on their freedom will be cut.

The conflict in the Middle East has been going on for a long time now. There is still not an end in sight and there shouldn’t be until we are done with the job. Most of the citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan want more freedom then they had but I believe we wore out our welcome a while ago. They might just agree to accept an authoritarian government to get us out of their business and country sooner. Whatever happens our government needs to make sure that we (the United States) come out better than when we went into this conflict. Or all these years, deaths, and money would be a waste and for nothing. Even though we surged into Iraq and Afghanistan to bring freedom/ democracy, fight terrorism, and “discover” weapons of mass destruction. There are deeper reasons why were there. When we are finished in Iraq, I believe they will be on their way to a functioning, free, democratic country.

My Personal Tastes

Writing Topic #1 pg. 371

My tastes in what I wear, carry, listen to, and watch all contribute to define who I am. I am 21 years old and my taste are constantly changing. Let me start off by reflecting on my style of clothing I wear. I tend to buy clothes of all styles, whatever I think is “cool” at the time. I don’t really stick to a certain type or style of clothing. I usually buy whatever catches my eye in the stores or if I see something on tv or in public that I like. I don’t have a favorite clothing store, I go into all the different types of stores. Not sticking to a certain style makes me open to different possibilities and options, I like a little bit from each style, genre, group of clothing. This also goes for shoes, I like all different brands and styles.

As for the things I carry that define who I am. The first thing that comes to my mind is I carry a money clip instead of a wallet. I have wallets but I don’t like using them. I don’t know why, maybe because they make me feel like an old man and they’re bulky in my pocket. As for the money clips, I have several kinds. The different money clips I have are chrome, platinum, gun metal black, and a Pittsburg Steelers one. Other things I carry are my truck or car keys, cell phone, and Chap Stick. Sometimes I carry an iPod when I know I might be bored. I don’t really carry anything else because I don’t like a lot of things in my pockets or on me. These define who I am because I like things as simple as possible and only carry the necessities. Another thing that can fit in this category are my sunglasses. I can never go outside, in the day, without a pair of shades. For some reason I only like Spy sunglasses, I have a collection of different colors and styles of spy sunglasses.

I don’t listen to a lot of music, when I do I again, like all different genres. Whatever catches my interest at the time I listen to, but songs get played out to fast to me. I can’t listen to the same songs over and over, I delete songs from my ipod usually once every two weeks. As for the things I watch on tv, I don’t like to many different shows. When I do watch tv I usually watch sports, the amazing race, the O’Reilly factor, and some reality shows. I have a Netflix subscription but I don’t have time to watch all the movies I get. They usually sit there on my counter until I let someone watch them or I send them back. I believe the things I watch can define me as liking sports, traveling to different countries, and staying current on the news and political topics.

I came to like all these things by trying different things out over the years and coming accustomed to knowing what I like and don’t like, thus sort of contributing to defining who I am. I never wrote (typed) so much on what my tastes are but there they are.

Collateral Damage, Justifiable?

Writing Topic pg. 164


Collateral damage happens way to often on a regular basis. It is not always shown on the news so we are not fully aware of the frequency of these acts. To me, there are two types of collateral damage. The first type is what the US Air Force defines Collateral damage as, which makes me feel it could be justified. The USAF defines it as the unintentional damage or incidental damage affecting facilities, equipment or personnel occurring as a result of military actions directed against targeted enemy forces or facilities. This kind of damage can occur to friendly, neutral, and even enemy forces. An example that the USAF gives is during linebacker operations over North Vietnam, some incidental damage occurred from bombs falling outside target areas. This makes it justifiable when you are at war with another country and you accidently damage unintended targets, such as “accidently” blowing up an enemies barracks when a bomb flies out of its intended range. Sometimes this is what happens in wars and conflicts. Also another example of justified collateral damage is when you’re at war; we shouldn’t put our military in harm’s way to verify every target before every shot or bomb dropped. If we took the time to completely verify a target, our military deaths would rise.

The other type of collateral damage is how The American Heritage Dictionary and mostly everyone else define it as. This is the type that is not justifiable. A.H. Dictionary defines collateral damage as unintended damage, injuries, or deaths caused by an action, especially unintended civilian casualties caused by a military operation. Every day in other countries militias and guerilla groups are killing or injuring civilians by carelessly shooting in villages and cities. They don’t use logical or humane thoughts before they start a military battle in or near an innocent town. This is not justifiable to me because usually these internal wars and conflicts are not necessary. These wars/conflicts in other countries are mostly about greed or claiming land/territory.

The Collateral damage phrase has its origins in military terminology, but now it is widely used in popular lingo. In the business world, they use the phrase collateral damage to describe the unintentional damage that occurs when a company moves its offices out of a city. The loses occurred by local restaurants and vendors could be described as collateral damage. Other use for this phrase is used to describe all types of loses by different subcultures. Going back to if collateral damage is morally justified or not. It depends on the certain situation, also on why and how the damage occurred. If the collateral damage was truly unintended in a legit war, then it is more justifiable than collateral damage occurring in a country’s internal battle based on greed.

Writing Topic pg. 263

I normally don’t feel any sort of public pressure at all, but in this one instance, I found myself being pressured by complete strangers to step in and do something about a certain situation. About a year ago, I was heading to Hollywood to meet a few friends. When I arrived I decided to park in a parking garage. As I got out of my car and started to walk towards the elevator, I saw a group of women standing in front of me looking concerned and nervous. Ofcourse I’m going to ask them if they were alright. They responded by saying they heared a girl crying and scuffling noises around the corner a few seconds ago. I look towards that direction but I can’t see or hear anything, as it had less light in that direction and the noise from car tires squealing in the parking garage.

The first thought that came into my head was that they were either hearing things or they were lying. So I could have just brushed it off and continued on my way to meet up with my friends down the street. But the group of girls insisted that I go check it out and they were really starting to look concerned. I decided to go look because I felt pressured to help. I started to walk around the corner where they heard the crying. As I came closer to seeing around the corner I heard noises as if people were struggling. Right then I started thinking "what have I gotten myself into?” I decided to press forward and as I turned the corner, I seen a man and a women on the ground. They were engaging in sexual acts. I didn’t know what to think and I was trying to process if this was consensual or a crime, because this was happening in a dirty parking garage in the open behind a wall. The women seen me and asked me a provocative question and then I knew it was consensual. I turned away and started to walk back towards the elevators and the group of girls.

I told them what was going on and I could see they felt relieved. We ended up all going out afterwards and ended up having a great night. But this is a case where I was publicly pressured into doing something I would have normally not have done. This situation could have ended up way different if something else was going on. And I could have put myself in harm’s way because nobody was around to help me if I needed help. I usually don’t put myself in dire situations but this one instance, I felt pressured to do something right away. Overall I’m glad I checked the situation out because of the possibility of something bad was happening, but I’m lucky nothing serious was going on.

Changes and Responses

As I stated in my last blog, I'm not to familiar with literature making me have any responses or change my life of any sort. Only one book I have read sort of changed my social views. I have to go by others perceptions and "responses" that they get from literary works. When I read a good book or novel I tend to feel like I'm glad I read this, and I feel sort of relieved that I didn’t waste my time reading a bad book or novel. But sometimes you do read a bad one or a not so interesting novel. Usually I read bad books and novels when they are required in school or in an English class. Aren’t these books your reading in school or class supposed to have some sort of meaning to it that everyone reading it could get out of it? If not why are we reading it and writing about it for a reading and writing class?
I have to admit; last semester I read a pretty good book in my English 101 class. In the beginning I thought it was going to be another dreary boring English book like my other experiences. For example Hamlet, To kill a mocking Bird, and Edgar Allen Poe readings were all not interesting to me when I had to read these for an assignment. I know some people are Shakespeare fans and love all his work, also at the same time I know people that loved To Kill a Mocking Bird. But these types of books or novels are not for me. When I had to read those books I didn’t like being in the class that much because I wasn’t into it. I also didn’t receive any responses from these books, nor did they change my life of any sort. I just wanted to get them over with and turn in my assignments. I read other people reviews of these and similar books as I was reading the books and I could not see how they had certain responses, even when I read the book or chapter twice. I guess certain literature affects everyone differently.
Last semester though I enjoyed being in my English 101 class when we were discussing the book we were reading. I was into my papers and I felt like I knew everything to know about the book. The book was called the Tortilla Curtain, it’s not a book I would have picked up if it wasn’t assigned, but I'm glad I read it. This book sort of changed my ways of thinking and put a different outlook on my social views. Tortilla Curtain put a little more thought into my head and made me reconsider what people go through when they come into this country illegally. This is the only book that I’ve read that I can think of that made me respond to and sort of changed my views. The ending of this book could of been more descriptive or longer, it just ended without me knowing what fully happened. But I was also fond of the book because I liked the way it was set up. The author told two separate stories at the same time with two different families. But both stories were also interconnected with each other, it made the reading more interesting.

Literature to me

I have never been the type of person to read and write blogs for no reason, except for when it is required for a course. I hardly even know where to begin a essay or a post, even when I’m writing about something I enjoy. Literature to me is something to read and learn while taking a class or to study for an upcoming test. I don’t really think about literature just being there to read, enjoy, and learn for fun.
Maybe because I haven’t read anything that arouses my interest or maybe I just don’t give it a chance. By that I mean, maybe I don’t fully pay attention to the readings and meanings. This semester, I’m going to try to understand the literature and all its meaning. I’m hoping it changes my current thoughts and perceptions about it.
Certain literature can inform on environmental issues, social issues, and other important issues. Literature can be a tool to learn and be informed on a wide variety of topics. It can change your views on certain issues and topics after you have read the work, and sometimes it can even be life changing. Some of the best literary work from way back is still referenced today, and also has a big impact on today’s issues. I have not yet read any literature that changed my way of thinking or informed me on new or interesting topics. I’m hoping this will change while I’m taking this class.
To me, people take literature to seriously and give it to much credit for things. I know everyone’s different and like different things. But I expect to have my perceptions changed about literature, also I want to learn and hear about other people’s perceptions and thoughts about this topic, for I could understand more and different views about literature. I am expecting my views to change since I have little experience and I’m not to familiar with this topic. Maybe I will even take extra English and literature classes after this required course, who knows?