Ishmael Questions - March 2, 2009

"anthropomorphism"

1. The representation of the Deity, or of a polytheistic deity, under a human form, or with human attributes and affections.

2. The ascription of human characteristics to things not human.

I think that Ishmael is saying that people mark their territory, except instead of doing it the way that animals do it, he thinks we do it by purchasing things and then using them. An example of this would be buying clothes and then wearing them, or buying a house and then living in it. It really isn't ours, but because we purchased it, we believe it is our teritory to defend.

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2a. Ishmael thinks that Erratic Retaliation is kind of like what goes around comes around. He basically thinks that if you are going to do things that'll piss another tribe off, then you should expect the tribe to do the same to you.

2b. Ishmael thinks that it keeps the peace because almost everybody agrees to it, and it was the only thing left they had to try, which ended up working.

2c. The reason that the Cawks to just annihilate eachother is because it is againts Erratic Retaliation. Also, if they went againts Erratic Retaliation, then all the tribes would think that they don't have to follow it either, and everybody would just completely go into a huge war and kill eachother.

Ishmael Answers

1. Ishmael has two general rules on how to identify our 'culture' people. One of them is that humans keep all food under lock and key. Ishmael talks about this in the parable of the dancers and how one tribe kept their food under lock and key. The other rule that Ismael has is that humans always think that they are flawed and that they are doing stuff wrong. I agree that people all over the world are part of the same culture because I believe that we are all humans come from God and that we all are part of the same family.

2. I still do agree with Ishmael that humans are inherently flawed. I think that the dancers are a perfect example of this because how they were doing perfectly and then they got lazy which messed up the entire culture.

3. The takers and the leavers are a culture on another plant where the more that they danced, the more the food that they got. Then, they realized that the could dance in a certain way to get the food that they like. After a while, they get lazy and some of them didn't dance while others did. The leaders decided to keep the food under lock and key then. Takers and leavers represent agriculture and the dancers represents people that don't stay in one area and keep moving.

Teenagers and Sustainability

1. I believe that living sustainably means that you are able to live your normal life, but not use an excessive amount of electricity, or use a lot of hairspray, or other things that are harmful to our environment. To me, living sustainably means that you are cautious and conservative in the way that you use power, fuel, and other natural resources. An example of this would be turning off lights in a room when you are not there. This saves otherwise wasted power and keeps your energy bill down!

2. As a 14 year old, I believe that in society I have a lot of freedom, but not many people trust people my age. I think that I have a lot of freedom with my parents because I am old enough to make my own decisions because I have matured to that point. But I think that generally society does not trust teenagers, especially younger ones. It seems that most people just view them a load, hyper, and rude. 

3. I believe that as a 14 year old, I can live my live a lot more sustainably than I already am. Although I may not be able to drive or own my house, I think there are simple methods that I can use to be more sustainable. Some ways are turning the lights off in my room when I am not there. Also, I always leave my computer turned on (which uses a lot of power), and when I am not using it I can turn it off or at least put it on sleep.

Semester 2 Goals

1. I feel that I am different now than from the beginning of school because now I have a better understanding of how to organize your work time when you are working in a project. I learned this from my use of task lists on the Time Travelers Project. This really helped me and my group plan out what we were going to do over the course of that day.

2. I think a very important skill that you must have for succeeding in humanities is being able to understand and analyze what you are reading. I had trouble doing this for the last book we read (Gates of Fire) and when it came time to study for the test I had trouble figuring out what to do.

3. One thing I would like to improve on this semester is turning in all my homework (even the little things) on time. I am going to do this by immediately putting the assignment in the front of my binder once it is passed out, and that way when I get home I will do the homework first thing.

4. One topic I am really curious about is Medieval times. I would really like to study this because I don't have that much prior knowledge on it and I would like to study it more in depth.

Dialectic Journals - Book 7 & 8

Book 7 (Chapter 30)
Page 319
"I've seen Rooster been beat and whipped a number of times... but never till this moment had I seen his eyes well and fill."

I really liked this quote because not only did it really strike me, but I think that there was a really good job of showing a strong change in this character. I believe that the author included that little tidbit at the beginging to show even more change in the character. I think that it really says a lot about one person if they never cry, not even when being beaten and whipped. Then for that same person to start tearing up really makes the moment a lot more powerful. I think that the author did an amazing job of really captureing that raw emotion, for I felt it, and it really struck me. I truly just enjoyed this quote and it also really stuck out to me because of it's power.


Book 7 (Chapter 31)
Page 333
"His glance took in the fires of the camp, the nations of the allies clustered in their unites, and their officers, whom we could see, like us approaching from all quarters the king's fire, ready to respond to his needs and recive his instructions.
'the opposite of fear,' Dinekes said, 'is love.'"

This quote was also a very powerful one for me personally. I think that is because Dinekes truly makes a very powerful statement throughtout all of the misfortunes and the horrors of war. The statement it's self is also a truly beautiful one, coming from the heart and it sound very philosophical. Another reason that this is very powerful is because the reader knows that Dinekes has been studying fear for a very long time. He has basically dedicated his life to this whole study and now he finally realized what he'd been looking for all along. It's almost as if he had a turning point in his life and now he is satisfied with what he's accomplished.


Book 8 (Chapter 37)
Page 375
"Those were the last tears of mine, my lord, that the sun will ever see."

The reason that this quote struck me was just because of one thing. I honestly thought that this quote was just beautiful. Without even look at why this quote was said or what it's purpose was, I just think that this quote stands out on it's own because of the lanugague used. I feel that the way this line shows strength, but at the same time passion. I feel that this quote makes a statement by saying that "I'm now strong, and I wont look back". I believe that was the message that the author was trying to convey in this passage.


Book 8 (Chapter 35)
Page 365
"As when a hailstorm decends unseasonably from the mountains and hurls from the sky its icy pellets upon the husbandman's newly sprouted crop, so did the bolts of the Persians in their myriads thunder down upon the Spartans and Thespaians."

One reason that this quote really struck me was beacause the author used a great simile. I thought that it was very clever and imaginative to compare hail on a field of crops, to warfare and people dieing. Even so, this simile really helped me picture what was happening because it really used great imagery. I think that this quote is also really interesting because of the very strong and descriptive verbs used such as 'hurls' and 'decend'. Also, there were very powerful and descriptive adjectives such as 'unseasonably' and 'icy pellets'. Overall, this quote really stuck out to me and I enjoyed it!

Something I'm Grateful

I am really grateful for the fact that I can go to bed with a roof over my head. I think that people in America really take many things for granted such as this. I am thankful for this because what people don't realize is that there are starving kids in third world countries that not only don't have a bed to sleep in, but there's no roof over their head, and they don't even have any food or water to drink.

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I feel that before people in America can complain about things that they don't have, or things that they're unhappy about, they really should look at what they've got. I really am truly grateful for everything that I have, not only material things, but things such as good health, and a place to live!

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I also believe that it is very important for Americans to understand the privilege they have to vote in the election a couple weeks ago. Many countries don't let the people have the power to elect their official. It's very important for Americans to vote in every election and to appreciate everything they are blessed with and what they take for granted. Not only for their food, but for a government where everybody is free, and everybody has a say in elections!

Challenge Assignment: SLOB

After watching the Secret Life of Bees movie, I noticed that there were a lot of similarities and differences. There were three main differences and similarities that I noticed. There are also some things that I just genuinely enjoyed about the book and three things I enjoyed about the movie.

There was three large similarities that I noticed. One major similarity was the Martha Whites. In the book, Lily's form of punishment by T.Ray is being forced to kneel on grits for about an hour. In the morning it showed Lily's scars, which is the same thing that happened in the book. Another similarity is that May has a wailing wall and it's portrayed the exact way I imagined it from the book. May's wall is a place where she vented feelings by building a three foot high wall and sticking pieces of paper with bad things written on it, and this is her way of getting over her bad feelings of the world. I think that it was portrayed exactly the way it should be. One last main similarity is that June and Lily at first are enemies, but after that little sprinkler fight, June for some reason becomes Lily's friend.

On the other hand, there are three major differences. The first one is that there was no Snout! In the book, T.Ray had a dog named Snout and he treated him like a king. I think that this was an important element in the book because it shows the contrast between how nice T.Ray is to his dog but not to his daughter. Another difference it that the Black Mary is barely talked about in the movie. In the book, Lily has many meetings with the Black Mary, but in the movie there is only that one time that she fainted after she touched her heart. The movie left out Mary Day and the time Lily kneels in front of her to profess her love for her. The last major difference is in the book, Lily calls T.Ray from the Law Office, and T.Ray looks on the phone bill to see where the call came from. In the movie, the call never happens and T.Ray finds out from the map that used to be on her wall.

One thing that I truly enjoyed about the movie was the person that played the character of May. I think that actor did a very good job of portraying that character and really brought her to life. It made it a lot better movie to watch because of that and I think the actor is very good at what she does!! I think that it was more fun to see May being acted out in a movie, then to imagine what she'd be like in the book.

One thing I truly enjoyed about the book was the way the way that Lily related to the bees because in the movie, that wasn't talked about a lot. I enjoyed how in the book the bees were really a part of Lily's life, and how she loved them and understood them. I also loved the epigraphs in the book and how they foreshadowed what might happen in the chapter.

Overall, I think that the movie was very well done and it was worth the money! Despite some changes that I wasn't fond of, I would recommend the movie for anybody to see!