Literature Analysis #3: The Giver

“Perhaps it was only an echo”....

Plot:

The utopian novel, written by Lois Lowry, titled, The Giver, revolves around a about a boy named Jonas who lives in a futuristic society which has tried to relieve its citizens of choices to ensure sameness, fairness, and equality. In this “society”, every December they hold a ceremony where each child moves up a year in school and receives special privileges. Now, Jonas is eleven so he will have his future job assigned to him. The day of the ceremony arrives and the students sit in their birth order for that year; fifty children are born each year through birthmothers, which is a job in their society. Jonas is number nineteen, but when it comes time for his turn, the elders skip him. At the end the Chief Elder comes forward and apologizes to the community for making them feel uncomfortable. Then, she explains that Jonas has been selected as the new Receiver of Memory. Jonas goes home with a list of rules for this new position, of which he was completely unaware. Next, Jonas meets the current recover of me worries and he develops his ability to see beyond when the Giver transmits colors to him. Unfortunately, the Giver also has to pass along painful memories, such as injuries, starvation, and war. Jonas has never experienced these typical normal emotions. Jonas and the Giver both know that the society must change back to a normal real emotion filled world. So, they come up with a plan to help the community and to free Jonas. Jonas will escape and as he leaves, his memories will be set free into society. The Giver will then help the community work through those feelings and show them the value of things that they have taken away, such as marriage and extended families. And at last, the sorcery is restored to be normal but, Jonas no longer resides in that society. Actually, it’s never revealed where Jonas and his companion Gabriel live and or expedite after the incredible climax. 

Theme:

It has been shown that there are several themes that can be inferred in the novel. But, in my view I can break it down to two overall themes. Firstly, I see individuality and freedom of choice. As Jonas was the odd one out in his society and he believed that Elwood should not follow the structured “fake” society. Secondly, I feel more connected to this theme, which is the significance of human emotion. If the reader deeply analyzed the novel they will be able to see how bland and almost ark the society is without emotion. There is no love, joy, fear, or pain. The society is shown to be filled with these robot like figures of human beings but, Jonas and the Giver allows to see the need for emotion and feelings. 

VINCENT WILLEM VAN GOGH!

A Man Born in the Wrong Time...

Now, we all know Vincent Van Gogh. Unless, you've been living under a rock your whole life. He is mostly known for his ianting like, the Starry Night or the Bedroom at Arles. When e was alive, he lived life unknown by people and remained poor his whole life. This man lived a hard tormented life as it is. Not only was he the outsider in his village he suffered mental illness, depression. No one had even given him the time of day to merely take a glance at his artwork. He only have sold a couple works here and there. But, through all these hardships he was able to turn the pain of his tormented into erotic beauty of landscapes through his paintings. Pain is easy to depict but to use that pain to crete joy filled picture of our world is simply mesmerizing. If only the people in his time had given Van Gogh the chance and or moment to explain his artwork he would've be recognized much sooner. He would've proven himself to be great as he did prove in the future. The man lost the battle to depression and took his life. What a waste of pure talent and personality. It is safe to say that this man was born in the wrong time. 

FLORAL DESIGN WITH HEALTHY MINDSETS!

The Two Positive Boys...

In my school, there is a class offered called, floral design. Now, it is a very popular class on campus as it counts as a a fulfilling requirement in the a-g requirements. But, what is mainly known about the class is it usually pure girls in the classroom. It is simply rare to have boys in the class. And or even boys who actually want to try in the course alone. I am one of the many girls in a floral design class. Luckily, in my class there are two boys. And yes they actually participate! This week we have manly focused on creating flower crowns. And the boys. The boys arrangements let's just say weren't the best but that didn't matter they had fun! Although, they knew there crowns were the best n the world their positive mindset allowed them to embrace their creation and find humor and happiness in it. As we took a group photo while, wearing our crowns the two boys had the biggest smiles out of us all. I loved their attitude! I believe today I learned that having a good mindset can help us greatly. All in all, boys can make flower crowns too!

WRESTING SEASON IS HERE!

Let the Journey Begin...

I cannot be more excited and or more terrified! Finally, wrestling season has begun. Today, is my first match of the season. Although, it is only a scrimmage with another team close by. I can't help but still have those butterflies fluttering around my stomach. My  hands are sweating. And my mind. My poor mind is like tsunami as the waves of thoughts consisting of worry, stress, and fear are thrashing around. Through all this stress and fear I can't help but also, feel excited that what I've been training for a year is finally here. All the soreness of my body and endless workouts are finally gonna be worth it. As for my opponent, today she is a challenge. I have not beaten her since m freshman year I am now a junior. I am confident in myself and my technique as well as my strength. Hopefully, that will be enough. Thanks, for being a part of my vent secession. 

"Self-Reliance"...Part 5!

Notes:

•  Prayer that craves a particular commodity, — anything less than all good, — is vicious. 
•  "His hidden meaning lies in our endeavours; Our valors are our best gods."
• Religion could benefit from self-reliance : Petty to benevolent wish for the common good. Religion's main fear is its fear of individual creativity
• Culture devalues INDIVIDUALISM!
•  "It is for want of self-culture that the superstition of Travelling, whose idols are Italy, England, Egypt, retains its fascination for all educated Americans"
• Urge to travel is a symptom of our educational system because they teach us only to imitate and want to travel to see others art rather than creating it ourselves
• "But the rage of travelling is a symptom of a deeper unsoundness affecting the whole intellectual action" 
•  "All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves. Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. It undergoes continual changes; it is barbarous, it is civilized, it is christianized, it is rich, it is scientific; but this change is not amelioration. For every thing that is given, something is taken"
• " Society acquires new arts, and loses old instincts." 
• "Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not. The same particle does not rise from the valley to the ridge. Its unity is only phenomenal. The persons who make up a nation to-day, next year die, and their experience with them".
• "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles".
• Self reliance then, is the triumph of a principal
• Emerson urges to be a RISK TAKER whether good or bad place or time→IT WILL CHANGE ONE"S SELF-REGARD!

"Self-Reliance"...Part 4!

Notes:

• Consistency is a virtue- Emerson thinks this isn't necessarily true: why? 
• When we learn about new things wy should we keep our head down and turned backwards: Agreeable but arguable! 
• If you get a better idea grab that--- be open to a good idea: YES!
• "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"
• Is it so bad to be misunderstood? -----"To be great is to be understood": Agee. Ex. Copernicus center of the solar system
• Have your ideas if you're misunderstood so what!
• Yeah, you might decide to do or say different things day to day nut you still are apart of a different world or group
• "Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment"--We do things that make our character without thinking about it
• 🚢 ----People end to be themselves 
• Your CONFORMITY EXPLAINS NOTHING!
• "Honor is admirable to us because it is no ephemeris. t is always an ancient virtue. We worship it to-day because it is not of to-day. We love it and pay homage because it is not a trap for our love and homage, but is self-dependent, self-derived, and therefore of an old immaculate pedigree, even if shown in a young person"
• What Kind of ripple effect do I/You have?
• IMPRESSIONS ARE MADE EVERYDAY!

TODAY'S ARGUMENT!

In the Making...

Today, I pursued an argument with my fellow peers. The topic was about the discrimination against arabs or always referred to as "muslims", due to the terrorist attacks that are present and occurred in the past. I argued that they are in fact attacked and racially profiled. While, my peer argued that the problem is not really present now. I used logos to explain my point of view. Obviously, I brought up 9/11 to discuss. Since, that tragedy the racial profiling ignited rapidly. Nowadays, in some cases whenever arabs walk down the street or enter stores people avoid their gaze and most of time yell out racial slurs. I backed this up with a recent study I read about in my history course. All in all, the argument was entertaining and insightful. I have gained a lot of new perspectives in that topic. But, most of all I figured out how to efficiently used logo to defend my thoughts and or opinions. 

"On Self-Reliance"...Part 3!

Notes:

• "Nothing is at last but the integrity of your own mind" 
• Emerson has a deep seated belief that people are GOOD
• Everything 
• Malice= Bad action
• Don't act like you're good if you're not actually good 
• Listen when something good then praise when its not DON'T it loses value!
• Not against charity or genoriost but is against doing it solely to make your presence "look" good →DON'T FAKE IT!
• Virtues= Honorable to mention
• People doing bad things is more common than doing good things
• Sometime people are not very nice but they do a good deed to "make up" for it
•  I do NOT need praise from others
• It's easier to be at peace of mind without thoughts in solitude than being stuck in crowd with contradicting thoughts/opinions
• Attorney→"defenders of the truth"→at times have to lie!
• People start speaking like mouthpieces for other people→People start to not say NO!
• We look at people's reactions to us= hurts us→the people around us provide us w/ inspiration
• When arguing with one person both people are questioning why they do not "fit in" with each other
• The GAME is BIGGER than the PLAYER→arguments 

"On Self-Reliance"...Part 2!

Notes:

• Soliloquy: If you choose not to decide, you still had made a choice-You don't know what you can do until you do your best.-You can't show your best, if you never try your best.
• "I'm so stressed"→Relaxation , which then stressesus MORE!
• We feel are bes, when we put our heart into it and we acknowledge it. 
• Emerson talks about teenagers→sometimes they don't care 

⇝Teenagers do not care what they do not care about. And they might let you know.

⇝Ex: A baby does not care when it's hungry, adults drop what they are doing, and adults have to compromise. BAbies and rude people do not have a filter, should teacher us what is or that is okay. An adult is trapped by its conscious, we are alway aware how others see us and our voices become faint and fainter.

• CHALLENGE: A World. 

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES PART 1!

Discussion:

• Ethos: Credibility....Pathos: Emotional appeal....Logos: Logic/Reasoning...Kairos: Opportune moment
• Ethos Examples: 

1. The Author, Johannes is a philosopher who works with engineers "Stanford's Center for Automotive Research". (Self-Driving Cars Article).
2. Diana Divecha -Creditiable because she has a phD in psychology and she's an assistant clinical professor at Yale Child Study Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence which makes her credible to talk about bullying

• Pathos Examples:

1. Diana Divecha: "School with a positive climate faster healthy development, while negative school climate is associated with higher rates of student bullying, aggression, victimization, and feeling unsafe."
2. Diana Divecha: "A minority as teachers report that they feel unprepared to deal with classroom bullying. Some teachers bully students themselves, or show a lack of empathy towards children who are bullied."
3. Diana Divecha: "Do leaders understand that uninterrupted severe bullying can confer lifelong negative consequences on targets of bullies, bullies, and witnesses?"
4. Diana Divecha: "For example, preschoolers are expelled from school at the highest rate of all, but the neurological hardware for their self-control os only just developing."

• Logos Examples:

1. A study of 3t- first graders showed that when teachers were more emotionally supportive of students, children were less aggressive and had greater behavioral self- control, compared to the use of behavior management which did not improve student self- control. (Divecha, Proveit Bullying).

• Kairos Examples:

1. "So a school's specific issues can be addressed, and the flavor of local cultures retained. School climate assessments can be completed periodically to track the impact of improvements." -Diana Divecha.

"On Self-Reliance"....

Genius! 

Mixture Notes:Actions speak louder than words. Our actions define ourselves.  Don't look outside yourself. nature is primal,life goes deeper than thought. Emerson is saying this more ancient than latin and primina.  eminent means well known and respected . When someone says something  you hear or see something original it immediately catches your attention and or sparks emotion. Arrogance what I put out there is genius. The thought itself is not genius what genius is the belief putting your knowledge out there without the fear of judgement. We have this hidden voice and it will be the universal sense. Did Not bind themselves to the books broke out of it created their own thoughts  and or options. Worth celebrating have a contradicting opinion against most. How can you be yourself and pretend to be someone else. If that someone else succeeds "yourself" dies. YOU.

Once again, my mind was captured into a text or more specifically, an essay. Now, my attention and mindfulness was captured almost instantly. Due to a phrase, "Ne te quaesiveris extra", which means do not seek outside yourself, look within. As you can probably tell, I had to look up this quote to see its translation and that action itself already caught my interest in this essay. Emerson's introduction is small but captive. First, with that quote and then follows a small passage about how nature is primal and what to come next is more ancient than latin itself and goes deeper than thought. As I began to read further, Emerson's ideology of our personalities and or who we choose to become is simply fascinating and relatable! In gist, originality is genius! When we hear something original we immediately out engulf it to rather hate it or love it. In other words, it instantly sparks emotion. Furthermore, Emerson was expressing such intelligence when he made sure to show he is not to be misunderstood when he talked about putting your work and or opinions out there: the thought itself is not genius what is genius is the belief in yourself of putting your knowledge out there despite the fear of judgement.