PWB: Lit Circle #1, Moderator

In class, we are periodically going to assume different roles to aid in discussions regarding The Poisonwood Bible. For the first lit circle, I am the moderator, which means that I have to come up with questions for our discussion.

1) Ruth May seems to be fascinated by Green Mamba snakes. Is their any significance behind that?
2) After becoming flustered by Anatole's argument about the problems with his teachings, Nathan breaks Orleanna's favorite serving plate out of rage. Is Nathan's anger going to play a significant role later on in the story?
3) When Leah is allowed to keep a baby owl, Nathan punishes her for the sin of pride. Why does Nathan punish Leah for the sin of pride when he is the one who has the most pride?
4) Does the owl Leah found have any significance to the relations of villagers and the price family or future events?
5) Nathan demonstrates a complete disregard for his family's safety by refusing to leave Congo even though there will be civil unrest from the changing government. Will Nathan's attitude hurt his family and will he ever change his ways?
6) WIll the change in government affect Nathan's plans?

Freepost #2

This is the trailer for the movie Saw. I love the Saw movies since I find the "traps" in them extremely interesting and the thought process of the serial killer, Jigsaw, very different from the average hollywood serial killer. Basically, Jigsaw's thinking is that some people are very ungrateful to be alive, so he takes people who don't appreciate their lives and puts them through traps that test their will to live. Now even though the movies are exremely gory and not suitable for all audiences, I find that the message, although distorted, is very important. We are living our lives not appreciating the opportunities that we have, and the only way that we actually see how lucky we are is when we come face to face with death. The thought of dying shouldn't force us to appreciate our lives and instead we should go through everyday enjoying every single breath.

Freepost #1

So for our class, we have to post writings that could be about anything. So I came up with this:

In the past decade, numerous school shootings have taken place. In each case, estranged kids come to school, wielding anything from pistols to assault rifles, and have killed their fellow classmates. Now of course the parents of these kids don't want to take the blame for allowing their kids to be so emotionally isolated and distraught that they would just break down and go on a killing spree, so they immediately try to pass on the blame. And when they do that, the easiest target is video games. Now I find this really annoying. How do these parents, who didn't notice that their kids were emotionally isolated, get the nerve to blame the actions of their children on a form of entertainment? I have been playing video games practically my entire life, and as a result, I know a lot about them. Video games come with ESRB ratings, which are similar to the rating for movies. A group of people goes through each game and will rate the game based on its content. And if a game is excessively violent, it will be rated M, which stands for mature. This means that the only way a high school kid can get their hands on a game like that is if they have almost graduated, or if their parents buy it for them. Now this system basically is designed to prevent impressionable youngsters from being influenced by this violence, so if a kid gets his hands on the game, it is because the parent bought the game for the kid, which completely defeats the purpose of the rating system. So I do admit, that video games probably desensitized the kids to violence, so that they didn't think that killing their classmates was that bad, but if a parent exercises just a little responsibility, there should be no way that video games should influence these kids. Games such as Grand Theft Auto are rated M, and because of the content of these games, it is really easy to say that the videos games had caused these kids to shoot their classmates. But there should be no way that a kid will ever play Grand Theft Auto, unless their parents buy the game for their kid. So you cannot blame video games without first blaming the person who bought it. It’s like buying a gun; you shouldn’t let your kids ever touch it because they might not now how to handle it, but having a gun can help you, since it has the ability to guard yourself from potential attackers.
Video games are entertainment, and most people view it as a way to relieve stress, allowing them to play outside the limits of the real world. I constantly enjoy playing video games to work out the stress I accumulated over the day in a safe manner. So in my opinion, if video games are used correctly, they can be therapeutic. From now on, instead of parents pointing the finger away from them, how about they just admit that they didn't exercise the proper amount of responsibility they should have.

PWB: POV Shift (Rachel)

We had to pick one of the characters in The Poisonwood Bible and describe our campus using the point of view of our selected character based off a quote we selected. This is what I wrote:

"Already I was heavy-hearted in my sould for the flush commodes and machine-washed clothes and other simple things in life I have took for granite" (23).
The clean, green grass was trimmed on either side of the winding path that took me through this place. The sun was high in the sky. I could feel my fantasmic, fair skin slowly burning under its unforgiving rays. I took shelter under a giant tree, only to have it shower me with its awful, filthy leaves. The leaves entangeld in my beautiful blonde hair and I desperately tried to weed out each invading speck. There were a few kids talking and laughing a few feet away. They seemed to not even care that one of the girls was wearing a purple blouse with a weird pair of shorts. I was shocked to smithereens. A fire was beating inside of me as I desperately tried to control my urge to yell at her for being so incredible dumb. Despite the dirtyness and untidyness of the surroundings, the building surrounding this place were amazing. They were built from brick and stone and were two-stories high. I rushed towards a magnificient, white building to my right. I couldn't wait to leaf that campus.

Essential Question Response #5

Is maintaining hygiene a responsibility of human beings?

At one point, everyone has had their parents tell them to brush their teeth and take a bath. The reason behind doing these things is to maintain our overall hygiene. The question arises whether maintaining hygiene is a responsibility of human beings. The first reason behind maintaining hygiene is to maintain our health. If we don't maintain our hygiene, we become dirty, opening us up to infections and diseases. These afflictions would prevent us from performing at our best, so we wouldn't be able to contribute to our community. Also, it makes it harder for diseases to spread amongst people, minimizing the devastating effects they could have on the population. This reason makes it appear that maintaining hygiene is a responsibility of human beings. The second reason behind maintaining hygiene is to improve our appearance. Now this has many perks, such as being more attractive, which allows for more reproduction. It also improves our relations with one another, since we are all extremely superficial. Appearance does have a purpose, but it is not that important. Even though it only has one reason why it should be a responsibility of human beings, the reason is important enough that I believe that maintaining hygiene is a responsibility of human beings.

PWB: Significant Quotes (p35-68)

Leah:
"It was to be our first African miracle: an infinite chain of benevolence rising from these small, crackling seed packets, flowing outward across Congo like ripples from a rock dropped in a pond" (36).
Leah thought this when her father was starting to make a garden near their house, where he planned to grow food for his family and the village. This quote is significant because it relates to what the Price family is going to do in Africa; they will change things with good intentions and cause a ripple that will extend throughout all of Africa, whether it is for the better or for the worst.
"What does she mean, make hills?" (40).
Leah said this when Mama Tataba tried to instruct Leah's father about how he should be planting his seeds. When Leah's father didn't listen to her, she left in frustration. This is significant because it shows that because the Price family and the natives have trouble understanding each other and accepting each other's ideas, it will create tension and will probably cause the two parties to become more distant from one another.
Rachel:
"They seem to think we are Santa Clause, the way the children come around begging us for food and things every single day—and us as poor as church mice!" (47).
Rachel thought this when her father tried to host a picnic. Rachel is disgusted by their begging, because she thinks that it is rude. This is significant because it shows how the villagers are easily bribed, which could be how the Price family will teach their religion to the villagers. Also, this shows the difference in the point of view of the Price family and the villagers; the villagers believe that begging is normal, whereas the Price family thinks that begging is rude.
"When he gets his mind set on something you'd just as well prepare to see it through" (49).
Rachel thought this during the picnic when she saw her father thinking about something. She hates that her father brought them here, but you can tell she is scared of his resolve. This is significance because his resolve will force the family to endure the hardships that come with trying to teach the village their religion. So it sets up the story so that they will accomplish their mission or die trying.
Ruth May:
“They are living in darkness. Broken in body and soul, and don’t even see how they could be healed” (53).
Nathan Price said this when he was talking about the villagers’ disabilities. This shows how the Price family values appearance whereas the villagers are indifferent to appearance. This is significant because it shows the difference in opinions of the two parties and it hints that Nathan will possibly try to force the Price’s idea of properness on the villagers.
“Even something precious can get shabby in the course of things. Considering what they’re up against here, that might not be such a bad attitude for them to take” (54).
Orleanna said this when she was arguing with Nathan about the villagers’ disabilities. By trying to rationalize their ignorance towards their bodies, she is showing empathy towards them. This is significant because it shows how the family could realize that they shouldn’t disturb the village’s traditions by forcing their beliefs on them, because they have their own reasons for their beliefs.
Adah:
“‘Sending a girl to college is like pouring water in your shoes,’ he still loves to say as often as possible. ‘It’s hard to say which is worse, seeing it run out and waste the water, or seeing it hold in and wreck the shoes’” (56).
These were Nathan’s thoughts when he found out that Leah and Adah were gifted. This shows how he doesn’t hold a woman’s opinion very high, which means that it is very unlikely that his family has an affect on his decisions in Africa. This hints that either Nathan changes his thoughts, or he will completely decide his family’s fate, whether it will be for the better or worse.
“Nevertheless, Our Father had been influenced by Africa. He was out there pushing his garden up into rectangular, flood-proof embankments, exactly the length and width of burial mounds” (63).
Adah thought this while she was observing her father fix his garden after it had flooded. This is significant because Nathan didn’t listen to Mama Tataba and because he didn’t try to accept her knowledge, his garden was destroyed. This shows that although the Price family went to Congo to teach their religion, they have as much to learn from the natives as they can teach them.
Leah:
“‘If there’s anything to be learned from this,’ he said, ‘it’s about the stink and taint of original sin’” (67).
Nathan said this when he learned that someone had said “damn” in front of their parrot, so that the parrot copied them and started to say it. This is significant because Nathan is going to try to teach the villagers his religion, but by doing so, it could permanently damage their lifestyle. Also, it is interesting because Ruth May is very impressionable, and Nathan’s opinions, both good and bad, are being imposed on her and his opinions will have an everlasting effect on her.
“Even back when we were young I remember running to throw my arms around Mother’s knees when he regaled her with words and worse, for curtains unclosed or slips showing—the sins of womanhood” (68).
Leah recalled this when Nathan was punishing her and her sisters since they had taken the blame for their mother’s mistake. This is significant because it shows the power of fear that Nathan has over the family. This shows that Nathan’s word is unquestioned in the family, so they will stay in Africa for as long as Nathan wants.

PWB: Character Reflection

Leah Price:
Leah is the most normal character out of all four of the Price girls, meaning she doesn't have any oustanding quirks or opinions that make her truly memorable. However, she is pretty observant, like when she says, "But that was our burden, because there was so much we needed to bring here" (19). As a result of this, I believe that her role will be to give readers the observations of someone "normal" so that their observations and opinions don't distract you too much from the events that are happening. Leah, being normal, can affect the story in so many ways that it is hard to tell if she will play a major role in the future.
Ruth May Price:
Ruth May is the youngest out of all the four Price girls, and her personality shows her age. She is very naive and gullible, which is because her age, like when Rex Minton was talking to her about Africa and said, "He said, I can talk native, listen here: Ugga bugga bugga lugga" (21). Because of this, her observations will be completely unopinionated, since she doesn't really have her own opinions to begin with. However, her observations will probably suffer from miscomprehensions, which might add humor to the events. So overall, I think her role is to provide pure observations, while adding humor through her misunderstandings of events that will occur. Because she lacks her own personality right now, I assume that she will slowly begin to develop her own personality.
Rachel Price:
Rachel is the oldest out of the Price girls. She comes off as being extremely stuck up and high maintenance, like in the beginning of the chapter where it said, "I could just feel the grit in my hair, which is so extremely fiar it is prone to get stained" (22-23). This quote not only shows that she is high maintenance, but that she is also deeply cares about her appearance and goes so far as to brag about it. She also hates Africa and wants to return home. As a result of her personality, she is extremely opinionated, almost an opposite to Ruth May. I believe her role will be the pessimist; her observations will all have a negative spin to them, since she doesn't like Africa to begin with. She also might cause trouble for the family since she is so high maintenance, but because of her personality now, it leaves room for her to mature from this experience.
Adah Price:
Adah is by far the most interesting of all the Price girls. Her personality is similar to that of a poet's; she is constantly using metaphors and similes to describe her own observations. She is also very observant, so she sees things that not everyone else can see. For example, she said, "But the way I see it through my Adah eyes it is a flat plank clipped into pieces, rectangles and trapezoids, by the skinny black-line shadows of tall palm trunks" (30). Because of her ability to see obscure details and her poetic personality, I believe Adah will probably serve as a fine tooth comb, which digs up the things that have been missed by the other girls. I can't see her doing much with the story, since at this point she can't truly express her thoughts so that she could affect the story.

Genesis 1:28

We are currently reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. On the first page of book one, a quote from the genesis section of the bible was written, which appeared to relate to book one. The quote was:
"And God said unto them,
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it: and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
This passage is basically God's instructions to man on how they should conduct themselves after being given life on the earth. So when the passage says that they should be "fruitful" and "multiply," it means that they should increase the population so that humans can expand across the earth. Then the passage says that humans need to "replenish the earth" and "subdue it," which basically charges humans with the responsiblity of maintaining the earth and using the resources it gives us, while also making sure that all the animals and plants can grow. So basically, it says since God chose us to have dominion over the earth, we should use the earth to increase our population as well as using that gift to insure that nature is maintained.
This passage implies that people should improve themselves but also maintain nature. In other words, we should make advancements in technology, but not at the expense of nature, since we are technically the rulers of the earth. It is kind of like the Chinese empire, where if the ruler used his resources for the good of both himself and his servants, the empire was strong, but if he only thought of himself and didn't take care of his servants, it caused the empire to crumble. If we want to maintain the earth, we need to use our resources both for ourselves and to replenish the earth so that we may continue to use its resources.
Based off of this passage, I believe that the following chapter will be about the Price family moving into Africa, where they will try to make the best of their surroundings. They will also encounter a lot of animals and plants, with which they will face the dilema of using those resources or preserving them.

Essential Question Response #4

Is being respectful a responsibility of human beings?
Being respectful to fellow humans is sometimes very difficult, especially since we all have very different points of view. Also, humans naturally tend to defend their own beliefs, assuming that they are right and disregarding other points of view. This is what causes conflict and war. We live in a world that does have some basis of respect, and as a product of this, we have a world that is somewhat peaceful, with only a few wars every once in a while. If there was no form of respect in this world, conflict and wars would be as normal as brushing your teeth in the morning. There would be no form of peace and as a result, humans would be stuck in a suspended era of war, where no advances to better the human race can occur. On the other hand, if we were able to respect the beliefs and ideas of one another, we could stop the senseless fighting that comes being ignorant towards foreign beliefs. With respect, we could live separate lives, while maintaining harmony among ourselves. So basically, respect allows empathy, which allows us to work together harmoniously and allow our race to stop fighting amongst ourselves and focus on improving the human race through science, economy, and culture. Because of the positive possibilities that respect could have for all human beings, I believe that being respectful is a responsibility of human beings.

Interview

After reading a series of writings, such as “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” and “The Gift,” regarding donating to help poverty, we were assigned to create an interview to address some questions we had regarding some parts of the writings.

A: Hello L. We’re here to talk about your opinions on some of the writings that we’ve read regarding poverty and donating. So L, after reading “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” and “The Gift,” you can see that Singer and Kravinsky both believe that humans are obligated to donate. My question to you is why should we donate? Does it better the human race?

L: Well, I believe that donating does better the human race, because it is one step further towards achieving peace. I guess it’s kind of like an atom donating an electron to another atom so they can both achieve a full octet. In the end, they are both happy because now they are stable together.

A: Hmm, I see. So basically what you are saying is that by donating we are allowing each individual in the human race to become stable so that we can all live in harmony, right?

L: Exactly.

A: Ok, but as it says in the two writings: if we donate, we should donate anything that doesn’t provide us with essential things. What do you think determines how much we should give?

L: I think that donating everything except the essentials is very noble, but what determines how much we should give is our own individual beliefs. So if you want to give up everything, then you should do so, but if you don’t want to donate anything, you are not obligated to do so.

A: That’s interesting. So you think that each individual should determine what he or she gives. But doesn’t that mean that the total donations won’t even come close to what they could be, and aren’t the donations what really count in the end, not someone’s feelings?

L: Well, I believe that everyone should have a choice to do what he or she wants. And even if their choice isn’t good, they are still completely entitled to their decision.

A: So what you are saying is that you believe people should develop morals in order to donate and not donate because they feel obligated? So I take it that you would completely agree if everyone just pursued their own happiness and disregarded the poor?

L: Yes, even though we would be sacrificing living people for our happiness, I do believe that our freedom to choose is more important that donating.

A: So anyways, changing the subject, do you feel that donating time is as important as donating money?

L: Yes, I believe that they are equally important. For example, if you donated a million dollars, but no one took the time to invest the money to help people, than it was a wasted donation. On the other hand, if you had a million people donating their time to help people, but had no money or resources, they couldn’t get anything done. So you need a balance between these two kinds of donations in order for donating to be truly effective.

A: That seems pretty logical. There two of those things that can’t happen without each other. So after reading “The Gift,” do you think that Kravinsky is, in your opinion, morally ethical?

L: Well, I believe that being morally ethical is being comfortable with what you do. Therefore, I say yes, Kravinsky was morally ethical because he did help others, but I also say no, because he helped others out of his own addiction and not for his own beliefs.

A: I have to say, your ideas are very interesting ones and are quite thought provoking. Thanks for taking the time to let me interview you.

L: My pleasure.

Cycle 16 Paper

For this cycle, we had to address a question regarding morals and values. The question was:
Are
morals and values so different from country to country, person to
person, that there can be no common values? Do you think there should
be some universal common values? If so, what do you think they should
be?

I believe that each individual is unique in this world,
which is great because it allows for our world to be completely diverse
and exciting. However, it’s this very blessing that causes me to
believe that common values cannot exist among all people. Even
generalizing it to countries seems unlikely to me. You can pick a
subject that seems to have one normal stance, like how nobody should
commit murder, and find that as you travel across the world, you will
get multiple stances on the subject. Even in this country, our values
differ. We are generally raised to believe that we should respect one
another, but meanwhile in this very same country, someNeo -Nazis are
raising their children to believe that Jews are bad and should be
erased from this world. Also, it is common belief that one's own family
should have a higher priority over anybody else. However, in the
writing, "The Gift," Salinger said, "I don't know where I'd set it, but
I would not let many children die so my kids could live" (60). How can
we expect to have any common values between different countries, if
there is so much dissent in our own country? People, in general, have a
natural tendency to fight for what they believe in, and since there are
so many different beliefs, an endless war is created. An example of
this is religion. For as long as religion has existed, different
religions have fought over which religion’s teachings are more correct.
These wars have been caused by small details like whether one man was a
messiah or not, but have resulted in the deaths of countless millions.
It is because of these ridiculous quarrels that I do believe that there
should be universal common goals, even though it is very unrealistic. I
believe that our differences will prevent us from ever uniting as one
race, but if we were to settle upon something so trivial as respect
towards each other, we could stop global strife, which takes the lives
of millions each day. With this one common value, every human being can
live as an individual, but yet still live in complete harmony with one
another. This way of living doesn't call for self-sacrifice, like in
"The Singer Solution to World Poverty," where it says, "Therefore, for
a household bringing in 50,000 a year, donations to help the world's
poor should be as close as possible to $20,000" (4). Instead of being
required to fix the world, like it suggests in the writing through
donating to the poor, all you really need to do is fix yourself. If you
think about it, you can see that religious wars are caused only because
one religious groupdoesn ’t believe that another religious group’s
values are correct, and as a result, tries to force their own beliefs
and values on that religious group. If that same group could respect
the other group, than the two groups could live harmoniously even
though they would live by separate beliefs. Because of this, I believe
that in order to achieve a world that lives in peace, but still
maintain the individuality that makes it special, we should hold
respect as a common value.

Q-Piece

So our class had to pick a quintessential object (something we couldn't live without), then talk about it. This is what I came up with:

There are many objects in my life that I need in order to function, and picking only one of them seems impossible. But if I had to pick one of them, I would have to say that my wrestling headgear is my quintessential object. As a wrestler, I need to wear headgear that covers my ears into all of my matches as a safety precaution, so without headgear, you cannot wrestle. So ever since I first bought it, I have essentially worn my headgear for every match I was ever in. At first glance, it seems like a standard, beaten-up headgear that is no different from any other wrestling headgear on the market, but it has so much more significance than that. It has protected my ears from countless vicious elbows and knees and has been there when I achieved fantastic victories and suffered from heartbreaking losses. My headgear also isn’t something that is so easily found and I've only seen one other person use it. Its straps wrap perfectly around my head, and although I have tried multiple types of headgear, my headgear is the only one that I have ever felt truly comfortable in. I guess you could call it my soul mate in headgear. To me, my headgear is like a basketball player’s lucky pair of shoes, or a tennis player’s favorite racquet; I seem to wrestle a lot better with my headgear. In essence, my headgear pushes me to greater heights than I could reach with any other headgear. Whether or not this performance boost is mental, the connection I have with my headgear will propel me through wrestling for as long as its stitches hold against time.