Political Message Response 10/17

I was glad that we were able to go that assembly to learn about voting. I think it was very useful and got us seniors more excited to vote.  They gave us the clickers and all to show us how fun it is when we have a say in things. I thought that this assembly was very useful.  It is interesting to see different people's views on certain issues and their reasoning behind what they think. I am excited for when I turn 18 and am able to vote.

Love Poem pg 298

SHE LET HIM IN

She let him in

she did not turn away from him

there was no anger in her words

she simply looked straight at him

as though there had never been

anything between them

I liked this love poem because you can really sense that the couple actually loves eachother.  I liked this poem rather than some of the others because it was simple and was actually love.  Some of the others I got the feeling that they were more lustful and I did not like that about them. When reading this poem I can picture the love and how real love can actually be.  This poem, although simple, makes you as a reader feel like you are a part of them.  My favorite line in this poem is when it says "she simply looked straight at him as though there had never been anything between them." Now that line can be interpreted by the reader in two different ways.  One way is that there had been conflict and stuff was going on between them, yet they still were able to love eachother.  The other way is that they love eachother so much that nothing can ever come between them.  I like to think of it as the second way, because that's just how I am, I love happy stories and happy endings. 

Nature Issues

Sara Nelson and Emily Johnson's pressentation on Ocean Acidification was the one that impressed me the most. It really got me thinking and I thought that they presented it very well.
Ocean Acidification:
Argument: Issue of decreasing pH consistency in Ocean.
Evidence: Harms animal life. It also affects climate change.
Argument: Economic Benifits

Evidence: The gases are expensive.

Polar Bears and Global warming

Argument 1: Caring about pollution will help our world be more healthy. We need to try and save the polar bears.
evidence: By recycling we can help ourselves as well as polar bears live longer.  Polar bears are near extinction.
Argument 2: It is easy not to care about the environment.  People get caught up in getting to work faster rather than thinking about the environment.

Evidence: Almost everyone in our class when asked if they drove to school raised their hand, and only some of them carpooled. 

Fable for Tomorrow/from Silent Spting pgs 370-371

In this passage it talks about how a tragedy has happened.  It sounds like a major disaster has swept through this town and destroyed it. "The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with brown and withered vegetation as though swept by fire." "No witchcraft, no enemy action had silences the rebirth of new life in this stricked world.  The people had done it themselves." I thought it was interesting that this quote said nothing had done this to the earth.  The people trashed the earth themselves, and as a result there were hardly any animals.  All of  the bad things that happened to this town did not actually happen, but parts have happened all over the world, and it is sad to see. So we need to do whatever we can to help people and animals who are affected with such dissasters, and try to prevent dissasters, if preventable. 

Polemic pgs. 385-390

Industrial Tourism has arrived.  This means that shops, little museums and other stores are in national parks.  Park officials get stressed out because people feel that they need comfort when viewing national parks. Park officials also don't like the fact that more roads are having to be paved. People demand a lot.  The main issue in this passage is that people are more worried about the comfort of themselves, rather than the park itself.  All national parks have to face the same issue.  Industrial Tourism helps attract people to the park. I don't think that it should be a big issue though because there isn't really a way of stopping it.

Visual Artisit

Paul Peter Rubens

                Paul Peter Rubens was born in1577 and died in 1640. Rubens was a prolific seventeenth century Flemish Baroque Painter.  The Baroque style emphasizes movement, color, and sensuality.  Rubens was a humanist scholar. (2002-2011) Rubens medium was painting.  He typically painted things that had to do with nature or things that were related to mythology.  In is paintings you can tell the time period that he was from because of the style that he used for his paintings. 

                I chose the painting that is called Rubens, his wife Helena Fourment, and their son Peter Paul c. 1639.  The reason that I chose this painting was because it had a picture of Ruben and his son.  One thing that surprised me about this painting was that it says that the child is his son, but yet it looks to me like it is a girl.  That kind of confused me a bit.  Another part of the painting that I wanted to expound upon was the fact that his wife was a little more chunky if you will.  If you look at all of Rubens paintings of women they are all a little more heavy and that was what was considered fashionable and attractive back then.  I think it is very interesting how the times have changed so much. Back then men really liked women who had some meat on their bones and now the media puts it into our heads that women have to be stick skinny to be beautiful.  You can tell that men like women who had more weight on them because in most of the paintings that were composed in the 1600’s the women all relatively look the same.  They are not stick skinny and they typically have a ton of clothes on like Queen Elizabeth.  I thought that it was very interesting how people looked back then.  Men were typically more skinny and women were not so skinny.  And like I mentioned earlier their baby boy did not look like a baby boy at all he looked like he was a girl.  I didn’t understand that aspect of the painting.  But in this painting you can also tell that there is a lot of color and movement. 

                I chose this artist no reason in particular.  I needed an artist and you suggested this one for me to do.  I chose this particular painting because it was one that I thought I could talk about because of the way his wife looked and the way that his son looked.  I also chose this picture because it was of himself rather than something that I didn’t know the story about.  This artist left a significant legacy for his reformation counter-altarpieces, landscapes, portraits, and how he would often paint mythological things.  Rubens was known for  his Northern Baroque style, and was considered one of the greatest at it.  Finally I was surprised that all of his paintings had many things in common.  I liked how ou could easily pin point what they had in common.  Like his paintings either had to do with mythology or they were of nature or of women or queens.  I found it interesting how he portrayed women is his paintings.  I also found it interesting that all of the men in that time were attracted to women that were bigger and were not stick skinny.  It is so crazy to see how the times have changed since then.  I kind of wish that I picked a more recent artist so that it would have been easier for me to talk about , but I guess this one worked as well. 

               

Selections from Walden pgs. 349-365

One of the Philosophies that Thoreau talked about was how we needed to simplify or needs and our ambitions.  Our needs are obvious, food, sleep, etc.  Our ambitions or our goals can sometimes affect what we may think that we need.  It is good to have an ambition or a drive to do something, but you need to take into account your needs first before letting your ambitions steer the way you go.

Another Philosophy was that a man shouldn’t take too much leisure time.  “The student who secures his coveted leisure and retirement by systematically shirking any labor necessary to man obtains but an ignoble and unprofitable leisure, defrauding himself of the experience which alone can make leisure fruitful (quote on page 358).” From that quote it basically says that someone who is always planning their vacation and leisure rather than work, is less likely to experience that leisure with the amount of joy as if they had focused on their work.

Another philosophy was that we must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake.  “We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.” (page 363) This quote explains how we need to keep ourselves awake for the expectations of the day. We can get more accomplished when we don’t sleep all the time.

Burrowing Owls pgs. 414-417

The main argument of this passage is the different opinions men and women have on nature. Many poeple don't care about the owls or any of the other species that are starting to become extinct.  It is hard to constantly think of nature issues such as the one of the burrowing owls.  On the other hand some people make it a huge issue as to whether or not all of the animals are safe and healthy.  These owls are threatened, which is a step away from being endangered.  I do not agree with people poaching these owls.

Cultural Activity

I enjoyed going to the Museum with a bunch of friends. My favorite pieces of artwork were the ones that were from the islands.  I liked those pieces of artwork more because I liked how you got to see the cultural background to the art.  I really liked this activity, I thought it was a lot of fun.

Islam Presentation

I learned many new things that I didnt't know before from Maisa.  I learned that Muslims pray 5 times a day, and sometimes, or when they can, they pray on a prayer rug. And they always face the Mecca when they pray.  I also learned that Muslims girls can swim if properly covered.  I had always wondered if they could swim or not.  I learned that during Ramadan they can't eat from sunrise to sunset.  I think that is awesome that they can do that and have the will to not eat for that long. I was very glad that Maisa came and gave a presentation, because I had a lot of questions about Muslims and they were all answered.

Buddhism

Buddhist's follow many of Buddha's teachings.  Buddhist's believe that there is no God, and they do not consider themselves Atheist.  They have no prohets, and they follow Buddah.  Monks are teachers in Buddhism.  Buddhist's believe in karma and in rebirth.  They believe that karma is a part of rebirth. Off to the side this is a picture of Buddha.

Creation Myths: pgs 85-127

The creation myth that I was assigned to read was the Klamath Indian Myth on page 124. In this myth, the chief of the below world wants to marry a woman named Loha. She refuses to marry him, and in anger he was determined to destroy her people. He starts to light fires everywhere.  The below world chief and the above world chief get in to a brawl.  A medicine man sacrifices himself so that his people will be saved. The above world chief wins and he made it rain for many years.  This rain created a lake in the crater. This is a real lake called Crater Lake, in Oregon.  This story is an account of a volcanic eruption. 

What have I learned so far in week 1 and 2 of Humanites?

So far I have learned what Humanities actually is. When entering this class I didn't even know what humanities meant. I learned that  you explore different cultures and you get to learn more about religions.  I learned that you have to critically think when you are in humanities.  You can't just think of things on the surface, you have to go deeper. You have to think outside the box.  I also learned that within every passage you need to look for the argument and the evidence that supports it. Always looking for an argument and the evidence, is an effectual habit that will help me when reading passages throughout my whole life.

"Shakespeare in the Bush" pgs 29-35

Laura Bohannan’s main argument in Shakespeare in the Bush, was that anyone could understand Shakespeare.  She goes to a small community in Africa to try and prove that Shakespeare is a “universal intelligense.”   She found this experience very frustrating because when she was telling the people the story of Hamlet, they didn’t understand the reoccuring motifs because of how they were raised and brought up.  The people in the tribe wondered why Hamlet did certain things that he did and why he didn’t marry Polonius. They wondered why people didn’t have multiple wives to help them do work around the house.  For the most part the tribe liked the story of Hamlet once they were able to understand it more, and it proves that anyone can understand Shakespeare.

Big Question

What is death?
Death to many people is a very sad mourning process. Families of the loved one that passes usually handle it differently.  Some decide to have a very nice funeral, and some have smaller gatherings.  Some people are creamated, and some people are burried in a casket. Death is different for everyone. For instance some religions believe in life after death, which makes the death more bearable for them. 

What is Humanities?

Humanities is the study of ideas and creations of individuals whose values and interpretations are different based on religion, literature, and philosophy.  Humanities helps us learn about many different types of people, their culture, and their religion.  Ideas in humanities can be either complimentary or contradictory, and studying humanities requires critical and analytical skills.

All About Me!!

I am friendly, energetic, and happy.

I like spending time with family and friends. I like doing stuff that is active and that is in the outdoors. I love to play Lacrosse, tennis, and I love to snowboard.