MAAN: Ethics

Much Ado About Nothing has lying of two forms, lying for yourself and lying for another. You can't ever be completely sure that lying is justified or not, but in general, if you lie for the benefit of another, it is justified. Lying for another is seen when Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio make sure they are overheard by Benedict while they are talking about Beatrice's love. Although Beatrice never once said, "O sweet Benedick! God give me patience" (II.3.145-146), the lie is meant to make Beatrice and Benedick happy. There is no malacious intent here, only an acceptable lie. It is also justified to lie if the lie will protect another. In McCarthyism, lying to keep someone off of a black list was completely justified (Evan S. also gives a really good example of the Holocaust; people lying to hide Jews). If the intent is to help another, lying is justified.

In MAAN there are also selfish lies. Don John, who seeks revenge upon Claudio who defeated him in battle, lies in order to harm him. Don John, seeking to trick Claudio into refusing Hero announces, "I came hither to tell you, and, circumstances shortened (for she has been too long a-talking of), the lady is disloyal" (III.2.91-93). This lie is for only the benefit of Don John. It is a harmful lie and one that is can not be considered moral. However, this is not always true. Going back to the Holocaust, a Jew that denied being a Jew (a lie solely for him or herself) is justified because it saves him or herself and does not harm another. Lying for yourself is justified if its purpose is not malicious, but rather to protect yourself.

Poetry: The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken by: Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/And sorry I could not travel both/And be one traveler, long I stood/And looked down one as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth;/Then took the tother, as just as fair,/And having perhaps the better claim,/Because it was grassy ans wanted wear;/Though as for that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same,/And both that morning equally lay/In leaves no step had trodden black./Oh, I kept the first for another day!/Yet knowing how way leads on to way,/I doubted if I should ever come back./I shall be telling this with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence:/Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - /I took the one less traveled by/And that has made all the difference.

This poem by Robert Frost illustrates the joy in being unique and different through a comparison with a path in nature. To me, his poem means that if one only follows what others do, they will miss out on the beauty of life. Frost shows this through a central metaphor. He begins with a walk in a forest. He continues along until he reaches a fork in the road. Instead of walking on the dreary, well trodden land, he chooses instead to be different, to take the road less traveled, the more beautiful, green road.

He also demonstrates the joy in being unique through his word choice. In the seventeenth line, Frost says "I shall be telling this with a sigh". In my opinion, he uses the sigh to demonstrate how peaceful and happy it was on the, "Road Not Taken" (1). Frost's poem is summed up in his final line, the line describing what it meant to him to choose the other path, "And that made all the difference" (21).

Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." 1 Dec 2007 .

Quarter One Debrief

Meditate on the events of quarter one. How did you do in this class? What did you learn? Which of your academic skills improved? Where are you still struggling? How is the class environment? What can you do to further strengthen the learning community in our classroom? What are your goals for Q2? Basically, how did things go for you and what can you do to improve or to make things more successful for yourself and others?

I thought I did well in this class. I struggled slightly in essays and in organization. I also learned a lot and made improvent in both of those categories. I also learned how to write a thesis statement (9th grade didn't really cover Thesis S.). I am still struggling in both of these areas (essays/organization. The class environment is good. Writing in class and sharing ideas makes it easier to progress and makes the environment more comfortable. Some goals for the second quarter are thesis statements, essay writing, and organization (both in essays and overall). I think continuing along the current path (writing a lot, practicing thesis statements in class, and various classroom activities) will best help me progress.

Kite Runner 5

At the end of the novel, the main characters are Amir and Sohrab. Sohrab is the son of Hassan who was the brother of Amir. To Amir, he represents redemption. When he was younger, he witnessed Hassan being raped, and said nothing. Amir betrayed his best friend when he needed him the most. Now Hassan is dead and Amir wants to adopt Sohrab. Only through this can he succede in fulfilling Rahim Khan's wish, a desire reexpressed later on just as was expressed earlier, "There is a way to be good again" (Hosseini 2). Amir is desperately in need of redemption.
This leads to the main conflict, Amir's desire to adopt Sohrab may not be possible. To some, this means that Sohrab must go back to an orphanage or live in Kabul. To Sohrab and Amir, it is not acceptable. Sohrab reflects Amir's desperation through his actions. Although Amir would never have considered this an acceptable solution, Sohrab tries to kill himself. Amir relates the experience, "Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming... Later, they said I was still screaming when the ambulance came" (Hosseini 343). Amir is desperate for a chance to be better, and he intends to become better by helping a homeless orphan and bringing his lost nephew back into the family.

Kite Runner 4

The main characters at this point in the book are Amir and Rahim Khan. Amir receives a letter from Afghanistan saying that he needs to come. The letter was from Rahim Khan. Rahim is sick and dying and he wants to tell Amir his story. Amir finds out that his boyhood friend Hassan married and had a child. He also finds out that Hassan was his half-brother. Then Rahim tells Amir that Hassan and his wife are dead, leaving his child an orphan,

"No," I breathed.
"-- and order him to kneel--"
"No. God, no."
"-- and shot him in the back of the head."
"No" (Hosseini 219).

This leads to the main conflict of dealing with the past. Similar to Oskar's "betrayel" of his father, Amir feels that he has betrayed Hassan and in order to make up for it, he wants to find Hassan's child. It is Rahim's dying wish, "I want you to go to Kabul. I want you to bring Sohrab here" (Hosseini 220). Amir does not want to risk his life in Kabul, an extremely dangerous place, nor does he want to betray Hassan again. In the end, Amir gives in. He will try to find Sohrab, and bring him home.

Kite Runner 3

The main characters at this point are Baba, Amir and his wife Soraya. Amir is now going to college. His wife, an Afghani like him, is a teacher. Baba is now dying of cancer. An ardent smoker, he has lung cancer and will most likely die soon. He refuses to have chemotherapy, as he feels that to postpone the inevitable would dishonner him. He is still to proud to accept it, "He had the same resolved look on his face as the day he'd dropped the stack of food stamps on Mrs. Dobbins's desk" (Hosseini 156).

The main conflict at this point in the novel arrises from the lack of honnesty displayed. Soraya, like Amir, had a secret that she had hidden within her. When she was eighteen, she eloped with an Afghan. He was into drugs and the whole thing ended poorly for everyone. Soraya is greatly ashamed of it. When she tells Amir, he forgives her because he understands the feeling. Amir however is still being torn apart by what he did to Hassan, "I opened my mouth and almost told her how I'd betrayed Hassan," (165). By not letting out his terrible secret, it is eating him up from within. Amir must learn to deal with his past, or his future may fall apart.

Here's my picture

Kite Runner 2

The main characters in the book are Baba (Amir's dad), and Amir. Amir and his father have moved to America. The trip was rough, but they survived and Baba is convinced that this is what is best. Baba used to be rich, but in America, he has to work hard and he is proud of it. When offered free food, he refuses, "'Thank you, but I don't want.' Baba said, 'I work always. In Afghanistan I work, in America, I work. Thank you very much Mrs. Dobbins, but I don't like it free money'" (Hosseini, 130). Baba believes that he will work for the rest of his life, and his son will work too. This leads to a conflict.

The main conflict at this time in the book is that Amir wants to become a writer. This is similar to Richard in the way that no one believed he could be a writer, or approved of his choice. Baba thinks poorly of his choice, "He took a deep breath and sipped his tea. Grunted something about medical school, law school and 'real work'" (Hosseini, 134). Amir has learned that to be happy, he must do what he wants to do, while his father is learning that Amir is his own person, and can do what he wants. Only if his father realizes this, can their conflict be resolved.

Kite Runner 1

The two main characters in the book are Amir and his best friend/servant Hassan. Amir is a typical boy of around 12 years, mostly kind, wanting to please, and prone to random fits of cruelty. Hassan is the opposite. He is always as polite and kind as possible. He cares little for what others think of him and yet everyone who knows him likes him. Hassan is also a Hazara and is therefore shunned by almost everyone who doesn't know him. One boy, Assef, says to Amir that he hates all Hazaras, "His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood" (Hosseini 40).
This racial separation, and the view that Hazaras aren't people leads to a conflict within Amir when he witnesses Hassan's rape, by Assef. Amir believes that no one knew what he witnissed and is afraid that if he repeats it to someone else, he will be disgraced in the community for caring about a Hazara. He becomes to become as distant with Hassan as Hassan has become with the rest of the world, "I didn't speak with Hassan until the middle of the next week" (Hosseini 86). Hassan and Amir's friendship is dying.
This is similar to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in the way that Amir, like Oskar has a secret, and in hiding it, he is hurting others and himself. Oskar never told anyone how he could have talked to his dad in his final moments, he merely kept it to himself. He ended up nearly tearing himself apart. I think that a similar ending (Oskar finalling letting go) will appear in this novel.

Black Boy (Memoirs)

Why do people write memoirs?
What power is there in telling our own stories?

I think that people write memoirs for the purpose of expressing themselves. It is a form of art that allows someone to tell someone else their story. It allows us to share experiences, relate to someone else, and learn from our (and their) mistakes. When you write a memoir, it often captures the essence of a key event in your life that shaped you and taught you something. By expressing our own, we can let others see our message. Also, we can read others stories and discover things about them. This allows us to see as others do, and to learn something without the need of an experience. Another reason people write memoirs is to come to terms with ourselves.

When writing a memoir, we put down on paper, analyse and often critique are experiences. Most importantly, we accept our past actions, good or bad. By writing a memoir, the author is able to fully appreciate what lesson they may have learned from their experience. Any grief, embarrassment or guilt will, through accpetance, be something forgotten but not lost. I believe that we, as authors, write memoirs so that we may be able to come to terms with our past and benefit from lessons learned.

Black Boy 2

What types of things does Richard "hunger" for
and what are the effects (positive and negative) of hunger?

Richard hungers for many things. One example of something he hungers for is acceptance. At school, Richard is often the poorest. At school he is unable to eat and states his longing for the day when he can be like everyone else and eat, "I vowed that someday I would end this hunger of mine, this apartness," (Wright 126). When someone suggests to him to sell papers to make money for food, he jumps at the idea, "Why don't you do like me?" (Wright 127). Richard needs to feel acceptance, so he decides to sell papers in order to make a friend (and get food like everyone else). Richard also shows this hunger in the way he continues to pursue a job in the interest of remaining like everyone else. Richard asks at school "About jobs" (Wright 145). Wright has shown us how he hungered for acceptance in his life.

Another thing Richard hungers, perhaps less positively, is truth, whether it hurts another or not. He shows this through his clear disgust for anything or anyone related to the church, and when he tells them so, "That old church of yours is messing up my life" (Wright 144). When Richard's grandmother hears this she becomes upset. Richard need for being painfully truthful has hurt his grandmother. Another instance he hurts someone through his disgust for what he believes is the corruptness and shamelessness of the church is when he is at church being asked to be baptized. He talks about how he feels as she pleads to him "My mother grabbed my hands and I felt hot tears scalding my fingers. I tried to stifle my disgust" (Wright 153). Richard hungers for the truth, even when it hurts another.

Black Boy

Is Richard a bad boy?

I don't believe that Richard is a bad boy. While many may say that the four-letter words Richard wrote all over the windows of his neiborhood (25) is a bad act, Richard himself is not bad. He is simply easily impressionable. He is in essence, the product of his environment. Richard's ability to absorb his surroundings and accept them as ok is shown when he speaks about his father, "And did not all fathers, like my father, have the right to beat their children?" (23). Richard tells us he was led to believe that it was a paternal right to beat your child simply through his own family experience. Richard, once again with the four-letter words, found others saying those words and came to the conclusion that they were appropriate. He is only the product of his environment.

Another instance where Richard shows himself to be a result of his environment, rather than being bad, is when he gets drunk at the saloon. Once again, Richard has accepted that anyone older than him will never err. Having seen his father become terribly drunk (10) and watching the local saloons patrons at work, Richard is unable to understand why it is wrong. He describes is initial experience with alcohol, "As I would pass each man, I would take a sip from an offered glass. Soon I was drunk" (21). Richard is not a bad boy at all. He is simply the unlucky product of a poor environment.
Wright, Richard. Black Boy. New York: Perenniel Classics, 1998.

Opening Post

Hi!
This is my literary blog. I will be posting weekly for most of the year. I can't think of anything else to say so here is my blog.