Blog Reflection

After reading through my blog posts from the second semester, I realized just how much I learned from formulating my thoughts into words. Adrienne Rich's idea of her poems being experiences seems applicable in the blogging world. Blogging has helped me come to conclusions and new understandings about texts through my writing. My core blog was an outlet for me to put my ideas into concrete sentences. It is almost sad to think how many thoughts go unnoticed or uncultivated when we aren't forced to verbalize them. My blog was a place for me to make connections between the texts themselves and between the texts and other aspects of my own life. I really think the blogs were an asset to the class; they had everyone think analytically about the text before class and definitely enhanced classroom discussion. Before Core, I don't think I ever would have considered myself a "blogger." The term seems so nerdy and technology savvy (both adjectives I would not use to describe myself). However, after this class I would hope to have the opportunity again to use blogs in the classroom. I have really enjoyed having that extra outlet to formulate my thoughts and make connections.

Education in Persepolis

"The educational system and what is written in school books, at all levels, are decadent, everything needs to be revised to ensure that our children are not led astray from the true path of Islam...That's why we're closing all the universities for a while. Better to have no students at all than to educate future imperialists" (73).

We have talked a lot about the importance of education and the standpoints of many educated scholars. In DuBois we talked about education for the white man versus the black man and the different opportunities that each man is provided in America. Ultimately, DuBois decides that 10% of men (regardless of his color but according to his mentality) is hard-wired for higher education and that 90% of men are hard-wired for tasks that can be learned in trade school or apprentenceship. The limitations on opportunities for black people in America compared to those for white people is a real problem being combated today. However, taking a look at Persepolis provides an even greater dilemma. What if education was denied of an entire nation? What if you have the capacity, endurance, and motivation to become a scientist but are denied the opportunity to even learn about the field? George Orwell's 1984 reminds me of the Islamic situation. History is rewritten and facts are produced according to Big Brother's wishes. It is said that he who controls the present controls the past and the future. I think that Americans take living in a free country for granted. Yes, there are limitations and injustices, but I could never imagine being denied an opportunity to seek the truth about an historical event or to find out how to go about solving an algebraic equation. Education is precious and so is freedom.

Persepolis

So, I have a lot to say about this one. First of all, I was not expecting a comic book as our last read of the year. I have never been one to read comic books; I guess I have always associated them with nerds and Seth Cohen from the OC. I was actually watching the OC this weekend, Season One of course, and Seth and Anna were talking about how comic books should actually be called graphic novels. This way, Anna said, they would be taken more seriously as an intellectual art form. I instantly thought about Persepolis and the major issues it raises as a graphic novel.

I have so many thoughts about Persepolis that I don't really no where to begin. First of all, the idea of the veil has me sort of stopped. Whenever I hear "veil" my mind darts to DuBois and his definition of the veil that covers the opportunities of the black people. I suppose the veil has a similar purpose in the lives of Iranians following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The wearing of the veil became obligatory; they were symbols of the taking away of freedom. The veils marked the loss of opportunity for the Iranian people. Veils used to mean weddings to me. Now I think of censorship and inhibition.

I also noticed the comparison between Marx and God. What does this bold observation make? Was Marx as powerful as God? As just, loving, and forgiving? Were his principles good? We read Marx this year. I would definitely not say he was comparable to God. He had some good ideas, yes, but something is unnerving about comparing him to the most powerful archetype known to man.

Che Guevara. A reference to Che struck me as well. In my Spanish in Politics and Society Class we spent a lot of time talking about "el mito de Che." (the myth of Che) Che was a symbol for the people of Argentina. He was a Marxist revolutionary and a leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. Che was an inspirational icon of leftist revolutionary movements worldwide, but it is debatable today as to whether he created more good or more violence during his extremist reign. The people of Argentina looked to Che as a God. Almost like the comparison of Marx to God. People are always looking for someone to follow and something to believe in. This is why dictatorships occur and why dictators are so loved.

Random post. But I guess my last thought is that I am proud to be an American.

Mirrors in Giovanni's Room

"The body in the mirror forces me to turn and face it. And I look at my body, which is under sentence of death. It is lean, hard, and cold, the incarnation of mystery. And I do not know what moves in this body, what this body is searching. It is trapped in my mirror as it is trapped in time and it hurries toward revelation" (168).

In the last chapter, as David describes Giovanni's execution, it almost seems as if David loses himself in Giovanni. It becomes confusing in David's language as to whether David is awaiting execution or Giovanni is. The use of mirrors has been a significant and symbolic tool in the novels we have read about identity this year. As in White Castle, mirrors help to raise awareness about identity and reveal the truth in their reflection. Perhaps David feels he is so deserving of Giovanni's punishment that he confuses Giovanni with himself. He feels that he is so deserving of Giovanni's pain that he himself can feel it. He feels so close to the man that he loves that he tries to interchange their lives in his final narration.

DuBois in the modern world

"I write this epilogue humbly knowing that our 'road' is still under construction. In 1903, W.E.B. DuBois wrote in the foreword to his classic text, The Souls of Black Folk, the oft-quoted line, 'The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color lone.' One hundred years later, his statement regrettably still rings true. It is incumbent upon all of us to engage in the dialogue and take the collective action needed to create a more just and equitable world for all. That is the task of this century. I hope you will join me in that effort" (Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, 219).

This is from an article we recently read in my psychology class called "Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" The fact that DuBois made such an impact on conversations concerning race that they are still being used today is a huge deal in my mind. I know that in Core we read some books we like more than others, but some of the books we read really do enrich our understanding of the world around us. Had I not read DuBois, this article's arguments would not have been as poignant. The teachings and suggestions of DuBois are being critically assessed and followed through with as we speak.

Giovanni's Room: Moorings and Anchors

"I looked out at the narrow street...heavy with people-people I would never understand. I ached abruptly, intolerably, with a longing to go home...home across the ocean, to things and people I knew and understood; to those things, those places, those people which I would always, helplessly, and in whatever bitterness of spirit, love above all else. I had never realized such a sentiment in myself before and it frightened me. I saw myself, sharply, as a wanderer, and adventurer, rocking through the world, unanchored" (62).

In my last post I talked about moorings, the idea that humans try to anchor themselves down because they are afraid of really being free without rules or guidelines for their lives. David says that this is why he attached himself to Hella, for a mooring. However, once he realizes that he cannot emotionally anchor himself to her, or to any other woman for that matter, David feels this uncontrollable floating feeling. He has become unanchored; he is free from all other humans. This concept also reminds me of Sputnik Sweetheart. David has become that satellite, drifting through outer space, only coming across those he knows and doesn't know as he travels on his orbit alone. If he does not accept his love for Giovanni, he will be forever free floating, without a mooring.

Giovanni's Room

"And these nights were being acted out under a foreign sky, with no one to watch, no penalties attached-it was this last fact which was our undoing, for nothing is more unbearable, once one has it, than freedom. I suppose this was why I asked her to marry me: to give me something to be moored to...But people can't, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life" (5).

This is a loaded observation. What does the narrator mean to say that nothing is more unbearable than freedom? Is it that people without guidelines and rigid rules don't know what to do with themselves? And what does it mean that we can't invent our own mooring posts? Is it that humans innately fight against freedom, but that they cannot control who or what comes into their lives to deny them of freedom? I think the greatest magnitude of this passage comes from the fact that it accepts the impossibility of controlling destiny. It seems to say that humans are naturally followers of rules and easily accept the people and situations that life throws at them. However, humans also detest change. When life changes the rules and situations without notice humans resist. I see some truth in these ideas. It is not always easy to say Yes to life. Humans strive for freedom yet they set up societies and governments filled with rules and guidelines for living. It is a paradoxical concept that I never quite thought about before.

Freud on Happiness

"...happiness in life is predominantly sought in the enjoyment of beauty, wherever beauty presents itself to our senses and our judgment-the beauty of human forms and gestures, of natural objects and landscapes and of artistic and even scientific creations....Beauty has no obvious use; nor is there any clear cultural necessity for it. Yet civilization could not do without it" (33).

I am currently in a positive psychology class that focuses on what makes people happy. The idea of positive psychology is fairly recent, but Freud seems to have thought a lot about the topic. Most recently, our class took a VIA assessment about our top five strengths. The assessment was done online and is based on the notion that each human exerts certain strengths more than others. My top five strengths are gratitude, generosity and kindness, curiosity about the world, perspective, and appreciation of beauty. I never really thought about what an impact beauty played in my life before taking the test, but after getting my assessment back I realized just how much emphasis I place on the beauty in the world around me. I really do tend to find happiness in a cloudless sky or a pretty flower. My friends sometimes make fun of me for my observations, but I definitely agree with Freud when he explains the importance of recognizing the beautiful things in life when trying to attain happiness.