Balzac Test

1) How is the power of imagination a powerful theme in the story

Imagination is a powerful theme because it is what drive the characters to keep going day after day. If it weren't for the books they found, Luo and the narrator would have broken down to the Communist brainwashing long before. The imaginative influence the book has on them lets them continue to carry water on the mountain and give them the audacity to challenge the headman's authority. with out the power of imagination the narrator would have never been able to truly develop his story telling abilities. Also the power of imagination has a strong influence on the tailors clothing,such as after hearing "The Count of Monte Cristo" he begins to make sailor tops for all the villagers. The influence of imagination on the tailors clothes helps transform the world that the narrator and Luo are put into from "tortuous paths" to a place where "you could almost smell the briny Mediterranean air." All of the change in the novel was because of the power of imagination

Othello Test

The tradgic vision of Othello is affected by many other cahracters. While Othello is the one making all of the desicions, the choses he makes are affected by all the others around him. Because Othello'd decisions are affected by the characters around him, the tradgic vision of the play is shaped, not by Othello, but by the other characters.

Desdemona's loving and caring personality causes her to accedently drive Othello to rage. Desdemona is too concerned about the well being of her old friend Casio to realize Othello's suspicions. Her truely loving nature makes the end result of the play even more tradgic. Through out the play Desdemona did all the right things, but it was her good deeds that caused Othello to kill her, making her death even more tradgic. Desdemona is a truely tradgic figure.

Rodrigo's blind love causes him to make poor dicisions which help lead to the tradgic ending of the play. Roderigo's overwellming love for Desdemona made him the perfect veichle for Iago's distructive plan. While he ment no harm, his pasonite love combined with the ill-advice he recived from Iago causes him to be the catalyst for the plays tragic vision. Roderigo's blinding love distroys the onething he loved so much.

The good intintions of the cahracters only increased Othello's rage and brought a tradgic end. The fact that the tradgic ending of Othello was caused by the goog intintions of the other charachters makes the ending far more tradgic.

Growing Up

For me personally the worst part about growing up is the future. For some reason or another I sometimes find my self thinking about the future and getting worried. I start thinking about college and how much fun it will be, but then I realize that there is going to be a whole lot of work, esspesally if you go to a good school. I really dont get the whole idea of good schools. For some reason just because your deploma has Harvard written on it people think you are smart even though you could go to a school like ASU and get just as good an education. I think my main problem with growing up is that Im probably not ready and im not really sure when I will be.

Family on the Farm

Every spring we go to my grandparents farm in Moreland GA. We go down to help my grandparents and cousins "work" the calves. Pretty much it involves some sketchy veterinary procedures a corral filled with "mud" and a bunch of screaming cows. Some people might say that it sounds like hell but its really rather enjoyable. It's a good opportunity to visit family and have a good time, and usually have some good home cooking. We also get a chance to laugh as my 17 year old cousin climbs a fence fast as a squirrel to get away from a little calf. Personally I find it very relaxing to go down there, once you get past my uncle and grandfather yelling at each other over some insignificant little thing.

What I Know About fate

Really I Don't know much more about fate then I did before this class. If anything I am more confused then I was before. Now I can't figure out what events caused the fate to happen, not that I really knew that before, but now I am just really confused about fate. Before the class I could kind of figure out what fate was but know I just have a bunch of stuff about fate floating around and I don't know what to do with it. You can call it negative if you want to, but sometimes thats just the way it is.

Fate or Freewill

Personaly I would like to believe in a mix of both. I'd like to think that there is a master plan but the decissions that we make effect the final outcome. I guess what i mean is that I'd like a fluid fate that can be changed by our freewill.

If I was given the choice, I would probably choose to live an average life. Dieing young but being remembered by the world for a thousand years wouldn't make you any happier, then if you lived a long average life. Actually I think people would really rather have both. Part of what humans want is a long mortal life, and a long immortal life/memory, but I think I would be happier if I lived a long average life. Really that's what's really important, how you feel about your own life. I would probably be happier with a long average life so that's what I'll choose.

childhood memories

My favorite book from when i was a kid is probably Dr. Seuss' book Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are ? I got the book from my grandparents while I was about 7 or 8, and in the hospital after having my appendix taken out. Even then I thought the book had a clear message. Pretty much the book is saying that no matter how bad you think you have it, there is someone in the world who is worse off then you are. Even though it is hard to remember that at times, the message is completely true. I would really like to live by the philosophy that you're always better off then someone else, but its hard to do that when you're stuck in a rut. Its worth a try though.

Eastern Philosophy

Probably the most confusing accpect of Eastern philosophy is the circular motion of life. Most westeners veiw life in a linear fashion where you are born and then you die. However, the Eastern philosophy is that lfe is a constent flow of life, death, and reincarnation. Most of the Eastern philosophies say that your spirit is transfered from lifeform to lifeform until you find nirvana, or inlghtenment. At this point your spirit will no longer be reincarnated, and you will truly die.

Paradox High

Modern high school is one big paradox. Todays student rushes through only trying to do enough to scrape buy a passing grade, counting down the days before they leave high school. They rush through wishing they were older, until one day they realize that they are now grown adults who have to face the troubles of the world.

Students also don't see how high school is important. While they are in school they can't see how uderstanding paradoxs or algebraic formulas are worth learning about. But the minute they enter college they wish they had paid more attention in school.

Icons

The American flag is probably the most recognizable icon on the planet. No matter where we go in the world there will be an American flag. We have flags flying in every town in our country and a flag in every other country.

It's really hard to say what the flag is a symbol for, because everyone sees it as something differant. Some might say the flag stands for freedom and some might say that it stands for oppression, but either way you look at it there is an American flag everywhere on this planet (it's even on the moon). Regardless of what the flag stands for it is recognized all over the world. Even those who say that America is spreading evil and trying to conquer & destroy the Earth have to addmit that the flag is rcognized by people on every continent.

The strange thing about me writing this is that I'm not really a huge supporter of America. Don't get me wrong, America is a whole lot better then most of the other places in the world, but we have reall screwed up in the past. Anyways what I think I'm trying to say is that even though I'm not an uber patriot, I still believe that the American flag will always be the most recognized icon in the world.

Quotes

"There's more stupidity then helium in the universe and it has a longer shelf life"

-Frank Zappa

"What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding"

-Elvis Costello

These quotes are both incredably true. Both of these artists are very insiteful and I admire both of them. Generaly I don't really like to quote other people, but sometimes a thought is so perfectly worded that I don't really have a choice.