Reflective Essay

     During the first quarter, I have written the two necessary blogs posts on weeks where we are required to publish them even though blogging has never been – and still is not – an interest of mine. The main reason why I blog these posts is because of my responsibilities as a student to complete the assignments, not due to motivation. Because of my lack in inspiration, the results between blog posts and academic assignments differ.

     When Sutherland first assigned blogging as homework, he only required one response post and another that can be anything I wanted to write about as long as both posts reached the three-hundred and fifty words mark. I thought that this was going to be an easy writing assignment – how hard could it be to write as I pleased as long as I followed the basic instruction? I realized how wrong I was after my first two posts: a response to Shiyun’s “The Rich and The Poor: Part 1” and Being Bored. I began to understand that writing itself was not the challenge – the problem was finding the reason to write. Even though I continuously tell myself that I have to finish the assignment because it is homework, my brain does not cooperate – as though that was not significant enough as a reason. In addition, it was troublesome because I did not know what to write about. Nothing was sparking my interest and I was often simply staring at the computer screen without knowing what I should write about. This was when I decided to give up free write and just do response posts for all of the other blogs because it was more efficient commenting on the ideas of other people than it was to come up with topics that might or might not interest me.

     Blogging became easier after I decided to switch from blogging free writes to response posts; however, I still lacked the inspiration to blog and write posts. Moreover, the way I was writing did not help me develop or improve my writing skills. When I re-skimmed over the posts I had written during this quarter, I was able to get a basic understanding of how well I had been writing when I first started to post blogs.

     In a sense, I agree with parts of what Shiyun is saying, but I also disagree with her. True, rich people are different from poor people in various ways, and both rich and poor have similarities. However, I do not agree with the areas where Shiyun states that poor people have a "better life," trustful friends, and are nice and independent while rich people have distrustful friends and are mean and dependent. [...] Shiyun does not really define the terms "rich people" and "poor people" so it is hard to determine which individuals she is talking about. The terms she uses can vary depending upon which individuals she is comparing. Millionaires would be considered as "poor" when compared to billionaires; however, these millionaires would also be considered as "rich" when compared to the regular "working class" or those in poverty. In addition, the terms "rich" and "poor" can even be used in areas where there is poverty. For example, someone who is able to make ten dollars a day will be considered "rich" compared to another who makes less than ten dollars a day.

     This is a quote from my response the Shiyun’s “The Rich and The Poor: Part 1”. It was the first response post I did during the first quarter and it should underline the level in which I am writing at when I first started blogging because it represents the ability and the extent I was able to achieve at that point in time. In addition, all I had to do was to compare a piece of writing I did at the beginning of the first quarter with a piece I did at the end of the first quarter to see how much progress I made.

     Kristine is making a very critical point when she states that America is a place when everyone is suppose to be tolerated because they are suppose to have equal and natural rights. Instead, there are people who are denied their rights because they have a different sexual orientation than the "general population" of people. [...] Although it is understandable that individuals can be uncomfortable around others who are different from themselves, it is not correct to constraint those individuals from being who they really are. For individuals with a different sexual orientation, it is already hard enough for them to even choose to publicize their preferences because of the negativity the general society has towards them.

     This quote from my response to Kristine’s “What Has Society Come To?” was the last response post I blogged during the first quarter. Looking at these two quotes, I do not see mush of a difference between the forms of writing and the principles of ideas are basically similar to one another. Therefore, this shows that I have made no improvements through blogging during the first quarter.

     On the other hand, I was able to make some improvements between the two academic assignments. When comparing the analysis of Q’s character with the conflict in Night, the analysis between the concrete details is better in the second essay than it was in the first.

     However, it is easier to analyze a story than it is to blog free write posts because as essay has s prompt or a question that I can follow as I develop my points and support. Either way, there seems to be more progress in my academic assignments than in the regular blog posts.

     For the second quarter, I suppose my goals will be to spend more time on my blogs so that I am not actually procrastinating every week. In addition, I want to be able to find a significant enough of a reason to make me start focusing more on the responses that I am posting. Between the open-ended free write and the structured academic writings, I think I will stick with the more formal academic writing so that I will have more practice for college. This way, I will be able to find a reason to write better.

Night

     One’s fate often decides one’s struggles. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, his fate – to live through the darkest era of his life, the Holocaust – presents him an option between his survival and his father. Elie's indecisiveness between protecting and abandoning his father constructs the central conflict.

     When Elie’s family first arrive in Birkenau, reception center for Auschwitz – a concentration camp, SS officers separate Elie and his father from his mother and sisters. The parting surfaces Elie’s instinct to stay with his father: “I had one thought – not to lose [my father]. Not to be left alone…At all costs we must stay together,” (Wiesel 27). Within the depths of uncertainty and fear of isolation, Elie’s conscience tells him the importance of remaining at his father’s side. At the risk of death, he is willing to follow whichever path his father is forced to endure. As new deportees go though the selection, Elie made sure he walked on the same path as his father: “The baton moved to the left…If [my father] went to the right, I would go after him,” (Wiesel 29). There were two paths – one to the crematory and the other into the concentration camp. Elie does not concern himself with the destinations of the two trails; he is willing to face the outcome as long as his remains with his father. However, this is before he endures the hardships of surviving a labor camp.

     As Elie struggles to survive within the concentration camp, his mind begins to wander from the importance of remaining at his father’s side. His mind is no longer constantly concerned about his father and only through a sudden jolt does he remember his father’s declining abilities: “And my father? Suddenly I remembered him. How would he pass the selection? He had aged so much…” (Wiesel 67). Elie has become so focused on his own survival and needs that he sometimes forget to concern himself with the well-being of his father. Survival in the labor camp meant continuously resist death and the temptation to give up, and without realizing it, the importance his father has on him is slowly fading away. Elie’s temptation to fight for his own survival slowly surfaces.

     When his father falls ill, Elie tries to remain a loving son by staying beside his father and tending his needs. Elie supports his father in whichever way he can by providing water and staying behind when all able individuals were to attend roll call. However, Elie soon abandons him because trying to tend and support the sick’s survival rather than his own – even if it was his father – only decreased his own chance to survival. When his father calls for him with his last breaths, Elie ignores him: “‘Eliezer.’…[My father’s] last word was my name. A summons, to which I did not respond,” (Wiesel 106). Elie decides that it is a better choice if his father is no longer weighing him down. He abandons his father and focuses on his own survival even though he regrets leaving his father behind.

     Throughout his struggle to survive the Holocaust, Elie is forced to choose between his life and his father. In the memoir, Night, the central conflict is between Elie’s choice of survival through abandoning or trying to find a way to support and protect his father. Eventually, he decides to abandon the weight and responsibility of his father.

What is the right response for society?

     Kristine's post on what society has come to is really interesting because is questions why America is unable to tolerate individuals with different sexual orientations:

At this moment, there are thousands of people fighting for equal treatment. These people are being constantly put down by society and everyone around them. Their rights are constantly being shot down and anything they try to do to gain their rights back lead to even more suppression and pain. These people are those who have different sexual orientations than everyone else. Whether someone is gay, lesbian, bisexual or anything else, they are still human beings. Nothing can change that. America is supposedly the country in which anyone is accepted and anyone has the same rights as everyone else. But look at where we are. Look at all the people around you anyone you know who has a different sexual orientation than the "norm" of society. They are not getting the rights they deserve.

     Kristine is making a very critical point when she states that America is a place when everyone is suppose to be tolerated because they are suppose to have equal and natural rights. Instead, there are people who are denied their rights because they have a different sexual orientation than the "general population" of people.
     Although it is understandable that individuals can be uncomfortable around others who are different from themselves, it is not correct to constraint those individuals from being who they really are. For individuals with a different sexual orientation, it is already hard enough for them to even choose to publicize their preferences because of the negativity the general society has towards them.
     I think sexual orientation is basically similar to an individual's gender. Whether the individual chooses to be what they want to be or if they were born that way, it is simply another choice or living style.
     If women and African-Americans were able to gain their rights through the changes in the Declaration of Independence when it was not included in the first place, why should individuals with different sexual orientations not be able to get their rights? The Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal" and not tolerating a certain group of people is not "equal" at all.

Is Jealousy good or bad?

     In Shiyun's blog, she talks about jealousy:

When we are jealous, we do some things that we would not normally do. I think that we should be more calm when this happens. We do not always have to have what others have. If we do, then doesn't it just make us all the same. I think we should just feel happy for what they have. Everyone is different and there are other problems that we have to worry about in life. We can't always face with these little problems that we have because if we don't learn how to over come them we can not face life problems that we have in life later on. We can not let the feeling of jealousy take over our minds and bother our everyday lives. I have not felt jealous for a long time and I think that no one should have the feeling of jealousy. We need to be more happy in life and just laugh with our friends.

     I agree with Shiyun: we feel jealousy because of our differences, but these differences are what make us unique. Although people often think that being jealous of someone else is a bad thing, it is actually not because wanting something another person has can push us to do better in order to gain the thing we wanted.
     For example, Person A may find out that Person B has received a scholarship to the school he or she wants to go to and Person A also wants a scholarship so that he or she doesn't have to pay as mush for college. Person A may realize that Person B got the scholarship because he or she has been studying everyday and tries really had in school when Person A has not. Subsequently, Person A may try to work harder in school so that he or she can also gain a scholarship.
     I don't think jealousy is a bad thing unless it leads to bad outcomes in which an individual chooses not to use his or her own strengths to fairly gain what they want. Jealously can push an individual in working harder or it can corrupt them, such as making them learn to steal what they want.

Response to Vincent's "Right and Wrong Part One"

     I read Vincent's post and it got me thinking about the meanings and my beliefs of right and wrong.

A person can't be right and wrong at the same time. However, these two words are more similar than you know. They can actually be the same thing. Right can be wrong and wrong can be right. How is this possible? The answer lies in the human mind. Person A can consider whatever they are doing is the right thing to do, while person B can think that person A is doing the wrong thing. This of course causes a collision of two different mind thinking about what is right and wrong. I came up with two theories on why people have different views on this. One of them is that the sense of what is right and wrong is shaped by a person's personal experiences in life such as the things that they learn from other people, the places they grew up in, and the good or bad experiences that they have to dealt with in their life. My second theory is that it is all shaped naturally accordingly to the individual specific mindset/personality which creates a certain regime for that specific individual.

     Is right and wrong what individuals believe is correct and incorrect or is there a set of rules that clarify what is accurate of mistaken? Is what individuals believe to be right and wrong true or erroneous? Is there a constraint to how much people can believe is true of false to be right and wrong? If an individual does something believing they are correct or incorrect and another person believes the opposite, is the individual right or wrong?

     After reading this post, I became aware of how vague society really is, not only is there words we cannot truly define, there are things we can't really explain like the use of marijuana. By law, marijuana is an illegal drug; however, for individuals who need to use it for medical purposes, it is legal. Therefore, does this make marijuana legal or illegal? Is it legal for those who require it for medical purposes and illegal for others? If so, it this right or wrong?

     For now, I think there is a right and wrong to everything, or is this also either right or wrong?

Response to David's "Ability or Attitude?"

I was browsing through Google Reader when I found this (interesting?) post on David's blog and I just wanted to talk about it:

In my opinion, a small amount of success comes from ability while a lot of success comes from attitude. The reason is that if a person does not put any effort into what he or she is doing, there is no point in using any sort of ability. It mainly relies on the attitude of the person. Even though a person does not have the ability to do something, as long as their heart is in the right place, they will be successful because they are willing to learn how it does even without the experience and knowledge.

I agree with David in a way because success usually derives from attitude. Although an individual can fail if they have the motivated attitude but lack the ability, they usually become unsuccessful because they overestimated their ability and lacked enthusiasm. This is one of David's examples:

One example was mathematics project that a teacher handed out to the entire class for them to individually do. Over that assignment, I thought that this assignment was going to be easy and that even though I procrastinated, I was going to pass. Therefore, I waited two weeks until it was the last three days to finish the project. It turns out that I needed a lot of materials and it took me an entire day to gather them. Soon enough, I had two days left. I had to use them wisely but I got off task. I became behind and I used the last day to rush it. I turned it in incomplete and received a “C” mark on it.

David states that he had the ability to do the project but was lazy, decided to rush at the last minute, and failed. He overestimated his ability to complete the project because he thought that the assignment would be easy to finish. This proves that an individual with the ability but lacks the motivation will be unsuccessful because they believe that they can finish the project on time even if they wait until the last minute.