Personal Statement

Prompt #1: Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations..

Every since the beginning of childhood, I have been surrounded by a language barrier. My parents immigrated to America approximately a year before I was born and they did not have as much knowledge of English. My parents have a strong belief that mathematics is a good subject to pursue and master so they had me learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as well as memorize the multiplication table before I stated grade school. With this foundation of math already developed, I found comfort in this subject as I struggled with other heavy-English-based subjects, which consisted of almost everything except math: language arts, reading, English, writing, history, and science. As the years passed, English became easier to comprehend as my love of reading also developed, but math was still the easiest for me because it never required me to use a dictionary whenever I come across a term I was unfamiliar with.

The first couple of years in elementary school is where I experienced this language barrier the greatest. My teachers often had this daily vocabulary thing where they would have one vocab word on the board to copy at the beginning of class in the morning along with its definition, part of speech, and an example of how it is to be used in a sentence. Even though these words were on the board every day, there was little meaning in them for me because I never understood the terms. Even though the definition and an example was provided, I was still unable to truly comprehend the word.

I suppose this is what began my interest of have mathematics become one of my future majors. The simplicity of math to me formed a comfort zone for me, unlike the complicity and challenges that continuously arise with the English language. The language of math was easy to understand and the formulas were always logical. To me, math was mostly about building on the basic and only some review was necessary at times. Math was also consistent - the formulas came from theorems so there is never a double meaning to them, unlike the meaning of words that can change depending on how the term is used. Mistakes did not happen as much in math as long as I remembered the correct formula to use in different steps of the problems.

The language barrier created hardships when working on subjects that are heavily based on English usage; however the formulas in math never changed and were easy to decipher, making math a more comfortable subject to pursue.

Prompt #2: Tell us about a quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
    Every since the beginning of childhood, I have been surrounded by the necessity to develop independence. Th language barrier created by my parents’ immigrant status cause me to struggle to understand my school work alone since my parents were always busy with work one way or another, and were unfamiliar with the English language. However, .the true factor that pushed me into becoming independent was not this barrier but my mother’s sudden announcement of wanting got quit her job and to become a childcare provider. For the time afterwards, where she took classes in the nearby community college and went to Bananas for classes, things did not really change since she was always away just like she was for her job. Near the end of third grade, she finally got her license and some time around fourth grade, she began taking care of the first child that came to the childcare. At fist, I was okay with it but it soon became irritating. Since the childcare was open from seven am to six pm on weekdays, having to listen to cry from early in the morning before school and for hours after I care home, annoyed me. Soon, it began to seem to me as though my mother preferred the kids she took care of at the childcare more than she did me- she was always yelling or glaring at me when I walked around the house, if I created too much noise when closing a door, or zipping up my backpack.
    This is when I began to understand that my mother is not going to be close to me even if she was always at home. Her attention was always on the kids and so I began to stop trying to rely on her. She always prioritized the kids in the childcare first by saying that they were not her kids and that if they were to get hurt or something, she would get sued and have to pay a large fine, or she may even lose her license. With that, I began to stop caring about whether my mother was there or not. A new barrier formed and I began to take responsibilities in my own life. I focused on getting what I need to do done so that she can focus on her job.
    In a way, my mother’s words about other peoples’ kids being more important gave me a sense of disappointment. I had figured that if she was to stay at home more, then I would at least attain more attention and care; however, that was not the case. Instead, I found that she focused more on her newly attained job and that it changed the environment I was accustomed to. The house that was once spacious because we had little furniture became cluttered with children play materials. The house that was once peaceful became loud. The place where I once found comfort became a place I would like to stay away from as much as possible.

Eragon Final Book Review

     Eragon, the first of three books in the same yet-to-be-completed series by Christopher Paolini, is a fictional novel following the adventure of Eragon and Saphira in a world of mythical creatures - dragons, elves, dwarves, etc - and magic. His journey begins when a polished blue stone suddenly crashes in front of him, disrupting his hunt in The Spine, an expansion of feared mountains surrounding his village and extending up and down the west coast of the land. However, Eragon soon discovers that the object he had assumed to be a valuable stone was actually a dragon egg when a blue baby dragon, later named Saphira, hatches from it. A series of events follow and circumstances - the existence of Saphira and the death of his uncle, Garrow - force Eragon the necessity to leave his hometown. Over the course of the novel, which tells the story of his travel to find the place where he belongs, Eragon displays many characteristics that make him uniquely himself.
     Eragon has a strong sense of responsibility. Even before he begins his adventure, he dutifully hunts in the Spine, an expansion of mountains surrounding his village feared by many, for food so that his family can survive through the winter, "The deer had led him deep into the Spine, a range of untamed mountains that extend up and down the land of Alagaesia. Strange tales and men often came from those mountains, usually boding ill. Despite that, Eragon did not fear the Spine - he was the only human near Carvahall who dared track game into its craggy recesses. [...] If he did not fell the doe, he would be forced to return home empty-handed. His family needed the meat for the rapidly approaching winter and could not afford to buy it in Carvahall," (6-7). Although Eragon's family's inability to obtain meat from Carvahall plays a part in the necessity for Eragon to hunt in the Spine for meat, it does not cloud the fact that he is willing to hunt in those mountains even though many others would avoid them due to fear. Eragon's courage stems from his family's reliance on him to hunt so that food can be provided to last throughout the winter. The tales that others tell about the Spine mountains does not suppress his sense of duty. Instead, it only causes him to gain stubbornness.
     Another trait Eragon has is that he is stubborn. When something has great importance to him, his stubbornness would show when he refuses to listen to others. Because the crash-landing of the stone caused the game Eragon was hunting to run away, it forced Eragon to go to the village's butcher shop in hopes of trading the stone for meat that his family needs. However, once Eragon replies that the stone was found in the Spine when the butcher questioned its origin, the butcher refuses to trade meat to Eragon, causing Eragon to refuse to leave. Luckily, Houst, the town's blacksmith stepped in and bought Eragon the meat and offered Eragon the opportunity to work off the debt by working at the blacksmith when he had free time, "'Good thing I came - the two of you were almost at blows. Unfortunately, I doubt he'll serve you meat or any of your family the next time you go in there, even if you do have coins...As for payment, Albriech plans to leave for Feinster next spring. He wants to become a master smith, and I'm going to need an assistant. You can come and work off the debt on your spare days,'" (15). Eragon's stubbornness mostly derived from the obvious fact that his family would starve if they are unable to attain the necessary meat. They would not be able to survive through the winter so he defiantly stay in the butcher shop even though he knew that his actions would only cause the butcher to hate him and his family even more even though they have not done anything harmful towards the butcher and his family. However, this stubbornness only contributes to his rashness.
     On top of being stubborn, Eragon is also rash. During his journey for "revenge," he comes across a bottle with a symbol that is the same as that of his enemy's. Knowing that his enemies are inhumane beings, he is inconsiderate of those who cares about him. His curiosity leads him into trying to identifying the content immediately rather: "Lying on the ground was a metal flask with a leather strap just long enough to hang off someone's shoulder. A silver insignia Eragon recognized as the Ra'zac's symbol was wrought on it. Excited, he picked up the flask and unscrewed its cap. A cloying smell filled the air - the same one he had noticed when he found Garrow in the wreckage of their house. He tilted the flask, and a drop of clear, shiny liquid fell on his finger. Instantly Eragon's finger burned as of it was on fire...After a moment the pain subsided to a dull throbbing. A patch of skin had been eaten away," (166). Without being conscious about possible outcomes, he simply smells the content of the bottle before pouring a drop onto his finger. Even though he had enough common sense to test the liquid first rather than drinking or using the belongings of his enemies, his rashness still caused him to do something that would not have been the best choice. In this case, he had prioritized his desires to find the use of the content by testing it out right then and there rather than returning back to camp so that he could at least have asked his companion whether or not he knew about the liquid.
     Over the course of his adventure in Eragon, Eragon displays many characteristics that distinctively represented himself. His stubbornness, rashness, and sense of responsibility are qualities that both help and harm him depending on the situation. However, these qualities are what makes him himself. Characteristics are qualities that differ between people, forming individuals' identities.

Peer Review Comments

Comments I left for my tablemates'...
For Jasmine:
Overall, your draft is pretty well written and there are only some things you might want to make changes to. In your introduction, you might want to declutter. There are unnecessary phrases that makes it somewhat hard to understand. Your first body paragraph is really well-written but you can add more CM to the second CD by describings its connection to the way people in the past use to speak. A small grammer mistake you have is that it is suppose to be "neither a friend nor a lover" not "nor a friend nor a lover."

For Max:
Your rough draft is pretty much done, but one of the major things I think you can fix is your grammar and formatting. It might be better if you used the "quote" button/choice/whatever so that your quote is actally block quoted. Another thing is that I thing you should take out the personal stuff. Ex: do you really have to include stuff like: "One was just saying that I have surface errors; grammar, punctuation, etc. The other one however was completely criticizes my piece. They said that my piece had an irrelevant quote, and did not make much sense. Now at first I was surprised, but after looking over it, they were kind of right. Though for this blog post, I decided to challenge them and rewrite it"?

For Kyle:
Between you rough draft and your previous book posts, there isn't much of a difference so my comment is pretty much whatever I said when I commented on your post: For one, I think the first thing you should do is to identify your book. There is more than one book to the Harry Potter series so the reader may not be able to immediately grasp whichever book your review is about. Another thing is that you do not really discuss the questions you picked in depth. You answer part of the question but it does not really seem as if you answered it. Your post is practically all concrete detail - maybe have more commentary. (p.s. for some reason, I can't comment on your rough draft blog...)

Eragon Book Review Rough Draft

     Eragon, the first of three books in the same yet-to-be-completed series by Christopher Paolini, is a fictional novel following the adventure of Eragon and Saphira in a world of mythical creatures - dragons, elves, dwarves, etc - and magic. His journey begins when a polished blue stone suddenly crashes in front of him, disrupting his hunt in The Spine, an expansion of feared mountains surrounding his village and extending up and down the west coast of the land. Not long after, Eragon discovers that what he had always assumed to be a stone was actually an egg when a blue dragon, later named Saphira, hatches from it. A series of events follow and causes Eragon the necessity to leave his hometown. Over the course of the novel, Eragon displays many characteristics that makes him uniquely himself.
    Eragon has a strong sense of responsibility. Even before he begins his adventure, he dutifully hunts in the Spine, an expansion of mountains surrounding his village feared by many, for food so that his family can survive through the winter, "The deer had led him deep into the Spine, a range of untamed mountains that extend up and down the land of Alagaesia. Strange tales and men often came from those mountains, usually boding ill. Despite that, Eragon did not fear the Spine - he was the only human near Carvahall who dared track game into its craggy recesses. [...] If he did not fell the doe, he would be forced to return home empty-handed. His family needed the meat for the rapidly approaching winter and could not afford to buy it in Carvahall," (6-7). Although Eragon's family's inability to obtain meat from Carvahall plays a part in the necessity for Eragon to hunt in the Spine for meat, it does not cloud the fact that he is willing to hunt in those mountains even though many others whould avoid them due to fear. Eragon's courage stems from his family's reliance on him to hunt so that food can be provided to last throughout the winter. The tales that others tell about the Spine mountains does not suppress his sense of duty. Instead, it only causes him to gain stubborness.
     Another trait Eragon has is that he is stubborn. When something has great importance to him, his stubbornness would show when he refuses to listen to others. Because the crash-landing of the stone caused the game Eragon was hunting to run away, it forced Eragon to go to the village's butcher shop in hopes of trading the stone for meat that his family needs. However, once Eragon replies that the stone was found in the Spine when the butcher questioned its origin, the butcher refuses to trade meat to Eragon, causing Eragon to refuse to leave. Luckily, Houst, the town's blacksmith stepped in and bought Eragon the meat and offered Eragon the opportunity to work off the debt by working at the blacksmith when he had free time, "'Good thing I came - the two of you were almost at blows. Unfortunately, I doubt he'll serve you meat or any of your family the next time you go in there, even if you do have coins...As for payment, Albriech plans to leave for Feinster next spring. He wants to become a master smith, and I'm going to need an assistant. You can come and work off the debt on your spare days,'" (15). Eragon's stubbornness mostly derived from the obvious fact that his family would starve if they are unable to attain the necessary meat. They would not be able to survive through the winter so he defiantly stay in the butcher shop even though he knew that his actions would only cause the butcher to hate him and his family even more even though they have not done anything harmful towards the butcher and his family. However, this stubbornness only contributes to his rashness.
     On top of being stubborn, Eragon is also rash. During his journey for "revenge," he comes across a bottle with a symbol that is the same as that of his enemy's. Without being causious, he simply smells the content of the bottle before pouring a drop on he finger. "Lying on the ground was a metal flask with a leather strap just long wnough to hang off someone's shoulder. A silver insignia Eragon recognized as the Ra'zac's symbl was wought on it...(etc)," (166). Even though eragon had enough common sense to not dronk something he found that belongs to his enemies, his rashness to discover the unknown had him pour a drop of the liquid onto his finger. In a sense, his rashness had him prioritize his desire to find the use of the content by testing it out right then and there rather than returning back to camp to ask Brom, who obviously knew a lot more about the world than Eragon, about it
     In the beginning, Eragon was depending on those around him for support and the feeling of security. He becomes pained when his uncle dies, "Everything was insubstantial except for Garrow's face. Tears flooded Eragon's cheeks. He stood there, shoulders shaking, but did not cry out. Mother, aunt, uncle - he had lost them all. The weight of his grief was crashing, a monstrous force that left him tottering. [...] Frustrated and terrified, he turned his tear-dampened face toward the heavens and shouted, 'What god would do this? Show yourself!...He didn't deserve this!'" (90-91). When he finds that his uncle has also passed away, Eragon feels abandoned and is overwhelmed by sadness due to the loss another loved one from his family. He is unable to immediately accept the reality that the person who raised him was dead. This pain causes him to desire revenge but he is uncertain about his ability, "Am I strong enough for this?" (93). Eragon questions his own ability to achieve revenge for his uncle. Although he is still vulnerable due to the news of the death, he feared that he would be unable to defeat his opponents when he left his hometown.

Book Review: Eragon Part 2

     Eragon, the first of three books in the same yet-to-be-completed series by Christopher Paolini, is a fictional novel following the adventure of Eragon and Saphira in a world of mythical creatures - dragons, elves, dwarves, etc - and magic. His journey begins when a polished blue stone suddenly crashes in front of him, disrupting his hunt in The Spine, an expansion of feared mountains surrounding his village and extending up and down the west coast of the land. Not long after, Eragon discovers that what he had always assumed to be a stone was actually an egg when a blue dragon, later named Saphira, hatches from it. A series of events follow and causes Eragon the necessity to leave his hometown. Over the course of the novel, Eragon displays may characteristics.
    Eragon has a strong sense of responsibility. Even before he begins his adventure, he dutifully hunts in the Spine, an expansion of mountains surrounding his village feared by many, for food so that his family can survive through the winter, "The deer had led him deep into the Spine, a range of untamed mountains that extend up and down the land of Alagaesia. Strange tales and men often came from those mountains, usually boding ill. Despite that, Eragon did not fear the Spine - he was the only human near Carvahall who dared track game into its craggy recesses. [...] If he did not fell the doe, he would be forced to return home empty-handed. His family needed the meat for the rapidly approaching winter and could not afford to buy it in Carvahall," (6-7). Although Eragon's family's inability to obtain meat from Carvahall plays a part in the necessity for Eragon to hunt in the Spine for meat, it does not cloud the fact that he is willing to hunt in those mountains even though many others whould avoid them due to fear. Eragon's courage stems from his family's reliance on him to hunt so that food can be provided to last throughout the winter. The tales that others tell about the Spine mountains does not suppress his sense of duty.

Book Review: Eragon Part 1

     Eragon, the first of three books in the same yet-to-be-completed series by Christopher Paolini, is a fictional novel following the adventure of Eragon and Saphira in a world of mythical creatures - dragons, elves, dwarves, etc - and magic. His journey begins when a polished blue stone suddenly crashes in front of him, disrupting his hunt in The Spine, an expansion of feared mountains surrounding his village and extending up and down the west coast of the land. Not long after, Eragon discovers that what he had always assumed to be a stone was actually an egg when a blue dragon, later named Saphira, hatches from it. A series of events follow and causes Eragon the necessity to leave his hometown. Over the course of the novel, Eragon changes from an indecisive entity ignorant of the world outside The Spine to a dependable individual strong enough to stand on his own against his obstacles.
     In the beginning, Eragon was depending on those around him for support and the feeling of security. He becomes pained when his uncle dies, "Everything was insubstantial except for Garrow's face. Tears flooded Eragon's cheeks. He stood there, shoulders shaking, but did not cry out. Mother, aunt, uncle - he had lost them all. The weight of his grief was crashing, a monstrous force that left him tottering. [...] Frustrated and terrified, he turned his tear-dampened face toward the heavens and shouted, 'What god would do this? Show yourself!...He didn't deserve this!'" (90-91). When he finds that his uncle has also passed away, Eragon feels abandoned and is overwhelmed by sadness due to the loss another loved one from his family. He is unable to immediately accept the reality that the person who raised him was dead. This pain causes him to desire revenge but he is uncertain about his ability, "Am I strong enough for this?" (93). Eragon questions his own ability to achieve revenge for his uncle. Although he is still vulnerable due to the news of the death, he feared that he would be unable to defeat his opponents when he left his hometown.

Family History Connections

     One connecting theme I identified from within at least three of our family's histories was struggle. Because of that struggle, many individuals or families has to exert effort to sustain something important to them.
     In Alex's post, he tells the story of how his family had to struggle to overcome death and hardships in surviving in the United States:
     In Peter's post, he describes how his father had to escape China:

It was impossible for his father to escape anyway, at the end; his father asked one of his best friends brought them away as far as he can because he feared that his family would get involved into it. Thus, my uncle follower his two brothers, from China, then shipping to Macau, to Hongkong, and lastly took airplane to United States. However, after he was going to United States, the government considered him as illegal immigration and did not give him any identity at all.

This proves that in order to escape suffering, Peter's father chose to leave China and went to America, even though it meant entering illegally.
     Therefore, in the end, many family histories tell the stories of some kind of suffering and what the indivdiual or family did or had to do to construct a solution.

My grandmother died and had left behind the building where my family lived and there was dispute because the building was also under the name of my Uncle Victor and he wanted to sell it it in order to split the money among the family. At the same time, the family began to split up...My Uncle eventually sold the building and me and my family only had three days to pack up and move out...We had no where to go...All three of my sisters still attended school in San Francisco so they had to catch both BART and MUNI to get to school. The cost of transportation, food, and rent became extremely high and my father was forced to find a second job. He entered his job at three in the afternoon where he worked as front runner and server at a restaurant in San Francisco. When he finished at the restaurant he proceeded to the Trans American Building where he worked as a janitor from eleven in the night to six in the morning.

Because of the conflict caused by his grandmother's death, Alex and his family had to face the problem of instability. However, in the end, his family was able to overcome this crisis and live happily in a new home.
     In David's post, he talks about how communism led by Mao in China caused his great-grandfather to die in prison and to have all of his families' wealth stolen from them:

During [Mao's] rule, one of his terrible actions is that he ordered the imperial army to arrest all of the wealthy people, in which one of them was my great grandfather, and placed them in jail to rot. The jails had horrible living conditions and eventually, my great grandfather died of starvation because the food there was unbearable. The family wealth was never returned and the family had basically dropped from the elite class to the poor class within a few years.

This indicates that David's family had to somehow overcome their loss, in both finance and love, and restart a new life without everything they once had.

Cyclical Elemants in the Joy Luck Club

     Cyclical elements constantly occur around us. From the revolutions of day and night to the changes of the seasons, many events often repeat themselves. In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, cyclical elements also appear. Both the beginning and ending of the novel focuses on the same story - on "Kweilin" - and, within the story, particularly on a picture.
     The beginning of the novel starts with a story narrated by Jing-Mei Woo, daughter of Suyuan Woo, and within that narration is a flashback to when Suyuan tells Jing-Mei about how she gave up on things that mattered to her as she was escaping Kweilin to Chungking:

     "[...] By the time I arrived in Chungking I had lost everything except for three fancy silk dresses which I wore one on top of the other."
     "What do you mean by 'everything'?" I gasped at the end. I was stunned to realize the story had been true all alone. "What happened to the babies?"
     She didn't even pause to think. She simply said in a way that made it clear there was no more story: "Your father in not my first husband. You are not those babies." (Tan 26).

Even when Jing-Mei asks, Suyuan does not give her daughter the details and information she wants to know about the story. However, the novel later reveals that Suyuan had abandoned her twin daughters during her escape because she was no longer able to survive if she remain with them. She leaves them with money, jewelry, and a picture of her wedding.
     Then, the novel ends with another picture taken during the reunion of Jing-Mei and her sisters:

The flash of the Polaroid goes off and my father hands me the snapshot...Togerther we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish. (Tan 288).

Even though Suyuan abandoned her daughters for her own survival, she, in the end, still wished to see the twins. Together, the three of them can find details that reveal similaries they share with their mother and the picture captures that fact.
     The purpose of the cycle in the "Kweilin story" and the picture is that the story allows the reader to end with an extention of the story they first started out reading and the picture implies that even though people can give up and lose or abandon everything they have, they eventually re-obtain what they previously had.

Family History

     Even though my mother would sometimes talk about her childhood, she never really talked about it in details. She would frequently repeat the same over-arching story over and over again - that she came from a village so she always had to race to catch the bus to go to school (especially if she wanted a seat because it was always crowded and the drive was over an hour long), that she would often cause trouble around the village with her two older sisters (she is the third of five kids), that she loved track (she jumped hurtles), that she would have a lot of chores to do (since she was “old enough to help out around the house”), and that she, as well as she sisters, would often steal fruits off of a neighbor's trees (she never gave a justification for this one).

     Luckily, one of my aunts (I can never tell between which is the oldest and the second) visited from China a few months ago and told more detailed stories about the mischievous troubles she, my mom and the other older aunt (by this, I mean the three oldest kids of their family: my mom and her two older sisters) would get into. Because this story was told over a small family gathering of my mother’s side of the family, more than one person spoke when this story was told. In addition, the topic would often shift a bit to an off-topic topic and back. As my aunt promised, the main story was funny – a memory that will make you “laugh to death”. However, this amusement might be lost due to the maybe inaccurate Chinese translation as well as the fact that this story may be hard to comprehend if it is not heard in person. Either way, I will tell this story as I heard it so the “I” in the story would refer to whoever is talking at that moment (which would mostly be my aunt; I do not think anyone talked during the story, only afterwards); however, I will use parentheses to insert explanations so the comments in parentheses are not said by the person telling the story in the family gathering. The story is led by my aunt:
     “Back in our childhood, aunt and I would often do a lot of mischievous things around the village. The two of us would cause a lot of trouble – your aunt and I were well-known in the village for being the best arguers; we could even silence the village’s bakpo (I do not know how to accurately translate this word but the closest I can think of with a similar meaning is the English word “b*tch”) with our arguments. In addition, these arguments often led up to fights so your aunt and I often fought with other kids in the village.

     “On the other hand, your third aunt and uncle were more obedient. Your third aunt rarely got into trouble and your uncle was just mostly selfish. He loved watermelons so much that when we cut one, he would take a bite out of every piece and hogs all of it; however, your uncle also did many some stupid things as a kid (she means that he did stupid things that caused trouble, but was not trouble itself). For one, your uncle messed with a beehive once and got stung so much and badly that your aunt had to piggy-back him all the way to the hospital. Even since that incident, he now hates bees, and he learned the hard way why he should not mess with beehives.

     “Another incident almost led to his death. Back in those days, there was nothing set up around the near-by lake to prevent people from falling in. One day, he and his friend went to the lake to play and they accidentally fell in. Neither of them knew how to swim and there were currents. Luckily, your uncle was able to grab onto the root of a nearby tree and his friend grabbed onto your uncle’s legs, preventing neither of them from being swept away and drowning unless they let go (I did not ask how the tree root supported both of their weights). In the end, they were saved because someone heard their cries of help and went to check out what is wrong. When your grandmother got home, she freaked out and scolded your uncle a lot afterwards.”

     Here, my grandmother interrupts the story:

     “Everyone in the village blamed me when all of you cause trouble. They often came to me and said ‘Run jie (“jie” means “sister” so it is “Sister Run”), can’t you teach your children some manners? They are so misbehaving.’ But how can I control you when I am always working in the fields? From dawn to dusk, I had to work so there is not time for me. I also had to pay for the fruits all of you picked from other people’s trees so, in the end, I was never able to make much money.”

     After my grandmother’s interruption, my aunt continued her story:

     “Your mother is like your third aunt; she often did her own thing – picking fruits off of other people’s trees and such; however, I am going to tell you about how she made a fool out of your aunt and me. I do not know if your mother remembers anymore, but this is something your aunt and I would never forget. Your mom, aunt and I were looking for chai (a word that basically generalizes things that an individual may find and use in a cooking fire such as branches, twigs, leaves, etc) that day. Then we went our separate ways home. Your mother likes to run and jump hurtles a lot so she went ahead of your aunt and me. However, we soon caught up to her – finding her crying next to a knocked over si ton (this is not something I want to know too much, nor get into too much detail about but it is basically a container in which they used in the past when they did not have modern bathrooms yet). Well, because we saw that your mother was barefooted and crying next to the si ton, your aunt and I stuck our hands into the waste in search for her shoes because we had concluded that she had tried to jump over the si ton but accidentally knocked it over instead, lost her shoes in the waste, and was unwilling to stick her hands in to search for her shoes. It took your aunt and I a while both we realized that your mother had stopped crying and was now laughing. We were foolishly searching for her shoes when the truth was that your mother did not wear shoes that day. Only later, when we got home, did we find out that she was crying because a person had lectured her for knocking over the si ton when she had only been passing by. Your aunt and I had seriously thought that your mother was in some kind of trouble when we found her crying but, in the end, she made a fool out of us. Even now, almost thirty years later, this is something I still remember. It reminds me of how stupid your aunt and I were to have foolishly come to that conclusion we had and it also teach us that your mother is a very cunning person. For a long time afterwards, your mother had constantly reminded us of that incident because she found it really funny – that we had stuck our hands in waste in search for something that was not there. From this, your aunt and I learned a lesson – that when it came to your mother, it is best to know all the information before coming to a conclusion because an assumption may end up with us making a fool of ourselves again.”

     Although my aunt told this story during the dinner mostly for a good laugh and to remind my mother of an incident where she made a fool out of her older sisters, I find that this story includes a lesson simply stating that rather than concluding and assuming something based upon what a person sees, the individual should decide on the action to take after finding out all of the facts. If my aunts had chosen to ask my mother the reason to why she was crying first rather than sticking their hands into the waste in search for something that was not there, they would have understood that their assumptions were nowhere near the truth and might not have made a fool out of themselves.

     In a sense, this advice is important to me because jumping to conclusions is not really something desirable if the assumption turned out to be wrong. Even though my aunts may have learned this lesson in the old village life, it does not mean that it is not applicable to today. For me, this can be a lesson learned without having to do something foolish.

The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates

     Between the mother-daughter relationships we see in "The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates" and between Amy Chua's relationship with her kids, I noticed some similarities and differences. One of the similarities between the two is that the mother never seems to explain anything to the daughter - that the mother would make a claim directed towards the daughter but never gives the daughter the explanation of why. In the short introductory piece, the mother remained silent when the daughter asked about the twenty-six bad things that her mother had previously spoken about:

     "It is written in Chinese. You cannot understand it. That is why you must listen to me."
     "What are they, then?" the girl demanded. "Tell me the twenty-six bad things."
     But the mother sat kitting in silence.
     "What twenty-six!" shouted the girl.
     The mother still did not answer her.

Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:
• attend a sleepover
• have a playdate
• be in a school play
• complain about not being in a school play
• watch TV or play computer games
• choose their own extracurricular activities
• get any grade less than an A
• not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama
• play any instrument other than the piano or violin
• not play the piano or violin.

 Although in both, the mother would bring up advise or make a rule that limits the child to something but they never take time to explain to the kids why they have to do what is told to do by their parents. The mother in the introductory piece does not tell her daughter of the dangers and Amy Chua does not give her kids a reason for having them obey such requirements.
     In a sense, I do think that Amy Tan's novel endorses Chua's arguments about motherhood because of similar expectations. Amy Chua wants her kids to be prodigies just as Jing-mei Woo's mother wishes her daughter to be a prodigy at something. With the requirements from Chua, mentioned above, she mostly limits her children so that they mostly have to focus on studies and being in first place. For Jing-mei, her mother continuously believed that her daughter can become famous for something, which eventually leads to Jing-mei playing the piano - an irony since Chua also has her kids play that instrument.Similar to the lack to explanations between the mother and daughter in "The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates," the relationship between Amy Chua and her kids are also filled with the lack of explanations:

The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates

     Similar to the introductory segment of the first section, the second section of The Joy Luck Club also has an introductory piece. The preliminary segment, titled The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, tells the story of a girl learning a lesson the hard way. Rather than appreciating her mother's advice, she gets angry and attempts to prove her mother wrong. In the end, her mother is proven correct because the girl fell off her bicycle even before she reached the corner.
     This introductory section foreshadows the complex relationship and misunderstandings between mothers and their daughters. In the first story of the second section, "Rules of the Game," complexity between the mother and daughter arise when the mother becomes too prideful over her daughter. Although it is understandable for a child's parents to be proud of their child when he or she achieves something deserving compliment, the child may soon come to dislike that attention his or her parents draw to him or her.

My mother had a habit of standing over me while I plotted out my games. I think she thought of herself as my protective ally. [...] One day, after we left a shop I said under my breathe, "I wish you wouldn't do that, telling everybody I'm your daughter." [...]  My mother's eyes turned into dark slits. She had no words for me, just sharp silence, (98-99).

After hearing her mother talk about her success over and over again, Waverly has finally gotten tired of it and wishes for her mother to stop. However, Waverly's mother is not happy about being denied her natural ability to show off her daughter to society, leading to rebellious feelings.

Opposite of me was my opponent, two angry black slits. She wore a triumphant smile. "Strongest wind cannot be seen," she said. Her black men advanced across the plane...My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one. [...] I closed my eyes and pondered my next move, (100-101).

At the end of "Rules to the Game," Waverly imagines herself having a chess game against her mother and Waverly was losing her pieces one by one. In a sense, this game can represent the reality that even if Waverly tries to run away from things she dislikes, she will still have to eventually face the problem.

Joy Luck Club: Kweilin Story

In what ways does her Kweilin story change? Summarize the different versions Suyuan Woo tells her daughter. Also, why do you think she changes the story she tells her daughter? What purpose or message is she trying to get across to Jing-mei "June" Woo?
     Suyuan Woo's Kweilin story went from a story of dreamed happiness and hope to a story of desperation and resignation. In the beginning, when Suyuan first told the story of Kweilin to her daughter, it was full of happiness - she described Kweilin to be more beautiful that what she had ever dreamed of and that even though many people were starving in the streets, eating rats and garbage, she was happy with her Joy Luck Club: playing mah jong, telling stories, serving banquets every week, and laughing - and the story ended with different versions of how Suyuan used the thousand-yuan note. However, when Jing-mei sulked after her mother's refusal to buy her a transistor radio, Suyuan told the story with a different ending - where she left Kweilin because the Japanese where attacking, where she have to abandon everything except for the three silk dresses that she wore, one on top of another, and finally stating that Jing-mei's father was not Suyuan's first husband and that Jing-mei was not one of the twin babies.
     I think one of the reasons Suyuan changes the story she tells her daughter is so that she can teach Jing-mei a valuable lesson. The ending of the story changed after Jing-mei told her mother that she wanted a transistor radio and was refused. Suyuan asked "'Why do you think you are missing something you never had?'" (25). In a sense, Suyuan is asking how would an individual experience the feeling of needing something when the individual has never had that something previously. The story is told to emphasize the lesson. In it is presented many things - moments of time and objects - that represents importance to Suyuan; however, as the story progresses, it tells how Suyuan has to continuously abandon those valuables one by one. In a way, it represents that Suyuan lives with a feeling of loss because she gave up on those valuables, yet Jing-mei lives with a feeling of desire because she wants something that does not hold much significance. The message she is trying to get across to Jing-mei is that as long as an individual has never possessed something of great value or importance, they will never feel the emotion of loss when living without it.

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

What do parents owe to their children? What do children owe to their parents?

     For example, if a child comes home with an A-minus on a test, a Western parent will most likely praise the child. The Chinese mother will gasp in horror and ask what went wrong. If the child comes home with a B on the test, some Western parents will still praise the child. Other Western parents will sit their child down and express disapproval, but they will be careful not to make their child feel inadequate or insecure, and they will not call their child "stupid," "worthless" or "a disgrace." Privately, the Western parents may worry that their child does not test well or have aptitude in the subject or that there is something wrong with the curriculum and possibly the whole school. If the child's grades do not improve, they may eventually schedule a meeting with the school principal to challenge the way the subject is being taught or to call into question the teacher's credentials. [...]

     Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they believe that their child can get them. If their child doesn't get them, the Chinese parent assumes it's because the child didn't work hard enough. That's why the solution to substandard performance is always to excoriate, punish and shame the child. The Chinese parent believes that their child will be strong enough to take the shaming and to improve from it. (And when Chinese kids do excel, there is plenty of ego-inflating parental praise lavished in the privacy of the home.)

     Chinese parents believe that their children owe them everything. Although Amy Chua does not clearly back up this claim in her article, I think I can understand where this belief comes from. For one, Chinese parents believe that in order to achieve the best future, an individuals has to constantly be on the top, so they push their children to maintain the top grades. When the child bring home a B or something, the parents express disapproval because it defies what they had been teaching their child and the only way to explain that resulting grade is that the child did not work hard enough - did not study enough - to achieve the standard A.
     In addition, parents believe that the child should be able to be strong enough to endure the punishment that comes from failure. Many Chinese parents believe that is a child cannot achieve a certain standard, then the child themselves is at fault. In a sense, it is the same concept as the Western "try your best"; however, the difference lies in the definition of best. Westerns believe that things will work out if the child passes; however Chinese parents do not wish to accept anything but the best.
     Therefore, Chinese parents believe that their children owe them everything because they had expected and pushed them to be the best since the very  beginning of thier lives.

Egypt and Animal Farm

     As I take a closer look at the results of our classes collective Egypt research, I find many connections between the revolution Orwell described in Animal Farm and the events in Egypt, Tunisia, Honduras, etc. For one, both of the rebellions seem to evolve in the same way. In Animal Farm and Egypt, both systems of government are controlled by one individual even though there seems to be one that one person in charge of the government's organization. In Animal Farm, Mr. Jones, the original owner of the farm, has four helpers who help him take care of the farmer. In Egypt, the president has advisers and his cabinet to help him keep track and take care of what is happening within their ruling system.
     The second thing Animal Farm and Egypt have in common is their type of government - in short, the leaders of both governments can be called tyrants. Both governments begin with a ruler who is cruel - the animals in Animal Farm were not fed daily and were often punished when they were under the rule of Mr. Jones while a citizen of Egypt willingly like himself of fire to protest against the injustice he faced while living in Egypt. In relation to what caused the protest in Egypt and the rebellion in Animal Farm, both governments seem to end up in a position worse than where they started off. In Animal Farm, Napoleon ended up treating the animals worse than how Mr. Jones had treated them before the rebellion and the vice-president of Egypt seems to be more corrupted than the original president.
     Third, interference takes place in both Animal Farm and Egypt after the protest and rebellion. In Animal Farm, the humans tried to retake the farm and would go as far as trying to destroy the windmill. In Egypt, American seems to be influencing Egypt to accept a certain proposal or bargain.
     Therefore, I think that George Orwell, the writer of Animal Farm, is able to have events in his book connect with many of the events that are currently happening in Egypt.

Animal Farm Chapter 11

Seasons have passed since the animals looked through the window of the house and witnessing the dinner between the humans and pigs. The shock of hearing Napoleon’s betrayal befuddled the animals and no one knew what to do anymore. Clover, getting older by the days, felt the painful stabs of daily survival. The animals of Animal Farm, now called Manor Farm, had to work harder than even. Being given even less rations of food than before, everyone was starving, yet the number of stocks read out by Squealer continued to increase. No one could find the difference between the harsh days of abuse with Jones and the hunger with Napoleon. They only understood that they were the only animal run farm in England...

    Walking down a path no one no walk, Clover head home - back to her shabby stable - when a majestic boar appeared before her. The boar was old yet something about him was familiar. It took a moment before clover realized who it was...Snowball, the traitor.
    Clover debated with herself, whether she should run to call for help, or to start a conversation with Snowball. Napoleon came up to her mind; she had so much to think about that she did not here Snowball talking to her.
    “How have you been, comrade?” asked the boar.
    “...”
    “It seems that Napoleon is ruling as a dictator now.”
    “A traitor has no right to call me a comrade,” hissed Clover, “no right at all...”
    “I am not a traitor, Clover, surely you understand that. After witnessing the cruelty of Napoleon, you should understand that Napoleon only speaks of lies. Nothing more, nothing less...”
    “...I no longer understand. If what you say is true, then the rebellion would have no cause. What was the deaths of our comrades for? This...” Clover trailed off, no knowing what to say.
    “It is dictatorship, Clover. and what we need is another rebellion. this time, to kick Napoleon out... Can we work together? Once more?”
    It was then decided, another rebellion must take place. No animals can stand the suffering. Many of the animals suggested that even if they don’t know the pain from the days of Jones, the pain they are suffering now is worse. There were rumors circulating amongst the animals about Napoleon, but no one dared to say it out loud.
    A secret meeting was held with Clover setting it up. Without Napoleon, the pigs, and the dogs noticing, they all sneaked out, deep into the night, to a secret place where everyone slowly positioned themselves toward a comfortable position. They were all curious about what was going on, since this is their first secret meeting without their superiors knowing. Clover came up, along with an animal no one had ever seen before. Its was a pig, an old boar. No one knew why a pig was at the secret meeting.
    “Friends, we are here now because there is something i need to discuss to you about. What we saw that fateful night is the cruel reality we must face. Napoleon will now work us down to our very bone and it will be for his benefits. I am now in my old age, I may not live any longer now but I still hope for the dream where the Republic of Animals is strong in Animal Farm.

“I hope that we can live free, where we can all work for our own keeps. When we do not have to worry about the pain from Napoleon’s whips. I understand that we pride ourselves for being the only animal run farm; however, this is dictatorship. We must rebel if we want our days of happiness and freedom and we must win. Comrades, let us try once more - a rebellion.”

    A few days later, Clover was said to have journeyed to Sugar Candy Mountain. Her body was laid beside a tree where the view of the entire farm can be seen. No one knew what to do about the new rebellion that they planned. Although they did held secret meetings frequently, they got nowhere since there was no one to lead them; they all feared the pigs and their power. Moreover, no one was smart enough to lead since only the pigs received education.
    When almost everyone lost hope for the new rebellion, the old pig, who was seen to have secretly talked to Clover many times, stepped up and spoke.
    “Hello comrades, as you know, a rebellion must once again take place to free our brothers from suffering. These hardship that everyone is forced to endure must be stopped. We did had our democracy for a while, but, Napoleon took it away. We must regain it once again for our future and for Animal Farm. I, Snowball, will lead this rebellion, as I had led the first one.”
    Many animals began whispering as the mysterious pig identified himself as the infamous Snowball who was said to have betrayed them. Confusion engulfed the animals. They all had mixed feelings on what to do but Snowball continued talking.
    “As you may have secretly suspected, Clover and I organized this, because we both did dream of a place where every animals are equal, and the strong protects the weak. However, it did not happen because Napoleon believed that some animals are more equal than the others. Comrades, I ask that you are willing to help me. But if not, then help Clover and your comrades who, sadly cannot be here to see the new rebellion, dreams of a republic of animals. Many of you are starving and slowly weakening while the pigs and dogs are well fed from the food that you, my comrades, have poured your sweats into cultivating this farm. Perhaps you may not know it, but the Beast of England, our freedom, is no longer here.”
    After listening to his speech, every animals applaud. They knew that they now have no freedom. Not wanting to work to death just to feed the pigs, they joined Snowball. That night, they sang Beast of England proudly having new hope for the upcoming rebellion. Benjamin, the donkey said nothing, just simply shook his head...

…............................................................

    Napoleon awoke to find himself surrounded by darkness. Standing up, he looked around. Not a shred of light shone through the pitch black mass. At a distance, after walking for what seems to be a long time, Napoleon saw a tiny glimpse of light. He immediately ran toward it, trying to catch the light. However, before he even reach it, many paws and wings grabbed him. They pulled him down, away from the light. he tries to break free but found it impossible. He turned to look at the light once more, to see if it had disappear yet. Upon looking, he saw Snowball, Clover and many other animals from Animal Farm. At that moment he realized his sin. 

Animal Farm Essay

     In society, language is a wide-spread form of communication. Different choices of words, tones, and topics can be used to influence the people it is directed towards. In George Orwell's Animal Farm, language is used as a form of persuasion by the pigs. Both Major and Squealer use reasoning to influence the "lower" animals, although their purposes are different.
     Major, a highly regarded pig on the farm, gave an influencing speech directed towards all of the animals concerning animals rebelling against the humans before his death. To persuade the animals into accepting his ideas about the rebellion, he uses the animal's fears and concerns. In his speech, Major addresses the life of the animals:

Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies...and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end, we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty. No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: this is the plain truth...Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever (Orwell 28-29).

Major is careful in his speech. He is selective so that he chooses words that are easy for the "lower" animals to grasp, yet conveys the message of the animal's reality. He addresses the animal's fears - of being overworked, hungry, and slaughter - and blames them on Man because Mr. Jones, their owner, is a human. He tries to convince them that as long as Man is gone, they will no longer be hungry and overworked because they will no longer be kept alive and fed so that they work and are killed as soon as they become useless. In short, Major's message implies rebellion - that as long as the animals keep Man from controlling their lives, they will be happy and free.
     On the other hand, Squealer, a pig known to be very persuasive, speaks to persuade the other animals that the pigs need to have "special priorities" and "special needs" so that they can maintain their capability to work:

"Comrades!" he cried "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples...Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed at our duty? Jones would come back! ...Surely, comrades," cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, "surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?" (Orwell 52).

Squealer tries to convince the "lower" animals that the pigs are not consuming the milk and apples because they want to, but because it is necessary so that the pigs are able to maintain their duty of watching over the other animal's welfare. He questions the other animal's beliefs by asking if they assume that the pigs consume those foods due to selfishness and privilege. As a final attempt, he uses Mr. Jones to manipulate the "lower" animals into believing him. Squealer knows that none of the animals want Mr. Jones to regain control over them so he influences them by expressing that if pigs do not consume the milk and apples, Mr. Jones will come back to the farm.
     Between Major and Squealer, both pigs uses topics, including the animals fears, to convince them to take part of a certain action. However, the distinction is that Major tried to form a rebellion so that the "lower" animals can achieve happiness, leisure, and freedom, while Squealer tries to convince the other animals that the pigs should be prioritized.

Rebuttal to Phuong - Wikileaks

     Phuong's debate topic questions whether Wikileaks is more harmful or more beneficial to society as an overall. She believe that it is beneficial for the American democratic society and to societies ruled by corrupted governments because governments would be kept in check if Wikileaks reveal the actions of the government - good or bad - to the people. However, there are many weak points in her opening statement.
     For one, Phuong includes unrelated material without explanations:

The topic of whether or not political power corrupts those who attains it is related to this debate.

This line is irrelevant because Phuong's topic is expected to address the benefits of Wikileaks, not the concern of whether or not political power corrupts those who attain it. On the other hand, even if this line is related to the support of her belief, she does not defend this point.
     Second, Phuong does not use accurate facts:

News of how corrupted the government was had been revealed and it angered many people. They couldn’t take it anymore to the point that one person set himself on fire.

Here, Phuong states that a man set himself on fire because he could not tolerate the government's corruption after news about the government was leaked. However, resources, here and here, indicate that the man had set himself on fire because the police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling from a street stall:

a young man, Mohamed Bouazizi, had set fire to himself in protest after police confiscated the fruit and vegetables he was selling from a street stall

Although the corruptness of the Tunisian government did anger many people, Phuong assumes that the man lit himself on fire because of the news leaked by Wikileaks when, in truth, the man had set himself ablaze in protest for having his products confiscated.
     Lastly, Phuong contradicts herself. Her conclusion states:

All in all, I think that Wikileaks is helpful to society in maintaining peace and giving people power and confidence.

However, in the same paragraph, she indicates that:

Just like the recent event of people setting themselves on fire and starting a rebellion because the news of their government was leaked out online.

This contradicts because her conclusion implies that Wikileaks help maintain peace when she also states that the leaked news from Wikileaks led to a rebellion and people setting themselves on fire. Rather than peace, this is violence.
     Therefore, Phuong has weak points in her opening statement.

Debate Opening Statement: Required Years of School

Topic: Should the number of years of required schooling be changed?
     In today's society, schooling is one of the essential, time-consuming tasks youths and teens are required to endure until the end of their senior year in high school. Although many students understand the importance of education towards an individual's future success, many would like to avoid spending almost eight hours a day, five days a week, nine months a year at school for twelve years of their life, excluding pre-school, kindergarten, and college. Therefore, the number of years of required schooling should be changed - not increased or decreased, but altered so that it fits the students.
     For one, people cannot deny the fact that all individuals are unique. Because all individuals vary in some way, it is not a surprise that individuals learn at different speeds with different styles. Some are better at math and others at English, or history, or writing, or science, or...etc. Some work better interpersonally and others intra-personally - it all depends on the individual. However, students are currently being assigned to "grades" based upon their age. They are expected learn at the same pace as the rest of their peers and to graduate to the next "grade" every year - their learning speeds are not taken into account.
     This expectation eventually leads to negativity - students begin to compare themselves to their peers and forget to factor in their differing individualities. They feel superior when comparing themselves to less academic peers and inferior when comparing to more academic peers. However, those who constantly feel inferior may choose to drop out of school - they are unable to bear the stress and expectation. In Barbara Pytel's "Dropouts Give Reason: Why do students leave high school without a diploma?," she gives the statistics of 500 interviewed dropouts to why they chose to leave school:

• 47% said classes were not interesting
• 43% missed too many days to catch up
• 45% entered high school poorly prepared by their earlier schooling
• 69% said they were not motivated to work hard
• 35% said they were failing
• 32% said they left to get a job
• 25% left to become parents
• 22% left to take care of a relative

From the statistics, over half of them said that they were not motivated to work hard. Students often begin to feel incapable to accomplishing after constant failures and this feeling of failure may come from comparison with their peers. As a result, they may choose to leave school to try to leave behind that feeling of defeat.
     Therefore, the number of years of required schooling should be changed but only altered so that students are able to learn at their speed since they may choose to drop out if the expectation is too high.

Political Power

     My opinion on political power is that political power does not necessarily corrupt the people who attain it. I think that corruption is only a possible outcome and that whether or not the individual with political power becomes corrupted or not depends on who the individual is and what the individual chooses to do with the attained power.
     For example, individuals who had abused their political power in history includes: Hitler from Germany, Franco from Spain, Mussolini from Italy, Stalin from Russia, and Mao from China. Although they may not have started out thinking that they wanted to be or would become corrupted individuals after attaining political power, they eventually became tyrants who abused that power. Therefore, I think that the corruption of individuals from attaining political power depends on who the individual is because some individuals become corrupted when they gets addicted to that power and are unwilling to release their grasp on it while some other individuals may only use their political power when it is for the good of others.
     As for George Orwell, I do not know how he would answer this question because I am not him, but I think he would agree that political power corrupts the people who attain it. In his book, Animal Farm, the animals describe some of the occurrences in their life:

The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals...At last they could stand it no longer. One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins...The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands, lashing out in all directions. (38)

     I think this quote shows an act of tyranny because it shows that Mr. Jones and him men believe that they can use unjust violence on the animals when they were the ones at fault for not feeding them in the first place. I think this shows corruption in people who attained power because Mr. Jones and his men believe that they have power over the animals, resulting in their belief that they can abuse that power.

Just Wanted to Pop This Bubble

     I am writing this post because I really, really, really, really (I would type "really" forever but Sutherland may end up making me rewriting this whole post or he may not even count it as a completed post, so let's just pretend that I typed in "really" three hundred and fifty times) want to pop Andy's bubble. I just found what he wrote in his post really, really (I promise I will not to type "really" for the rest of this post Sutherland, so do not get angry) amusing because he did not lie in the post - he just didn't include all the information and he only wrote what he believed was true. For this post, allow me to add some of the missing details and to correct some of his beliefs. Sidenote: This post will be written as though it is directed towards Andy.
     One: Dad does not wake you up at 6:30. He gets up at 6:30 so he does not wake you up until 6:45. In addition, you stole my alarm clock, so get your butt out of bed yourself.
     Two: I think you forgot to include how much time you spend online playing MMOs every day after you get home from school/tutoring in your schedule so you should edit that.
     Three: Cyber bullying is bullying only if you think it is bullying. It wouldn't even be bullying if you pretend that the people talking about you are old women gossiping like chickens (I don't remember how the phrase goes) because they have nothing else better to do.
     Four: People can contact you online because you have an email account, remember?
     Five: "Chow Mein" is a verb - it just depends on how you use it because people generally like to use it as a noun. Because you are going to ask for an explanation later, I will just tell you why now. People can say that they are going to cream pie (I don't remember if there is an "e" behind "cream" or not, but whatever - you get what I mean) someone, so why can't anyone chow mein someone?
     Last, but not least, six: Technically, I wouldn't even call what you said to Yazen in Chipman cussing (Yes, I was there - it was during lunch, if not, then you must have "cussed" at him more than once). Saying "f*ck" and "b*tch" once or twice is not cussing (at least not to me), so you really have to work on that.
     *pop* goes the bubble

Cussing

After looking at the topics that popped up in this week's blogs, I just really wanted to respond to Vic's post on cussing.

I feel like, if you cuss so much to anyone it has no effect. [...] Dropping bad words is a bad habit to start and may not possibly end. If you get too adjusted to the words, they just pop out sometimes. Even to the most simple things, a cuss word may leak out because those are your usual "describing" words.Those bad words may even become compliments because everyone uses them to describe bad things, unique things, and crazy things.

I agree with Vic when he states that people eventually become immune to cuss words after hearing the phrases being directed towards them or used to describe someone or something else after certain periods of time. People begin to adapt and they may even pick up and begin using these words.
It is also true that cussing would eventually become a bad habit (personally, I have a habit of using such words everyday and I do not plan to stop using them anytime soon). In fact, people can think of it as a habit worse than smoking and getting addicted to alcohol, marijuana, pot, etc because people can be restricted from these additions by not allowing them to get near whatever the individuals are addicted to but no one can restrict people from using cuss words - people can still think cuss words even if they cannot or do not speak them aloud. This is because words are part of human society; they are a part of communication - a way to express ourselves.
Because I believe that cussing is a form of expressing, I do not think of cuss words as "bad" words. Let's say that everyone took a test yesterday and the teacher is handing back the test today. Someone looks and the grade he or she got and says "f*ck," or "sh*t." How different would it be if that person substituted those words with "jeez" or whatever word they might use that they do not consider as cuss words? Would the word they use be considered as cussing? Or is cussing limited to certain words? What is cussing? Is cussing really even that bad?

Elite Colleges Debate

After reading all seven different response posts addressing the debate of "Does It Matter Where You Go to College," I decided the most persuasive response post was What You Do vs. Where You Go by Martha (Marty) O'Connell. She states that a student's decision of what he or she chooses to do with his or her time in college is more important than the school he or she chooses to attend because spending time in college resourcefully contributes to the student's success in college and beyond:

The key to success in college and beyond has more to do with what students do with their time during college than where they choose to attend.

This line interested me the most because it stated the truth - that hard work contributes to success. If an individual graduating from an Ivy League school with a Masters Degree applies to the same job as another individual graduating from a lesser known college or university with a PhD, the individual graduating from the lesser known college has a higher likelihood of getting hired. Even though the company may look at the resume from the person graduating from an Ivy League school first, the other individual is more likely to get hired because he or she spent additional time and effort in college.
In addition to finding What You Do vs. Where You Go as the most persuasive post, I find this response the least persuasive.

The “oohs” and “aahs” follow as the audience learns that Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropped out of college, that Oprah Winfrey is an alumna of Tennessee State and that Ken Burns graduated from Hampshire College.

Although this quote supports her idea of what a student chooses to do in college or university is more important than which college or university he or she chooses to attend, it also counters that very same argument. Using Oprah Winfrey and Ken Burns as examples positively contributes to her point because both of these individuals graduated from lesser known colleges and became successful; however, using Steve Spielberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as examples counter her point because, as O'Connell states, they "dropped out of college." How could college make them successful if they quit? Using them as examples can imply that individuals can become successful even if they do not go to college - which, sadly, is true for some people.
Therefore, I conclude that What You Do vs. Where You Go is the response I choose as both most persuasive and least persuasive.