Dirty Mouth, Clean It Up With Orbit Gum

I do not think that obscene language is bad as long as its not offending to a lot of people (like the "N" word). I think most people just look over the words and just continue reading. I don't think that they stop and are like OMG he cursed. I really do not think it is a big deal or that we need to handle it in some sort of way. I think that authors only use the words as accents to the way that the characters feel.

Kite Fighting

I think that Khaled Hosseini decided to make this the central focus of The Kite Runner because it is a big part of Afghani life. In the videos, a lot of people seemed to be flying kites. Also, the kite maker was famous, which would not happen in America. The Taliban banning the kite flying just proves how important it was on their society, because if it was not a major aspect, they wouldn't really have a reason for banning it. In the United States, some things that have a major impact are: The 4th of July, the Superbowl, and I'm not really sure what else.

Walk the Line

I think that authors include shocking events in order to draw the readers in. The shocking events usually occur in the beginning of the book and set the whole mood and last the whole book. I think they are necessary in order to hold the reader's attention because if there wasn't anything interesting happening, theres no point in continuing to read. I think that shocking things happen everyday and society and authors only have to tweak them a little bit in order to put it in a book.

To Atone or Not to Atone

Of course past sins can be atoned in one way or another, you just have to work at it. Not trying by best in school last year brought my GPA down and could have possibly led to me not getting into UF and on the waiting list for URichmond. I felt and still feel like I messed up and the choice for me to slack only benefited me in that moment and not at all now. My sister and I wanted to go to UF together because she could graduate at the same time as me. I cannot make up for what I did. I guess I could always transfer but I'd rather not.

Decisions...Decisions

Basically what influences my decisions are what the cost is for me to do something (whether it be time or money etc.) and the effect that it will have on others. I think that every person is effected by the decisions made although it may not be significant. They can also be good or bad.

Some recent decisions I made:

Getting good grades led to scholarship money to a lot of the school I applied to.
Going to Florida State is making my mom watch her money more closely now so we can pay for tuition. Also my sister is considering going to college in Florida now.

Colombia & Venezuela

"I also know - and this won't alter the course of history or the your personal view of me - that you will die with a clenched fist and a tense jaw, the epitome of hatred and struggle, because you are not a symbol (some inanimate example) but a genuine member of society to be destroyed; the spirit of the beehive speaks through your mouth and motivates your actions." pg 164

"I saw his teeth and the cheeky grin with which he foretold history, I felt his handshake and, like a distant murmur, his formal goodbye."pg 164

"howling like one possessed, will assault the barricades or the trenches, will take my bloodstained weapon ans, consumes with fury, slaughter any enemy who falls into my hands." 164-165

I steel my body, ready to do battle, and prepare myself to be a sacred space within which the bestial howl of the triumphant proletariat can resound with new energy and new hope." 165


I think that Che has realized his purpose in life is to help others even if it means he has to risk himself in order to do it. It also seems that Che thinks that many people are at fault and that they will lose their lives in the name of the revolution. Che decided that he would always be on the peoples side and will take anyones lives who stand in his /the peoples way. I think that the last quote shows how he is willing to fight in order to have something new and better than now ( "new energy and new hope")

PERU Diction Word Splash

Traveling through the barren desert, Che and Alberto finally achieved the TEDIOUS task of hitching a ride to the ALLURING city of Cuzco. This, I find was the most important area of focus. Che seems to find the MESTIZOS a completely defeated race; a race with the DAUNTING task of finding their place in society and accepting themselves. Che and Alberto could see it in their faces.
They then reached Machu Picchu a very PLACID view. A place where the Natives hid from the TIRADE Spaniards and lived the last of their days. It was the only city that was not RAZED by the SPANIARDS. The two friends then travel to a large city where they use the letter Alberto has to get to the leper colony. They are given horses and a guide who has the ABHORRENT task of carrying all of their things. When they reach the colony, they are treated well. However, the facilities there are not so great. To me, the sanitary conditions would only EXACERBATE the condition the lepers were already in. I think the Natives and the Lepers has a huge impact on Che and maybe helped him to feel for the people less fortunate than him.

Chile

While staying at the fire house, Alberto and Che got to go help put the fire out. "The flames hadn't reached a small part of the house and from there came the whimper of a cat who, terrorized by the fire, just meowed and meowed and refuse to escape through the small space left, Alberto saw the danger, and measuring it with one quick look, lept over the 20 cm of flame, saving the little endangered life for its owners." pg 65

I think that this experience is kind of like the strong helping the week which, in my opinion is what socialism is. I also think that people work for the good of the people and Alberto risked his life to save the cat's life and kept the owners from losing even more than their house and all of their belongings. Although this may not have changed his views greatly, I think it shows sort of where Che came from. I also think that maybe the cat could be looked at like the general population whereas they might have an escape route from the problems they are in but it would take a brave soul to come and save them from their misery.

Six Word Memior

Time for change during economic failure.

Argentina

"Okay, but this is how the typewriter interpreted those fleeting impulses raising my fingers to the keys, and those impulses have now died. Moreover, no one can be held responsible for them." (Pg. 31)

This quote reflects Ernesto's voice in the form of Imagery. Ernesto seems to describe and give the reader a very precise and exact image of what is going on. "Those fleeting impulses raising my fingers to the keys," creates an image without fancy words. Ernesto seems to talk in a different way than most people and I'm not sure I can exactly explain it. He uses simple things or examples that hint at something bigger, like his take on life and his philosophy I guess you could say.

"My tired eyes refused to sleep and in them a pair of green spots swirled, representing the world I had left for dead behind me and mocking the so called liberation I sought." (pg 40)

I think that this quote reflects a lot about Ernesto's word choice including Diction, Detail, and Imagery. I think he chooses words that are not normally used in the general human language which makes them pop out at us and creates an image. Some of the words in this quotes are: refused, swirled, and mocking. I think that Che has a very unique way of expressing what he has to say. To me, it seems that he skips around a lot but then goes very much into detail on certain topics. For me, its kind of hard to follow because I like a continuos flowing story versus in the important facts that are necessary.

The Essential Question

I want to become a successful person who lives a happy life. Actually being a rich person is not really that important to me. I’d rather have a family and a job that provides all our basic needs and a little more luxuries. Having a job that I’m happy with would be nice but I would live with a job that wouldn’t be my favorite. To be honest, I’m not really concerned with impacting the world around me. Maybe that sounds rude but I don’t know, I keep to myself. Sure I would like to donate to charities and other things but to me, I don’t think that going out on your own would really make a difference.

TMD Introduction

Traveling the seven seas,

I was surrounded by people,

Yet I was alone

There was connection between us

No common ground to walk on

I was in their world and I did not belong

There is nothing lonelier than an adventure

Ideology

I think that if my freedoms were taken away I would fight for them. To be honest, I would not really go fight for something unless my life was horrible or changed in someway. Also, I could not do it alone. However, if my freedoms were taken away and I was basically like a slave and had to do whatever people told me to do, I would fight and try to get them back.

El Che Reaction #1

I am really confused as to why Che is a hero. To me, the Americans should not be like praising him because he went against us. Also, Fidel Castro is someone I do not consider a good person. However, Che was his number one man yet he is a hero. I understand he was fighting for something he believed in, but it was communism. The documentary was pretty good. However, the music was kind of comical and the random story about the lady sewing Che's pants felt like it didn't belong in there at all. Overall, I think that this documentary will give us better insight to the book even though all these events happened after the fact.

TMD Preview Post

An epiphany is when you come to realize something important. The impact on someone's life depends on what the person comes to realize. Let's say the person's has an epiphany about what they're meant to do in life. It could change their life around. They could change their job and their whole outlook on life. However, an epiphany does not always have to change one's life.