Jue - The Beauty Myth

Inside - people’s inner beauty

Outside- how the people look like

Narcissism- inordinate fascination with oneself

Enchantment- something that enchants

Virtue - moral excellence

In Susan Sontag essay, she shows the meaning of beauty for women and how society treats beauty. She uses history to deliver her opinion to the readers, like “the Greeks to distinguish between a person’s ‘inside’ and ‘outside.’” The Greeks thought that if a person was so intelligent, brave and seductive, then that person must be very ugly. In early Christian time, Christianity considered beauty as one of moral virtues.

I agree with this essay. In this world, many people pay more attention on the appearance. They even use the appearance to judge other people. Sontag tells us that beauty is very important for women, because women are often being judged in beauty from their body parts, but the men are totally different. They are being judged as a whole, not only their appearance but also their intelligence. Beauty has become a burden for women. They think that only dress up themselves can show their intelligence. I hope that there will be no more judgment for one’s appearance. That’s what the other girls hope too. Women’s real charm will be proved by time.

How do you think about beauty of women?

Chu Yi Kang - Billie Holiday's Lady Sings the Blues

1. Definitions
A) Blues-A state of depression or melancholy. Often used with the.

B) Jazz-A style of music, native to America, characterized by a strong but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic tunes and chord patterns and, more recently, a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom.

C) "Lady Sings the Blues"-A song writen by jazz singer Billie Holiday, and jazz pianist Herbie Nicholas, which chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Her late childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages and drug addiction are featured.

2.Summarization
Billie Holiday(April 7, 1915-July 17, 1959).Nick name Lady Day, born Eleanora Fagan,was an American jazz singer and singwriter. In the book "Lady Sings the blues" is basically talked about Lady Day's life. Billie born in a young and poor family, "'Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three''(Billie).Her father was a guitarist in Fletcher Henderson's orchestra, and played a significant role in Billie's musical apprenticeship. Later years Billie's father divorced with her mohter and gave none money for them to live, so Billie and her mother worked hard to earn money for lives. Even though Billie faced many obstacle during her life, she still trys her best to overcame it, and became a famous jazz singer and song writer in front of the stage and to show the people her successful. Billie Holiday wrote many songs which symbolysis her life and the thing happened in the period of the time.
"I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two or ten years. If you can, then it ain't music; it's close drill or exercise or yodeling or something, not music"(Billie).

3.Question
Billie Holiday loves music and respects music.And she became a famous jazz singer. Why/How she used music to represent her life, and how did she overcome and face optimistic obstacles in her life, if there's no one can help?

Steve - The Erlking

The Erlking was a fictional character that was used as the object of many German poems. This fictional creature would originally haunt forest and carry travellers to their deaths. The name originally means in Old German "Alder King".

The version of the Erlking that Johann Wolfgnag van Goethe used in his poem is a monster that preys on children. In 1815, Franz Schubert adopted the poem and turned it into a musical composition. Scubert's musical composition only used a piano and one vocalist. The musical composition has four main characters: the Narrator, the Father, the Son, and the Erkling. All four voices are don differentyl by the one vocalist in order to capture the individial character. The piano imitates in its hurried triplets (notes played together in three for one musical beat) the hoofs of a horse in order to create a sensation of fear.

The main idea of the musical composition is that the Erlking takes the Son away and therefore has him end up dead in the Father's arms. The theme of the composition is repeated huriedly and the music even gets louder in the final two stanzas of the poem. This helps create the helplessness that the Son is going through

"My father. my father and don't you see there
the Erlking's daughters in the shadows?"
"My son, my son I see it clearly;
the old willows look so gray"

During this stanza the music gets louder and louder until finally during this part of the last stanza:

"he reaches the courtyard weary and anxious:
in his arms the child was dead."

the music almost comes to an abrupt stop.The final musical parts of the composition are minor chords. Minor chords are usually used in music to create a sad feeling as well as a depressed mode.


How does Schubert's musical composition relate to other literary works that we have read in class

Maria - Fugue in c-minor

Assigned Reading: Fugue in c-minor

1. Definitions

A) Fugue: An imitative polyphonic composition in which a theme or themes are stated successively in all of the voices of the contrapuntal structure.

B) C-minor: refers to the key the fugue is being played in

C) Allegretto: refers to the tempo of the piece, moderatly fast and generally light

D) Clavier: any musical instrument with a keyboard, piano, harpischord, organ etc. etc.

2. Summarization

The Fugue in c-minor is one of 24 fugues and preludes in a book called the Well-Tempered Clavier. It contained one fugue or prelude in all 24 minor and major keys. It was intended to be sold as a book for people who wanted to either learn or practice their piano playing skills. The book was composed in 1722. Of all the fugues fugue in c-minor is the most popular and widely known and was an important influence on music after its publication.

3. Question

How does this piece of music connect to the work we're doing in class?

Bahram - Billie Holiday's Lady Sings the Blues

1. foundling-a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown

2. commericial-Adjective used to signify a business activity, regardless of whether that activity has been undertaken by an individual or business

Billie Holiday who originally was called Eleanora, tell the story of her life. Her parents are poor and are in the early teens when they give birth to her. She almost never would see her father, he was drafted for the army and soon after he came back he went on to be a musician who was always on tour. Her father never came and gave Billie's mother a divorce and married another woman. Her mother left her with Billie's cousin Ida, when she left to work and save up money for them to have a nice life.While living with her cousin Ida she would be beaten and would have to fight of cousin Ida's son from raping her. She got sick of it and went to work cleaning people's house. After some time her mother came back and she had saved $900 for them to live on which during that time was a nice amount of money.Living with her mother was quite nice untill she was almost raped, sent to jail, and treated horribly at a catholic institution. When she grows up she becomes a singer, singing infront of a large crowd witha thirty-four-piece band behind her.

Question:
Her mother and her worked hard to save up money to live a normal life and she ended up becoming a famous singer. If they can work so hard and make money and have a successful life should the government support single parents who have no money and jobs or should they have them work hard like Billie and her mother without support from the government?

Jatinder - X-Men

1. Mutants- People born with superpowers

Professor X -Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant telepath

Cyclops- Scott Summers, a mutant with an beam controlled by his visor and glasses

Iceman- Robert "Bobby" Drake; a mutant with ice powers

The Angel -Warren Worthington III, a mutant with wings

The Beast -Henry "Hank" McCoy, a mutant with enhanced strength and agility

Marvel Girl -Jean Grey, a mutant with telekinetic powers

Magneto- a mutant with magnetic powers



2. Professor X trains his young students that he has called X-men. They are mutants born with abilities that set them apart from normal humans. The X-men are Cyclops (Scott Summers), Beast (Hank McCoy), Iceman (Bobby Drake), and Angel (Warren Worthington III). The Xavier school for gifted students gains a new student Jean Grey who will be called Marvel Girl. Professor X built this school to train mutants to use their powers responsibility. He recognized that more and more mutants were appearing ever day and that some mutant may decide they should rule the planet, Professor X called these mutants "Evil Mutants".The first evil mutant to threaten humanity was a mutant named Magneto. He made is presence known to the world by sabotaging multiple top secret US missile tests before demanding the surrender of a military base to him. He was able to take over the military base and hold the army out with a magnetic force field. He hadn't planned on the arrival of the X-men though. Cyclops was able to breach Magneto's force field. They were able to hold Magneto off until he fled the scene.

3. What could have been the message of this comic book relating to society in that time in history?

Daniel - X-Men

At first i was surprised to find that i would be reading a comic book and having to write a blog entry on it. I had felt that it would not have enough information write a good entry, however after completing the comic i had found that it actually had a lot of good information to write about.

The comic starts out telling the reader about this motionless character who is sitting alone in a room, and then later informing us of a certain institution which turns out to actually be a school for "mutants", who are people with extraordinary powers. As the comic continues we are introduced the different characters who are involved in this comic. we meet Angel,Cyclops, Beast, and Iceman, who all have individual powers of their own which we learn about as the comic continues, and are all members of the superhero team the X-Men. later on we see these characters training with there master, Professor Xavier.

As the X-men are training we see all of the amazing abilities that each of these characters have. I think that by showing these characters with all of these special powers it makes the reader more envious, and makes him almost happy to see the characters, and feels inspired by them that maybe the reader himself can also help do some good in the world that they live in. As the comic goes on we are introduced to another character who later joins the X-men, her name is Jean Grey. later Jean is given her codename, "Marvel Girl".

Later on we are introduced to the villain in this comic, whose name is Magneto who has control over all kinds of magnetic fields, and anything that is related to magnets. The reason that a villain is put into this comic is to instill fear in the reader and make him feel afraid. It also helps the reader get more excited as to what will happen to the main characters, who in this case are the good guys. After learning more about Magneto we see that he has taken over control over the military base and is threatening the world. after finding out about this news the X-men finally get to take action and do what they had been training for and that is to protect the humans. What follows after this in my opinion is the climax of the comic, and the most exciting part for the reader to read about. The reader does not know what to expect, and doesn't know who overall who is going to win the battle between good and evil.

The next scene begins with angel explaining to the military who the X-Men they are, and that they are here to help. After getting permission from the military to help, the X-men do what they did best and began to fight evil. After getting through magneto's protective barrier, and fighting off the missiles that he had fired at them earlier, they had ended up fending him off. However Magneto was able up escape, but the humans are left safe and the day was still saved thanks to the X-men. I think that the reason that this episode ended with the bad guy escaping was a very good decision. I feel that by having an ending like this it makes the reader get a sense of anxiousness as to what will happen next episode, and will make the reader want to buy another issue of this comic book. I also found that many movies these days will have a similar ending, were it is uncertain just what happened to the bad guy, this is because it makes the reader either want to see the movie again or maybe see the movies sequel. However in either case it will keep the movie and/or comic book on the readers mind, and that is what good authors do with their books. I also feel that this technique is used in most urban legends, due to the fact that it makes the reader remember the story, and keeps it on his mind so he wont forget, and will probably end up telling other people about it as well.

some definitions that the reader may need to know for this story is the definition of a mutant- which is a person who has super/extra ordinary powers or mysterious abilities. the reader should also know what each mutant in the story can do and that is that angel- has wings and can fly. marvel girl- she has the ability of telekenesis. the beast- a large mutant who is very large and big and has ultra super strength. magneto- he is the villain in the comic and he has super magnetic powers can can control all magnetic things. cyclops- a mutant who can shoot beans out from his visor over his eyes. professor x- he is the professor who founded and helped trained the x-men and he himself can read peoples minds. iceman- he is a mutant who has special ice powers and can create and control ice to do whatever he pleases.

Question- why do you think that they ended this issue of the comic with the villain escaping and getting away?

Damaris - A Few Words For Superstition Blog

1. Define important terms:

parapsychology- the branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of purportedly psychic phenomena, as clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, telepathy, etc.

deplored- to disapprove of; censure.

condemned- To express strong disapproval of:

divination- perception by intuition; instinctive foresight

idolatry- the religious worship of idols.

Deity- a god or goddess

supersisto- to stand in terror of the Deity

placated- to appease or pacify, esp. by concessions or conciliatory gestures

Cajoled- to persuade by flattery or promises; wheedle; coax.

2. Summarize main idea:

Davies discusses the idea that things such as parapsychology, UFO's, miracle cures, and all paths to instant enlightenment are condemned, but superstition is merely deplored, possibly due to the fact that so many people are unknowingly so strongly swayed by superstitions. Because being superstitious implies that one is naive and ignorant, many people do not admit to being superstitious, although many people are. Davies explains that superstition takes four forms.

Vain Observances: Not walking under ladders and such things.
Divination
Idolatry
Improper Worship of the True God
Robertson Davies explains that superstition seems to run a submerged river of crude religion, below the surface of human consciousness. The more the teaching of formal religion declines, the less God appears to be a God of Love to people. Superstition appears early in life when children fear that stepping on cracks in the sidewalk will cause misfortune. Different people do different things due to superstition. For instance, Orthodox Jews place a charm on their doorposts, Middle European people believe that when a man sneezes, his soul, for that moment, is absent from his body, and they bless him unless his soul is taken by the Devil.

When Davies states, “Superstition seems to have a link with some body of belief that far antedates the religions we know-religions which have no place for such comforting little ceremonies and charities,” this represents a great deal of what superstition is about. Also, he says, “Superstition in general is linked to man’s yearning to know his fate, and to have some hand in deciding it.” People are so superstitious because they think that bad things will happen to them based on absurd thoughts and judgments, so they figure that if they can do things to prevent them from happening, they can control their fate.

3. Question for discussion:

Is superstition something that arises based on religion or is it just something psychological? Why are people so supertitious? Do they really think that they can control their fate, or does it accommodate them mentally into thinking they can control it? Do you think of yourself as being superstitious? Why or why not?

Christian - 1408

1. Important characters in the short story are.
Mike Enslin who is the main protagonist of the story, is the author of three best selling books , Ten Haunted Houses, Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Graveyards and Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Castles. Mr.Enslin was looking to continue this series by writing Ten Nights in Haunted Hotels. This is why he becomes interested in room 1408.
Gerald Olin is the hotel manager of the Hotel Dolphin on 61st Street in New York City, he tries to convince Mr.Enslin that room 1408 is best avoided while telling him of all the deaths related to people of have encountered the room.
Sam Farrell is Mike's agent who under the rules of the state of New York gets Mike room 1408 through a lawyer. No person shall be denied a room if a room is vacant even if it is haunted.

Rufus Dearborn is the character walking the halls of the 13th floor who went to fetch ice and ultimately saved Mike Enslin's life. Mr.Dearborn dumps ice on Mike who had set himself on fire in order to escape room 1408.

Kevin O'Malley is the first suicide occupant of room 1408. He killed himself by jumping from the 13th floor. He was the first of many deaths related to occupying room 1408.

A concept that should be noted is that room 1408 seems to have a mind of its own.

2. Mike Enslin who is the main protagonist of the story is looking to write a book about haunted hotels to add to his other best selling haunted books. He himself is not a believer of the supernatural or the paranormal but still visits many haunted sites. Mike uses a tape recorder when he visits all these haunted places instead of taking notes. He finds that using a tape recorder he better able to capture to emotion. Upon arriving at the Dolphin Hotel, Mike is greeted by Mr.Olin the hotel manager. There they begin to small chat. After a while Mr.Olin tries to convince Mike not to stay in room 1408 as no one has stayed there since 1978. Despite this fact Mike insists on staying the night in room 1408. Upon arriving on the 13th floor his legs are heavier then usual and his tounge can't seem to come up.. As he walks toward his room he notices that the door appears to be crooked leaning to the left. He then looks at the door again which appears to be straight and upright. Shortly after he looks again and it appears to be crooked again (though this time leaning to the right instead of the left). Before entering the room he notices a security camera towards the end of the hall. This leads to his assumption that Mr.Olin only wanted to scare him for a simple joke. Upon entering the room, Mike takes out his tape recorder and his observations into it. He then walks over to a table and picks up a box of matches and puts it in his pocket. After he notices a menu on the bed. At first he reads the breakfast menu and thinks it is in French, then in Russian, then in Italian and then he sees it in English. Then things became chaotic from there. The pictures on the wall came to life with a lady showing ravage teeth. Mike saw a picture where he never saw one before. He begins to run for the door only to realize he is unable to escape. He reaches for the phone and picks it up and hears the words, "This is nine! This is nine! Nine! This is ten! Ten! We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead! This is six! Six!". There Mike began to panic and picked up the matches he had pocketed before and set himself on fire. There he was able to escape the room and ended up in the hallway where Mr.Dearborn poured ice on his engulfed body. After his stay in room 1408 Mike was forever traumatized. The reason the story came about was through Mike's audio recording that Sam Farrell had found. All the detailed audio snippets of the chaotic stay in room 1408 is what lingered in the mind of Mike Enslin.

3. Question for discussion.
What was the voice on the telephone that yelled out "This is nine! This is nine! Nine! This is ten! Ten! We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead! This is six! Six!". Ultimately what was room 1408 that drove people to suicide and people to there "natural deaths"?

Breanna - "Why We Crave Horror Films"

As defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary
1. Asylum- A place of retreat; security
lynch- To put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction
The Cleveland Torso Murderer- An unidentified serial killer in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1930's.
Around 12 victims. The killer beheaded and sometimes dismembered his victims.
Also known for cutting the torsos in half.

2. The main focus of this essay is to back up the reasons for why we watch horror films.
King states, " Some of the reasons are simple and obvious. We watch them to show that we can, and that we are not afraid. We also go to reestablish our feelings of essential normality and we go to have fun."
In a way, King is explaining that we go to test ourselves. How far can something go before we can say it had an effect on us? After watching a horror film, a person may think " That was sickening. The creator of this movie must be sick and disturbed." The film was obviously appealing if a person is willing to spend money to see it. Therefore, that makes them just as disturbed.

3. Stephen King makes it clear that " in a civilized society, love, friendship, loyalty and kindness are all emotions that we applaud. When we exhibit these emotions, society showers us with positive reinforcement". Fear is also an emotion, although a negative one, so when one overcomes a fear, should society applaud that as well?

Michelle - 1408

1. Characters:
-Mike Enslin- investigator, mainly of supernatural and paranormal activity.
-Olin- manager of the Hotel Dolphin.
-Sam Farrell- Mike's agent.
-Kevin O'Malley- first person to occupy the room 1408 and he ended up killing himself. He was a sewing machine salesman.
-Rufus Dearborn- Singer Sewing Machine Salesman. He saves Mike's life.
-Veronique and Celeste- twin housekeepers. One cleaned room 1408 and came out with many health problems.
Terms:
-"A light turn"- (in an unoccupied room) to do some light cleaning like opening windows, dusting, change of towels, etc. (page 375)
-"Moorish"- by dictionary Moorish relates to the Moors and their culture, as well as the style of Spanish architecture. In the story the room 1408 has a Moorish aspect. (page 397)
Concepts:
-The Tape Recorder was Mike's safe blanker. It was a part of him and his recorder meant everything to him because it has gone everywhere with him. It has been through every "haunted" place that he has investigated in and it survived room 1408 as well.
-The room 1408 has endured 12 suicides in 68 years and 30 "natural deaths"

2. 1408 is a hotel room located in the Hotel Dolphin. An investigator, Mike Enslin, wants to stay the night in it and experience and see what the room has to offer. There are many rumors that circulate about this room, that it is haunted, and it has not been occupied in a very long time. Right when Mike arrives there most of his time is spent with Olin, the hotel's manager, and he does not want Mike staying there and tries to convince him otherwise. Olin knows of many stories of what happened and what has come out of room 1408. In the end Olin cannot convince this guy to reconsider his stay, and what would? Mike has stayed and written books about Haunted Houses, Haunted Graveyards, and a Haunted Castle. This hotel room that was rumored to be haunted was not going to scare him off.

The night progresses and he finally reaches the door of 1408 and "His problems with 1408 started even before he got into the room. The door was crooked. Not by a lot, but it was crooked, all right, canted just the tiniest bit to the left." (page 385) Mike continues into room 1408 and records everything he sees and that is around the room on his tape recorder. He also continues to tape whatever moves he makes or items he notices in the room.

Sure enough some spooky things start to happen around the room. The pictures in the living room were crooked and they completely changed; the people in the pictures were not the same as if someone came in and changed it but that was unlikely. If you looked at a picture in your room and then looked away and then looked back and it was a different picture there wouldn't you be completely freaked out too? I definitely would want to get out, and that is exactly what Mike tried to do. The back of the matchbook had the words, "CLOSE COVER BEFORE STRIKING. Without thinking about it- he no longer could think- Mike Enslin tore out a single match, allowing the cigarette to drop out of his mouth at the same time. He struck the match and immediately touched it to the others in the book." This action cause the whole book of matches to catch aflame and eventually his shirt and him self were on fire. Therefore, "this time when he reached the door and turned the knob, the door opened. It was as if the thing behind the bulging wall had no use for a burning man." In my opinion, the room let him out so that the fire he started could not destroy the room entirely. Outside the room was a man by the name of Rufus Dearborn who happened to be in the hall with a bucket of ice. He saved Mike's life when he came screaming out of 1408 on fire by dumping the ice on him and taking out the fire.

In the end, Mike was saved. He might of been saved from room 1408 since then his health has been going downhill. He has high blood pressure, probably from the medication for the burns, he has trouble seeing, has back problems, and his prostate has grown. Even though Mike is not in room 1408, I think that it was the effects of the room that is probably going to kill him one day.

3. Stephen King is an exceptional horror writer and I think that he did a good job with 1408 in the suspense category. Did you think 1408 was a scary horrifying reading or was it more like a psychological factor involved with this story? Feel free to give examples and ultimately why you think it was one or the other.

I also saw the movie 1408 and if anyone else has seen it I would like to know what is your comparison (compare or contrast) of the movie and the story is. They definitely lengthened the movie because 1408 is a short story.

Chana - Lamb to the Slaughter

1) 1. Mary Maloney is the main character. She commits murder unintentionally and creates an alibi for herself, while appearing distressed by her husband's death. She is six months pregnant with her husband's child.
2. Patrick Maloney is her husband and a police officer. Mary kills him with the leg of a lamb after he tells her he is leaving her.
2) The main event is the murder of Patrick Maloney. Patrick tells his wife in the opening scene that he is leaving her, but will provide for her. She then goes to get him supper. She does not want him to leave as she cares for him. He rudely tells her that he does not want anything and she swings the leg of frozen lamb on his head and the blow kills him. She was not planning to kill him.
"...They would have lamb for supper...'Don't make supper for me. I'm going out' At that point Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without a pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down ... his head." The remainder of the story is that she calms herself down and figures out an alibi for herself. Her main concern running through her mind is her unborn child. If not for it, she would not care about the consequences of her actions. She goes to the store, buys some food, telling Sam the grocer that it is for her tired husband. She returns home, sees her husband lying there, cries, and then calls the cops. They come over quickly and do their detective work. She asks them to eat the cooked lamb as a favor to her. They eat it and talk among themselves. One of the men suggests that the weapon is nearby and Mary giggles.
3) How does Mary truly feel about her husband's death?
"All the old love and longing for him welled up inside her, and she ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and began to cry her heart out. It was easy. No acting was necessary."
Later that evening, the police officers say while eating the cooked lamb at her request, regarding the weapon, "probably right under our noses. What you think, Jack? And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle."

Alexandra- "New Legends of Old"

1.Define important terms- (American Heritage Dictionary)Folklore- The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally.

Worldview- 1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.

Fairy Tale- A fanciful tale of legendary deeds and creatures, usually intended for children.

Epic-An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero.

Myth- A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the world view of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society.

Legend-An unverified story handed down from earlier times, especially one popularly believed to be historical.

Ballad-A narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung, consisting of simple stanzas and usually having a refrain.

Urban Legend-An apocryphal story involving incidents of the recent past, often including elements of humor and horror, that spreads quickly and is popularly believed to be true.

Apocryphal-Of questionable authorship or authenticity

2. Summarize the reading.

In New Legends for Old the author discusses how legends, specifically urban legends, have developed in society. The author says, "Legend Study is a most revealing area of such research because the stories that people believe to be true hold an important place in their worldview." When properly interpreted they give information about the society from which they develop.

To show how a legend develops and how it affects and is affected by a given society the author traces one urban legend in particular titled "The Boyfriends Death". At the first recorded telling of this story it was relatively simple. As it went through more tellings and spread the story grew, different tellers added their personal flair to the telling. It also took on characteristics of the places it was told, or of other urban legends told in that area.

The author concludes by providing some explanations for why people tell these legends. There are several reasons, however, "[the] common role nowadays seems to be to show that the prosaic contemporary scene is capable of producing shocking of amazing occurrences which mat actually have happened to friends or to near-acquaintances but which are nevertheless explainable in some reasonably logical terms." Basically, they tell them to convince themselves that while their own lives are boring and seemingly unimportant, "shocking and amazing occurrences" do happen.present a question for discussion."Several of the informants explained that the story was told to them in spooky situations, late at night, near a cemetery, out camping or even " while on a hayride or out parked," occasionally near the site of the supposed murder. Some students refer to such macabre legends, therefore, as "scary stories," "screamers," or "horrors."Most urban legends are meant to scare the audience. What is it about horror which fascinates people? Is it the adrenalin rush? Does attributing these characteristics to others make one feel normal? Why do people like to be scared?

3. present a question for discussion.

"Several of the informants explained that the story was told to them in spooky situations, late at night, near a cemetery, out camping or even " while on a hayride or out parked," occasionally near the site of the supposed murder. Some students refer to such macabre legends, therefore, as "scary stories," "screamers," or "horrors."Most urban legends are meant to scare the audience. What is it about horror which fascinates people? Is it the adrenalin rush? Does attributing these characteristics to others make one feel normal? Why do people like to be scared?

Cindy - "Two Ways to Belong in America"

1. The author Bharati and Mira are two sisters from Calcutta, India.

saris - "a garment of southern Asian women that consists of several yards of lightweight cloth draped so that one end forms a skirt and the other a head or shoulder covering" m-w.com

mongrelization - "an individual resulting from the interbreeding of diverse breeds or strains" m-w.com

scapegoating - "to make a scapegoat of" to put the blame on m-w.com

Green Paper - in Canada: "a green paper is taken to be an official document sponsored by Ministers of the Crown which is issued by government to invite public comment and discussion on an issue prior to policy formulation" http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Pages/GreenPapers.aspx

2. The author Bharita explains the differences she has with her sister Mira on citizenship in the United States. Bharita thinks that "immigrants" in the United States should become citizens and not just be legal immigrants; she wants them to go all the way like her. On the other hand, Mira just wants to have the benefits of her "green card" but still maintain her Indian citizenship. Mira keeps her "Indianness," because that is her identity, "My sister is an expatriate, professionally generous...socially courteous...and that's as far as her Americanization can go."
Bharita's main point is that she is a person that "embraced" everything American and "renounc[ed] 3,000 years of caste-observant, "pure culture" marriage in the Mukherjee family." She describes of when she felt the same way Mira did "with the scapegoating of "aliens," but in her case in Canada: "I felt then the same sense of betrayal...will never forget the pain of that sudden turning, and the casual racist outbursts the Green Paper elicited." This situation made her leave Canada, especially because it "attacked" South Asian immigrants.
Bharita points out that the biggest difference between her and her sister is that she is an immigrant and her sister is just fine "living in America as expatriate Indian." Bharita needs to feel a part of the country she lives in, like civic duty. "The price that the immigrant willingly pays, and that the exile avoids, is the trauma of self-transformation."

3. Do you agree that residents of the United States should go all the way to become U.S. citizens?
If you were in their situation as immigrants in the U.S., would you be an immigrant made citizen like Bharita or a legal immigrant like Mira? In other words, would you "retain" your roots or "embrace" America?

Niamkha Berlanger -- Gloria Naylor, “The meaning of a word”

1. Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or characters.

A) Words used:

Language: The system of spoken or written communication used by a particular country, people, community, etc., typically consisting of words used within a regular grammatical and syntactic structure. Naylor refers to language as the subject and she exclaims that language is inferior to the spoken word.

Meaning: The significance, purpose, underlying truth, etc., of something.

Nigger: a) Used as a disparaging term for a Black person or any dark-skinned people.

b) Used as a disparaging term for a member of any socially, economically, or politically deprived group of people.

Nymphomaniac: A woman (or, rarely: a man) exhibiting nymphomania.

Necrophiliac: A person affected by necrophilia; a necrophile. Necrophilia is the fascination with death and dead bodies; especially sexual attraction to, or intercourse with, dead bodies.

B) Concepts mentioned:

Reality and language: Naylor writes,

I'm not going to enter the debate here about whether it is language that shapes reality or vice versa. That battle is doomed to be waged whenever we seek intermittent reprieve from the chicken and egg dispute. I will simply take the position that the spoken word, like the written word, amounts to a nonsensical arrangement of sounds or letters without a consensus that assigns "meaning." And building from the meanings of what we hear, we order reality. Words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power.

Meaning and context: Naylor discusses the many different meanings of the N-word and the different times and places where it can be noted without provoking anyone. She argues that different words have different meanings to very different people.

2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotations that best capture the overall feeling or mood of the reading.

Naylor wants the reader to know that words are, as I quote, “innocuous; it is there consensus that gives them true power.” To Naylor, a word is considered good or bad in its context when one is talking about meaning; different words have different meanings to various people.

In the reading, Naylor talks about her “extended family”. She describes their lifestyles in this manner;

I was part of a large extended family that had migrated from the rural South after World War II and formed a close-knit network that gravitated around my maternal grandparents. Their ground-floor apartment in one of the buildings they owned in Harlem was a weekend mecca for my immediate family, along with countless aunts, uncles, and cousins who brought along assorted friends. It was a bustling and open house with assorted neighbors and tenants popping in and out to exchange bits of gossip, pick up an old quarrel, or referee the ongoing checkers game in which my grandmother cheated shamelessly. They were all there to let down their hair and put up their feet after a week of labor in the factories, laundries, and shipyards of New York. Amid the clamor, which could reach deafening proportions--two or three conversations going on simultaneously, punctuated by the sound of a baby's crying somewhere in the back rooms or out on the street--there was still a rigid set of rules about what was said and how. Older children were sent out of the living room when it was time to get into the juicy details about "you-know-who" up on the third floor who had gone and gotten herself "p-r-e-g-n-a-n-t!" But my parents, knowing that I could spell well beyond my years, always demanded that I follow the others out to play. Beyond sexual misconduct and death, everything else was considered harmless for our young ears. And so among the anecdotes of the triumphs and disappointments in the various workings of their lives, the word nigger was used in my presence, but it was set within contexts and inflections that caused it to register in my mind as something else.

I mention her family to present the various types of people who might use the N-word in contrast to the little 3^rd grader who used it towards Naylor as a young girl. This goes to prove that the meaning of word can vary and can cause confusion, anger, or be innocuous depending on the context in which the word is used.

Naylor provided many examples in which the word ‘nigger’ can be used and its meaning at each different notion. In one intend or in the singular, the word may refer to a successful man. In the possessive, the word refers to woman’s love to a boyfriend or a husband. When spoken by a man, the word shows “the essence of manhood”. On a negative and plural note, the N-word can be used to look down upon a group of people “who overstepped the bounds of decency”. The word ‘nigger’ itself does not apply to women. Naylor provides its equivalent as girl. “A token of respect”, Naylor called it. In reference to Naylor’s personal experience, the word may also be used with a purpose of hurt and as a form of hate.

Addressing a popular misjudgment, Naylor says,

I don't agree with the argument that use of the word nigger at this social stratum of the black community was an internalization of racism. The dynamics were the exact opposite: the people in my grandmother's living room took a word that whites used to signify worthlessness or degradation and rendered it impotent. Gathering there together, they transformed ‘nigger’ to signify the varied and complex human beings they knew themselves to be. If the word was to disappear totally from the mouths of even the most liberal of white society, no one in that room was naive enough to believe it would disappear from white minds. Meeting the word head-on, they proved it had absolutely nothing to do with the way they were determined to live their lives.

She voices her opinion that blacks’ use of the word challenges the racist negative meaning assigned to it by whites by redefining the word on their own terms. They transform the word by giving it a meaning of pride rather than an insult. Naylor conveyed with her essay, that the meaning of the word ‘nigger’ changes depending on how it is used, and who uses it.

3. Formulate a question for discussion.

Does the word ‘nigger’ really vary in meaning or is bringing context in the equation a way to undermine the hurtful meaning of the word itself?

Joanna - The Green-Eyed Monster: Envy is nothing to be Jealous of

1. Important words/terms: (as defined in Merriam Webster dictionary and Encarta dictionary)

• Insidious- slowly and subtly harmful or destructive
• Endemic- belonging or native to a particular people or country
• Rancorous- having, showing, or arising from intense often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred
• Pedantic- too concerned with formal rules and details
• Pejorative- having negative connotations

Concepts:

• Envy is a feeling that no person in their right mind, would own up to. In doing so, a person is admitting to being mean, uncaring, and heartless, characteristics which they will most likely be rejected for. This causes a person to bottle up the emotion, in order to be considered a moral and decent person.
• In The Rhetoric by Aristotle, he believes that envy is the start of admiration. When one is envious of another, he/she will try to imitate that trait or quality. As the saying goes, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. But Epstein believes the only good thing about envy is to get rid of it.
• “Jealousy is properly restricted to contexts involving affairs of the heart; envy is used more broadly of resentful contemplation of a more fortunate person.” Epstein refers to Bryan A. Garner in his 1998 Dictionary of Modern American Usage. His idea was that although people may switch up the usage of jealous and envy, they have separate deeper meanings. Jealousy is over love, while envy is wanting something another lucky person has. To me, the quote meant that jealousy is being selfish and overbearing over a loved one, while envy is the comparison of fortunes, in money, family, friendship, careers, personality, and appearance. In other words, it is the belief that the grass is greener on the other side.

2. The main idea of this essay was to insist that jealousy and envy are not the same, and have completely different meanings. Epstein uses many examples to show the contrast. The quotation that best explained his idea is: “If jealousy is, in cliché parlance, spoken as of the ‘green-eyed monster,’ envy is cross-, squinty-, and blearily red-eyed.” He makes the contrast that to be envious is much worse than being jealous, and envy brings out the ugliness in a person.

3. Epstein included a quote from William Hazlitt: “Envy, among other ingredients, has a love of justice in it.” We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good fortune.” He felt that people are not envious of those who need or deserve something, for example, a homeless man winning the lottery, but are envious of those who do not, like a student getting a high grade based on poor work. In that case, if the reward was undeserved, there is justice in wanting a correction. However, I wonder, what if the person in question not only wants the injustice undone, but fixed upon themselves? Isn’t that being envious? And furthermore, would they even notice the injustice if not comparing their own fortune to that of another?

Plato's Myth of the Cave

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