Post-modernism

My favorite style of painting is surrealism along with Miro and Dali being my favorite artist (I'm going to forces on Dali for this post though). What I love about Dali is his hyper realistic paintings with very unrealistic subject matter. I don't want to anatlize one of his works though because the surrealist were not meant to be understood since they were representing dreams that were only interpreted by those who dreamed them. I love with fact about surrealism because it really makes it as though the painter is painting for himself and not for the public... Maybe to me it makes the work more pure. 

Beloved

I am definitely going to use Beloved as one of the pieces to prepare for the AP exam. Beloved by Toni Morrison is full of essential details regarding slavery that are not normally discussed. It brings a new perspective to the situation especially to different cultures. The character Beloved is an extreme representation of the past continuing to come up regardless of how long ago it occurred. This is important because it shows how the concept of slavery will never just go away. It impacted so many lives and like Beloved, it will come back from the "dead".

Andy Warhol

In class we were talking about Warhol's paintings and how they might be commenting mass consumerism. I read a book about different celebrities and the different disorders they had and one of the celebrities was Warhol and he was a horder. My interpretation of his art work, purely from reading about his disorder and the type of worthless things he "collected," that his paintings are another way for him to find an outlet from his disorder. Again I am not a doctor 

Just a thought

Back to Beloved, I want to talk about Paul D. There is one moment in the novel where Paul D is having a flashback and he recalles one woman being nice to him after he escapes his imprisonment. He remembers that instead of the women letting him stay with her and making him sleep on the coach or the shed, she offers him a bed with cotton sheets. I found this particular part very powerful because Paul D say he was about ready to cry from her offer and interpreted it as it is the first time he is offered a bed like any human being, so therefore he is now considered a human being because he has freed himself from slavery. 

LAST BLOG POST OF THE YEAR

 Hi there everyone, I decided to create my own post rather than commenting on someone else's for this last post of the year.  I'd like to discuss what her favorite assignments/units of the year were.  In English class my favorite story that we read was Candide. I found it's hilarious plot entertaining and absolutely loved watching the play in class. In  humanities my favorite unit was studying renaissance art. Something about my Italian heritage and just the beauty of the art made that entire unit enjoyable for me to presentation and ultimately studying for the test. Special thanks to Mrs. Quinet and Ms. King to making me a better student during all of those 90minute periods  over the past 9 months.  I'm so glad that I took Humanities/AP English IV as it has better prepared me for college than any average English class would.

Future

When I was in Boston this past weekend I started thinking about the future and all of us going off to different cities and states for college. Boston was an entirely new world - it was completely unlike what I am used to down in good ole' Old Metairie (don't get me wrong, though, I loved the city) When I was there and I was forced to think about my future, I became nervous - one day we'll develop a life different from the life we have now. We'll be different people - ones who have matured and experienced the world around us, we'll know new people and develop new connections, etc. Who knows what the future has in store for us! Right now, we know where we're going to college next year, but what is going to happen when we're there? We might think we have an idea of what is going to happen next, but we truthfully have no clue. We will always remember growing up in Louisiana, but one day we might find ourselves living in California or Florida based on the paths and opportunities we chose to take. Some of us are going to school closer to home and others are going farther so while we might all have differing circumstances and opinions, a real fact we must acknowledge, whether we want to or not, is that we are growing up and we're entering the real world faster than we could've imagined. I can't believe I'm beginning my last week of high school, I can't believe I had my last plate of STM red beans and rice today, I can't believe senior chapel is only 4 days away, I can't believe after 4 years that I'm turning in my last papers and completing my last high school assignments. I remember being a freshman and going to my first senior chapel, waiting for the day that I would finally be able to do that with my class and would finally be able to ring the bell after waiting 13 years. Now that it is here, everything seems so surreal and I wonder where all the time went.

Buddha

I really like the connection that is made in the book between Buddha and Saleem. Buddha searched for his purpose and enlightenment for so long and has difficulty finding these factors. Saleem also knows that he has a larger purpose in life and he can't quite figure out what it is. Finally Buddha acquires this enlightenment that he has been searching for by meditating under a tree and realizing the Four Noble Truths. It also seems that Saleem reached a kind of enlightened state in a sense when his memory is wiped out by the bomb. He is then able to reinvent himself without the ties to his family and past. I found it to be a very interesting religious comparison.

Nuclear Bomb

When we learned about the backdrop of Hinduism behind Midnight's Children, it brought up a vague memory for me. I remembered that a nuclear scientist in the Manhattan Project once quoted "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," a line from some ancient Hindu scripture, when he was asked how he felt about the Trinity project (the first nuclear weapon detonation test in the world) years after the experiment.

So I looked it up, and the scientist happened to be J. Robert Oppenheimer, who said in a TV interview:

We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another. 

Besides the brilliant insight into the development of nuclear weapons, I was surprised to find out that the quote was from the story in the Bhagavad Gita that we learned about in Humanities and thought it was cool that I know exactly what he was talking about.

Ultimate Reality

Today in class, we talked about how post-modernists don't believe that there is a specific ultimate truth. According to them, there are multiple realties for each situation. These ideas reminded me of the discussions that we've had in religion about differences between Hinduism and Buddhism. One of the major differences between the two religions is the fact that in Hinduism there a ultimate reality of everything and one essence. In Buddhism, they argue that there is no ultimate reality and that things are constantly changing over time. Buddhists back this up with the three marks of existence. It is a very confusing concept but it reminded me exactly of these conflicting ideas.

Saleem's Ransom Note

I thought the way Rushdie wrote how Saleem composed his note to Commander Sabarmati was incredibly clever. Saleem got the letters for his note from pieces out of newspapers and each sentence he used referenced something political going on. The note was assembled from fragments of relevant history and current events in India and Pakistan, which is literally what Midnight's Children is based on. After Saleem tells us how he gets the letters for the note, he goes on to say how he rearranges history when he glues the note - another very creative move by Rushdie! Because Saleem rearranges history when he tells us his story and India's story, constantly confusing dates and events. Then Saleem tells us how he played "Murder in the Dark" and slips the note inside Commander Sabarmati's uniform. Notice the name of the game...because there is actual murder as a result of Saleem placing the "lethal" note in the Commander's jacket. I really appreciate Rushdie's creativity!

Violation of Privacy

There's definitely something really cool about being able to read someone's mind - who wouldn't want to have this power like Saleem? But thoughts are better left unread. All someone truly has to himself/herself is his/her thoughts - what goes on in our heads cannot be accessed by anyone else unless we put it on paper or we express what we're thinking out loud. Mind reading violates our privacy. I though Saleem abused his powers when he used them to find out what his crush, Evie Burns, was thinking in order to see what he had to do to get her to like him. It is so invasive and unfair. Not to mention, a mind is a terrible thing to read. As much as I would like the ability to read minds and find out what people honestly think about, I might end up regretting it... There are a lot of people out there who have disturbing thoughts, to know the truth about what people think of me, to look inside someone's thoughts and experience their guilty pasts, etc... it is all very uncomfortable to think about.

This is irrelevant, but as I read the part about Saleem not being able to read Shiva's mind, I thought about Edward not being able to read Bella's mind in Twilight lolol

TCU

I went to TCU this weekend to see some friends and the school. As most of you know, I have been set on LSU since I was a fetus. That hasn't changed, I am very excited to be attending Louisiana State University in the fall, but I do wish I kept somewhat of an open mind before deciding. Being at TCU was so interesting, it was my first time being at a college campus that was not LSU. I got there friday at about 1:30 so I had time to see classrooms, students, and I met some professors. I did not go on a scheduled visit, my friends brought me around I just thought it was so interesting seeing a different school. I could not be happier with my decision of LSU and I think I would have chosen LSU no matter what, just looking back on it, I wish I visited more places. Does anyone else wish they would've visited more colleges or done anything differently during their college searching process?

Tear Drops

One scene in the book that keep playing over and over in my head and a constant battle on whether or not I like the Brass Monkey, is when the Monkey beats up Sonney. That whole scene was so vivid in my head, I could just picture Sonney bunched up in a ball with beefy swimmers towering over him and kicking and punching over and over again and poor Sonny just crying his eyes out because all he did was love. For the importance of this scene, I am not sure, other than it being incredibly disturbing. The only thing that I can think of, but sounds like a stretch, is a relation to the language riots. The language riot is all about how the language said indian loves is the one they one to be prevalent, but there are multiple groups who want the same thing, so they beat each other up about it. The Brass Monkey and Sonney both have different view on love so the monkey beats him up with her swim gang.

French Quarter Beggars

I was walking in the French Quarter today and I saw your typical beggar on the side of the street. I noticed that a lot of them had dogs and I got really sad, but seeing them also reminded me of the beggars in Midnight's Children. Wee Willie Winkie wanted to break Shiva's legs in order to get people to want to donate more money to them; likewise, I felt that most of the beggars in the quarter bring their animals so people will feel upset for the animal and thus give more money. If you think about it, there is definitely something very corrupt about this system - tugging at people's heart strings for more donations and using someone innocent (like a dog or your injured children) to gain something. 

Women Leaders

Today in class, Mrs. Quinet said something that stuck with me. She was talking about Indira Gandhi and she said "It was weird because her husband died and she was not tied to any man at that point except for the fact that her father was Nehru." I thought that it was interesting that a woman had to be tied to a man to mean something. But if you thought about it, Indira Gandhi did so much for India as a country. She did all of this without a man by her side and did it very well. She reminds me of Queen Elizabeth. Even though the current queen of England has a husband, she is the one you always hear about. Both of these ladies are strong leaders who did great for their country. I just hate that women always need to be compared to the men they are with when women can shine all alone.

Definition of Nation

The other day in class we discussed what exactly it means to be a nation. They split up the territories of India based solely on their languages. Is that what it should be based on? Nations are thought of as one shared culture. Language is definitely a major aspect of a culture. In some ways, this split could be thought of as more understandable than if the territory was actually just split up by natural divisions such as rivers. It's hard to define what makes a nation a nation. My younger sister came home from school the other day with a paper that had the pledge of allegiance on it. However, each word that would be considered tough for a second grader had a flap and under the flap was a simpler and more understandable word. The world for nation was simply country, but as we discussed in class, there is so much more to the meaning of nation than that. What do y'all think it means to be a nation?

Passing On Your Story

I was listening to a song in the car yesterday and the lyrics were "I'm well acquainted with villains that live in my bed / They beg me write them so they'll never die when I'm dead". It reminded me of the whole point of the story of Midnight's Children. He is writing the story in order to pass it on to the readers and share his story. That way when he finally "falls apart" his story will still live on. This song lyrics by Halsey is saying that these "villains" want her to write about them so that when she dies their beings will live on. This has been the main purpose of the past few stories that we've read so it immediately clicked in my mind as extremely relevant.

Saleem=India

Throughout the entirety of Midnight's Children, Salem is meant to represent India. Upon the language march, there is definitely a parallel between this situation and Saleem. Saleem has to hear the many different voices in his head and he has no choice about that. Just as he must hear these many voices in his head, the Indian government and India in general must hear the many languages of the protestors in this march. This is yet another way that Saleem represents India as a whole. The government would probably rather not hear the protesting voices but they have to. Just as Saleem has no choice but to hear the voices of others and of all of the midnight's children who also represent India.

The Taj Mahal

Today in class Mrs. Quinet was discussing the Taj Mahal and I thought I would look up some background on this amazing building. So here it goes! The building was commissioned in the year 1632. It took more than 20 years to build the whole complex. It was built of white marble on the bank of the Yamuna river. This amazing structure was built to house the tomb of Shah Jahan's dead wife. The whole complex cost about 32 million rupees, the indian currency, which equals about 52.8 billion rupees today, or about $827 million today. I just thought it was interesting that this amazing building was built such a long time ago.

Throwback to Things Fall Apart

Last weekend I went to a Model UN conference, where I represented Nigera in the African Union.  We were discussing possible  Solutions to the Islamic terrorism problem in Africa. One proposed solution was a program to fight terrorism funded by a new farming regime. The delegate from Tanzania suggested growing sweet potatoes because they are a native crop to Africa. In the next caucus the delegate from Rwanda stood up and corrected the previous delegate as there are multiple species of sweet potatoes and that the YAM is species indigenous to Africa. I immediately sent him a note asking if he read things fall apart at which he replied "OKONKWO's RAGE CANNOT BE CONTAINED!" We then had a nice conversation during the next unmod.

Hindu Gods

I decided to do a "recap" post going over the information of the Hindu gods and goddesses we learned the other day just for studying purposes later down the road.

Hanuman

Hanuman:
-the king of the monkeys
-renowned for courage, power, and faithful, selfless service
-major hero in the Ramyana

Ganesh

Vishnu:
-the "preserver"
-keeps chaos from happening

Brahma:
-the "creator"
-earth spirit

Shiva:

Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva

-the "destroyer"
-in his domestic role, he is a family man

Parvati:
-Shiva's wife (better half of Shiva)
-goddess of fertility, love and devotion
-gentle, nurturing

Ganesh:
-Shiva's son
-elephant-headed god of wisdom and learning
-remover of obstacles

Ram:
-incarnation of Vishnu
-suppresses supernatural powers and doesn't remind people all the time that he's a god

Ravana

Ravana:

Parvati

-a negative influence, trickster
-10-headed king of demons

Ram

Indian vs. Native American

As we started reading and discussing Midnight's Children, I thought about the terms "Indians" and "Native Americans." I know I've always used Indian and Native American interchangeably when talking about the French and Indian War, for example. Columbus applied the name "Indian" mistakenly to the indigenous people he first encountered when he came to the New World. By giving these people the title of Native American, there was no confusion between the indigenous people of America and the indigenous people of India. So why do people still associate the term "Indian" with Native Americans and Indians from the Republican of India?

Religion And English Connections

It's been great that throughout this school year I have been able to see a large amount of connections between my religion class and Humanities. Upon reading last night, I was immediately able to recognize the letter written by Nadir Khan that said "I divorce thee" three times. This was a big deal in our religion class because we talked about how crazy it was that in the Islam religion, women are treated very differently than men. All the man has to do is say that he wants to divorce the woman and she has no say. This perfectly describes the divorce that we see in Midnight''s Children. I've witnessed many great connections throughout the year with English and Religion and it really enhances my experience in each class.

Is Love A Choice?

In Midnight's Children, Amina does not really love Ahmed but she forces herself to love him day by day by picking a feature to admire each day. This concept reminded me of a post that I saw on the internet. It basically said that some young people were asked if love was a choice or a feeling and they all said a feeling. When older, married couples were asked, they all said a choice. This study became an observation of the difference between a working relationship and one that will eventually fail. This study definitely relates to how Amina chooses to fall in love with Ahmed. Do you think love is a choice?

Beloved=Slavery

Today in class, we talked about the many things that Beloved represents. She is the true to life presence of the baby's ghost, an African girl who experienced the Middle Passage, and she is the material manifestation of the many Africans that suffered from slavery and the Middle Passage. I think, in a way, Beloved also represents slavery as a whole. Throughout the ways that Morrison portrays Beloved's character and how people think of her, we see the similarities between the girl and this widely discussed topic. Like slavery, Beloved is seen as a very negative character. However, she is still for some reason accepted. Many white people in the book didn't like slavery, but they still just kind of accepted that it occurred. Also, at the end of the book, as time goes on, they all work together to get rid of Beloved just like people all over had to work together to get rid of slavery. In these ways, Morrison is using Beloved to represent the issues of slavery.