Formalism and Poisonwood Bible

Formalism (linkie)

-From what I understand through my research, Formalism relates to the text itself, "free" from the environment around it such as the author, time period, etc.

PWB and Formalism

-The text itself is the foundation of the story. The narrative that is provided to us readers in conveyed through Oreleanna, Leah, Rachel, Adah, and Ruth May. Each of their respective voices differ and offer separate views on the same event. For example, Rachel as a narrative can be a trying experience. There are numerous times when Rachel uses words incorrectly (granite instead of grant) and much of her narrative includes petty details and her complaints. Adah is incredibly descriptive and fluent in prose when narrating. She is observant and usually has longer paragraphs with much less dialogue. Leah's narration falls into a 'normal' category. She includes many stories and incidents in her chapters that keep the plot moving. Ruth May provides a comic relief, the world viewed through the eyes of a small and innocent child. These narrations are incredibly interconnected. They display the contrasting experiences of the characters. Oreleanna opens up each section and is written from the future. Since she is the mother in the story, her narrative is usually all encompassing, a steady point of focus.

Difficulties

On the river when Marlow and his men and the 'cannibals' are moving, they encounter the fog and hear the voices and then they get attacked. I know that was a brief summary but my point or lack thereof is 'what just happened?' After I finished that passage I was confused as to why Conrad had put the arrow attack scene in that order. They ask, "Are they going to attack us?" Then they don't and then they do. 

I am just confused on the significance/meaning of this entire passage. I know its important (it might be that gut feeling you get after being in English classes for so long) I just don't understand. What is the purpose, why are the 'cannibals' and the natives so opposed to each other (are they from different tribes)? 

Juicy Quotoure

From page 69

"They were men enough to face the darkness."

This quotation hearkens back to what we had just studied and discussed in King Leopold's Ghost, mainly the psychology of why these men conquers Africa. Men's worth relied heavily on their masculinity and their overall 'manliness'. In the context of Heart of Darkness I believe that this will feature heavily.

This hints to a future where Marlow may or may not have to 'man up' in order to survive and make history. Conrad makes a reference to the 'darkness' of Africa here and mentions how the white men had to wrestle and tangle and conquer the darkness, being man enough to do so.

Where There Aren't No Ten Commandments

This chapter focused on slavery in the Congo and the interactions/wars/rebellions between the natives and the colonizers. This is the first chapter where slavery is discusses at length and features a rare account Ilanga which contributes to the 'African Voice' sub theme within the text.

"Where There Aren't No Ten Commandments" follows a strange but understandable outline. It opens with details of Western luxuries in Congo. These luxuries are only for the whites there and is contrasted with the treatment of the Congolese. This is where the chapter starts discussing slavery. Hochschild reveals information about the 'chicotte', a whip used to punish the slaves. 

Several accounts and testimonies are detailed in this chapter as well, accompanied by photos that mirror the chronological order of the information Hochschild already told the reader. 

In concern to the ultimate question, I believe that this chapter mirrors much of the attitude and treatment that exists today in Africa. Exploitation and slavery may look different but the fundamental building blocks of these concepts remain the same. First world countries are still exploiting Africa and slavery still exists.


Quiz Questions
1.Why is slavery first “nakedly” addressed first in this chapter? No euphemisms or analogies.
2. Why do you think at the end of the chapter, page 139, there is a translation from French to English for the white people songs, but no African dialect for the song the Africans sang?
3. What did Congo provide for the male youth of Europe?
4. How does Lefranc’s observations/account affect our perception of life in Congo?
5. While the use of the slaves for the railroad is described, very briefly, why is there no further mention of the railroad and its progress?

Questions on Congo

crisis group

2. What does the Western world find so fascinating about Africa? Specifically, why the Congo region, its river, and its forests?

Resources. There is no regulation or opposition for the Westerners to reap the benefits of Congo's natural resources. I think the Westerners found Africa as a new, explored virgin land full of people they believed were savages and below them. Not only did Congo's region/Africa as a whole provide a safer route to Asia for spices, it also had resources. With their advanced guns and steel they were able to take these resources without much trouble as the native there were unable to compete against such technology.

In the present day, we still are exploiting Congo (mining) especially American companies (exploiting). Its the minerals and lumber and the cheapness of it all that makes Western interest so strong. The four main minerals that are mined in Congo are

• Cobalt 
• Diamonds
• Gold
• Copper

These are precious metals that are worth a lot and sell a lot (especially in wealthy, first world countries). As these resources contribute much to the market and the economy as a whole, the first world countries pay much attention, so much that the UN has taken a hand (UN). But these interventions aren't enough because most of these mining areas aren't regulated. Because of this, many surrounding areas such as Rwanda has taken an interest (conflict) and have caused war within the area. "former lobbyist for Mobutu and Kabila’s government in the United States and former assistant secretary of state for Africa from 1989 to 1993 argues, “Having controlled the Kivu provinces for 12 years, Rwanda will not relinquish access to resources that constitute a significant percentage of its gross national product.” (conflict) The miners are paid on average of $1-$5 a day (here). The profits that many owners of these mines are huge. 

In regards to its forests, it had been found recently there is an abuse of logging permits (here). 

• "The “Artisanal Logging Permits” are designed to allow Congolese communities to carry out small-scale logging in their forests. But in practice, they are being used by foreign loggers to exploit Congo’s forests on an industrial scale, primarily for buyers in China."
• "DRC is the second most forested country on earth and 40 million Congolese depend on the forest for income, food, building materials or medicine."

Congo is exploited, yes, but it is not just being exploited. In a sense Congo is being raped, its resources taken without consent, from its previously untouched land. 

Senior Project/Paper

For my Senior Project, I focused on alternative medicine and holistic health. My project isn't planned for several weeks but I do plan to host a seminar in which I will teach and instruct students (or whoever attends) various methods to relieve stress and pain without medication.

In regards to my paper I discussed the direct influences of Chinese/Eastern medicine on Western culture. I talked about yoga, acupuncture, and acupressure and its clear availability and integration within the Western world. What worked well was my organization of my paper. I outlined everything and formatted it so that the paragraphs regarding the different subjects mirrored each other. I began with the origins, how it worked, why it worked, and how it came into our culture and its impact.

To make it better I could have used better language or vocabulary in my paper but I wanted it to be clear s I was conflicted on my approach to syntax or sentence structure at times because I worried that I would over complicate things.

Link

Research Paper

1. Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy and why we should allow/offer it in more medical institutions because it is clearly beneficial for those suffering from severe depression and various mental disorders.

2. The medical journals and studies and the 'official websites' such as AMA or MayoClinic because these sources are credible and deal with ECT. These sources give an overall understanding of the pros and cons of ECT. These also give explanations in a technical and scholarly standard which can be hard to understand but it does show that these are professional studies and therefore credible.

3. I believe ECT is a valid treatment that should be brought to public knowledge. In these studies I have seen many testimonies that show that ECT is effective in deterring suicidal thoughts in patients. This is a way to treat a mental illness where medicine usually fails. Sometimes therapy, medication is not enough. ECT essentially reboots the brain and since we do not understand the brain as well as the other organs, we should continue to see where ECT leads us.

4. I will take much time explaining what the medical jargon refers to and essentially summarize many of the studies in a way that is understandable. I will provide a brief explanation on the anatomy of the brain and which parts of ECT are effected. I have to use my space wisely and make sure that I am able to explain the terminology behind ECT without losing the focus on ECT itself and my argument

5. I was surprised by my entire subject. This was a research paper in the sense that I didn't know anything about ECT so to find out what it was used for, why it is so effective, and the entire medical/scientific reasoning behind ECT

Weight and Beauty

Link to article

"In the past couple of decades,"

Deborah Carr discusses how important your perceptions/opinions of your physical appearance can affect your life later on. As disturbing as this may be, I can see some truth in this. Concerning the weight of women, Carr puts forth the information that women who have a normal weight in their adolescence will have a higher self esteem than women who were heavier. I see this in my cousins all the time. They are working now and high school is a distant memory for them now. But I have cousins who were popular and very pretty in high school act with confidence than the ones who were not as attractive.

I think it has to do with the fact that the successful people we see are usually attractive. Senators are usually classically, American-ly handsome. Their wives are usually pretty country club women. Celebrities function on their physical appearances and powerful people usually look decent. We don't see ugly people getting rich, getting good jobs, getting happy lives. Sure, it happens but we don't see it. 

Looks in high school can be everything. Scratch that, they are everything. You can be smart, you can be talented, you can be funny but it comes down whether or not if your face is pleasing to look at that decides how people like and treat you. Pretty girls, even if they're dumber than the gum on my shoe, get placed on a pedestal and if they do something wrong people always fondly sigh and say, "at least she's pretty." Boys can be jerks and still have the smartest girls in school swooning because they know how to give a killer grin. If your thin, people compliment your clothes more, remind you how good your figure is. 

That's the way the system goes. It wasn't meant to be like that but looks are something you either got or don't got and in high school it can make or break you. No wonder why the stings of high school linger for so long.

Women of the Bible Pt. 3

Dinah. Tamar. For anyone that might be familiar with the daughters of Jacob and David, the first word that comes to one's mind might be "rape/raped". Sadly, the daughters of these two great men are forever known as the victims of this atrocious crime. The worst part, I believe, is that in many cases their stories are untold and discouraged from being taught. Women are underrepresented in the Bible, that much is a given. Yet it is these stories that never get taught in Sunday/Sabbath schools both in Christian and Jewish tradition until the students are much older. I will be focusing on the story of Dinah.

Dinah's Basic Facts:

• Daughter of Patriarch Jacob
• Only daughter
• Was raped/kidnapped by Canaanite prince
• Brothers killed the prince and majority of the city
• Told in Genesis Chapter 34 

As a nomadic tribe, Jacob often dealt with the rulers of nearby cities as one would rent a hotel room. By a particular city (the name of which is not given), Dinah decided to visit the women in the city. There she met Shechem the prince. Shechem desired Dinah and 'defiled her' or in other words, raped her. Now according to Deuteronomy 22 (link) if a woman is raped, the man must marry her. But this is Jewish law and Shechem was not Jewish. Despite the princes' willingness to pay a bride-price, Jacob couldn't let his daughter who was the great granddaughter of Abraham just marry a heathen and let their blood mix. If they were going to marry the men of the city would have to convert and had to be circumcised.

Since grown men of the city were being circumcised, they would be in pain, probably in a fever due to lack of medication. And Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, decided that they would attack the city while the men were recovering. They killed Shechem, his father, and all the males. They then took all the wealth from the city. 

While there is more to how this story ends, Dinah's part ends there. Jacob is furious at his sons to say the least but they respond, "Should he treat our sister as a harlot?" Now that is what this entire passage has been leading up to. Simeon and Levi were defending their sister's honor. Sure she would've been married but the entire family would know that it was simply to cover up the rape. 

But a different view of this entire incident has taken on a feminist spin. Anita Diamant, author of The Red Tent, doesn't create the story on the premise that Dinah was raped but that the sex was consensual and that Dinah was truly in love with Shechem. It is an interesting point of view and certainly a modern one. And one that I don't agree with. Whether or not Dinah was really raped, I don't understand why we have to reject it. I don't think it gives power to Dinah or that it gives power to women. One can't erase an incident like that. I see Diamant trying to show that Dinah was in love but her love didn't fit in with her family's plans and wishes and wind up taking over, leaving Dinah defenseless in a patriarchal society. 

That might have been the real incident. We don't have any way to prove it. But it isn't the story in the Bible and I find it degrading to Dinah. In Exodus when listing the families of Joseph (Dinah's younger half brother), Dinah and her son is mentioned. No father. I think this shows that despite her rape, despite this horrible and traumatic incident, Dinah was able to move on with her life and raise a child that would claim heritage to one of the greatest nations at the time. 

She may not be taught in schools or included in lessons but Dinah's story is important when learning about women of the Bible. An entire chapter is dedicated to her, rare for a woman in this text. She shows the ugly side of the world, a side that existed back in those times and that she made it through and empowered herself.

Profiling Planes like a Patriot

In regards to how these essays put profiling, national security, and the USA Patriot act into perspective, I have to say that my perspective hasn't shifted at violently as i wanted to. I've been travelling outside the US since I was around one year old so in the few memories I have, I can say I remember how much easier it was to get through security. I even remember the first time I was told I wasn't allowed to bring my water bottle through security and my surprise at how tight security was. Concerning profiling, I hail from New York City where numerous Muslims or anyone who looked suspicious were pulled out of line. It was normal to see stuff like that. And I guess this is where the perspective comes into play. I didn't realize until today that pulling people of Middle Eastern physicality was and is not a normal sight to see at an airport.

While I do not think it is right to practice racial profiling (also since it's illegal), I cannot help to think about how normal, how integrated racial profiling is in our daily lives. Everyone is suspicious of the Middle Eatern looking man on the airplane or the black man walking behind them on a dark street. And when security at an airport pulls a man with a turban from the line (yes I know that those who wear turbans are not Muslims), we might be appalled that it might happen to a man who did nothing suspicious, but we probably all feel a little relieved or justify the actions. It's not right but this is our culture now. Security, national threats, safety, terrorism are apart of our generation just as much as iPhones.

The two essays concerning the USA Patriot act displays how we as a nation have been pulled between two concepts: security or rights. Are we willing to make sure we are the safest nation in the world? We are. But at what price? Our constitutional rights and privacy. It seems that there cannot be one without the other. The general population does not have the time to examine the USA Patriot act and to fully understand what it means. I don't have the time, I don't think really anyone who isn't retired or directly involved has the time. But it is important that we understand where the government stands when it comes to looking at us and our histories.