Class Blog Reflection

Blogging was a new topic to me.  I had never thought about doing it before this class.  Whenever I would hear about a blog I would think of people complaining about their problems.  I really liked the blog experience.  Everyone brings their own perspective and experiences to a class blog and that makes each post unique.  Blogging made me write and it was enjoyable.  In all my high school English classes we did warm up writings and journals.  I hated these because we had barley any time to write and then the only way to share them was by reading them out loud.   Also these class discussions were uninteresting because everyone was the same age and had similar perspectives.  Are class blog was much more interesting because everyone had a different background and perspective.   I may keep a blog in the future but I do not know yet.  I hope we will do something like this in my next English class but probably not.  

What I didn't like about Alexander Supertramp

I liked Christopher McCandless for his sense of adventure but there are many things that I disliked about him.  I disliked how he had a know it all attitude.  There are some passages in Into the Wild were Chris McCandless discussed some survival skills with a man at Slab City, but other than that Chris thought he knew everything.  In the beginning of the book it talks about how McCandless had an answer for every question that was thrown at him.  I believe that you can learn from others.  I believe that Chris’s know it all attitude showed his arrogance.  

Mountain Zen

“The only Zen you find on top of mountains is the Zen you bring there.”

-Robert M. Pirsig

 

We discussed this quote when we were discussing Christopher McCandless.  McCandless went out into the Alaskan wilderness trying to find something.  Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild, was also trying to find something when he climbed the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska.  Both of these men had inner problems that they were trying to heal in the Wilderness.  In class we came up with a meaning of Zen as inner peace.  Going into the wilderness can be an escape from your problems, but you can only heal these problems in yourself.  You can only bring the amount of inner peace into the wilderness that you had before going. 

photo essay story of Chris McCandless

While reading Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild I realized that Chris McCandless and I have some similarities.  In my photo essay I am using pictures that I have taken to tell the story of Chris McCandless, as well as their significance to me. 

Chris McCandless went on an adventure across the country, down to Mexico, and up to Canada and Alaska.  This is a picture of a backpack, a .22 caliber rifle, beat up cheap hiking boots, and bags of rice.  This is what Chris McCandless (Alexander Supertramp) took into the Alaskan wilderness.  Christopher McCandless took a backpack with some supplies, bags of rice, non-insulated or weatherproof hiking boots, and a .22 rifle.  McCandless didn’t take necessary supplies such as an axe, bug dope, snowshoes, compass, and map.  This shows how unprepared McCandless was going into the wilderness.  I am similar to Chris McCandless in the way that I have done things unprepared.  I hiked around in tennis shoes and used my school backpack, until I recently got proper gear.   

 

Chris McCandless had an unexpected turn when his car was damaged by a flash flood.  McCandless neglected the warning signs and took his car where he wasn’t suppose to go.  This is a picture of a warning sign showing no vehicle access.  Even though Chris McCandless journey took an unexpected turn he just kept going.  This relates to me because I believe that you are going to have unexpected turns in life and you just have to go with them. 

This is picture represents Chris McCandless’s life traveling on the road by foot.  This is a picture of a man with his pack, on the road.  This photo use to be a silhouette but I had to edit it in photoshop because I scanned a print.  This photo has no significance to me but it represents McCandless. 

 

Chris McCandless valued his freedom.  McCandless had the freedom on the open road.  This photo is of wild horses in Arizona.  These horses have the freedom to roam across the landscape, as long as there aren’t fences.  I value my freedom too. 

This photo represents Chris McCandless trip to Alaska.  Alaska is where Chris McCandless walked into the wilderness.  This is a photo of snow caped mountains taken behind Yosemite.  Since I don’t have an pictures when I was in Alaska as a child, this represents Alaska.  This photo also represents nature.  Chris McCandless and I both had a love of nature. 

Chris McCandless died in the Alaskan wilderness.  This photo is of a cross in a unkempt Arizona graveyard.  The photo represents Chris’s death and the end of his story. 

Off the grid or Plugged in

In my English 100 class we discussed the topic of living off the grid or plugged in.  I may live off the grid in some ways, such as not having a Facebook, but I am still plugged into society.  I live with technology like an IPod and Computer.  Most people in our society live plugged in.  I believe living plugged in is taking part in anything in mainstream society.   Many people believe they could live a life off the grid, without their technology but they couldn’t go a minute without their cell phone or IPod.   I think living off the grid is an interesting Ideal, but I think it is difficult in today’s society.  People who try to live off the sometimes fail because in today’s society it might require giving up your possessions and living in the wilderness.  I believe there are ways to live somewhat off the grid as well as plugged in.   There are ways to be self-sufficient as well as taking part in society. 

What I liked about Chris McCandless (Alex Supertramp)

The things I liked about Chris McCandless (Alex Supertramp) was his spirit for adventure.  Chris McCandless went on an Odyssey across the United States, and parts of Canada and Mexico.   Chris McCandless may have given up all, but he went on an adventure that most people wouldn’t do.  There are many things I didn’t like about Chris McCandless, such as his arrogance and his know it all attitude, but he was adventurous.  Chris McCandless says in his letter to Ron Franz that, “that the very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure.”  McCandless knew how to have an adventure.  I also agreed with McCandless when he says in his letter “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences.”  I find happiness in my new experiences and I agree with Chris McCandless’s statement. 

 

Rubber Movie Review

            Rubber is a comedy/ horror film directed by Quentin Dupieux that stars Stephen Spinella, Roxane Mesquida, Wings Hauser and more.  I came across this film on TV last year and found it interesting and I enjoyed it.  It is more of a comedy and less of a horror movie and is very obscure.  Rubber is the story of Robert, a tire, who discovers his telepathic powers.  Robert can roll around and can destroy things with his mind.  The film is set in the desert and starts off with Robert rolling around.  Robert is harmless until he is run over by a truck driver.  After that Robert sets his sits on a small desert town.

There isn’t a reason to this film and no reason is this films major theme.  The Police Lieutenant, Chad, describes the theme of no reason in these quotes.  In the beginning of the film Lieutenant Chad describes his theory of no reason and describes “the film you are about to see today is an homage to the "no reason" - that most powerful element of style.”  “You probably never gave it a thought, but all great films, without exception, contain an important element of no reason. And you know why? Because life itself is filled with no reason. Why can't we see the air all around us? No reason. Why are we always thinking? No reason.”

One part of this film that really has no reason is that there is a group of tourists watching the tire out in the desert.  I have forgotten why they are out in the desert or if there is even a reason. 

I describe this film as obscure and weird but that is why I enjoyed it.  I thought this film was funny and original.  A major part of the film that I enjoyed is the shots of the desert.  I enjoyed the landscape and the shots of the open road and the run down motels.  I also thought it was interesting how they filmed the tire rolling around.  I don’t know how they did it but it is interesting.  I would recommend this film to a person who likes weird films.  This film is meant to be weird and funny and if you try to find reason in it you won’t get it. 

The Kite Runner Book Trailer

Khaled Hossseini’s novel the Kite Runner is filled with themes of friendship, fear, cowardice, sins, guilt, loss, love, and redemption.  The Kite Runner is the story two boys, Amir and Hassan, growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan.  One boy is the son of a rich merchant and the other is the son of their Hazaran servant.  Both boys lost their mothers when they were young, but share and unbreakable bond because they nursed from the same women. 

The boys are raised in the same house but live in different worlds.   The boys live culturally different lives.  Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan as Hazaran.   Amir lives a privileged life and Hassan the life of the servant. 

Amir is fearful and never stands up for himself.  Hassan fights all Amir’s fights because of their friendship.  One day the boys encounter an older boy named Assef.  Assef is a brutal and racist boy, who has the nickname Assef the ear eater.  Hassan saves Amir from Assef, but Assef will be back. 

Kite fighting plays a major part in Afghanistan’s winter.  Kite fighting is where the Afghan come together in a competition where they try to cut each others kites.  Kite runners then run after the kites to catch them.  Hassan is the best kite runner in Kabul.  In the winter of 1975, Hassan runs his last kite.  Assef brutally attacks Hassan and Amir watches but is to cowardly to stop it.  Amir and Hassan go their separate ways because of this and are later separated by war.  Amir goes to America and Hassan stays in Afghanistan.

Many years later Amir returns to Afghanistan, where he learns of the lies he and Hassan were told.  Amir learns that there is a way to redeem what he did to Hassan.  Amir learns that “There is a way to be good again.”

 

6 word memoir

Takeing Wrong Turns Makes The Adventure

My six word memoir is Taking Wrong Turns Makes The Adventure.   There have been times where I set out to go somewhere and then I took a wrong turn and went somewhere different.  Whether it is traveling somewhere or walking around town the journey is not a means to the end but what you do along the way.  Sometimes you can make set plans and other times you should just go with things.  I’ve taken wrong turns and just kept following that direction and its more interesting. 

 

 

 



5 Looks On A Book Sherman Alexie

Oppression, Poverty, Choices, Chances, Hope

                These five words describe the Sherman Alexies’s novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”  The main character Junior lives on a reservation that is full of oppression and poverty.  Junior’s reservation is poor and lacks the resources for him to have choices and chances.  Junior must deal with the oppression of his reservation school system.   Junior is sick of being poor and hopes for a better life.  Junior decides to leave the reservation and go to an all-white school where he will have the choices and chances to have a better life. 

I drew this sketch that represents my 5 words.  This is my own drawing of a cartoon from the book that shows hope.  In my sketch I have arrows pointing one direction saying oppression and poverty and in the other direction it shows arrows saying chances, choices, hope.  The arrows with oppression and poverty are pointing to the reservation because those are the things Junior will deal with if he stays on the reservation.  The arrows showing chances, choices, and hope are pointing to Reardan where Junior will be able to have a better life.  The sign showing 22 miles is meant to show the way to Reardan because Reardan is 22 miles away from the Reservation. 

 

Class Topic: I, Tweet, Therfore I Am

 

In my English 100 class we read an article called “I, tweet, Therefore I am.”  This article discusses how people use social media sites to convey a fake persona of how they want others to perceive them.  The author, Peggy Orenstein, discusses that when she tweeted, she was describing a situation in a way that she wanted others to react to.  In today’s era of social media, people are broadcasting the smallest details of their life.  Even though a situation may be meaningless, people will broadcast it and try to make it seem meaningful.   Many people live less in the moment of what is really happening, but more in the moment of what they want people perceive of them. 

Freedom Advertisement

I picked an advertisement that represented freedom and individuality for my English class.   I had to find an advertisement that represented American ideals like cool, beauty, freedom, individuality, or etc.  The advertisement i picked was for a clothing company called Prana clothing.  I had never herd of this company until I say the advertisment in Outside Magazine.  They sell clothing for people who travel and for activities like climbing and yoga.  There motto in the advertisment says that their clothing is for "people who live fully, play long, and travel well."  The message that I think they are trying to sell is that their clothing gives you the freedom to travel where you want and do what you want, and the clothing will last.  The slogan they have in this advertisement says "The art of living knows no bounds."  I thought that the advertisement i picked  shows the American ideal's of freedom and individuality because it shows a lone man riding a motorcycle on a remote dirt road.  The man is the only on around and has the freedom of going where he wants and doing what he wants.  The advertisement has a slogan that shows freedom because it says "Down distant paths for unmapped miles."  I found this advertisement in the August 2012 issue of outside magazine but I couldn't find the image online.