From Death Comes New Life October 31, 2008

            Although Steven Murphy, at first, found poetry a little “strange” or “complex”, he came to love and value one poem in particular: The Emigrant Irish.  He willingly admits that this poem did not immediately stand out to him, but it later acquired more meaning that was applicable to his life.  When his nephew, Keenan, was diagnosed with a deadly genetic disorder, he saw the words in a new light that “struck” him in a new way.  He sought support during this time of grief and suffering from anywhere he could find it, including the poem.  The words made it all better “for a moment”, do it therefore had great value for him.

Eavan Boland

           Even though he witnessed the “long-suffering” of both his nephew and the rest of his family, this poem by Eavan Boland could have made him see the “patience” and “fortitude” that the child had.  It works for Steven Murphy because he can think about the good things that he received from his nephew’s life, and not just the pain and suffering.  Keenan survived where “we could not even live”, and it is now time for his “possessions to become our power”.  His patience and fortitude were passed on to everyone who encountered him, including Murphy.  Murphy can perhaps see from this poem that his nephew’s life had definite meaning, and go out and apply everything that he learned from him.   Thus, a new sort of life came from death.

So Google Really IS Making Us Stupid… October 31, 2008

I can completely understand why the students in the article that we read today did not understand the short story: Brooksmith. I myself do not completely understand the short story or its meaning. I found myself stopping after each paragraph to ask myself “what just happened?” I was reading the story, but not really reading it. I believe that it was difficult for me and other students to fully comprehend (and enjoy) because of the very mature and complex form of writing. I have honestly never seen so many commas and conjunctions in.my life. It is definitely true that the electronic age has changed the way that we think and thus the way that we comprehend older stories. We have gotten used to being handed quick facts in short sentences. We like this because we do not have to really think. (remember, I believe in laziness) We now have so many “modem conveniences” that many activities that seemed peaceful in the past seem too laborious and time consuming. We do not understand literature as it is displayed in Brooksmith because we have not been raised reading mature literature. Decades ago, students could have probably breezed through this story. However today, it took us almost thirty minutes plus a major headache to get through it. This is even more evidence to the argument that our minds are changing (possible for the worse).

The Difference Between Life and Death October 26, 2008

            The landscape in All the Pretty Horses paints a picture of what the author, Cormac McCarthy, wants us to feel while reading the novel.  The detailed descriptions of the landscape that he provides enable us to connect to John Grady Cole and how he feels along his journey.  We can compare the landscape that John Grady observes in the United States to that of Mexico.  From this comparison, we can then begin to understand why the sixteen year old boy decides to set out on such a dangerous adventure.  Through the imagery, we can feel as if we are riding along next to John Grady, Rawlins, and Blevins every step of the way – experiencing the joy, sorrow, fear, and anguish along with them.

            From the very beginning of the novel, McCarthy sets a gloomy, somber mood as he describes the “dark” and “cold” day (3).  He reinforces his detailed descriptions with the form that he chooses to use.  All speech is limited to two or three words, but descriptions of how John Grady feels and what he thinks are lengthy.  This reinforces for me, the reader, exactly how sad and serious the morning is.  With the form and imagery combined, I begin to formulate my own idea of what this particular morning looks like, and begin to characterize John Grady Cole.

            Later that same day, when John Grady travels out “west of the house”, McCarthy’s descriptions of the landscape change slightly, but are still very somber.  He describes how the “sun sat elliptic under the reefs of bloodred clouds before him” (5).  The use of the word “bloodred” makes the reader think about the sparse, dead landscape that John Grady faces.  This is the landscape where John Grady finds an “old horseskull in the brush” with the “comicbook teeth loose in their sockets” (6).  The descriptions of the barren, dead desert allow us to see one of the factors that led John Grady and Rawlins to run away.  There was nothing left for them in Texas, but Mexico housed everything that they had always dreamed of.

            As soon as the young travelers crossed the border into Mexico, they “saw below the country of which they’d been told” (93).  This country was alive.  The “grasslands lay in a deep violet haze” as opposed to the barren, bloodred, desert back in Texas.  The “waterfowl were moving north” while “vaqueros drove cattle” (93). The sheer movement that McCarthy describes lends to the idea that Mexico is alive.  The hacienda that John Grady and Rawlins come upon seems to be the exact definition of what they were looking for.  In this landscape, “natural springs” flow and “species of fish not known anywhere else on earth” live (97).  This was the ranch where they could find jobs.  This was the ranch where they could be free.  This was the ranch where they could live out their dream.

            All in all, the descriptions of the landscape provide us with a way to make direct comparisons between Texas and Mexico.  Whereas there was only death in Texas, there is freedom, opportunity, and life in Mexico.  McCarthy utilizes his descriptions of the landscape to connect the reader with John Grady Cole, and allow them to become immersed in the novel.

Lets all run away to Mexico… October 16, 2008

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.  Therefore, according to Goodmama, the first one “better be good.”  My first impression of John Grady Cole is definitely a good one.  He seems to have his priorities set, even though he hasn’t exactly planned out the rest of his life.  We see from the very beginning of All the Pretty Horses that John Grady Cole values the ranch life that he lives.  He looks out over the ranch where the “red wind blew out of the west” (5).  I can see that he loves the ranch because he isolates himself there in a time of grief. (after his father’s funeral)  I can also see that he values the ranch from the fact that he asks the owner: “why couldnt you lease me the ranch?”, even though he is only sixteen (15).  He feels a connection to the ranch, and therefore feels prepared to own and operate it.  This event also displays John Grady Cole’s sense of determination.  Even when he is told that he cannot have the ranch, he consults a lawyer to see if there is any way that would be entitled to own the property.

I can also see that John Grady Cole is a thinker, and is usually a very quiet young man.  He has the ability to out-think his cousin: Rawlins.  The two boys argue over whether or not Rawlins would have been born if his parents had never met (26-27).  Even though their discussion is brief, John Grady Cole has the ability to convince Rawlins that he is right by applying his well-thought-out logic.  Their argument doesn’t really have anything to do with the plot of the novel (so far at least), but serves to reveal a little bit of who John Grady Cole really is.

As the novel progresses, Cormac McCarthy shows us that John Grady Cole holds true to his values and love of the west (ranch), even though he is running away from everything that is making his life complicated.  There is no “reason for stayin”, so he and Rawlins flee for Mexico (27).  Even though two teenagers running away to Mexico sounds like a REALLY bad idea, John Grady Cole and Rawlins conduct themselves in a very mature manner.  They take care of both themselves and their horses very well, and nothing bad has happen on their journey….yet.

McCain vs. Obama: Energy and Global Warming October 14, 2008

Brought to you by Ginna and Ian!!

Senator John McCain:

Senator John McCain claims that he is an environmentalist who will “make global warming a priority”.  He wants to reduce dependence on foreign oil and utilize more nuclear energy.  In the past few years, McCain has supported caps on carbon dioxide emissions, especially from the automobile industry.  Also, he intends for the United States to join the Kyoto Protocol.  However, in order for him to make this agreement, Senator McCain will require China and India to join as well.  Experts sat that this condition is “unlikely to be met at the moment.”  He favors off shore drilling, but drilling off the shores of Alaska will take ten years to have a positive effect on the country.  The 45 new nuclear power facilities could be a step in the right direction towards clean energy, but these facilities will not be a part of federal spending.  In order to complete his goal, John McCain will rely on private funding and investments.  But is the economy really in a position that will allow for such great investments?  Overall, McCain has recently come to support several plans that could potentially be better for the environment, but many of these plans have a slim chance of actually working out.

Senator McCain has promised to:

•  Financially support research for a battery powered car that could travel 120-200 miles on a single charge.
•  Start off shore drilling projects as soon as possible
•  Build new nuclear power plants, develop clean coal technology, increase use of flex fuel, and increase use of solar/wind power.

As for Senator McCain’s voting record on the issue of global warming and energy, he has not voted at all.  Senator McCain has bee absent for the past 15 votes in the senate that were crucial in solving the energy crisis.  Later, one of his spokesman said that he would have voted in favor of big oil companies.  When he did vote, McCain voted against the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  This act would create tax incentives for people to curb their carbon emissions.  He did however, support and write the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act.  This act would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Senator Barack Obama

Barack Obama believes in the conservation of energy, the reinvigoration of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the restructuring of the initiatives for clean air and water in our nation.  In order to do this, Barack Obama wants to provide tax breaks for families that invest in hybrid cars with low tax emissions and to create green jobs by the millions to reduce unemployment, conserving our natural resources in the process.  Barack Obama wants to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and follow through with initiatives like the Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline.  Yet, while this issue is of great importance, I have trouble grasping the fact that he will be able to respond to our dynamic and volatile economic situations in the face of this impending environmental issues.  Will he be able to synthesize efforts between the working to bolster the economy and to change the way America thinks about our environment?  And, if so, how does he plan to make these efforts work in our government system if the Congress is controlled by a conservative majority?

Barack Obama has promised to:

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

These are the key issues that he hopes to combat as President, and he has rolled advertisements about McCain’s stance on the environment, claiming, “McCain wants to give [oil companies] another $4 billion in tax breaks,” which is something that we should avoid since the oil companies are taking most of our money anyway with their overpriced gas.

According to OnTheIssues.org, Barack Obama’s voting record holds that he:

• Passed tax credit for installing E85 ethanol at gas stations. (Feb 2008)
• Voted YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jun 2007)
• Voted YES on making oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal. (Jun 2007)
• Voted YES on factoring global warming into federal project planning. (May 2007)
• Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska’s ANWR. (Nov 2005)
• Voted YES on $3.1B for emergency oil assistance for hurricane-hit areas. (Oct 2005)
• Voted YES on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%). (Jun 2005)
• Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mar 2005)

Barack Obama’s voting record does indicate that he is a driving force in the Senate with respect to changing our environmental standards and to pushing our awareness of the issues of global climate change.

Sources:

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Barack_Obama.htm

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/mccain_gw_record.html

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/mccain-promises-solutions-on-energy/3861405463

Examining Contemporary Political Culture #2 October 8, 2008

          The political discussion that I watched was a discussion on environmental changes from CNBC.  During this discussion, both Obama and McCain both share their views on the energy crisis, and how they propose to make change.  I would not classify this discussion as a civil dialogue because the candidates were not addressing each other directly.  However, they were both addressing the same issue to the same audience.  Therefore, I would classify this discussion as an informal debate.

          I learned from this video clip that Barack Obama supports alternative fuels.  He brings up that a new energy economy can “create 5 million new jobs”, but it requires an investment.  He is willing to make this investment for the betterment of the country, economy, and environment.  Obama also brings up the fact that Senator McCain has not supported alternative fuels in the past.  In fact, he voted against alternative fuels twenty three times.  This shows me that Senator McCain may talk about how important alternative fuels are, but is not willing to do anything about it.

          The energy crisis IS very important in our everyday lives.  This discussion showed me that Obama has set out a plan to work with private investors and scientists in order to develop alternative fuel methods.  He recognizes that drilling oil off the shores of Alaska will not solve all of our problems, and is willing to do something that will.

Examining Contemporary Political Culture: #1 October 8, 2008

            When I watched the vice-presidential debate on October 2^ndon CNN, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned.  Frankly, I expected to hear a couple of old people argue over issues that I had never heard about, and that would never pertain to me.  However, both Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin discussed issues that were very interesting to me.  The two vice-presidential candidates covered a wide range of topics including taxes, healthcare, the economic crisis, the energy crisis, and foreign affairs.  I, however, was most interested in taxation and foreign affairs.  These are two topics that I take very seriously because they affect me and my loved ones directly.

            During their heated debate, Palin and Biden argued back and forth over these issues.  In the end, I learned a great deal about each candidate’s plans for taxation and the war in the Middle East.  I, personally, agree with Obama and Biden on both of these issues.  After hearing both sides, Biden’s idea of “fairness” makes the most sense to me.  He pointed out that “The economic engine of America is middle class.”  Therefore, he and Obama propose tax breaks for the middle class instead of the wealthy since the middle class is currently “struggling”.  I also agree with their “clear plan” on how to handle the issues in the Middle East.  Senator Biden stated that “You’ve got to have a time line to draw down the troops and shift responsibility to the Iraqis.”  On the other hand, John McCain has not set out a clear plan for leaving Iraq.  He simply says that we will stay there until the war is won; no matter how long that takes.

            This heated debate allowed me to see the clear differences between the two vice-presidential candidates, and make an informed decision.

Woolf vs. Faulkner October 3, 2008

Anything you can do, I can do better...

...I can do anything better than you.

  

 

       Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner use the stream of consciousness technique in very different ways.  Through this technique, both authors provide prospective from an array of different characters, but the ways they go about accomplishing their goals are different.  Woolf’s writing flows on one “stream” throughout the entire novel.  She jumps around from the thoughts of one character to another, without any real break between them.  Faulkner on the other hand uses a much more logical and structured form of writing.  He divides the novel into several “chapters” that guide the reader through the thoughts of the Brunden family, instead of forcing the audience to figure it out for themselves. 

      Both Woolf and Faulkner make the reader interpret for themselves the meaning of a character’s thoughts.  Whether it is Septimus’ thoughts on the passing plane or Darl’s thoughts on the passing of his mother, we must relate our own feelings to those of the characters.  We therefore formulate our own, unique characterization of each person.

      William Faulkner’s use of the stream of consciousness technique in As I Lay Dying is different from Virginia Woolf’s because of his more structured and straight forward way of presenting his novel.  Through his smaller chapters, the reader can see a clear divide between thoughts, and therefore characterize each character individually.  An example of this is when Vardeman contemplates his mother’s death.  Faulkner provides the point of view of all of the characters for us, but through the way that he structures his “chapters”, we can easily pick out Vardeman’s impressions.  We can then proceed to interpret them for ourselves.  In my favorite chapter (so far) Vardeman simply states “My mother is a fish.” (84). If this line were inserted into Woolf’s form of the stream of consciousness technique, it would not make much sense.  However, Faulkner lays everything out for us in a very logical way so that it is easier for us to interpret the novel.  Even though it is still somewhat difficult to understand Vardeman’s statement on its own, (without our ingenious discussion) Faulkner expressed his ideas in the best possible way.  He may have wantedfor this line to cause some confusion.  This is because it forced us to think about a deeper meaning, and relate to Vardeman’s feelings.  Now, for me at least, I feel a stronger connection to Vardeman because I saw and interpreted one, single thought.

            Virginia Woolf’s approach to the stream of consciousness technique seems a little more confusing.  The thoughts flow from character to character without any real break.  In some places, I didn’t even know who was talking!!  Even thought this strategy is slightly different from Faulkner’s, I believe that it is still very effective.  Woolf incorporates certain actions such as the plane that Septimus sees or Mrs. Dalloway’s party to tie all of the characters together and flow from one to another in her own logical way.  Even though it is not as straight forward as Faulkner’s approach, Woolf still makes a template for her reader to follow through the plot, and forces the audience to interpret actions and thoughts for themselves.