The United States was not founded on the Utopian ideals found in More’s Utopia, because The Federalist papers show that our Founding Fathers persuaded Americans to support The Constitution and they did not simply inform them of The Constitution. Although the Founding Fathers approved of the Constitution they felt obligated to persuade the American people. They took it to the public to be possibly be rejected, and used persuasion to ensure that it was accepted.
The Federalist Papers began the tradition of using logic to persuaded the American vote. Imagine, if no American citizen knew about the health care plan and it were only discussed by Representatives. One day newspapers informed us of a new health care plan we have never heard of, and that it would shortly be put into law simply because the Senate and House ratified it. As Americans this seems wrong because we expect our Representatives to persuaded us before they make a choice. Our political system is based on the art of persuasion. The Federalist Papers are evidence that the authors of the constitution believed in the very real and very powerful art of persuasion to citizens they felt were educated enough to make an informed choice.
Utopia is based on informing it’s citizens and not persuading them. The government informs citizens about matters such as clothing, jewelry, food, education, occupation, were you live, and how long you will live there. Throughout the entire book I don’t think persuasion is mentioned once. It seems that Utopians just are Utopians without any convincing necessary. Even in section discussion elections there is no mention of debates, campaigning, or newspaper articles. None of the Utopian representatives appear to feel any obligated to persuaded the citizens for their vote. The distinction between More’s Utopia and Madison’s Constitution is The Federalist papers; in the United States we expect to be persuaded and not merely informed.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
get out of that chair
I consider myself relatively healthy. The last few years health has been a big conversation in my family. I am the youngest of nine siblings and everyone seems to be on the lookout for the perfect health plan. When I did come to college I was pretty health conscious. I have never been over weight, and I live a relatively active lifestyle. My current goal is twenty minutes every day, and I am taking a technique dance class three times a week for an hour and a half. When it comes to diet I eat fruits and vegetables, and I don’t eat a lot of meat. Of course I feel like there is room for improvement in my diet and exercise lifestyle, and the lecture gave me realistic motivation to improve and continue living in a healthy lifestyle.
For starters I am thankful that I don’t want to be a doctor, because the video of the people taking all of the man’s fat in his blood system was just about enough to make me want to start the starvation diet. I remember one time my friend and I were eating a piece of cake. She put a huge scoop of frosting on her spoon and said imagine all of this going through your blood. I gagged. It was the same feeling today, and I felt acutely aware of how false the idea that what goes into my body comes out. Rarely do I stop to ponder how what I consume goes into my veins, heart, and organs. During the clip I wondered what my insides look like now, but I spend most of the time wondering what my insides will look like in fifty years. Health is a lifelong processes, and what I consume now will influence my future. So not only should I avoid eating chocolate cake every day, but I should eat foods that will help to clean and maintain my body.
I liked the quote that “Life is an athletic event and everyday is a game,” because it made health seem more fun. What is the purpose of exercising… so you don’t die. That sounds motivational, but not really fun; I mean I don’t imagine someone saying that with a party hat on and streamers. The idea that life is a game though, and that I should stay in physical shape to keep playing gives more than just motivation but expectation to what type of healthy lifestyle I want to be living. I enjoyed this quote and plan to use it because I want to be an active and involved player in the game of life, and in order to do that I realize that I have to have active and involved training. Consequently my exercise plan will be based on my high expectations to be an active member of the game of life.
For starters I am thankful that I don’t want to be a doctor, because the video of the people taking all of the man’s fat in his blood system was just about enough to make me want to start the starvation diet. I remember one time my friend and I were eating a piece of cake. She put a huge scoop of frosting on her spoon and said imagine all of this going through your blood. I gagged. It was the same feeling today, and I felt acutely aware of how false the idea that what goes into my body comes out. Rarely do I stop to ponder how what I consume goes into my veins, heart, and organs. During the clip I wondered what my insides look like now, but I spend most of the time wondering what my insides will look like in fifty years. Health is a lifelong processes, and what I consume now will influence my future. So not only should I avoid eating chocolate cake every day, but I should eat foods that will help to clean and maintain my body.
I liked the quote that “Life is an athletic event and everyday is a game,” because it made health seem more fun. What is the purpose of exercising… so you don’t die. That sounds motivational, but not really fun; I mean I don’t imagine someone saying that with a party hat on and streamers. The idea that life is a game though, and that I should stay in physical shape to keep playing gives more than just motivation but expectation to what type of healthy lifestyle I want to be living. I enjoyed this quote and plan to use it because I want to be an active and involved player in the game of life, and in order to do that I realize that I have to have active and involved training. Consequently my exercise plan will be based on my high expectations to be an active member of the game of life.
What is the perfect race
Joy Marie Prior
14 January 2009
Sociology 112
Section 4
Homework #5
Question #1
This past semester I joined the Pow Wow hoop club, and I am preparing to perform with the Native American hoop dancing club. It has really been a good experience for me to not only learn more about cultural diversity, but I have become more curious and conscious about the very subject talked about in Chapter 5 of race and social class. While reading Worlds Apart most of my connections related back to my experiences learning hoop and what I have observed there.
I found that I agree with that statement on page 112 “Further, color, the favorite racial marker in the United States, doesn‘t correlate with much else.” My roommate has black hair, she is of European decent, but she has black hair. Instantly it seemed like she fit into the crowd of the Native American members. When we introduced ourselves most people asked my roommate what tribe she was from, but when they did not ask me (with my pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes) about my heritage. I was simply categorized as being white.
The racial subcategories within established racial categories that Sernau tries to clarify in his Hispanic American section interested me. Although I was just “white” many of the ‘getting to know you’ questions people asked each other revolved around what tribe people were from. This idea of subcategories in a race became even more apparent as we started the habit of having one person introduce themselves at the beginning of practice and their heritage. Many of the dancers are from different tribes, and they take pride in which tribe they are apart of. Unfortunately, most of the time I don’t recognize the tribal names or their origins. As I thought about this idea further I compared tribal names to something I am more familiar with. When my friend from Spanish Fork Utah says, “I am of Swedish decent,” I don’t put them into the same “white” category as myself, because I am of Irish decent.
The realization that race is solidly based on color has never struck me so hard. I think that Sernau sadly puts it well when he says on page 112, “Race is a social construction, not a biological fact.” I will forever be apart of the “white” category solidly because of my coloring, and not because of my heritage or back ground. In every history class I have always considered myself apart of the people who suppressed the slaves, when in actuality my ancestors had not even crossed the ocean yet. My people are the ones who came across with Christopher Columbus, but my ancestors did not even speak the same language as Christopher Columbus. The one that currently disturbs me is that my people are the ones who moved the Native American nations from worthless reservation to worthless reservation.
During practice heritage is the hot word, and not race. The closer we become the more I hear myself use words like Navajo, Hopi, and Cherokee. Not only that but I also hear myself as being called Irish. I remember when I was talking to Laviata one time and she told me how insulted she gets when people call her Chinese, because she is defiantly not Chinese she is a Native American. Could it simply be because as in Worlds Apart mentions everyone wants to be Indian now. The line that sticks out to me is from page 112, “Societies have created racial divisions in attempts to categorize the range of human physical diversity,” because race in all of it’s complexity and misinterpretations it is still used to put people into groups that they feel they can identify with, or more specifically races that they want other people to associate them with.
At the heart of the debate seems to be more the legacy that particular race left behind, and not the actual physical appearance. I truly think that the two edged legacy “white” has is privilege and suppressor. For example I know that when people ask me for my nationality don’t say white because that automatically makes me feel like I am a slave owner. I say that I am Irish, even though I have more English blood in me than Irish. Embarrassed slightly I admit that I want to be associated with a lighthearted, celebrating, red haired, hospitable stereotype. It does not seem enough to be just ‘white’ any more, but you have to have some other nationality to go with it. Preferably a nationality that ‘whites’ suppressed, enslaved, or discriminated against.
14 January 2009
Sociology 112
Section 4
Homework #5
Question #1
This past semester I joined the Pow Wow hoop club, and I am preparing to perform with the Native American hoop dancing club. It has really been a good experience for me to not only learn more about cultural diversity, but I have become more curious and conscious about the very subject talked about in Chapter 5 of race and social class. While reading Worlds Apart most of my connections related back to my experiences learning hoop and what I have observed there.
I found that I agree with that statement on page 112 “Further, color, the favorite racial marker in the United States, doesn‘t correlate with much else.” My roommate has black hair, she is of European decent, but she has black hair. Instantly it seemed like she fit into the crowd of the Native American members. When we introduced ourselves most people asked my roommate what tribe she was from, but when they did not ask me (with my pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes) about my heritage. I was simply categorized as being white.
The racial subcategories within established racial categories that Sernau tries to clarify in his Hispanic American section interested me. Although I was just “white” many of the ‘getting to know you’ questions people asked each other revolved around what tribe people were from. This idea of subcategories in a race became even more apparent as we started the habit of having one person introduce themselves at the beginning of practice and their heritage. Many of the dancers are from different tribes, and they take pride in which tribe they are apart of. Unfortunately, most of the time I don’t recognize the tribal names or their origins. As I thought about this idea further I compared tribal names to something I am more familiar with. When my friend from Spanish Fork Utah says, “I am of Swedish decent,” I don’t put them into the same “white” category as myself, because I am of Irish decent.
The realization that race is solidly based on color has never struck me so hard. I think that Sernau sadly puts it well when he says on page 112, “Race is a social construction, not a biological fact.” I will forever be apart of the “white” category solidly because of my coloring, and not because of my heritage or back ground. In every history class I have always considered myself apart of the people who suppressed the slaves, when in actuality my ancestors had not even crossed the ocean yet. My people are the ones who came across with Christopher Columbus, but my ancestors did not even speak the same language as Christopher Columbus. The one that currently disturbs me is that my people are the ones who moved the Native American nations from worthless reservation to worthless reservation.
During practice heritage is the hot word, and not race. The closer we become the more I hear myself use words like Navajo, Hopi, and Cherokee. Not only that but I also hear myself as being called Irish. I remember when I was talking to Laviata one time and she told me how insulted she gets when people call her Chinese, because she is defiantly not Chinese she is a Native American. Could it simply be because as in Worlds Apart mentions everyone wants to be Indian now. The line that sticks out to me is from page 112, “Societies have created racial divisions in attempts to categorize the range of human physical diversity,” because race in all of it’s complexity and misinterpretations it is still used to put people into groups that they feel they can identify with, or more specifically races that they want other people to associate them with.
At the heart of the debate seems to be more the legacy that particular race left behind, and not the actual physical appearance. I truly think that the two edged legacy “white” has is privilege and suppressor. For example I know that when people ask me for my nationality don’t say white because that automatically makes me feel like I am a slave owner. I say that I am Irish, even though I have more English blood in me than Irish. Embarrassed slightly I admit that I want to be associated with a lighthearted, celebrating, red haired, hospitable stereotype. It does not seem enough to be just ‘white’ any more, but you have to have some other nationality to go with it. Preferably a nationality that ‘whites’ suppressed, enslaved, or discriminated against.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Joy Prior
Andrea McAllister
Contemporary 240R
My point is looking a lot better, and I have it much more turned out. I can tell because the point does not simply end with my toe, but I can see it turning out my entire leg.
I do a good job on the warm up of mixing up my skip, and there is a greater diversity for the skip than for most of the other moves I make such as the run and the walk.
Sometimes I make my run look very similar to my walk, and I should mix that up a little more. I think that if I explore making my run fast but smooth I can experiment with a wider range of movements.
Although my arms are more in step then they were last time I watched myself I need to focus on sending energy out of my arms. There are times when my wrists are bent and my hands are just hanging out around my side. I think that if I continue to pull the energy out through my arms I will be able to have a better looking arms. There are a few times like when we stretch across sideways and I really do pull my arm out more. I noticed that at the times that I pull through my arms my core is more steady, and there is a lot more strength through out my entire body.
I need to remember to pull my body up on the turn and not to simply send my weight around in a circle. I can tell that I am not pulling my core up because when I come out of the turn I am wobbling a little, and I do not look strong. I am also hopping some on my straight leg (which is not entirely straight). I think that to fix this I will start with two things I will straighten my leg more and pull up through my core, by flexing and controlling my core muscles.
Timing, really I need to count, because I am always a half a count off, and not that counting is our main focus right now I can tell that simply counting inside my head would help me to control my movements more. It would also help me to do the sequences in order, and that would in turn help me to have better control of what I am doing and more specifically when I am moving.
I need to get my leg straight on the leap, my back leg. I need to send my focus on stretching that back leg, and then pulling it behind me. I plan to do this by thinking about pulling my leg straight instead of thinking that I need to get more height.
Andrea McAllister
Contemporary 240R
My point is looking a lot better, and I have it much more turned out. I can tell because the point does not simply end with my toe, but I can see it turning out my entire leg.
I do a good job on the warm up of mixing up my skip, and there is a greater diversity for the skip than for most of the other moves I make such as the run and the walk.
Sometimes I make my run look very similar to my walk, and I should mix that up a little more. I think that if I explore making my run fast but smooth I can experiment with a wider range of movements.
Although my arms are more in step then they were last time I watched myself I need to focus on sending energy out of my arms. There are times when my wrists are bent and my hands are just hanging out around my side. I think that if I continue to pull the energy out through my arms I will be able to have a better looking arms. There are a few times like when we stretch across sideways and I really do pull my arm out more. I noticed that at the times that I pull through my arms my core is more steady, and there is a lot more strength through out my entire body.
I need to remember to pull my body up on the turn and not to simply send my weight around in a circle. I can tell that I am not pulling my core up because when I come out of the turn I am wobbling a little, and I do not look strong. I am also hopping some on my straight leg (which is not entirely straight). I think that to fix this I will start with two things I will straighten my leg more and pull up through my core, by flexing and controlling my core muscles.
Timing, really I need to count, because I am always a half a count off, and not that counting is our main focus right now I can tell that simply counting inside my head would help me to control my movements more. It would also help me to do the sequences in order, and that would in turn help me to have better control of what I am doing and more specifically when I am moving.
I need to get my leg straight on the leap, my back leg. I need to send my focus on stretching that back leg, and then pulling it behind me. I plan to do this by thinking about pulling my leg straight instead of thinking that I need to get more height.
Joy Marie Prior
12 February 2010
Sociology 112
Section 4
Homework #4
Question #1
In the United States over 1/3 of the wealth is in the top 1% of the population. Some of the reasons suggested for the distribution of wealth in the United States is investments. The upper class does not simply have a high income, and in some cases it would appear that their actual income is driven from their investments. The example in the book was on page 89 when the author lists ‘corporate stars’ and their personal wealth “$67 million” to Anthony O’Reilly. It is important to consider more than just income when discussing wealth. I can see clearer now how the wealthy stay wealthy, because Anthony O’Reilly’s one year income is enough to keep me happy for my entire life, and if I made that every year what else would I be able to do but to invest it and pass it on to my children because I could reasonably never spend that much in one year. Another ’corporate star’ mentioned on page 89 that really stuck out to me was “Nike’s Phil Knight, who by some estimates regularly receives more compensation than all of this Indonesian workers’ wages combined.”
While I was thinking about the ridicules amount of money this I realized that one of the contributing factors of the high class division in the United States is Globalization. The focus of this passage was to emphasize Phil Knight has a ton of money, but the other part of this quote is that he is paying his Indonesian workers. Notice that he is not paying his Texan, Ohio, or Nevada workers, but specifically his Indonesian workers. Much of the upper class have their labor done outside of the United States and so the money is not going back into the United States people. Not only is the money not going to the American people, but the jobs are not going to the American people. One of the contributing factors to the greater division between the upper and lower class is that the upper class is no longer employing the lower class, because they have international employment.
This was a really shocking chapter for me. On and off I think back to the first day of class when we discussed what we are going to do with our college education to help those around us, and while I was reading this chapter I realized that I am on my way to the top class of the United States social structure. Not that I am there, because I don’t have investments, no one is going to leave me an inheritance, and I have no assets. I am getting a prestige university education though, and automatically that puts me in at least the upper-middle class. It was a little intimidating for me to recognize that I will not always be living off Western Family Mac and Chess. The intimidating fact was not the money, because it is hard for me to imagine that much money. For me the intimidating idea was that I have even with out investments, inheritance, or assets my life can progress because I have opportunity. That made me feel responsible to bring opportunity to others. I can not give people investments, inheritance, or assets, but I can help people to find opportunities.
12 February 2010
Sociology 112
Section 4
Homework #4
Question #1
In the United States over 1/3 of the wealth is in the top 1% of the population. Some of the reasons suggested for the distribution of wealth in the United States is investments. The upper class does not simply have a high income, and in some cases it would appear that their actual income is driven from their investments. The example in the book was on page 89 when the author lists ‘corporate stars’ and their personal wealth “$67 million” to Anthony O’Reilly. It is important to consider more than just income when discussing wealth. I can see clearer now how the wealthy stay wealthy, because Anthony O’Reilly’s one year income is enough to keep me happy for my entire life, and if I made that every year what else would I be able to do but to invest it and pass it on to my children because I could reasonably never spend that much in one year. Another ’corporate star’ mentioned on page 89 that really stuck out to me was “Nike’s Phil Knight, who by some estimates regularly receives more compensation than all of this Indonesian workers’ wages combined.”
While I was thinking about the ridicules amount of money this I realized that one of the contributing factors of the high class division in the United States is Globalization. The focus of this passage was to emphasize Phil Knight has a ton of money, but the other part of this quote is that he is paying his Indonesian workers. Notice that he is not paying his Texan, Ohio, or Nevada workers, but specifically his Indonesian workers. Much of the upper class have their labor done outside of the United States and so the money is not going back into the United States people. Not only is the money not going to the American people, but the jobs are not going to the American people. One of the contributing factors to the greater division between the upper and lower class is that the upper class is no longer employing the lower class, because they have international employment.
This was a really shocking chapter for me. On and off I think back to the first day of class when we discussed what we are going to do with our college education to help those around us, and while I was reading this chapter I realized that I am on my way to the top class of the United States social structure. Not that I am there, because I don’t have investments, no one is going to leave me an inheritance, and I have no assets. I am getting a prestige university education though, and automatically that puts me in at least the upper-middle class. It was a little intimidating for me to recognize that I will not always be living off Western Family Mac and Chess. The intimidating fact was not the money, because it is hard for me to imagine that much money. For me the intimidating idea was that I have even with out investments, inheritance, or assets my life can progress because I have opportunity. That made me feel responsible to bring opportunity to others. I can not give people investments, inheritance, or assets, but I can help people to find opportunities.
Joy Prior
When I first came to Brigham Young University I was like most freshmen, shocked. I was shocked with how much my professors expected of me, how grand the buildings were, and I honestly remember wondering how on earth so many intelligent people could fit into such a small space. Although I feel like I truly embraced the wave of new experiences there were three organizations: Adopt and Grandma, Pow Wow, and the Kennedy Center Field Study group that I am exceptionally grateful I became a part of on campus.
My adopted grandmother Clara has become one of my close friends. It started when my roommate needed to accumulate community service hours for American Heritage class credit. She wanted to visit the old folk’s home, and seeing as she does not have a car she convinced me it would be a good idea if I drove her. Why not? I thought to myself, community service once a week cannot be so bad. Now, five months latter I feel like it would be insulting to call visiting Clara ‘community service’, because our visits mean so much to me. Clara is my friend, and unlike most the people I talk to on a day to day bases she is not stressed about tests, is not looking for a date on Friday night, and she is not complaining about a professor. I visit Clara at least once a week for an hour or so. The doctor thinks that I am her granddaughter, but Clara and I keep it our little secret that I am just a friend because it is just too funny when the doctor comes in and talks to me like I am her granddaughter. He points his finger at the little charts and asks me if I have any questions. Once he leaves Clara and I laugh at ourselves like we really did something worth laughing about. I am so thankful that I know Clara, and realize that even though I have told her she will never know how much it means to me that I have a friend I can confided in outside of my family and peer group.
I joined the Pow Wow club and will be performing as part of the Native American hoop dancing group in March. When I first went to the club meeting I was expecting it to be a normal ‘club meeting’ with free food, and a quick spill about how and why you should join. The people in charge were pretty smart though, because the first time I went they gave me a set of hoops and made me write my name on the list. Now I felt committed, and I started going to two hour practices twice a week. At first I felt misplace because I am Irish, blue eyed, blond haired, pale as can be, and “everyone else” had at least seen hoop dancing before. It felt like such a stretch out of my comfort zone. I decided I wanted to not simply know the dance steps but to become a part of the group. My goal was to learn everyone’s name. It only took a few practice to remember learn everyone’s name, because everyone seemed just as determined as me to make our practice more than memorizing dance steps. After being called hoopster, perfecting my electrical tap wrapping skills, and hitting myself in the head with my hoop multiple times I feel a part of something six months ago I did not even know existed.
If it was the posters, flyers, or the presentation from the random man in my class that got me to one of the field study formal presentations I could not tell you. All I can tell you is that in that December meeting I became determined to go to Mexico. I wanted to go this spring and summer, but after realizing that I only know enough Spanish to tell someone the weather, and that I have not taken any classes in my major I decided to go Spring and Summer 2011 season. I have learned how to take the personal responsibility to plan a specific goal. To further my oral Spanish this Fall and Winter semester I want to live in FSLR housing. While preparing for my field study I have learned that I enjoy families, people, and the visual arts. One of the major things I have learned while exploring what I want my project to be about I understand the importance of networking. It is the short conversations with someone in the arts department who sends me to someone in the sociology department that is really helping me to realize how interconnected all points of scholarship are. I realized two things. One being I want to be a part of a circle of people, who share ideas, compares notes, and information with one another. The other is that I want to give people opportunities to learn more, just as the students working at the Kennedy Center, the professors who answer my questions, and the secretaries who tell me where to go are giving me an opportunity that I could never achieve on my own.
When I first came to Brigham Young University I was like most freshmen, shocked. I was shocked with how much my professors expected of me, how grand the buildings were, and I honestly remember wondering how on earth so many intelligent people could fit into such a small space. Although I feel like I truly embraced the wave of new experiences there were three organizations: Adopt and Grandma, Pow Wow, and the Kennedy Center Field Study group that I am exceptionally grateful I became a part of on campus.
My adopted grandmother Clara has become one of my close friends. It started when my roommate needed to accumulate community service hours for American Heritage class credit. She wanted to visit the old folk’s home, and seeing as she does not have a car she convinced me it would be a good idea if I drove her. Why not? I thought to myself, community service once a week cannot be so bad. Now, five months latter I feel like it would be insulting to call visiting Clara ‘community service’, because our visits mean so much to me. Clara is my friend, and unlike most the people I talk to on a day to day bases she is not stressed about tests, is not looking for a date on Friday night, and she is not complaining about a professor. I visit Clara at least once a week for an hour or so. The doctor thinks that I am her granddaughter, but Clara and I keep it our little secret that I am just a friend because it is just too funny when the doctor comes in and talks to me like I am her granddaughter. He points his finger at the little charts and asks me if I have any questions. Once he leaves Clara and I laugh at ourselves like we really did something worth laughing about. I am so thankful that I know Clara, and realize that even though I have told her she will never know how much it means to me that I have a friend I can confided in outside of my family and peer group.
I joined the Pow Wow club and will be performing as part of the Native American hoop dancing group in March. When I first went to the club meeting I was expecting it to be a normal ‘club meeting’ with free food, and a quick spill about how and why you should join. The people in charge were pretty smart though, because the first time I went they gave me a set of hoops and made me write my name on the list. Now I felt committed, and I started going to two hour practices twice a week. At first I felt misplace because I am Irish, blue eyed, blond haired, pale as can be, and “everyone else” had at least seen hoop dancing before. It felt like such a stretch out of my comfort zone. I decided I wanted to not simply know the dance steps but to become a part of the group. My goal was to learn everyone’s name. It only took a few practice to remember learn everyone’s name, because everyone seemed just as determined as me to make our practice more than memorizing dance steps. After being called hoopster, perfecting my electrical tap wrapping skills, and hitting myself in the head with my hoop multiple times I feel a part of something six months ago I did not even know existed.
If it was the posters, flyers, or the presentation from the random man in my class that got me to one of the field study formal presentations I could not tell you. All I can tell you is that in that December meeting I became determined to go to Mexico. I wanted to go this spring and summer, but after realizing that I only know enough Spanish to tell someone the weather, and that I have not taken any classes in my major I decided to go Spring and Summer 2011 season. I have learned how to take the personal responsibility to plan a specific goal. To further my oral Spanish this Fall and Winter semester I want to live in FSLR housing. While preparing for my field study I have learned that I enjoy families, people, and the visual arts. One of the major things I have learned while exploring what I want my project to be about I understand the importance of networking. It is the short conversations with someone in the arts department who sends me to someone in the sociology department that is really helping me to realize how interconnected all points of scholarship are. I realized two things. One being I want to be a part of a circle of people, who share ideas, compares notes, and information with one another. The other is that I want to give people opportunities to learn more, just as the students working at the Kennedy Center, the professors who answer my questions, and the secretaries who tell me where to go are giving me an opportunity that I could never achieve on my own.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
honors
Unfortunately the internet has given me a distorted idea of poetry. Instead of imagining long verses about nature and hard work I imagine cheap internet graphics and pink bolded letters saying the same thing as the poem did before it just in a different order. I have always enjoyed poetry, what I would call real poetry the type of poems that walk of the page and burn inside your mind. That is what impressed me the most with the georgic poem. The part about all of the animals, crops, and people dying made me cringe. This might not be the lasting effect of this poem.
While I was thinking of how this poem influenced me personally, I thought about how this poem has touched hundreds of people. Not only was it read during it’s time, but it is still read today. I found it interesting when Kim Johnson said that we still read it because we are intrigued by the conflict of idea in it. I wondered if this is so. Seeing as I have never actually read full poem I do not feel like I have a valid opinion in this debate, but from what I was able to gather during the lecture this does seem to be a dominating attraction to the poem.
The main idea was that we are all run by fate, and that we are walking down a road of life already laid out for us. One the other hand Virgil avidly states that the work be done “himself”, and that you might have to work to fulfill fate. This section reminded me of Voltaire’s Candide and the ending were Cadide goes and cultivates his garden. Was it fate driving him through all of his experiences, and did he contradict fate when he stopped and “cultivated his garden” instead of I don’t know “going with the flow.” Personally I am not a believer in fate, but in work. Yet, I think that exploring the ideal of fate controlling my life is just as Virgilian explains it, contradictory in every way. How could we be controlled by fate if we still have the choice to do something, but are the choices we make already anticipated. If our choices are already anticipated then why in the world do we worry about making choices so much?
I am encouraged to read this poem because I want to see for myself what Virgil’s contradictory opinion is.
While I was thinking of how this poem influenced me personally, I thought about how this poem has touched hundreds of people. Not only was it read during it’s time, but it is still read today. I found it interesting when Kim Johnson said that we still read it because we are intrigued by the conflict of idea in it. I wondered if this is so. Seeing as I have never actually read full poem I do not feel like I have a valid opinion in this debate, but from what I was able to gather during the lecture this does seem to be a dominating attraction to the poem.
The main idea was that we are all run by fate, and that we are walking down a road of life already laid out for us. One the other hand Virgil avidly states that the work be done “himself”, and that you might have to work to fulfill fate. This section reminded me of Voltaire’s Candide and the ending were Cadide goes and cultivates his garden. Was it fate driving him through all of his experiences, and did he contradict fate when he stopped and “cultivated his garden” instead of I don’t know “going with the flow.” Personally I am not a believer in fate, but in work. Yet, I think that exploring the ideal of fate controlling my life is just as Virgilian explains it, contradictory in every way. How could we be controlled by fate if we still have the choice to do something, but are the choices we make already anticipated. If our choices are already anticipated then why in the world do we worry about making choices so much?
I am encouraged to read this poem because I want to see for myself what Virgil’s contradictory opinion is.
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