Choices

        In our fast paced life, we are constantly making choices all the time. We all hope to make right choices and not bad choices that would affect us along the way. Our conscience is the process we go through when we make choices. As for me, I'm happy with certain choices I have made which have impacted my life in a positive way and which has also put me in a better position now. We will look at some literature that will show us some choices.
    
         A poem by Robert Frost called : "The Road Not Taken", spoke about choices a man made during his journey. The road he took in the forest was much more grassy than the other road. As the other road bent to the undergrowth. He took the road with the grass because he thought it was a better claim and he would reach to his destination quickly. The wanderer of the roads didn't return to travel the other road because he thought that the travel will be about the same distance. The tone of the poem was much more melancholy, but at the time of his choice it wasn't really well thought. He decided to take the road that was less traveled by and as for that the poem says that his choice was very poor and not thought thoroughly.

         Rudolfo Anaya wrote a short story called "Dead End".  The short story was influenced and incorporated the legend called Maria "La Llorona" .   "La Llorona" was a legend about a woman named Maria who fell in love with a sharp dresser . The Guy promised to love her , but later after having kids , he disappeared from her life. Maria was so distraught , that her actions led her to drown her kids in the river. After realizing what she done, nobody was there to help her save her kids. As for the short story about "Dead End", The protagonist Maria was a high school student who was very smart and intelligent. Many people teased her in school based on the way she dressed and about how smart she was. Maria's mother passed away and she had to raise her siblings. The popular boy in school named Frankie had an interest in Maria. After spending the day with Frankie , Maria saw the figure of the woman in the

night which had reminded her that life was a struggle.  She had decided to take care of herself  because Frankie's life was headed toward a dead end. She just didn't want to wind up with him on that street. Based on the protagonist choice, she'll have a promising future while later on Frankie future might be unsuccessful.

           The setting from the legend was very similar to the short story. Maria was busy helping raising her sibling which was the most important thing in her life at the moment due to her mother's death. With Frankie she had to deal with drugs and at times the feeling of being pressured to change who she was to satisfy him. She didn't want to be lonely forever, but she chose to stick to her family. Within Frankie, she saw a handsome guy but they really didn't share any interest. Frankie was living in the moment, as for Maria she was living in reality.  I agree in  the choice Maria chose for herself, because Frankie wasn't the guy she dreamt of. Her promise to her mother before she died, about getting an education always stuck with her and she wouldn't let nobody get in her way. A moment ago I was faced with reality and I knew that with an education, it"ll take me far in life. That I would be able to fulfill my dream as A pediatrician and staying in high school was the key to success. Since my choice,  I was devoted to make my parents proud by continuing my studies and enrolling into college.

Satire

           Satire is the use of  humor,  exaggeration, irony or being ridiculous in the sense to expose or criticize other people's stupidity or actions in the context of topical issues. Many people won't notice it but sometimes we usually use satire to either correct a person's action or to criticize on what was said.  I remember a time in which my friends and I decided to go out and ice skate one nice winter day. We enjoyed our outing and shared some laughs in between of seeing each other skate. At the end of the day we were  satirical and we were mimicking each others falls. We didn't care if anyone saw us acting ridiculous outside. We may act satire even without being aware of it.

  

            Taylor Mali's wrote a piece called  "The the impotence of proofreading". Within his essay many words were misspelled , this is the correct spelling of the first paragraph. "Has this ever happened to you? You worked very hard on a paper for English class, and then get a very low grade (like a D or even a D-).  All because you are the world's worst speller. Proofreading your papers is a matter of the the upmost importance." What's being satirized in this essay was use of spell checking without knowing how to spell.  Even though Taylor did some  spell checking, for the reader , it really doesn't makes sense. So its always good to proofread any form of writing before handing them in and also not to rely on spell checker.

                An article that intrigued me the most within the web page "The Onion", was a article called "Pearl Harbor".  Josh Hartnett was A man affected from this catastrophe after seeing the gruesome movie. "For 10 years, I've been waking up in the middle of the night, panicked from the same nightmare in which I experience Pearl Harbor all over again."He recalled saying:"Everyone knows Pearl Harbor was a terrible, terrible thing," Hartnett added. "But they can't truly fathom how awful it was unless they were actually there." For Josh this was a traumatic experience that he encountered. He also added " All those scared and confused voices, all that yelling—it's still fresh in my mind".  Josh also recalls saying:"It was just shot after shot and like eight million things getting blown up at once. It was appalling. And so loud. It seemed to go on for an eternity." Josh is satirizing two things in this article , which was The magnitude of how bad Pearl Harbor truly was for him as well as certain nightmares that  he recalls having frequently. It's agreeable that if anyone had to experience something that traumatic that went on in the history of the United States , It will be difficult to recover without the help of a psychologist. Not everyone can conquer everything.

             Mark Twain wrote an article called "Advice To Youth", Which he shared great words of wisdom. One paragraph that attracted my attention was the one about lying. The satire was when Mark said: "Once caught, you can never again be in the eyes to the good and the pure, what you were before. " This statement is true, because once u lie people will tend to change their opinion about you and that sometimes can hurt you in the long run. This quote also brings upon funny memories that I've had in my past.  But as for me I would lie about small things , like whether I received money or whether I ate candy or not. My mother would always ask these questions when visitors were around, and even though I lied it was for a good purpose. Nobody wont deny candy if handed.

      H.H.Munro (Saki)  wrote a short story called "The Story Teller". Within this story, there was an aunt who was taking care of three children. A bachelor accompanied them through their journey. The aunt began story telling but the kids was disruptive and kept asking questions. Suddenly the bachelor emerged from his corner and decided to tell a story that would interest the kids.  While story telling he mentioned a girl being "Horribly Good","There was a wave of reaction from the kids, in favor of the story. The word"Horrible" in connection with "goodness" was a novelty that commended itself".  The satire was an exaggerated statement which gave a sense of enthusiasm for the kids as well as the aunt. Those two words were the key point of satire in the story. It also seemed to introduce a ring of truth that was absent from the aunt's tales of infant life. The ending of the story had an Ironic ending, in which the protagonist of the story was suddenly killed by a wolf, due to the sounds of her medals of obedience. The satire is the  death of the well behaved girl  who was suddenly killed by a wolf.

       An article called : "Reading Satirical Articles Can Get You Tortured, Sent To Gitmo" by: Cerning was very interesting. It explained about a British resident who was held captive at Guantanamo Bay who was identified as a terrorist and a local threat to the United States. At the time the United states were still paranoid after the Twin Tower collapse. "Binyam Mohamed, a former UK asylum seeker, admitted to having read the ‘instructions’ after allegedly being beaten, hung up by his wrists for a week and having a gun held to his head in a Pakistani jail." Evidence shows that an offending article called: "How To Build An H-Bomb" was first published in a US satirical magazine and then later placed on a series of websites. The website claimed that a nuclear weapon can be made by ‘using a bicycle pump’ and with liquid uranium ‘poured into a bucket and swung round’. The satire is that is not possible to suddenly make an atomic bomb by using these materials. Binyam said that "it was just a joke " and It's clearly a satirical bent, but the United States Government took this as an serious manner. The CIA accused 30-year-old Mohamed, a caretaker, of plotting a dirty bomb attack. He was a prisoner for up to eight years which involved a lot of tortured but he had his freedom at the end of this whole ordeal.

               

                   

            This Cartoon has satire written all over it. Why? Because the guy is asking: "Why the duck is defending our old president of the United States, George Bush". The duck said it was because they are paying him too. Meaning if they weren't paying him, then he wouldnt be defending him.  Any kind of Politics have satire in them, Mostly to convey a message or either to make people laugh.

               Satire is the use of humor, exaggeration, irony or being ridiculous in the sense to expose or criticize other people's stupidity or actions in the context of topical issues. These readings has lead me to understand different forms of satire. It also made me realize that many people use satire in literature and some do convey messages. Which lead me to contribute to the definition of satire and also to have greater knowledge of this literary term.

Irony

       Irony is the expression of using language that is typically humorous and is used as an expression. Irony has existed around everyone and everywhere. There are three main types of Irony. Verbal Irony is when a person may say one thing but means something else. Then there's Dramatic Irony, which is when an audience perceives something in a way that a character in the literature doesn't know. Lastly Irony of Situation is a similarity between the expected result and actual results.We mostly see them during commercials to advertise products or business ventures. A common seen commercial would be the Progressive commercial advertising about buying motor vehicle insurance and different types of insurance that they usually provide. But usually the woman named Flo is always doing different stuff in commercials that are very humorous. Which usually makes people believe that they would be treated with respect and eventually they'll join their business. This type of irony would be Dramatic irony.
    
       Edwin Arlington Robinson is a poem called "Richard Cory".  Discusses Richard Cory who was a perfect gentleman from his appearance and every time he would walk by, people would always admire him. He had grace that was distinct to everyone. Robin also says "In fine, we thought he was everything ,To make us wish that we were in his place. But suddenly "Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head". Many people around town perceived Richard as this extraordinary man that was like no other and many people envied him because of that. Is mainly irony of situations because people never expected Richard to go home one day and shoot himself. Now the actual result is that Richard is gone and it shocked people that knew of him. 

Understanding The Basics Of A Metaphor

   Metaphors are used in life and especially in literature. A metaphor is the comparison of two UNLIKE things. An example would be: "The wind is now a roaring, smashing monster of destruction." This metaphor is comparing the wind to a monster and certain characteristics that a monster would do. Monsters roar and have the capability to destroy and smash objects. But literally they're just describing sounds that wind would normally do and certain effects they may tend to do. Simile, personification, anthropomorphism, hyperbole, parable, fable, and analogy are metaphors. Even though we may not understand what most these metaphors are, but we tend to understand them while we read without knowing.  Metaphors are also a figure of speech in which a word is applied to an object or person using personification. Everyone uses metaphors to show a way of explaining or referring in a brief and complex way. They are used to help us learn.
  
       Similes are the easiest metaphors to understand. A Simile is an comparison between two different kinds of things. That uses the words" like or as".  A metaphor just discusses two unlike things. A cartoon related to simile's called "Hard Times", talks about different features a elephant has.  An example from the drawing, shows a blind man holding the tail and says : "An elephant is like a disconnected phone line." Another example would be from when the blind man touch the elephant's trunk and said " An elephant is like a stack of foreclosure notices." When we visualize an elephant the first thing that captures our eye is the size of its trunk and its size. So they're just discussing about an elephant having a long nose and how tall and large a elephant is. The best way to understand these similes is not by looking for the words "like or as" but by finding and understanding the two things being compared. The two things within the picture that are being compared within the two examples, is the elephant to a pipeline and and a stack of notices.
  
       Personification is using the human characteristics to something non-human. An example would be a stanza from the poem called "Dinner Time Chorus", " The teapot sang as the water boiled". Another example would be from stanza 4: "While the chairs were passing gas", teapots can't literally sing or pass gas, but human tend to do these things. So they put the human characteristic singing and passing gas within the teapot, which makes this a personification sentence. 
  
     Anthropomorphism is using  human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal , or an object. Children’s books are quite often examples of anthropomorphism. The television and book series Arthur is one example. In the early books of Arthur , they illustrated Arthur as an aardvark ( also known as mammals with long ears, snouts, and  long tongues, also called ant bear.) Later in the series , they have minimized Arthur’s nose to the point where he appears almost human. So they added an human characteristic of a nose to Arthur.

        Hyperbole is exaggerated statements that are not to be taken literally or seriously. We use them in our everyday life. For example, during a phone conversation we usually may say:" I called you like a million times" or  "I told you a thousands time not to call me!" Literally we can't call a person a person a million time or tell a person a thousands time not to call. But when we visualize the words "million" and "thousands" were just exaggerating our statements, which are what hyperbole's tend to do.

       Parables are short stories used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lessons. Some of the most famous parables are those in bibles. One famous parable from the bible is called "The Good Samaritan".  Within the parable,“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead". Many people saw him on the floor and walked past him, until one man saw him hurt and felt pity for him. The man picked him up and took him to his house, where he healed his wounds with vinegar and oil. When the man who saved him had to do something outside , he paid a man who was going to watch over the hurting man. That man was the same man who robbed and hurt the man. So, the moral was,"loving a neighbor comes in many different shapes and forms." You might be a priest or say you are a holy person, but if you don't practice what you preach which is to (live according to what you believe), then you're no better than the good Samaritan parable, which was to help others in there time on need.

      Fables are short stories , typically with animals as characters and they usually convey a moral. For example , A most common fable is called " The Hare And The Tortoise". Within the fable, The hare believed that the tortoise would not win the race because of his speed. But even though the hare doubted the tortoise, the tortoise never gave up and continued the race. The moral to the story was"(Slow but steady wins the race.)" meaning, instead of rushing through something, take your time. Because when we rush we wont be able to accomplish as much as a person who took their time.

     Analogy is a comparison of two things , it's purpose of explanation or clarification. We use analogies within our everyday lives. People who drive and walk upon the earth use analogies to transport from one place to another. For example: " In is to out as Up is to Down". Or " Go is to Green as Red is to Stop."In the first analogy, (the easiest way to understand it is by applying certain scenarios that we use everyday) we comprehend that entering a building is the same as to exit a building and going up the stairs is the same as going down the stairs. In the second analogy we can visualize ourselves driving a vehicle, the green light is to go as the red light is to stop. 

        Emily Dickinson was a famous poet who died in the same home she was born in. A fascinating poem that she wrote is called "Cemetery". Within this poem we can recognize a metaphor and personification in the first and second stanza. The first stanza is about a metaphor describing the quiet dust once being ladies and gentlemen's and the personification within the poem is describing the dust once having the ability to laugh and sigh. Another famous poem called "Precious Words" is using the metaphors hyperbole and personification within the first three stanzas. The first two stanzas are describing a hyperbole. We cant literally eat or drink precious words but the exaggeration for that statement was just explaining how great the food and the lost of words you get from a delicious meal. personification occurs in the second and third stanza, which is comparing his spirit to human characteristics, which are being strong and healthy.  After nourished with food and a drink he forgot about being poor and became a brand new person.
   
       A poem by e e cummings , made me realize that poems and metaphors come in many different styles and ways. The letters of the words "loneliness a leaf falls" are explained by the words being separated and scattered around. The presentation was very abnormal to many regular poems and at the end when we put the words together we get that "Loneliness , a leaf falls". Which is like putting characteristics to leaves falling.  . We can now conclude that we use different types of metaphors within our everyday lives. Metaphors helps us navigate our way around the world we live in. Everyone uses them and apply it to many different scenarios that they encounter. A metaphor that mostly describes me is one referred as "A Battle", in which everything is a competition or a struggle. We are always either winning or loosing. In society everyone  are competing for the best job or education and getting there is a struggle, that many people over come.Metaphors are not easy to conclude but they run our life.

Linear Text

              The digital world is changing constantly around us throughout our society. New ideas have inspired us for these new changes and ideas that we now rely on in our everyday lives.  Every time we rethink, we relearn our ideas, which later are converted into this more modified world. Now we have to decide whether it’s necessary to rethink contents that are in the digital world of writing and reading.
              Yesterday and still today we always use paper and a writing utensil.  Text is said to be unlinear .Now that has transpired into something more diverse that is digital and virtual.  Typing is a faster way of a writing technique that we use more often now. It’s easier to correct a mistake and save our work, instead of usually erasing our best work and starting over from scratch.  The video demonstrates ways of digital being different and more flexible.
              Web pages became more common and that’s our way of finding research as well as other information. Behind the information, links became a faster source for us to virtually travel quickly to the webpage. Now that’s where rethinking comes into place. We have to choose whether we should keep stuff in the web more complex or either change them back to where we started.
              In  the article called "Panels: Rethink Schools " , it focused on the learning environment that we share today. It suggested about schools becoming more virtual, online, and complex. For them to become succesful they should make learning environments easier so that students would be able to access digital tools and resources better. As well as teachers or educators having more time to practice their  professions, interact with their mentors or experts in their field , and for them to be more connected to the students families and communities. That would create a very interactive as well as productive education system.
              When people are connected through technology or collabortative arrangments , the outcome will become rewarding and successful. Isolation between other students , teachers, and classes , as well as society, will lead the digital world to not be so successful. We need a new digital learning,  rethinking about our  education system  and our society, would take our technology as well as knowledge into a whole new generation.