Thinking Outside the Box

Create a post for your blog entitled "Thinking Outside the Box" in which you compare how Plato & Sartre describe the limitations of our thinking and imply solutions to the problem. Invite ten people to read/comment. [ I had to copy this because I forget what the prompt is when I'm thinking...]


I don't believe humans have limitations to thinking. I believe humans make themselves have limits to their thinking. We have no boundaries. People can’t dig up our minds and scoop out the ideas that mingle inside our minds—it’s impossible.
With that said, Plato introduced with characters like they were already in the cave and had no reason NOT to be in the cave. Sartre describes the setting through his characters, Garcin, Valet, Inez, Estelle (Am I forgetting anybody else?). The major difference between two of these stories were that the prisoners in the cave refused to think and lived a dull life being intrigued by shadows and mere puppets. In “The Exit”, the characters think about their situation and tried to escape the room which was symbolic of their position. Everything was in thirds. There were three corners, three people and there were a bronze statue of some sort.
Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” seemed like a simple story but in fact it was a mirror or reality and how thinking can influence our actions. People can create their own deadlock in thinking or choosing not to think.
I find it interesting when the door to freedom opened when the three people in the room wanted it to open. Somehow, I feel like the door opened because all three of them wanted to leave...But Inez closed the door. What? Why wouldn't they just leave? I'm already perplexed enough-- but at least all three had some type of a resolution.

Alliteration

Use of similar consonants: a poetic
 or literary effect achieved
 by using several words
 that begin with the same or
 similar consonants, as in
"Whither wilt thou wander, wayfarer?"

Not sure if I was supposed to post this on my blog
 but I did it anyway.

New BIG Question

How can we study infinity?

How DO we study infinity?

(Thanks Dr. Preston for helping me refine my other question into this one..)

Literature Analysis #3

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

1.      Dorian Gray is a well cultured and a very handsome young man living in London, England.  The commoners and the wealthy are intrigued with his beauty and perfect appearance—he can attract males as well. An artist named Basil Hallward [Basil is homosexual like Oscar Wilde, the author (he incorporated himself in the novel]) finds Dorian Gray as a perfect subject for a new painting and paints him. After the painting of the perfect Dorian Gray was finished, the painted was handed down to its rightful master. As time passes, Dorian’s internal ugliness begins to show in the portrait while his actual self never ages and remains flawless. Needless to say Dorian is a very arrogant and narcissist towards himself and when a girl whom she loved broke her heart and committed suicide, Dorian still lead a life of a steel heart. When she died, the portrait contained a scratch. At the end of the novel when Dorian is a disgusting person at heart, the portrait turns into a repulsive man and he calls up the artist, Basil, and asks what he has done to the painting. Basil told him he has never touched the painting but Dorian can’t accept it. Instead he stabs him with a knife and kills him. Worried, Dorian black mails a friend to dispose Basil Hallward’s body. After that event the portrait is at its most hideous point. Dorian Gray is furious and stabs the portrait at the heart. Soon, the maids in the mansion hear a loud shriek of a man. They curiously enter Dorian’s room and find a gorgeous and spotless painting of a handsome young man and on the floor is an old man with a knife in his heart.

2.      Internal ugliness will show. This is the simplest theme I could come up with in the novel. Dorian Gray was handsome and attractive but his heart was disgusting and horrifying. The painting that Basil painted was a symbol of this heart. I believe that is why when Dorian stabbed the painting, it actually stabbed his heart.

3.      Oscar Wilde’s tone was very calm but mystifying. His use of syntax and diction made the novel much more compelling and dramatic. [Some of the things he says are quite philosophical.]

‘Dorian Gray lifted his golden head from the pillow, and with a palid face and tear-stained eyes looked at him, as he walked over to the deal painting-table that was set beneath the high curtained window.’

‘All art is quite useless.’

‘Life always has poppies in her hands.’

4.      Oscar Wilde has to be one the best authors that use imagery—it is amazing how a simple few words can turn a mind full of vibrant images. Again, syntax and diction added to the richness of the novel. Reading his imagery passages was like taking a decadent bite of rich chocolate—the more we taste, the more sensation and thoughts we get. Sounds funny, but it was like this while reading.

‘The studio was filled with the rich odor of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amid the trees of the garden there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.’

‘The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive.’

‘Harry, imagine a girl, hardly seventeen years of age, with a little flower-like face, a small Greek head of passion, lips that were like the petals of a rose. She was the loveliest thing I had ever seen in my life. .. Pathos left you unmoved, but that beauty, mere beauty, could fill your eyes with tears.’

The BIG question

Is there really a reason why we are all living?
Why is there life?
What's the purpose?
How...did we get here?

Essay...

<'cuse my most generic title...>

 

One of the most recognizable quotes of American literature, “To be, or not to be”, is quoted by Prince Hamlet from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The philosophical and intricate mind of Hamlet differs significantly from other heroes of epics or stories. For instance, King Beowulf was a charismatic leader who believed peace and power were superior in comparison to Hamlet’s belief about revenge and mind. The interesting part about Hamlet is that he is characterized by the other character’s action—it almost seems like Hamlet is not a protagonist because his role is transparent yet significant. Beowulf on the other hand is a much more dramatic character whose role in the story is very hero-like and show traits that conveys to the readers that he is suited for a king. Hamlet differs from other protagonists or heroes in stories due to his portrayal in the play and his battling mind with revenge, love and chaos.

Most heroes we think of are strong, wise, powerful, and charismatic and many others however Hamlet doesn’t fit to any of these criteria. Although he is wise and a plan maker, his actions don’t show directly whereas Beowulf’s actions and plans are clear to the readers. “Why then, ‘tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me, it is a prison.”  The readers have to get inside Hamlet’s mind when deciphering each and every line he states like in his famous soliloquy. Beowulf is a fearless leader; “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old, now, bit I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.” A line like this would never sputter out from Hamlet’s mouth; they are much too dissimilar in terms to behavior, emotion and action.

“…And boasting of how brave we’d be when Beowulf needed us, he who gave is these swords and armor: all of us swore to repay him.” What a line—no character in Hamlet would dare to say something so intrepid such as this line in Beowulf. It’s not part of Hamlet’s nature to be so loved and adored by his fellow lover and “friends” and family.  Askew from Hamlet, nobody would even say this to King Claudius, let alone any other male characters in the play. Of course anyone in the story could say these things but the stress lies in the words themselves.

Hamlet fights with his intellectual mind more than anything, he doesn’t physically fight except the time him and Laertes played with swords. Beowulf is all about the “action” and typical heroism that is usually followed by a happy ending—yuck. A tale of great misfortune is more compelling. Anyway, Hamlet was a man of delicate intricacies and controversial but philosophical mind. Beowulf on the other hand was not much of an outstanding character because not much can differentiate him from heroes from other stories and epics. “…That I ever I was born to set it right! Nay, come, let’s go together.”

Procrastination (Tales of Mere Existence)

Procrastination, ha.

There's not much of a formal "concept" embedded in this post but procrastination-- we all do procrastinate, whether or not we are typical high school students or the president of the United States. I reflected back on today's journal topic and it hit me pretty hard (not really) and I thought about how this affects each and every one of our lives. I feel like this is something we all have to cope with and not let us stress even though there's the tenacity to stress and let everything slide by. I honestly find procrastination not a HUGE part of my existing life (weird way to put it), anyway, I don't like staying up late at night trying to finish up the last minute homework or project because I enjoy my seven to ten hour sleep daily. Concentration is very divided when I'm feeling tired or just indolent. 
I also found the video to be pretty hilarious, even though it's the not typical, 'I'm laughing so hard I'm holding my stomach' type of laugh. 

Roy Christopher

“The medium is the message.”

I’m pretty sure most of us have very similar outlines for this assignment because we were all present during the interview with Roy Christopher and Dr. Preston’s colleagues. Anyway, along with the major plot of the interview:

v Balancing between digital and analog technology

§   People struggles to have a balance between digital and analog tech

§  “it’s a weird, weird complex mixture of both

v Reason for self-publishing books?

§ Stated that no one is interested in interview books with a bunch of questions and answers

§ Decided to do it himself due to personal excitement and “wanted it to be around”

v Surprised by a quick response of the book?

§ (jokes) ‘I was actually surprised how late the response was!’

§ The sales of the book has increased from last year to this year

v Any plans for the next 5 to 10 years?

§ Finish the current book he’s writing

§ Start/complete another book by the following summer

v Difference between older and newer generation

§ Older generation tend to be more conservative

§ Newer generation wants to acknowledge the older generation that they (we) know how to handle technology and we are capable of learning new things

§ “traditional” thinking for older generation

v Multitasking normal?

§ Quality of work changes when attention is divided

§ Mr. Ted Newcomb (thank you T.Hudgins.) explained when he’s discussing matter with his grandchildren; they seem to be “half-listening”, with some sort of gadgets in their hands, typing away.

§ Multitasking is generally inefficient to any degree

§ Hard to stay focused when distractions are everywhere

§ “Is anybody really multitasking?”

o What makes us so sure we are?

o Is it impossible to focus on two things at once?

v People can either ignore or adjust to changes

Literature Analysis #2

Our Town by Thorton Wilder

1.       Our Town by Thorton Wilder is a three act play that consists of many characters and shares a part of their daily lives. The play is narrated by the Stage Manager who welcomes the audience to the fictional town of Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire in 1901. The story/ play are about the Webb and Gibbs family (their last names are so similar that I get them confused sometimes!). Anyway, George Gibbs and Emily Webb have affection for each other and they get married near the beginning of the play. Act I is basically an introduction—an exposition in other words but the story picks up its pace in the Act II.  Act II takes place three years later on George’s and Emily’s wedding day. George was very excited to see his bride-to-be but Mr. and Mrs. Webb cues him to leave because they believe that a groom should not see his bride unless he wants bad luck. After Mrs. Webb leaves the conversation, Mr. Webb and George has a very deep conversation about marriage and discusses how to be a virtuous husband. George is feeling a bit awkward and an outcast when they talk together. In Act III, Emily dies of childbirth and the scene opens up with a cemetery scene on a hilltop overlooking the town. Mrs. Soames, Wally Webb, Simon Stimson and Mrs. Gibbs already left the Earth at this time and the dead speaks. Unfortunately, Emily misses her life and decides to go back. She realizes at the end of the story that she should appreciate every part of life and not regret anything.

2.       The theme wasn’t expressed very clearly (well, intentions of many authors…). However, I believe that Wilder wanted to convey to the audiences that time a-wasting and we can’t let our busy lives ignore time. Emily’s family and George’s family were always very rushed and busy; the mother and father and daughters were so busy in the mornings that they wouldn’t even talk to each other. Some busily headed to school while the others hurried to work. Mr. Gibbs- also known as Dr. Frank Gibbs is a surgeon and is predictably busy with his life. Anyway, when Emily dies, she realizes how important to cherish every part of the daily life because eventually, everyone will lose it all.

3.       The author’s tone was very calm and reserved. Even though there were certain rush hours in the play, things still seemed very realistic and a slice of OUR lives itself. For example, from Act II; ‘they brought up two children apiece, washed and cleaned the house, -- and never a nervous breakdown.

4.       Diction, syntax, mood, imagery, motifs. Those five literary elements stood out the most while reading the play. Diction and syntax might go together because both are very similar but have a distinct difference. Wilder’s word usage is a bit banal but nevertheless it is quite easy for the audience to understand. Because it is a play, some parts can be confusing (like Hamlet) but the Stage Manager seemed to take care of it well. Anyway, the introduction sets the mood for the exposition; a childbirth. This clearly signifies “new” and “exciting life” which Wilder successfully conveys through tone and mood. Imagery wasn’t a very large part of the play however some scenes were very clear in our minds like how the play was set up. An example of this would be the opening of Act III when it introduces a cemetery on a hill top. Not only is this an example of imagery but these accounts for both tone and mood.

Stage directions: ‘The dead do not turn their heads or eyes to right or left, but they sit in a quiet without stiffness. When they speak their tone is matter-of-fact, with sentimentality and, above all, without lugubriousness.’

‘We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the starts…everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something and to do with human beings.’

Stage directions: the stage at no time in this act has been very dark; but now the left half of the stage gradually becomes very bright – the brightness of a crisp winter morning. EMILY walks towards Main Street.

Tools That Make...

"5% think, 10% think they think, 85% would rather die than think."

Just a somewhat funny quote I found online that caught my attention. It’s sad to say that only 5% of the people actually think while the other 10% think they think. Laughing out loud? Yes.

How does extensive internet or media change the way I think? I’m not exactly sure how it changes the way I personally think. Technology makes me somewhat unproductive and perhaps habitually lazy. It sure makes me distracted and makes me waste valuable time by logging onto my others accounts… anyway, concentration is definitely a key point to this—with all sorts of tabs and gadgets or widgets on a computer, it’s almost impossible not to get distracted while trying to actually do something productive. Thinking about my thinking, right? I know how to manage my time and I do know the subjects and topics that interest me, of course... I’m getting distracted by just typing up this comment. iTunes, Facebook and YouTube are just a click away.

I read a pretty interesting article how people literally, “cut and paste”, I mean, with scissors and glue when they wanted to copy something. The article also gave me some historical background about the first computer that was invented 400 years ago which was more bulky than a typewriter and could calculate up to six digit numbers. It’s fascinating to understand and see how much technology has improved and how people decades ago dealt with minimal information.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/that-simple-life-before-computers-came-along-1.112948

http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_101_150/critical_thinking.htm

Notes on [Hamlet]

Pfft, royalty. I bet he's some spoiled rotten, no good man of his age.

Seems like I was wrong.

Hamlet proved that he's more than spoiled rotten and pathetic-- he actually is quite intelligent in a mischievous/morbid way.  The way Hamlet decides to let Claudius breathe more—it’s just interesting to me that he plots all this entangled revenge. I’m not sure if this marks him as a ‘good character’ but nonetheless,  he’s growing as a character. Very sly, like a fox waiting to prance at its meal… I didn’t expect Polonius to die at all. Or Gertrude. This story’s tangled up with all types of evil schemes; what was Shakespeare thinking?

Also, I can't quite grasp the theme of Hamlet. Perhaps when the time comes, I'll eventually find out.

Who Was Shakespeare?

Who was William Shakespeare? Seems to be that this question is wandering around in many critics' minds. Really, who was he? In this article below, the author believes that Shakespeare was not a son of a glover and claims Shakespeare was not a write, but an actor. It also states that Shakespeare's life evidence is very minimal and there were six different signatures found which said, "Shakespeare". The analysists believe maybe a group of people made this fictional "Shakespeare" up because for him to be a son of a glover meant he was poor, and if we was poor, he wouldn't have much knowledge about royalty. But then again, advocates argue that he was taught many things such as royalty.

"That's a modern image of the writer as someone who puts his own experiences into his plays, a very romantic idea of writing. But it's just not how plays were written back then."

The Coalition's "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt" doesn't claim to know who wrote Shakespeare's plays, but it asks that the question "should, henceforth, be regarded in academia as a legitimate issue for research and publication."

Then there's the apparent disconnect between the life that William Shakespeare lived and the ones he wrote about. Anti-Stratfordians claim that Shakespeare's plays show a keen grasp of literature, language, court life and foreign travel — not the kinds of things that a small-town actor without a university education would be familiar with.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1661619,00.html#ixzz1bBZalQRa

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1661619,00.html#ixzz1bBZWHj00

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1661619,00.html#ixzz1bBZPiuda
Source:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1661619,00.html
From September 2007

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

Facebook is a global trend currently with over 750 million users who are either children or adults. Don’t be surprised if your parents sign up for Facebook or even your dear old grandmother! Facebook is potentially well known that it doesn’t make the incorrect spelling errors mark underneath the word on Microsoft Word. Interesting.

Anyhow, Facebook can either be a good thing or a bad thing. Teenagers who abuse the idea of social networking can be messy—harassment can evolve from social media websites such as MySpace or Facebook. However, those who appreciate global communication such as myself, are not drawn to abuse this privilege. Mind you, I have friends in Japan and other parts of the world who I cannot get contact with but luckily for me, Facebook users found my profiles and now we can communicate very easily. Just a click away, isn’t it?

A piece of my opinion—I hate tags on Facebook. I hate seeing pictures of myself on other people’s profiles and for friends’ of friends to see. I know I’m one in almost seven billion people out there, but I don’t want pictures of myself on Facebook. I always try to “untag” myself and it’s one of my pet peeves. Hell, it unconsciously bugs me when I see pictures of myself on the internet. Even if I do have Facebook or not, people will still upload pictures for every damn person to see. So, there you go.

Back to the topic----

Those who do not respect Facebook and other social networking websites create a dramatic proposal to not allow Facebook to children for parents and teachers. It’s simply ludicrous how many people take advantage of cyberspace abuse and harassment. I mean, come on! Don’t humans need a bit of soul-searching? Perhaps we do.

In all in all, I can’t really decide for sure if Facebook is a good thing or not. I’m hanging loosely in the neutral side of the spectrum…however more leaning to NO FACEBOOK.  I don’t constantly go on Facebook or post things about my personal life.  Honestly, who’s interested?

Journal into Essay: Hamlet

Here I present you an informal essay which is done in a (somewhat) poetic verse.

Before choosing to do so, I looked up the meaning of "essay" on Merriam Webster. I found vital piece of information which approves my free verse poetic structures as a valid type of essay because according to Webster, the term means " an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view: A trial or test" or "the result or product of an attempt".





Oh Hamlet, die if you long to die

Or will that weak heart of yours stop thyself?

Filled with contradictions, make your dreamy mind

And grant thy wishes upon yourself.

For is seems impossible for you

To ponder and cease breath eternally.

Perhaps no one will stop you,

Perhaps one will notice the disappearance of your poor soul

Lick thy lips and whisper good-bye to the soils of earth

For easier life may be in the world below

Where no life is spiritual

Join the other sinners of good ol’ earth, down, down, down

Dark, dark, darkness arouses in the blade of truth.

Sleep well tonight, Hamlet, all your

Problems and chaos will take a ride

With the ghosts and perhaps with King Hamlet, your unfortunate father.

And then you’ll realize all the burden hath gone

And off your sulked shoulders which hath carried many thoughts.



If life is as different and puzzling

As thy love for the fair Ophelia,

Poison, dagger or burn your soul

And condemn for everlasting ease

For when death meets you at the staggered door

Which hangs crookedly by two rusted nails.

Painless self and conformity accompanies to the travel down

It is I who declares no judgment on you;

Sleep if you dare,

Wake if you dare,

The abstract world wouldn’t see one missing from the rest,

No power of convincement is thrived upon I

Mostly on your capricious will

And childish comportment,

Might have caused all this.

Repetition perhaps has a place for convincement—

Die if you wish to die, Poor Hamlet.

You said it best, “by a sleep to say we end

The heartache and thousand natural shocks that

Flesh is heir to, ‘tis a consummation devoutly

To be wish’d. To die, to sleep; to sleep perchance to dream,

Ay there’s the rub; for in the sleep of death what dreams may

Have become..”

It seemingly states Hamlet does know best about

Thyself, why waste time living such a dread?

‘tis not a dream, we cannot go back in time

Where the happiest dreams once surrounded…



Become a star in the sky,

Become a grain of sand and be a part of the countless grains

In the vast desert

Of sinners who dwell in deadlocks of the world.

People cannot halt—it is thyself who hath

Volition, of sparing or taking away a life.

Sprout to thyself, heed every deed,

Ease thyself and it should not concern me more,

Farewell to thee who ponders between

All mighty sleep and life.

After all, To be or not to be,

That is the question.

Lit Analysis

Umibe no Kafka (Kafka on the Shore) by Haruki Murakami

1. A fifteen year old boy named Kafka Tamura is on a runaway from home seeking his lost mother and older sister. As Kafka meets many new people in Shikoku, Japan, he starts unveiling mysteries about his father's death and his mother and sister's whereabouts. A concurring story is about a senior citizen, Nakata, who has the ability to communicate with cats and who is not very bright. When the story continues at a mystifying pace, these two protagonists get closer for a fateful encounter.
2. Stupid as this may sound, I do not, or cannot come up for a major theme for Kafka on the Shore. Sure, I understand the plot and the characters' actions, however I cannot decipher/ figure out the theme for this odd book. Perhaps "life is a journey" is a typical cliche for themes. A book filled with magical realism and glimpses of reality is surely perplexing.
3. The author's tone is puzzling and mystique (just like the story itself). Some parts of the book is genuine genius, for example, his quotes and personal reflection. Sometimes I wonder if this book is some sort of philosophy.
'With a jolt of panic I remember my backpack. Where could I have left it? No way I can lose it -- everything I own's inside. But how am I going to find it in the dark?...'
'Sometimes fate is like s small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You can change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again but the storm adjusts."
'Over and over you play this out, like some omnious dance with death before dawn. Why? ... Something inside of you.  .. There's not sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time.'
4. Through syntax, diction, mood, <countless> metaphors and similes, I sensed a bit what the theme is, although I'm clueless right now.
"No matter how metaphysical of symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too."
' "You got your restrooms and your food. Your fluorescent lights and your plastic chairs. Crappy coffee. Strawberry jam sandwiches. It's all pointless-- assuming you to find a point. We're coming from somewhere heading somewhere else." '
'It wasn't even a metaphor, even. If you trace it back further, it wasn't even a correlation. Until Edison invented the elcetric light, most of the world was toally covered in darkness. The physical darkness outside and the inner darkness of the soul were mixed together, with no boundary separating the two. They were directly linked.'