Dinner Time

I have had some unusual experiences at dinner. My family isn't very religious so we've never really said grace before at dinner. My grandparents however are very religious and before every meal they say grace. One time we were visiting them in Florida and we all sat down to have dinner. Little did I know I would have to be the one to say grace. When my granddad insisted I say the prayer, I had no idea what to say. All I said was "Thank you for the food" and after that the dinner was very awkward. Since then I have practiced my prayers to say before dinner.

Namesake

I love my name for what it is. I am so happy my parents have picked it because I have never had trouble with my name. I like the way it sounds and I get a lot of compliments on it. When I was born my parents wanted to name me a  inch of weird nines like dazzle dazzle or speck but luckily they decided with Jack. I think having a foreign name like Gogil would be hard because you could get teased for it or it just doesn't sound good to you. Knowing the background of your name can help a lot as well to make your name more bare able.

Heritage and Tradition

Tradition is very important to me because my dad was born outside of the U.S.  His culture was similar to the U.S. when he was growing up, but there are subtle differences.  Because Australia was colonized by the British, its culture shares many similarities with that of the United States.  As a result of this, I have grown up experiencing both Australian and American traditions.  I celebrate the Fourth of July, and I eat vegemite on occasion, for example.  Although my traditions and heritage may not be as diverse as those of outer students whose parents are both first generation immigrants from different cultures, I think that it has made my life and experience a lot better because of it.  I consider myself American, and I was born in the United States.  At the same time, I think my traditions are important because they are a part of my identity.  Without my dad and his Australian heritage, and without my mother and her heritage, I would be a completely different person.  I would not be Jack Dickinson.

What Actions Do We Judge

I believe that I am more defined by my irrational actions. That is only because I believe I do more irrational things than rational things. If I did more rational things then I would be considered rational but if I'm being honest, I am considered more irrational. It's all based on which actions you do more of and how you act. Also irrational actions are looked upon way more strongly than rational actions. Whenever I do something irrational I get a response like "That's Jack for you" as if they are used to me doing irrational stuff. That is why I believe I am more judged by my irrational actions.

Contradictions

The thing about contradicting myself is that there is always to reasons that apply. Some things in life work like that where you just can't have an answer for why you do them. Every person has a different preference on at least one thing which is part of what makes us all different and human. Contradicting ones self is actually healthy because we are providing ourselves with reason to decided for ourselves in life.

Feminism

I do not consider myself an active feminist but I do support the beliefs of feminists. We are all humans in this world and nobody should be treated less than society because of something that defines them. Women do so much in this world today and to take away their rights is ridiculous. They contribute the same amount men do to this world. They are the sole reason we can reproduce in this world and should be treated with the most respect possible. You can't just judge a woman for being a woman, you judge someone on their character. I do not consider myself a feminist because I'm not out there calling people out for being sexist but I do support women's rights.

SOUR SWEET OR BITTER SWEET?!?!?!?!

  The title of Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo has multiple meanings.  In one way, it represents the generalization and prejudice that the Chinese face when they immigrate to other countries.  Sour sweet is a type of Chinese cooking, but it is very westernized.  Still, it is one of the most popular types of Chinese food and for many people it is the only type of Chinese food that they know.  Just like the food, the Chinese family are put into a collection of stereotypes by the people around them, who see them from this view, instead of looking at who they really are.
   The title also reflects the overall tone of the book.  The book has a lot of happy parts, but it also contains many dark elements, like the triads and poverty.  Because of this, the book is not completely sweet.  It is bittersweet.  It is sour sweet.

What gets you thinking

Can a traditional Confucious family keep their traditions in a completely foreign land? I'm asking this question because Chen and his family are working to keep their culture alive in the UK, but it is not clear how long that will last.

Happpppy Halloween

It was 2004 and it was Halloween. I was all dressed up in my pumpkin costume and I was ready to go trick or treating with all my little friends. I was so excited and couldn't wait to get tons of candy. As I looked around the streets there were tons of scary decorations on all the houses. I thought tonight was going to be the best Halloween ever. I had on a super cool pumpkin costume and I wasn't afraid of anything until i saw this super creepy house with barely any decorations. I walked up to it and everything went very quiet. All of the sudden I heard a loud growl, then a werewolf with a chainsaw popped out of the bush. I ran away faster than I ever had before in my life. I also peed my pants immediately. My Halloween was ruined.

The Outsider

One time I felt very outside was when I started playing football. I didn't really know many of the people and I had no experience with the sport. The way I handled it was by putting forth my best effort and striving to get better every day. Due to my lack of knowledge with the sport, a lot of the times I got funny looks and people didn't always treat me with the best care. As I played more and more and the season started progressing, i started to get to know a lot of the kids and became friendly with most of them. If I had to deal with these feelings on a regular basis, I would most likely not be that comfortable with myself.

Stepping out of the box

I believe that for this world to have creative we must have inequality as well. The division between people causes us to branch out and experiment new things that reflect off one another. If everyone was the same then then nothing would be different and people wouldn't feel a need to branch out of society and try something new. I believe that I relate to Harrison Bergeron the most because he branches out of society and risks his life just to do something new.

Suffering Child

There has been situations in my life where I had to choose whether to walk away or stay. Both of them had to do with someone being bullied. When I was in sixth grade one of my friends got pushed down by some eighth graders. I had to choose whether to step in or not. If I stepped in I knew I would get railed by these older kids. In the end I chose to walk away and let it blow over. I still feel guilty for leaving my friend but I did not feel like getting hurt that day. The other situation was when I was in eighth grade I saw some elementary kids getting pushed around by some kids in my grade. At my old school I was the tallest kid by far so I chose to step in and I was very successful. It felt a lot better to stand up for something rather than walk away.

Violent Television

This weeks blog talks about how media is corrupting us. I don't really agree with what they are saying because I believe that just because you watch something does not mean you will repeat it. I don't think a good solution would be to shut everyone off from the world so they can't see what violent acts go on everywhere besides our bubble of society. These television shows give us an idea of what goes on around the world.

Persepolis Essay Corrections

First Draft

A “single” story is the first story you hear about something and that is automatically your point of view on the subject. The stories about Iran are filled with many single stories and Persepolis has a couple. The problem with single stories is that they are not always facts and you can’t truly know something until you witness it first hand instead of just hearing it. “The Key” is a single story in The Complete Persepolis because it shows Iranian schools as religiously unstable and Iranian students as people that constantly rebel when in reality most of the schools in Iran are perfectly stable and structured.

            In “The Key”, Marjane describes her school as a place that she and her classmates do not take seriously and the teachers have ridiculous rules and make the students do unnecessary stuff. This gives the reader the intention that all schools in Iran are like this. When Marjane describes how she deals with the torture sessions she says, “After a little while, no one took the torture sessions seriously anymore. As for me, I immediately started making fun of them”(97). This gives the reader the idea that schools in Iran are almost ridiculous and that nobody obeys the religious ceremonies there. Not all schools in Iran are like this and not everyone rebels against the religious rules.

                  Another example in “The Key” is how the headmaster is described as this serious lady who dedicates her life to the rules of the religious empire. All the parents of the students are called into a meeting about their children’s behavior and she exclaims “ Anyway, that’s how it is! Either they obey the law or they’re expelled!!”(98) The headmasters sternness makes the reader feel like all headmasters of schools are just people who get disrespected and take things much too seriously. The reader experiences the headmaster as an enemy to the kids and a pretty unjust and bad person. The view of teachers in Iran is a single story and not all teachers in Iran are like this.

                  Single stories are everywhere. We all have single stories about people, places, and everything else. The only way to know the truth is to witness something first hand and not just go off by what you hear from other sources. Persepolis is told from a single person’s point of view and it is biased off what they experienced. Millions of people read this book and all have this point of view of Iran when in reality it is not all like this.

Second Draft

                   A “single” story is the first story you hear about something and that is automatically your point of view on the subject. The stories about Iran are filled with many single stories and Persepolis has a couple. The book is about a girl growing up in Iran as a minority to religious rule. The whole book is basically a single story on Iran and shows the point of view of a girl growing up there. The problem with single stories is that they are not always facts and you can’t truly know something until you witness it first hand instead of just hearing it. “The Key” is a single story in The Complete Persepolis because it shows Iranian schools as religiously unstable and Iranian students as people that constantly rebel when in reality most of the schools in Iran are perfectly stable and structured.

            In “The Key”, Marjane describes her school as a place that she and her classmates do not take seriously and the teachers have ridiculous rules and make the students do unnecessary stuff. This gives the reader the intention that all schools in Iran are like this. When Marjane describes how she deals with the torture sessions she says, “After a little while, no one took the torture sessions seriously anymore. As for me, I immediately started making fun of them”(97). This gives the reader the idea that schools in Iran are almost ridiculous and that nobody obeys the religious ceremonies there. Not all schools in Iran are like this and not everyone rebels against the religious rules. This comes from current events where people are getting along in Iran just fine.

                  Another example in “The Key” is how the headmaster is described as this serious lady who dedicates her life to the rules of the religious empire. All the parents of the students are called into a meeting about their children’s behavior and she exclaims “ Anyway, that’s how it is! Either they obey the law or they’re expelled!!”(98) The headmasters sternness makes the reader feel like all headmasters of schools are just people who get disrespected and take things much too seriously. The reader experiences the headmaster as an enemy to the kids and a pretty unjust and bad person. The view of teachers in Iran is a single story and not all teachers in Iran are like this. My evidence comes from books all around the world showing how teachers in Iran are normal and gives a good education to children.

                  Single stories are everywhere. We all have single stories about people, places, and everything else. The only way to know the truth is to witness something first hand and not just go off by what you hear from other sources. Persepolis is told from a single person’s point of view and it is biased off what they experienced. Millions of people read this book and all have this point of view of Iran when in reality it is not all like this.

    Commentary:

I corrected my essay due to some mistakes I had missed while I was writing it. I didn't really notice that some of the stuff I said didn't actually have textual evidence so I made sure to add that in. In the first paragraph I forgot to mention background about the actual book and what it was all about. I added a sentence or two to fill in the reader about the background of the book. Now I am proud of my work because I was even proud of my first draft but having done the corrections I am confident that this draft will stand out. These corrections will help me better prepare for next time because I will know what to look out for when I'm writing. 

                 

                  

War

This image speaks to me in many different ways. It shows how horrible war is and how it affects the lives of everyone. War is a powerful thing that has to be taken seriously. In war many innocent people die and not everyone is as guilty as the next person. This picture shows how children get involved in war and thats when it crosses the line. The father is cradling his child before he gets executed. Whenever I look at this image it makes me hate war and wonder why we have to fight so much over pointless stuff. Even if what were fighting for is important, we shouldn't go to lengths of killing each other over it.

TBT to Summer

Summer was really fun. I'm sad to have to go back to school because I visited so many wonderful places in and out of the U.S. I met many new people and had an all around great time. The thing I miss most about summer was the weather and friends. Summer was an experience that I will never forget. I learned a lot about myself as well as all the people that I'm surrounded with in my life. The adventures I went on could never be repeated for they were so unique and filled with so many wonderful things. I only have pictures to remind me of how great summer was and how much fun filled activities I partook in. Once we go back to school the weather just gets bad and everyone seems to just get all bummed out. This makes me want to go back to summer everyday. One year I'm going to travel the world so that it is summer year round. Summer for me is the best time of year and I always look forward to it.