Reading log chapter 2

?:  I wonder what's the reason that an-mei decided to tell the story if her childhood? What purpose could it possibly serve? Does it serve any relevance to the rest of the story? Or was she trying to communicate some sort of story out of it?

reading log chapter one

S: in this chapter as the character talks  her mother, she reveals that she had lost everything on her travels back in China. this includes get twin babies, and is her mother's daughter of course so this means that she was not one of those twins. Her auntie then tells her before she is about to leave that the unfinished business was that she had recently located her missing children in China but that's when she died. it's now get daughters mission to locate them and tell them about their mother.

The Road- Cormack Mcarthy

     The Road by Cormack Mcarthy is the story of an unnamed man and his son traveling through a post-apocalyptic world trying to survive as long asd they can. On their journey for survival the father tries to keep his son from losing hope in the "new world." On this journey the man and his son ecounter different peoples good and bad, along with different obsticles  such as the mans cough that worsens as thhe novel progresses. The young boy gets sick as well and the man prepares for the death of his son but he makes a full recovery. The same cannot be said for the man because at the end of the novel the man succums to his sickness and dies in front of his son. The son waits there for three days until he is taken in by a family, he lives on.

      The main theme of the book besides literally survival, would most likely be not to give up hope, or to keep ones humanity. The novel takes place on a post apocalyptic world, a "new"world. This would normally mean that all rules and ethics are gone because survival comes first. Thats usually the case, however, in this novel the man and his son fight to stay ethical and moral to be the good guys. For example there was a point in the story were their supplies were taken from them. The boy and his father catch up to the theif. Once they do the father makes the man removes his clothes and leaves him as he left them. The boy stops his father and reminds him that theyre basically killing him and that theyre supposed to be good guys.
    The protagonists i would think are pretty round and dynamic the main character, of the man and boy, the man would most likely be the main character. The man is trying to keep his son from losing hope whilst his son serves as his fathers moral compass. Its a post apocalyptic world that these two must live in and they have to adapt to it without losing their sense of humanity and find reasons to goon. The man has one goal throughout the novel and thats to keep hid don alive until hr himself, dies.
    One very significant symbol throughout the book is the dreams. In the book, bad dreams are considered to be a good thing. They meant that there was still something to drive them foreward.Good dreams however, were considered to be the oppposite they signified acceptance of death, that one was ready to move on. The dreams are a vital component of the book because it helps build a connection in the readers mind as the father has more and more pleasant dreams toward the ending of the novel and his life.
  I chose this book because i wanted to see what an apocalypse looked like from a  literary perspective.Most of us have experienced the movies and the video games. I had completley forgotten about the middleman so i decided to pick up the road. Thats when i was finally able to begin what i deemed,the trial of tears.
   In the interest of time I will skip the connections and move on to the idea that i except to remember for a long time is when the father tells his son that he shouldnt just give up when things are difficult because in the "new" world survival is everything and giving up means dying. Ichose this because its blatanty abucus, but it was beautifully integrated into the novel with a good guy/bad guy theme.

Greek Drama Q&A

1. What kind of prize is given for dancing choruses of worshippers?
The prizes that the choruses vigorously competed for were a bull or a goat.

2. How many spectators would gather in the open-air theatre of Dionysos?
fourteen thousand spectators would gather in the open-air theatre.

3. How does the mask affect the voices of the actors?
The mask would amplify the actors voices.

4. Why was Antigone suspenseful to viewing audiences?
The suspense that the spectators felt came from their knowledge of the things that the characters

5. How is the shepherd to leave the infant on the mountainside?
Alone to die with his ankles pinned together.

6. What is the riddle the Sphinx gave to Oedipus?
"What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

7. Who are Oedipus’ kids?
Antigone, Ismene, Polyneices, and Eteocles.

8. After Oedipus is exiled, who takes over Thebes?
Creon

9. What did the family do to the dead body?
Who's dead body?

A case for eating dogs response

Eating dogs has been a deemed a taboo all over the place, but the thing is that its not any different from eating any other animal. Aside from the dogs title, man's best friend, they have no unique qualities that set them apart from other animals that are regularly consumed by people.
There really is no reason why we shouldn't be eating dogs, and if anything it would be more beneficial to eat them. There's a growing problem in the economy with traditional meat processing being incredibly costly because of environmental factors such as energy usage. But the cultivation of dog meat would be leaps and bounds more affordable because of their abundance. Not so much in the homes of people but either on the streets or in shelters. Twice as many animals are put to sleep than are adopted. All of these euthanized animals could be used for meat and should be because on top of being widely available its also good for your health.
Eating dog would not only benefit our environment per less energy usage it also lowers the cost for meat production and the dog population would be able to sustain itself. This means less interference of humans with trying to force breed animals.
There aren't that many reasons that we shouldn't eat dogs just like we would eat any other form of meat. The only thing holding us back is our sentiment for the animal as a culture. But if we could get past this then we could improve on several aspects like meat shortage and to an extent prevent a form of animal cruelty.

Purpose Of Myths

Myths attempt to answer the following ?'s

• What is the nature of the universe in which we live
• How do I feel about how I'm going to die for sure one day
• How much control do I have over my own life
• How can I lead a satisfying life

4 Themes in Myhtology

• Parents often gods
• Those gods create humans
• Destroy 1 world of mortals through a flood
• There are heros that are the children of the gods

Whats the beginning of the universe

• Most major cultures describe the beginning of the universe as: Chaotic, formless mass that god or pair of gods seperates

What do epics/hero myths teach members of society

• They teach its members the appropriate attitudes, behavior, and values of that culture

Why do ordinary people identify with heros

• They do a ton of cool things but they aren't perfect. Those imperfections allow for identification 

Whats the foundation of matriarchal society

• Based on the fact that women could give life they were respected as such

What's Smigmund Freud's view of myths

• They viewed myths as an expression of the individuals unconscious wishes, fears and drives

Myths demonstrate that people posses

• Myths demonstrate that they possess the intellectual capacity to understand the world in which they live

How Schools Kills Creativity

After watching the Ted Talks I finally realized how messed up our education system is. Rather than praising people for their skills and natural talents. We romanticize academic excellence as if it were the only thing that mattered.  As a result there are several students who don't think that they have anywhere to go in life because they don't perform as well in those areas as others do. In addition several forms of art such as dance, painting, theater, etc, aren't truly considered valuable career paths but mostly hobbies. People who do excel in those areas are then forced to undergo judgement for doing something that they enjoy. There are several things that I have wanted to do but I never got the chance to because I was constantly told that i had to focus on my "core" subjects.