Blog #14: May 12, 2009: Unlikely Immigrant

As I was reading A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, I came across a statement from one of the main characters, Stanley Kowalski, who is from Poland. Another main character, Blanche DuBois, who is a women who came from a refined, luxurious family, calls him derogatory names such as "Polack." When being called a "Polack," Stanley finally snapped and the following quote shows clearly his pride of being what he truly is.

"I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is
a one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth
and proud as hell of it, so don't ever call me a Polack." Stanley

Not very often do you see old immigrant quotes such as these from a character like Stanley. Stanley does many disturbing things, clearly going to great lengths to get what he wants, sometimes going overboard. Stanley even seems to be primitive at nature. Yet Stanley shows that he is proud to be an American, and of course he is now part of this new American society since immigrants are stepping up in society. He implies that this refined-thinking women no longer is superior to him. She can no longer see him as subordinate to her. Stanley may not be the refined, luxurious, polite kind of person, but he certainly represents an American. Stanley realized, unlike Blanche, that society was not based on elegant tastes, but rather that American society was now equality based. American society was, and still is, a large mixing pot of cultures. I am sure Stanley, like all other immigrants, came to the American society not to be treated and seen as subordinates, but rather to find opportunity.

I beleive that Stanley is a character representing a new American society. This new American society has been greatly shaped from the new immigrant identities. He seems to be more sturdy when dealing with specific situations. Those like Blanche who base their whole life off of luxuries and cuisines will eventually break down when those things are stripped away from them. Like all immigrants, Stanley had to start off with a mediocre job, but he also felt that that every person who makes a contribution to society should be treated equally. He thought that he should be socially equal to those who thought were more superior to him. Although aggressive and seemingly primitive, Stanley clearly exhibits the American dream.

Here is a link to a google book previewer that shows a particular section of how Stanley Kowalshi represents the desire of the American dream.

Blog #13: May 5, 2009: Wooden Paddle = Order!

I never thought violence was the answer, but once I got a better view of the possible situations someone might be under or the circumstances, I became more understandable of violence being used under certain situations. In this article of Newsweek, "The Principle and the Paddle," violence was used and made a huge turnaround with the success of the school. The principle David Nixon uses corporal punishment in order to restore order to a struggling elementary school. As punishment for a major offense such as fighting, stealing, etc., students are first questioned about their offense, first trying to find a deeper issue or problem that is the cause of all of this. If the child is truly sorry, Nixon will send him or her back to class, but if he feels that the child has not learned his lesson, a slight but stinging whipping is initiated. Even though Nixon dislikes doing this, a lot of the parents approve of this, which shocks me!

The reasons for doing these "whippings" also shocked me, but also made me somewhat understand. One reason was that the school was there for educational means, so a "whipping" would only take a good 10 minutes to knock some sense into the student and continue your day instead of the many days of expulsion. I thought this was pretty clever, and a lot of schools would want to do this, but would never resort to violence to do so. But they have to consider that a lot of the kids come from difficult homes and backgrounds, and are just raised the way they are. But the parents DO have the option to paddle the child themselves or actually refuse the "whipping" of their child. This makes me a little bit more comfortable about Nixon's system. And ever since those "whippings" have occured, I would think that the amount of whippings would decrease as years go by from the constant rumors of THE PADDLE.

Those who disagree with corporal violence, I agree with.

"An atmosphere of fear is not going to increase learning. Maybe temporarily. But
over time, it does not work." -Nadine Block.

I just hope that Nixon and other schools that use corporal punishment realize that children these days do unpredictable stuff, not to be mean or on purpose, but rather just because they are youthful, excited, or don't know any better. Many times in my elementary school I made bad mistakes and did bad things, and I was called to the principle's office sometimes. Just a good talk and discussion would make me learn my lesson. Im sure that if my principle used violence as a means of helping me learn my lessons, I wouldn't have gone there as much, but at the same time, in my opinion, I wouldnt be as calm or against corporal punishment as I am today. I just believe that violence is not what is always needed to teach a child a lesson or make them recieve better studying habits.

Blog #12: April 28, 2009: Writing with a Time Limit

I always thought that blogs should be done patiently with as much time needed. I still somewhat think that, but I decided to try and put a time limit on myself when writing one of these. As I type this, I realize how writing with a time limit is great practice for SAT writing and formulating and organizing your ideas quicker and more efficiently. When writing without a time limit, I have noticed that I am not prepared as well as I would be if I had a time limit. Here is a quote by a teacher called Mr. Maven to his studen struggling on timed writings. "Because my boy, that five minutes you take preparing an outline will save you 10 times the minutes in writing. The outline allows you to create your essay in your mind before it's created on your paper. That's another trait of the great ones. They always see the creation before it's been created." With a time limit, now that I have confidence in my ideas since they are organized and straightforward, I can concentrate on actually formulating my paragraphs. I noticed I could create stronger sentences, just concentrating on the structure of a paragraph and the sentences. With a time limit, I could pace myself. Writing knowing that I have a specific time to be finished, I feel a bit more pressured in writing. With all this pressure upon me, I feel that I am more concentrated on this certain topic, clear distractions, and open my mind.

When I work within the comforts of my own home with all the distractions such as videogames and tv without a time limit, I would deduce that it would take me much longer to finish this blog. With a time limit, I feel compelled to stay away from these distractions and focus on this blog. Pressured by time, I will not fiddle with silly sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace. With this time limit, we can ensure that our work would be much higher in quality than the same blog and topic without a time limit. And by high quality, I dont mean a long essay. Im sure readers do not want to read a really long essay with gramatical errors and that strays away from the main topic. Im confident that readers want to read an essay that is formulated well and is clear, even if it is short.

Even practicing timed writing is helpful as a technique when writing in an unstructured, unplanned way for a short amount of time. This practice is basically training to become more productive. Here are 11 Keys to Double your Productivity. Im sure reading that article and connecting it to our writing, we can be more efficient in our writing. Timed writing will deny any perfectionist thinking, and at the same time overcome procrastination.

Post #11: April 21, 2009: The Baddest Man on the Planet

Not that intimidating right? Mike Tyson, a very interesting person indeed. When I look at this man and recall all the popular news about him, i seem to forget that there is a completely different side of him. Before reading an article of Newsweek "A Fighter Disarmed," I always viewed Tyson just as a tough heavyweight champion boxer, only known for his aggressive behavior inside and outside the ring. Because of his aggressive attitude, when I heard about him going to jail after being convicted of raping Desiree Washington, I was not even surprised. But after I read the newsweek article, I have a better understanding and respect for this man.

I never considered the fact that Tyson faces many criticisms and negative comments from many people. I never considered what Tyson actually thinks when he has to confront these criticisms, and how he could keep his composure. I know I couldnt keep a solid composure if I was faced with grueling comments about me, despite my success in a specific area. According to the article, when he was making a speech, he heard voices saying that the people he was making the speech too were clapping, but they still didnt like him. He must experience or have that thought many times a week, and it must be hard. Its hard for him, but we dont realize it. I think we must come to realize that people who are troubled and act completely different from the norm I have feelings also, no matter how tough or mean they may be sometimes.

"Whenever stuff goes well for me, I just wait on the bad stuff to come." -Mike
Tyson

When a man realizes that people around him are his enemies, you know that his life was very tough and he had faced a lot of struggles. Besides the fact that he has to confront all the criticisms towards him, Tyson also has gone through drugs, being convicted of rape, and his past wasnt so dandy either. He lived his young life not knowing whether the man living in his house was really his father. He was fat and was beaten up constantly. He was forced to rob people to survive. I could imagine that he took up boxing to get rid of all his insecurities and fix the problems that have tormented his childhood. But those difficulties in his past have made him the man he is today, and still no one respects him. Tyson admits that he never expected to be idolized or respected, but is that how he really feels?

"Ive never been anybody to idolize, and i know that." -Mike Tyson

This man has clearly changed ever since his retirement and his rehabs. Less threatening to people, I think we can get a better understanding of Tyson besides his past of boxing success and scandals. Looking back at his life, Tyson realizes that all the appalling actions he did were not right, and to me, this is a great step in his life to admit this.

"I didnt like that Mike Tyson, so i gave all that stuff away. He wasnt a good
guy. He was just somebody I created to give people something to talk about."
-Mike Tyson

Post #10: March 31, 2009: They Need Us, We Ignore

Several times I see "Help these children" or "They need your help" ads all over the place. I see them, but I ignore them. I know I shouldnt, but I ignore them anyway. I know I care, but I dont do anything about it anyway. I was going through Newsweek, and as i flipped from page to page, front cover to back cover, I completely missed (or ignored) a "Help a Child" ad. This made me realize how much I do this all the time. I ask myself, "am i too lazy to even consider helping?"

I mean, we have so many things in our life, and there are so many temptations in society that we think we need. We whine about things we shouldnt whine about. And on the other side of the world, there is a child who yearns for a home, food, shelter, an education, etc. Now I dont want to go all social justice teacher on you or anything. Im not trying to make you feel bad. I just wonder why we tend to never even consider helping out these children. The picture doesnt compel us to help the child. We should do it because we are morally right. Are we just too lazy? I mean, we have experience so much happiness and joy in our life. Why not help out in order to give even a small amount of happiness and joy to someone else's life. Do we sometimes think we cannot make a difference?

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking
something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he
asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the
ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back,
they’ll die.” “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles
of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!” After listening
politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into
the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”I made a difference for that one.”
-Loren Eisley

Each child is one of millions of abandoned, poor, orphaned children. Each has a unique story, but all suffer a great deal of pain and suffering. Even in today's society, we are told about the injustice that happens through the media, but we react the same way we would each day.

Surprisingly, I also found out that in these ads they only depict and explain the story of one child. I did not even realize that this one story, this one ad, can make me think about society and the many millions of poor people in society (So this is their strategy!). I beleive that through this one story, it will persuade people to think about the many millions of children similar to that child who are suffering. Here is a article going more in depth about this.

Blog #9: March 24, 2009: Pleasant in the Inside

I was never convinced that prisons were a pleasant place to spend time in. I was never convinced that pleasant conversations could be started in there. I always thought the prisoners themselves were the baddies. Never did I think that the guards there would be cruel to those prisoners. I made many false assumptions regarding prisons, but never would I have imagined that so many shocking things that were discussed in this article of Newsweek, "The Guard Who Found Islam" could happen in real life.

You'd think that being a guard at a prison like Guantanamo would be a uneventful task. But what happened to Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks was indeed memorable. Turns out, talking to the detainees is certainly not a bad, intimidating thing. Holdbrooks developed a strong relationship with one of the detainees, Ahmed Errachidi. Talking to this detainee, Holdbrooks started to have different views about the prison and the people in it. Our false assumption that people in the prison are bad people and will never have a connection with you is entirely wrong. We may develop a strong friendship, learn that you and the prisoner have a lot in common, learn something new, and have entirely new ways of viewing life. Heck, we may even agree with the opinions of these detainees, who we thought were horrid, heartless people. Holdbrooks, on the other hand, converted to Islam, changing his life forever.

We even think that the detainees are treated neither good nor bad. The guards just keep watch, give them their food, thats it... The detainees are treated both good and bad, depending on the guards. There have been some degrading and sadistic acts against the prisoners committed by guards or soldiers who wanted revenge. That is the obvious thought. There have also been surprisingly good interactions between the guards and detainees, such as conversations regarding politics, religion, and other "fun" topics. The guards even showed empathy towards the detainees, thinking why those detainees were there in the first place, being treated so badly. Unfortunately, many of us think that these bad people deserve to be punished. But hey, if we actually had a nice conversation with these detainees, we might have a better understanding of them.

"We talked about everything, normal things, and things [we had] in common."
-Ahmed Errachidi

Even the most savage of soldiers could be converted, just like Holdbrooks. Let not the outside nor the inside of the prison intimidate or scare you. Even in this seemingly "cold" and "dark" environment, pleasant, life-changing things can happen. But at the same time, realizing the acts of hatred and way the detainees are being treated can cause some emotional trauma to a person. Even the prisoner must get used to the freedom he gets when leaving the prison,

"trying to learn how to walk without shackles and trying to sleep at night with
the lights off." -Ahmed Errachidi

Here is an article of how prisoners of Guantanamo are stripped of their identity.

Blog #8: March 17, 2009: Geez, of All People, They Must Have the Good Life!

Jason Lezak (what a hottie). If you watched the Beijing Olympics, you must have followed Michael Phelp's adventure towards 8 gold medals. This adventure and goal was to be fulfilled through the 4x100 meter freestyle relay, where both Michael Phelps and Michael Lezak participiated in. If you watched this amazing relay, you must know that the U.S. indeed won, thanks to the incredible record-breaking finish of Jason Lezak. After this historic finish, of course he recieved popularity, the spotlight, money.

Well, 2 out of 3 ain't that bad right? WRONG. The lack of large amounts of money may ruin his swimming career. Behind the Olympian, gold-medal winning, record-breaking swimmer is a casual man struggling to maintain the necessities that are needed to support himself, his family, and his swimming career. After I read an article of Newsweek called "America's Unemployed Olympic Hero," I learned a lot about the situation a lot of athletes are going through. We tend to overlook these things. We fail to see the casual person that hides under that popular, famous personality. YES PEOPLE, even the most talented, skilled and the epitome of athletes struggle today. Though they are peerless in skill, sublime in their own sport and seemingly impeccable, many athletes who are unemployed are quickly trying to make deals with sponsors (speed dating) in order to get back to their sport. Lezak's agent says:

"Athletes are starting to say they can't do it. Even in boom times, most
athletes struggle between Olympic games; post-Beijing, sponsorships have
evaporated along with everything else in the economy."

Like many athletes, Jason Lezak depends on the money he makes now to carry him on for a while. We dont realize he needs to find money quick because of the taxes, equipment and travel spendings he has to make. Jason Lezak was never a child prodigy, working his way up year after year. I'm sure money never stopped him year after year, and it would be such a shame if all that hard work was completely stopped because of a money problem. Jobs are difficult, and time-consuming, but swimming for many dedicated athletes like Lezak IS the job. They train many times a day, many days a week. These athletes are passionate about what they do, but money is a large challenge in their life. Even people like me struggle with money and sometimes have to give up items or temptations or passions. But we will never give up on something that makes us happy just because of a road-block like money.