Quickwrite: Scar

How do you think An-Mei and her mother would respond? Would they think the statement is true or false? Would they be somewhere in-between?

I feel that An-Mei and her mother would have differing opinions on the question. An-Mei’s mother may have been someone who spurned family traditions and left her family for a man with 3 wives, but in the end she still showed that she felt that she had some obligation to her family. Even though her family somewhat hated her, she still came back in the end to take care of her mom in her final days. When her mom was dying, she still came back in the middle of all their hatred and did everything she could, she even cut a piece of meat from her arm off and fed it to her mother in hopes of it healing her. This shows that she had a lot of family devotion in the end because it takes a lot of devotion to go and cut a piece of meat off your arm by yourself without hesitating or giving up the the middle of doing it. She may be somewhere in the middle most of the time, but during certain incidents, she would flip to either extreme of the spectrum.

I feel that An-Mei herself though is somewhere in between in the debate weather family honor was more important than individual rights. She does seem to have some loyalty to her family. This is shown when she was almost going to die. When she was in danger of dying, her grandmother told her that if she did not get better, then she would have a lot of unpaid debt left to her family and that even her mother got so sick of waiting that she picked her things up and left. An-Mei suddenly hurried onto the road of recovery and she stopped complaining of dying and how bad that she felt, all she did was try to consciously get better. Even though you cannot consciously force yourself to get better, her grandmothers words still motivated her to get better and she treid to act upon her grandmother’s words.

Response to "Why Chinese Mothers Are Better"

In the article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” I found an interesting paragraph to talk about.

Second, Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything. The reason for this is a little unclear, but it's probably a combination of Confucian filial piety and the fact that the parents have sacrificed and done so much for their children. (And it's true that Chinese mothers get in the trenches, putting in long grueling hours personally tutoring, training, interrogating and spying on their kids.) Anyway, the understanding is that Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents by obeying them and making them proud.

This paragraph/quote seems to be extremely controversial. Some people think that since the parents gave birth to the child, that the child should do whatever their parents tell them to do because their parents have gone though so much pain and suffering to give birth and raise the children to adult hood. Other people feel that the parents should not force their children to do anything and that their children owe them anything because the children had no choice in who their parents were.

I personally believe that children owe their parents some things. For example, raising a child from birth to adult hood is not an easy feat. I believe that since the parents go through so much effort to raise their kids, that the kids should have at least some obligation to help the parents. If it was not for the parents, then the children would have a hard time surviving to adult hood. However, I do not believe that  children owe their parents EVERYTHING. Just because their parents gave birth to them does not mean that the children should obey every last command that their children give them. The parents also have no right in ordering their children to do whatever their parents want them to. The children are their own people, and just because they are their parents, does not mean that they have absolute control over their children.

Quickwrite: Revolutions in the World

There are many similarities  between the revolution that happened in Honduras and what happens in the book “Animal Farm”. For example, both of the places, stories have a person that is already in power or has someone that is in a position of potential power. In Honduras, they  already have a Constitution in place that limits the powers of the president and the terms that they are able to serve as president. In animal farm, they have constitution that is supposed to limit the actions that the animals can take against each other. It is a set of laws that EVERYONE must follow, not just the people that are “lower” than the people in power. For example, in this article (to be added later) it talks about the Honduran president. He did what I talked about before. He was nearing the end of his presidential terms, so he decided that he wanted the power for a little longer. He then tried to extend the amount of terms that he had and the amount of time that he would stay in power. He tried to do this even though there was  amendment in the constitution that prevented the president from being able to do that. He tried to violate the laws of the constitution in what he attempted to do. That is a lot like what happened in animal farm. Napolean tried to take over the farm and tried to give him self absolute power. He even violated some of the amendments in the Constitution, or “changed” them to suit his needs.

For example, there were Constitutional amendments in Animal Farm that prevented the animals from being abused by other animals. Napolean changed those rules or adjusted them to suit his needs. For example, they had first outlawed alcohol in animals, However, Napolean changed that rule when he found out the alcohol was something that he liked. That showed how much of a hypocrite he was. He was like any corrupt leader, changing the rules whenever they suited his needs, and enforcing them when ever it suited or benefited him.

Chapter 11

Jay Pan

Sutherland 5^th Per

2/9/11

The Anger of Benjamin

The sun was setting, and the day had almost come to an end. The coming of the humans and the subsequent argument had confused the animals. The humans had stormed off and vowed anger at the cheating animals. Clover walked around that farmhouse, thinking about what she had seen that day, the cheating between the humans and the pigs. After the farmers and Napolean were discovered to have been “cheating”, Napolean had kicked the human farmers our of Manor farm. They had ran out the gate and down the road, chased by the guard/attack dogs that Napolean and the pigs had set on them. It was unknown who had started cheating first, but it was suspected that it was it was Napolean and the pigs who had started the cheating, judging by the smug looks on the faces of the pigs, and the indignant ones on the faces of the humans.

“This farm seems to get worse and worse.” thought Clover. “I may be wrong, but I will ask Benjamin what the farm was like before.” “He would remember everything that had happened since Jones was here, he has such a great memory!”

She walked over to Benjamin and asked him to tell her about how life was like before Napolean had come into power. He was extremely reluctant to do so, but when he remembered the death of Boxer, he could not contain his anger at Napolean anymore and told Clover. He told her about how lif was like when Jones was still there, the lack of animal freedom, the small amount of rations (and sometimes none at all) , the whippings, the cruel punishments, and intolerable tyrannical ruling fist of Jones etc etc. But when he thought back to Napolean, his anger grew. He told Clover how Napolean had started out as a shifty person, how he seemed to be the least trustworthy even when Snowball was still around. He also told her about the suspicions that he had about Napolean framing Snowball and chasing him away so that he would have no competition.

When Clover heard about all of this, she grew angry. She could not believe that someone could do such a thing to their fellow animals. She had decided that something had to be done about it, so she decided to try and start her own revolution on the pigs. She tried to convince Benjamin to join, but he had denied her, saying that he had seen too many things and did not want to see her go through more hardships. Clover felt betrayed, but did not scold him. She went to the old barn where old Major used to give his speeches and prepared everything. When night came, she held a speech trying to convince the animals to rebel against the pigs and convinced them to sing beasts of England once again. They animals were afraid at first, but as time went on their courage grew and they sang it more and more with more and more feeling. The animals sang and sang until the pigs grew suspicious and came to investigate. The animals scattered, ran, and tried to go to sleep before the pig arrived.

Later that week, the pigs called Clover in. They talked to her about what she thought about the farm, and what she thought about life on the farm. She said that it was not so bad, but it would be better. The pigs dismissed her and then held a secret conference. They had found out that Clover was planning a rebellion due to the spies that they had within the animals. They decided to go and poison Clover's food and pretend that she was sick.

The next week, Clover had come down with an illness. The pigs had no idea what was wrong with her, but they told everyone that they would take her to a doctor, jus tlike what they did to Boxer and take care of her. They animals, suspicious but still believing the pigs, accepted that statement and let Clover go. However, Benjamin saw that the truck that came to pick her up was the same as the on that picked Boxer up and rushed to get Clover, but it was too late. By the time that Benjamin arrived, Clover had already been taken away.

Days later, the pigs told the animals the same story about Clover that they told them about Boxer and buried Clover. Benjamin, shocked and angry to the extremes at the pigs for lying and killing Clover, decided to take over the rebellion. He plotted for days but could not come up with a plan until he had heard that the humans that Napoleon had wrong had planned to go and attack the farm. He plotted wither the other animals and told them how to act during the battle that was inevitable.

When the day finally came, the pigs called all of the animals out into the yard. Squealer convinced the animals to fight, and that they were fighting for a good cause. However, the animals had already been convinced by Benjamin on what they should do. When the humans came, the animals got into position. As the humans came in, the animals rushed to the sides, opening a path between the humans and the pigs. The humans, enraged at the pigs for cheating, aimed at them first and shot and killed all of the pigs. The animals then rushed in from the sides and killed the humans. Benjamin cheered, they had finally completed a rebellion, and he had avenged Boxer and Clover. However, this time around, he would personally monitor the development of the new “animal government” so that some one like Napolean would not rise up into power every again.

The End

Rebuttal: Human Population Control

Today, I am going to look at Ianna’s Post about controlling the human population. She said that

Instead of going on a rant killing millions of people it would be better to invest in something that would be placed in the body during infancy that would keep the individual from obtaining an accidental pregnancy, like the IUD used for women. This would still allow the individual to have sex they just couldn't get/get someone else pregnant. Which brings up the question that if only physical females can hold a child would men really need this device? I think not, but if the device can prevent STD's or STI's everyone should have one. If the product does prevent STD's and STI's then it would help people live, so it counteracts the purpose of lowering the population-if this is product is used as a drastic measure if not then it would be better to help people live without the hard ship of getting a disease or infection due to sex.

Ianna has a good point, but I am wondering if people have the choice of putting in the contraceptive or not. What if someone wanted to have a child, but they were unable to because the contraceptive prevented them from doing so? Also, what if the contraceptive has problems? What if it causes infertility in people, or is extremely hard to remove from a person and may cause injury from removal?

We talked about contraceptives and STD’s in Anatomy class before, and we discussed how STD’s and STI’s could be passed from skin to skin contact. Something like the IUD would not protect anyone from it, because it offers no physical protection against the STD or STI.

I also want to know if there was an age limit for the contraceptive. If everyone had contraceptives and could not have children, then would the human race not die out? If no one could have children, then we would have no descendants and the human race would cease to exist. It would seem to be like a permanent sterilization technique and it would be required by law to have it. Unless there was an age where you could remove it and have kids, or you had the choice to remove it and have kids, then you would be dooming the entire human to extinction.

FWI, I agree with Ianna totally on what she says on this topic, I just wanted to rebut it because it was such an interesting topic. No offence to you Ianna, your post was nice.

Animal Farm Essay, Prompt 1

I have chosen to analyze Major and Squealer in my mini-essay.

Major seemed to be a person that actually cared about everyone on the farm. He seemed to care about EVERYONE, not just the people who would benefit him the most by befriending them.He even cared about the wild animals who did not have much independent thought and did not have much intelligence. He does not speak in a condescending manner, but treats everyone as equals, even the people who look up to him and revere him. He also tells people to look towards the future, and to follow their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Major acts like a revolutionary, trying to free the animals from their chains. For example, “And among us let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in this struggle. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.” (Pg. 31) He actually CARES about the livelihoods of the other animals.

Squealer on the other hand, seems to treat the other animals as if they were second class citizens. He does not seem to give them the respect that they deserve and treats them as if they were stupid animals that did not hope to see the difference between lies and the truth. He also seems to trick the animals. When ever something happens the benefits the pigs but hurts the other animals, he would say that it was for the greater good. He would also threaten them by saying that if they did not shut up and do what they were told, then Farmer Jones would come back and mistreat them worse then they were already mistreated. This was a gesture used to help pacify the animals who thought that they were being treated unfairly and to scare them into doing whatever the other pigs told them to do. This shows that he has no respect for the livelihoods of the other animals and that all he cared about is himself. He also never talks about the animals hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Instead, all he talks about is how “great: if on the farm is and how bad it would be if they were in any other place. He also lies and talks about how Napoleon does so many things, but is instead really trying to rewrite history to put Napoleon in a better light and to make the other animals want to follow Napoleon more. He seems to be the type of person that is sneaky and would do anything to achieve their goals. “Are you certain this not something you have dreamed, comrades? Have you any record of such a resolution? Is it written down anywhere? And since it was certain true that nothing of the kind existed in writing, the animals were satisfied that they were mistaken.” (pg.77) This shows how Squealer tells half-truths and lies to the animal populace.

The Major was very persuasive. He painted a picture of a land of freedom and a land where everyone could do whatever they felt like doing, as long as it was not hurtful or morally wrong. He appealed to the animals long lost sense of hope. “Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labor would be our own. Almost overnight we could become free and rich,” (Pg. 30) It was effective because it awakened long lost desires within the animals and gave them hopes and dreams.
Squeal was also persuasive, but for another reason. Unlike Major, who used the animals hopes and dreams to influence them, Squealer uses the animals fears against them. To influence them, he uses their fear of Farmer Jones coming back and enslaving them again. He says that Jones will come back and enslave them even when it is highly improbably the Jones is even in the area. “One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely comrades, you do not want Jones back?...Certainly, the animals did not want Jones back; if the holding of debates on Sunday mornings was liable to bring him back, then the debates must stop.” (pg.70) It is effective because he preyed on the animals fears, and fear is a strong emotion that influences people enourmously.

Opening Statement: Wikileaks

Hello everybody, today, I am going to debate about Wikileaks. Wikileaks is a website where people put documents about things that the government does not put out for the public to see. I believe that Wikileaks if doing something that should be done in society. Wikileaks keeps the government in check by preventing it from doing whatever they want and hiding the truth from the public (society). If the government tries to hide secrets from society, then they have to have reason to hide it from society. This might mean that the secrets that they are hiding are harmful to society or are ethically wrong. If the government is doing something that might harm society or is ethically wrong, everyone has aright to know what they are doing. If society just blindly followed or did whatever the government told them to do, then society wold just be a bunch of blindly sheep, they would have no idea how to do things themselves. The government may then proceed to become a totalitarian government. They may be slowly corrupted by the power that they hold within the government and the lack of risks, repercussions and people blocking their way. Eventually, the people within the government, the society, will lose many or all of their rights because the people in control of the government will not have any opposition from the people in their society, the blindly following sheep. For example, in George Orwell's Book "Animal Farm" "Somehow, it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making any of the animals richer-except of course, the pigs and the dogs." (Pg. 129) The "farm" represents the government, and the dogs and pigs represent the upper and ruling class of a "government". The upper and ruling class covers things up from the public, and lets them believe things that may not necessarily be true. 

Society also has the job of telling the government when they are going too far. If the government keeps secrets from society then society can not tell them when they are going too far. The government will then be able to do anything they want. We do not want a government to do whatever they want, because we know what happens when the government has complete and utter control of the country. History has proved time and time again that totalitarian governments end up being overthrown by restless, mistreated, and extremely pissed off citizens of the same government. If a government gets overthrown, then there is now law and order within the country and lawlessness will break out. Also in "Animal Farm" "the rebellion had been successfully carried through: Jones was expelled, Manor Farm was theirs." This is an example of an oppressed society overthrowing their oppressors. Jones represented all of the tyrants that oppressed society, in this case, the farm animals. You can find proof of this by looking at the times between stable governments in countries were created, such as the times before and after the creation and fall of Rome.