Non-AP Response Quote 2

“I know how people are, with their habits of mind. Most will sail through from cradle to grave with a conscience clean as snow...I know people. Most have no earthly notion of the price of a snow-white conscience.”  
I would like to examine this quote as it relates to characters individually.
Rachel: Rachel pretty much exemplifies this quote the best. She has no idea the cost of her clean conscience. Even in her old age, with multiple husbands behind her she feels that she has earned all that she holds in her possession (her bar, hotel, faux-gold lining in the bathroom). She feels no guilt over Ruth May's death, no guilt over using Mr. Axelroot, and the husbands after him to get money, no guilt over the suffering of her father and her lack of reaching out to people. It is said "No Man is an Island," But Rachel truly is an island. She cares only for herself. The price of her conscience is a whole lot of forgetting and ignorance.
Nathan: The father of the Price family  and preacher is stubborn and self-righteous. His conscience can never be snow-white because of the incident in the war. He feels he was a coward because he was wounded and hid while the rest of his company went on the infamous Death March. The price of a snow-white conscience for Nathan is a life devoted to saving as many souls as perished on the march. Yet because of his self-righteousness, he never reachs it. In fact, he dies hated by everyone around him.
Orleanna: Orleanna has a hard time having a clear conscience because she is a mother who has failed her principal duty: protecting her children. Since she has lost Ruth May, she carries guilt with her for years. Also she fails to bring all of her children home. Only Adah does she manage to bring home. In the end the cost of a clear conscience for Orleanna is learning of Nathan's death and returning to the place where Ruth May was buried.
Anatole and Leah: This couple understands the cost of a clear conscience better than any of the other characters. For Anatole, he must starve in prison, live in fear and not know whether he will see his children grow up. For Leah, she must live in fear, be apart from her one true love, wait patiently, come to grips with the death of Ruth May, and stay in Africa to live an honest genuine life. Both of them live with consciences that tell them they have not done enough to save the others around them, yet of all the characters in the book, they have lived the most honestly and compassionately, so they should have clear consciences. The cost of a clear conscience can be the loss of a clear conscience.
Adah: Adah lives a 'False Hood' the cost of her conscience is that she must not forget, or disassociate herself from the old 'Ada.' Both parts must be embraced, and that is why she never has a husband.
 Overall, Rachel represents the "most [who] will sail through from cradle to grave with a conscience clean as snow" and all the other characters have an idea of what that conscience costs. They represent the blood, sweat, tears, and forgetting behind a clear conscience.

Structuralism and Semiotics

For my literary lense, I was assigned Structuralism and Semiotics. Structuralists try to find the thought processes behind the written work, by examining the language itself that is used within the text. Structuralists believe language permeates all facets of modern society and culture and they try to break it down and see what knowledge base is necessary to understand the text.
In the previous night's reading, probably the most fascinating thing to look at through this lense is Adah. Adah's writing is sometimes quite literally backwards: "Emulp Der Eno" (185)., "Nevaeh Ni Seilf Fo Foorp Wen .Rehctacylf Esidarap" (137). Sometimes her writing isn't backwards with letters but just with words: "Walk to Learn. I and Path. Long one is Congo" (135). Adah loves all things symetrical with writing. She does not speak out loud, so writing is her voice and she loves symmetry and poetry in her writing. She even calls herself Ada because it is a proper palindrome. The perspective of this text is certainly one of a mind, inhibited by a rare disease.
      Another interesting part of the reading from last night through this lens is Nathan Price's actions. He himself claims to do the work of God, but on multiple occassions, he strikes his own family. To understand his actions, we must understand the mind of a white southern baptist as well as the stress of being in a foreign country with failures in conversion piling up. Nathan continues to be self-righteous and fraud, and appears one major crisis away from insanity. His stubborness goes against some of the Christian teachings as certainly does his lower view of the African people.

Heart of Darkness v. Apocalypse Now

One of the most striking things I noticed in Apocalypse Now was the way the natives were portrayed. They seem to function as one mindless organism, like bees with Kurtz as their queen.
When the gunboat arrives at Kurtz's dock there are dozens of small fishing boats between the dock and the water that the gunboat is currently occupying. As the gunboat approaches, the natives all give the boat the same blank stare and slowly part just long enough for the boat to get through; after the boat proceeds, the natives slowly reassume their original position, thus swallowing the boat.
When Willard exits after assassinating Kurtz, the natives again act in unison, this time bowing down to the one who has destroyed their queen. As he walks back to the boat the natives part slightly with ominous stares and swallow him up in the same manner as earlier.
This decision by the director is quite curious considering in Heart of Darkness the natives were described by parts: arms, legs, eyes. But never as a single organism, always as individuals. One theory suggests that the natives in Apocalypse Now are a symbol for the communist society of Vietnam. I must admit, there is some merit in this theory. The natives always act in unison, they are purely equal and there is a hidden authority who pulls the strings on them. Communism itself can be seen as similar to a bee hive or an ant hill. There is a central authority and eqial workers and together the unit provides for everyone.
This decision was clearly a deliberate one, and on film it is quite powerful visually.

Group Difficulties HOD

Why does a sailor tell Marlow to "try to be civil" on page 106? I understand that the interruption is to draw attention to the fact that Conrad is behind two narrators, but in the context of the conversation I don't think anything Marlow says is particularly vulgar especially when compared to the other things he has said earlier in the book.

Heart of Darkness Quote

"For there is nothing mysterious to the seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny" (68).
I found this quote to be quite interesting. It is very ironic that the sailors, who spend much time around the sea, see the sea as the one true mystery. The author also shows how familiar things can still be mysterious, with his comparison of destiny. Everyone is familiar with the idea of destiny, but who really understands it completely. All the different faiths still leave questions unanswered. Also the reference to the sea being the "mistress" of  a sailor's existence is quite apt. For sailor's spend months out on the waters gazing out upon the sea. This paradox of familiarity juxtaposed with the unknown is very interesting and well-written. It is safe to assume we will be presented with many more paradoxes and perhaps different settings for the one above.

The Very Tardy Chapter One Analysis Post

      This chapter is primarily focused on the early life of Lord Stanley and also the motives for early European imperialism. The start of the chapter focuses on Lord Stanley's upbringing and establishes Hochschild's pattern of psychohistory, which we see much of in the later book. Hochschild notes that Lord Stanley was a bastard by the name of John Rowlands. He went from family to family until finally he ended up in a workhouse. It was here that he developed the fear of intimacy that would follow him for the duration of his life.
      When Stanley grew up he traveled and gained experience on boats. After briefly being involved in the American Civil War he become a foreign correspondent for The New York Herald. Afterwards he became an African explorer. A common theme in Stanley's life is lies. Time and time again he fabricated events to make himself appear more heroic than he actually was. In all of his books there are preposterous exaggerations, even of his early childhood. He claimed he escaped from the workhouse by leading a revolt, but there is no record of such events. Clearly something in Stanley yearned to be remembered in a positive light and it can most likely be traced to his childhood where time and time again he was abandoned and most likely told he was worth nothing.
     The next section of the chapter talks about the drive for imperialism. Hochschild talks about a few specific factors that led to imperialism and the justifications used. A huge factor for imperialism was the hope of raw materials, to feed the growing industrial empires of Europe. To justify this Europeans used Christianity, claims of bringing civilization and claims that they were fighting off Arab slave traders.
      The final section details Stanley's 1871 trip to Africa. Stanley took 190 people into Africa and after 8 months found Dr. Livingstone. During his trip he overworked many of his men horrifically and laid the foundation for future expeditions.

Discussion Questions
1. Why does Hochschild use the psychohistory format? Do only messed-up people commit horrendous crimes? Does early childhood trauma explain the actions of villains?
2. Stanley called Africa "unpeopled country" what led him and other Europeans to reach this conclusion?
3.Why did Stanley lie so much about his accomplishments?
4. How do you think Stanley's earlier experiences in America, the workhouse and as a correspondent helped him to become an African explorer of great esteem at the time?
5. Why did people revere Stanley at the Time?

Quiz Questions
1. What is the significance of the title "I shall not give up the chase"?
2. Name two or more justifications for imperialism during this time frame.
3. Why did Stanley have a fear of intimacy?
4. What was the purpose of Stanley's first expedition into Africa?
5. How did Stanley get ahead of his competition?

Psychohistory (KLG)

      It is not surprising that King Leopold was an insane megalomaniac. In order to oversee the atrocities that he did and not bat an eye, it takes a truly twisted and damaged person. The thing that is really terrifying is the ordinary people who went to Africa and commit these terrible acts. It really is similar in its own way to the Stanford Prison Experiment. Reading about ordinary people made me think, would I have been able to be different and protest the atrocities in Africa had I been sent there. The answer to that question lies in education. The purpose, I believe, of an education is to teach people to think for themselves. If I have learned enough in school about my personal humanitarian beliefs and have learned to defend those beliefs than I have received a proper education and I will not engage in actions that conflict with my morals.
Another interesting topic that came to mind when faced with this question is how much of what our government does today would we be not okay with when it was out in the open? We generally like to believe the best in our government because the actions happening are so far away from us actually making the decisions or seeing the people affected by the decisions. I believe something similar happened with the Belgian people. When faced with a horrifying truth that was so far away, it was easier to believe in the stuff right in front of them in Belgium.

On Conquest and Brutality

Why is brutality a necessary part of conquest? Brutality and conquest seemingly go hand in hand when one looks back on the civilizations of old. The definition of conquering listed by Merriam-Webster is "to gain or acquire by force of arms" They go hand in hand so much that sources rarely talk about the why. In Conquest: How Societies Overwhelm Others by David Day the only discussion I found about brutality revolved around how societies justify brutality, not why they engage in it in the first place. Then again doesn't justification provide some instance for why the acts were committed? Either way Day listed several ways of justification: Religious, (spreading the faith) moral (our society is the best and we need to show the barbarians how to behave) and Hitler famously said the only justification he needed was the blood of his enemies (Day 94).
      These reasons provide a bit of insight into the psyche of why brutality is a part of conquest. Most every conqueror didn't have a problem with brutality. and from the justifications given, it is fair to say that most conquerors thought of their opponents as lesser in some way. This condescending attitude I believe is the root of brutality. When you consider the american slave experience such as in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, the prevailing attitude among the Whites committing acts of brutality is that these people are worth less than their own lives; they do not view them as equals. Once that mental barrier is down humans are capable of horrific brutality. But just because someone is capable of brutality doesn't mean they will commit it, so why is brutality committed in conquering?
       From the dawn of time, wars have always been ugly, and one could argue that war has evolved to favor the brutal.  In early primitive wars, wouldn't a society that was more brutal and willing to destroy the will of the enemy be much more likely to survive? If we look at the history of American Wars as well we find that the further along we go, the more brutal warfare becomes. For example in the American Revolution, the US army engaged in guerilla warfare and broke many of the established rules of war such as firing upon officers, attacking the day after Christmas. This willingness to temporary suspend morals definitely contributed to the American victory. Move forward 4 score and seven years and in the civil war and Union General William Sherman is leading his infamous march to the sea. Sherman burned down farms in the south and stole food from civilians. Sherman argued that the war was against the people supporting the enemy as well. Now skip ahead to World War 2 where the allies bombed Hamburg, Germany and killed at the very least 40,000 civilians. Lest we forget the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that forever are shrouded in controversy. Then we move forward in time and still we haven't changed dropping napalm on Vietnamese innocents and ordering drone strikes in the Middle East which hit civilians.
       The societies that are around and about, are those who have succeeded in warfare and the current world we live in dictates that to win a war you must be brutal. That is why conquest and brutality go hand in hand, because people value victory at all costs; even their own morals.

Senior Project Paper Review

I wrote my paper on the history of the 88 constellations in the sky and my thesis was that Greek mythology allows casual astronomers to appreciate the night sky significantly more. My paper was plenty long and had many facts, and the formatting was solid; I didn't get my paper back. I think the paper was a good summary of all the stories of Greek mythology. Had it been a college paper, it wouldn't have passed though. There wasn't nearly enough analysis and the structure was very boring and repetitive. If I was to do it in a more serious setting I would supplement the facts with analysis and transitions to make the paper easier to read.

Research Paper Update with Outline

1. My topic is the Arab Spring and the overall task I am trying to accomplish is to find out how revolutions happen, why they work and will they continue to happen (using Tunisia as a case study).

2. The Aljazeera article entitled "How Tunisia's Revolution Began" written by Yasmine Ryan was my most helpful source because it was most directly related to what I wanted to accomplish. It gave me insight into how Tunisia's revolution was started, how it was sustained and how it ended.

3.  Right now I still take the side that revolutions happen because people are unhappy with their leader and feel their basic human rights are being violated, but successful revolutions need resources, publicity and tenacity.

4. Difficult Quote followed by layman's explanation:
"Iran has itself both gained and lost from recent events. higher oil prices, the fall of the staunchly anti-Iranian regime in Egypt and projected reductions in US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan have all strengthened its hand. These gains are offset at least in part by the weakened status of Iran's close partner Syria - and by signs that Iran's leadership is divided against itself" (Haas).

Iran is in a delicate balance in Middle Eastern relations and just because its government is a "republic" doesn't mean it is immune from to the Arab Spring. Iran gains positively from conflicts in the region because oil production is halted or slowed in countries where conflict occurs therefore there is a higher demand for oil and prices go up. However Iran also loses a bit from the Arab Spring because it's close trade partner and ally Syria, is weaker and in the political battlefield, Iran has one its friends' voices diminished.

-It appears that the type of explaining I have to do will be explaining how the relationships got to where they are and why one move spells disaster for a country and success for another country. People know the names and terms, but not necessarily the prior dynamics and relationships of the Middle East.

5. The "Whoa!" moment for me was realizing that social media really was utilized and that technology really was the medium through which all of this was made possible. It just blew my mind that the thing I text on every day or type on could be used to start a successful revolution. Words are powerful. Ideas are powerful. Unity and tenacity trumps all. 

Why do teens stink at reading people?

     I can definitely believe the results of the study conducted that teens have difficulties reading people. In my personal experience in high school, I can remember a dozen memories that still sting from when I misread a situation. Insecurity is rampant in high school, it really is a bit of a twisted social experiment. Thinking about who are my friends right now, there are a few that I can say are for sure my friends but many more people I converse with fall into an unknown category. On a daily basis my peers and I misinterpret each other.  Perhaps we misunderstand each other due to the intensity of our experiences in our adolescent years. As we struggle with our own identities, the events around us are magnified. In this myriad of emotions it is easy to see how we could get confused.  Perhaps a reason high school occupies such a large place in our heart is because the rejections we feel have been magnified. At the root of those rejections, however is failure to read one another.

Mental Illness

     The other day I stumbled across an article written by a functioning schizophrenic. My first reaction was amazement. How could someone with a life-altering mental illness function so well? Then as I read the article I realized I was making a very basic common mistake in psychology. Not treating the individuals like individuals. The basic premise behind psychology is that every individual has different needs. And furthermore there is no such thing as a general treatment that can applied to every individual. It is a case by case science that has trends. I assumed that the best treatment for someone hearing voices inside their head was institutionalization but his story is a case example of why individuals with mental illnesses need to be evaluated individually. Mental illnesses and how we treat them are a key topic in psychology as psychologists strive to better mental health for all.

A quick definition of a mental illness:  A condition that disrupts the happy state of the mind and makes functioning daily more difficult.
   
The following graph with statistics provided by the National Institute of Mental Health shows how common mental illness is among adults.

The numbers are a little surprising. millions with schizophrenia, millions with phobias and millions who are bipolar. It's stunning that there is a large chunk of the American populace that struggles with severe mental illness

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 4 americans of age 18 or older in a given year struggles with a mental disorder and 1 in 17 have to daily live with an illness of the mind such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression. These numbers clearly illustrate that mental illness is a massive problem. 

Recent mass shootings such as the one in Newtown, CN have brought mental illness to the forefront of the political discussion. There is no question that we could be doing more to help the psyche of America. The NAMI posted a telling stat: less than a third of adults with treatable mental health disorders receive treatment. Perhaps the road to a mentally healthy America starts with a culture change. Many of us individually frown upon seeking mental health treatment as a weakness. If this attitude changed, we would definitely see a positive change in American mental health. Sometimes, it's not entirely up to the individual to seek treatment. As citizens, we should watch our loved ones for signs of illness and be supportive in helping others to get treatment.

Treatment for mental illnesses can take many forms. There is psychoanalysis or talking through problems which is an effective way to combat most illnesses. Another option is medication. Some illnesses can be lessened by the use of drugs to stabilize chemicals and in turn moods. Institutionalization, while it gets a bad rap, is probably the most time effective way of mentally healing, or stabilizing an illness whether temporary or permanent.

The most important thing with all treatments of mental Illness however is personalizing the treatment. Some people need to talk, others need to feel loved, some need to feel a part of something by working. The important thing with mental health is that we don't give someone the wrong treatment because we lumped them into a category. Diseases of the mind are far more complicated than a broken bone or a deep laceration. The healing has no predictable time range and there is no such thing as standard treatment.

Thoughts on a pre-9/11 world by a post 9/11 child.

     Personally, I am a law-abiding citizen and I have no problem with my actions being monitored, I'm just going to keep living my life the way I was before. Movie stars always talk about not letting the fame get to them, and I think it is similar with security. When you're life is scrutinized you can't let it get to you.
     As a child too young to remember the pre-9/11 world with any depth, invasion of privacy is normal for me as is bringing your ID everywhere with you. When reading essays about the USA PATRIOT Act, it illuminates to me that there was a time before censorship, before massive airport security, before "live" television was put on a 9 second delay.
     One of the pieces we read references being uncomfortable writing while someone is watching. To that, my natural reaction is that a person should be more assertive, be confident that one is in the right, and practice civil disobedience when you disagree with society. If you cannot do something when everyone is watching, then you cannot do it at all in this increasingly public and clashing society. Today's liberty is a public one. Thoughts, without action and debate, thoughts that stay chained in the mind are worthless.
     These essays put into perspective the fact that some people have privacy, and it being written into the constitution makes it a sore subject.