Essay: The Joy Luck Club

Susana Vazquez

December 13, 2014

Period 3          

Chinese-American superstition

Many new generations have to apply two cultures in their lives. In The Joy Luck Club both Chinese and American superstition drive the characters’ thoughts and choices. Superstition can make the mothers seem strange and outmoded to their daughters, but it also makes them aware of their deep spiritual inheritance. The two generation seemed more separated by the superstition of both cultures but really they just understand each other more.

Both mothers and daughters believe in spirits and in reading signs, although the daughters can be reluctant to accept what they see. For example didn’t see what was wrong with her marriage. The mothers want their daughters to have all the privileges they could not and they try to teach them about Chinese customs and beliefs. As Chinese –Americans, they reflected most strongly in their relationships with men. Ted, Harold, and especially Rich, represent the American part of their wives, which for the mothers seems frighteningly disconnected from Chinese thinking. This drives Daughter and mother apart. For example when Waverly wants to marry Rich Schields she is scared to tell her because she criticizes everything. However this caused Waverly speak up and she said how she felt. 

            Mothers think it’s necessary to teach their daughters superstition, because they think their daughters are naturally blind to the spiritual world. It an example of this quote “What we don't understand we can make mean anything,” by Chuck Palahniuk.  My mother is the same she wants me to know about Mexico and America.

Superstition also makes them feel helpless; Rose has the premonition that Bing will die but cannot do anything to stop it. In the same way, Lena sees her marriage falling apart but feels helpless to prevent it. In the end, the daughters' connect to their mothers through the ghosts of their ancestors. For example, she meets her sisters and realizes that she has been connected to her Chinese heritage all along in spirit, even if not in her actions. When Jing-mei and her sisters look at the Polaroid, they see themselves appear like ghosts out of the mist to become the striking image of Suyuan. At the end of The joy luck club, Jing-mei and her sisters, realizes they were just as much a part of her mother's spirit as of her flesh. Furthermore, Jing-mei is the only one who can save her mother from becoming a ghost, by learning from her strength and keeping her heritage alive.

            Different superstition causes misunderstanding between generations. Therefore leads to separation. In joy luck club the mothers and daughter were distanced, they would show how they felt and it hurts the daughter-mother relationship.  It might seem as superstition separated the mothers’ from their daughters’ it actually helped them become closer.

Question 9-15 Leopard Man

9)  Tom leppard is called the leopard man because he is tattoo with leopard spot all around his whole body.
10) The author think people with tattoos and piercing only want to get societies attention. He has people who go to far in how they look that it's just crazy.
11)Leopard  man is different then other people with tattoos because he wants to be isolated and away from societies pressures.
12)Leopard man lives in a Scottish wilderness.
13)According to Feys, society fear people freakish and extraordinary individuals alike. Society fear them because as Feys said ordinary people fear what they don'tr understand.
14)The world's most prevalent and most pernicious psychological disorder is conformity. Feys argument is that living in society put people under pressure about their individuality.
15)Leopard Man is happy because he doesn't have to worry about what other say or about what to wear in his case about wearing clothes.

Latin Roots #6

Roots and Derivatives:
1. corp(or): body
2. cred: to believe, to trust
3. cur(r),curs, course: to run, to flow
4. dic(t): to speak, to say

Word List:

1. benediction (n): the invocation of a divine blessing, as at the close of a religious service; a blessing or state of blessedness
The priest declared benediction.

2. concourse (n): a running or flowing together; a broad public walkway or hallway; a crowd or throng.

There was a large concourse by the mall.

3. concurrent (a): occurring at the same time; meeting or acting together

My test is concurrent to my track meet.

4.  corporal (a): related to the physical body 

Stress can have corporal effects.

5. corpulent (a): very stout; fleshy and obese; fat

In America many people are corpulent and in other places too.

6. credibility (n): the quality of being believable or trustworthy

My dad has low credibility from my mom.

7. credulity(n): the (naive) willingness to believe too easily without proof. 

When my sister was little she had high credulity for she believed that if she swallowed a seed a plant would grow inside of her.

8. cursory (a):done in a superficial or hasty manner

My pancakes were done cursory so I decide i was allergic to pancakes.

9. dictum (n): an authoritative saying or maxim

In wars dictum must have been used.

10. incorporate (v): to form into one body or functioning unit; to combine several different things into a whole

The movie incorporated everything, from romance to action.

11. incredulous (a): not believing, skeptical, or doubting

I am incredulous about many things.

12. indicative (a): characteristic of or very much like; suggestive

The finger is indicative to the toe.

The color purple

Part one: In The Color Purple, Celie was 14 years old and she was giving birth which was her fathers child also. One day a man came and said he wanted to marry Nettie, Celie sister. Her dad refused but he gave Celie away instead of Nettie. Nettie escaped from house and wanted to stay with Celie. Everything was going great until he wanted to make a move on her and she defended herself. She was thrown out of the house, and never seen again by Celie. everyone grew up happy, the oldest kid got married. He then had problem with his wife. His wife went to jail for hitting the major and cussing the mayor's wife. Celie's husband brought a visitor which was his old lover, Shug Avery. At first she was mean and demanding, but it at she was getting married.later changed.She left and when she return, she announced that she was getting married. Celie and the Shug Avery found the cards that were from her sister, all of them. That's when she made the decision of going away and also she was able to see her sister and her mom.

part two: the author chose to write about this topic to inform people how life was for African American, even when they were with their own raise. So we can learn that it's wrong to not do and try to stop it.

Part three: The protagonist is dynamic because she was innocent, afraid and quiet, at the end she was strong enough to stand up for herself, she wasn't afraid anymore.She was still generous and a women with morals. She is also a round character because she shows lots of emotion, and the book is based on her life. Another major character would be Avery because she was almost always there by Celie's side and helped her still the end.

Part four: In the book The Color purple, the symbol is obvious, it purple. It relate to the whole story because it's hard not to notice the color purple, purple makes everything stand out, it does everything to get noticed, that what people in the world try to do. Celie, Nettie, and many women who were fighting everyday of their lives to stay alive.They were fighting to get noticed, that they are not animals you can sale, trade, or give away. Women are important why are they not treated like they are suppose to, lik a person who works hard everyday of their lives.

Part Five:My fiend read it, and she read good books so i decided to try it. As I read the title it didn't seem interesting so I read the back summery, the idea that it was a story of a African American women, I wanted to know the story. I wanted to know if Celie ever going to see her sister Nettie, her son and her daughter. I wondered if she was going to have a happy ending.in other words, what kept me reading was the ending, I wanted to know.

Part six: I can kind of relate my life to Celie's life in the story. As in the book men think they have the right to get a women and treat them like trash. In my life my dad doesn't do that but he is very bossy and get's really mad although he doesn't hit my mom he yells at her and say's mean things.

Part seven:The idea that i will expect to remember would be "purple only want to be noticed." I will remember this to be able to understand why people do what they do. I think this is important in everyday life, to see not from there were but from the person that's doing the action. "I had to fight my dad, my brothers to have the upper hand" This means she fought her life to not get hit and to be noticed that she wasn't going to be treated like she was ever again.

Antigone quick write

My two brother have killed themselves and my uncle has made himself king. With his power he ordered that my jerk brother which started the war, be buried in national honors while my favorite brother's body deposit at the city dump as bird and maggot meal. My parents are two crazy to help me and my only hope is my sister but she is to scared of my uncle to help me do anything. I would try to convince everyone that my brother is innocent and he wasn't responsible for the fight. I will only try to open people's eyes so they could see the truth. If more people believe what I'm saying they would talk about until it goes to my uncle. If many people know this, people are going to start questioning the king, my uncle. Before I do this I would start by talking to my uncle, I mean the king. Show him that families always help each other even in the roughest time and that if something bad happened to him I would be there trying to help him even if i have to die because family is family. This I would hope would warm his black, cold heart. If nothing works I will frame him or do something bad to him because if he didn't care to help a family member and was able to let his nephew for bird and maggot doesn't deserve mercy but I don't think I would have the guts to do the wrong thing, Even though I don't like my uncle he is still family. But one thing I will do is risk my life for my brother and I will bury him because if it was me instead of him he would probably do the same. I hope i don't get caught because I want to go to Paris one day.

                                                                                                          

Greek Drama Questions

1. A bull or a goat is given for dancing choruses of worshipers.

2. Fourteen thousand spectators would gather in the open-air theatre of Dionysos.

3. The mask affects the voices of actors in that it made their voices sound louder.

4. Antigone was suspenseful to viewing audiences because the audience already knew her story.  Even though the audience tried to warn the characters, they still saw her doing the same thing.

5. The shepherd was to leave the infant to die on the mountainside.

6. The riddle that Sphinx gave to Oedipus was, "What creature goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

7. Oedipus's kids were Antigone, Ismene, Polyneices, and Eteocles.

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

9. Families closed the person's eyes/mouth, wash the body, dress the body in white or wedding clothes, place the body on a bier pointing towards the door, and throw wild marjoram and other herbs on the body. While the women wait next to the body, the men  enter the room with their right hand raised and the closest relative holds the person's head, while the others beat their faces, tore their hair, cried and wailed, as well as leaving offerings such as wine.

Jonathan Safran Foer Webinar Reaction Assignment

Eating Dogs

                In many places people eat dogs and to some people it sound disgusting. Have you wondered what other people think when you eat cows, chicken, or pork? They also think it disgusting.  I personally like meat but I have to ask where it came from. I would say I am against eating dogs but if dog aren't eaten they will still get killed in shelters. It is just wrong but why do people get arrested if they eat dog and some people can sell it. It’s kind of ironic. 

                There are many reasons why eating dog is wrong; first of all if more people started eating dog would we look at dogs as pets or food. Of course we wouldn't play around with our “food”. John D. Sutter said “Here in the Untied States, we will spend $58.5 billion on pets this year, according to one industry projection. We pamper dogs with Christmas presents; send them to "doggie daycare"; bring them on planes (more than 2 million pets and animals fly per year); and trot them around show rings, judging the perfection of their pedigree.” In other words he thinks that it is weird how people spend a lot of money on their pets and now, turn out they eat man’s best friend.  

Dogs get a lot of love from their owners .How would it feel that the animal you love is transferred to other places illegally as food. In china there are advertising campaign in northeast China that sell dog meat. "They think we should not put up the advertisements because eating dogs is a so-called 'tradition,'" said Carrot Chen, Animals Asia cat and dog welfare deputy manager who is trying to stop dog meat being sold. In earlier times tradition were sometime sacrifices but it is different now tradition doesn't mean it has be a dead animal and in this case it is cruel to kill dogs for their meat and people should not it eat it. If people started eating dogs imagine in the future are we all going to end up eating each other. 

Cites

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1377829/rights-groups-ads-against-eating-dog-and-cat-meat-rile-traditionalists

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/anti-dog-meat-protest-held-in-south-korea/

Latin Root #4

Roots and Derivatives

1. bon, boun= good
2. capit, capt= head, Chief, Leader
3. carn(i)= flesh
4. ced(e), ceed, cess=go, yield, surrender

Word List

1.  accession= the attainment of a certain rank or dignity, an increase by means of something added, the act of becoming  joined      The accession of the chemical made it work.
2. bona fide= in good faith; genuine       The guy is bona fide.
3. bonanza= a sudden and unexpected source of money or riches, a wind fall         The women got a bonanza for the gold watch which was more then she expected.
4. bounteous= inclined to be generous, plentiful and abundant      The guy was bounteous to the women that asked for help. 
5. capitulation=A surrendering, usually upon prearranged terms or conditions: a final give up     Capitulations in many places happened because many people died.
6. carnage= a great slaughter, as in a battle      The soldiers were in carnage and not many people were left.
7. carnivorous= flesh-eating, as an animal      Travelers became carnivorous to keep some of them alive.
8. incarnate= literally, in the flesh, in bodily form: personified: flesh-colored        A King who were disliked were incarnated by the people.
9. intercede= To act on another's behalf: to mediate       The prince interceded for the young beautiful girl.
10. precedent= A previous act or decision taken as a valid model: a having gone before        Many precedent have and is changing many people life.
11. recapitulation= A brief repetition, a summary, as of what has already been said.        To check if we understand, the teacher asks us for a recapitulation of the subject.
12. reincarnation= a thing that is reborn or comes back although perhaps in a different form      The reincarnation of the city changed in a good way.

lit analysis #1 Hamlet

1. In the beginning of the play Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo see the ghost that has been seen twice before. They noticed that the ghost looked like king Hamlet of Denmark so they decide to tell his son Prince Hamlet. Then they arrange a meeting and when hamlet sees his father, he tells him to get revenge for his death. Hamlet master plan involved him acting like a lunitic. Everyone were aware of this  so everyone had an eye on him even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern which were Hamlet's childhood pal's. They all want to know why he gone mad. As Rosencrantz and Guilderstern fail to spy on Hamlet, he plans a play about a king who gets murdered the same way as his father to see Claudius reaction. He wanted to know if what the ghost said was truth. His plan worked Claudius did kill Hamlets dad. So he attempts to kill Claudius but instead he kills Ophelia's dad in front of  his mom. He is sent to England but on his way he sees king of England which was demanded to kill Hamlet. Hamlet writes a letter saying that Prince has returned to Denmark after pirates attacked his ship. So Claudius uses laerates desire for revenge to make sure Hamlet gets killed. He arrange a friendly game between them but he poison Laerate's blade so when it got blood hamlet would die. Clasudius had a backup pkan he poison a golbin and he would give it to Helmet if he scored first or second hit. His plan worked he killed hamlet but the poison didn't kill him immediately so he was able to kill Claudius. 
2. The theme in Hamlet is that revenge will only cost problems and may lead to death of innocent  people. I think Shakespeare wrote about this topic because it was very common in the old days for people to be revengeful so he maybe wanted to give a understanding of how it can effect you.
3. I chose this book because it was written by Shakeseare. His stories are unique. What kept me going forward was that I wanted to know how it ended because his stories aren't predictable. They don't end like "and they lived happily ever after." Although I like those books too.
4. I didn't find this book realistic because ghost don't exist. I was still able to connect to it because in school they're many people who say "I get you back" .personality I don't bsay that because I have this saying that says crime will never go unpunished. I still fell like getting revenge on my sister.
5. The the author tone in Hamlet is revengeble and evil. First the ghost appears telling his son to get revenge for his death. Claudius uses poison even thought the Prince could be effected by it. Finally Hemlet is so angry he kills his lover father in accident because he thought it was Claudito.
6.  "My father's brother, but no more like my father / Than I to Hercules."  He used a simile to come his father to his brother and himself to Hercules., "'Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely." He used a metaphor to compare the city of Denmark to a garden. "O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! / The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's eye, tongue, sword ... [is] quite down."  She names three aspects of Hamlet's character. Dialect is all in the play because Shakespeare was an inventor,  he invented many worwithout looking ate their actions.
7. The direct characters are Hamlet because Shakespeare tells us he is melancholy and that he is filled with grief because his mother married Hamlets father's brother.Claudius is also a direct character because since the beginning we knew he was evil until the end of the story.indirect characters are Ophelia and laerles they are both indirect because we can't tell their characteristics without  looking at their actions.
8. The protagonist is static because Hamlet is a character who thinks before he acts ,he is calm too. Hamlet or the protagonist is round because he changed feelings, reactions, thinking before he act was in the beginning he let that go when he accidentally killed Ophelia's father.
9. It didn't fell anything when I read the book maybe because I didn't understand all the words.
10. The part that I will remember would be the part where Claudius plans a plan to eliminate hamlet. I think I will remember this along time because I learned that revenge spent get you anywhere and because everyone revealed the secret and some were forced like Claudius. Everyone got what they deserve.

Perseus and Medusa blog

Main Characters

• Medusa: A snake-headed girl, dangerous, monster. When you see her you turn into stone.
• Perseus: A wise, brave, strong young man. He slashed medusa's head.
• King Polydectes: old, mischievous, stubborn
• King Akrisios: heartless, selfish
• The Graiai: ugly, monsters, one eye and one tooth three of them share, tattle tales
• 
  
  
   After curse                                         Before curse

Setting

This story has three settings, The Graiai's lair, Medusa's lair, and Seriphos.  Seriphos where the story first took place, it's where Perseus was born and where he accentlenly killed his grandfather. The conflict took place in both the Graiai's lair and Medusa's. He arrived and demanded the Graiai to tell him where Medusa lived.

Main Plot

King Akrisios wanted to know when the birth of his first grandson would be. King Akrisios was so eager to know, he went to a priestess who told him he would die at the birth of that one grandson. He was so scared that he decided to hide his daughter Danae forever. However, the god of thunder, Zeus, built a barrier and turned himself to gold to get to Danae. Finally perseus was born. King Akrisios eventually found out about his grandson and sent them both down a river where a fisherman found them. The fisherman took Perseus and Danae in as a family and they all lived together in the land of Seriphos.  Danae was so beautiful it caught the King of Seriphos attention. He wanted her with a passion, but Perseus was in his way. To get rid of him he sent Perseus to capture a monster's head hoping he would die. Unfortunately, his wish was not granted. Perseus was able to capture the gorgon's head, and kill the King Polydectes by turning him into stone with that same head, Medusa's head.

Main Conflict

Perseus is sent on an impossible mission by the King of Seriphos. He is to capture the Gorgon's head. With the help of a man named Hermes, Perseus is able to get there safely. Hermes gives Perseus winged boots, a bag of winds, a shield, and a helmet. He encounters the Graiai's sisters whom they all shared just one eye and one tooth. He takes their eye and forces them to tell him where Medusa's lair is. He finally gets their and with his sword he slashes Medusa's head while she sleeps. The bag of winds helps him get back to Seriphos where King Polydectes awaits. When Perseus gets there he laughs at him. Perseus then takes the head out and turns the King and his friends into stone. He was able to save his mother and the people from that evil King.

Attempts

I believe Perseus and Medusa attempts to explain origin of destruction. There is many deaths that occurred. First Peresus kills Medusa, he then kills King Polydectes, and lastly his grandfather. I think a moral would be "what comes around goes around." King Polydectes sent Perseus with the intention for him to get killed, when in the end the one that ended dying was him

Words from Latin Roots #1

Words from Latin Roots #1

ROOTS AND DERIVATIVES

1. act, ag, ig: to do, to move, to drive
2. ali, alter: another, other
3. am: at/ to love
4. anim: life, spirit, soul

WORD LIST

1. agenda:a list, plan, outline, or the like, of things to be done, matters to be acted or voted upon,
Sentence:In school many people use a  agenda to keep track of events and homework.
2. agile:marked by an ability to think quickly; mentally acute or aware                                                                                                       Sentence:She is 95 but she is still very agile.
3. alienate: to make in different or hostile

           Sentence: I alienate my homework sometimes

1. altercation:a headed or angry dispute:noisy argument or controversy
2. Many people are amorous in the beginning of their relationship

1. amiable:full of life, action, or spirit, lively, vigorous
2. An animated debate on the death penalty

1. amorous
2. animated
3. equanimity
4. inalienable
5. inanimate
6. magnanimous
7. reactionary

Journal 1

My priorities are school and sports. I actually don't know why I am in this class, I thought I was going to get a normal English. I could move to a different class but I am a person who doesn't like to quit even when I know this class will be hard for me. I know I will pass this class for sure if I know what I have to do. I'm a quiet person, and I am shy to talk to people unless they start the conversion. I will probably talk back with confidence. To me success looks like victory or an accomplishment. I am proud of myself and when I work hard to succeeded. I know at least I tried and gave all I had. I am realistic but I know nothing is impossible when you put your mine to it.

Born order research draft essay

My first born research result

            “A woman has two smiles that an angle might envy, the smile that accepts a lover before words are uttered, and the smile that lights on the first born baby, and assures it of a mother’s love.” The fist born are somehow different then middle, only, and youngest child. The research is almost accurate about first born.

            As the research said, first born are self-sacrificing. This is true because when you are older and you have little brothers you have to let them have something you want because it’s the right and responsible thing to do. I sacrificed myself for my siblings this time when we had pizza, and there was only one piece left, so I let them have it because they are small and they just what to eat.

            Another reason that the research is accurate is because I am sarcastic in my house or with my friends. I am sarcastic with my sister the most because she asks dumb questions like when I am eating pie, she asks me is that pie. In the other hand I am also punctual. I don’t like being late to anything since I was little or missing anything. Right now I depend on my dad to take me to school on time, he takes long to get ready.

            Finally, the profession is correct. I am not sure because I don’t know what I am going to be in the future but I have my mine on engineer, computer science or accountancy. I love math so this jobs are what I’m looking for. My belief is loyalty. I strongly belief in loyalty because it’s the only way people can trust each other. If my sister lies to me, I would get mad. Sometimes I don’t get why she waste her time lying to me when she I will get the truth out of her.

            After all the evidence I gave about how accurate the research is it also has things that don’t apply to me personally. Most of they are true like what I said. Self-sacrificing, sarcastic, on time, want to develop these profession and I am a great believer of loyalty, which is all that were on the research. 

Myth Answers

Name 4 fundamental questions that myths address.

Who I am? What is the nature of Universe in which i live? How do I relate to that universe?

How much do I have over my own life?

Name 4 themes in world mythology.

Children of gods have unusual birth. Children posses extraordinary strength, they kill monster, or embark a journey.

What is the beginning of the universe for most major cultures?

The beginning of the universe for most culture is a ball of mass.

What do hero myths and epics teach members of society?

The hero myths and epics taught members of society agricultural skill.

Why do ordinary people identify with heroes?

Ordinary people identify with heroes because they have human weaknesses, and they aren't this perfect people.

What is the foundation of the Matriarchal Society?

Women were considered daughters of great goddess. 

What is Sigmund Freud's view of myths?

The expression of the individuals unconscious, wishes, fears, and drives.

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

BOR Research and evidence T-Chart

Self-sacrificing	I agree with this research finding because I sacrifice myself for my siblings like when we decide who eats the lat pizza I would let my brother it because they are small they just want to eat.
sarcastic	I am very sarcastic in my house and to my friends or people that I talk to.
punctual	Right now I depend on my dad to get me to school on time but I am a person who doesn't like to be late anywhere.
engineer/computer-science/accountancy	I agree I want to be some kind of engineer because love math and like building stuff.
loyalty	I strongly belief in loyalty because it the only way people can trust each other. If my sister lies to me I would get bad. Sometimes I don't get why she waste her time lying to me when she knows I will get the truth out of her.

My Sixwords

 This words reflect who I am because I like to run and I am In Track and Cross country and it's very tiring. Your feet fill like jelly and that when i wonder if I will ever make to the finish line. I am a person who doesn't believe in themselves and that makes me wonder a lot\ about my intelligence and my abilities to succeed .