With the end of the trimester ending; everyone is trying to wrap everything up, prepare for the exam, and turn in all of the work. This is often means that there are several assignments from several classes due in rapid succession. Usually the due dates all land on the first two days of exam week. To add on top of the mountain of work that inevitably forms the week before exams, most students study for the exams, which means that students end up staying up all night or become antisocial for the week before and during the exams. Then there is the new trimester that starts, in this case, the Monday after exams. Usually there is a break in between the trimesters. And with everything that comes with the new trimester, there is the finding of all the new classes and finding out how many times you go across the school. The new schedule for the first hour exam messes everyone up, then every other class spends the shortened class periods reviewing for the exam.
Along with last week, society still wants "carbon copies" of the "perfect person." Due to the nature of our reproduction, it is not possible to have "carbon copies." And yet, people, Trump as an example, still want this. They are scared of anyone who is different from them and they try to "exterminate" them. Trump recently went off about building a wall and making Mexico pay for it. Then the Pope replies, not a quote," Those who build walls instead of bridges are not true christians." Then Trump goes off on the Pope. Not a good decision, most christians follow the Pope and to them, Pope is the "Hand of God." If Trump wants to become president, which will essentially end America as we know it, he can't attack the Pope because he will lose his christian supporters. Those who try for the "perfect society" will ultimately fail and end everything as we know it. This relates to Huck and Jim because society is trying to teach them how to act and how to be a person, like how Trump would be doing if he became president. Often we hide who we are inside because of the fear that we won't be accepted into society. This ties into Huck and Jim because they come from 2 completely different worlds and yet, they hide almost the same things. Jim hides the fact that he is smart and as "worthy" of an education as a white person. And Huck has to hide that he never had a family, he had a person, who was supposed to be his father, that abused him and used him to get money to get drunk. He never got an education because his father didn't think that it was important and all that was important is money and alcohol. They get to know each other and they discover that they aren't as different as society thinks they are. They are like square pegs in round holes. Many people feel like this in our society because society thinks that everyone should have 2 parents, good education, be rich, and if you are a girl; be so thin that you could almost count your ribs and be a subordinate to your boyfriend/husband. And most of the time, no one can fit this picture of a "perfect life." since everyone is different, society is essentially asking everyone to be a robot. This will never be possible, but society still thinks that this is how everything is supposed to be. Yes, society is changing and is more accepting, but it still wants everyone to be a carbon copy of the "perfect person." Seraphina is a half-dragon in the books, Seraphina, and Shadow Scale. In Seraphina, she is shown as being isolated and alienated by her father. Her mother died in her childbirth, she was a dragon. Her tutor, Orma, is her maternal uncle and he is running away from the Censors who will "delete" all of his memories of Seraphina. Phina (Seraphina) is hired by the court composer, and he was a close friend of her mother and knew about her parentage and kept it hidden by everyone. When Seraphina was 11, she saw Orma in his true form, a dragon, and that activated a memory pearl that her mother left her. In the process her midriff and her left forearm started itching, and scales showed up there, and she is overcome with visions. Orma helps her cope with these by creating a garden that houses avatars of the people in her visions. This deals with isolation and alienation because she is technically not supposed to exist. So she has to hide exactly who her mother is and hide her scales. In the end it is revealed to the ruling monarchy, since her maternal grandfather attempted to kill the leading dragon, the queen, and her children and grandchildren. She discovers that Dame Okra, an abassador of sorts, Abato, a dancer from another country, and Lars, a musician, are also a half-dragons. This doesn't heal the pain that is caused by being isolated and alienated. Phina also falls in love with the princess's fiance. Her feelings are returned and they accept the fact that it cannot happen as long as the princess needs him. Phina discovers that the avatars have real life counter-parts. So they decide on finding the other 13 half-dragons. Phina, Abato, and Dame Okra set off. Phina still has to deal with the superstition of dragons and how everyone thinks about them when they discover that they are half-dragons. They have always been alienated and they will always be alienated because of what they are and the racism against dragons and half-breeds. When people cope with alienation and isolation, others often call them out on it and say, "just get over it," but often, they can't and it makes them feel as if their struggles don't matter. Society often casts out anyone who doesn't fit the definition of "normal." The problem with this is there's no set definition for "normal," normal for me would be strange someone else and their normal would be strange for me. This coincides with what society tries to portray as "normal." Usually "normal" for girls is short with long flowing hair and unnaturally thin, while boys are told to be "manly" and muscular and tall. these are unrealistic for most of the population, due to the fact that everybody's body is different. Also, the 2 main "personality groups," introverts and extroverts, are favored differently. in the education system right now, they are putting more focus on group discussion and group activities. this works well with extroverts, but it hurts introverts. they don't realize that not everyone is an extrovert. introverts can create the illusion of being an extrovert, but they need a rest, or "turn off" for a while or they wind up exhausted and "burned out." This also affects teachers that are more introverted. They have to keep the illusion of being extroverted for longer which causes them to "burn out" sooner. When people think about power, they usually think of the multi-billionaire who "buys" senators, representatives, and often they use their power and wealth to get more wealth and power. this is shown best by today's political climate and Trump. Trump has a massive amount of power and wealth and influence because of the money and power. But this is not enough for him, he wants, essentially, the highest position of power in the US, the President's office. And because he has all of that power, he can "fool" the public and the press into thinking that he actually has a IQ/brain and he actually uses it. But if you pay attention, and watch how he reacts to someone asking a question that actually requires thought, you will see that he doesn't have the amount of smarts as the rest of the population, and that is looking on the bright side, he probably doesn't have the intelligence to run a anything, let alone a country. The initial paranoia of Salem and witchcraft/Islam in today's society, has pretty much died down. But the fear is still there and often it boils when people "dare" to challenge the court of the political structure, or even the decisions that people in power make. often these people are shunned and they feel like they don't matter. more often, their voices are often drowned out in the chaos and turmoil of the time along with the paranoia. John Proctor fits into this picture because he is trying to stop the court from going off of the girls and using spectral evidence to convict people of witchcraft, ruining his name in the process. this fits into today's political climate with LGBT people, the muslim population, racism,women, and pretty much anyone who is different than the " rich white guy" that is most of the politicians. they seem to be kindergarteners in adult bodies and they have a lot of money, and they don't want to share anything but keep gaining more. often the ones that are mature and actually care about keeping the country running are in minority, their voices drowned out by the crowd of the "kindergarteners" or they just don't have enough influence(money) to make any difference or be heard. this analogy is based on the assumption that the politicians actually use their brains or have them in the first place. Currently Trump is the main leader of this. I'm pretty sure that part of the country wants Trump to lose, and is scared of what will happen if he wins. Many times people act indifferent or they just hide from everything, similar to what John Proctor is doing. sometimes people just act as if it doesn't affect them and it can only happen to those who are less fortunate than them. they often react with scorn, fear or even anger. these feelings often fuel the terror and paranoia of a certain group of people that they are"painting with a wide brush" about, Such as how the people in Salem were calling pretty much anyone and everyone of witchcraft and not actually checking the evidence to see if it is actual evidence or not. the moment they started accepting spectral evidence, they pretty much threw "common sense" out the window. Although, I'm not sure if they even knew what common sense was or if it even exists. They were often just getting revenge for things that have gone on for years. Such as Abigail's affair with John Proctor, or the land dispute the has been going on for years. They are often using the facade of witchcraft to get revenge on other villagers. they often "prey" off of those who can't defend themselves. When we think about stereotypes, we often think of the typical California girl or maybe of a teenage boy attempting, and often failing, to get a girl's attention. But, this is similar to what the people did with witches in the past. But instead of witches, we have the Islamic faith, Muslim people, the struggle for equal rights for LGBT people, or even the racial tension between African Americans and "white" people. This ties in with the movie/play that we watched/read this week. It is titled the Crucible and is about the witch hunts and trials in Salem, Massachusetts. We may not have witches in this world, but the same general principle that they applied with the witches applies in this time with all of the problems with equality for everyone. Not just the "rich white man" with all of the power. people with power are sometimes not the brightest when it comes down to intelligence, sometimes i wonder if they even use their brain,or if they even have a brain. The beginning of the trimester is almost always filled with uncertainty and, occasionally, fear. Often people wonder about who's in their classes, what lunch they have and many others. I often worry about how I'm going to get to my classes and how much weight I can carry and if I need to stop at my locker.My participation is often engaged and I often am participating. This usually doesn't happen when I have a headache or I'm just not feeling well, or I'm just having a bad day. The ideas that we talked about this week I understood and would be able to "dive" into next week, some of the key details that tie into the main ideas from this week is the power that everyone owns/has and can use everyday. |
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