Persecution

My mother always tells me don’t bring up religion. If you go to a dinner party, don’t bring up politics or religion. So for my first blog of the semester, I’m going to bring up religion. My sister is currently a junior in college, and recently completed an internship in Raleigh, North Carolina helping Bhutanese refugees new to the United States. Currently in Bhutan, the Buddhist majority government is forcing out the Hindu/Nepal citizens of the country. I will give a brief description of the Buddhist religion:
Buddhist’s believe in karma:
-Karma in Buddhism is the force that drives samsara—the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. Good, skillful deeds and bad, unskillful actions produce "seeds" in the mind which come to fruition either in this life or in a subsequent rebirth. The avoidance of unwholesome actions and the cultivation of positive actions is called sila(ethical conduct). In Buddhism, karma specifically refers to those actions (of body, speech, and mind) that spring from mental intent and which bring about a consequence or result.
- Sila is the ethics or morality, or abstention from unwholesome deeds. It includes:

- vāc: speaking in a truthful and non-hurtful way

- karman: acting in a non-harmful way

- ājīvana: a non-harmful livelihood

The description of Buddhism seems to describe those who practice the religion as peaceful pacifists, yet they are currently expelling innocent citizens out of their country due to the citizen’s different religion. This got me thinking; there is such irony in religious persecution. The majority of religions seek equality, and the belief that we should treat people in a fair and kind way, and yet wars are fought, countries our split, and people are killed for practicing different religions. Although I cannot not make a definitive assertion on how religions should be practiced, I believe that religious persecution is an oxymoron that needs to be addressed and changed. Ultimately, I believe that the irony of religious persecution is a terrible occurrence that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later all around the world.

Blog Talk

Looking back on the blog project, I can see both positive and negatives to the whole experience. When the blogging began, I wrote long, analytical posts because I was rather self-conscious about sharing my life and thoughts with the world (aka AP English 12), which basically defeats the point of the whole project. However, as the weeks progressed, I felt more comfortable about writing freely, and about rather obscure topics. Although I believe that blogs were a good way to discuss topics not discussed in class, and relate English to our lives, I found it hard to come up with topics at times. If I could not think of a good topic to write about, I would write about the most random ideas, concepts, and experiences that were not interesting or intelligent, but just because I had to get the blog done. I think that if we continue to do the blogs next semester, we should only write one blog a week.  Due to the fact that we currently write twice a week, I feel like my first blog of the week is always better because I have run out of ideas by the time I get to the second blog. However, as a whole, I believe that the blog project was a good way to get our unheard ideas out.

No End in Sight

Normally, I actually enjoy doing the AP multiple choice questions in English. Even though during the test I do not feel particularly confident, I always end up doing better than I thought I would. However, this past one was rough. Thursday was the dreaded “Eve of the Data sheet,” a stressful time for procrastinators. Except that night, I had a gymnastics meet…and an AP Biology test the next day! This combination catalyzed an enormous amount of stress. After getting home at ten o’clock, I went straight to work on the data sheet, working into the late hours of the night. And when I was done, I could barely keep my eyes open enough to study for biology. Bad decision. The next morning, the weight of having failed to study for a test that would make or break my grade dawned on me. The whole day I frantically tried to study, but did not accomplish much. To make matters worse, my last two periods of the day were AP Biology and AP English. And the biology test was like running a marathon. It was definitely a test of endurance. Then on to English. By then, my head had succeeded in expending all of the possible knowledge it had in it, and defiantly shut down with a quite whir. With that said, the practice multiple choice was rough. Ultimately, I am mad at myself for not getting my work down earlier. I am such a big procrastinator, and I definitely do want to experience that kind of stress again. And I never want my brain to shut down with a whir again.

A Thrilling Twist

I remember the first time I saw a commercial for Shutter Island. I wanted to cry. Now, there’s a general stereotype surrounding girls which implies that we have certain squeamish and cowardly reactions when it comes to scary movies. And although I am one who has an aversion towards female stereotypes, I must admit that I am one of those girls. Scary movies are exactly that—scary! Unfortunately, my older persuaded my parents and me to watch Shutter Island last year. At first I was resentful of my sister, and I spent half the movie on the edge of my seat with a blanket perched close to my eyes, prepared to duck under it at the first sign of frightening danger. However, no such danger presented itself. By the middle of the movie, I was completely enthralled in the drama and psychological insanity of the movie. And because I had never heard much about the movie, the ending truly surprised me, making Shutter Island one of the best movies I had seen in awhile. I believe that watching it again in class makes it even better. After reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, learning about mental disorders in psychology, and knowing the twist at the end, the movie seems even more interesting and exciting. While watching it, I have picked up so many small details that only someone who had seen the movie before could pick up, making the movie so much more psychologically thrilling. Ultimately, I am very happy to be watching Shutter Island again, which is an ironic twist from my initial reaction to the movie.

Winter

As we have discussed in class and seen in many books, winter acts as a symbol for death, loneliness, and dreariness. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2003 novel The Namesake, Gogol finds himself alone in his and Moushumi’s freezing apartment during winter time while Moushumi parades off to Florida. In this instance, Gogol begins to see the pitfalls of their relationship. We discussed in class how this brief chapter symbolized his segregation from Moushumi, and foreshadowed their eventual demise. This theme of winter symbolizing despair can be seen in other novels such as Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, where the entire book is set during a dreary winter season with sledding being the eventual cause of death.  However, I find it odd how much negative symbolism we put into winter. I mean, in winter we have cheerful and uplifting holidays such as Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day. Personally, winter is one of my favorite seasons. Although the icy, snow covered roads and lack of sunlight may not always be fun, I believe there is nothing better than watching snow fall while drinking hot chocolate. Watching the swirling flakes twist and twirl and chase each other through the frosty air does not symbolize death to me! Of course, in the natural world, winter is the in-between stage, the time for old things to die in order for new things to grow and flourish. However, I do not think that we should put so much negative pressure on winter. If we only focus on the negatives and do not try to look at the positives in life, a beautiful season may just turn into another dark, dreary symbol for death.

"The Fog"

Last week at gymnastics practice I sprained my ankle. As I sat on the uncomfortably glossed wood floor with an awkwardly large bag of frigid ice strapped too tightly to my swelling ankle I began to see “the fog.” Now, keep in mind, this supposed “fog” could very well have been the excess amount of bar chalk floating through the air, but stick with me people. Later that week, on Christmas day in fact, I noticed “the fog” once more. In this instance, however, “the fog” could have been confused with smoke billowing out of the oven as the food burned, but that’s alright. How odd, it seemed, that I had seen the fog twice within a three day interval. Now, I know I’m not crazy, or at least I hope I’m not, but “the fog” for me illustrated a need to step back and appreciate what I had in my life. Although I was annoyed to be sitting on an uncomfortable gym floor with an ankle sprain, I had to be thankful that at least it was not broken, and that I was not seriously injured. And as I saw the gush of smoke float out of the open door on Christmas, I had to be thankful that I even had food to eat on Christmas. Sometimes, I even feel thankful for being in AP English because it has opened my eyes to so many ideas and thoughts that I would have missed, like trying to analyze opaque substances as they drift through the air. Ultimately, “the fog” helped me appreciate everything that I have this holiday season, and helped to remind me that sometimes we’re all a little crazy.