Rudy Francisco

Rudy Francisco

Rudy’s performance was amazing. He helped me better understand spoken word and was able to absorb all the knowledge needed to succeed in this project. For example, when Rudy was performing, his hands moved with the actions he was describing. When Rudy was raising his voice and getting deep in his poem, he hands would do fast, powerful movements. He would clench his fist when in anger and when sad, his arm would linger hopelessly. He also showed me that your tone of voice needs to vary. Which made me realize that  if a person performs with a monotone voice, it will be very boring.

Chinese Cultural Revolution Photos

This image relates to Red Scarf Girl because in the book, the Red Guards destroyed temples, books, signs and anything that represent old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas. In this picture it shows a man destroying a structure that is considered "four olds". In Red Scarf Girl the Red Guards would demolish the name of stores and a large crowd would stand in the street and cheer and when yell revolutionary comments like "long live Chairman Mao! or Long live the great proletarian revolution! . Much like the people in this picture. In Document 5, it shows a street sign on the ground being stomped on my revolutionaries because it is considered four olds. After the sign is eliminated , It will we renamed a revolutionary name like "Red Forever".

GPA College 2

My GPA last semester was a 3.6. This semester my gpa raised by .29 points. I am very satisfied with this "solid" GPA. My accumulative GPA is 3.76. I definitely made a big improvement this semester. I went from having an 87%  in humanities to having a 97%. Its the same story with Math. The reason I don't have a 4.0 is because of Spanish, I've struggled on a few tests and my grade lies at a 91%. My goal is to raise that by 2% so I can have a 4.0 but that will be hard seeing that we have a big project and then the semester is pretty much over. This project is going to be stressful. 

Over the summer I will try to participate in community service in attempt to impress colleges. Also, I have a question about community service, how do you prove that you actually participated in community service? I still don't have a clue which college I want to go to. I was thinking about USD. But only because of  what people say about it and my grandpa thinks its a "Brilliant" school for an unknown reason.

Internship

Some things that struck me about the internships was how diverse each persons opinion was. One person had a mentor that spent a lot of time with them and others had a mentor that just read the paper all day. I realized that I need to make sure I choose an internship in which I have a mentor that will have time and will be willing to assist me and show me the ropes.

In the talk, One girl talked about how boring her internship was, and how she did nothing but be on  the computer the whole time. For my internship i will pick something that requires hands on work. Other workingon photoshop all day, or writing letters. I was thinking about doing my internship at the zoo.

The person that really painted a picture of what her internship was like was the one who talked about her spot. She did not only talk about her spot and why she loved it, but she also talked about what might happened if she was not in her spot. And described what she did in that spot, and expressed what other people were doing in their own individual spaces.

Revolution- Both authors think of revolution as a cultural change. Marjanes culture changed because the government started repressing them so much. And Suheirs' country changed by children going to war. Also, It made her entire race recognized as terrorists. When in reality, they are human beings just like anyone else. Stereotypes are made from revolutions and war. 


Revolutionaries- Marjane was a revolutionary her whole life and even when she was a small child she was chanting "down with the shaw!". She always rebelled from anything the government said. Suheir was a revolutionary because she spoke what was on her mind about a country that does not care about their people. Which is why she left, she was not going to die for a country that does nothing for the people."i have never felt less american and more new yorker, particularly brooklyn, than these past days. the stars and stripes on all these cars and apartment windows represent the dead as citizens first, not family members, not lovers." This shows how many people people are fleeing their home countries to the United States out of fear". 


War- Both authors define war as an unnecessary part of society. And a heartbreaking event, " My hand went to my head, and my head went to the dead Iraqi children". Marjane experienced her neighbor blown to pieces in the rubble in what was once the girls home. Suheir life was taken away and all compassion of her people was taken away from the traumatizing war. "i am looking for evidence of compassion. any evidence of life. i am looking for life".War causes anger, the need for revenge."we"re gonna burn them so bad, i swear, so bad." War is horrible, war is unpreventable. 

Some parts of Suheirs' poem included when she talked about the boys dying in war. "Our boys' deaths galvanized". This astounded me because there are countries that recruit children to the front lines of war with no military training. And Die. This quote send chills through my spine. "I will not side with you or dance to your bombs because everyone is dancing. Everyone can be wrong". This quote struck me because she was able to hold on to her opinion and say that this war is wrong, whether or not everyone thought otherwise. She never thought she was wrong. Suheir believed that she was right, and everyone around her was wrong. That to me is an amazing thing, It is so hard to hold on to your conception of something when everyone is "dancing" about their perspective. 

When Suheir spoke about how the government repressed her people in this line,  "I will dance and resist and dance and persist and dance".  I thought of how Marjane and her think very much alike. The two both lived in a country where a government took away rights and tied people down, they also both rebelled and wanted change. "I will not forget where i come from". I also found a connection between this quote from Suheir and Marjane. Because Marjaned grandmother told her to never forget who you are. Both Marjane and Suheir were greatly devoted to their background. 

The part that struck me the most was how much poverty the authors went through. Its unbelievable that some people live in terror, for example having bomb alarms and never knowing when that alarm will go off, and who will die. It could be you, that alarm is the sound of death. Another thing that appalled me was the part where Suheir talked about talked about land mines. That just made my stomach turn. 

Islam Marriage

Before marriage, the man has very little dress code to follow. But when the man is married, the couples clothing is equal. which means the man should cover up as well as the woman. Both genders have the right to choose who they want to marry. But there are some restrictions, for example, Muslim men are expected to marry other muslim women, but he is also allowed to marry a jeweish or christian women. A women is expected to only marry a muslim man. A man is encouraged to marry a religiously devoted women. Divorces are strongly condemned in Islam. Many people believe that the man can just say "I divorce you" to his wife and they are automatically divorced. But this is not the case, each person must appoint a arbitrator to resolve the marriage(a person who is used to settle any non criminal dispute). Also, Same sex marriage is forbidden. If someone are caught doing homosexual acts. They receive the death penalty

The purposes of a muslim marriage are:

1. To restrain sexual passion.
2. The ordering of domestic life.
3. The care and responsibility towards children.
4. The expansion of the family.

Our Indian Partners

India, which its official name is Republic of India, is located in south asia. India has a population of over 1.2 billion people. which is the second most populatd country in india. India is a democracy and is the most populus democracy in the world today.

Until the late 1990s, the US ignored India. Today however, The United states is growing more more interstested in India. India is dynamic and transforming. India is now an important and economic power. India should be one of the top five global economys by 2030. With its new found economic growth, India is able to withstand the capacity to act on issues primarily strategic and economic concern to the USA. So India and the united states are now economic partners. With indias new found partner they will try to convince to United States to not be as strict for our Visa polcies.

Street Art

Some Qualities I noticed in the documentary was how different artists made their art differently. Some artists used stencils to show their art and others printed there art and just pasted it onto a wall.  For our art pieces we will use the Chris Jorden art style. we will make a coffee cup and pixelate the image and make each pixel represent how many coffee cups end up in a landfill every second. Its going to be epic.

Something that amazed me was the fact that the artists went through so much work and risked getting arrested, not only that, they they risked their lives. It amazed me to see how important it was to get their art out there and express themselves.

The decided that instead of having a boring art exhibit. They would post there art all over the city. Some artists wrote a note explaining what their art piece's message is. And others made there message made it a little bit harder to grasp. Like  Invader, all he did was post space invaders all over the city and it was hard to tell that he was saying that we are being invaded by technology.

Harrison Bergeron Political Cartoon

This political cartoon explains that if everyone is equal in every way it is painful and depressing, as shown on the left side. But this cartoon also shows that if everyone acts like their self then everyone will be happy.  This represents the book because in the story everyone must be equal and if something made a person different(like being tall), then the government would issue that person a handicap which that person must wear or the person would go to jail.

political cartoon

my definition: a political cartoon is a cartoon that shows a politic, like a senator portraying an action that he/she will do, what he/she is thinking, had already been done, what people think of them, or what they are expected to do.

their defintion:An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message, that usually relates to current events or personalities.

its purpose is to either make fun of the politic, or to inform readers.

I think that Kafka chose to turn Gregor into a nasty cockroach because if he chose a cute animal it would not make the family's attempt to care for Gregor as interesting as it was. If Gregor was a cute butterfly i don't think his father would bombard him with rotting apples. Kafka knew that if he made Gregor an adorable, loving creature, then he would not be able to show how frustrating and scary it is for his family to care for him. If he did not make Gregor a nasty insect then that would not have tested the family's ability to care for Gregor. which would make a boring story. I also think the cockroach symbolizes how Gregor and possibly the author him self, thought about themselves. I think that he was trying to say that some people don't deserve to be human unless you live life. Instead of just waking up and going to work, and then go home and sleep, and then repeat that cycle for the rest of your life.

I think he chose the roach because no one cares about cockroaches. His sister was the only one that showed that she still cared about Gregor, but that feeling quickly faded. Nobody wanted anything to do with him. which is why he was treated like trash and was being imprisoned in a nasty room which was used to store all the useless crap that was around the house.

A way that the Samsa family benefit from each other is that Gregor, The main character, brings in all the money for the household and is also contributed to paying off his parents unspecified amount of debt. Even after all of the things Gregor does for the family, his father does not make him feel appreciated at all. The way his dad was waking him up the morning he discovered he was a bug was just rude, he didn't even bother to ask if anything was wrong. The only person who shows they really care about Gregor is his sister,Grete. Even when Gregor was a hideous, monstrous cockroach, she brought him food and milk and the fact that she gave Gregory milk.  "the milk, which otherwise is his favorite drink and which his sister had certainly placed for that reason". His sister knows what he likes and you can tell that they are very close, and his sister wants what is best for him, no matter what.

After thinking about how Gregor's family interacts and how my family behaves i have come up with a set of rules which, when followed will make a healthy family.

1.) Respect one another

2.) All family members help around the house

3.) Be concerned for one another

4.) Respect one another's property

5.) Look for ways to help each other and make their lives easier

Based on these rules the Samsa family has earned a D. The only two people that respect each other are the brother and sister, the two parents have not shown any respects to their kids whatsoever. The family also breaks the "helping around the house rule", all the father does is sat at home and be fat all day. the family failed the third rule because his father and mother did not even ask how Gregor was feeling the day his metamorphosis took place and then later his dad started hitting him with a newspaper and scurried him into his room like an animal(pun intended). The fourth rule wasn't really demonstrated in the book so i would raise/lower their grade for respecting each others property. The two people that follow rule 5 is Gregor and his sister. Gregor was going to help his sister by sending her to music school and Grete gives him food and makes him as comfortable as possible in the room he is staying in as a mutant.

metamorphisis

Q.What circumstances in Gregor's life might have caused him to feel dehumanized even before the metamorphosis took place? 


Gregory is so stressed out about work because he has to wake up at five every morning and the job its self is very stressful. As a salesman you have to travel a lot and it is hard to keep long lasting relationships with people. All of the money he earns goes directly to paying off his parents debt, which means he has no spending money for himself. Gregor's boss is ridiculously strict which was shown by the fact that  Gregor missed work once in five years and his boss flips out about it, which causes a stressful state for Gregor. Also Gregor complained about how is co-workers can gossip about him and he has no way to defend him self from their accusations. He also needs to pay off his parents debt which causes even more stress. All this stress makes him feel like a zombie and does whatever he is told to do.(zombie=dehumanized)


 Another set of things that make him feel dehumanized is his family. His father doesnt seem like he cares about Gregor very much. When he came to get Gregor out of his room he raised his voice at him instead of asking what was wrong because Gregor could have been sick. Then when Gregor turns into a bug his dad starts hitting him and making him go back into the room.