Hello! This blog was made for my 9th grade english class. It is a compilation of writing assignments that are graded as homework for the class. The assignments are called Interactive Reflective Journals. I hope you enjoy my writing!
IRJ Reflection #20 February 3, 2010
Stereotypes-Not Just Black and White
Not many people notice, but stereotypes run our lives as humans on earth. Without judgements, I believe that the flow of life would run smoother. In the packet “The Urban Aussie”, read in Pacific Rim World Cultures class, the author talks about the stereotype to Australia and then makes analogy’s to stereotypes of other countries to compare.
It comes down to how most people are wired. Most people can’t get stereotypes out of their mind. For example, my mom grew up with a highly racist mother who made her lock her doors when driving through integrated neighboorhoods. Currently, my mom expresses that she faces great difficulty overcoming that stereotype, because she wants to look at people as equals no matter what.
The truth lies in the fundamental wirings of humans. Our ancestors, the ancient people, and most all other people lived based on stereotypes. Men have almost always come before women in dominance. This can be seen extremely in the chapter Genesis of the bible. It states that God created man, and then women, and man got to name women.
One can find stereotypes everywhere, and asking someone to change their stereotypes means that that person has to change their fundamental wiring, which of course, is not a simple task.
IRJ Reflection #18 January 27, 2010
Science: Does it challenge religion, or prove it?
Everyone knows that the different people hold different beliefs, but will people ever start accepting other views? Some may judge people by their views and some the opposite, and some may practice extreme religion and some may remain neutral. The New Oxford Annotated Bible states that God said, “‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind.’” However in sixth grade, I learned that animals evolved from single cell organisms, and that jellyfish inhabited the earth before other an others. I ponder the real truth.
In English class, we learned that the Bible only interprets the true stories, and that the stories have progressed through time. This leaves room for gaps of the real truth, since the stories have gone through interpretation of language and such. With this information, the Bible seems untrustworthy to the real stories, making the scientific explanation sound more reasonable. However since Christianity believes that God created the animals, and science believes that the animals have evolved, maybe the truth consists of an even medium. Maybe both sides consists of true, honest facts.
If God created animals, and animals evolved from single cell organisms, maybe God created single cell organisms and gave them properties to evolve into more complex beings. Maybe science doesn’t challenge Christianity, it proves it. If the cell is so intricate and complicated, how did it appear naturally? Maybe God created the cell and let it evolve on its own in light of simply creating everything himself. If he created everything himself, complications may occur, and animals may not survive because they don’t have properties that allow them to fight off everything that they may face. Since everything developed from a single cell, animals have evolved based on their climate and enemies. With those in mind, they can fight off diseases, plants, or other animals and the harmony of life can occur.
IRJ-CP#16 November 15, 2009
A Miraculous Event
This is a true story.
My car sat at the side of the curb. I looked around the front of the school trying to spot my daughter. My eyes then met with the sight of her limping her way down the stairs and towards the car. Different situations of what had happened wandered through my mind. I felt a touch of worry through my body. As she clambered into the back seat of my car I asked her why she walked that way. She responded by saying that her leg hurt, and that her P.E. coach made her run on it. When we arrived at our house I examined her leg and inferred that she had no serious injury. I assumed that since she was only seven years old, she only wanted a little more attention.
However that night I woke to a blood-curdling screech coming from her bedroom. I ran into the room. She lied on her bed, holding her leg and continuing to scream. Tears drenched her face. Having no clue what the matter was, I desultorily picked her up and ran to the car. We rushed to the nearest hospital and ran inside.
Once the doctors examined her, they noticed that she had an elevated white blood cell count. Recently having a friend die from leukemia, a feeling of despair rushed through my veins. My child had only lived for seven years. I could not imagine her leaving me. Once again, a thousand situations and outcomes rushed through my mind, however this time I couldn’t bear the seriousness and couldn’t focus. I found myself not able to think. I could only imagine the disastrous fate that awaits my offspring.
In a state of helplessness, I remembered program that my church held. The bible states that if two people come together in prayer, God will always answer. My church created a hotline where you can pray for someone with another prayer leader. I called and prayed for my daughter.
A true miracle occurred that night. When I woke up the next morning, the doctors informed me that something truly amazing happened. My daughter’s pain vanished completely, and her white blood cell count decreased to a normal level. After many tests the doctors had run, they concluded that she possessed complete health. They told me that they had no clue how her miraculous recovery was possible, and had not seen anything like it before. The two of us went home that day and she had no problems after that.
IRJ-OP#15 November 11, 2009
The Circle of Life: Constant Time Progression
Life progresses faster than anyone expects. In words of Joni Mitchell, “And the seasons, they go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down, we’re captive on a carousel of time.” This quote comes from her famous song, entitled “The Circle Game”. By this quote, Joni Mitchell makes an analogy to the time of life: time will pass by no matter what anyone does, and no one can turn back time so people should accept that and join the life cycle.
The Circle Game Lyrics : Lyrics to the song “The Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell
The analogy that life resembles a carousel is a strong one; the two have many similarities. A carousel rotates around in a circle at a constant speed and always progresses forward. The horses move up and down. When the horse moves down, the always come up immediately after. Once it creates a full evolution, the carousel continues to progress forward until it comes to an end. The carousel never turns backwards and never stops. It keeps moving forward. Life has the same concept. Life continues to move forward no matter what happens. It has its ups and downs. When a person has a down point in their life, a high point usually arrives some time after. Life will keep progressing and keep going up and down. Joni Mitchell not only makes this strong connection, but also teaches a very important life lesson. No matter what happens, life will move on. Life will keep moving forward.
Proposition: Life will have lows and highs, but no matter what will keep progressing forward constantly.
IRJ-CP#14 November 4, 2009
Fun Gone Bad
We moved swiftly through the grass. Our feet lifted off the ground in such a way that simulated flying. Ani and I passed the time by laughing so hard that I felt a knot in my stomach. I’m actually not quite sure what we laughed about, but I do know that I was having more fun than I’ve had in a lengthily amount of time. I felt in this moment, nothing could hold me back. As if we escaped all the troubles of the real world and entered are own. However troubles came faster that anyone would expect.
As we ran, Ani and I came across a rock formation. In the corner of my eye, I saw an opening into it. The two of us paced towards it, finding a very murky looking cave. Desultorily, she sauntered in.
“Ani, what in the world are you doing!” I exclaimed.
“I’m just seeing what’s inside!” she returned in a mocking voice. “Come on, stop being such a prude and come with me! We’ll have our own little adventure.”
“I don’t think so, it looks pretty dark in there.”
“I’ll stand with you the whole time, okay?” she reassured.
With her encouraging words in mind, I set aside my fear and shuffled to her side. We headed deeper into the cave. As we walked through the rocks, Ani spotted a golden box sitting very ostentatiously on the ground. Naturally, she wandered in that direction.
“Ani you can’t touch that!” I demanded.
“I just want to know what it is. How would a golden box become placed here? Wow, I sure am glad we came in here. This cave is becoming so mysterious!” she said as she ducked down to take a closer look. Her eyes seemed glued to the box. As she reached her hand to the top, I held my breath and closed my eyes. I heard the sound of the lid parting with the rest of the gold.
“Oh. My. God.” Ani said with immense awe.
I opened my eyes and looked at Ani. Her jaw dropped to the floor and her body seemed paralyzed. I ran to her side and gazed at the interior of the box. I found myself in a paralyzed state just as she.
“Ani say something.” I asked.
“I don’t know what to say.” She remarked while smoothly shaking her head. She remained in an emotionless state.
Inside the golden box was a large, sumptuous diamond. Its reflection glistened throughout the walls. It shone so bright that it lit up the darkness. The diamond barely fit into the box, for it was the size of a grapefruit. However after about ten minutes, the diamond had a very soporific effect on us. Our bodies swayed until we hit the ground.
We woke in a dazed state. I blinked my eyes open and checked my surroundings. Somehow, I appeared to be in a golden room with a copious amount of small diamonds strategically placed throughout the different furniture. With more careful looking, even though I found it extremely difficult to focus because languidness seemed to overcome me, I saw a beautiful woman sitting on an elaborate gold chair looking at Ani and me. As I looked closer, I realized she had a very angered countenance. I looked to my left to check if Ani had woken or not. Seeing her eyelids still partially covering her eyes, I reached my hand to her arm and shook as hard as I could.
“Wake up!” I screamed, while still having a close eye on the woman.
Her body rose swiftly and she appeared very frightened.
“Where are we?” she asked with haste.
At this point, the woman lifted off of her chair and walked towards us. She glared down at us. The woman opened her mouth as to say something to us, but then closed it. The glaring continued, and Ani and I stared right back at her. She finally opened her mouth once more.
“Are you the daughters of Lady Mabel?” she asked. “Did you come to try to steal my precious diamond?”
We looked at her in a very confused way. I wondered if this was a dream, for we seemed to have crossed the border of the real world and entered into a fantasy.
“N-n-n-n-no.” Ani stuttered. “W-we are j-just two normal girls.”
“I don’t believe you!” The lady screamed.
“My name is Melissa and this is Ani. We are two normal girls who stumbled into this cave by accident. We would really appreciate if you let us go so we can go home.” I explained in a calm voice to try to pacify her anger.
“Nonsense. How could it be?” she whispered under her breath.
As she turned around, her eyes met with a projector displaying the original box on camera. Two girls crept up towards it, snatched the box into their hands and ran away. That precipitated extreme chaos in the cave. The woman let out a cry and all sorts of animals came running from different corners of the room.
“Quick, lets go!” Ani yelled at me while starting a jog. I met by her side and we broke into a sprint, running with the throng of animals chasing after the girls. We ran for what felt like an entire year. Eventually however, we survived it back out again. I couldn’t worry about the animals swarming the cave. All I could think about it saving Ani’s and my life. We ran back in the grass that we played in earlier. Once we got further away, the two of us collapsed on the ground. We panted like dogs. What started as a harmless lark turned out to be a threat to our lives.
We laid in the grass for the remainder of the day in silence. We did not need to communicate what we felt, for we felt the exact same thing.
IRJ-CP#12 October 22, 2009
Room Description
The walls show a glistening gold tone. The room is as big as a small house. There are multiple levels of this room, with thick marble steps leading to each one. Their bed is so large that eight people could probably fit comfortably. Their bed also shows a gold hue, and multiple pillows are neatly placed on it. Across from the bed hangs a large flat screen television. A massive chandelier sits on the ceiling, studded in diamonds. If you walk into the far left corner of the room you will find a huge, walk-in closet half the size of the room itself. An elegant mirror, lies on the floor and extends high enough to reveal a person. The mirror is rimmed with intricate hand-carved gold designs. Boxes indent one of the walls, with designer purses displayed in each one. Beautiful artwork is placed on the wall and amazing glass designs are displayed as well. One of the levels has a white couch and two white lounge chairs. The lighting is very bright, with beautiful flower-like lamps strategically placed throughout the room.
IRJ-QR #11 October 21, 2009
Life is a Journey
“‘How life does change,’ Haroun marveled. ‘Only last week, I was a boy who had never seen snow in my entire life, and now here I am’” page 117
This quote shows where life can take you in a short amount of time. At this point in the book Haroun is on the Oceans of Streams of Stories and as the quote explains, a week earlier he was a normal boy on Earth. You never know where life is going to take you, and this is shown greatly in the novel. I think this is a major theme in the book. Haroun’s journey keeps turning in different directions, and he never knows what will happen next. His journey is a shortened and more exaggerated story of life. In life each day is a journey in itself, and every person goes through many longer term journeys in their lifetime. I believe that Rushdie is making a reference to life being a journey in his book. The book shows that you never know what journey you will meet, and you have to go with it, make the best of it, an ultimately overcome it. This is true for every journey in life whether it is one day or two years.
Proposition: The journey that Haroun travels through in the novel is a metaphor to life.
IRJ-CP#10 October 20, 2009
Silence had fallen in the auditorium as the man walked up onto the dais. I recalled his usurpation to become to become our leader. I wondered if anyone noticed his gaining popularity in a negative way as I had seen it. I believed he deserved no veneration for the motions he had begun. He began speaking. My eyes wandered around the room to see if anyone was as scornful as I was. To my dismay, everyone else was looking at him with eminence. I found the fact that they thought of him as a high status sickening. All of his talk about how “everyone different from us are bad” was truly appalling to me. Just because he was an amazing speaker does not mean that his views are right. The horrifying part of this is that I really believe I am the only person who feels this way.
I couldn’t stand listening to him talk. His enticing voice was revolting. I knew he was just trying to draw people into his evil ways. He scared me. I can only think about what he will do next. I feel he will put his thoughts into action. I feel I should get out of this country. Am I going crazy? Are my fears pointless?
The throng starts to cheer. Their voices are bouncing off the walls. Suddenly I feel like I can hear each individual person yelling, “Heil Hitler!”
IRJ-QR#8 October 1, 2009
The Power of the Mind
In Heywood Broun’s story The Fifty-First Dragon, the main character Gawaine, a knight in-training, believes that there is a magical word that can stop dragons from hurting him. In this belief, he confidently slays fifty dragons by himself. However, by the end he realizes that there was no such thing as a magic word and he slayed the dragons purely by his confidence. In this case, the power of the mind shows greatly. Because of the fact that Gawaine believed the dragons were harmless, he had the ability to overcome his fear of them and kill them without a problem. This shows that if you believe something is true, your mind will automatically become in that state of mind. Gawaine thought that the dragons could not hurt him, so his mind made it so they didn’t. Another example of this process is that if you believe that you are really sick, your brain will tell your body that you are and you will actually feel sick. This is a case that occurs in every person all the time. In the story, once Gawaine figures out that the magic word does not exist, he returns to his timorous behavior. This is because he no longer has the confidence to slay dragons because he doesn’t feel a powerful force working with him.
Proposition: If you believe something in your mind, your brain will believe you also and will make it true.
