Tuesday, May 31, 2016
The Mirror of Life (Essay Prompt)
Literature is a reflection of life. Each form of literature represents a significant human experience, which allows its readers to ponder and reflect on their own experiences. It is a piece of reality written into words. It is often said that Literature gives its readers insight into the human condition. Yes, I believe it does, for there's more to the character, setting, plot, conflict and theme; as this can be seen in the stories discussed in class.
In the tradition of Greek mythology, heroes must always leave the lives they once knew in order to go on a quest - to seek greatness. It is in their leaving that their stories of adventure, romance, and heroism are made known. The Odyssey by Homer taught us that the journey to Ithaca is long and hard. In life, we all have that Ithaca - one we consider as our goal. Some of these goals may seem too far to reach or we may encounter challenges along the way. We may even find ourselves hopeless or close to giving up. However, it taught us that with the right attitude, and mindset; we will eventually get there no matter how long it takes. We should never give up similar to the character of Rorschach in Alan Moore's Watchmen. He continued to seek the truth up until the very end and refused to keep silent about Ozymandias' action to justify the destruction and maintain the supposed "paradise" he created. This just goes to show that the end does not justify the means. Even if one's intention is good, but the manner of execution is morally wrong; especially when it involves thousands of lives or humanity - it will never be justifiable. This can be related to the issue of death penalty here in the Philippines. Yes, there's the good intention of bringing it back but I also believe that no one has the right to condemn a person's death or to deprive a person of his/her life especially in our culture wherein we are predominantly Christians. We each have our own culture - what may work for others may not exactly work for us and vice versa which can be depicted in Chinua Achebe's work Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian Novelist who wrote in English to educate western people about the culture in Africa.
With that said, culture, customs and religion are depicted in the works of Literature. Things Fall Apart showed us all of those and highlighted the differences between a tribe's culture before and after the coming of Christianity. The author is the perfect product for she is the Nwoye to the story - Christianized and educated in the west yet still carries the culture of the Africans. This leads us to another main point of how literature gives insight into the human condition for where else will a writer draw his/her inspiration if not for his/her own experiences? Thus, making it more relatable and close to the heart of many readers. Since it is from her own personal experience, it is safe to assume that others are going through it too and may even find themselves in a character or two from the story. Just like Nwoye, some people are willing to embrace the change while others are Okonkwo's (in their own way) who remain grounded in their values and principles in the face of changing times. The story ends with a commissioner planning to write a book allotting only a paragraph for Okonkwo despite the many things he can say about him and considering Okonkwo's countless greatest achievements; he was worth nothing. Similar to how Gregor Samsa was treated when he turned into a verminous bug. His family just turned their backs on him because they found him completely useless since he can no longer provide for the family. It is a sad reality that some people are only nice/talking to you when they need something from you. Otherwise, you would not matter to them. The perfect example of this is during elections. During the campaign, politicians become (1) visible; (2) start having projects named after them; (3) shake hands, dole out money and throw a feast. But what happens after? These people whom they once needed votes from are disregarded - worse, they steal their money for their own selfish and personal gains. With Gregor Samsa's story, we can see that the love and care he has for his family was not reciprocated; thus, causing his death. This is familiar in Borges' Eugene Onegin's interpretation of unrequited love. Here, we saw that it is possible to fall in love with someone who cannot love us back in return. Many of us can relate to this "we want what we can't have" or to simply put it - one-sided love. There are many reasons why we like/love a person but there's only one reason to keep that love going and its called choice. The choice whether or not we will fight for the person or let it hold us back. These choices reflect the kind of person that we are in the persona of characters in the different stories.
Truly, Literature is the discourse wherein humans meet or at least find similarities in terms of experiences. That's why we have an element of literature which is the theme - a universal idea or lesson being portrayed in the work. This is what connects literature to the real world because most of these are true to life. The point of literature is to exist beyond the writer and co-exist with the writer's experience despite being written at different times and in different context in the hopes that it could connect with other people in order to give them a glimpse of "a slice of life".
Monday, May 30, 2016
Sunday, May 29, 2016
ENGLISH 12 CLASS
I never thought I'd be able to survive this class. It was such a struggle. English 12 (World Literature) is not an easy course especially when one is full load this semester. And, that's exactly what happened to me. Every week or two, we had a new required reading. I am not really a fan of reading but I do read during my leisure time and I do not always finish the novels because of scarced time. However, in this class I learned to manage my time, and not to give up. Although half-way through the sem I just felt like dropping the subject because I could not take the workload anymore, and I felt bad that I could not fulfill my responsibility as a student. My professor always did her part. She went to class promptly even if she knew that some of us did not read and it upset her. I felt guilty because I was not doing my part and there's no excuse for that. For some stories, I read but did not finish in time for discussion, which is why I could not actively participate. There were days when I went to class...clueless of the story. But, I'm happy and proud to say that even if its too late I ACTUALLY FINISHED READING ALL and look it's the end of sem already; Woohoo I made it - I survived! This would not have been possible if it weren't for my pretty professor's (who looks a lot younger and less stressed than me in the photo) encouraging words, kindness and understanding. She could have easily failed me or let me drop the course but then she didn't. She challenged me and pushed me to try harder with the words "You can do it! I believe in you." Trust me those words were very powerful; thus, I'm now officially a graduate of English 12 class under Ma'am Mirasol. Thank you Ma'am if you're reading this HAHA i know what you're thinking... Nope, it's not BOLA! I hope I made you proud :)
P.S.: I've read more in this class (given we only had 16-18 weeks) more than I have ever read within a year!
Saturday, May 28, 2016
The Ballerina in Me Still Exists
Going back to my first love - Ballet! I started dancing ballet at the age of 4. I learned different genres namely: Classical Ballet, Jazz, and Contemporary. I have been dancing for the past 14 years and only had to stop because of College. However, this does not mean that I lost my skills (more of rusty already) and my love for dance. I'm just taking a long break but I'll definitely be back soon!
Who Killed Him: the Wife, the Driver or the Neighbor? (Entry 10)
A graduating law student was tasked to handle a murder case as this will be the last and final requirement before he marches with his fellow batchmates. If he successfully solves this, he will pass the subject. But if he fails, he will have to repeat the whole subject again and be delayed for at least one more term. The legal document was handed to him and here are as follows:
One morning, there was a lifeless body of a man found lying on the floor of Apartment 1-B. He was covered in blood and according to the police investigations he was stabbed approximately 20 times to death with his hands tied up. However, the corpse still has to undergo autopsy. There were 3 suspects named: the wife, the driver and the neighbor. Here is how they were described by other people who knew them.
The Wife
- is married for 10 years and has three kids
- owns a pastry shop
- leaves the house at 8 am comes back at 6 pm
The Driver
- has been working under him for 3 years already
- found another better paying job and planned to resign by the end of the month
- works from 7 am up to 5 pm
The Neighbor
- is a human rights lawyer; single
- the boy who lives next door
- has a different schedule everyday
After several interrogations and cross examinations, each suspect came up with their own alibi. When asked "where and what they did the day before the said crime?", each responded with:
The Wife:
"I went to the grocery to buy ingredients and my daily routine includes a regular visit to my pastry shop (which is open 24/7). However, that day I was not feeling well and so I decided to get some medicine and go home early. I was home by around 3 pm."
The Driver:
"I went to work at 7 am and drove the boss to his office. After, I drove Ma'am to the grocery then to the pastry shop then to the pharmacy back to the house. I then left to fetch boss at around 4pm and we were supposed to be home by 5 pm if he did not answer the phone call."
The Neighbor:
"I left the house early for a court trial. Afterwards, I had lunch then met with another client for a new case that I will be handling. Then, I visited my other client in jail before I headed back home to change and prepare for my friend's party that night. It certainly cannot be me who killed him because I was out the whole night clubbing and I have not even gone home yet ever since I left my house."
The law student scratched his head. He sighed deeply and thought harder. Every time he felt like he found the answer, he'd take a step back to think again. Until, he finally came up with a suspect in mind. He only needed to ask them one question in order to affirm his suspicion. And, so the next day the law student asked: "Where would you be right now?"
The Wife answered: I'm having lunch out or probably just staying in the Pastry shop.
The Driver answered: It is my day-off. I'll most likely spend time with my family.
The Neighbor answered: I have a trial case to attend in court.
With the following statements and the follow up question, WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE MURDERER?
The law student was right of his suspicions and he successfully solved the case. He passed his last and final requirement and was very proud to say that he will be graduating on time. When asked how he figured it all out, his answer was: SIMPLE. Trial courts are closed on Sundays which means that there is no court hearing for that day which makes the neighbor-lawyer the culprit. He lied in answering a simple question which made the law student doubt the authenticity of his other statements, and allowed him to look into the neighbor more. In addition, further investigations were conducted and the police found out that the man was poisonously drugged. There could be no other suspect but the wife. Immediately, he had both of them arrested.
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Backstory: The wife was having an affair with the neighbor. Afraid to be caught and separated from each other, they both plotted a murder scheme for her husband. Meanwhile, the husband knew of this secret love affair which explains why he had both (the neighbor and his wife) of them followed by a secret agent. The same secret agent was the one who called the man (husband) to meet up with him in his office and check the photos. So, what the driver said was actually true about the phone call because he needed to head back to his office to meet with the secret agent and this can be seen in the call records/history. Also, the results of the autopsy found that a poisonous pill spread throughout the victim's body. The victim did not just die from the stabs he received but also from a pill intake which was believed to be given by the wife hours before the crime scene since the wife dropped by a pharmacy to buy those. Both were also found drinking in a club and checked-in in a hotel. They were obviously together the night the crime happened and it is presumed that they both committed the murder first before they celebrated the victim's death. It is clearly an attempted murder.
Case closed.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
I am the Master of My Fate; I am the Captain of My Soul! (Entry 8)
The Lottery of Babylon by Jorge Luis Borges teaches us to question the idea of God, Fate and Chance. The company is a metaphor to God wherein all players have the same and equal chances. It is in control of man's luck whether to reward or punish them. Given that they all have the same opportunities in the lottery game, this is when fate or destiny steps in. It is a matter of luck for them to be chosen - good or bad. A draw can turn a prisoner into a rich man's robe or cause the death of an innocent person. Here, the author shows that we all have the same worth and we all deserve the same probability of fortune as the other.
In my opinion, it is good that Borges presented how we all have equal chances in this life. However, I do not think we should be dependent on fate and destiny alone. It is not God who rewards nor punishes us; it is man's doing. Everything that we do has its corresponding consequences. Also, we all live in the same world where we can choose to be anyone we want to be. He is only there to guide us and to direct us towards living a good life. In the end, it is still up to us to decide how we will make use of our lives. Some may have luck on their side, and some otherwise. But, I believe this should not stop us from wanting to be better and dreaming bigger. Life will not always go the way we want it to be but that does not mean we should give up on it. We always have a choice. And every choice we make will surely affect the outcome of our lives. Let's always remember we are the master of our fate, and the captain of our soul.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Childhood Memoirs
I've always loved playing in the playground and so it makes me happy whenever we pass the CHK gym. Here's a video of my BFF and I taking a few minutes of our time just to play like little kids again. Hope you enjoy 😊
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Love in the Face of Unrequitedness and Heartbreak (Entry 7)
Love is shared between two people. But, what happens when you love someone who cannot love you in return? As weird as it sounds, we want what we can't have. Knowing that we cannot have them makes us want them even more. Why is that so? Simple. We see it as a challenge.
This reminds me of the story about Adam and Eve. They could eat anything they want but not the forbidden fruit. Yet, they still did. There was something in that fruit that made it look so attractive. Again, I believe it's knowing that they can't eat it as compared to all the other fruits that added to its value. This brought the desire to have the fruit even more.
So, if you do not want to experience unrequited love or heartache, then make sure to not fall in love in the first place. Or at least that's what they always say. Because with love, comes pain and it may eventually lead to heartbreak. At least, with the pain comes the realization that it is real. Although I believe, some heartbreak may or may not be worth it. It's up to you to decide. Remember if you never let yourself fall in love, then you will never have to worry about getting over a broken heart. But then again, you'll never know if you're capable of loving. It is only when you fall in love that you will know how great the love you can give. The reason why one may get hurt is because he/she has loved truly and deeply.
Heartbreak is the most painful thing you will ever experience but it is also the best lesson you can learn. It does not only teach you to love but also to pick yourself and get back up - to move on in life because there are far more many beautiful things that await you. I honestly would not wish this for anyone because I myself have gone through it. Trust me, it isn't a pleasant experience but looking back it did make me stronger and better. I have grown into the person that I've become. If I did not go through it, I don't think I'd be the same Antoinette writing to you right now.
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