STAR WARS

1)      The movie opens with a battle scene.  Darth Vader is looking for something.  What is he looking for, and what has happened to it? Darth Vader is looking for the battle plans which Princess Leia was holding. The princess placed the battle plans inside R2D2 and told the unit to go and search for the old man known as "Ben." This unit and his accomplice C3PO were launched on an escape pod which eventually landed them in Luke Skywalker's planet.

2)      At the beginning of the movie, what does Luke Skywalker want to do?  What is holding him back? Luke Skywalker wants to go to the academy, but his Uncle is holding him back. The Uncle wants him to work in his fields for another year, and then he can finally go.

3)      Who do we find out Ben Kenobi really is? Ben Kenobi turns out to be Obi-Wan Kenobi.

4)      How does Ben describe “The Force” to Luke? Ben describes the force to Luke as a power that surrounds, penetrates, and binds everything in the world together. 

5)      How does Luke Skywalker mature during the story?  What is the main event that triggered this change? Luke Skywalker matures into a man who understands the force throughout the story. The main event that triggered this change was the killing of his Uncle and Aunt when the Imperial Storm troopers invaded their house looking for the two droids. 

6)      In what ways is Star Wars similar to other stories we have read this year such as The Epic of Gilgamesh and Siddhartha? Star Wars is similar to Siddhartha because it teaches the readers about how a person can mature within time in order to become a figure that is a great hero. Siddhartha becomes the Buddha and gains knowledge of how everything turns around, and Luke gains knowledge of the force and uses it in good ways. 

7)      How does Luke follow the “Hero’s Adventure” as described by Joseph Campbell?  What physical or spiritual deeds does he perform?  Where in the film does he experience a literal or figurative death and resurrection? He performs a physical deed by rescuing the princess from the clutch of Darth Vader. The part where Luke finally destroys the Death Star and receives his award from Princess Leia is when he went through a figurative death and resurrection. Luke went from being a casual boy working for his Uncle in a small planet, into becoming the Commander of the Rebels. 

8)      How does Star Wars attempt to answer the following:

a) Who are we? We are ordinary people that can become great heroes when we go through maturing into better men.

b)  Where are we going? In the Star Wars point of view, we as humans are heading towards an era where we will be foolish enough towards each other that a great war will erupt. Not only will war occur, but smuggling, murdering, will become a major action that will continue on in many "systems."

c)  How did we get here? As humans we got here as we evolved new technologies that made life easier for us. 

d) Why are we here? To fight for what we think is the best way to have everything running in our world. To make sure that two sides don't attempt to fight each other and decide what is for the best, but try to settle it in anyway possible. 

e) What happens to us when we die? When we die we do not leave everything behind, we leave our souls behind. We never completely die if we are true heroes that acknowledge everything around us, and continue on our lives.

Aphorisms

"Wear a shirt that fits you."

Such an aphorism can contain different meanings to how a person views his life, and his personality. Towards a person that views things literally word per word, it can bring a whole different meaning than what it "truly" is supposed to be. 

Connecting to Joseph Campbell's idea on what it means to be a hero, he shows that depending on what you choose yourself to be, to be reborn as a whole new being;you can accomplish many things. Once you accomplish those things and become well-known, then you are a hero that is truly worth writing about. If you take a shirt which can be related to as a career you want to do, and you choose the wrong shirt thinking that it will fit you; you have just driven your pathway of life in a whole different direction. If you try too hard to find a shirt that will exactly fit you, then you might not find it because it takes a long time. Just like how Joseph Campbell says a hero is someone that does great deeds and is recognized, a person has to find the one shirt that will fulfill his life goal; and lead that towards something great. 

To sum it all up, Joseph Campbell is trying to say that if you want to be recognized you have to do something great. In order to be recognized for doing something great, you have to find the shirt that fits you. Once you find the shirt that fits you, and become recognized as someone great. You will be written about and truly shown as a hero.

Bacuis and Philemon

1. Who are Baucis and Philemon? Bacius and Philemon are wife and husband who live in a small hut. They were the ones that greeted the guests (Zeus, Hermes) into their hut so that they could rest and have a meal.
2. How do they differ from other people? These two differ from other people since they are rather friendly compared to the others. Also, they  don't reject the poor "guests," and scream and them while others did. The two have a better sense of what it means to be kind compared to others which rejected their requests without even thinking about it at first.
3. Why do Zeus and Hermes reward them? Zeus and Hermes reward the two because of how they were kind and not as nasty as the neighbors.
4. Describe their wish? Baucis and Philemon wished that they could die at the same moment. To die, they were transformed into trees at the same time while putting forth leaves, and producing bark.
5. What does this story suggest? What is its didactic message? This story suggests that one shouldn't treat a stranger with such "hatred," since something could always come back to you that does you good. It's didactic message is to treat others with as much respect as they would treat you. Basically, the story is trying to tell the reader to never be so rude or unwilling to help towards total strangers, in any situation whether you are rich or poor.
6. Do you agree with this idea of love? Why? Why Not? I do agree with this idea of love since if two people truly love each other they wouldn't betray themselves in their time afterwards. Dying at the same time would be a great example since none of them want to suffer the pain of not having each other.

Metamorphoses Scene 5- Orpheus and Eurydice

1. Who are Hades, Fates, Tantalus and Sisyphus? Hades was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The Fates are people who assign a man to good or evil. Tantalus is a famous ancient figure who is most well-known for his eternal punishment in Tartarus. Sisyphus is the king of Ephyra now known as Corinth in Greek mythology.
2.  How can Orpheus get Eurydice back? Orpheus can get Eurydice back if he makes a deal with Hades in which Eurydice will be following Orpheus as he goes back outside. If Orpheus turns back to look at Eurydice until sunlight, Eurydice will remain with Hades forever.
3.  List the ways we are invited to interpret the story. We are invited to interpret the story as a story of love and how it always goes away, and a story about time that only flows in one direction.
4.  Which interpretation do you most agree with? I agree with the interpretation that it is a story about love and how it always goes away.
5. Is this a love story?  Why?  Why not? If so, what kind of love does this seem to be? Yes, it is a love story since there is a man and a woman in which the man attempts to get back the woman with anything he has. The love seems to be the kind of love that can never be fulfilled and was not meant to be, and if he truly wanted to have her again he wouldn't of turned around. So, basically it's a love story about a couple that were never meant to be in my opinion.

Siddhartha Reading Section #4

Visual Vocabulary:

http://www.aegistraining.co.uk/blog/2013/4/2/drop-and-give-me-zen-how-to-cheat-your-way-to-enlightenment.html

In this reading section I chose the word "enlightenment," because of the relations it has with the story in general. If you put it in simple words, the literal story is about Siddhartha attempting to become enlightened, and it can open up a whole new world about the story once you've heard of the word.

What enlightenment means in the Buddhist religion is a blessed state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains Nirvana. So, with knowing the meaning of the word and the theme of the story; this single world can truly tell a whole story. Siddhartha tries to become enlightened by himself without any teachers, he ends up being taught from a "river," and finally reaches his final state of enlightenment. The main reason for picking this word wasn't because of how much it connected to the story itself, since there are many other words to do so. It was because it gave such a big idea for a person who would just start reading the book. It allows the person to have a big thought on how it actually might be connected with the book.

Overall, the word that I picked which is "enlightenment" can be regarded as a helpful word in understanding the story. The detailed words cannot be such closely related to the story, as it describes a specific part; however the more general words can be very easy to understand. 

Siddhartha Reading Section #3

Connection to a movie:

The reading section #3 of Siddhartha can be connected very well to the movie of Avatar. The main character was sort of a Siddhartha with how he made the biggest decisions which changed his life, and meeting up against someone that he used to know was very similar to the scene in the 3rd reading section.

The main character made the big decisions of helping the alien kind instead of serving his main purpose of collecting these crystals that were for wealth. He was indeed looking for money and success while serving at the planet, yet he made the choice to stop researching and fighting for the crystals; but helping the alien kind instead. The meeting with the superior when the main character was defending the alien kind was quite tragic,  but not so related to the meeting of Siddhartha and Govinda. Even though the meetings between the two characters were in totally different scenes, the main point of the scene was the "reuniting" of the two characters rather than what they actually did. Only two scenes of the book can be compared to the movie itself, however the first scene was closely related in what they were trying to achieve.

Overall, the connections can be made between the book, Siddhartha and the movie, Avatar. The vivid scenes that were truly changing in points of where the book might go to, or where the movie might lead to are connected in understandable ways. The reason I chose Avatar to compare to the book wasn't because of the overall theme of the movie, but how the specific scenes of both were game changing.

Siddhartha Reading Section #2

Visual Vocabulary: Ardent

                                                        http://kristinwhitelaw.com/passion.html
Ardent is quite an important word in the chapter of "Kamala," with the many seductive sections within the chapter. With the 3 scenes that show an essence of ardent, this word can be the word that can be used to describe the chapter in a general view.

Having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling; passionate is the dictionary definition of ardent. Understanding the essence of this chapter is very important with the three events in which Siddhartha meets Govinda as a woman, the woman by the stream, and Kamala. Ardent, can truly describe the whole chapter as a simple word. The examples such as Siddhartha drinking milk from Govinda's breasts, and the woman's attempt to seduce Siddhartha, and Kamala rewarding Siddhartha for his poetry with a kiss has everything related to do with being passionate for love. Siddhartha wants Kamala to by his side and he tries to get a good job, but Kamala finds one for him eventually. The intense feeling of Siddhartha wanting to be with Kamala can be a very big story changer from the wise Siddhartha to a kind hearted, loving Siddhartha. 

I chose this word out of all the other vocabulary words that could be found throughout the chapter, because of how much connection it has to be theme of his chapter; love.

Siddhartha Reading Section #1

Respond to the text personally:


I can very much relate to the part one of the Siddhartha story line personally because of how Siddhartha tries to pursue his goals, unlike Govinda who tries to follow Buddha himself; just like everyone else. Siddhartha starts as a Brahman, and wishes to take part of becoming a Samana within the forests. 

Being an individual with deciding what I want to do for myself has been what I've been trying to do since the day I thought of my first career in the future. My parents want me to enroll in every AP course in order to have a good career in the future, yet I believe that taking normal courses in high school can get you into good colleges such as Yale, Harvard, Stanford. Colleges don't really look at how smart you are, but how much you improve over time. One person can be very smart in 11th grade, but in 12th grade their grades might fall which can give an idea of them not being able to get into a good college. On the other hand, if someone does bad in 11th grade then does well in 12th grade, they will have a better chance to go into a well college. Just like Siddhartha wanting to pursue what he wants to do, I wish that I could choose my own life choices with my parents supporting me.

To wrap it all up, Siddhartha's personal opinions can relate to my personal opinions of wanting to choose our personal choices in life (educationally, mentally, and physically). 

Paradox/Oxymoron

https://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/the-anti-democrats-paradox/

This picture represents a visual paradox with the fact that it can't be true according to logic or even common sense. The ring itself is known as a Mobius ring which is basically a ring that continues to circle around infinitely, and this shows how the ants that are crawling it are just walking around in the Mobius ring forever. One fact that it is also a paradox is because when you make an ant crawl from the inside, it will end up crawling from the outside as the ring elapses with itself. Overall, this picture can be a perfect example for a visual representation of a paradox with the thought that when it is viewed by a person just "like that," it'll be very confusing, and not make sense at all in any possible way.

http://traduzioniclick.it/blog-entry_paradox-vs-oxymoron

The picture below represents a good paradox just like the visual paradox above about  the Mobius ring. 
The picture isn't exactly the Mobius ring itself, thus it is a close example as it has a similar concept of not being understandable by logic or common sense with the fact that it spins around infinitely. Overall, it doesn't really have a deep meaning into it as it is just a simple picture of a triangle that is deformed, and won't really give viewers a clear meaning of a paradox in any sort of way. Thus, using this picture as a continuing example after a person has understand the meaning of a paradox could work out , and let them understand more about the paradox him/herself.

















This picture is a perfect visual representation of an 
oxymoron due to the fact that they combine the two contradictory terms "STOP," and "KEEP MOVING." When someone is driving a car and stumbles upon a sign that says "STOP," and then suddenly look to their right and see a sign that says "KEEP MOVING," they're obviously going to be confused in deciding their next action. Basically what this picture shows us is the exact definition of what an oxymoron is thus in a visual way, and it gives a clear explanation of doing so. There are many more pictures that could of represented an oxymoron, yet I believed that this one was the simplest pictures to portray the exact meaning of an oxymoron.

Li

Li:

4.12: The Master said, "It in your affairs you abandon yourself to the pursuit of profit, you will arouse much resentment."

This phrase can truly relate to myself in many different ways. Thus, I believe there is one real life situation where this could relate to very significantly.

In Lebanon, there are many people who are mostly rich people who attend private schools but only get accepted due to money, and there was one kid who was a perfect example of it. This kid wasn't really smart, and didn't even pay attention or tried to make friends on the first day he came to school; he wore rich branded clothes, and carried an iPhone with him all the time, and always wore a pair of Beats headphones. My friends and I went ahead to talk to the new kid to see if he was just shy, and didn't really like to have many friends around, yet he wasn't at all. He told us to go away and smiled at his screen as he laughed, and that's when we immediately realized that he was a spoiled brat. 

Even though this kid was very rich, and had parents that were probably really successful, the kid himself wouldn't be successful if he acted like this towards everyone else. So this led to the conclusion that truly money can corrupt a person socially, and perhaps even mentally. With a kid behaving just like this, the story can relate to the experience that I had with the new spoiled rich kid.