Spellbound Post

Question 4: Do you have something in your life like the National Spelling Bee? Describe some of the pressure you feel.

Question 5: Should we still have spelling bees? Why? Why not? 

After watching a little bit of the movie Spellbound, I immediately thought the plays and musicals I auditioned and I am going to audition. I thought how the first day I got to meet the partners I was going to work with for more than two months, and felt a little nervous to act in front of them due to the fact that I didn't knew some of them at all. But as the days went by that nervousness went away. But then it came back just a few days before the actual show. That anxiety I felt within me was something I have never felt before. But the actual days of the performance were really horrible. I at a point started to feel sick. By that point I had to calm down and think on something else because if I kept thinking on that I immediately felt sick again. But after the show ended though, that anxiety faded away. 

I think we shouldn't hacve spelling bees anymore. This is because I believe that it is pathetic to make such a big of a deal out of proper spelling. That is why we have an english course which teaches us how to do this and that is why we have spelling quizes. The purpose of them is to grade our spelling and how we need to improve. I mean this poor kids pass through a lot of pressure and anxiety just to prove they can spell words. Plus the amount of money people have to pay in order to organize this event is very high. I understand the fact that some kids that participate in this event want to show there talent, but I mean that is not the only talent someone has. They have to be good at something at else. I believe this is ridiculous. Too much pressure for something anyone can do. Really pathetic. 

Advertisment using Logos

This image is a clear example of logos. Logos means that it uses actual facts and information. This advertisment uses a statistic that supports their idea that smoking can kill you. Below the hand it says that over 106,000 people die in UK a year due to smoking. That is an actual fact.

Advertisment using Pathos

I believe this is a very good example of Pathos. Pathos means appeal to emotions or how you want your audience to feel. In this ad you can see how the person is telling you that an accident was caused by a drunk driver and that he killed an innocent little child. This appeals to emotion because it makes you feel either guilty, sad or furious. You feel sad for the little girl, angry with the dirver, but also guilty because maybe you have drove drunk. This is the purpose of pathos. Make you feel something they want you to feel.

Advertisment using Ethos

I think this is a great example of ethos. Ethos means appeal to authority. Here it shows how this company of batteries is using a famous and authoritarial figure in order for people to buy the product they are offering. This figure is Michael Jordan. One of the most famous legends of basketball. Companies use authority such as him in order to convince people that their product is worth buying due to the fact that a celebrity is using it. 

Response to Malala's two Articles

After reading this two articles I was speechless. First because of the fact that people are so cruel and so ambitious in order to shoot a fourteen year old child. Second because of her immense bravery and courage she had to speak out against the Taliban's laws. 

I just couldn't believe how courageous she was to post her feelings in a blog and just the fact that she gave a voice to many people in that country. Those are the qualities of an effective and capable leader. What I believe is that you don't question authority unless you have too. In this case she had to speak up because the laws enforced by the Talibans were simply to brutal and harsh against the people. I was also very impressed when I read she was nominated for various peace related awards. For someone that age is very hard to gain such honours recognised worldwide. But she definitely earned them. Her desire to  help and promote prosperity and change is amazing. I believe she can be placed in a category with women that have impacted the world such as Aung San Suu Kyi the women that wanted democracy in Burma, Rosa Parks the famous women that refused to give her seat to a white man, Margaret Thatcher the first female prime minister in Britain's history, etc. 

To conclude, I believe that everyone has to speak up for what they believe, fight for it, and defend it no matter what the cost is. No one can tell you that what you believe is wrong. I also believe that an effective leader is that person that has the courage to speak up and defend it ideas, fight for them, and stay true to them. 

The Dowry Blog Response

After reading page 144 of the chapter when Marji tells the teacher she was saying wrong information because according to the teacher there was no political prisoners but her uncle was imprisoned and other people too it made me remember of a similar experience I had with the teacher of social studies. He told something that was very wrong and I corrected him. He eventually found out I was right not like the Marji's teacher. This event also reminds me of myself and the other teenagers. We are rebellious and think we are always right and the rest of the people wrong. Just teenage years.....

The Passport

After reading this chapter and more specifically page 121 when the aunt of Marji tell her that his uncle needs an open heart surgery and they were not equipted there in Iran it made remember about my grandfather's cancer. When he was diagnosed the doctors told my family he had to be operated of the kidney, so my uncle had to call a specialized doctor to do the surgery because there was no one in the city that was specialized in those types of complicated surgeries. Also in this page when Marji's aunt told her that he had to leave to have the surgery but he had to get a passport from the government to leave the country I remembered of the movie called The Lady which is based on the real life of the leader Aung San Suu Kyi who wanted to restore democracy in Burma. Since she was the enemy of the dictator of that country she was not allowed to leave Burma and her family which was from Great Britain had to have a special passport in order to travel there that was also given by the government.

The Sheep Response

After reading this chapter I had three connections. On page 63 when one Marji's friends says he is living to the United States it made me remember the time I had to say goodbye to my best friend that was leaving to London. It was very sad and I really felt dreadful so I understand why she said it was the end of the world because she was leaving. This event also made me reacall a book I read about the story of Anne Frank. During the book she said that her friends were leaving to Switzerland due to the second World War that broke out in Europe. Also because this country was neutral and it was a place Jewish like Anne and her friends where accepted. Like Marji, Anne Frank stayed in her country and didn't leave. On page 66 when the revolutionists killed Siamak I remembered when watching the film The Patriot when the English coronel killed the child of the main character because he wasn't loyal to the king, he was against his authority. This happens very frequently during war. This events of mass murders of innocent are to scare people and make them understand who is in power. 

Persepolis Blog Response

After reading the chapter called Persepolis and more specifically page 28 where the author explains how the Shah spent all his money on stupid festivities I remebered about a film based on the various emperors of Rome. To be more presice it made me remember about the emperor Nero which rulled Rome from 54 B.C. to 68 B.C., and was the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was very similar to the Shah because he spent all Rome's money in very expensive building projects for himself and bankrupted the empire. Because he was crazy he did all kinds of insane things such as killing his wife and marrying a man. At the end he killed himself. On page 32 when the main character didn't undestrand why her parents were laughing about death and cancer she after a while laughed too just to try to fit in, made me remember about me. I am like that too. One day some of my friends made a joke and they all laughed, but I didn't understood it and after a while a laughed and they looked at me very awkardly. I felt kind of dum. Just my crazy self.

The Veil Response

After reading the first page of The Veil when Marjane said that the girls at school did not like to wear the veil, I really understood them. I would really be angry and confused if all of a sudden I would have to wear mandatory a veil for school. Though I never been forced to wear such thing, I still have been forced to wear things I really didn't like. In the marriage of my cousin I was forced to wear a dress because I had to be ring bear. On page 4 when the narrator says that woman and men were sepparated  into different schools it reminded me of the childhood of my mother. When she was young she had to go to a school that was only for girls. She felt in heaven when she entered college because she could finally share moments with men. On page 6 when the main character said she wanted to become a prophet I remembered my childhood years. I wanted to become a hero like Batman and sneak out of my house at night and fight thiefs, and wrongdoers. I also wanted to become a scientist and find cures for all the diseases in the world that didn't have an actual cure. Just chilhood.....

Blog Response Tablet XI

After reading this tablet, I could realize how history repeats itself. When Gilgamesh talks about how the Gods unite to discuss someone's destiny; this also happened in the Greek mythology. Zeus and the other Gods ha a reunion to discuss the fate of a city or specific person. But at the end Zeus decided. Its inpresive how different civilizations in history have adopted many customs and practices from past civilizations. Another example from this in the text was when Utnapishtim tells his story to Gilgamesh. He says the the Gods told him that he had to build a gisnt boat so he could safe himself from the great flod that was going to happen. This the excact same story of Noah in the Bible. There were some changes of course, but the main idea is the same. He builds the boat, only his family can travel with him, two of each species boards the boat. He releases a brid to find land, never comes back. Releases other birds only one comes back. In the book this is a little different. Utnapishtim believes they the Birds never came back because they found land. Another chane is that Utnapishtim himself finds land. 

Other things I noticed was vocabulary. This are some of the words I didn't understand:

-Precinct: a district, as of a city, marked of governmental or administrative purposes, or police protection. 

-Profusion: abundance, abundant quantity.

-Bitumen: any of various natural substances, as asphalt, maltha, or gilsonite, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons.

Image to response to Gilgamesh

This two images is what I think will happpen to us after death. Our soul leaves our body and goes to heaven.

Epic of Gilgamesh Tablets VI-VII

During this tablets I connected two events with other civilizations. When Gilgamesh is offered to have sexual relations with the goddess Ishtar, I can see this was a common thing between in other religions, not only in the Greek. I can recall that in the Greek mythology Zeus and the Olympians used to seduce mortals and then made love. I also connected Ishtar with the goddess Hera because both of them are always looking for a way to make the life of a human miserable if they don't like them. Gilgamesh didn't want to give his body away to the goddess, she got very mad and immediately had a meeting with the other gods to destroy Gilgamesh. The other event I connected was that this people in Mesopotamia also believed in the underworld, and that there was a god in the underworld, like the Greeks and Romans did.

Epic of Gilgamesh Tablets IV-V

During this two tablets I had a question? Why did Gilgamesh constantly have those nightmares?  Was this like a prediction of the future? I can connect this dreams to real life though this will sound crazy, some dreams I have actually happen. They are not big dreams like for example getting a car, becoming a Hollywood star, etc. They are much smaller things. An example could be being in a classroom with a friend. This quest Enkidu and Gilgamesh is very similar to the one Bilbo Baggins and his companions did en the book The Hobbit. Huwawa is similar to the dragon in The Hobbit because he was the guardian of cave and he was  invincible, and only a strong person could defeat him.

Epic of Gilgamesh Reading Blog Tablets I-III

During the reading of the first three tablets I saw on page six that in ancient times they used temple prostitutes. I remember that two years ago that I read a book in spanish called Que la Muerte Espere by an author called German Castro Caycedo which pointed out that people this days worship Satan. During certain types of rituals they still used temple prostitutes. What are they used for? What is their meaning? Other things I noticed during this first tablets was that like Goliath in the Bible, Enkidu and Gilgamesh were considered very strong and powerful since they were very tall. The last thing I noticed was that Gilgamesh and Enkidu after they wrestled, they kissed and took each other by hands. I could infer two things: first they were attracted to each other which was something very normal during ancient times to have lovers or companions from the same sex; and second people in ancient times to say hello kissed even though they were from the sex. 

HMWK Ishmael questions

1) What does Quinn imply about the takers?
Quinn implies that the takers are the civilized people. The people who take opportunities.

2) How has the relationship between Ishmael and the protagonist changed?
The relationship between the protagonist has changed. Its was first a relationship between people and goliath or a monster. The new owner had a relationship with Ishmael in a different way. He told him that he was not Goliath and he treated him as "human". The relationship was also teacher student.

3) Make three inferences about the leavers:
3.1) The leavers are those who are primitive or uncivilized.
3.2) Leavers are people who don't take the opportunities in life. They leave them.
3.3) Leavers are people that really don't have a purpose in life. They are here to do no change or impact in society.

4) Define "mother culture":
Mother culture is the society, the customs, traditions, etc., that have shaped who you are and what you believe in. It demonstrates where you come from.

5) Do you agree with Ishmael?

Picture

1) From this picture I can infer that this statuette was inspired by a man.
2) I can infer that since it gold, it has a great value and significance.
3) I can also infer that any person who has this statuette is no someone normal, not everybody has this.