Speak

Cole Thomas

Period 2

March 11, 2010

According to William James and his article in “The Social Me”, I have as many different selves as people I come in contact with. But I know myself better than anyone will ever no me. I am Cole Thomas I go to University High School and like to play soccer. Those are things that everyone knows about me but Cole Thomas is so much more than a student at University High School. I know things about myself that I would never share with anyone, not because they are bad things but because I feel that if someone would know everything about you than you would no longer have your own identity. You are who you are because of the experiences you have had in the pasts. People cannot take those experiences away from you and you will always remember them if you don’t block them out of you mind. These experiences control how you act and react in different situations. Because everyone had had different experiences in their pasts people will always be different from each other. Some people may have similar characteristics but that is only because they have had experiences. Bullying is a perfect example of how people are different. Mr. Napier talk about how bullies had parents who were unable to subscribe constant punishment. The parents were unreliable on how they would punish their son. Because of the bullies different experiences with their parents they turn out different then another kid who had parents that were able to punish their child with acceptable and constant punishment.

In the Novel Speak Melinda is who she is because she was raped. If Melinda was never raped she would have had the chance to still be friends with Rachelle and many others who she never even meet. Melinda’s mind works the way it does because she does not want to come a decision to except what has happened to her. The reason Art is the only class that she has an A in is because that is the only class that is relating to her at that point in her life. Melisa has her own mind and it is impossible for her to progress in life if she doesn’t get over what happened to her over the summer. Melinda is lonely because she will not let other people into her life and others won’t let her into theirs. This makes her, her because her personality has changed because she is scared that she might be raped again.

How Our Class Discussion Relates To The Novel

Cole Thomas

Great Books Period 2

Wednesday February 3, 2010

I also enjoyed this morning’s discussion. I believe that everything that we talked about directly related to the novel Little Brother. The class discussion and the Book Little brother are related because of the concept of freedom and surveillance. Surveillance is a key concept because everything everyone does is being monitored and the bulk of our discussion this morning was on how the Chinese’s monitor the information that their citizens have access to. We also talked a little about the Patriot act and the American Government monitoring its citizens. We said that like in the novel our government has the power of monitoring everything we do. This was a scary thought for me not because I am a terrorist but because then they would be able to see my personalized documents and files. I thought it was very funny how u took over our computers and made your point to us all and showed us how it would feel to lose control of something that is one of your more personal items.

Towards the end we talked about the new law that the government is trying to create called ACTA, Anti-copyright Trade Agreement. In this agreement between the United States of America, European Commission, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. It is my opinion that the United States should not go though with ACTA. I dislike the fact that the Obama administration is creating this agreement in private so that people won’t have the knowledge about it so that they may not protest it.

In the previous semester we talked about how literature is something that people read and write so that the can connect with others in the world. I believe that this book provokes emotions with people about the government, which is in place in their country. They wonder if it is possible if America will ever digress so far as to act like they do in the book. This book is also targeted towards teenagers because every teenager wants to believe that they can make a difference in the world.

At the end of chapter 14 Marcus recites the declaration of independence. I knew that we read the declaration of independence so that we could understand freedom better in the book but when he recited it I realized that another reason was that you wanted that part of the book to mean more to us than just a line from a famous document.

I am really amazed at how you can start talking about all of these separate topics and in the end make them related. It really helps me understand better because we talk about everything separate and then in the end I can connect how they are related.

The Dumbest Generation? Don’t Be Dumb.

Out of every single blog this one is defiantly my favorite. The topic discussed is often also discussed in my house between my mother and I. She is always saying I am playing to many video games and they are not good for my education and so I stop playing little bit, finish my homework, and then go back to watching TV, talking to people on my computer or playing Call of Duty 6. In the article “The Dumbest Generation? Don’t Be Dumb” the writer gives many examples of how my generation does not know common sense question like who the president of the United States is. He says that this is because of too much technology and I have to say if anything technology helps spread knowledge. Take T.V. for example even if you don’t watch The news as you are flipping through the channels you will most likely see something about politics, or you might flip over the history channel see an explosion pause for a minute and learn a few facts about world war two. This may not be as efficient as learning about history in school but you do pick up facts hear and there. I believe that every generation has its “dumb people”. I’m sure that before TV came out if we went out on the street we could find people who have no idea what is going on in the world. Now days it is very hard not to know what is happening in your country due to the media. And if you look hard enough it is very easy to find someone that is completely clueless. Jay Leno had a show called the Jay Walk All-stars where he would ask them commonsense questions and they would not know a single answer. To us this is completely amazing that they didn’t know the answer but the producers just looked for people who were so out of touch with reality that they had no idea what anyone was talking about. My point is that every generation has its dumb people all you have to do is go out and interview them to make your point.

Interpretative Questions: Why Americans are Restless

2. Why does a society devoted to equal opportunity weaken each individual?

Alexis de Tocqueville was on of the first people to study society and what makes them work. During one point in his life he began to study America and what made it different from Europe. What he found was that in America there was no one that had money and power but everyone started on a level playing field looking for the quickest and shortest route to happiness. Alexis de Tocqueville states, “When all prerogatives of birth and fortune are abolished, when all professions are open to all and a man’s own energies may bring him to the top of any of the, an ambitious man may think it easy to launch on a great career and feel that he is called to no common destiny. But that is a delusion which experience quickly corrects. The same equality which allows each man to entertain vast hopes makes each man by himself weak his power is limited on every side, though his longings may wander where the will.”(De Tocqueville 166). This quote demonstrates how Alexis de Tocqueville believes that because of equality everyone believes they have that same change of gaining happiness but in reality it is much harder than expected and the man who set out for happiness will fail and return weaker than when he set out.

5. Does Tocqueville think Americans are restless because they don’t know what they want or because what they want is not attainable?

Alexis de Tocqueville believes that Americans are restless because what they want is not attainable. He eludes to this quite a few times in his work but it is most easily spotted in this excerpt, “That is a quality which ever retreats before them without getting quite our of sight, and as it retreats it beckons them onto pursue. Every instant they think they will catch it, and each time it slips through their fingers. They see it close enough to know its charms, but they do not get near enough to enjoy it, and they will be dead before they have fully relished its delights.” (De Tocqueville 168). In this passage you can see De Tocqueville explaining how Americans can see happiness but never actually reach the point that they are striving for. The happiness that they are working so hard to achieve is always one step ahead of them begging them to keep pursuing it.

Comparing the Peasants to the previous ruling class

The peasants and the previous ruling class are very similar in the way they deal with personal appeals. The ruling class listened to no one and only looked out for themselves. When the Marquis runs over the mans child all he does is through a coin out the window to pay for the childes life. The peasents then create a petition and it is completely ignored by the Nobels. When the peasants take over the country through the revolution they are even more violent then the government currently in place. Because the peasents are such a large group they are very hard for Monsiur Dufrage to control. Throughout the novel we continue to get the image that crowds have a mind of there own and are very fickle. Since the Peasants have become the main ruling class this means that the new government is also fickle and dangerous. When Darnay is taken prisoner when he reterns to france he is put on trial. While on trial he

1. For how long has the man in Jarvis Lorry’s thoughts been buried?

Mr. Lorry's thoughts have been buried for eighteen years.

2. What else do we know of this man who has been “buried”?
He works for a bank and he used to travel back and forth between England and France. He has lived in France for 15 years.

3. What are the two conditions concerning Dr. Manette?
Dr. Manette had been a prisoner during a war and was abused. Now he is old and sick. he also makes shoes to help relieve the pain he is feeling. He doesn't really talk much and is slow to respond when talked to. He logically doesn't think Lucie is his daughter because she is too young, but he keeps looking at her because he has a feeling in his gut that she really might be.

4. Who are the proprietors of the wine-shop?
the wine shop is owned by Monsieur Defarge, and Madame Defarge.

5. Why does Defarge show Dr. Manette to the “Jacques”?
Defarge shows Dr. Manette to the Jacques because he wants them to be revolutionaries along with him.

6. What is Dr. Manette doing when they enter his room?
Dr. Manette is making a pair of shoes.

7. What does Dr. Manette say his name is? What is the significance of what he says?

Dr. Manette says his name is One Hundred and Five North Tower. This is significant because he had been taken prisoner there during the war.

Blog #3 What others think of you

It is difficult not to care about what others think of you because you want to be liked and if someone doesn’t like you, you feel like you did something wrong. People always say that it doesn’t matter what people think about you but in the end that is not true. If someone thinks your weird than they may not want to talk to you or hang around you, or if you are lazy you wont be hired for the job. If nobody wants to talk to you this is one of the worst possible things that can happen to a person. They would feel like they had done something so wrong that they aren’t even acknowledged by others. This is one of the main reasons why it is hard to not care about what people think about you. You always want people to talk to you and care about you. Some may disagree with me that we can control what people think about us with our actions but I say it is possible. They judge you though how you act. If you work out and lift weights people will think that you are an athlete, if you play video games all day people will think you are a nerd. You can also control what people think about you with what you say, what you wear, and how you act towards other people. If you like to joke around and are friendly many people will want to be your friend where as if you are mean and keep to yourself than the people will want to stay away from you.