The Voice (Blog #5)

The Voice by Shel Silverstein

There is a voice inside of you,

That whispers all day long,

"I fell that this is right for me,

I know that this is wrong."

No, teacher, preacher, parent, friend

Or wise man can decide

What's right for you- just listen to

The voice that speaks inside.

I think this poem has to do with the overall theme of many things that we have studied in class.  One example is in The Iliad.  Many of the characters have to think to themselves on what would be the best decision.  The same goes for The Odyssey.  Odysseus was faced with many decisions throughout the book where he had to think what was best.  For example, he had to think about whether or not he was going to stay loyal to his wife Penelope.  Unfortunately, he didn't and cheated on her with Cirus.  Also, in the novel Siddhartha, Siddhartha has to think if the self torture is best for him.  He thought to himself, and realized that self-torture wasn't getting close to Nirvana, so he had to find another way.  In the movie O Brother, Where Are Thou?  Everett's wife Penny has to think about whether or not she wants to be with Everett.  At first, she says she never will go back to him, but by the end she starts falling for him.  She listens to her voice within and realizes that it would be best to go back to Everett.

Work Cited

Silverstein, Shel.  Falling Up.  New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996.

Picture Analysis

Movie Review: The Secret Life of Bees

This past weekend, I saw the movie Secret Life of Bees and I loved it.  For eighth grade summer reading we had to read the book, so I had kind of high standards.  Overall, they got all the main parts of the book.  Also, the actors who played the characters were phenomenal.  Dakota Fanning played Lily and she portrayed the character just like how Lily was portrayed in the book.  She had the same fun, smart and loving attitude.  The African American maid, Rosaleen, is played by Jennifer Hudson.  Jennifer Hudson had the same stern but friendly attitude that Rosaleen had in the book and did a great job playing that part.  Alicia Keys along with Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Paul Bettanymore played there characters just like the book described.  I would give this movie a 4.5 out of 5 because even though the movie was incredible and was just like the book, it was a little bit to long.

Work Cited

"Movefone".  AOL.  October 23, 2008 .

Buddhism might be dying out Japan (Blog #4)

In Japan, Buddhism has been dying out.  It used to be a monopoly over all other religions but slowly and slowly more people are dropping out.  "But that expression also describes a religion that, by appearing to cater more for the needs of the dead than to those of the living, is loosing its standing in Japanese society".  This quote shows that the Japanese feel like the religion is more based on dying then ones own spiritual beliefs.  A lot of people like Islam and Christianity because there priests have sermons based on spiritual beliefs.  Many Buddhist priests do not do that.  "If Japanese Buddhism doesn't act now, it will die out," said Mr. Mori, the 21st head priest at the temple.  This quote really shows how serious of a problem this is becoming and really how many people are loosing interest in this religion.  Even Buddhists are choosing not to follow the rules of funerals of Buddhism and are going to funeral homes or not even having a funeral instead.  "But considering the future, pressing a young person to take over the temple could be cruel," said Mr. Takahashi.  He had been training his 23 year old son to become the next priest at the temple, but at this rate the temple might not even exist by the time he becomes priest.

This article connects to what we are doing in class because we are reading the book Siddhartha.  In Siddhartha, Buddhism is a huge religion in the book.  One way it contrasts it though, is that Buddhism doesn't seem to be dying out yet, but maybe in the future of the book it could.

Work Cited:  Onishi, Norimitsu.  "In Japan, Buddhism may be dying out".  The New York Times.  July 14th, 2008 . 

Answer to blog question 2

Even though Odysseus might be considered a hero in acient times, I don't think he would be considered a Hero in modern times.  One reason why he wouldn't be considered a hero is because he kills so many people.  We see this in book 22.  Odysseus has just completed Penelope's task of shooting an arrow through 12 axes.  Then, he reveals his true identity to the suitors.  The suitors are terrified and scatter all over, even though there is no escape.  Odysseus goes on a mad killing spree and kills all of them except for a couple who he let get away.  If that wasn't bad enough, after he ordered the maids to clean up the bloody mess, he decided to kill them all by hanging them.  If someone did this in modern times, they would not be considered a hero whatsoever, but might be clasified as a murderor.

Odysseus also lied throughout basically the whole epic poem about his true identity.  He even lied to his own wife throughout book 19 and 20.  He also lies to his father in the begining of 24.  Should hero's really lie to there people about who they are?  I don't think so.  If someone I looked up to had been lying to me about who they really are, I would not look up to them anymore.  Even though no one was mad at Odysseus when they told him the truth, he still lied for many books in the epic poem.  Odysseus also goes to Circe's and sleeps with her.  This is unfaithful to his wife Penelope.  Penelope had been staying true to Odysseus while he was gone away at war missing him terribly but Odysseus could not seem to do the same.  If this happened today, it would be all over the news.  Sleeping with other women while you're married isn't classy and for sure is not Heroic.

When Odysseus goes to visit the dead in Hades, he demonstrates some unheroic things.  While he was there he got to visit his mother and friends.  Then when more and more people began to hear that he was there, they wanted to talk to him.  Odysseus got overwhelmed and just left.  This is very unheroic.  Think of it in terms of the president.  If the president went to visit a group of people and said hi to a few, but more and more people were coming to talk to him so he just left.  People would feel betrayed and would not think that he would be a good leader because he didn't give a chance to everyone to talk to him.  A good leader in my mind, is not considered heroic.

Blog #3

I found this article online and found it to be very interesting.  In Kuala Lumper, Malaysia, a group of relatives beat a malaysian couple to death.  The relatives claimed that it was a ritual to persuade someone from not smoking.  The couple had many head injuries because they were beaten by sticks and other objects.  The couples children were also hurt.  When the relatives told the man to stop, he didn't because he didn't think he could.  The relative started to babble on how bad smoking is for you.  There has been no findings on who exactly performed the beating "rituals" but  police are still searching.

Source Cited: "Relatives beat Malaysian couple to death in stop-smoking ritual".  The Star Tribune Online.  October 3, 2008.  .