My Interactive Reflection Journal
This blog, crafted for my English class, allows me to compose regular, informal pieces that explore interesting ideas. My blog includes creative pieces, open prompts, quick responses, and peer comments. Enjoy!
IRJ Reflection # 22
Hypocrisy is a Greek Word: Why the Greeks Had Religion Right
In The Odyssey, by Homer and translated by Robert Fagles, a singular line appears twice in the text. The line, “he’ll never lie – the man is far too wise” (Fagles 3. 22-369), is stated once by Athena regarding Nestor, and the other by Nestor regarding Menelaus.
Ironically, the goddess of wisdom, Athena, presents herself in the form of a man when interacting with humans to deceive them, and calls herself Mentes. She also lies to Telemachus, when she tells him that “hard men, savages, somehow hold him [Odysseus] back against his will” (Fagles 1. 231-232), rather than telling Telemachus about Calypso. Athena lies to protect the honor of Odysseus, and at the same time implies that lying is unwise.
I lie frequently, using discretion to maintain relationships with the people around me. Athena lies to Telemachus with a similar purpose. Athena’s second lie holds a different motivation; she chooses the body of a man to have more authority, because women in Ancient Greece did not have a status equivalent to that of men.
What hypocrisy. Equating wisdom with always telling the truth is rather simplistic, and not befitting at all of a so-called goddess of wisdom. In keeping with Greek Mythology, the gods frequently display all too human behavior. The gods in general behave as lying, selfish, degenerates in most of the myths.
In contrast, many modern-day Christians believe their god is omnipotent, omnipresent, and all good. This impression doesn’t hold up in reading the Old Testament. Given the many imperfections in the world, such as disease, starvation, and needless war, the possibility of such a being is slim. Then, when considering the flaws of human nature, the probability of a perfect god lessens. However, gods with selfish desires and human-like traits explains the current condition of the world better.
Proposition: Greek Mythology makes more sense than modern day Christianity.
IRJ Reflection #21
Sibling Rivalry: Immaturity or Parental Failure?
In Genesis, Isaac gives his son Jacob the blessing of Abraham. Esau loathes Jacob, his brother, and therefore resents his father for giving Jacob the blessing. Thus, when “Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac, Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath…to be his wife in addition to the wives he had” (Gen. 26.8-26.10).
Esau’s wish to slaughter his brother depicts an extreme example of sibling rivalry, a common theme on many relatively recent television shows, such as in That ‘70s Show. In That ‘70s Show, Eric Forman expresses his dismay when his best friend, Hyde, moves in with his family; Eric’s parents appear to favor Hyde over him, evident when they applaud Hyde’s C+ on a test, while simultaneously chastising Eric for his B. In the episode, a voice tells Eric that he may feel like they no longer love him, now that a new “bundle of joy” has entered his life. The voice sarcastically assures Eric that it is not true: they simply love him less.
Esau and Eric share a single thing in common: they both lack maturity. Parents cannot always treat their children equally. Hyde joined Eric’s family because his mother abandoned him. Furthermore, he struggled in school and most people expected he would wind up in jail. Each child has evolving needs depending on their life circumstances. Eric’s B doesn’t thrill his parents because good grades come easier to him, and thus a B shows a lack of effort on his part. However, Hyde, who usually receives failing grades, studied hard and exceeded expectations. Eric’s parents simply acknowledge Hyde’s effort, and Eric should see this clearly rather than grow jealous. Eric should feel happy for Hyde, for he has nothing by comparison.
However, not all parents love their children equally. In Esau’s case, his lack of maturity reveals itself when he envies his brother’s blessing and birthright, and marries a Canaanite. Although the riff between the brothers originates in the father’s deplorable favoritism, Esau holds some blame. Esau should have a measure of reason to temper his rage. Marrying a Canaanite surely does not resolve his problem, and only serves to show that Esau perhaps merits his father’s disapprobation.
Proposition: Because people cannot let go and rise above, they end up destroying relationships unnecessarily in an attempt at retaliation, only hurting themselves.
IRJ Reflection # 20
Mormon At First Bite
Twilight, a vampire-romance series written by Stephanie Meyer, has grossed millions of dollars from zealous fans. However, not universally adored, some speculate that Meyer deliberately incorporated her Mormon theology into the text of her novels, in order to convey to young adults that they should not partake in premarital fornication. Regardless of her intent, Meyer fully expresses her opinions on that topic as well as on gender, marriage, race, homosexuals, class, religion, rape, suicide, kidnapping, and age.
Meyer’s allusions to Mormonism are embedded in her stories, as described by her critics in “Big Vampire Love: What’s so Mormon About Twilight?” and “The Secrets of the Sparkle a.k.a. Twilight: Stonified.”
In the first, the author argues that Vampirism represents the “sealing” of one person to another in the Mormon Church. Mormons believe that the bond caused by marriage lasts forever. Similarly, when the venom of a Vampire circulates in a human’s system, they are doomed to live life as a Vampire everlastingly.
In “The Secrets of the Sparkle a.k.a. Twilight: Stonified,” the author states that Vampires represent Mormons; when a person undergoes the transformation to Vampire, they symbolically convert to the Mormon Religion.
I, on the other hand, think that Vampirism represents sex; Bella, the protagonist of the tale, longs for nothing more than to become a Vampire so she can spend eternity with her Vampire boyfriend, Edward. However, Edward refuses to change her until they get married. Then, he will bite her, and let his venom (semen) flow into her body. Premarital sex is frowned upon in Mormonism, so naturally Edward wishes to wait.
Sexism drips from the distasteful pages of Twilight. All of Meyer’s characters serve only to feed her stereotypes. Bella is clumsy, weak, whiny, annoying, selfish, manipulative, and utterly dependent on the “strong” men surrounding her. Meanwhile the other female characters constantly gossip, have petit physiques, have materialistic values, and act insipidly. Edward symbolizes the man all women should pine for, with his impatient, strong, intelligent, overbearing, and short-tempered nature.
Leah, the first female werewolf, worries because she became menopausal in her early twenties. Leah fears that her lack of fertility threatens her womanhood. Through this character, Meyer implies the most sexist concept that the female function of childbearing defines womanhood. Furthermore, the friction between vampires and werewolves introduces an element of racism into the storyline. Mormons believe that people who sided with the devil were cursed with black skin, and making it to Heaven erases their dark skin. In Twilight, Maria, a Mexican Vampire, lost her dark skin in the transformation.
After being accused of sexism by feminists in the United States, Meyer writes on her website, “One of the weird things about modern feminism is that some feminists seem to be putting their own limits on women’s choices…it’s as if you cant choose a family on your own terms and still be considered a strong woman. How is that empowering?…To me, those limitations seem anti-feminist in basic principle.” Although Meyer has a point in her statement, that women should have the right to choose their own path, the irony of choosing a path of marital subservience speaks out loud to her continued allegiance to Mormonism.
IRJ Reflection #19
Deductive Reasoning or Stereotyping? : From House to Holmes
I have watched House, a television show on fox network, assiduously for the last two years, out of joy for the cynical humor and outrageous wit of the protagonist, House. House bases medical diagnoses upon random observations, without properly examining the patient.
After discovering that the character House had been grounded upon the character of Sherlock Holmes, I picked up the tome, Sherlock Holmes the Complete Novels and Short Stories Volume I. Despite the characters’ uncanny similarities in misogyny, brilliance, and drug dependence, a singular difference emerges: Sherlock Holmes always correctly deduces the occupation, character traits, and actions of other characters simply by examining their appearance. By contrast, House typically misses several times, before stumbling by chance upon the answer, or having a revelation with only two seconds to spare. Furthermore, when he generalizes, always assuming the worst of people, or guesses at motivations, his foil, Wilson, chastises him. Meanwhile, Holmes’ companion, Watson, reveres Holmes’ incredible sagacity.
This major distinction between House and Holmes reflects the different era in which the two characters were conceived. In the Victorian Era, people had less sensitivity about stereotyping people. “Deductive reasoning” in the form of snap judgments based upon peoples’ appearance inspired awe. Fox Network, striving in the Era of Political Correctness, must maintain all audiences for success. Thus, their character, House, frequently errs in his generalizations. Furthermore, the characters of Wilson and Watson differ greatly in their purpose; while Wilson acts as Houses’ conscience, Watson trumpets Sherlock Holmes’ brilliance through the juxtaposition of the two characters.
The brain, through evolution, has evolved an innate skill to rapidly assess a situation in order to decide how to react. Thus, Holmes’ deductive reasoning and House’s theories both display further adaptation of this basic instinct for survival. Call it stereotyping or deductive reasoning, evolution has hardwired it into all of our brains. While I believe strongly in the unavoidability of stereotyping, I also think that we must take note of situations in which we make assumptions, because often, we will blunder in our judgments.
IRJ-Reflection # 18
In Jealousy, More Self-Love Exists Than Love: The Actual Original Sin
When God fashions the Earth, He creates humankind and a Garden in Eden. God pours all living creatures and delightful trees into the midst of the garden, and in the center, he slyly places the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When the serpent plants a seed of curiosity in Eve, she takes the forbidden fruit, presents it to her husband, Adam, and they partake.
The serpent represents the primary devil in this tale, as a result of its crafty manipulation of Eve. Eve also symbolizes evil, because she tells Adam to eat the fruit as well. However, Eve, portrayed as both weak and sinful, simply acts out of curiosity, a human instinct of survival that has engendered countless positive advancements in society. If God has no reasons for his demands, other than the fear of Adam and Eve achieving a God-like status, than why should He condemn the humans, when they act out on an instinct given to them by God? Furthermore, God has no apparent logical motivation behind His fear of the immortality of Adam and Eve. Regardless, God fears them becoming God-like and obviously fully understands human nature, having created it. Thus, God has no apparent reason for placing the tree of knowledge of good and evil in Eden, or the tree of life for that matter, since He knows full well that Adam and Eve will be tempted.
God’s punishment of Eve, living as the slave of her husband, parallels the place of a woman in society, according to the Bible. Ironically, Eve’s actions equal those of Adam. After having the revelation of her possible wisdom, she excitedly shares this knowledge with Adam, exhibiting her generosity and loyalty; had she exercised greed, she would have withheld the information, creating dominance over her husband by learning good and evil, while he stays ignorant. Furthermore, Adam chooses to eat the fruit of his own accord, so Eve should not take the blame for his actions.
In conclusion, God should not have denied wisdom to Adam and Eve. He acts out of selfishness; because he wishes to dominate, and his power feels threatened by his creatures, he plots a situation in which he knows Adam and Eve will devour the fruit, thus giving him a justification for his damnation of humankind. Thus, malevolent God deserves the abuse, rather than the naïve, curious humans.
IRJ-QR#17
The Ups and Downs of Assumptions: Hiding Behind Stereotypes
Upon finishing dinner with Mrs. Coulter and the female scholars, the Master calls Lyra to his cozy office. When the Master peers questioningly at Lyra, asking of her opinion regarding Mrs. Coulter, Lyra exclaimes, “[Mrs. Coulter’s] wonderful. She’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever met.”
The Golden Compass explores the motif of appearance versus reality. As Lyra becomes aquainted with Mrs. Coulter, she makes an appalling discovery: Mrs. Coulter steals children from poor families. Thus, although originally Lyra believes Mrs. Coulter lives in an elegant, graceful manner, she later realizes Mrs. Coulter’s monstrosity. Similarly, Megan McAllister, went on a date on November 11, 2005 with Philip Markoff, a fellow medical student. Soon thereafter, they became engaged. Fellow students described him as your average Joe. To everyone’s surprise, average Philip Markoff, was discovered by police as the “Craigslist Killer.” He had searched Craigslist for “exotic dancers,” hired them, and then proceeded to rob and murder them.
People make assumptions about others based upon appearance or status. We integrate clues based on clothes, jewelry, makeup and hair to categorize people into groups that we recognize. This skill evolved out of recognizing situations that could impact our survival, and assists our rapid assessment of our surroundings.
Proposition: As a means of survival, human beings must belong to a group, which results in the exclusion of others, thus creating stereotypes.
IRJ-CP#16
Nemesis of Freshman: What Lurks in the High School Campus
As they approach, they spot a blazing fire and a curved figure examining a foreign object.
The fire crackles; the embers glow, contrasting the suffocating darkness. Jenae stoops in her makeshift seat, examining the necklace. The gold dances, glimmers, beams, and smolders with brilliance. Thrilled, Jenae scurries to the floor and sits attentively on her knees nearer the fire to better admire her prize.
Turning to face one another, they simultaneously agree in silence; the girl has found the key.
Jenae, having forgotten herself in excitement, rises to her seat and carefully places the necklace, her jacket, and supper in her rucksack in shame. What would her mother say?
Daisy shoves away the computer, frustrated. How discouraging, being unable to compose a story. Synthesizing plot, characterization, themes, and symbols, while managing to captivate an audience, use creativity, and still stay interested enough to continue such an abomination. Unachievable. What’s worse, Daisy must continue the nuisance. Yes, you heard correctly. Daisy, young, harmless, Daisy, forced by the hand of Mrs. Holmgren, the monstrous English teacher, to write.
Mrs. Holmgren. People scream in fright upon hearing the name. As she storms about the school campus, seeking her prey, children scurry into the nearest classroom in attempts to avoid her wrath. Cackling, she grabs a lone freshman by their heavy backpack. Upon making eye contact, the student instantly turns to stone, for Mrs. Holmgren’s powers include those of Medusa. Mrs. Holmgren then proceeds to drag her prize to her office, or dungeon, rather, down the gloomy hallway.
Students resort to traveling packs, praying that she will not have the audacity to destroy so many students simultaneously; you see, such a spectacle would surely bring Mrs. Holmgren unwanted attention from other faculty members. Well, even this last hope for refuge provides no help for the students; even the teachers wake in a cold sweat at night, with the terrifying name, Mrs. Holmgren, on their lips. The sniveling teachers, who secretly envy her stunning power.
What proves the most appalling aspect of Mrs. Holmgren, you might ask? Well, I’ll tell you…
IRJ-0P#15
Cynicism: Change Does Not Bring Progress
“Men get tired of everything, of heaven no less than of hell; and that all history is nothing but a record of the oscillations of the world between these two extremes. An epoch is but a swing of the pendulum; and each generation thinks the world is progressing because it is always moving,” wrote George Bernard Shaw in his famous play, Man and Superman.
Monkey Notes: Summary of Man and Superman
The Millennial Pendulum: Analysis of Increasing Amount of Liberals in America
Shaw intended the audience to grasp the concept that mankind’s one constant is dissatisfaction with the status quo. People typically covet what they don’t possess, and history records the movement of peoples and generations in search of change. As each generation advances in one direction, they believe they progress; in reality, they simply move, making no progression at all, because the pendulum will swing back. Do young people grow more liberal with each generation? The majority of voters under the age of thirty voted for Barack Obama and some people predict that as a result, the country will be liberal for decades to come. However, if what Shaw expressed proves true, future generations will be more republican than the proceeding ones. Weren’t hippies in the sixties replaced by preppies in the eighties?
Because humans grow bored with their gadgets quickly, they demand newer cleverer products, thus causing advances in technology; people push scientists and industry to advance in part for the pleasure of having the best ‘toys’. However, this need causes dissatisfaction when others win the race. The hunger for what others possess also causes war. Few wars have been fought without jealousy being a factor.
Generations instinctively rebel against their parents because they crave their own autonomy. By force of human nature, they believe they can do better than their parents, and advance civilization. Therefore, parents who naively deny their children independence ironically promote the rebellion they intend to prevent.
Proposition: If change does not bring progress, than humans would still take refuge in caves, bleed as a form of medical treatment, and die at a younger age; however, people have shown little progress in the evolution of their motivation for their actions.
IRJ-CP#14
The Macy’s Shopper
She sauntered up to the jewelry display, ostentatiously swaying her Gucci bag on her elbow. Determined to spend some money in order to make her feel better about her lack of control over her own baseball team, she marched up to the counter. The divorce proceedings were not going well. Her husband had just fired her from running the team. The Macy’s clerk came over to assist her in examining the sumptuous display of diamonds. She gave a desultory glance at the display case filled with a copious spread of jewels, then disdainfully remarked that she had seen better quality gems at Sears. The clerk, knowing her instantly to be deplorably spoiled, sanctimoniously told her to go to Sears for her future shopping needs. When she complained to the sales manager about her poor treatment, the clerk obstinately refused to rescind her remarks. The manager offered her a coffee in recompense at the store cafe in order to pacify her. She condescendingly remarked that she had not intended to walk into Macy’s in the first place, and asked the manager for directions to Tiffany’s.
