Thursday, February 18, 2010

inkshed

"If you will not undo what you have done - that is, kill him whom you have recovered - deceive is not." (I.i.35)

Sebastian is expressing to Antonio that he doesn't need to be sorry for the bad service he has given, but more that he must own what is his as over and irreversible. Antonio is the person who saved Sebastian and he is basically saying that unless he is going to undo that he saved him in the shipwreck, he must kill him or leave. Antonio will not allow Sebastian to leave because he finds Sebastian's idea to be foolish and if not dangerous.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Free write

For me, writing the small object/large subject essay was a learning experience. Before writing this paper I hadn't truly considered what a product suchas Red Bull says about American society. I began to do research on Red Bull and the health risks that were presented with it, and I truly learned a lot. Granted I was up until a very early hour in the morning writing my paper, it had crossed my mind a couple of times to grab a Red Bull to keep me awake. The health facts that come with Red Bull genuinely made me scared and nervous considering how much I drank Red Bull prior to writing this paper. When asked the question "what does the widespread availabilty of this product say about American society," I truly had to dig deep and without bias answer the question. As I answered the question supported by numerous evidence, I began to realize that I am one of the statistics presented in the evidence and as much as I wanted to count myself out, I fall deep into what the product says about American society. Overall, I am quite pleased with the job I did on writing this paper and the amount of knowledge I learned.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Unanswered Questions

  1. What is the tragedy that Olivia survived, yet her brother didn't?
  2. Who is Maria?
  3. What is every ones relationship to one another?
  4. Why cant Olivia love Orsino?
  5. Does the Fool just appear once or does he show up more throughout the play?
  6. How can Olivia fall in love so easily while mourning her brother?

Friday, February 5, 2010

Abstract "Taking Wildness in Hand: Rescuing Species"

In the article "Taking Wildness in Hand: Rescuing Species," Michelle Nijhuis presents the ever so popular topic of global warming and its importance as a serious issue we need to face. Nijhuis writes of Connie Barlow who is a naturalist and writer. Nijhuis writes of Barlows encounter with Torreya State Park in Florida. Nijhuis begins to talk about a tree, the Torreya taxifolia, that was abundant and native to the state but due to global warming no longer grows as much and is slowly beginning to die off. What causes such a thing to happen? According to Nijhuis, a mixture of the changes in temperature, climate, and an over abundance of certain animals have contributed to the fall of this tree. In whole, one might look at this article and think of the small picture, the tree, and fail to realize that the tree is just a small metaphor for what is happening in the world. The changes in climate that the world goes through daily is Nijhuis' central point in referencing the tree. To further support her claim, Nijhuis presents evidence of the change that affects the whole globe.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Abstract Virtual Iraq

Sue Halpern's story of Travis Boyd in "Virtual Iraq" provides an insightful look into the problems and recovery of the men and women that fight for our country everyday. Once a solider returns home from their deployment, many suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or P.T.S.D. like Boyd. This disorder "is characterized by nightmares, flashbacks, and intrusive and uncontrollable thoughts, as well as by emotional detachment, numbness, jumpiness, anger, and avoidance." What Virtual Iraq does, is target and try to fix the psychological problems that these soldiers have suffered from. The focus of this experiment isn't necessarily to make these soldiers forget about the memories but to eliminate things in their everyday life that can trigger the fear and panic they felt. This is not the first time this program has been used, and the soldiers from Iraq are not the first to experience this treatment. Doctors have used programs such as Virtual Vietnam for Vietnam veterans and Virtual W.T.C for the people that suffered from P.T.S.D after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers. Boyd, who was hesitant when first asked to be involved in the Virtual Iraq trial claimed that the first thing he noticed after the Virtual Iraq exposure therapy was that "he was able to sleep without medication. He was more relaxed and he could joke around." Boyd then goes on to express to Halpern about the two people he felt he was and the change back to the one person he was before his P.T.S.D. After reading this article, the logical thing to do would seem to be to expose the hundreds of thousands of soldiers suffering the same P.T.S.D to Virtual Iraq. The least the American people can do is to help the people that are keeping us safe on a daily basis.

Abstract High-Tech trash

In the article "High-Tech Trash" written by Chris Carroll, Carroll explains to the reader the post-use of the electrical waste that the United States discards. Such things as computers and televisions end up in landfills in such places as Ghana, Africa. Not only does our electrical waste end up in the landfills, but dangerous chemicals and e-waste which come from these electronics is doing more damage to the health of the people of this country than the electronics are doing to the landfills. America's development in new technologies is a contributing factor to all the waste that is being discarded. The fascination and want for the newest technologies is causing more and more electronics to be thrown away. The waste of Americans has become a job for young Israel Mensah,his family and other members of the community. Their job is to go to the landfills, collect the scraps of electronics and burn them. On some occasions they will take the scraps and buy others. In the process of burning these materials, these people are breaking parts that contain hazardous chemicals. Despite the serious health effects that these people are suffering from, they continue to do this. Year after year, Americans continue to dump their waste into other nations. According to this article, "In the United States, it is estimated that more than 70 percent of discarded computers and monitors, and well over 80 percent of TVs, eventually end up in landfills, despite a growing number of state laws that prohibit dumping of e-waste." If there are laws that are prohibiting this form of littering, why do Americans continue to do it? There is no way this situation can get better unless the people of Ghana speak up and the Americans find other ways to dispose of their trash.