martes, 26 de enero de 2010

Tuesday Jan 26, 2010

Today I created a new introduction to my essay. I started out by describing and narrating how Fidel got into power and then I did the same with Chavez. This is so the reader will get a general idea and can start comparing adn contrasting both revolutions. Today I also wrote the simimilaritesd- of Fidel and Chavez more into detail.

lunes, 25 de enero de 2010

Monday Jan 25, 2010

Today I worked on reasearching information about Chavez to compare him to Fidel. I focused mainly on his revolution. I found many interesting quotes to incorporate in my reasearch paper. I also added new entries to my works cited page since I found new resources and new information. Now that I have all the information, I need to find a way to organize my reasearch paper.

domingo, 17 de enero de 2010

Works Cited

Ali, Tariq. The Declarations of Havana (Revolutions). New York: Verso, 2008. Print.
Fawthrop, Tom . " Student Research Center - powered by EBSCOhost: Cuba seeks 'sustainable socialism'." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .
"Fidel Castro Biography ." Biography.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .
Leonard, Thomas M., Greenwood Press, 1999, and ISBN 031329979X. "Cuban Revolution." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .
Lotta, Raymond. "U.S. Imperialism, the Cuban Revolution, and Fidel Castro." U.S. Imperialism, the Cuban Revolution, and Fidel Castro. N.p., 13 Aug. 2006. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .
Rayne, Trevor. "History of the Cuban Revolution." Untitled Document. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .
Sill, Igor. " Student Research Center - powered by EBSCOhost: OPINION: The US-Cuban Relation, what next!." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .
Suchlicki, Jaime. " Student Research Center - powered by EBSCOhost: Cuba After Castro." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .
Sweig, Julia. " Student Research Center - powered by EBSCOhost: Fidel's Final Victory." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2010. .

jueves, 17 de diciembre de 2009

What My Drawing Looked like

Evil-Cruel




Innocent-Good


Mask to hide behind

Ending-Candide

As I finished reading Candide, I found Voltaire a very effective writer. At first I didn´t understand his satire, but as the book went on I adapted. I found it a very creative and entertaing way to portray his message about optimism and passim. His common place of using human natures typical behaviors helped me connect with the book. I found it very interesting how he compared society and its ideals throughout the book.

In the last chapters after all the suffering Candide has gone through, he finally has an optimistic life after all. Voltaire’s use of vividness really helped me out when reading. I could imagine every scene, since he used appropriate descriptive words for each scene.

I found the final passage of the book a very good one to end it. It was a very strong ending, with a very true message.

¨You are perfectly right, said Pangloss; for when man was put into the Garden of Eden, he was put there to dress it and to keep it, to work in fact which proves that man was not born to an easy life. ….Let’s work without speculating, said Martin; it’s the only way to make life bearable. The entire household agreed to this admirable plan, and each began to exercise his talents. That is very well put, said Candide, but we must go and work our garden.¨ (Candide pg.143-144)

The message I got from Voltaire was that being rich doesn’t symbolize happiness. As we saw in chapter 30 it mentions all those noble men, who had it all and ended up getting killed. I love the ending how Candide finally teaches Pangloss something. Candide teaches Pangloss that in order to have a better world each must do it´s own contribution and work for it, because improvement only comes from work, not from doing nothing like all those noble men. They really didn´t accomplish much, because since they had it all they didn´t work to improve.

Drawing

As I read Chapter 20-25 I found the end of chapter 21 very impacting. It is a conversation between Candide and Martin, where Candide asks Martin, ¨ Do you think, said Candide that men have always massacred each other, as they do today, that they have always been false, cozening, faithless, ungrateful, thieving, weak, inconstant , mean-spirited, envious, greedy, drunken, miserly, ambitious, bloody, slanderous, debauched, fanatic, hypocritical and stupid?”And Martin replies, “Do you think said Martin, that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they could find them?”(Candide 96) When Candide responds ¨Of course I do¨ Martin then proves his point by saying that if the rest of the animals’ don´t change why men would be any different and actually change. Candide then defends his point of view by saying that humans have free will.

I believe humans do have free will, yet, humans are very evil. I have found that many people who appear to be your best friends actually backstab you and betray you. I do agree that we have free will, yet many don´t use it how it´s supposed to be.

Therefore, for my drawing I drew a Mardi gras mask over a baby face and another image which is a face of a witch behind the mask as well. The mask and the baby represents ¨good¨ and innocence for it has a smile on it and the witch is a symbol of evil. Depending on the situation in our daily life we change the face, yet we always have the mask on. For our environment makes us act differently accordingly.

I think my drawing perfectly describes society and human nature, because sometime in our life we have backstabbed or been backstabbed by someone you cared about and never expected. Many times in society we act as someone we are not either if it is to fit in, harm someone, or reach a goal. That is why there is a saying that says trust no one but yourself. We live in a very dangerous evil world full of hypocrisy and two faced people. Danger surrounds us, even though it sometimes looks pretty harmless. It´s reality and something we face in our daily lives and through time learn how to handle it.

I liked how Voltaire made fun of this cruel human behavior, because it alerts the reader to be aware of hurting others and of being hurt. It also makes the reader reflect upon own personal experiences and analyze them.


* DRAWNG IS IN MY NOTEBOOK-I Don´t have a scanner sorry.

Satirical Essay

The Greatest Sport Created


Are you tired of feeling ugly? Not having enough money? Simply being fat? Are you tired of eating your money and flushing it down the toilet? The solution is all in the new sport created: Anorexia. It is proven that food is the cause of world poverty. With the money you waste on food yearly, you could buy 100 Mercedes. So, do you prefer to have 100 Mercedes parked in your garage or have a big fat belly and no money in your wallet? By playing a sport, never before could you help fight world poverty, yet now you can!

This sport has become so popular in such a short period of time that it is now being considered to be played in the next Olympics. It’s an easy sport, which only requires one skill, to follow directions. Playing it is as easy as it sounds: No Eating. That is it, one rule. It can’t get any simpler.

There has now been an anorexic association league created not too long ago, devoted into helping others. If you want to improve your life tremendously, call them NOW! They will give you tips to improve your life 100% guaranteed. Call 1800-Anorexics. They will give you all the information needed to join the team, free of charge. This Anorexic league will promise you drastic changes very rapidly. You may ask yourself why they don’t charge. It’s simple, their passion is to help others making the world a happier and better place.

This sport will only improve your life. It will make you skinnier, prettier, happier and will teach you skills essential to your daily life: following directions. Ever since it was created millions of athletes are in the constant race of fighting to always become better. They do whatever it takes, to reach “success”.

Psychologists have even rated this sport as the drug they had never before found. This is because it not only improves your physical and emotional health, but it triggers motivation. So, if you find life boring and need that inspiration you once had, call them now.

On the other hand do you suffer from not enough attention? Are you depressed and feel useless? This sport will give you the attention you had always dreamed of. The changes will be so noticeable, that people with no doubt, will look at you in surprise, talk about you and even point at you. Who would ever think shutting your mouth was the answer for the attention you were looking for all these years.

Is your name hideous? Are you embarrassed to meet people because of your name? People who practice this sport can refer to themselves as Ana. Playing Anorexia will abolish your worst nightmare. People will now refer to you as Ana instead of your embarrassing name. This is the same case as people who practice syphilis are called Philly. Yet, Ana is a prettier than any other name. It’s short easy and unisex. No need to be ashamed, now you will be part of this proud, prestigious elite team.

What sport can be better than one that is affordable, gains the attention you always wanted, gives life a meaning and motivates you, no need to go the gym or time required to practice and it even saves you money, makes you pretty and happy.

Join the never ending race of being the scrawniest and boniest or simply the prettiest person alive. Being gorgeous is not that difficult. So it’s time for the life you always wanted. Start practicing only practice makes better. The more you practice the better the results.

This new trendy, effective, no time consuming sport has been the solution to millions of problems. No more working out, no more hassles, no more being unhappy or ugly. Start playing and you will become amazed by the feedback. Have a problem? There is an answer: Anorexia.