Reflection on The Storm

After reading the story, we learned that Calixta is having an affair with Alcee. I think that this action is not correct. If I had a husband and found out that he is having an affair, I would felt very sad and betrayed. In my opinion, if you have an affair it is because you don’t love your husband as you say you do. In one moment of the story we were told that Calixta and Alcee had been kissing before. With that on mind, we could say that they have feelings for each other. If you feel that your are not in love with your husband, then why are you with him? When you have an affair is because you really don’t feel the same way for your husband; there is something going on in you marriage that do not make you happy. But what Calixta and Alcee did is wrong because the two of them have families that love them and think that their partners feel the same way for them. Being married is a contract between two people, if your not willing to contribute in this contract of love, then why get married?

Reflection on Christopher Columbus

 During our class we had a discussion about Christopher Columbus and we were debating if this man is really a hero or not. Hero is any person admired for courage, and nobility. We must think about this definition to decide whether Christopher Columbus is a hero or not. Nobility is a person that from nature is considered a good person. Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, and pain without fear. With this two definition we can say that Christopher Columbus is not really a hero. This man was a very bad leader in our island. He was the man who really put our Indians as slave and at the end the Indians didn’t survive. Some people consider him a hero because he found our island, but if we go back through history we can see that what he did was put our ancestors as slave. He did not do anything of nobility nor courage. In my opinion this man really is not a hero because for me a hero is someone who has done good things in society and has lived for others and don’t think for himself. The only thing that we can consider that Columbus did was that he was lucky to find islands in his journey.

Reflectio on A walk to the Jetty

 

This short story is about a seventeen years girl who is going to England to be a nurse. The story starts in the day she is going to take the ship to go to England. Annie, the girl start to think and remember about all her pass and she saw that all her past including her house and things remember her parents and not her. All she can see in her life is the identities of her parents and not her identity. With this idea in mind Annie feels that the journey to England is going to make her a new person that has her own identity. The end of this story is when she gets to the Jetty where she is going to take the ship. In this moment she felt a little of indecision because she didn’t know if she was doing the correct thing, but the she realized that this was the opportunity to be a new person and she felt okay with her decision.

            In my opinion I really like this story because I felt that every person has a chance to make our own identities. The story reminds me of my friends and I because it described a step that every teen has to go through when we go to college. I think that one of the biggest steps we take in our life is going to college because this journey helps you define yourself and get to know yourself. “A walk to the Jetty” inspired me to be myself and have my own identity and it also helped me remembered of my youth years when we didn’t have any responsibilities in our hands. 

 

Reflection on Walk of the Jetty

Liane Says:

This Chapter on Annie John describes Annie path to the boat which will take her to her next destination in life. She describes her childhood memories and the feelings she had towards the people she has interacted with throughout her life including her family. I really cannot relate in anyway to this chapter. I appreciate the way Annie remembers her past with such detail I myself do not really remember my life in such detail something I would have loved to write about to read when I get older. Her feelings towards her mother and father are quite harsh despite the fact that they are pretty family oriented. I can understand her anger and her wanting to move away. All of us go through this stage. I just felt she was kind of rude in the way she portrayed it. Besides this the Walk to the Jetty was just very detailed and not much was said.

Reflection On Columbus In Chains and Information on Christohper Columbus and his holiday.

Liane Says: 

The chapter Columbus in chains in the book Annie John basically describes Annie John in school and how bright of a student she really is but this is not the character she exemplifies out of school. It was kind of interesting because the way the chapter is written is very detailed so you can picture everything that’s going on throughout the story. When she was reading her text book she saw a picture of Christopher Columbus in chains and was happy that he was there with no power as she did not like him. When she was scolded the author states that what she did was wrong because he Columbus was the one who discovered her land and who was a great man in history.  I do not think Christopher Columbus is a hero. He just happened to be sailing, with no intentions of discovering anything, and found land. This land was already occupied and anyways it was eventually going to be found so I would not consider him being a hero. A hero saves lives, is inspirational and someone you look up to. There is none of these qualities I can find in Columbus. Annie John is in my favor. She does not like Christopher Columbus and is quite happy that he is sitting down in chains looking down upon him not knowing what to do.

Christopher Columbus was a navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American Continents in the Western Civilization. With his four voyages of discovery and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, he initiated the process of Spanish Colonization which foreshadowed general European Colonization of the "New World." 

Columbus's first voyage was in 1492. Following his plotted course, he landed within the Bahamas at a locale he named San Salvador. He referred to its inhabitants as "Indios".

The anniversary of Columbus's 1492 landing in the Americas is observed as Columbus day in October 12 in Spain and throughout the Americas, except that in the United States it is observed on the second Monday in October. The day is celebrated as Columbus Day in the U.S, as Día de la Raza (Day of the Race) in many countries in Latin America, as Día de las Culturas (Day of the Cultures) in Costa Rica, as Discovery Day in the Bahamas, as Día de la Hispanidad and Fiesta Nacional in Spain, as Día de las Américas (Day of the Americas) in Uruguay and as Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance) in Venezuela. These holidays have been celebrated unofficially since the late 18th century, and officially in various countries since the early 20th century.

In the United States people appreciate this day.  Brazil does not celebrate it.  Latin American countries celebrate their native races. It is commonly believed that opposition to Columbus celebrations dates to the later part of the 20th century. However, the current groups of American Indian activists are not alone historically. In the nineteenth century, for example, "patriotic" activists sought to eradicate Columbus Day celebrations because they thought the Catholics would use the holiday to take over the country. Similarly, the notion that Columbus was responsible for more calamity and destruction than progress and prosperity has been a recurrent theme ever since Columbus's voyage. Even the notion of connecting Columbus and Indian holocaust has been repeated periodically for centuries. In the late 20th century, groups on the political left have voiced opposition to Columbus celebrations. Indigenous groups in particular have opposed the holidays as celebrating the man who initiated the European Colonization of the new world. Opposition often focuses on the cruel treatment indigenous peoples faced at the hands of Columbus and later European settlers. Some have argued that the responsibility of contemporary governments and their citizens for allegedly ongoing acts of genocide against Native Americans are masked by positive Columbus myths and celebrations. These critics argue that a particular understanding of the legacy of Columbus has been used to legitimize their actions, and it is this misuse of history that must be exposed. Indigenous people got together and declared October 12, 1992, International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People. The National Council of Churches, called on Christians to refrain from celebrating the Columbus quincentennial, saying, "What represented newness of freedom, hope, and opportunity for some was the occasion for oppression, degradation and genocide for others.

There are many cultural myths of North America exclude or diminish the culture and myths of Native Americans. Some say Americans celebrate the greatest waves of genocide of the Indians known in history each year on Columbus Day. "Columbus' voyage has even less meaning for North Americans than for South Americans because Columbus never set foot on our continent, nor did he open it to European trade" he said.

A Big Topic Eroticism

A Big Topic: Eroticism

When I think about eroticism I think of many different types of emotions. My initial thoughts are love, passion, scandal, prohibition, taboo, pornography and ultimately sex. On a more serious level eroticism to me is something very intimate. To be erotic you have to be in a state of mind where nothing around you exists except you and your mind, body, and soul. You have to manipulate your mind for it to pleasure your body. Anything can be erotic like the way you touch someone you have feelings for or the way you look at someone when you sleep with them or desire them. Eroticism is never real when it is forced or tried to act upon. It is something that has to flow, something that has to be real from your heart. Eroticism for many is a kind of taboo, something that porn stars do.  In some way this might be true but when they do their job I suppose that they have to be in touch with their body, mind and soul to portray the eroticism which is seen. It is surely not easy for a person to display eroticism and expose it to the world. Examples of eroticism for me are to receive a phone call from a person you like or love and for them to speak of things they wish to do with you. It is when they touch you in a way that makes you feel as if you and that person are the only ones in this world. It’s a deep, emotive passion where you give yourself to the person 100% with no boundaries or exceptions.

In this reflection I want to include some of my friends and their opinions on this topic. I will ask them what they think on eroticism to be as serious as possible. With these interviews I can evaluate the knowledge and connection people have with their bodies and even see how society might affect how they answer these questions. There is no doubt that some people are very conservative and do not like to bash with their intimate details but since I am trying to be as objective as possible to the topic and exposing what I really think about eroticism  I want to see how objective others may be to the topic. I am hoping that the people I interview might be up for giving me clear answers. Let’s see what happens!

Question:  The topic is on eroticism. I want you to tell me what eroticism is for you. If you cannot tell me in the moment try to tell me a moment in which you felt erotic or things that make you feel erotic or maybe even imagine something that can lead you into making sense of the word. It could be anything as simple as taking a shower or something related to this.

1.      1.“Erotic is something my partner does for me instead of something I do myself. It is movements in the bed. It’s the tension between me and my partner in which we touch ourselves… you don’t have to think in sex but it might lead him to think in sex.”

2.      2. “Intimate touching, kisses in the neck and shoulder. It involves feeling and emotions. It would be with a partner not with anyone I am not in a relationship in.”

3.    3.  “There is no concrete definition but I can give you examples, like foreplay, touching, neck kissing, the game between a partner, watching porn, dancing really provocatively. When two girls are dancing face to face and touching each other is a perfect example. It’s a mental or literal picture that turns you on. It is a provocative picture. It is seeing naked people in person.  It’s not intimate there is no deep emotion and love, its superficial. It leads to sex and having a good time enjoying each other’s bodies. Other examples are lap dances.”

4.      4.‘’The art of seducing and making a person feel turned on. It is making them feel pleasurable sensations, it is unplanned. Sometimes eroticism happens involuntarily. You have to feel comfortable with yourself and the things that are happening around you. You can also feel erotic on your own. You can discover yourself within eroticism you should first know yourself to be with another person. It is an adrenaline rush, sexuality and simple vision of someone naked.”

dd5.      “It is not something that makes you horny it raises your lipid. You feel love. Not necessarily sex. Hugs and cuddles lead to eroticism. “

6.      “Listening to music. An experience in which fulfills you. Something that is passionate not necessarily sexual.”

7..      “It is an orgasm (not necessarily sexual). It is going on the trip when doing something that you love to do. You involve your mind and body in this. This takes you to eroticism and it happens through full dedication. You have to be in a trance of euphoria. For me it is ballet. When you’re on stage with all the lights on and dance. You begin to feel an adrenaline rush. It is the rise of dopamine in the brain you don’t feel like you are in this world. You get goose bumps. It’s a moment of total peace with oneself.”

8.      “It is something beyond normal. It is the point of maximum exaltation in a person. It takes you high or takes you in a trance.”

9.      “It doesn’t necessarily have to be the full expression of sex. You can be fully clothed and still be erotic. Expressing your sexuality is erotic. It is an intense sexual feeling. It is an emotion. You can be erotic with yourself. You can be passionate without being erotic.”

10.      “Comes from the word eros meaning passionate love. It is the passion and fire that you give your partner. It is like wow! It is an ultimate energy exchange between two people. It’s when you’re in touch directly with that person’s body this way you get to share that person’s aura and receive a strong type of feeling. It is not all about physical exchange. I enjoy eroticism. You can tell when you touch a person if there is a connection because it has a meaning. Chocolate and body painting are very erotic. Body painting is actually one of the most erotic things I’ve seen in my life. Dancing closely with someone, starring in a person’s eyes, gazing at the naked body in its natural state just walking around the apartment, taking a shower are erotic things. Grapes, strawberries, and bananas are erotic fruits.”

After interviewing ten different types of people who all have very different personalities, I felt that my definition was very closely related to their answers except maybe in a few details. I feel some people were very open as they saw I was very serious about the topic. I felt that others, due to their personalities, really did not give me much detail and what they said was probably not even half of what they felt. I even had one case in which the person I interviewed did not know at all what eroticism was. So as you see there are social factors in expressing our sexual feelings and well as there are very open people who are willing to put themselves out there and express their feelings. It is not easy to feel confident in yourself and portray these emotions. I feel that if you can accomplish this you can reach a true, real sense of eroticism with yourself and your partner.

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Reflection: A Meal you love "Writing Down the bones"

    
    Today at class we talked about the experiences we had doing the activities in “Writing down the bones”. The title of my activity was “A meal you love” and it was about food. In the activity, the author tells you that sometimes when you don’t have any idea of what to write, you should write about food. You can write a lot of things about food, like what is your favorite meal, with whom you have eaten that meal and sometimes you can even say where you have eaten that food. When I started writing about food, I started describing what was my favorite food and the ingredients that it had. Then I got into the mood of describing in detail the ingredients and when I was writing this thing I really got hungry. After that, I stopped writing and on Monday I started writing again. This time I saw that my writing was going in another direction. It had to do with food, but I was talking more about with whom and when I enjoyed that food. Then I realized that I had written two things about food, but in different points of view. The first one was about the food and the second one was about how I enjoyed that food. When I saw this two things I thought that if I combined them, I could actually do a really good story about my favorite meal, that did not have to be boring or not interesting.
   
     I really liked this activity because it gave me an opportunity to write about different things that I never knew I could write of. It taught me that writing is a very creative activity and you should write about whatever you want. When I gave my oral presentation and heard all the others presentations, I started thinking about how sometimes when we have an assignment of free writing, we really don’t know how to start or what to write. Well for me, this can be resolve with “Writing down the bones”. This book helps you go beyond what you know and start writing different things and with a lot of creativity. In my opinion, today I learned new techniques for better writing and when I heard all the experiences that the others had, I felt that I had to do all the activities because each of them can teach me new things.