The Heart of a Murderer

The novel, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, taught the lesson that being the commander of an army- managing attacks and vicious traps to kill, is rather a complicated and difficult task. The job of a murderer is strenuous; he is constantly agitated with his morals. A murderer, opposed to the stereotypes, is a gentle soul. Ender Wiggins was never willing to kill, but in order to save Earth, he had to study about his enemies to the extent where he understands them and loves them. At the end- he still had to murder reluctantly.

Ender Wiggins suffered from physical and mental abuse from home and school ever since he was born. Ender’s first error was to be born as a third child, which was forbidden by the government. Classmates, teachers, and even his own brother, Peter, despised him for this. Most of all, Ender suffered from Peter’s tortuous nature because Battleschool had accepted Ender and disregarded Peter. Ender was chosen as the genius with enough abilities to fight in the anticipated war, The Third Invasion, between humans and the buggers- otherwise known as alien enemies. Only Ender and Valentine, Ender’s older sister, knew of Peter’s murderous character. During a game of fighting, Peter whispered to Ender as he weighted down more and more heavily on Ender, “I could kill you like this. Just press and press until you’re dead. And I could say that I didn’t know it would hurt you, that we were just playing, and they’d believe me...” (12). Ender always tried to soothe Peter by guessing his emotions and shielded away from him. In Ender’s eyes, Peter stood as a murder icon; he had never shown any affection towards Ender or Valentine. Ironically, Peter held great importance to Ender. Ender wants to love Peter and seek the same love in return. Also, the negativity lead Ender to become cautious of ever showing any similarities as Peter. In Battleschool, Ender experienced more hatred and envy, just the same, until love had turned into a mere memory. Ender was persuaded to leave behind his beloved sister and parents and “help save the world”. In Battleschool, the principal, Graff, planned and controlled every aspect of Ender’s life- signaling him as the genius to stir jealousy and stimulate enemies. By forming gangs of enemies around Ender, Graff believed the isolation and negativity would expose Ender’s full potential as a soldier. At first, Ender saw this system as only another form of torture.

Ender was forced into many fights during Battleschool; enemies surrounded him more and more as he grew into one of the best commanders. But Ender realized that the real enemies are the teachers because even though they’re training the students into good soldier, they’re using hatred to fuel student’s energies to treat the practice battles as real and become fully determined to win. Furthermore, Graff broke rules in order to create obstacles for Ender. Ender’s armies were consisted of mostly non-experienced soldiers, but Ender managed to train them into a team that was able to work together unpredictably. His armies were told to battle six months earlier than the usual date and the schedules of battles came as fast as ten minutes before the battle. He still did not lose any games and people hated him more than ever. The drive to harm Ender heightened- there was even a death due to one fight. Ender found himself taking the form of Peter unwillingly. He feared and hated himself. When Ender refused to battle any longer in the school, Command School, Graff brought him to Earth to visit Valentine. Ender explains to Valentine, “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that moment I also love him, I think its impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them-... I destroy them” (238). Ender’s actions do not reflect his heart. He is not a murder, and he is only capable of killing his enemies after he had loved them. Instead, Ender wants to love others and be loved. Ender is not one to willingly murder, but he has been engaged in so much violence, that one might think he enjoys killing. He begins to question the reason for killing, even ponders that he does not want to be a hero and kill the buggers- the most dangerous enemies to Earth. At the end, Ender decides to return to training to kill the buggers for one single reason, to protect Earth and Valentine.

The ultimate realization of the truth, the reason for manipulation of the teachers is exposed and his fear of becoming a harmful being is finally resolved. In Command School, there were rigorous trainings where Ender was the head of the flights and he has to direct his ships into battle- all ships always working in coordination but each ship with its own individual independence- forming an overall benefit over the Buggers. Ender suffered more and more dreams of himself killing and of Peter as well. He would do nothing but study weapons, study buggers movements and skills, and he even lived in a Bugger built home. Ender became extremely sick and agitated, and was given some days for break. Afterwards, he would sleep in between battles. On Ender’s last battle, the teachers say this battle would decide whether he should continue to move on to the next level or not, Ender defeated the game and he was told the truth that he has not been playing the teachers at Command School and these were not games! He was the commander of a real army and is now the victor of the Third Invasion. Ender was stroke with the reality that he had, once again, destroyed thousand of lives- mothers, children and all. He screamed at the teachers for tricking him. Graff replied, “We had to have a commander with so much empathy that he would think like the buggers, understand them and anticipate them. So much compassion that he could win the love of his underlings and work with them like a perfect machine... But somebody with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed. Could never go into battle willing to win at all costs. If you knew, you couldn’t do it even if you knew, you could never have understood the buggers well enough.” (298) For the sake of the Earth, Ender killed a whole race, that he later found was not threatening at all, but just had miscommunication. It is apparent that Ender was not meant to be a murder, that Peter would have done a greater job than Ender. But, as Graff explained, nobody with a murderous heart could ever be willing to sacrifice as much as Ender did. The murderer would not be fighting to protect Earth, but rather fighting to be a tyrant. And never could this type of murderer become as skilled as Ender because Ender exerted patience and effort to learn and understand the Buggers. The teachers, who Ender once thought were the true enemies, were training him for the real battle after all. Ender was the only possible person able to kill the buggers, but only if he was lead into it without revealing the truth.

A murderous heart is not needed to become a successful killer of an entire race. Instead, a caring mind who is willing to concern himself with others wholeheartedly is the key. But deception is an essential part as well. Overall, Ender Wiggins’ magnanimous traits were the perfect tools to manipulate him into a killer. This is also a big injustice to Ender. He had to endure isolation- with no friends and family to understand him. He was constantly the target for attacks and violence. Most of all, not only was his good virtues not praised, but they lead to a stream of painful dreams and inner conflicts. He constantly questioned his own morality. He could not help but begin feel self-hatred and he does not deserve to feel this way.

My Peer Review Comments

Here are some comments for my group mates:

For Rahni:

There are some grammar problems like run-on sentences or punctuation misplacements.Also, I got a little confused with the wording of this sentence "Marilee goes on a few more dates with Quinn but she doesn't count them as dates and that hurts him because he later finds out that her and randy went on a date when Randy got rejected by Carly and Marilee counted that as a date". Furthermore, adding some sentence variety would be great. Overall, the lesson was very straightforward and it is clear that you learned from it. Your background information helped really well.


For Eric:
Perhaps you can add your opinion of the topic of abortion and join this debate the author is promoting to readers. I like your concise way of writing- it is easier to understand and not clutered with unnecessary words. Also, you should give us more information on the content of the book. After I read about the topic, I wanted to know more about how the story developed and resolved. It would be interesting if you incorporate what you think the author's opinion is towards abortion and expand on that with evidences from the book.

For Vincent:
Your book review expanded greatly on your view of the importance of friendship, which I think is very nice because it adds voice to the piece and I can distinguish it from the others. Perhaps you can analyze the character Reynie Muldoon more. You started off describing him very well and you should explain to the readers the incredible things that you mentioned he did.

Rough Draft

The novel, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, taught the lesson that being the commander of an army- managing attacks and vicious traps to kill, is rather a complicated and difficult task. The job of a murderer is difficult; he is constantly agitated with his morals. A murderer, opposed to the stereotypes, is a gentle soul. Ender Wiggins was never willing to kill, but in order to save the Earth, he had to study about his enemies to the extent where he understands them and loves them, but at the end- he still had to murder reluctantly.

Ender Wiggin suffered from physical and mental abuse from home and school ever since he was born. Ender’s first error was to be born as a third child, which was forbidden by the government. Classmates, teachers, and even his own brother, Peter, despised him for this. But, most of all, Ender suffered from Peter’s tortuous nature because Battleschool had accepted Ender and regarded Peter. Ender was chosen as a genius with enough abilities to fight in the anticipated war, The Third Invasion, between humans and the buggers- otherwise known as alien enemies. Only Ender and Valentine, Ender’s older sister, knew of Peter’s murderous nature. During a game of fighting, Peter whispered as he weight more and more down on Ender, “I could kill you like this. Just press and press until you’re dead. And I could say that I didn’t know it would hurt you, that we were just playing, and they’d believe me...” (12). Ender is always trying to soothe Peter by guessing his emotions and shielding away from him. In Ender’s eyes, Peter stands as a murder icon; he has never shown any affection to Ender or Valentine. Nonetheless, Peter held great importance to Ender, and the negativity lead Ender to become cautious of ever showing any similarities as him. Still, Ender wants to love Peter and seek love in return. In Battleschool, Ender experienced more hatred and envy. Ender was persuaded to leave behind his beloved sister and parents and “help save the world”. In Battleschool, the principal, Graff, planned and controlled every aspect of Ender’s life- signaling him as the genius to stir jealousy and stimulate enemies. By forming more and more enemies around Ender, Graff believed the isolation and negativity would expose Ender’s full potential as a soldier. At first, Ender saw this system as only another form of torture.

Ender was forced into many fights during Battleschool; enemies surrounded him more and more as he grew into one of the best commanders. But Ender realized that the real enemies are the teachers because even though they’re training the students into good soldier, they’re using hatred to fuel student’s energies to treat the practice battles as real. Furthermore, Graff broke rules in order to create obstacles for Ender. Ender’s armies were consisted of mostly non-experienced soldiers, but Ender managed to train them into a team that was able to work together unpredictably. His armies were told to battle six months earlier than the usual date and the schedules of battles came as fast as ten minutes before the battle. He still did not lose any games and people hated him more than ever. The drive to harm Ender heightened- there was even a death due to one fight. Ender found himself taking the form of Peter unwillingly. He feared and hated himself. When Ender refused to battle in Command School, Graff brought him to Earth to visit Valentine. Ender explains to Valentine, “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that moment I also love him, I think its impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them-... I destroy them” (238). Ender’s actions do not reflect his heart. He is not a murder, and he is only capable of killing his enemies after he had loved them. Instead, Ender wants to love others and be loved. Ender is not one to willingly murder, but he has been engaged in so much violence. He begins to question the reason for killing, even deciding that he does not want to be a hero and kill the buggers, the most dangerous enemies to Earth. At the end, Ender decides to return to training to kill the buggers for one single reason, to protect the Earth and Valentine.

The ultimate realization of the truth, the reason for manipulation of the teachers is exposed and his fear of becoming a harmful being is finally resolved. In Command School, there were rigorous trainings where Ender was the head of the flights and he has to direct his ships into battle- all ships always working in coordination but each ship with its own individual independence- forming an overall benefit over the Buggers. Ender suffered more and more dreams of himself killing and of Peter as well. He would do nothing but study weapons, study buggers movements and skills, and he even lived in a Bugger built home. Ender became extremely sick and agitated, and was given some days for break. Afterwards, he would sleep in between battles. On Ender’s last battle, the teachers say this battle would decide whether he should continue to move on to the next level or not, Ender defeated the game and he was told the truth that he has not been playing the teachers at Command School and these were not games! He was the commander of a real army and is now the victor of the Third Invasion. Ender was stroke with the reality that he had, once again, destroyed thousand of lives- mothers, children and all. He screamed at the teachers for tricking him. Graff replied, “We had to have a commander with so much empathy that he would think like the buggers, understand them and anticipate them. So much compassion that he could win the love of his underlings and work with them like a perfect machine... But somebody with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed. Could never go into battle willing to win at all costs. If you knew, you couldn’t do it even if you knew, you could never have understood the buggers well enough.” (298) For the sake of the Earth, Ender killed a whole race, that he later found was not threatening at all, but just had miscommunications. It is apparent that Ender was not meant to be a murder, that Peter would have done a greater job than Ender. But, as Graff explained, nobody with a murderous heart could ever be willing to sacrifice as much as Ender did. The murderer would not be fighting to protect Earth, but rather be come a tyrant. And never would this type of murderer become as skilled as Ender because Ender exerted patience and effort to learn and understand the Buggers. Ender was the only possible person to kill, only if he was lead into it without revealing the truth.

A murderous heart is not needed to become a successful killer of an entire race. Instead, a caring mind who is willing to concern himself with others full heartedly is the key. But deception is an essential part as well. Overall, Ender Wiggins’ magnanimous traits were the perfect tools to manipulate him into a killer. This is also a big injustice to Ender. He had to endure isolation- with no friends and family to understand him. He was constantly the target for attacks and violence. Most of all, not only was his good virtues not praised, but they lead a stream of painful dreams and inner conflicts. He constantly questioned his own morality. He could not help but begin feel self-hatred. Ender did not deserve to endure all this.

Second Analysis Of Ender:

Ender Wiggins have changed a lot since the first part of the book. From where I left off on the first post, Ender’s internal conflict, which involves isolation and the fear of becoming a harmful being, slowly left him. His small group of launchies had become closer and people began to respect him instead of making fun of him. 

But Ender was not given this peace for long. Graff continued to direct hatred or jealousy towards him. Graff broke up his group and turned Ender into the enemy by disowning anyone who is practicing with Ender. Ender was promoted into the position of toon leader and eventually the commander of his own army, Dragon Army. He was promoted in order to stimulate enemies and resume to isolation again.

During this period, I believe Ender had found the core of his enemies, which are teachers, not the Armies. Graff broke rules in order to create obstacles for Ender. Ender’s armies were consisted of mostly non-experienced soldiers, but Ender managed to train them into a team that are able to work together unpredictably. His armies were told to battle 6 months earlier than the usual date and the schedules of battles came as fast as 10 minutes before the battle. He still did not lose any games and people hated him more than ever.

In order to overcome this injustice, Ender had to think fast and develop techniques at the top of his head. He decided to watch videos of the buggers during battle in order to learn from them. At this point, he was stricken with the realization that, “...it was the buggers, not the humans, that Ender learned strategy. He felt ashamed learning from them, since they were the most terrible enemy...But they were always very good at what they did. Discipline was apparently very tight” (188). I believe this realization strengthened his inner doubt of becoming a murderer. The inner conflict is aroused once again. This event led me to think, Is it the brain or the murderous heart that is needed to succeed in battle? In relation to the training in battle school, I believe both are needed. Ender is successful because of his brains, but  he does not have a heart for murder. However, Graff is trying to train Ender into the best soldier by making him excel to his full potential. His manipulation of putting the hatred of others on Ender refers that negative feeling is needed to succeed. 

Overall, by the analysis of this event, I can conclude that Battle school is training human beings into insensitive machines that feed off of others’ failures. I believe the author Orson Scott Card, wrote this book to connect this negative affect to soldiers training for war in real life- the change and pain soldiers have to go through in war.

My Analysis of Ender Wiggins:

Ender Wiggin, the main character, suffers from conflicts between people ever since he was born. This conflict lead to a internal war within himself. Ender’s first error was to be born as a third child, which was forbidden by the government. Classmates, teachers, and even his own brother, Peter, dispised him for this. But, most of all, Ender suffered from Peter’s tortuous nature because he had not yet been regarded to enter Battleschool. Every child, since they were born are required to have a monitor-like device attached on their neck that allows Battleschool authorities to listen to their thoughts along with seeing their reactions to events, and the authorities determine whether they were geniuses that should enter into Battleschool to fight against the anticipated war between humans and buggers- also known as alien enemies. This was an opportunity to help save the world. Most of the children’s monitor were taken off at the age of 4, which meant they are not qualified. Ender still had his monitor at age 6.


Ender was the victim of physical and mental abuse at school and at home. Children were jealous of him at school, but Ender never fought back because the monitor was there to look after him. Peter, who was older than him, “...was a murderer at heart, and nobody knew it but Valentine and Ender” (p.14  ) Eventually, the Battleschool authorities planned to pretend to refuse Ender; they allowed the monitor to be removed and waited for Ender’s reactions to his surroundings with the mindset of being “free”. To Ender, he was finally like other children. But Peter continued with his violent ways, leaving Ender helpless, hopeless, and scared each night. Only his older sister, Valentine, ceased his anger. Worst than the torture, was the influence of Peter. After the monitor was taken off, Peter found himself indulged in a fight with the leader of the school gang that always picked on him. He figured that violence would discourage others from messing with him, now that the monitor can no longer protect him. Isolation with the secret of his malicious brother brought isolation and unhappiness to his life. But when the news of the gang leaders serious injury was heard, Ender found himself taking the form of Peter- unwillingly.


The next day, the Battleschool principal, Colonel Graff, came to announce Ender’s acceptance into Battleschool, he persuaded Ender to leave behind his beloved sister and “help save the world”. In Battleschool, behind the scene, Graff was planning and controlling every aspect of Ender’s life- singaling him as the genius to stir jealouy and stimulate enemies was his first manipulation. By forming more and more enemies around Ender, Graff believed the isolation and negativity would expose Ender’s full potential as a soldier. Eventually, Ender’s inner conflict of "becoming Peter" slowly ceased when he followed up on the Battleschool’s manipulation. He was left with no family, no friends- only a genius that felt unaccepted in the world.

Similarities in family histories?

In the family histories of Crystal and Pedro, I found the feelings about my own family history within theirs. What our families have passed on to us depicts a picture of hard work and immense strength to hold on. In Crytal’s story, her great great grandmother did not surrender to the Japanese invaders in World War I when they raided her home and killed her neighbors, Crystal says: “The soldier brought the end of the gun to her grandmother's back and began to hit her with it. He also slapped her a few times across the face, my great great grandmother was unable to defend herself. After a few blows, he brought the gun in front of her grandmother with a loud donk. At that moment, my grandmother saw that her grandmother was shaking with fear with a pale face and cold sweat was dripping off the sides of her face. “ The courage to endure is admiring and makes me reflect on my own life to follow these footsteps. This stimulated the memory of my great grandpa’s agony when he was punished by Mao’s men every night to an extent where his life had no more meaning to him, and he even wanted to commit suicide. But he didn’t, he endured the suffering- although it is unfair, by moving on, he showed me that you can make life better and more enjoyable even though horrible things are occurring.

In Pedro’s story, I sensed a realization and fascination that I too had toward my family’s history. Pedro says, “It made me feel like everyone is capable of doing anything. I am not trying to say my grandpa is weak and no one but he started something with a friend. He was just one ordinary person who wanted to have fun and go explore, next thing you know the place he loved to play in and spent good times with him and his friend came to become his home.”When one creates or did something great, I often idolize them and think of them as less of a human being. When my great grandpa and my Uncle, who lost his leg through an accident at age twenty, found their way back to life- it seems impossible if it were me, just as Pedro felt when he was told of his grandpa’s creation. However, while our stories differ in physical innovation and mental innovation, both places us in the point of recognizing that our ancestors were people just like us, so we can too succeed as they have.

A cycle of stories hidden from the daughters

When I flipped through the stories in front of each section, it gave me an idea of the larger cycles that are occurring in the book. I discovered that there is a traditional cycle of generations between American and Chinese cultures, closely intertwined with rebellious mother-daughter relationships. They begin with the mothers’ exposure to America, then the daughters’ exposure to America, following the conflict of the mothers’ teachings and the desire for freedom, but in the end, the daughters become like their mother, or at last come to a peace. This giant cycle is the basis of the whole book- it can be seen in all the sections of the book: Feathers From a Thousand Li Away, The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, American Translation, and Queen Mother of the Western Skies. An interesting cycle repeated in the Joy Luck Club is that the mothers are reluctant to retell the stories of their histories to their daughters.

In the chapter, Waiting Between the Trees, Ying Ying St. Clair has the ability to foresee activities before they happen. Ever since she was a girl, she was known as the tiger girl, always having the fierce spirit. But this spirit was taken away from her when her first husband, the one she loved so much, cheated on her. Ying Ying even killed the baby boy in her womb because of the vengeance she felt towards her husband. Eventually, in America she married Saint but loved him differently- she compares this love to a ghost’s love, having a lover’s gratitude, but no desire or appetite in the relationship. All this was not told to her daughter; finally she decides, “Now Saint is a ghost. He and I can now love equally. He knows the things I have been hiding all these years. Now I must tell my daughter everything. That she is the daughter of a ghost. She has no chi. This is my greatest shame. How can I leave this world without leaving her my spirit?” (p.252). Ying ying’s secret is her past, her shame of loosing her chi- or her ferocious spirit, that had changed her from a tiger to a ghost. After her husband’s death, she realized that she needs to tell her daughter this secret in order to leave her daughter her own spirit, so Lena can become successful in her relationship. Shame prevented Ying Ying from teaching her daughter her own past and an important lesson on confidence and strength.

Suyuan, Jing-Mei’s mother, refused to tell her past not because of shame, but because of the love for her family. In the first chapter, The Joy Luck Club, the four mothers of the club always brags to one another about the great virtues in their daughters. They pray that the joy, luck, and hope they had brought to America are passed on from their daughters and down the generations. Suyuan did not tell her daughter about her two abandoned babies in Kweilin, until she used it as a lesson to teach her daughter to be grateful of what she has currently. After Suyuan’s death and when the babies were found, Auntie Ying Ying tells Jing-Mei briefly about her mother, “Your mother was a very strong woman, a good mother. She loved you very much, more than her own life. And that’s why you can understand why a mother like this could never forget her other daughters. She knew they were alive, and before she died she wanted to find her daughters in China” (p. 39). I believe Suyuan desired to keep her story from her family only temporarily to possibly attempt to protect her daughter. She is unsure of both her daughter’s and husband’s reaction so she hides it from them. The Chinese mothers all hid their past before they migrated to America because they are unsure how their children will view them since they’re in a different environment.

My Uncle's Accident

Tracing back the history of my family, it all ends up in my home country- China. My mother’s story stretched all the way back to the Mao Period. My grandmother from my mom’s side told her this story.

My grandmother was still a young girl, around the age of twenty-five or so. She had a sum of seven siblings, and she was the oldest. She had three younger brothers and three younger sisters. There were huge gaps of age difference between them, but they were still close. She gave herself the responsibility of raising her siblings, from when they were babies to adults. This task was not easy, and eventually gave her the heart of a mother at a very young age. Even with the time that she spent with my three sisters and I since we were born to when she passed away two years ago, I always felt a more motherly side from my grandma than from my mom. I enjoy this side of my grandma and I could not have guessed that she gained her motherliness from being a mother at a young age.

As my mother explained to me tonight, “During the Mao Period, no one was richer than the others. Everyone was equally poor.” The entire country suffered from poverty, although not enough to kill the people, but there were definitely not enough to eat to fill stomachs. There was only one main meal each day- dinner. For breakfast and lunch, people ate porridge and vegetables. The children in the family mostly had elementary school education.

But it was unavoidable that my great-grandpa (my grandmother's dad) was one of the target of Mao's people. All educated people were victims to his torturing. They were dangerous to Mao because they had the abilities to read and write and could possibly overcome him. My great-grandpa was a doctor who was forced to perform a devious ritual every night. Every night, Mao's men would cuff the hands of a several victims, forced them in a hunched position to roam the streets of their town. As they passed, villagers would insult them and litter trash on them. Some of them were even forced to kneel on shattered glass. My mom says that worst of all, my great-grandpa was not allowed to raise his head. I do not know if those citizens know what was going on, but surely what they said to him was pernicious. My great-grandpa eventually built a very tough layer of skin and I admire him for this. It certainly leads me to respect my current government and be grateful of it all.

One day, my third Uncle, or more clearly known as my Grandma’s third youngest brother, was riding a train to the city. The train transported sugar to markets all over China. It rides up a steep hill that runs high, like a roller coaster. He stood in the train, resting on the side panel. The train sped through rugged earth, turning sharp corners when suddenly his body flew backwards. The abrupt change of direction caught all the passengers by surprise. Jolts, one after another, tipped seats- people lost balance, fell to the ground. From outside the window, one could see that the carts had become disconnected and was falling straight down hill. All about were screaming and panicking from all age groups. A bunch of passengers summoned up the idea of jumping out of the train. Everyone was in a life and death situation. The escape plan to jump was the only way out of the train, but was it safer? My Uncle hesitated, watching others tumble off the train, screaming. The train was rapidly approaching a small house completely built of boulders. He didn’t dare waste another moment and jumped out of the accelerating vehicle. The plan was not successful; many people lost their lives, others were injured severely. Even those who remained in the train did not survive; the train eventually crashed into the small boulder house near the hill. My Uncle was among the severely injured.

The news of the incident reached my Grandma. Her mind created thousands of horrible endings of her brother. She sat waiting for the news in a frantic state. Worries reproduced in her head until she could no longer stand waiting and not acting. Finally, in tears, my grandmother summoned their neighbor, a deeply Christian old woman, to pray together at my Grandma’s house. The Christian woman calmed my grandma. They recited pieces from the bible, with heads nodded slightly lower, and hands placed on their laps. They sat for several minutes praying; asking God for hope that my Uncle was still alive and well, begging God to bring my Uncle home safely from this incident. After they were both done, the old Christian lady raised her head back and told my Grandma sullenly, “His left leg is already gone”. To this day, no one knows how she had foretold my Uncle’s injury. It is believed that she had envisioned my Uncle’s situation during the depth of her prayer.

The Christian lady’s supernatural ability left me speechless. It seemed so impossible for this to happen; yet it did and was absolutely correct. The only connection I could make of her “gift” is praying. This far in the story raised the question of weather becoming devoted to Christianity, (or perhaps any religion?), would help form a closer tie with God. These mystical events scare me. Even though it is possibly a useful “gift”, but because the ability cannot be explained, it is frightening. I view her as almost non-human.

Sure enough, when my Uncle jumped out of the train, surrounded by the chaos of thousands of passengers jumping, grabbing, and desperately holding on to their lives, the train shattered the small house built with boulders right after he jumped. Huge boulders shoved down the hill. My Uncle landed hardly on the soil, his body crushed against the earth. His limps landed awkwardly and twisted as he fell. With a sore body, he managed to see boulders rapidly rolling down in his direction. The boulders were the size of a large desk. He was too weak to move away. They smashed into his left leg. He was stuck in the position for several hours until rescue teams came to help. When he was rushed into the hospital, it was too late. His leg had been cut off of circulation for too long, it was already dead. On that day, the doctors amputated my Uncle’s left leg at the age of twenty.

The loosing of his leg depressed and hurt my Uncle so deeply; he tried to commit suicide multiple times. Eventually, a fake leg was made for him but he could barely walk in it and resorted to his wheelchair again. Family members took turns watching over him. The sorrow cut deep into the family- it was contagious. He had a whole life ahead of him; he was young and curious like other boys his age. The removal of his leg destroyed the eagerness he had towards life. Days in the hospital were spent doing absolutely nothing. My uncle could not see past the walls of his hospital room. My family members, all six siblings and his parents, fought to return his energy; both his physical and mental energy. Slowly and painfully, there were signs of life again. He returned home. He allowed others to spend more time with him. He began to look at himself a different way. A realization swept over him- his potential ability as a human being cannot be determined by one leg. He finally caught the awareness that he can still explore life, he can still achieve goals that seemed impossible, because he is more than his body. This lesson ultimately released him from his dreaded past and into the present that consisted of so many supportive family members. His future was no longer polluted with smoke. My Uncle returned to doing what he loved and had neglected all the years- designing furnitures by painting and stitching patterns onto them.

My family also sued the sugar transportation industry for the incident, but the company refused to take responsibilities at all. My Uncle still held his head high through it all. Furthermore, he was almost getting married. There was a girl who had a huge crush on my Uncle before the accident and supported him throughout his depressed time in the hospital. At first my Uncle did not feel he had the potential to marry a fully capable girl when he was handicapped, but at the end they got married.

Now, he has a family of two sons and one daughter, living happily in China. I rarely see him when I return to China, but when I do see him; he is using his fake leg. I am proud of my Uncle for overcoming his fear of suddenly becoming so different. It takes great strength. I admire my grandma, aunts, uncles, and his wife helping him realize the truth- that he is more than his body and sometimes life is not fair, but you just have to find a way to make it better and move on. I am glad that he found a way to make his life enjoyable again.

Amy Chua & Amy Tan

In Amy Chua's article, she expresses the difference between Chinese and Western style teachings. Chua's argument is that parents must use any technique to push their children to the best of their abilities. She does not care about her children's feelings and believes thinking this way is a waste of time. Most importantly, her techniques are generalized to all Chinese mothers and many oppose them that what she is doing is cruel. Amy Chua says,

"I rolled up my sleeves and went back to Lulu. I used every weapon and tactic I could think of. We worked right through dinner into the night, and I wouldn't let Lulu get up, not for water, not even to go to the bathroom. The house became a war zone, and I lost my voice yelling, but still there seemed to be only negative progress, and even I began to have doubts. Then, out of the blue, Lulu did it. Her hands suddenly came together—her right and left hands each doing their own imperturbable thing—just like that."

Amy Chua's usage of diction gives the passage a very negative connotation. She promply compares her style of teachings to weapons. She transforms a peaceful lesson to a battlefield. Possibly, because of this rough language, one may find her technique to be unacceptable and cruel. Her actions do not reveal any form of care. When she chose to yell at her child to work harder, it reveals no understanding of her child's struggle. Despite all this, her tactic was successful. Underneath all the screaming, threatening, and forcing, is the real lesson. Amy Chua is trying to teach her children that you must try as many times possible and don't give up easily. She is trying to say, "Practice makes perfect".

In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan writes a similar scenario in her vignette "Half and Half". An-mei's daughter, Rose could never set her mind on anything; she can neither make trite or important decisions. In her childhood years, she lost her little brother, Bing, because she did not know whether to drop everything she was doing and save Bing from the monstrous waves on the beach, or continue to follow her mother's order of breaking up her other brothers' fight. She was the only one who saw Bing slowly being lured into the river with every step, yet she stood there thinking up a decision. In her current life, her husband Ted, is divorcing her because she is not able to make up her mind about anything. Rose blurted,

"I know now that I had never expected to find Bing, just as I know now I will never find a way to save my marriage. My mother tells me, though that I should still try.

               "What's the point?" I say. "There's no hope. There's no reason to keep trying."
               "Because you must," She says. "This is your fate. This is your life, what you must do."
                                                                                                               (Amy Tan p.130)

Throughout her life, Rose never made an effort to make the decision to at least try and solve the problems in her life. Perhaps it is low self esteem , the belief that there is nothing that can be done to change, that drives her decisions all these years. However, An-mei pushes her to keep trying. She wants to teach Rose that anything can be done as long as you put your mind to it. An-mei's technique in teaching is by talking through to her daughter thoughtfully, instead of using force. Her technique eventually worked as well, because in the end Rose finally understood that "You must undo the expectation" by trying harder until the expectation of becoming unsuccessful is defeated.

Therefore, Amy Tan support Amy Chua's argument that parents must push their children to try harder and don't give up. However, the main difference between them is the way they teach. Amy Chua enslaves her children until they have tried their best, while Amy Tan believes in discussing and encouraging.
                                                                                                 

Amy Tan's 2nd Intoduction Story

In the beginning of the second section, Amy Tan's short introductory piece serves as the overall, main message that she wants the reader to understand. The short story tells of a daughter who ignores her mother's warnings to not ride her bike around the corner where she might fall and no one would hear her cry out. The mother's predictions were correct and her daughter fell shortly after the conversation ended. I believe her lesson is this: One needs a supporter to learn from in order to succeed; at least until a specific age.

In the first story, "Rules of The Game", at a young age, Waverly Jong is obsessed with the chess. With her mother's support, she eventually became the best Chinese player in Chinatown; winning home trophy after trophy. However, their relationship began to falter. Waverly's mom enjoy bragging about her daughter's success to others- embarrassing Waverly. Waverly exclaimed her feelings rudely and ran away from home. In the end of the story, she returns home and is left alone in her bedroom with no more support from her mother. In her mind, she pictured her mother as her chess opponent. She says,

" Her black men advanced across the plain, slowly marching to each successive level as a single unit. My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one" (p.101).

In her mind, her mother is in control of the game and is defeating her. Since Waverly is definitely better at chess than many people and also her mother, this ironic scene symbolized that her mother was the creator of Waverly herself. Her mother's encouragements and strengths allowed Waverly to become the champion she is today. From her mother, she learned how to succeed. However, in the last paragraph, she proved that she doesn't need her mother any longer and is able to advance. She says,

"I felt myself growing light. I rose up into the air and flew out the window. Higher and higher, above the alley, over the tops of tilted roofs, where I was gathered up by the wind and pushed up toward the night sky until everything below me disappeared and I was alone. I closed my eyes and pondered my next move" (p.101).

The freedom Waverly feels is independence. Her mother has taught her success, which can also be the success of becoming independence. She feels that she has the strength that her mother processed, the strong wind, and that she is able to continue her passion alone. The comparison of her new found freedom and chess infer that she has regained strength and is still able to rise when she falls. This story shows that the daughter's gained success and independence from her mother, and now is able to move on by herself.

An-mei and her Mother's opinions on the importance of family honor and individuality

True or false? "Family and honor should take priority over the rights of the individual family member." How do you think An-mei and her mother would respond? Would they think the statement is true or false? Would they be somewhere in-between?

I think An-mei’s opinion would be the same as her mother. I believe, dependent on how her mother was treated, An-mei would probably think that individual will is more important than family honor. However, during the last scene, when her mother sacraficed herself by cutting a piece of meat off her arm into the stew in order to try to save Popo’s life, An-mei’s mother’s actions show mixed feelings toward this question. Even though she performed this painful routine, it doesn’t mean that she is sorry of her actions and that now she hold the same opinion as Popo. It may also be that she still hold her own opinions but loves Popo so much that she wants to saver her. An mei’s mother still respects Popo.

During one incident, Anutie spat in An-mei’s brother’s face when he accused her of driving their mother out of the house, Auntie exclaims that An-mei’s brother is not one to talk because of thier shameful mother. She continues to make points that seem to make An-mei and her brother seem like they have no rights, that they are the lowest, all due to the disgrace their mother brought to the family. Because of this, I think An-mei would have strong feelings in having individual rights.

Throughout An-mei’s whole life, Popo and Auntie always told her how shameful and evil her mother is. Her mother was compared to the devil and ghosts; even her name was unspeakable. An-mei’s love and admiration for her own mother deceased and only turned to fear. I think An-mei fears her mother only because she is afraid of Popo and Auntie turning against her and treating her negatively. As she said in the end, after witnessing her mother’s attempt to save Popo, “I worshiped the mother from my dream. But the woman standing by Popo’s bed was not the mother of my memory. Yet I came to love this mother as well... Here is how I came to love my mother. How I saw in her my own true nature. What was beneath my skin. Inside my bones” (Tan p.48). During this powerful moment of sacrifice, An-mei realized that she is not really afraid of her mother because in her shameful mother, she sees her own true nature. The respect her mother showed to Popo is a more prominent part of her mother that she loves. An-mei is tied between the importance of family honor and individual rights. From this witness, she learns that even though her mother brought her family shame, she still loves her family and what she did individually did not change her respect for her family. I think An-mei may be a bit tied in the middle of these two answers after all.

Response to Amy Chua

In Amy Chua's article, "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior", She expresses her experiences as a Chinese mother and the many techniques she uses to "motivate" and "sculpture" her children into perfect people. Many of her techniques include threatening to throw away her clothes, toys, threatening to starve her, and threatening to not provide Christmas and Haunika presents for 2-4 years. She repeatedly insults her children and thinks all this is alright. In comparison to Western style parenting, she thinks that western parents care too much about their children's self-esteem. They do not push their children enough is what she is saying. She concludes that all her hard work would make her hated, but in the end it is all for the children's good and therefore the children owe her everything!

I disagree with this very much. I agree more with the Western view:

She says, "My husband, Jed, actually has the opposite view. "Children don't choose their parents," he once said to me. "They don't even choose to be born. It's parents who foist life on their kids, so it's the parents' responsibility to provide for them. Kids don't owe their parents anything. Their duty will be to their own kids." 

First of all, I think Amy is overly pushing their children. She is actually risking so much more by behaving this way. Her goal to produce perfect, successful children seems to be like enslaving them. They are not given freedom to actually have fun. Although her techniques did work, it may build a child that is very good academically, but maybe that is not everything. She seems to think that being good at school is everything. She has given all her faith into the school systems, that may not even make your children successful! In my opinion, there is more to loose than recieve. They are rasing children that have no freedom to have personal opinions and Amy seem to take everything little thing in her children's life as a big deal. They is no time to relax and everything has to be perfect. It is hard life if there is no room for mistakes. For example, in her children's piano experience, Amy treats her performance like a life and death situation, when it is alright to go freely.

Therefore, I think Jed is right. I think as a children, they do have responsibilities to take care of their children because the parents raised them and provided them with food and shelter. However, if the parents are really bad parents, than the children may choose that they don't owe them everything. In Amy's case, it is difficult because she did succeed in making her kids successful, but her parenting techniques does not allow any independence and fun in life. Without these things, life is not as meaningful because you can't really learn- not academically, but how to be a good person, which is way more important than succeeding accademically.

Revolutions of the World and Animal Farm

Between George Orwell's Animal Farm and the actual revolutions around the world, there are many similarities and also very important differences that lead to the different results. The book is definately not as realistic as the actual revolutions, but many of the factors that contributed to their revolutions is relatively similar to those in Egypt and Hondoras.

In the beginning of every revolution, there are always uncertainty. In Hondoras, the citizens won their democracy again and the first thing they did was construct a constitution, just like what they did in Animal Farm. The Hondoran president, Zeleya, was brought down from power by the soldiers who "kidnapped" him and shipped him off. The soldiers refused to follow Zeleya's orders of attacking the citizens who are rebelling. Instead, they went off and kidnapped him. They were able to disobey Zeleya because Zeleya had no control over them. The weapons were in the soldier's hands, not Zeleya. In this event, the soldiers can be assumed to have more power than the president himself. In Animal Farm, Napoleon could hav ebeen stopped, but the 'lower animals' who worked for him did not have the power to disobey because they are not in control of the resources.

In reality, in relation to the Hondoran Revolution, their people are not as captivated as those animals. Unlike the animals, revolutionists in Hondorans were more literate and revolutionists in Tunisia were not kept in the dark as much because they had wikileaks. George Orwell possibly exaggerated the inabilities of the 'lower animals' to show the cruelties of a government ruled by tyrants. Current revolutions are able to use modern technologies, especially the internet. Websites like Facebook and Twitter serves as an important tool that the animals in Animal Farm did not have, which lead to their failure in overcoming Napoleon. Furthermore, the animals were portrayed as extremely stupid. They had bad memories, could not learn, were oblivious of everything and are neutral of life. They were never suspicious of Napoleon enough to find out about the truth. In real revolutions around the world, people still had their intelligence to help them overcome bad governments. The animals had a brain wash- this is the the main differences between the revolutions in real life and the revolution in Animal Farm.

Here's some more current news on Egypt's Revolution:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/egypt/index.html

Ch.11 Animal Farm CARLY & VANESSA's story

  “Sheep, it’s time.” Clover announced. The entire clan of animals met outside in the usual spot, the apple tree. They needed to discuss their method to get rid of Napoleon. The group consisted of the pack of sheep, the new generation of young pigs, Snowball, and the leftovers of the ‘lower’ animals; the ones everyone believed to be less capable of doing anything right the way Napoleon insisted. The incredulous scene they had witnessed at the barn house left the animals speechless. Snowball dropped by for his weekly scheming with the animals, just in time to hear the news. Snowball had warned them this day would come, the day that the pig tyrants would evolve human-like characteristics, but they didn’t know it would be this soon. Over the years, the animals have tried not to be optimistic any more. “If you don’t expect anything, you won’t be disappointed.” That was their motto.  

The apple tree was the perfect spot. At the front, one can only see the the hind legs of the animals shuffling in the dirt, seemingly to be hard at work. The apple tree was big enough to allow its branches and leaves to spread evenly, creating a dome that protects and hides their hideout. No pig had ever suspected them because this spot was the dirtiest, filthiest place in the whole barn- which is another great protection. The pigs see the animals as uncivilized beings and refused to even near the apple tree, which was too old to produce any edible fruits anyways.

   
            Clover began, “Now fellow Animals Farm members, we are gathered here on this night to discuss that of the tyrant, Napoleon! Now we will take suggestions of what to do about him.” The sheep beat their legs in a rhythm to mimic hard work, and one said, “Clover, I believe what we need is a more efficient network of spies. In order to do so, we must teach the young pigs of the truth, the wholehearted truth of the beginning, from the telling of Old Major.” The sheep ruffled in his fur and took out the diary of Old Major he had found hidden in Napoleon's belongings. “Currently we only have Georgia and Jose (the two loyal pigs) as our spies.”, he continues. Clover agrees, “You’re right sheep, but we must begin the revolution while persuading the pigs. We are running out of time! If we let the other pigs continue with doing what they desire, we will all end up DEAD!”

Just then, two quick scratches and a knock was heard as Snowball entered the apple tree dome. “Hello animals. I have heard the news of the fast evolution of the pigs. Fortunately, I have come to announce to all that we may have a chance at enforcing justice! Whymper has connected us with The Secret Association Of Animal Rights. My past experiences with certain humans have been great. Animals, I have learned that not all humans are bad.”

The animals carefully observed, especially the secret pig spies observed what activity was occurring between the head pigs throughout the next couple of weeks.  They had brought in the new information daily for the sheep to look over and plan the accurate date to begin. Napoleon was not oblivious of The Secret Association Of Animal Rights though, but he was too conceited to care. According to him, him and the humans were close allies now.

Mary was one of the most efficient sheep spies. She was the one picked by the pigs to serve them food because all sheep were thought to be extremely stupid by the pigs. Therefore she was able to eavesdrop easily on their plans. and read the documents they leave behind. One day, Mary brought back the news that the pigs have decided to slaughter a certain amount of them each day to sell to other farmers since their population is growing larger than ever. That same  day, the Revolution began.

The animals were ready and signaled The Secret Association of Animal Rights. One their way to Animal Farm, some of Napoleon’s farmer friends joined in hopes to slaughter some pigs for dinner. Bangs of guns sounded and before they even stepped inside, two of Napoleon’s guard dogs were dead on the ground. The plan was to get Napoleon wounded as soon as possible. In less than an instant feet were stomping, hooves charging, paws clawing, claws snatching, and the whole farm was thick with dusty air. During this moment of chaos, the pigs’ weaknesses were finally revealed. The herd of pigs were immobilized by the fat that have accumulated on their belly, legs, and especially their eyes. The pigs have evolved similar to disabled humans. They acquired canes to heave their overweight bodies into walking positions and their eyes have reduced half in size. But it was too late, the pigs were surrounded quick and easily. The animals gave loud triumphant cheers as the pigs were thrown into the back of the truck of the Secret Association of Animal Rights. It was later found that the pigs had became so emotionally hyped with anger that they died of heart attacks and were cooked into a delicious batch of crispy bacon.

After the revolution, the animals were given rights under the law. They never had so much power to decide their own future. News of the animals’ freedom spread and people came to the Secret Association of Animal Rights’ office in groups to witness this day. Some animals decided to become pets to caring owners. Others still enjoyed working in the farm-they were fed fairly and worked an appropriate amount of hours. More radical pigs who had mixed feelings about life with humans again rejoined their natural habitat in the wild, away from industrialized life and back to where their ancestors lived.

Rebuttal To Vanessa--> Should Child stars be held as Role Models?

In Vanessa's opening statement of the debate, Should Child Stars Be Held as Role Models for Audiences their age?, she argued that child stars are the influence to young children, therefore, they should be required to be role models.

The post repeatedly address the importance of fulfilling the expectations of the child stars' audience. I believe that we may be able to give expectations to child actors when they are on set and in the career of acting, but we may not give them expectations when they are off set and living their own lives. This is important because they can be less stressed. The audience shouldn't be the ones running the actors' lives. Although the behavior of actors' off set affect the audience as well, they are no longer in the career zone so even if they are acting bad, I believe they have the right to. I am not encouraging bad behaviors, it is that the actors can act however they want- bad or good in their lives. This is the freedom that everyone has (if they don't break the law).

Vanessa said: " She [Miley Cyrus] showed up in an issue of Vanity Fair, she dated men that were over the age of 18 while she was still a minor, her music videos are too provocative and she pole danced at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. All this behavior is something that parents would not approve of their child viewing. As for Demi Lovato, she ended up going to rehab for cutting herself"

The children viewing Miley Cyrus' bad behaviors is possibly unavoidable, if we want to be fair to both the actor and the audience. Miley and the audience both are able to decide whether what she did was appropriate or bad. We must take into consideration that Miley is also a teen, she's at an age where she wouldn't think before she acts- a phrase that many teens go through because they're not mature yet. Miley can judge her own behavior and the audience too can be influenced in a good or bad way, on the way that they chose to view it, dependent on other factors of their lives as well that contributes.

Also, I think Demi Lovato's incident may be just an unfortunate event in her life. She has possibly messed up, so we should know that actors are under stress as well. Sometimes they don't think before they act, just like normal people. If we do not even allow them to mess up, they have no freedom to act freely.


This idea of no expectations for child actors is risky, but it is the only way to be fair to the actors and to the audience. 

Napoleon's and Squeeler's way of Speech

In Animal Farm, the hard fight for equality was eventually taken over by the tyrant pig, Napoleon. Squeeler, a very persuasive speaker, is one of the biggest factors that helped Napoleon drive out Snowball and take control of Animal Farm.

Squeeler often tries to plant false memories into the 'lower animals' minds. He is skilled at painting his lies vividly and with every little detail that the animals become convince that the event did occur. Squeeler puts a small significant part of a true event in his lie to conjure up a confusing mixture of truth and lie. He often addresses the animas as "comrades". He uses words formally, as in a respectful manner, in order to make the animals comfortable and put their trust in him. Furthermore, he always includes that the pigs are that brainworkers and emphasizes their work dramatically. He even convinced them of allowing the pigs to consume all the batches of apples, all the gallons of milk, and sleep in beds y connecting the safety of the 'lower animals' to the absolute power of the pigs. In desperate times, he refers to Napoleon as the leader, which mostly catches the loyalty in Boxer. Boxer is an extremely obedient, hard-working animal. By influencing Boxer, it influences others easier because Boxer's hard work and nobility is respected. The 'lower animals' tend to follow one another's point of views, if one agrees, the others eventually follows. Squeeler is able to cover up the injustice Napoleon and the pigs with higher power committed. Here is an example:

" Comrades!... Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! He was Jones' secret agent all the time. It has all been proved by the secret documents which he left behind. To my mind, this explains a great deal, Comrades. Did we not see for ourselves how he attempted- fortunately without success- to get us defeated and destroyed at the Battle of Cowshed?" (89).

Squeeler's voice proves to be one of Napoleon's greatest protections because throughout the story, Napoleon never actually speaks. What he has to say is narrated, instead of by quotation marks of the works of the words he is actually saying. It is hard to tell whether Napoleon is as an influential speaker like Squeeler or not. When Napoleon and Snowball have debates, Snowball always won. The author never writes out small passages from Napoleon's speeches, like he does for Snowball and Squeeler's speeches. After Snowball was expelled and Napoleon obtained the ultimate control of the farm, people began to listen to him more. His ideas were carried out not because he is persuasive, but because he uses fear to threaten the 'lower animals'. Moreover, since he is now known as the leader, the others' respect him more. His main tools are the menacing dogs. The 'lower animals' did not have the intelligence to acknowledge the threats by Napoleon yet because Squeeler always back up Napoleon's actions. He explains Napoleon's ideas to others persuasively so the animals do not feel the injustice Napoleon is committing. In the part where Snowball was driven away by Napoleon's ferocious dogs,

" Napoleon, with the dogs following him, now mounted on to the raised portion of the floor where Major had previously stood to deliver his speech. He announced that from now on the Sunday-morning Meetings would come to an end. They were unnecessary, he said, and wasted time."

 Afterwards,

"Four young pokers in the front row uttered shrill squeals of disapproval, and all four of them sprang to their feet and began speaking at once. But suddenly to their feet and began speaking at once. But suddenly the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep, menacing growls, and the pigs fell silent and sat down again" (69).

Should child actors in shows marketed for young audiences be expected to serve as role models for people their age?

The main and most important reason that child actors should not be required to be role models is because it would strip the actors of their freedom.They should be treated like normal children. Normal children obtain requirements to how to present themselves from the teachings of their parents. Child actors' parents and the actors themselves should be in control of their own presentation. But, of course, this argument also depends on what the specific expectations for child stars are.

Many says that child actors like Miley Cyrus are bad influence on other children. Miley Cyrus has released photos when she behaved inappropriately in the way she dressed and her behavior. There is no denying that children would defiantly follow this behavior, but I still believe an actor have the right the act a way that is tolerable to the actor and the actor's parents. Celebrities already do not have much freedom with the paparazzi following their every footsteps and now they will have less freedom. Although she is a bad influence, stripping her of her freedom to act would be unfair to the actor. 

Everybody has done something bad, either by accident or on purpose. Actors' mistakes and faults are magnified and the results are painful to endure when everyone turns against you. Even though Miley Cyrus has committed something inappropriate for teens her age, she should be given the opportunity to learn from her mistakes, just like others are too. Furthermore, if Miley had not learned from her mistakes and committ it multiple times over, who are we- the audience, to tell her to stop? It is true that our youngsters are influenced by her, but they are also influenced by many other kids at school. Similarily, we cannot march up to classmates who are not physically harming your children, and tell them to stop dressing the way they are. It is their decision and their freedom to act as inappropriate as they desire. However we want to regulate the bad actor, we are in no control and should not be. Miley Cyrus may soon enough look back and realize that she was out of control back then and was a bad influenced to many, or she could continue the way she is and possibly get involved in worse things. It is her path, and she chooses it. Just as we choose our own paths as well. We may influence her choice, but we may not give her expectations to follow.

Political Power in relation to Animal Farm

In your opinion, does political power corrupt the people who attain it? Also, how do you think George Orwell would answer this question? Use quotes from  the first two chapters to support your answer.

As human beings, I believe political powers are most likely to be abused in the hands of those who attain it. Leaders involved in the high branches of government, those who have more abilities than others, have a great advantage towards gaining more power than before. Of course, I believe that political power do not always corrupt those who attain it. It depends on many factors of their character- like, how easily they are influenced...etc. 

What an individual would do with power is greatly involved in whether they have a strong sense of equality. Although every leader obtains their own view of an equal government (For example, some leaders may think that certain rights are allowed to be excluded because the benefits are much higher to everyone, and is better for the greater good.), there is a range of what is tyranny and what is not. The most general mark of tyranny is selfishness to only one or one group of people. A non-corrupt government needs leaders with strong minds in which selfishness cannot be crept into by temptations or in any other forms. Selfishness is in everyone. Since it is more difficult to take out this virtue to most people, I give the assumption that more than 60%of those who attain political power would take advantage of it.

George Orwell, the writer of Animal Farm, seems to believe this view as well. The story continues as expected. After Old Major's inspirational speech and his quick death, the animals took action and succeeded in driving humans out of the farm. The pigs were the leaders immediately without any debate because it seemed natural that they should take the lead since they sparked the revolution after Major's death and they were the ones with most knowledge. The pigs with their important roles began to abuse their power. With their power of persuasion and speech, everyone was under their order, at least in the beginning. They separated themselves from the others, and were categorized as superior, "The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others." The pigs did not mean to create an equal government and is already showing signs of selfishness in the first few days.

Inspirations and more

          Most often, my inspiration for either a topic for an essay, a drawing, or a goal would come along, but it goes away too quickly. What drives me to work and create something is either inspiration or an inescapable must-get-an-A attitude. But most preferably would be an inspiration. My inspirations are short-lived, sometimes wiped out by overload of work, tiredness, impatience, too high expectations, mistakes, or simply by doubt. I love Bany's perspective of inspiration. She says: 

"My inspiration is what helps me keep on going, thriving through my life, and makes me have a sense of motivation in my actions. People should try to be more open to inspiration. Sometimes it can come from the, most unexpected places. Inspiration should not be taken for granted. don't take someone Else's work and get the credit. Let it make you think of something you can do or give you an idea of what you want to do." - The Incredible Bany

          I like the idea that inspiration is the beginning of a creation and builds on more and more, creating a masterpiece in the end. I have the problem of having multiple inspirations, then having no time to commit to both or being indecisive. Sometimes, I doubt whether the inspiration would work or whether it is the best one. Possibly, letting whatever inspiration comes first to take over will be best. I am always amazed at great writers, or inverters, where do they get their inspirations from? As I think more about it, inspiration can be anything- from a simple object in everyday life to a rare life-changing experience. There is no need to witness a famous event to create something fabulous. That means, everyone is capable of creating something excellent. Anyways, great blog Bany!

          

Sweaters!!

          I dislike any characteristics of winter. On a typical winter day the sky is abnormally gray, with pale clouds hovering- preventing light from the sun. It is like the light from a lamp is turned to the lowest possible level and a morose feeling comes to me. The volatile whether is annoying and picks the worse time for a storm. Whenever I am wearing a puffy jacket, the clouds agreeably make way for the sun to shine on my heated jacket. When I strip off my jacket, the clouds close up and send the winds to further the discomfort.

           Rain just makes everything worse. School becomes a messy slop, especially with the gooey goose poop littered on campus. There is no point wearing anything nice because the rain would ruin it anyways. Every step in winter allows puddles to splash, rain from the ceiling to drip on heads, clothes to damp from the raindrops covering surfaces, and just sticky, cold, and wet everywhere, with no control over stopping it.


         In the middle of this misery, somewhere a spark flew this winter... and I found one thing that I love about winter (besides Christmas). Sweaters! It may be a bit abnormal, but I believe sweaters are what make winter durable. They are like a cup of steamy hot chocolate with melting marshmallows on a stormy night. On the After Christmas Sales, we bought home some soft comfy sweaters, with different colors and everything. Something about the loose cotton texture- plain but nice. I am so pleasured by sweaters, I should start a sweater collection. Nonetheless, it definitely brightens the winter days. 

        

Will you have a better life if you graduate from an elite college or university? Why or why not?

There were two great pieces that persuaded me, but they I am persuaded by two pieces that puts forth opposite views. Until last year, I would have been convinced by "Numbers Favor Top Schools" by Richard D. Kahlenberg. First, Kahlenberg began by reminding us of the amount of effort we are using to fight for a higher education. The value of education equals a better trajectory in life. Why else would we boycott? Beginning with a widely known riot brings me to reality. It is a very credible way to start. Further on, he shows us that school is not only about education, but the people you will meet, who are as ambitious as you are. In the end, I found a flaw that made me disagree with him. He says: "Finally, selective and wealthy institutions offer unparalleled access to the leadership class in this country." He names a list of government leaders who attended elite colleges. I realized, Maybe going to an elite school would be fantastic if one wants to go into leadership, but for other careers it may not matter at all. Without any further research, this view seemed the most reasonable to me in previous years, but last summer we read a piece about elite schools that changed my mind.

David W. Breneman's piece, "Graduate School Matters More", was definately more comforting by relieving stress. His three points were: elite schools are not perfect for everyone and depends on personality, just as long as the college gives enough academically to allow students to succeed onto their professional school of choice after undergrad school, and finance consideration. I favored his second point most because he does not say that any college is alright, but a college that gives enough quality education is great- showing that working hard is still necessary. We need to look at the college's characteristics, instead of just the name is Breneman's view. He compares picking a college to a marriage, "Too many variables are involved to base the decision solely on the factors that a news magazine has selected to rank colleges. No one would pick a spouse in such a manner."