Kittens Kradule Blog

Throughout the story there are many different parallels found throughout Cats Cradle that connect to the postmodernist views.  Postmodernism really has no true meaning and is percieved in a load of different ways.  People from this really just kinda take a lot of different people and put them in their respective groups just like a "granfallon" or a "karass".  Many postemodernist believe that the real destruction to human life will be the ultimate truth of humanity.  This is also shown becasue throughout the book there are a lot of connections to the religion of "Bokonon".  This could sort of be attactched to the thoughts of postmodernism becasue both of them run people.  Postmodernism has certain views and ideas on the world just like how in the book Bokononism really does the same exact thing, by putting people in "karasses" and also by making people believe in certain ideals of the world.  One of the good quotes in the story is "All of the true things that I am to tell you are shameless lies."  This quote is very eye catching because it is really just showing how the people in the story always have something to look for to believe in because there is not one set thing to believe in.  Pretty much this religion is made to make someone think of something else so they do not really have their attention on the main goal.  They believe they are happy with what they found out but they do not know that they just got off track and are now believing or looking for something that is made to get them off topic.  This is the same as the postmodernist becasue they believe that you should live in your own thoughts, pretty much your own world, and that is a close connection to the ideals found throughout Cat's Cradle.

Brave New World Essay Blog

Well for this essay I believe I am going to argue how the book Brave New World compares and contrasts to the real world.  I think this is a very interesting point to argue because people look at the story and think wow this is so un-real and is nothing like the real world.  We did that when we read the book 1984 but when we looked closer and into the deeper meaning we actually saw that 1984 was very similar to some real world situations.  So I would like to connect Brave New World to real life to help open eyes.  The first source I was going to use to help prove my point was going to be Sir Ken Robinson's video.  His video compared how education worked and how it ran to the Industrial Revolution.  He used symbols such as assembly lines to show this and I believe this could really help out my essay because it is dealing with a real world topic and fits in perfectly with Brave New World because everything in that story is too based on the Industrial Revolution.  Another source I am thinking about using is Postmodernism for Beginners by Jim Powell.  I want to use this because it would help compare the Postmodernism found throughout the story which is also found throughout the real world, but in ways known as racism.   These two sources will help me immensley because both of them hit on two subjects found throughout the book that are very big and important and both of these ideas are found throughout the real world.  Another point that I would like to hit on in my essay would be how they are taking family and love out of life.  I would like to connect this to how people in the real world are taking things from people that keep them original and themselves and take out sources that could really help the individual.  I do not have a source yet for this but I am trying to find one.  I know this idea does not sound to good at the moment but I believe if I fix it up I can make a good argument and it will make sense.

Blog it! :D

There were many different parallels that could be found between the educational video and the book Brave New World.  The one I am going with will be the way that the video compares education to a factory type environment.  This is just like Brave New World because that is exactly how their society is run and sustained.  The assembly line connection from the video is shown throughout Brave New World when Mr. Foster says "Sixteen thousand and twelve in this Centre...Sixteen thousand and twelve; in one hundred and eighty-nine batches of identicals."  This quote really shows like data or statistics that would be taken down and known throughout a factory type place.  The environment of Brave New World is truly showing how the plot of the story is about how the whole place is based on this idea of industrialism or workplace environment.  Everything is only about how well they are doing and how to make this and that easier.  When complication might be the only thing that makes everyone different and better.  That is just how the video is really connected to the book.  The video is all about efficiency for education and how people want it to be.  But is that the smart way to go about it?  When you could be using free thought.  It really shouldn't matter how you test or what your grades are, but what you have learned and how you have matured.  The whole "factory" and "efficiency" thoughts are good, but is that the smart thing to do?  Is it smart to make everyone do everything exactly the same and make everyone be held to the same standards.  I believe that everyone learns in their own way which leads them to what they will be doing in the future.  You do not have to book smart just smart in their own way.  Well that was just my two cents.  PEACE!

Brave New World Posting

"Wheels must turn steadily, but can not turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment." Mustapha Mond.

This quote right here really sums up the whole guides for society in Brave New World because it points out what is "really" going on.  If we try to decifer this quote when it states "Wheels must turn steadily, but can not turn untended."  This part of the quote is talking about a society and how it must run steadily, but only with the help of the people (Alpha and Betas).  "There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axels, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment." This section of the quote points out the other half of what is happening in the society.  It can not run fluidly without "brute" work.  For this the scientist have created a certain type of man to do jobs and dumbed them down in the process (Gamma, Delta, and mainly Epsilon).  If you look at it as a social latter the Apha and Beta are the high class rich, smart, white people. And the Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon are the dumb, strong, and poor people. 

The way this is run really takes away from family, monogomy, impulse, and desire.  There is no way that anyone of these developing humans can choose what they want to do because the directors have already chosen what they are going to be before they get to choose and train them for their future job.  The controller says "Stability. No civilization without individual stability."  This quote shows that instead of using family as help to live and make decisions, that all of the decisions are made by you the person.  Which in the end means that all of the decisions are made by the directors who really choose what they desire you to be.  The "people" they create have no impulse or desire because they were taught to do one specific thing pretty much.  They just do their jobs and really have no clue of anything else.  There is no sight or knowledge on the outside world so they have no desire or impulse to change what they are doing becasue they "love" or where taught to love what they are doing. 
That is what I think.. Not so sure if I am going in the right direction or not.. WHO KNOWS!!

I Might Be About 53.5% sure on what to do!

In discussions of The Tempest, the traditional view is to think that it is about how Caliban is portrayed as a native on the island.  However, there may be other ways to think about this text. For one thing, Aime Cesaire's A Tempest explains the more humorous version of the original version.  And the same source also contends that there could have been a different outcome on what happened because of one difference in the story.  Therefore, taking these positions into account we can see that one small change can make a huge impact in the end of things.

Aime Cesaire's A Tempest is a variation of the original The Tempest.  This version shows how there can be a different way to view the reading of the play.  Aime Cesaire's version of the story shows a much more comical version of the play.  Part of the reason for this idea could be because of the people who read it and did a fantastic job with it, but I do believe that with the literature of this one it was more simplistic and it had more humorous writing.  Another way to look at this story is to think that it is a different outcome of the story.  For example in this version of the play Ariel actually did not like Prospero as he did in the original play.  With this one little change of the story Ariel plots against him with the help of Caliban and the whole play goes in a different direction.

I will use this source for mainly the second reason because I believe that I can prove a very good argument on it.  I want to use it in the way that shows that this one small change can change the whole play in itself.  I like this because instead of Prospero getting everything he wants; he actually will have people plotting against him and these people will actually have the ability to defeat him. 

Thats about it...

Yeah, This is Fun...

After reading through the two articles written by George Will and Stephen Greenblatt, I find it hard to really take a side on the debate.  The articles are arguing about how literature is being read, hence how it is being written in the long run.

In George Will's article he is trying to explain that all is controlled by political agendas and feelings.  This is shown when he says, "All literature is, whether writers are conscious of it or not, political".  When he says this he is pretty much stating that all types of literature are based on some type of political meaning.  Instead of there being some type of specific meaning this quote is stating that it will always tie back to politics.

On the other hand in Stephen Greenblatt's article he argues against Will's article.  He is stating the complete opposite when he says "But art, the art that matters, is not cement.  It is mobile, complex, elusive, disturbing".  This shows that he believes instead of everything being based on one political meaning he believes that there can be several different ways to interpret something.  He also strengthens this argument when he says "Poets cannot soar when their feet are stuck in social cement".  This also points out that you can not be as creative when you are just using one idea.  You need to make it so there can be several different interpretations to make it interesting.

It is hard for me to really choose one side because both prove some pretty good points.  I think I can side with both of them in the end.  I would side with Will because I believe there are some things in literature that are based on politics and are used to get a certain view across, but this is where I split my decision because I do not believe all literature is like this.  I also agree with Greenblatt because other literature pieces usually show many different ideas and not only just one idea.

Native as in AVATAR!!!???

Caliban is being portrayed throughout Acts I and II as being a native person there on the island.  Native people are referred to as "subhumans or "savages" who are inferior" in the Post colonialism article.  This is exactly how Caliban is being treated throughout this whole story.  First he starts out just living on the island with his mother and WHAM out of no where Prospero comes and makes Caliban his slave.  Caliban is not only treated as if he is a savage or native by Prospero but also by Trinculo and Stephano.  Stephano impresses Caliban because of his wine and his courage so Caliban wants to serve him because he believes that this could lead to the death of Prospero.  Stephano is treating Caliban the same way though by stating "Get down and swear it" he is telling Caliban to swear his life to him so he can serve him now.  Caliban adds to the role of him being a native in the story because he knows everything about the island. He says "I'll show you where the fresh water is... pick berries for you... catch birds on the rocks for you".  This shows that he is innocent right now because he believes that Stephano can help him.  Just as in the article when it states that "Western Europeans, and, in particular, the British people, were biologically superior to any other race" the same idea is going around when Prospero or Stephano take advantage of Caliban and his knowledge of his homeland.  Caliban is representing what actually happened when the Native Indians decided to help and lend knowledge to the settlers or at least tried too.  They were taken advantage of and then thought of as lesser people and "savages".  I believe Caliban will help out Stephano but in the end if Prospero will perish, Stephano will do exactly what Prospero did and make Caliban his slave and treat him like an animal.  Well that is why I believe Caliban is representing a native person on the island.     Bye now!

Ze Tempest Blizzog!

        In Act I of The Tempest Prospero showed many ways on how he could control peoples thoughts by telling them stories in certain ways to sway their perceptions.  He uses his variations of stories of the past in order to talk to "control" people in the present.  Some examples of this are when he talks to his daughter (Miranda), his servant (Ariel), and his slave (Caliban).  Prospero used his tactics to perfection when he told his daughter the story of what happened when she was a daughter and he was the Duke of Milan.  He pointed out all of the evil deeds that were done to him by his evil brother.  Throughout this whole process he never gives a true reason for why his brother is doing this.  It is always that his brother is evil...He wants my throne, but he really fails to mention the true reason why his brother did this.  I believe that Prospero might be hiding something that he did to his brother which caused his brother to be so mad.  But he is changing it around so that his daughter hates his brother and he seems like he is the good guy. I also believed that he changed up the stories about Ariel and Caliban to gain more control and power over them also.  For Ariel I believe he did not give the whole story about what happened when he supposedly "saved" her.  I have a feeling that it will end up that he did not even save her but she just does not remember so he uses this to his advantage.  He makes her feel bad by making her seem like she is asking for too much when she asks for his freedom.  This really contradicts itself because he saved her from "torturous" labor to make her his slave?  What is so good about that?  Another idea I have is that I believe that Caliban was also not told the true story about what happened with his mother and how he is being treated.  He probably changed up his story as well in order to gain more control over him and make him his slave.  I know it sounds pretty repetitive but I believe he used the same tactics on all three of these victims in order to gain the upper edge on them and more control over them.

TEE HEE!! ;)

If you are reading this, You might DIE!!

        I learned a lot of new information when we did the socratic circle in class.  I enjoyed doing the circle idea because it really helped me see different views and ideas that I would not have thought of.  My thought throughout the article that we read was how were they making all of these decisions to change the textbooks for specific reasons.  But the thing that confuses me is that all of the people making these decisions have knowledge of history but they are not historians or scientists, so how do they know what should be taken out and inserted into the textbooks.  I believe that a way to fix the situation for the textbooks is to allow the colleges help determine what is going to be in the books.  This way it benefits everyone because then it would make an easier jump from high school into college and all of the high school classes would be learning the same curriculum.  Instead of the AP classes learning the information that the colleges are learning but the regular history is learning something else.  Another way I believe we could fix the situation is to actually let the historians determine what should be learned, because they do know what would be best for everyone to learn.
        Another idea that pops up is how do we really know what is more important?  How can we truly tell what happened throughout history because we were not actually there so how do we know if it is true or not?  All of the information that we have learned for out whole lives might not even be true because what if whoever was writing told a lie to make it sound better or even give it completely different outcome.  We could be learning lies and we do not even know it.  This idea is how I am going to connect my ideas to 1984.  In 1984 the people were being fed lies about what happened in the past because the government changed it so they were always right.  They did this in order to make it that nothing would change and that they would have all time power forever.  This could be what is happening now because we technically do not really know what had happened in the past because we were not there unless we had "time machines" obviously, but it is impossible to every know if our history is true or  not.  The people in the past might have just made up what happened to control our thoughts of what did happen now and we do not even know it. :)

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