Monday, January 30, 2012

Literature 4

Bless Me, Ultima
By: Rudolfo A. Anaya

1. When Antonio is young, the old healer Ultima comes to stay with him and his family in their small house in Guadalupe, New Mexico. The family has taken in Ultima out of a respect for her  healing powers, her knowledge of plant lore, and her long use of folk magic in service of the community. Though they have great respect for Ultima’s spirituality, the family, especially Antonio’s mother, is devoutly Catholic. When he was born, Ultima served as his midwife and buried his afterbirth. As a result, it is now thought that she alone knows what lies in Antonio’s future.  One night, Antonio's innocence is threatened when he witnesses the death of Lupito, a soldier who recently returned from World War II. Lupito is shot to death by a mob after he kills the sheriff in a moment of post-traumatic delirium. After seeing Lupito’s death, Antonio begins to wonder about sin, death, and hell. Antonio walks to church with Ultima the next morning, and she tells him that each person must make his or her own moral choices, must choose a set of values to use to understand the world. Antonio goes to visit the garden of Narciso, the town drunk. Afterward, they go to see the golden carp. Antonio’s friend Cico tells him that only true believers can see the carp. Cico says that if the people cannot stop sinning, the carp will flood the land to rid it of humanity’s evil. Antonio wishes sadly that there were a god of forgiveness. He idolizes the Virgin Mary because of the ideal of forgiveness that she represents.Ultima continues to teach Antonio lessons about moral independence and goodness. He goes with her to dispel the ghosts in a haunted house, and they discover that Tenorio has caused the haunting in order to take revenge on the man who owns the house. Ultima drives away the ghosts, but when the second of Tenorio’s daughters falls ill, he begins to regard Ultima with even more hatred. Not long after that, Florence drowns while swimming in the river. Ultima sends Antonio to stay with his uncles to recover from the shock, and he spends a happy summer with them, learning how to tend a farm. On the journey there, Antonio and Gabriel talk about some of the questions that have been bothering Antonio, and Gabriel tells him that he will end the conflict between the Márezes and the Lunas and let Antonio choose his own destiny. As Antonio makes his way from his uncles’ fields to his grandfather’s house one day toward the end of the summer, a murderous Tenorio chases after him. Antonio escapes, but Tenorio shoots Ultima’s owl. When the owl dies, Ultima is doomed to die as well because the owl is her spiritual familiar, or guardian. Antonio sits with her at her bedside and buries the owl as she requests after she dies.
2. The theme of this book is the importance of independence. Antonio’s progress toward moral independence is the main marker of his maturity and development throughout the novel. Antonio’s struggle to reconcile the complexities of his experience with his religion leads him to conclude that he must make his own decisions. He becomes increasingly frustrated by the failure of the church to explain the most pressing questions about morality and human experience. Ultima acts as Antonio’s guide as he learns the importance of moral independence. Ultima teaches him that the most difficult questions about life can never be answered entirely by a  single religion or cultural tradition. Antonio has questions about evil, forgiveness, truth, and the soul, questions he can answer only for himself. Antonio once believed that the Communion ritual would answer all his questions, but Ultima teaches him that he must think for himself and arrive at his own conclusions.
3. For the most part, the narrator’s tone is serious and lyrical, with simple, poetic language used to describe Antonio’s struggles. The tone of the novel generally matches the mood of its main character. "The orange of the golden carp appeared at the edge of the pond. . . . We watched in silence at the beauty and grandeur of the great fish. Out of the corners of my eyes I saw Cico hold his hand to his breast as the golden carp glided by. Then with a switch of his powerful tail the golden carp disappeared into the shadowy water under the thicket." "God! Why did Lupito die? Why do you allow the evil of the Trementinas? Why did you allow Narciso to be murdered when he was doing good? . . . A thousand questions pushed through my mind, but the Voice within me did not answer. . . . The mass was ending, the fleeting mystery was already vanishing."
4. There are symbols used in this book one being Golden Carp. The golden carp represents a magical religious order not connected to Catholicism. The golden carp legend offers its own brand of wisdom, comfort, and moral guidance. There is also Ultima's owl represents represents her life force and the power of her religious mysticism. The owl sings softly outside Antonio’s window at night. Its song symbolizes Ultima’s comforting presence in Antonio’s life and the protective power of her magic. At the end of the novel, Tenorio’s killing of the owl literally destroys Ultima’s life force and leads very quickly to her death. Antonio equates Ultima with the owl when he buries it, he says that he is really burying Ultima. One of the motifs is family The recurring presence of various family relationships uncles, siblings, and parents, especially provides a subtle commentary on the nature of identity and ultimately underscores the book’s main theme of moral independence. Many of Antonio’s family members seek to define his future, especially his uncles, who argue about whether he will become a priest or a vaquero. Antonio looks to other members of his family to help define his identity, especially when he tries to model himself after Andrew, his older brother. In the end, Antonio must learn to make his own choices, drawing from the wisdom and experience of his family, but not being limited by their wishes and perspective.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Meaning of Great Expectations

As a young man, Pip is led into making grave mistakes based on his false expectation of being a gentleman, his false expectation of marrying Estella, and his general false expectation of rising above his past. Ultimately, he learns that true worth comes from inside a man, and turns away from his once-great expectations.

Big Question

Wouldn't it be great to make nearly $111 million a year simply to play a game? Tiger Woods, along with many other professional athletes, certainly think so. But do these athletes really deserve all that money? In my mind, absolutely not. Professional athletes are making too much money in a society where salaries and wages are traditionally based on the value of one's work. In today's society, one should be paid according to the job’s economic importance and their value to society.
      
       Teaching is one of the most economically important occupations because our future economy relies on the education of its youth, yet teachers are paid enormously less than the average professional athlete is. In fact, each basket Kobe Bryant scores earns him equivalent to the average classroom teacher’s yearly salary. However, some may argue that while teacher’s only provide service to a single classroom, superstar athletes are entertaining fans all around the world, enticing people with a feeling of relaxation and excitement
      What these people must not be aware of is the most important man in our nation, the president, who makes critical decisions that affect the entire world every day, only makes $400,000 a year. While President Obama is hard at work reviving the economy, the unproven rookie in the MLB is earning way over that figure. Also public servants like police officers, firefighters, and doctors save lives while risking their own for a fraction of what sports stars make. People in the military leave their families at home to defend and protect the country knowing they may never return. It's truly a pity that none of these true heroes are given the same recognition by society as athletes such as Brett Favre or Michael Jordan are given.
      While I do understand that making it into the pros is not an easy thing to do, and that it takes a tremendous number of hours of hard work and dedication every day to earn a job in professional sports, these people do nothing more than entertain the general public. If these athletes want to continue to be rewarded with the fame and fortune that is unfairly bestowed upon them, they must prove to the world that they are going to be positive role models for future athletes, and those who admire them.
      These infamous players must grow up, and prove to America that they can be positive role models for kids on and off the field. They may get leeway when it comes to their salaries, but the law should be overpowered by any amount of talent. If Alex Rodriguez earns the same amount of money as it would take to feed the nation's poor for a year, he can’t cheat and take steroids. What kids learn from successful ballplayers like him is that “It’s okay for me to use illegal substances, because in the long run, it will pay off by earning me an enormous contract.” In order for these players to gain respect, they need to have a more significant impact on the community.
      Finally, what really puzzles me, is how athletes get upset when athletes say that millions of dollars won't be able to support him and his family, and that they need more. What puzzles me even more, is how after holding out for weeks, and sometimes months, the owners give in and pay them what they don't deserve. Think about Jamarcus Russel, the former No. 1 overall pick in the '07 draft. He is on a six-year $68 million contract, with $31 million guaranteed. In simpler terms, that means that despite currently being recognized as one of the biggest busts of all time, and even if he were to get injured tomorrow and never play again, he will still have $31 million in the bank. In any other job, if you don't perform to your expectations, you're fired. There is no guaranteed money.
      The whole system that allows professional athletes and entertainers to just swim around in money is simply ridiculous, and it needs to stop. When asking people whether they think athletes are paid way too much money, most people would have to agree with me. 


Works Cited: 
1. "Athletes Salary." Mywage.org. 4 July 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. .
2. "Money for Nothing." Business News. 27 Feb. 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .
3. "Entertainment and Sports Salary." Earn What You Deserve. 25 Oct. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .
4. "Salary For Service Careers." Public Service Careers. 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .
5. "City Public Servants' Salaries Made Public." Gothamist. 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .
6. "Performer Salary." Salary.com. 24 July 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .
7. "Actors, Producers, and Directors." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 17 Dec. 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2012.
8. "Athletes’ Salaries Too High?" The Freeman Ideas On Liberty. 3 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .
9. Badenhausen, Kurt. "The Best-Paid Athletes." Information for the World's Business Leaders. 13 July 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .
10. "Pro Athletes and Their Salaries." PayScale Blogs. 20 Feb. 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .

Sunday, January 22, 2012

"A peom worth loving"

I Cry
By: Tupac Shakur

Sometimes when I'm alone
I Cry,
Cause I am on my own.
The tears I cry are bitter and warm.
They flow with life but take no form
I Cry because my heart is torn.
I find it difficult to carry on.
If I had an ear to confide in,
I would cry among my treasured friend,
but who do you know that stops that long,
to help another carry on.
The world moves fast and it would rather pass by.
Then to stop and see what makes one cry,
so painful and sad.

And sometimes...

I Cry

and no one cares about why.

I chose this poem because it really has a lot of meaning to me. When looking up for poets and poetry I found poems by Tupac Shakur. Who is in my eyes the best rapper of all time and seeing that he wrote actually poetry was not to surprising. I didn't except his poem to be like this though, from this you would think he was a guy who would be very emtional. If you know of Tupac you know he is the exact opposite, he's a tough gangster who would cuss you out if you looked at him the wrong way. Also when you see him you would have to think that he lived a life with no worries and just enjoyed life. From this it shows he has a different side to him and actually was kind of sad. For a guy who preached being a tough guy, he might really not be that person. I love this peom because it shows that if your doing well in life people don't want to see you crying and won't help you out. Tupac was a lyrical genius and this just proves even more that he's deeper then what people give him credit for.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Big Question Abstract

In my question I use the term public servants.  By that I mean teachers, police officers, government officials etc.  People that serve society in the public fashion.  In my eyes these people don't get paid equally to the work that they do.  Society pays athletes and entertainers at least double the average income of these public servants. It's important because kids growing up, want to make a lot of money.  They want to grow up being like these athletes and entertainers, so that they can get paid like these people.  A lot of people have no desire or dream about being these very important public servants, on the soul purpose of money.  My purpose of writing this is to figure out why this compensation model continues to persist.  I also want to figure out why these people who work so hard for all these community's don't get paid like these entertainers.  I plan on first looking up the average income for these public servants and then doing the same for the athletes and entertainers. Then comparing the two different incomes and looking up why these people get paid as much as they do.