i hate that i love... this book

One thing about the book that strikes me is the way the author is so suspenseful. At first I didn't even realize that is what she was doing. I just thought that the book was very frustrating. Now i realize that she was withholding information on purpose. Like a very subtle cliffhanger that keeps you reading. Some other themes besides suspense that are forming include:

1. brainwashing
2. conformity
3. procedure
4. religion
5. war
6. rebellion
7. secrecy
8. deceit
   
9. and corruption
   

wow, that was more than 3 or 4. Oh well, there are a lot of themes in this book. And most of those could be combined or condensed. Today in our literature circle groups we discussed a lot of different possible essay prompt questions One of the questions that we discussed was 'if you were Offred, what reasoning would you have for complying with this new way of life?'. I think this is a good question because everyone would have an answer because it deals with opinion. However, because it is an opinion, it might be difficult for two people to debate. A good debate question might be, what are the benefits of the Gilead society compared to our society, why? This would be better because there are more times when evidence could be used, making it a good debate topic. I think if I was offred, my only reason for compliance would be fear or a form of lying low. If I was planning some amazing escape or comeback I would comply and feign acceptance.
There is a section of the book that describes when they were being trained to be Handmaids. They have to tell stories of things that happened to them as a little kid. One of the girls is telling about how she was gang raped when she was 14. As if brainwashed all the girls listening had to chant "her fault, her fault, her fault" (pg. 72). This quote really proves the themes listed above. It is important to see this quote to help to get an understanding of the way this book is written. It is written with such a blunt outlook on life in this society. There is no sugar coating.

Lit Circle Responses #1

When I read The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margret Atwood, I picture a world very different from our own. I picture a world that thrives off solidarity and hostility. I don’t think that this is a strange view to have of the book. The way Atwood describes the world of Offred, Rita, Nick, and Cora is clearly an exaggeration of an already twisted view of our society. I say this, because when reading The Handmaid’s Tale, it is easy to see a lot of connections between the book’s setting, and the setting of our lives. One example of this is on pages 82-84. The whole household (with the exception of the commander) is watching the nightly news in the sitting room. As Offred watches the old man behind the anchor’s desk, she describes his cheerful features and his trustworthy aura.
She listens to him reassure her of her own safety and the safety of the country. “The anchorman comes on now. His manner is kindly, fatherly; he gazes out at us from the screen, looking, with his tan and his white hair and candid eyes, wise wrinkles around them, like everybody’s ideal grandfather. (Pg. 83)” Lets rewind a couple decades. Not much is different between the mass media of the 80’s, and the mass media of The Handmaid’s Tale. There are still sympathetic yet determined looking anchors peddling lies and false fronts to promote social comfort and prevent unrest.
So, is it just a coincidence that Margret Atwood’s book was published in 1986? Was it a coincidence that the two worlds are so similar? Or was she simply stretching and illuminating the scary world around us? What an interesting realization to have after a week of “isn’t this book freaky…” and “imagine if we had to live like this!”. Now I am starting to think that ‘freaky’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.

A Whole New World

Today in class we had work time 5th period to work on our project. My group and I split up jobs for everyone. Cammy worked on writing the interview, Kayley worked on the flash and I worked on the final revisions of the script. I also helped Julia with her final revisions. I was finally able to leave a message with Studio E, an architecture firm downtown. I think that today was a calming day for our group. With the new chart that Julia made, we were able to clearly see what we had accomplished and what more we have to do.
Part of all the stress we have is due to uncertainty. The uncertainty if we are missing something. The uncertainty if we are doing it incorrectly. The chart made everything a lot easier.
In 4th period we worked off of INFOTRACK. A search engine off of Spencer's DP. It had a lot of substantial information that would have been really hard to find off Google or Wikipedia. I am sure that I will use INFOTRACK for many of my future projects and reports. This is the URL:

http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/sand07018

Let Me Check My Schedule...

I'm not really sure if we are expected to have websites at this point of the project. I read some other classmates blogs and they don't so I am thinking I am safe. This weekend I am focusing on catching up from when I was out sick. Luckily, I think I did ok with Julia's notes for Spencer's test. That reminds me... I have to get someones notes for the water-usage test on Tuesday. Just thinking aloud. I am working on exeter, and adding cues into our script.

Oops

Oops. I forgot to give the post before a title. Um... we will call it... Article Critique.

The article I read in class was about a bus/train crash in Havana, Cuba. Even though the article was really short I was still able to learn a lot about Cuban culture through it. It speaks briefly about the actual crash and goes more in depth about the mysteriousness of the situation and the allusiveness of the Cuban media. Just by reading this, my mind was immediately filled with everything from story plots to technical questions of the journalistic style. I think that I chose this article partially because of the story, and partially because of how naturally enthralled I was when I read it. Yes, I did just use the word "enthralled", but it is really that good.

the URL for the story is http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/10/07/cuba.train.accident.ap/index.html

Like I said, the most interesting part of this article is amazingly enough, its lack of substantial information and facts. There is also a small bit in the article about a youth communist newspaper. All it says about the newspaper is the name, Juventud Rebelde. However, this little tid bit of info gives you a small taste of how different life is south of the border. It makes you want to hear more. To do research, to ask questions, just so you can understand. I think that, that is what makes a great article.

Feel Honored

I went home sick today. I didn't really get a lot of new websites for Spencer's class. For our water project we started our powerpoint. I think that we got a lot done. One website we used for dehydration was:

http://www.medicinenet.com/dehydration/article.htm

Right now I am really to tired to write more (because it requires sitting up straight).

I Could Really Go For a Tall Glass of Clarification

So this is my official blog for Spencer's class. I think I remember Anne saying that if we blogged for her class it counted for Spencer as well. But I can't be sure. So just in case, I am writing this blog to be sure that on the next blog check, I do much MUCH better. We presented today. I am pretty sure that our technical difficulties were due to the fact that I didn't save our presentation. I could have sworn that I was saving as I went. Either way, I ended up redoing my entire section of the presentation in 5 minutes. It turned out okay, and it's good to know that I still have to ability to whip out great products on a tight clock. One website that helped me with almost all my information for the Independence project was:

www.mbajada-ecuador.se/Info.HTM#history

Wow! I actually remembered that from heart. (It's because I have had to use it so many times.) Well this website has a lot of quality information on Ecuador. The history, the government, culture, geography, everything! Hope it helps!

Mentally Singing Curch Songs

Well we finally finished all of our projects that were due on Friday. That gave me plenty of time to do research for our water project in Anne's class. I found a ton of really good websites on our topic, water in the body. I put together this bibliography to hand in on Monday (today) and instead of rewriting them, I just copied and pasted. All of these websites tell you everything you need to know about water in the body, what it does, what would happen without it, and tips for staying healthy using water.

Gilliam, Marjie. “Water: The Body's Most Important Nutrient” 2000. ………Sissel Online. October 7, 2007.
http://www.sissel-online.com/article/water.php

Mullins, Vanessa. “Water and Your Body” 2002. Essortment; Information and Advice ………You Want to Know. October 7, 2007. ………http://iaia.essortment.com/waterbodyhealt_rive.htm

“The Health Benefits of Water” December 29, 2006. Focus on Living Well With ………HIV/AIDS. October 7, 2007.
………http://focusonlivingwellwithhivaids.blogspot.com/2006/12/health-benefits-of-………water.html

Limon, Connie. “Water: An Essential Component to Healthy Living” February 2007. ………Ezine Articles Online. October 7, 2007. http://ezinearticles.com/?Water:-An-………Essential-Component-to-Healthy-Living&id=467913

No Energy to be Stressed...

Today we had our field trip to Balboa Park. I think that it was good to get out of the classroom, but not today. I know that we could all have used the time to work on our projects. So far, I have a lot done on the projects. I found a good website for the South America Independence Project. It had a lot of information on the history of Ecuador. (Which is my country.) The website is

www.mbajada-ecuador.se/Info.HTM#history

Its a really good website for everything you need to know about Ecuador. So Laura, if you are reading this, check out the website! I just wish there were other websites to help me with my other questions. This one was perfect!

No Time to be Stressed!

It seems like there is so much that needs to be done, and with no teacher to help keep it organized, I feel very very stressed. This whole situation with Spencer being gone really shines a unflattering light on the students. It shows just how unorganized we all are and how nervous we get without supervision. Well I don't know if it is the lack of supervision, but whatever it is, it has made everyone panic. Today I worked on a mish mosh of things. Mostly on the review for the interview with Agent Moffit. I also worked on the geometrical sketchpad project and our group finally got a topic for the water use project.

Chemistry Project #1.5

We still don't really have our topic. It kind of makes things a lot more difficult. Because now, not only do we have to do the project, but we have to pick a topic which takes a lot more time. Oh well. Hopefully we will come to a decision tomorrow.

Okay... I see land! Or is it just driftwood?

Today I do not have any websites to add to my blog. That is because we are finally done with the research part of the project. Which makes me wonder... are we supposed to continue to put URLs on? Because I don't know how that will work. Anyway, today we did a lot of work on other things in class, so we didn't get a lot of work time. However, we did hand in the script and I think Cammy made some headway on the storyboard. Next thing on the list is to get the expert source.

Chemistry Project #1

Oops. I messed up. Well anyway, this is my first post for the water conservation project. It is going to be a short one because my group doesn't even have our topic yet. So basically, the only reason I posted this was to make sure you know that I did do my homework. (As much as I could at least.) I will make sure to get our topic tomorrow morning. I am not entirely sure why we didn't get one. But that is okay, for now, goodnight.

Chemistry Project #1

*sigh*

Tonight's blog is one of both good and bad feelings. Bad feelings that come from falling behind in a project. Good feelings from finally making headway in your race to catch up with your peers. I finally finished the script. That is a HUGE deal because I know that it is a very big part of the project. I also can rest easier because I know that Kayley is more than keeping up her end of the work with the flash. I haven't had a lot of time to help her out so I am excited to see what it looks like finished. I am glad I am done with the script because that means that I can spend all my time focusing on the expert source. However, even though that thought is daunting, it is so much less because I can fully focus on that.
I found a few good websites with information on Navajo tradition. I used them to add a few interesting facts to the end of the script. If you need anything on the Navajo tribe these are really helpful.

. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-08/2007-08-08-voa64.cfm?CFID=138386041&CFTOKEN=54427142
(okay, I know its huge)

. http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/mcbride/ws200/navtrad.htm

http://www.native-languages.org/rugs.htm

hope they are helpful!

The Cherry on Top of a Mud Pie

So basically I feel like the entire project it falling apart. I know that that sounds very pessimistic, but I can't help it. It doesn't feel right to blame my group mates for our... problems. I think that the reason we aren't working well together is because we don't really click when it comes to work. It is a foreign theory to me because we are all such close friends. Anyway, I don't want to spend this entire blog entry complaining about all the work we are behind on. Instead, I want to tell you about this amazingly, fantastic website I found. I actually just found it because I was curious. Cammy said something about number symbolism in her part of the script. I guessed the name was pretty self explanatory, but I was still curious to know what it was. Anyway, long story short, I found this crazy cool website that goes in depth about all things related to number symbolism. I figured a lot of this information relates to our topic. It might be a good chunk of information to add to our script. The URL is:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.geometry/unit4/unit4.html

I don't know if there are any other groups that would need a website on number symbolism. Even if you don't need it for your project, it is actually really interesting so check it out!

Cammy (not Cammie)

Well Cammy is my other partner. So I think that it is only right that I critique hers as well. I think she made the same mistake as Kayley and I. I am starting to wonder if this is a very popular thing? I noticed that a lot of other people are doing the same thing. I wonder if it is a miscommunication thing... or just a case of the lazies. Probably the later. Except for me of course. I really didn't understand the prompt.
One thing I noticed is that a lot of people are using the blogs as a place to complain and just, sort of justify why they are not doing a good job on the project. My only advice for Cammy is to make sure and add URLS and go in depth about the information you found that might be helpful to other groups.

Kayley's Blogging Skillz

Kayley does the same thing I do. She talks a lot about the process and not a lot about the specific websites. That is the only thing she needs to improve on. The whole URL part. The rest is really descriptive. But, just like I said with Kerstin's blog, sometimes the details aren't that important. I hope she got a good grade though. Because you can tell she worked really hard. Just add the information about specific websites and you will be good to go! Nice job, Kayley.

JV's Blog

Where do I start? I see what JV was trying to accomplish. He probably kept the blogging page open as he worked and made new entries as he worked. The theory is a good one, unfortunately, I think that if you are going to be a lot of small entries every day, you still have to make them more than one sentence each. When Spencer said that you are welcome to do more than one blog a day, I don't think he meant that you can do a 3 one-liners. That is kind of like cheating. Also, none of the entries have any substantial information. The majority of the time, each entry is some sort of complaint or proclamation of failure. That is not the point of these entries. I think that there is a lot that JV could improve on. For starters, entries that are more than 15 words.

Kerstin's Critique

I really liked Kerstin's. I think that is mostly because she does the exact same thing I do. (It makes me feel like less of a blogging-screw-up.) No offense Kerstin! I noticed that she (like myself) doesn't put the URL of websites she talks about. Ok, now I am scrolling down lower and it looks like she does. So never mind. Scratch that. I think that she did talk a little too much on the fine details. She had a long blog about what she did every minute of the work time. I think a brief overview is good enough. However, details are a good way to bulk up a blog entry. So overall, Kerstin did a very good job. Not exactly a shocker.

Critique of Alecs

I think that his last blog was kind of meak. I thought that the basic idea was good. (getting across the fact that the website was "heavenly") But I thought it lacked a bit more description. He said the website covered US policy. US policy of what?
I liked that it was clear that his group reads each others blogs. He was talking to Marissa. That shows that they are a very organized group. However, I think it is important to use proper English on our blogs. I know that sounds very prissy, but other teachers and students are reading these and I think that it is important to get a good impression across. Other than that, the link worked, which is good. So, good job!

Uh Oh Spagetti O

Well, I realize now that blogging is serious business. I got a very bad grade on the blog check and it is my new goal to blog as much as I can. I was doing some last minute research to bulk up the script and I found this website on the Central American tribe, the Toltecs. It was really helpful. It had lots of information on their culture and history. If you guys need info on tribes in Central America, this is a great website. The URL is:

http://enloehs.wcpss.net/projects/candc/merg/adtmerg1/adtmerg1.html

Another good website is:

http://www.religion-cults.com/Ancient/America/Hispano-American%20.htm

I know the website name is a little cryptic but it covers everything. It doesn't go that much in depth but I think it is a good place to start.

Does anyone have suggestions for an expert source who knows about Native American architecture? All my tries have come up with dead ends.

expert problems

today i finally got in contact with someone who could be an expert source. sort of. his name is ken and he works with the museum of man in balboa park. apperently he is the go-to guy for my topic. hopefully this will turn into something because so far i have come up empty handed when i comes to an expert source.

pigtails and a tiara

Well I have made a lot of progress with the expert source for the Beyond the Border. During class on Friday I found a FANTASTIC source. Her name is Lynn Paxton and she is a professor at Idaho State University where she teaches Native American architecture. I found an article on her innovative teaching subjects online. Apparently she is really passionate about Native American architecture. Perfect Right? Well I thought so. So I bookmarked the website (which also had her phone number on it), and I plan to call tomorrow. (I know teachers hate it when you call them on weekends.) When I am going to call is going to be a problem, I don't get home till 7:00 or 8:00 and by then its already 9:00 or 10:00 in Idaho. I think. I guess I will have to call her during lunch or class or something. That would be good. Then Cammy and Kayley (my group mates) could be there too. That is the official update for the Mexico project.

As for the Mayan artifact project, well there is bad news. Unfortunately, not having my own car, or my own license for that matter, can sometimes cause difficulties. There was no time for my mom to take me to the store for supplies so I am going to have to make due with materials I have at home. For the poster board, I am using an old poster board from an eighth grade project. I am just going to use the other side of the board and maybe, if I have time, I will cover the old project with a large piece of paper or something to make the back look nicer. I don't really know what I am going to use for the artifacts. I wanted to make a necklace and either a painting or drawing of a ritual bloodletting on a stone or old rock. I originally wanted to draw it on clay but I don't think I have any spare clay sitting around. Maybe I will see if one of my classmates has any extra clay. But I prefer that they don't know how embarrassingly unprepared I am. And that is it, that is the 411, the dish, the fat to chew.

I know I have missed the last few bloggings so I hope that this overly gigantic one will make up for it. Just in case I will try to make the next one just as huge. Nighty-night.

Everything Included

Today in class I mainly worked on organizing my information and making sure I had 5 URLs for my bibliography. I got everything I need onto one piece of paper so that is good. I really want to get my expert source for my group but I don't know when I should do it. I think it would be best to do it during Spencer's class because I don't get home till 6:30 or 7:00 on most nights after sports. I want to get a person from the art museum in Balboa park but I will have to do some more research before I can even know if there is anyone there who can help me. Today I also found what I am going to do for an artifact. I found this really cool Mayan necklace but it is really small so i figured i would try and paint this picture of ritual bloodletting onto a piece of clay. I just need to get materials.

Oy Vey!

Well today is the first officially day of posting and i am sad to report that I did not do any research tonight. However, I did do research over the weekend for our mini-project and I hope that counts for something. I found a great website with the URL www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm. If you are studying the Mayans this has a lot of good general info. Also, I am pretty sure that if you go to the home page, there will be links to Inca and Aztec pages. Study on kids! Study on.

First Day of Blogging!

Today is the first day of blogging and I am elated! Ok not neccesarily elated, more like comfortably curious. I have never had a blog before, and even though I have heard a bunch of creepy horror stories about blog-stalkers, I think it will be kind of interesting to have an online diary. I have to go now because I am distracting Cammy with my refreshing wit. Ta Ta.