The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Dense Question

      Text:How does William’s dedication to education and the windmill, even though so many things held him back, show about his character?

     Other Lit: How is William’s hunger for education similar to Equality’s? How is it different?

     Reader: What is something that you have a passion for?

 

                The fact that William never gave up, even when facing things that I could never imagine, shows so much about his character and how strong he is internally. Being able to withstand starvation, lack of education, poverty and sickness while still having the mental and physical strength to complete his goal was absolutely remarkable. His loving non egoistic character is reflected through this. He isn’t building this windmill just so that he can get famous; he is doing to save his family, to save his community. He seems so unreal how much he cares for his family and how he always puts them first. He is the kind of person who could change the world for the better.

                Equality from Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem has a similar determination to learn, though he has a completely opposite reason for it. He also never gives up, like William, even though he isn’t provided with a proper education either. His mind and love for education is just as strong as William’s. Equality uses his education and inventions for only himself. He couldn’t care less about his community. In his mind they only destroy him. He is learning and inventing for the heck of it. It’s not saving anyone’s life, or making everyday activities either, or providing a community with a whole new world. He just wants to learn.

                 There are many things I am passionate about including writing, divine literature, art, and music of course. One thing that I am always hungry to learn about is poetry. I can never get enough of how simple words and phrases fall perfectly to create something so descriptive, so beautiful. I have always enjoyed poetry for as long as I can remember. I don’t mean stupid poems like used in standardized tests that don’t have any feeling to them. I am talking about poetry from poets like Shakespeare, Whitman, Frost, Cummings, Dickinson, Poe, and the list goes on. I can feel the words slowly flow from my mind to the rest of my body. I let the words take my soul. I let it engross me. I let the descriptions take me to a new world. I let them run through my veins and rejuvenate my mind. Poetry is my hunger, and my escape.  

Les Miserables

 

           So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation
pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the    element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the
century---the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through
hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social
asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider
significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les
Misérables cannot fail to be of use.
I find Victor Hugo's preface for Les Miserables is very powerful. His use of words and the fact that he only wrote one sentence gives it that much more of a punch. I agree with him completely especially because many of the problems he has stated are ones that we still have today. Many people are cruel and ignorant and like to discriminate and 'damn' people, as Hugo says, because they are different or are less fortunate. People don't like to face the facts that people are struggling and are what they would see as miserable. Literally doing every single thing they can just to scrape by. That's why books like Les Miserables are of use, because they open our eyes and make us face these struggling people so that we can gain the heart to help them.
Examples from Les Mis that support his preface are as follows:
the degradation of man through pauperism - Because Jean Valjean was poor he stole the bread to feed his family, which caused him to get arrested. After he got out people treated him like garbage and viewed him as a monster. He slowly became more of an animal because of the way society treated him for being less fortunate.
the corruption of woman through hunger - Fantine was broke and was trying to find money to send to the people taking 'care' of Cosette. She sold her two front teeth, her hair, and finally resorted to prositution to get the money. She had finally broken.
the crippling of children through lack of light - Cosette was neglected and abused. She wasnt loved or cared for and was forced to wear rags, sweep the streets, and eat with the dogs. All she ever knew was darkness and cruelty. She never knew what it was like to have a childhood and didnt understand that she had the right to a childhood too.


 My Rendition of the Preface.

        So long as there shall exist, by self indulgence and senseless futuristic improvements, an absence of humanity, creating corruption of the human race, and adding the element of non-appreciating to younger generations; so long as the three great problems of the century- the crippling of the human mind through technology, the corruption of the youth through greed and gluttony, the closed minds through rumors and fixated thoughts- are unsolved ; so long as humanity has disintegrated from the world; - in other words with a still wider significance, so long as arrogance and ignorance exist on earth, open eyes and open minds cannot fail to be of use.

The Great Gatsby Book Project

            I chose to depict Gatsby in a drawing. I drew him standing on the end of his dock, as he would frequently do during his elaborate parties, watching the green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock. Behind him is a hand holding a gun pointed at him. It basically sums up Gatsby's life and what ended it. 

             Gatsby is absolutely in love with Daisy, even though she is married to Tom Buchanan. He would always throw these extravagant parties to try and impress Daisy hoping that one day she would realize that she was in love with him too. He would spend nights gazing at this green light at the end of her dock just because of the fact that it was one thing that he could have an intimate feeling for without disrupting or causing trouble with the Buchanan relationship. It symbolizes how he still has hope and still dreams that she will love him too.

                The gun represents how his love for Daisy essentially killed him. He had tried to keep it discrete but even the way he looked at her sparked a fury in Tom, even though he too was cheating on Daisy with his own friend George Wilson’s wife Myrtle. Myrtle was hit and killed by Gatsby’s car, but Daisy was actually the one driving it. Due to the fact that Tom already had a grudge against Gatsby for loving Daisy, he told George that it was Gatsby who hit Myrtle. Out of anger and melancholy George sends a bullet into Gatsby, ending his life.

                My drawing represents Gatsby’s love and essentially how strong it was. He would do anything for Daisy and he died because of her. Basically everything Gatsby had done and was known for, like his parties, were all to impress Daisy. She was the light in his life. 

    

Anthem

12. What is Ayn Rand's purpose for Equality referring to himself as "we"? Discuss the progression to how he comes to call himself "I".

In Ayn Rand’s novel Anthem the main character, Equality, refers to himself as “we” in the beginning and throughout most of the book.  The society where he lives is much oppressed and everyone is exactly alike, it’s a curse to be different. To show that they are meant to be a single group they refer to themselves as we because they don’t understand individuality. It also shows how Equality is loyal to the Council at first.

As the story progresses Equality starts to lose loyalty to the Council and starts realizing how horribly everyone is being treated. He starts to figure out self worth and having an identity. He becomes more rebellious, though he still refers to himself as we.

Finally after he has found the home in the woods with the Golden One he starts calling himself I. He says “I am. I think. I will. My hands… my spirit… my sky… my forest… this earth of mine. What must I say besides? These are the words. This is the answer. I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I am wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.” (pg.94) He is now singing an anthem to himself. He worships himself. He has broken free from society. Just this simple change from “we” to “I” shows how he has grown and realized his true identity.

Creative Writing Assignment.

6. Rewrite the meeting between Equality and Liberty from her perspective.

 The sun beat down on us and our sisters as we spread the seeds over and over. Always the same, never missing a beat. We felt a strange sensation, as though someone were watching us. Without stopping we turned to see a street sweeper standing on the other side of the hedge watching us. We were startled because this is forbidden. There was something different about them though. They were more beautiful than our brothers. They had life in their eyes and a boldness about them. For reasons we don’t understand, we were drawn to them. We communicated through our eyes.  We knew it was forbidden to communicate with a brother, but we couldn’t help ourselves. We stared blankly at them, worried that we would get caught. We heard a sister call our name, “Liberty 5-3000.” The endless lock of our eyes was broken. We turned and walked swiftly away to our beckoning sisters, and wondered if we would ever see that strange brother again.

Advanced Research Topic
2. In Anthem Prometheus discovers the meaning of the word freedom. He states that “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. This and nothing else” (p. 101). In fact, Ayn Rand defined freedom, in a political context, as “the absence of physical coercion” (Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal). This definition of freedom, however, stands in direct contrast to the one held by many modern thinkers, writers and politicians. Today, modern liberals often assert “Freedom must [entail] . . . an increased power on the part of the individual to share in the goods which society has produced and an enlarged ability to contribute to the common good” (George Sabine, A History of Political Theory).

Write an essay contrasting Ayn Rand’s definition of freedom with that of modern liberals, and consider the form of government each would necessitate.

            Ayn Rand views freedom as being singular, solitary, and working only for your own self.  She doesn’t believe in helping others and views it as a drawback. Modern liberals, on the other hand, view it as a way of life. They believe that freedom is “justice, security, and/or equality” (Weaver).

            In Ayn Rand’s ‘perfect’ world the government would “only protect the individual’s right to life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness” (Ayn Rand Novels). She cares about herself and only herself. It doesn’t matter to her that some people struggle to put food on the table while others basically bathe in money. If she is successful and happy then life for her is good.

            Modern liberals are the complete opposite of Ayn Rand. They believe that everyone should be equal. Modern Liberals are all about putting everyone else before themselves. They prefer a totalitarian type of government, in which the government is responsible for how happy and successful each citizen is (Weaver). They have the same view point as the Council in Rand’s novel Anthem. They want to make sure that everyone is equal; no one has a single advantage over anyone. No one can feel jealousy or sadness. The only emotion is happiness. It is basically their idea of creating world peace.

            For me I don’t really lean towards a certain viewpoint. I agree with Ayn Rand that being your own individual is extremely important, but I don’t agree with worshipping yourself and never wanting to help others unless you get something out of it. For the liberals I agree that people should be equal to an extent, like gays having the same rights as straight people, but to an extreme, like everyone having the same salary and being exactly alike. I also agree with the fact that they want to help everyone. It’s important to help people in times of trouble even if you don’t benefit.

            Ayn Rand and the Modern Liberal’s ideas of freedom are completely different. Yet at the same time they are very similar. They are both designed to benefit whomever they worship, if it’s their own self or their whole community. They are making sure that the ones they love the most are given what they want. There isn’t one idea though that’s better than the other. Ayn Rand would never be able to survive with a government run by Modern Liberals, and the same goes for Modern Liberals in a government run by Ayn Rand. Each has their own opinion with its own pros. It’s just a matter of worshipping others, or being an egoist.

                                                            Works Cited

Weaver, Sam. "The Modern Liberal Worldview." RenewAmerica. N.p., 4 Mar. 2003. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. <http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/weaver/030304>.

"What Makes Ayn Rand's Philosophy Unique." Ayn Rand Novels. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://aynrandnovels.org/ayn-rand-ideas/what-makes-ayn-rands-philosophy-unique.html>.

This I Believe Essay

                 I believe in the practice of Quakerism.

                Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, Stewardship. These are the words Quakers like me live by. I have been a Quaker as long as I can remember.  The thoughts and ideas consume my brain. It’s everything I have ever known, though I still appreciate it. I guess you could call me a typical cliché Quaker, since I enjoy taking part in protests for peace, worship organic foods, and basically just a hippie in general. We are the hippies of the 21^st century.

                There are certain things that I love about being a Quaker. I actually enjoy meeting, the Quakers way of worshiping, when many adolescents don’t. I love the peaceful serenity to it. Without even talking, everyone in the room is connected by a comforting silence. I love how free everything is. There are no rules except for “war is not the answer,” of course. I love the fact that we are called Friends. Everyone of us is connected by that, and we all know it.

                For me Quakerism has played a big role in my life. It has helped develop who I am as a person, and it has helped me create the greatest bonds with fellow “Young Friends” like me. My greatest friends are those who I would go on weekend retreats with every other month for years. Those retreats were what I was always looking forward too. They are my family.

                I am a Quaker. I believe in peace. I believe in equality. I believe in simplicity. I believe in Quakerism. 

The Catcher in the Rye Book Project

 In my drawing I have Holden wearing his red hunting hat, but his face is the Little Shirley Beans record he had bought for Phoebe and broken. I chose to draw his hunting hat because in a way it represents his identity. He says “The way I wore it, I swung the old peak way around to the back- very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way.” It’s very out of place, just like him. He hasn’t really figured out where he belongs yet. He talks about how everyone is a ‘phony’ and a ‘moron’. He’s different than all the rest, like his hat.

I drew the broken record because it represents something he really loves and how he is emotionally complex. He looked for forever for that record for his beloved younger sister, Phoebe. He says “The first record store I went into had a copy of ‘Little Shirley Beans.’ They charged me five bucks for it, because it was so hard to get, but I didn’t care. Boy, it made me so happy all of the sudden.” His little sister is basically his whole life, and he will do anything for her. When he broke the record it broke him too. He states “I damn near cried, it made me feel terrible.” He hasn’t really opened up and become super sensitive a lot, and this just shows how much he cares for his sister and how he is complex deep down.

Favorite Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghPcYqn0p4Y

               

               The use of the Polaroid pictures to create a still shot animation was absolutely stunning. It fit the melancholy yet beautiful mood of the song, and the effect is just pleasing to the eye. It’s a simple concept used in an intricate way, kind of like the song. For me the song is a repetitive simple melody that grows more complicated with the lyrics and added percussion. I love vintage Polaroids, so the combination of that with an amazing song to make art is lovely .

                The Polaroid pictures, to me, also represent her memories in the past. She says “help I have done it again.” The changing of the pictures gives that flashback or time travel sort of feel. It makes the song even more dramatic than it already is. It’s mesmerizing to watch. It just suits the song completely.