domingo, 24 de mayo de 2015
MY LIFE IN 3 SENTENCES
Complex life. A lot of pain and problems. However, filled with love, laughter, and happy moments.
miércoles, 13 de mayo de 2015
MY ROLES
Leader:
I´ve always liked and have been bossy. Aside from ordering people around and controlling everything and everyone around me, I like to see the effectiveness and impact of doing such things. That means being a leader. I like when people do what I say and listen to me, and I like organizing events or projects. Throughout my young life, at school, my classmates have many times asked me to be their partner, and in group projects in most occasions I´m chosen as the group leader. I am a perfectionist and I´m self-demanding, I like everything to be perfectly organized, and with no flaws. If there are flaws, then I learn from them, although I hate them. I love and appreciate the trust people have in me, the credibility, which makes me feel confident. When I organize something, I have everyone working with me and following my ideas and instructions, the impact it has is extremely important for me. The effectiveness of my leadership keeps me going on. However, being a leader also implies having "followers" who trust their leader, if not they wouldn´t be following him or her. And it also implies listening to others´ ideas and accepting critiques, which is very hard for me though. Leading a group makes me happy. It makes me strong. It makes me confident.
Child:
I love being a child. Being an adult, implies so many responsibilities, and if such are not fulfilled there are consequences, well the same happens with being a child. For example, going to school. When I don´t go to school, which is a lot, I miss important information and content of the current subjects, then the next day I need to use most of my time that I use to do my hobbies for catching up. Looking through my life, I think I´ve done a good job at being a CHILD. Except that I question myself too much, like an adult. But I´ve never gotten ahead of myself or my age, and have taken advantage of each second of being a child, although one day I woke up and realized I was a teenager. In my family, I´ve always been the center of attention and really pampered. Throughout my childhood, I´ve had fun at school with my friends, and at home with my family. My family context has been comforting and cozy, of course I´ve had several bumps. I have plenty of hobbies and I love what I do. I love school. I love playing the piano, singing, dancing, playing basketball, tennis, running, hiking, biking, swimming, learning other languages, and plenty more. Childhood and adolescence is a phase of learning; apprenticeship. I´ve learned a lot, and I´m still learning. I´ve learned about making decisions, and making mistakes, choosing friends, knowing what to do in different circumstances, manners, and opinions. Growing up I´ve developed different opinions on different aspects of life. The problem with me, however, is that I´ve never accepted and liked the idea of growing up, and I´ve never wanted to grow up, and I still don´t. I have always wanted to stay a child.
Student:
Being a student has its fun parts and its responsibilities. I enjoy being a student. I´ve always loved learning new subjects, specially math and history. I like what we do at school as well; work. I´m an extremely hyperactive person who can´t stay still. So, I love doing several things, I love working! I like most of the work we do at school, such as writing: a great way to express my feelings and ideas. Being a student has taught me to use my time wisely. Since I can´t focus on one thing at a time except if I love it, sometimes I take a long time to finish my work. However, the requirements and obligations of turning work on time has helped me use my time properly and wisely, and my concentration has improved as well. School has also taught me that I need to fulfill my responsibilities and if I don´t, accept the consequences. For example, if I don´t give my work in the day it´s due, then it will be graded on a lower grade. I´ve also learned that I need to do things by myself, no one else will do them for me. Since, I am really pampered, many times I´ve thought that my mom can do things for me, like make my bed or pick up my clothes. But the work that school requires, the only person who can do it is me. So, I´ve started to assume my obligations. Learning is one of my favorite things to do, being a student has exposed me to a whole new world of knowledge.
My ABC´s
Arle: a beautiful antique town in France I visited with my cousins
Bubble bath with my cousins when we were 3 years old (which was hilarious)
Cast on my foot: last year I jumped off a 3 meter wall
Daniela: my best friend who I met in 5th grade
Emerald Pool: day trip at summer camp in Maine with my bunk mates
Family´s huge party: my extended family had a huge reunion when I was in 3rd grade
Go-kart accident: I had an accident on a go-kart and was taken to the emergency room in the hospital
Horse bite on the waist: 2 years ago in my farm a horse bit me in the waist and it was very painful
Islands in Galapagos with my mom´s friend and her daughter
Jungle with my mom and one of my best friends, Rebecca, last year
Kamp Kohut: summer camp the last two years, one of the most amazing places I´ve ever been
Lost from my grandpa in a train on its way to Paris, one of the scariest experiences
Maine lobster restaurant: on our way to camp we had dinner on a restaurant of fresh Maine lobsters
Namaste: the first and only time I did yoga with my cousin (very relaxing)
Osbourne family show: one of the weirdest shows I´ve ever watched
Papu: my favorite person in the whole wide world (my grandpa)
Quito´s bullfights 4 years ago: the first time I went to a bullfight and it was awesome
Rafting last year in the amazon with my mom and one of my best friends, Rebecca
Summer: my favorite time in the year!
Tooth falling for the first time: it was one of my front teeth when I was 4 years old
Umbrella incident:I stuck an umbrella inside my mouth, I was in so much pain, and it hurt my mouth
Vacation in Mallorca visiting my mom´s friend, her daughter, and husband
Water balloons mischief: my cousins and I threw water balloons at people, and the police came!
Xmas vacation at Belize
Yearbook picture in Prekinder: a friend was dressed as Galo Plaza, and me as his wife (so funny)
Zoo visit in NYC with my cousin
domingo, 5 de abril de 2015
THE WISE...
The short story, "The Gift of the Magi" written by O.Henry narrates the life of a couple who live in poverty with the least of needs and commodities. It´s the day before Christmas, and poor Della has only $ 1.87 to buy a gift for her husband Mr.James Dillingham Young/Jim. She is crying in sorrow laying at her bed when she decides to go to the hair salon and get her beautiful brown long hair cut off and sold. Della´s most valuable possession was her hair, it was as long until her knees, beautiful and brown. On the other hand, Jim´s most valuable possession was his gold watch, which he inherited from his grandfather and father. Once Della cut off and received the money for her hair she had $ 21.87. She roamed all over town searching a nice gift for Jim. Della finally bought him a fine chain to match his watch, so that he can look at it anytime he wants. She arrived home with her hair as short as it can get and feeling puzzled, she was afraid about what Jim would think about her with short hair and after what she had done. She was waiting near the door for Jim to step in. When he arrived, he stared at her strangely and did not say anything until Della explained her actions and started sobbing. He tendered her, and gave her a package. She opened it and found beautiful combs for her hair that she had so desired, nevertheless she could not use them with her short hair, she convincingly told Jim that her hair would grow fast. Then, she handed over to Jim the chain she bought him for his valued watch. However, he tells Della that both of them should put their gifts away for a while since he sold his watch to buy Della the combs.
The use of firm imagery in this story helps the reader visualize the character´s actions and the setting in that moment:
So now Della´s beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a falling stream of brown water. It reached below her knee. It almost made itself into a dress for her. (3)
O. Henry is applying the use of a metaphor in this sentence representing Della´s hair with a stream of water, or personifying the hair into a nature´s element. O. Henry helps the reader visualize the beauty and greatness of Della´s hair falling down her knee, and making Della and her hair part of a single component. Meaning, inserting her hair within her making it part of her, and vice versa.
This story´s secondary protagonist is Jim, Della´s husband. There are many characteristics which reveal Jim´s good heart, kindness, wisdom, and love towards his wife.
“I want you to understand me, Dell,” he said. “Nothing like a haircut could make me love you any less. But if you'll open that, you may know what I felt when I came in.” (5)
This reveals to us, the readers, that Jim is not a materialist or superficial. He goes beyond the surface and the obvious such as Della´s haircut. He loves Della dearly and is devoted to her no matter how she looks, and what she does. Jim would do anything for his Della and for her happiness, even if it means to take a bullet for her. However, it also reveals Jim´s hurting and surprise of all the money and effort he had put in the gift that Della won't be able to use in a long time.
This is such a heart-felt story which its message touches one´s heart and creates a different perspective of the meaning of love and material and superficial possessions. The message O. Henry tells the reader is that the wisest ones are the ones who give the most valuable gifts: love, appreciation, time, and union. Both of the characters sacrificed their most valuable possessions to buy a gift for the other. But at the end, they gave each other and demonstrated something that goes beyond the unimportant; love, happiness, and appreciation. These gifts are the wisest, given by the wisest.
The use of firm imagery in this story helps the reader visualize the character´s actions and the setting in that moment:
So now Della´s beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a falling stream of brown water. It reached below her knee. It almost made itself into a dress for her. (3)
O. Henry is applying the use of a metaphor in this sentence representing Della´s hair with a stream of water, or personifying the hair into a nature´s element. O. Henry helps the reader visualize the beauty and greatness of Della´s hair falling down her knee, and making Della and her hair part of a single component. Meaning, inserting her hair within her making it part of her, and vice versa.
This story´s secondary protagonist is Jim, Della´s husband. There are many characteristics which reveal Jim´s good heart, kindness, wisdom, and love towards his wife.
“I want you to understand me, Dell,” he said. “Nothing like a haircut could make me love you any less. But if you'll open that, you may know what I felt when I came in.” (5)
This reveals to us, the readers, that Jim is not a materialist or superficial. He goes beyond the surface and the obvious such as Della´s haircut. He loves Della dearly and is devoted to her no matter how she looks, and what she does. Jim would do anything for his Della and for her happiness, even if it means to take a bullet for her. However, it also reveals Jim´s hurting and surprise of all the money and effort he had put in the gift that Della won't be able to use in a long time.
This is such a heart-felt story which its message touches one´s heart and creates a different perspective of the meaning of love and material and superficial possessions. The message O. Henry tells the reader is that the wisest ones are the ones who give the most valuable gifts: love, appreciation, time, and union. Both of the characters sacrificed their most valuable possessions to buy a gift for the other. But at the end, they gave each other and demonstrated something that goes beyond the unimportant; love, happiness, and appreciation. These gifts are the wisest, given by the wisest.
viernes, 16 de enero de 2015
THE END! LEAVING THE COMMUNITY AND MAKING A CHANGE!
SUMMARY:
The Giver and Jonas are talking about release. The Giver explains to Jonas that even if they wanted, neither of them were allowed to apply for release. That rule was added to the instructions after the failure ten years ago with the selected Receiver whose name was Rosemary. The Giver told Jonas that he felt love for Rosemary and didn´t want to cause her pain. So, during five weeks he only transmitted to her pleasant memories, but then he had to transmit to her painful memories. He decided not to transmit her memories of physical pain, so instead he gave her memories of emotional pain. After that, Rosemary wasn´t being herself anymore and was always sad without any laughter. So, she applied for release, and The Giver never saw her again. Jonas wonders what would happen if he floated off or drowned in the river: the memories would go back to the community, but The Giver could help them deal with the pain.
Jonas tells The Giver about the twin baby his father was set to release that morning. The Giver asks his Attendant for the tape of the release of the baby that morning and watches it with Jonas. In the tape, Jonas sees his father weighing both twins and handing the heavier baby to a nurse to take him back to the Nursery. Jonas keeps making comments so The Giver gets annoyed and keeps telling him to be quiet. Then, Father gives the other baby an injection in a vein in his head. Slowly, the baby stops moving, Father puts him in a box and sends him down the garbage chute. Jonas feels extremely angry and confused!!!! The Giver says that he watched the tape of Rosemary´s release but he turned away when she asked to inject herself.
Jonas spends the night at The Giver´s since he still refuses to go back to his father. The Giver says that release is death for everyone, including the Elders, and reminds Jonas that both of them are the only ones in the community with real feelings. So, Father didn´t know he was causing death to the baby, he was only following instructions, which Fiona is being trained for as well. The Giver and Jonas come up with a plan to change Sameness! Jonas must escape to Elsewhere, knowing that he can never come back, and then all his memories will be released to the community, and they won´t be able to pick a new Receiver because there is no one available currently. Jonas really wants The Giver to come with him but The Giver doesn´t want to because he wants to be in the community when the citizens get the memories back, to help them deal with the pain. Then, the citizens will acquire wisdom thanks to the memories, and Sameness will change! The Giver also admits that he is too weak and too old to go with Jonas on the journey, he can´t even see colors anymore! Jonas reminds The Giver that some time ago he told him that when he was young the capacity to see beyond had come differently to him. Jonas asks how? The Giver tells him that his capacity didn´t start with seeing colors, but with hearing music. So, he decides to transmit a memory of it to Jonas. However, Jonas refuses to take the memory away from The Giver. Back home, Jonas pretends everything is okay with his father. At school, he keeps going over the plan which consists: during the next two weeks he will get ready to escape and receive some memories that will give him courage. Then, the night before the Ceremony of Twelve Jonas will sneak out of his house and leave his bike and clothes by the river. Then, he will go into the Annex where The Giver will be waiting. Jonas will leave a note to his parents saying that he left for an early ride along the river, they will be waiting for him but then it will get late and they will go to the ceremony without him. No one will notice his absence since they are all focused on the ceremony. Then, The Giver will order a vehicle, send the driver away and hide Jonas in the truck. Eventually, the community will realize Jonas is missing and will ask The Giver for help. He will tell them that Jonas accidentally drowned in the river and he will help them deal with the burden of the memories. Jonas keeps insisting The Giver to come, but he says he needs to help the citizens and after that be with his DAUGHTER Rosemary.
The plan doesn´t work as it was supposed to. Jonas had to escape that night, two weeks before the ceremony. At dinner, Father announces that next morning they will have to release Gabriel. So, at night Jonas escaped in his Father´s bicycle which has a baby seat attached and took Gabriel with him. He did not have time to go back to The Giver or say bye. Days go by and Jonas keeps pedaling. Well, he and Gabriel sleep during daylight and pedal at night. They follow this routine because search planes fly over the landscape during daylight looking for him, so he and Gabriel hide while they sleep. When he sees the planes he tries to hold on to the memories of cold so that the heat devices the planes have to detect humans can´t detect them. As the days go by the planes become less frequent until they finally stop coming. The further Jonas gets away from the community the more memories start fading away because they are being released on to the community.
Jonas notices that the landscape starts changing, the road is narrower and there are much more stones, which by the way make the bike fall over and Jonas sprain his ankle. He starts traveling at daylight since the search planes are gone. The landscape changes more each time that he even saw a bird for the first time in his life, aside from the memories. They start seeing more and more animals. Gabriel and Jonas are running out of food and start getting very hungry, thankfully Jonas was able to catch two fish in the stream. Jonas starts to wonder that if he would have stayed in the community he woudn´t be hungry, but Gabriel would have died and Jonas would be starving in other ways such as starving for color and emotion! Then, Jonas sees hills which he is excited about! But, it´s extremely cold, he´s on a bike with a sprained ankle, and starving! Gabriel starts to cry, and Jonas is concerned about saving him.
Jonas feels he´s very close to Elsewhere, but he´s afraid he´ll die before getting there. Finally, they reach an extremely steep uphill, but Jonas can´t pedal up since it´s snowing and he has a bad ankle! So, he lets his bike down, reaches for Gabriel and starts walking up, it´s sooo hard!! Every now and then walking up the hill he gives Gabriel the memory of warmth so that the cold goes away for some time, but after a while it immediately comes back. Jonas is feeling peaceful remembering about his friends Asher and Fiona, and his family, and The Giver.They finally reach the top and Jonas recognizes the place, it was the place of his first memory. He notices the sled and grabs it. He starts sledding down holding hard on to Gabriel, he tries to stay conscious and with his eyes open. He looks ahead and sees lights and colors, he know it´s a place of love. Then, he hears music for the first time, he knows there are others downwards waiting for him. Jonas thinks he just heard music from behind too "but perhaps it was only an echo."
TEXT RESPONSES:
To a quote I would like to respond to is to the following which The Giver says in response to Jonas´ outrage of seeing his father kill the baby:
"Listen to me, Jonas. They can´t help it. They know nothing."
Wow! I really would not like to live in this extremely safe yet fake and untruthful community, how horrid. They effort themselves so much to create a safe community knowing nothing. I think that the Giver´s and Jonas´ plan was a good idea, because all the memories will go back to the citizens. Yes, they will have to carry on with the pain, however they will acquire so much wisdom which will help them make better choices, such as not killing people.
To another quote I would like to respond to is to the last phrase of the whole book:
But perhaps it was only an echo.
I was left so confused by this quote! I got so stressed because it doesn´t tell you what finally happens. The fact that perhaps it was only an echo can be an indirect quote to tell us that Jonas died, in peace. Or he probably didn´t die and got to the place of love where he was being waited, but by who?!?! I predict that Jonas was in such peace yet weakness and starvation that he died. But, he died at his best moment, sledding downwards with a person he LOVED.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, Jonas and The Giver finally decide to make a change, to get rid of Sameness. Jonas has to leave much earlier than what they had planned, since Gabriel was going to get released. Jonas goes through a tough time trying to get Elsewhere because he and Gabriel start to starve, he sprains his ankle, and it´s very cold!! The landscape is wonderful filled with animals. The climate starts to change as well and it starts to snow. Jonas leaves his bike and walks a steep uphill carrying Gabriel, they are finally close to Elsewhere. They get to the top and go downwards on a sled, it´s hard to stay conscious! Up front there´s a place of love, the place he´s aiming towards. He hears music, suddenly he hears music by behind but it was probably just an echo... It´s hard to find people as brave as Jonas to do something like this for the people he loves and for his community. The community will finally be like it used to be millions of generations back, with real FEELINGS!! It was time to make a change...
The Giver and Jonas are talking about release. The Giver explains to Jonas that even if they wanted, neither of them were allowed to apply for release. That rule was added to the instructions after the failure ten years ago with the selected Receiver whose name was Rosemary. The Giver told Jonas that he felt love for Rosemary and didn´t want to cause her pain. So, during five weeks he only transmitted to her pleasant memories, but then he had to transmit to her painful memories. He decided not to transmit her memories of physical pain, so instead he gave her memories of emotional pain. After that, Rosemary wasn´t being herself anymore and was always sad without any laughter. So, she applied for release, and The Giver never saw her again. Jonas wonders what would happen if he floated off or drowned in the river: the memories would go back to the community, but The Giver could help them deal with the pain.
Jonas tells The Giver about the twin baby his father was set to release that morning. The Giver asks his Attendant for the tape of the release of the baby that morning and watches it with Jonas. In the tape, Jonas sees his father weighing both twins and handing the heavier baby to a nurse to take him back to the Nursery. Jonas keeps making comments so The Giver gets annoyed and keeps telling him to be quiet. Then, Father gives the other baby an injection in a vein in his head. Slowly, the baby stops moving, Father puts him in a box and sends him down the garbage chute. Jonas feels extremely angry and confused!!!! The Giver says that he watched the tape of Rosemary´s release but he turned away when she asked to inject herself.
Jonas spends the night at The Giver´s since he still refuses to go back to his father. The Giver says that release is death for everyone, including the Elders, and reminds Jonas that both of them are the only ones in the community with real feelings. So, Father didn´t know he was causing death to the baby, he was only following instructions, which Fiona is being trained for as well. The Giver and Jonas come up with a plan to change Sameness! Jonas must escape to Elsewhere, knowing that he can never come back, and then all his memories will be released to the community, and they won´t be able to pick a new Receiver because there is no one available currently. Jonas really wants The Giver to come with him but The Giver doesn´t want to because he wants to be in the community when the citizens get the memories back, to help them deal with the pain. Then, the citizens will acquire wisdom thanks to the memories, and Sameness will change! The Giver also admits that he is too weak and too old to go with Jonas on the journey, he can´t even see colors anymore! Jonas reminds The Giver that some time ago he told him that when he was young the capacity to see beyond had come differently to him. Jonas asks how? The Giver tells him that his capacity didn´t start with seeing colors, but with hearing music. So, he decides to transmit a memory of it to Jonas. However, Jonas refuses to take the memory away from The Giver. Back home, Jonas pretends everything is okay with his father. At school, he keeps going over the plan which consists: during the next two weeks he will get ready to escape and receive some memories that will give him courage. Then, the night before the Ceremony of Twelve Jonas will sneak out of his house and leave his bike and clothes by the river. Then, he will go into the Annex where The Giver will be waiting. Jonas will leave a note to his parents saying that he left for an early ride along the river, they will be waiting for him but then it will get late and they will go to the ceremony without him. No one will notice his absence since they are all focused on the ceremony. Then, The Giver will order a vehicle, send the driver away and hide Jonas in the truck. Eventually, the community will realize Jonas is missing and will ask The Giver for help. He will tell them that Jonas accidentally drowned in the river and he will help them deal with the burden of the memories. Jonas keeps insisting The Giver to come, but he says he needs to help the citizens and after that be with his DAUGHTER Rosemary.
The plan doesn´t work as it was supposed to. Jonas had to escape that night, two weeks before the ceremony. At dinner, Father announces that next morning they will have to release Gabriel. So, at night Jonas escaped in his Father´s bicycle which has a baby seat attached and took Gabriel with him. He did not have time to go back to The Giver or say bye. Days go by and Jonas keeps pedaling. Well, he and Gabriel sleep during daylight and pedal at night. They follow this routine because search planes fly over the landscape during daylight looking for him, so he and Gabriel hide while they sleep. When he sees the planes he tries to hold on to the memories of cold so that the heat devices the planes have to detect humans can´t detect them. As the days go by the planes become less frequent until they finally stop coming. The further Jonas gets away from the community the more memories start fading away because they are being released on to the community.
Jonas notices that the landscape starts changing, the road is narrower and there are much more stones, which by the way make the bike fall over and Jonas sprain his ankle. He starts traveling at daylight since the search planes are gone. The landscape changes more each time that he even saw a bird for the first time in his life, aside from the memories. They start seeing more and more animals. Gabriel and Jonas are running out of food and start getting very hungry, thankfully Jonas was able to catch two fish in the stream. Jonas starts to wonder that if he would have stayed in the community he woudn´t be hungry, but Gabriel would have died and Jonas would be starving in other ways such as starving for color and emotion! Then, Jonas sees hills which he is excited about! But, it´s extremely cold, he´s on a bike with a sprained ankle, and starving! Gabriel starts to cry, and Jonas is concerned about saving him.
Jonas feels he´s very close to Elsewhere, but he´s afraid he´ll die before getting there. Finally, they reach an extremely steep uphill, but Jonas can´t pedal up since it´s snowing and he has a bad ankle! So, he lets his bike down, reaches for Gabriel and starts walking up, it´s sooo hard!! Every now and then walking up the hill he gives Gabriel the memory of warmth so that the cold goes away for some time, but after a while it immediately comes back. Jonas is feeling peaceful remembering about his friends Asher and Fiona, and his family, and The Giver.They finally reach the top and Jonas recognizes the place, it was the place of his first memory. He notices the sled and grabs it. He starts sledding down holding hard on to Gabriel, he tries to stay conscious and with his eyes open. He looks ahead and sees lights and colors, he know it´s a place of love. Then, he hears music for the first time, he knows there are others downwards waiting for him. Jonas thinks he just heard music from behind too "but perhaps it was only an echo."
TEXT RESPONSES:
To a quote I would like to respond to is to the following which The Giver says in response to Jonas´ outrage of seeing his father kill the baby:
"Listen to me, Jonas. They can´t help it. They know nothing."
Wow! I really would not like to live in this extremely safe yet fake and untruthful community, how horrid. They effort themselves so much to create a safe community knowing nothing. I think that the Giver´s and Jonas´ plan was a good idea, because all the memories will go back to the citizens. Yes, they will have to carry on with the pain, however they will acquire so much wisdom which will help them make better choices, such as not killing people.
To another quote I would like to respond to is to the last phrase of the whole book:
But perhaps it was only an echo.
I was left so confused by this quote! I got so stressed because it doesn´t tell you what finally happens. The fact that perhaps it was only an echo can be an indirect quote to tell us that Jonas died, in peace. Or he probably didn´t die and got to the place of love where he was being waited, but by who?!?! I predict that Jonas was in such peace yet weakness and starvation that he died. But, he died at his best moment, sledding downwards with a person he LOVED.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, Jonas and The Giver finally decide to make a change, to get rid of Sameness. Jonas has to leave much earlier than what they had planned, since Gabriel was going to get released. Jonas goes through a tough time trying to get Elsewhere because he and Gabriel start to starve, he sprains his ankle, and it´s very cold!! The landscape is wonderful filled with animals. The climate starts to change as well and it starts to snow. Jonas leaves his bike and walks a steep uphill carrying Gabriel, they are finally close to Elsewhere. They get to the top and go downwards on a sled, it´s hard to stay conscious! Up front there´s a place of love, the place he´s aiming towards. He hears music, suddenly he hears music by behind but it was probably just an echo... It´s hard to find people as brave as Jonas to do something like this for the people he loves and for his community. The community will finally be like it used to be millions of generations back, with real FEELINGS!! It was time to make a change...
sábado, 10 de enero de 2015
MORE EMOTIONS AND SENSING THE UNFAIR SAMENESS!
SUMMARY:
One day Jonas shows up at The Giver´s room and finds The Giver in a lot of pain who begs Jonas to take some of it away. So, The Giver transmits Jonas a memory of warfare, where he is in a battlefield. He is lying on the ground and is missing a big chunk of his arm while he sees his mate die slowly next to him. The Giver feels guilty for having transmitted such a terrible memory, apologizes, and looks away.
After receiving such a memory, Jonas doesn´t want to go back to the Annex, he just wants a normal life again. But, The Giver transmits many great memories to Jonas to make up for transmitting the memory of warfare. He gives him memories such as a birthday party where Jonas feels different and special, riding a horse where Jonas feels the bond between animal and human, sitting beside a campfire in the dark where Jonas feels the joy of being alone. Finally, Jonas asks The Giver which is his favorite memory, and he decides to transmit it to Jonas. He transmits the memory of love in which Jonas lives the scene of Christmas morning. The Giver asks him what he saw and he answers that he saw family "grandparents". Jonas tries to describe an emotion he felt that he can´t find its name, The Giver tells him it´s LOVE. He felt warmth as well. Back home, Jonas asks his parents if they love him. They seem disturbed and startled by the question, and they answer that he has to take care of his precision of language. Jonas is confused, WHAAAT?? His father says that love is a meaningless and obsolete word. Then, they asked him if he understands what they mean and he agreed, which was his first lie to his parents. In the middle of the night, Jonas whispers to Gabriel how everything could be different, how everything could be different with love. The next day, Jonas DECIDES to throw his Stirrings pill away and stop taking it.
The next morning, Jonas´ family hears over the speakers that an unexpected holiday has been declared for the day, and they all cheer in joy! Meanwhile, Jonas has stopped taking his pills for four weeks now and starts having some inappropriate dreams. Jonas also starts seeing color all the time. He also starts feeling deeper emotions and realizes that the citizens have shallow emotions. Jonas finds Asher and Fiona playing with some other kids a game where they are pretending to shoot and kill each other. Jonas begs them to stop playing the game, since he´s felt how war is like! Asher gets angry and starts arguing with Jonas. Then, apologizes. That night, Lily shares about her day and Gabe who has just learned how to walk stumbles around the room saying "Gay" trying to say "Gabe". It´s almost December again, which means that Lily will become a Nine and will be able to have her own bicycle. Father says that tomorrow the twins will be born, and he will have to decide which one is sent Elsewhere. Lily wonders what would happen if one twin was sent Elsewhere, but both twins ended up with the same name, and on a visit they would mix up, and the wrong twin was sent back to the other community. She also questions what if each citizen of the community had a twin Elsewhere.
TEXT RESPONSES:
I would like to respond to the following quotes between Mother, Father, and Jonas:
"Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it´s become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully.
Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory.
I don´t understand how they don´t have love in the community!!! Don´t couples love each other? How can you be married to someone you don´t love? I think Jonas is starting to sense the Sameness and how unfair the community is! He is feeling angry and confused, because now that he´s felt amazing emotions such as love, the emotions felt in the community are too shallow. I predict that Jonas is going to change Sameness in the community, something amazing is about to happen.
To another text I will respond is to the following in which The Giver and Jonas talk about what he felt during the memory of Christmas morning:
"What did you perceive?" The Giver asked.
"Warmth," Jonas replied, "and happiness. And- let me think. Family. That it was a celebration of some sort, a holiday. And something else- I can´t quite get the word for it."
I wonder how and at which point of the memory Jonas perceives the new words. Perceiving the words by himself is part of the capacity to see beyond, or is it wisdom, or is it another capacity unmentioned? I question myself how does he perceive the names and how do the names get to him? It´s so hard to believe that in this community they don´t know these names which we use almost every day!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, Jonas has been receiving completely new emotions which have led him to think about the shallowness of the community. He has felt pain such as war,but has felt pleasure with beautiful memories such as Christmas morning! He´s mad about the Sameness of the community, and thinks it´s unfair that certain emotions were taken away! My biggest prediction is that Jonas will change each citizen´s life by taking Sameness away!
One day Jonas shows up at The Giver´s room and finds The Giver in a lot of pain who begs Jonas to take some of it away. So, The Giver transmits Jonas a memory of warfare, where he is in a battlefield. He is lying on the ground and is missing a big chunk of his arm while he sees his mate die slowly next to him. The Giver feels guilty for having transmitted such a terrible memory, apologizes, and looks away.
After receiving such a memory, Jonas doesn´t want to go back to the Annex, he just wants a normal life again. But, The Giver transmits many great memories to Jonas to make up for transmitting the memory of warfare. He gives him memories such as a birthday party where Jonas feels different and special, riding a horse where Jonas feels the bond between animal and human, sitting beside a campfire in the dark where Jonas feels the joy of being alone. Finally, Jonas asks The Giver which is his favorite memory, and he decides to transmit it to Jonas. He transmits the memory of love in which Jonas lives the scene of Christmas morning. The Giver asks him what he saw and he answers that he saw family "grandparents". Jonas tries to describe an emotion he felt that he can´t find its name, The Giver tells him it´s LOVE. He felt warmth as well. Back home, Jonas asks his parents if they love him. They seem disturbed and startled by the question, and they answer that he has to take care of his precision of language. Jonas is confused, WHAAAT?? His father says that love is a meaningless and obsolete word. Then, they asked him if he understands what they mean and he agreed, which was his first lie to his parents. In the middle of the night, Jonas whispers to Gabriel how everything could be different, how everything could be different with love. The next day, Jonas DECIDES to throw his Stirrings pill away and stop taking it.
The next morning, Jonas´ family hears over the speakers that an unexpected holiday has been declared for the day, and they all cheer in joy! Meanwhile, Jonas has stopped taking his pills for four weeks now and starts having some inappropriate dreams. Jonas also starts seeing color all the time. He also starts feeling deeper emotions and realizes that the citizens have shallow emotions. Jonas finds Asher and Fiona playing with some other kids a game where they are pretending to shoot and kill each other. Jonas begs them to stop playing the game, since he´s felt how war is like! Asher gets angry and starts arguing with Jonas. Then, apologizes. That night, Lily shares about her day and Gabe who has just learned how to walk stumbles around the room saying "Gay" trying to say "Gabe". It´s almost December again, which means that Lily will become a Nine and will be able to have her own bicycle. Father says that tomorrow the twins will be born, and he will have to decide which one is sent Elsewhere. Lily wonders what would happen if one twin was sent Elsewhere, but both twins ended up with the same name, and on a visit they would mix up, and the wrong twin was sent back to the other community. She also questions what if each citizen of the community had a twin Elsewhere.
TEXT RESPONSES:
I would like to respond to the following quotes between Mother, Father, and Jonas:
"Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it´s become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully.
Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory.
I don´t understand how they don´t have love in the community!!! Don´t couples love each other? How can you be married to someone you don´t love? I think Jonas is starting to sense the Sameness and how unfair the community is! He is feeling angry and confused, because now that he´s felt amazing emotions such as love, the emotions felt in the community are too shallow. I predict that Jonas is going to change Sameness in the community, something amazing is about to happen.
To another text I will respond is to the following in which The Giver and Jonas talk about what he felt during the memory of Christmas morning:
"What did you perceive?" The Giver asked.
"Warmth," Jonas replied, "and happiness. And- let me think. Family. That it was a celebration of some sort, a holiday. And something else- I can´t quite get the word for it."
I wonder how and at which point of the memory Jonas perceives the new words. Perceiving the words by himself is part of the capacity to see beyond, or is it wisdom, or is it another capacity unmentioned? I question myself how does he perceive the names and how do the names get to him? It´s so hard to believe that in this community they don´t know these names which we use almost every day!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, Jonas has been receiving completely new emotions which have led him to think about the shallowness of the community. He has felt pain such as war,but has felt pleasure with beautiful memories such as Christmas morning! He´s mad about the Sameness of the community, and thinks it´s unfair that certain emotions were taken away! My biggest prediction is that Jonas will change each citizen´s life by taking Sameness away!
martes, 6 de enero de 2015
Training Jonas!
SUMMARY:
Jonas continues with his training along with the Giver. The morning after Jonas receives the memory of sledding down the hill he does not share it with his family, since he was not allowed to. He kept thinking about the memory, he kept feeling that he wanted to reach something, but he did not know what that something was. When he gets to school all of his classmates are talking about their assignments and their training, and he is mad since he can´t share his training hours. Then, he heads to the annex along with Fiona, and it seems as if she is expecting him to talk about his training hours but he does not. Instead, Fiona explains about how the old have discipline wands as well, and the ton of rules they have. When Fiona goes through the door into the House of Old Jonas noticed her hair change as well as how the apple and the crowd had changed. When he got to the annex he immediately asked the Giver about it. So, the Giver told him that it was a case of seeing beyond but that to him it happened quite different, and asks him if he looked down at the sled when the memory was transmitted to him, Jonas answered that he did not. So, he recalls the memory and looked down at the sled, there it was, changed, just like Fiona´s hair. Then, he also made him look at the books, they changed as well. The Giver explains to him that he is starting to see the color red. He says that before Sameness existed everything had a quality called color and that the color that he is seeing is red, that there are all kinds of colors. The scientists have not gotten completely rid of color, but only the people who have the quality to see beyond can see them.
Weeks go by and Jonas can see all the colors! AWESOMEEEE!!! He thinks it´s unfair that colors were taken away, they are so beautiful! Jonas tells the Giver that he believes it´s completely unfair and wrong that citizens are not allowed to make choices, such as deciding to wear a red or a blue tunic. However, the Giver tells him that the risk is that they may pick wrong decisions, therefore it´s unsafe. Jonas agrees with that. Jonas tries to make Asher see color one day, the color of the flowers, but it did not go well, even worse when he touched Asher which is considered rude in the community. The Giver transmits Jonas the memory of poachers killing an elephant, and for the first time Jonas sees men with different skin tones. After the poachers killed the elephant and took his tusks, the elephant´s mate finds him and roars in sadness. That night he tries to tell Lily that back in the past elephants used to exist, but of course it didn´t work either! Finally, Jonas asked The Giver if he has a spouse or can apply to one. The Giver answers that he does have a spouse, but that she is now living with the Childless Adults. Then, The Giver mentions about advising the Committee of Elders, he wishes they would ask for more advice. He says that ten years ago when the last Receiver failed, the memories did not come back to him and they were released to the world and everyone had access to them. So, that is when the Committee of Elders realized how important it was to have a Receiver to suffer instead of everybody else. Sometimes, when Jonas gets to training The Giver is in extreme pain so he sends Jonas away, until one day Jonas asked The Giver if he could help by taking some pain away by receiving the painful memory, and The Giver agreed.
The memory The Giver sends Jonas is the memory of breaking a leg. He sends him to the same place where the memory of snow took place, but instead the sled tipped over and he broke his leg. During his following days of training, The Giver transmits more painful memories to Jonas but always ends the day with a pleasant memory such as sailing in a lake during sunset. The Giver transmits Jonas the memory of starvation and Jonas is startled why such horror must be kept. The Giver tells him that it gives him wisdom to advice the Committee of Elders. For example, once the Committee was thinking on having birth mothers have 4 babies instead of 3 so that there are more Laborers. The Giver had to remind them that such a large population would lead them to starvation and even warfare. Meanwhile, Jonas´ father says that soon there will be twins born and that they will have to release one to Elsewhere, the one with less weight. Jonas can´t stop thinking about Elsewhere and about where the elders are sent when they are released. Jonas asks if Gabriel can sleep in his room for a few nights, and his parents agree. In the middle of the night Gabriel started whimpering, and Jonas transmitted Gabriel the memory of the sailboat which instantly calms Gabriel down, but Jonas feels it´s going away from his mind. So, he decides to take some more of the memory from The Giver and transmit some more to Gabriel. Jonas is not sure if he broke a rule or not. OOPS...
TEXT RESPONSES:
To a text I would like to respond is to the following conversation between Jonas and The Giver:
The Giver shook his head. "Those are simply the things that I do. My life is here."
"In this room?"
The Giver shook his head. He put his hands to his own face, to his chest. "No. Here, in my being. Where the memories are."
I wonder if The Giver remembers how life was before the memories, before pain. Don´t the Committee of Elders feel sorry for giving a single person so much burden to carry on his own? On the other hand, they haven´t felt real pain so they wouldn´t know what The Receiver exactly feels. Although, I believe he is so privileged to have all the memories, and be able to live them unlike the rest; except for the painful memories.
To another text I would like to respond to is to the following:
"Well..." Jonas had to stop and think it through. "If everything´s the same, then there aren´t any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?"
I completely agree with Jonas´ statement! People have the right to make their own decisions, not only the right but the freedom. And from what we´ve read, freedom is not given to the citizens in this community. It´s extremely important that we have the right to make our own choices, because if we make a bad choice we´ll experience the consequences, and learn from it! How can they know something´s right, when they haven´t felt wrongness or when they haven´t done wrong? Yes, it is safer if they don´t get the freedom to make decisions because no wrong will be done, so no pain or danger will be felt. But, the community can improve if they experience making worn choices, because they would know what not to do. It would be beneficial because this community is obsessed with perfection and Sameness. So, if they get the chance to make their own choices they could even create the community they always wanted to!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, Jonas has shown a ton of progress in his training, each time learning new figures from the past. He is having both painful and pleasant experiences. Nevertheless, he is extremely angry with the fact of Sameness, he wants society to be like it used to be in the past, with the freedom to make choices! He has mixed feelings about the society he lives in, it´s painless but it doesn´t grant freedom to citizens which ANNOYS him of course!! Jonas wants to change Sameness, but he doesn´t know how to!
Jonas continues with his training along with the Giver. The morning after Jonas receives the memory of sledding down the hill he does not share it with his family, since he was not allowed to. He kept thinking about the memory, he kept feeling that he wanted to reach something, but he did not know what that something was. When he gets to school all of his classmates are talking about their assignments and their training, and he is mad since he can´t share his training hours. Then, he heads to the annex along with Fiona, and it seems as if she is expecting him to talk about his training hours but he does not. Instead, Fiona explains about how the old have discipline wands as well, and the ton of rules they have. When Fiona goes through the door into the House of Old Jonas noticed her hair change as well as how the apple and the crowd had changed. When he got to the annex he immediately asked the Giver about it. So, the Giver told him that it was a case of seeing beyond but that to him it happened quite different, and asks him if he looked down at the sled when the memory was transmitted to him, Jonas answered that he did not. So, he recalls the memory and looked down at the sled, there it was, changed, just like Fiona´s hair. Then, he also made him look at the books, they changed as well. The Giver explains to him that he is starting to see the color red. He says that before Sameness existed everything had a quality called color and that the color that he is seeing is red, that there are all kinds of colors. The scientists have not gotten completely rid of color, but only the people who have the quality to see beyond can see them.
Weeks go by and Jonas can see all the colors! AWESOMEEEE!!! He thinks it´s unfair that colors were taken away, they are so beautiful! Jonas tells the Giver that he believes it´s completely unfair and wrong that citizens are not allowed to make choices, such as deciding to wear a red or a blue tunic. However, the Giver tells him that the risk is that they may pick wrong decisions, therefore it´s unsafe. Jonas agrees with that. Jonas tries to make Asher see color one day, the color of the flowers, but it did not go well, even worse when he touched Asher which is considered rude in the community. The Giver transmits Jonas the memory of poachers killing an elephant, and for the first time Jonas sees men with different skin tones. After the poachers killed the elephant and took his tusks, the elephant´s mate finds him and roars in sadness. That night he tries to tell Lily that back in the past elephants used to exist, but of course it didn´t work either! Finally, Jonas asked The Giver if he has a spouse or can apply to one. The Giver answers that he does have a spouse, but that she is now living with the Childless Adults. Then, The Giver mentions about advising the Committee of Elders, he wishes they would ask for more advice. He says that ten years ago when the last Receiver failed, the memories did not come back to him and they were released to the world and everyone had access to them. So, that is when the Committee of Elders realized how important it was to have a Receiver to suffer instead of everybody else. Sometimes, when Jonas gets to training The Giver is in extreme pain so he sends Jonas away, until one day Jonas asked The Giver if he could help by taking some pain away by receiving the painful memory, and The Giver agreed.
The memory The Giver sends Jonas is the memory of breaking a leg. He sends him to the same place where the memory of snow took place, but instead the sled tipped over and he broke his leg. During his following days of training, The Giver transmits more painful memories to Jonas but always ends the day with a pleasant memory such as sailing in a lake during sunset. The Giver transmits Jonas the memory of starvation and Jonas is startled why such horror must be kept. The Giver tells him that it gives him wisdom to advice the Committee of Elders. For example, once the Committee was thinking on having birth mothers have 4 babies instead of 3 so that there are more Laborers. The Giver had to remind them that such a large population would lead them to starvation and even warfare. Meanwhile, Jonas´ father says that soon there will be twins born and that they will have to release one to Elsewhere, the one with less weight. Jonas can´t stop thinking about Elsewhere and about where the elders are sent when they are released. Jonas asks if Gabriel can sleep in his room for a few nights, and his parents agree. In the middle of the night Gabriel started whimpering, and Jonas transmitted Gabriel the memory of the sailboat which instantly calms Gabriel down, but Jonas feels it´s going away from his mind. So, he decides to take some more of the memory from The Giver and transmit some more to Gabriel. Jonas is not sure if he broke a rule or not. OOPS...
TEXT RESPONSES:
To a text I would like to respond is to the following conversation between Jonas and The Giver:
The Giver shook his head. "Those are simply the things that I do. My life is here."
"In this room?"
The Giver shook his head. He put his hands to his own face, to his chest. "No. Here, in my being. Where the memories are."
I wonder if The Giver remembers how life was before the memories, before pain. Don´t the Committee of Elders feel sorry for giving a single person so much burden to carry on his own? On the other hand, they haven´t felt real pain so they wouldn´t know what The Receiver exactly feels. Although, I believe he is so privileged to have all the memories, and be able to live them unlike the rest; except for the painful memories.
To another text I would like to respond to is to the following:
"Well..." Jonas had to stop and think it through. "If everything´s the same, then there aren´t any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?"
I completely agree with Jonas´ statement! People have the right to make their own decisions, not only the right but the freedom. And from what we´ve read, freedom is not given to the citizens in this community. It´s extremely important that we have the right to make our own choices, because if we make a bad choice we´ll experience the consequences, and learn from it! How can they know something´s right, when they haven´t felt wrongness or when they haven´t done wrong? Yes, it is safer if they don´t get the freedom to make decisions because no wrong will be done, so no pain or danger will be felt. But, the community can improve if they experience making worn choices, because they would know what not to do. It would be beneficial because this community is obsessed with perfection and Sameness. So, if they get the chance to make their own choices they could even create the community they always wanted to!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, Jonas has shown a ton of progress in his training, each time learning new figures from the past. He is having both painful and pleasant experiences. Nevertheless, he is extremely angry with the fact of Sameness, he wants society to be like it used to be in the past, with the freedom to make choices! He has mixed feelings about the society he lives in, it´s painless but it doesn´t grant freedom to citizens which ANNOYS him of course!! Jonas wants to change Sameness, but he doesn´t know how to!
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