Persepholis

When I first heard that we were reading this book, I felt excited. There were several people that I meet that recommended me to read that book. The first page is one that I've seen elsewhere multiple times. I can only say it surpassed my expectation.

I read the first assigned reading pages, and then a LOT after by accident because it's very interesting artistically and plot wise. The inside humor is most entertaining, like how Marx and Descartes were bickering against each other on pages 42 and 43.

SPOILER ALERT

I also cried when her uncle was killed in prison as a Russian spy. He seemed so cool and loving of Marji. Even the way that Satrapi drew him much differently make him seem more peculiar and interesting. But the author did such a great job of capturing the essence of  the terror and emotion during that entire chapter. It seemed more like I was watching a movie than reading a book.

Challenged Books

Challenging a book is different from banning a book. When a book is first considered to be restricted, it's considered challenged. Once that book has been removed or restricted, it's been banned.

Usually, books are usually challenged because they view them as damaging to the public through ideas. Most of the books challenged are to protect children. countries tend to ban books with ideas or information that counter the ideals that the country wants to promote. For example: the United States views sex as taboo, so books that glamorizes sex or the like tend to be challenged. Books that deal with science or other revolutionary ideas go against previous ideals for religious croups like the Roman Catholics, so they may ban them like during the renaissance.

According to ALA, the parents by far initiate the challenge by 54% followed by patrons (13%), Administrator (9.3%), and board members (2.9%). The different places where books are challenged include schools (36%), school libraries (33%), and public libraries (24%).

After a book is challenged, there tends to be a hearing about the book similar to a trial. Proper ways to do a challenge includes getting the committee or at least some of them to actually read the book. Usually, common questions brought up about the book includes, did the book receive any awards? What reviews did the book get? What are the complaints? Have the students read the book entirely? by choice or curriculum?

Several commonly banned books include Of Mice and Men, Harry Potter, The Color Purple, Kaffir Boy, To Kill A Mocking Bird, Slaughterhouse-Five, Lord of the Flies, and Where's Waldo?

Once specific case is of the book, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. It was challenged in schools, usually in the south, because of it's sexually explicit, the main character gets raped as a child, and it involves violence and offensive language. Usually, the schools comment that the book is too sexually explicit for 12-year-olds, or inappropriate for 10th graders. Some schools provided the option where students over the age of 18 can read the library's copy with a parent permission whereas some schools completely banned it from the library.

I can understand why the book would be banned--I have actually read it. I agree that it's not something that the average 12-year-old would read because of the pace of book and the subject matter. The first few "chapters" (the book is written in letter format) pass in a slow speed that's somewhat confusing the first read-through. I would just imagine that anyone who isn't mature enough to handle the subject matter wouldn't even make it pass the first 50 pages. It is an intriguing read that I think should be available at the high school level. I do feel like that the book should at least have a note or forewarning provided by the librarian or teacher that the book does have some language and sexuality, almost like what they do for television shows and movies.


http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1045361-The-Color-Purple-and-Its-Controversy

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.china/2005-11/msg00592.html

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengesbytype/index.cfm

What to do if a book is challenged


List of Challenged books

War movies

I don't spend a lot of time watching movies, so I haven't seen many wartime movies. I have, however, seen a mini television series that depicts World War II. The story follows a group of soldiers as they bear the wrath of war. The producers aimed more towards historical accuracy, which includes death and injury.

Because of this, they don't glamorize the war at all. It shows the traumatic events in an artistic and respectful manner. Much like Slaughterhouse-Five, it depicts what the war is like through the eyes of the soldiers. Although, it does represent the men more like triumphant heroes than portrayed in Slaughterhouse-Five. But it's not the the extent that Mary O'Hare wouldn't approve of it. It still shows the disturbing sides of war, but it's balanced out to make an enjoyable series.

Physics of Tralfamadore

there are a few thing that come from the Tralfamadorian world that may baffle some people. Hopefully, this may clear some things up. But I do give caution: it may confuse a lot of people!

THE DAY/NIGHT CYCLE
On page 133, Billy states that the Tralfamadorian world has 1 hour of night time to 62 hours of daylight. The common question: HOW?

Well, there are many solar systems which have two starts instead of one star in the center. These are called binary star systems. If Tralfamadore revolved around only one of the stars in the binary star system, the planet rotation speed and year cycle can be set in a way that could follow that day/night pattern. Just think of it like there are two suns in the sky. Here's a diagram showing the visual representation:

 THE WHOLE 4TH DIMENSION CONCEPT
 So, to put things into perspective, imagine a die and a piece of paper. The cuber has 3 dimensions to itself--an x, y, and z. the paper only has two--an x and a y. Imagine that we can only see everything on the 2-D world. If we place the dice, a 3-D object, on to the 2-D piece of paper, we are able to see the dice. However, we cannot see ALL of the die.

So, the Tralfamadorians are able to see in the 4-D world. It would probably mean that they exist in 4-D. What Billy is able to see of them is only a small part of the Tralfamadorians, just like we're only able to see a small part of the die on the piece of paper.

Now, image that there are multiple pieces of paper. The multiple pieces can intersect the die, each viewing a different portion of the die. The paper could be on one side, close to the middle, or on the end of it.

These pieces of paper represent time. We can only see what exists of the die in that particular position of the piece of paper--no other sides to it. To the Tralfamadorians, they can see all of the die, not just that piece of paper we are limited to seeing.

THE CONCEPT OF FREE WILL
I personally side with the Tralfamadorians with the concept of no free will. Let's say I'm given two options: I can either stab you in the hand with a pencil or give you five dollars. It's my choice to do either--the future of how you react to me would be different--you'd either be angry or happy.


If I make the initial choice of "give you 5 bucks," your future response will be happy. The future would be set, so the tralfamadorians would foresee you being happy. The future of you being angry isn't going to happen, so the option of me stabbing you with a pencil wouldn't happen. Because the future is pre-determined (by the process of elimination), there ISn't another option.

It's only human perception that we have free will. We cannot see the future. We cannot see what happens with option A, B, C, etc.. We can only see what options we have, and postulate what the future can be. We can only perceive that our decision making is changing the future--even though the future is already determined because we already made that decision.



Hope that this cleared some questions, although the side effects may include more questions! lololol

A Group

While there are dreadful times littered with loneliness, there are pockets of joy filled with people. It doesn't imply that more people mean more happiness--the only correlation is that the quality of surrounding people directly increases happiness. A group of two can easily be more enjoyable than a group of 20, 12, or even 4 people.

Hanging out with my friend was a high quality time. Battling each other in Super Smash Bros on the Wii, sitting on the couch, and having a it's-my-space-on-the-couch was a great way to pass a few hours in the basement. It didn't matter that there were only the two of us. We made the world shrink into the size of a room, and I felt connected to everyone within our world.

My metamorphose

When I woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, I found myself changed in my bed into a goldfish in a bowl....I didn't know what to think. My once dexterous hands now are floppy fins. My movements felt sluggish in this thick water. The entire room, distorted from the curvature of the glass, frightened me as I felt this abnormal fear of the open. I cowered against plastic seaweed, until I saw the crack of the door widen and a familiar person entered.

My mom first noted the vacant bed, and nearly jumped when she saw a tiny, round bowl with my fish-form inside. She approached me, her head appearing even larger with the curved glass, and tapped obnoxiously against the glass. I scurried around from the seaweed, startled and in pain from the shock waves traveling through the water and into my sensitive body. Her hands then enveloped the sides of the container and translocated my bowl onto the kitchen counter--the busiest room of the house.

Every day, tiny flakes rained from the sky. At first, I was appalled by the sight of the "food." But my hunger won over my pickiness, and I acquired a taste of  the flakes. There wasn't much I could do. I could swim around the tiny, plastic seaweed a few times, but I lacked privacy. Evrytime someone entered the kitchen for some snack or lack there of,  they glanced at me, sometimes sprinkled a few flakes, and continued about their business. I became a captive of my bowl, imprisoned in the kitchen...

No one was feeding my cat. She usually bugs the crap out of me in the morning, afternoon, evening, bedtime, and nighttime, begging for me to feed her in the most annoying manner. She does know where to find food in our house--our OCD dog tends to leave her food unattended if her specific dietary settings aren't met. But living on dog food unsatisfied her eternal hunger. Funny....I always had the hand that fed her--the hand that can open her cat food container and scoop out her food...But today, she has that hand....and DOESN'T AFRAID TO USE IT...