A Hero?

 Ernest Hemingway believed that a brave hero exhibits "grace under pressure."
But how does one consider what heroism and what is just bron?
       The Sun Also Rises, is a book filled with fallacies. Hemingway's depicted motif of the Parisian 1920's consisted of false morals, relations, and desires. Throughout the book, one can find themselves as a witness to a fake world, built on the physical importance rather than the intimate value. Too often, one can find characters, such as Jake Barnes, possessing the great obsession to have everything he does not. He believes that he is inadequate. Unable to win the heart of the one he loves, Lady Brett, he often shows hostility towards Cohn, the ideal macho man, and often listens to the words of Harvey Stone, who values brandy, more than love and money.
.       Lady Brett, the rather 'loose' cannon, who every man desires, and soon wants to forget. Her non-chalant sexual relation developed from the abuse and fear she supposedly experienced from her first marriage. Now she lives to drain each man of their masculinity, which also becomes the curtain that hides her fear of being alone.
      Cohn, the supposed war veteran, the knock-out boxer, and yet the pompous wannabe. He built this glamour of a macho life back in America, but fears that he can not live up to the hype. In order to prove his self worth, he tries to exhibit a unbreakable persona, that really comes forward as a man with no moral value, as he often tries to better himself by trying to be superior than those around him.
      These characters convey Hemingway's idea behind the destructiveness of sex, excessive drinking and relationships based on false pretences.
     However there is a hero among this all...
        Pedro Romero, a nineteen-year old bull-fighter, is what one would call an aficionado. He serves as the character who completely contrasts every character throughout the book. Romero possesses pride and dignity towards his actions as an individual and a bullfighter. His passion to bullfight gives him a purpose to live rather than the other characters who walk aimlessly through the "Lost Generation." After Cohn, lashes out at Romero, he has the grace to restict himself, preserving not only his pride, but the pride and tradition of a bullfighter. Romero is the ideal man, who stands for pride, dignity, passion and honest.
       What makes a hero?
        Unlike fairy tales, a hero is not a prince who saves the damsel in distress, and lives happily ever after.A hero lives for a purpose and is not quick to overlook the gifts we receive everyday. A hero is one who cherishes everyday, every laugh, every drink, and every breath. A hero is one who takes pride in the life they live, the place they call home, and the work they sweat over. A true hero is a person who does not live for themselves and their own selfish wants. They are not worried about the way some may see them as inadequate, unmanly, or alone. The hero will live to serve their way of life and those who are in it. A true hero is honest. They neither lie to the people the hate, the people they love, nor themselves. They live for a purpose and are not ashamed of it. Most of all, heroes are the people who believe they are just like everyone else. They believe that there is no one below them, or anyone above them. They do not think twice about lending a helping hand to not only the people they know, but the strangers that come their way. For the rest of us who often forget what a true hero is, we do not have to look aimlessly about our lives, nor do we have to prove that they we are worthy of their help. The true heroes are the people who have helped us grow; who have taught us to cherish every moment and to live it to the fullest. Heroes teach us to find honesty within ourselves as well as others, to know that we are worth while. They are the ones who teach us to be  driven to do whatever is needed to make our passion a reality. They are our cause to be better, so that we to can be a true aficionado.

what is injustice?

In the Turgenev text, one could skim through, and here, the story of a young man on his last journey, would seem somewhat melancholic, however to truly see what Turgenev is really trying to conveys lies deep within the text. In the beginning paragraphs he begins to introduce this story as a part of his Parisian experience. Sure, one may think of Paris and instantly fall upon the thought of love in the springtime underneath the Eiffel tower, but Turgenev feels such remorse for the cultural experience he would never forget. A beheading, a rightful way for a serial murder to die. However, its the intricate stories of those who carry out such a task that could make one question; what moral lie behind the the executioner of pure hands, the mayor who does what the people want? Is it "social justice" for a town to congregate around the execution of a "child?" Is it just to watch the lame dog in agony? Should it be right to let the dog suffer knowing that the only thing it has left to look forward to is a long drawn out death? The dog represent the dehumanization they forced upon Tropmann before his execution. They strip him of his clothes and cut off his hair, which could be a reminder of biblical times. When Samson's hair is cut, he loses all his power, he is captured and chained to the pilars of the temple of the Phillistines. He calls out to God to ask him for a last gift of strength so that he could pull the pillars down, to kill the Phillistine so that the Israelites.Much like Samson, Tropmann had the chance to take his own life, but for some reason he lets them take him to the stands. Turgenev dehumanizes the mob of people, much like the Phillistines who were seen as biblical mob. They become sea urchins in a dirty, unorderly wave. Turgenev definitely expresses great guilt for not only Tropmann,but himself. He believes that such a sight is a sin. He believes that you still possess the blood on your hands when you know, that eventhough one has taken a life, taking his life is also a burden, not to be seen as glamorous nor heroic. He knows that doing what the majority wants is not necessarily what is just. In the last moments before Tropmann's death, he fights for the last moment of his life. During this time Turgenev is rendered helpless by his emotion towards Tropmann, to where he almost faints. In the last moments of Samson's life, God grants him the strength to pull down the pillars of the temple, killing the Phillistines and freeing the Israelites from bondage, but not without taking his own life. Before this Samson gave into temptation, where he lost his god-given strength, but redeemed himself in his last moment of life. When Tropmann struggles in the stands, was it for his own selfish desire to live, or was it the last act to show what humanity had become, in the hope to free the immoral souls of the crowd, from the bondage of what they believed was socially just? As the crowd dispursed we can see nothing has changed. The Philistines did not die, but Turgenev, was an Israelite freed from the bondage, by the sinner who gave his life in the hope to save others, for reconciliation of the ones he took . By writing the story of Tropmann's execution, Turgenev works towards the penance of himself as well as Tropmann, by asking us: what is truly injust?

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In the reading "About Men" Elirich uses formal, reverent, and tones of admiration to convey her attitude towards the Wyoming Cowboys. She formally addresses them as men of solitude that have yet to find the words to describe their character of compassion and selflessness. Tender hearted towards the animals, quirky and quiet around the women, they have the ability to fend for themselves in the rolling hills, and let themselves be care for by their wives. They witness and appreciate every rising and setting sun across the Wyoming plains, but has not found the words to fit the such sight. In all, she shatteres the stereotype of the macho, trigger happy, lone ranger, to reveal the calloused hands of a softhearted shepherd.

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the internet....
the nemisis? or the enlightenment?

The internet has both benefited and distraught our society. We have developed a system that can stream live video teaching sessions to impovershed children in tiny towns, and have open a door to creeps ands Craigslist. We are able to advance and store infinite amounts of knowledge, as well as discredit it with rube videos that created the YouTube. We can connect with loved ones far away, or isolate ourselves from human contact. Like anything we possess, if we use it wisely we can benfit from the internet, if not we are sure to create a monster that can consume us with one click.

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 Do you think public schools should teach students ethics and personal values? Which values should schools teach in order to produce “good citizens”? What kinds of values (or even subjects) should not be taught in schools? Classify these values using some guiding principle or standard, and explain the characteristics of each category

I Believe public school should teach students about ethics and give lessons on personal values. to create good citizens, we should teach the importance of respect, not only for other but yourself. The ablitiy to distinguish what is good uses logic, and logical decision create logical actions that will in turn have a society that makes logical decisions based on good ethics.If we have respect for ourselves, we will conduct ourselves in a manner that respects others. If we respect others than we can respect a community, a community turns into a state, and a state to a nation. If public school just began to teach respect and manners, and they can be capitalized in homes, we could have the ideal nation.

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Inspiring Movies:
The Blind Side
Saving Private Ryan
I Am Sam

Though these movies differ incredibly, I believe they all fall under the title, Inspiring movies. These movies send a message of overcoming adversity, the compassion to change a life, and the ultimate sacrafice of laying it down for another. The Blind Side is a true demonstration of how someone can reach out and change the life of another who would have never gotten the chance to make something of themselves. I Am Sam also shows how we can change a life without giving anything. The cold hearted, cut- throught lawyer, as well has the  sam's daughter's guardian, finally stopped seeing Sam as an ex-institutional man, an as a loving father who did everything to provide a good life for his daughter, in which he was denied as a child. Sam himself also faced the ignorance of those around him who saw him as a mentally challanged nobody and proved that he was just as loving and caring as any great dad in this world. Finally, Saving Private  Ryan demonstrated the ultimate sacrafice to save one life by losing your own. Though the small band of men knew they were going to die, they pressed on in the chance of finding Private Ryan and giving back a peace of the mother's heart, that had be as in war torn as the jungle itself.

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Culminating Writers Profile

1. Discuss how your expectations about your writing style and needs have both changed and remained the same since this class has started.

I believe that I need to work on my ability to gathering information from the text more accururately and be able to transfer those idea into an essay that can convey my ideas effectively.

1. What do you see as your strengths as a writer and how have you reinforced them?

As A writer I can utilize my accumulated vocabulary, but I have yet to find a way to implement that strategy into my writings.

1. What do you still see as your writing weaknesses and what have you done to strengthen those areas?

I have yet to conquer my unorganization and find that as my weakness. So far i have began to take time and write notes in the margin and begin to organize my thoughts instead of trying to grad the bull by the horns and trying to write an essay without critical thinking before hand.

Evaluating your writing process

1. If you had the time to write one more draft of this essay, how would you improve it?

I would definetely input more quotes, ideas and analyzation into me my essay, in order to somewhat convey my ideas that I found so hard to do.

1. As you received peer feedback and revised your essay, what did you find the easiest element to improve in your essay?

I found that just using better vocabulary and really just collecting my thoughts before i scribble them across my paper. I can give my opinion and sound educated.

1. Discuss the biggest problem you had in writing and revising this essay.

The biggest problem I found was not being able to collect my thoughts and trasfer them on to the paper.

1. What most intimidated you about this writing process and how did you combat this intimidation?

Time became my biggest intimidation, but I tried to combat it by , writing what i knew and believed as soon as it popped into my head.

As a writer I believe I have the potential to pass the AP exam.