Honors Blog 2/27/09

Ralph
Ralph is about 110 lbs, 5 feet tall, athletic, and has relatively good posture. He has FAIR HAIR, which is brown, and hangs halfway down his forehead. He has brown eyes, as well. He wears a simple white T-shirt that was meant as an undershirt in his school uniform, and the pants to go with it. Ralph tends to be a leader, but will always try his best to help people with his leadership. He tends to take the moral high road, and for the most part, will always follow his conscience (which is ever present with him). He used to be a student, but in this new society, he ends up playing the outcast - the person who was rejected because although his ideas were good (and frankly, right) - they were not popular amongst the people. He is a relatively good person, and although he has the potential to do bad things, he is aware of this, and tries to the best of his ability to avoid it (to the point where it almost gets him killed). Others in the book, at the beginning, like him, but in the end, their savage side takes over, and they see him as a beast that needs to be hunted. They strip him of his humanity and attempt to make him into a monster, so that they may have an excuse to kill him. Ralph represents the mistreated protagonist of history and modern day life. Every day, people are killed for doing the right thing, in a society of people who don't want to listen. This was far more dominant in history than it was today, but it is still an accurate representation of many situations. Ralph is a relatively simple name, which is probably meant to suggest that he is (or was) a simple person, thinking that we should all be decent and kind, and that society is simple. By the end of this book, he learned otherwise. After experiencing the savagery of everyone else on the island, he came to a realization that human nature is a terrible thing, and deep down, we are all monsters.

Jack
Jack is 5'1", about 105 lbs, sort of skinny and bony, with a little bit of muscle, and bad posture. He has blond hair and blue eyes, with lots of freckles. He wears his school undershirt and pants, but is eventually reduced to his underwear and savage markings on his body. Jack is sort of twitchy, and kind of hyper. He is always moving around, and always trying to be the center of attention. This character used to play the student, but now plays the savage dictator. This character's philosophy is that he should take over as much land and as many people as he can, because above all else, giving in to your every whim, and having power, are the most important things. Others in the book respect and fear this character, although some loathe and fear him, depending on how they have been treated, They start off liking what he has to say and what he does, but everyone ends up being caught up in his lust for power, and they are all too helpless to do anything. This character represents many antagonists in the world throughout history and even today. There are many examples, but one of them would be Saddam Hussein. He had many loyal followers, many of which feared him, and he did a lot of damage. The name Jack could suggest that he has a strong personality, which he most certainly does. This character starts off being unappreciated, but being jealous of Ralph. He then proceeds to strip him of his power, and take it all for himself. He becomes the vicious savage dictator, mad with power.

Piggy
Piggy is fat. He is about 4'8", and in terrible physical shape for his age. Piggy has round glasses, which he uses to see. He has short blond hair, brown eyes, and nice teeth. He wears his school undershirt, and school pants. He is relatively shy, and avoids attracting attention when he can. He is also very socially awkward. This character plays the role of the hated hero. He never receives any merit for his good deeds or ideas, because everyone hates how different he his. He is unappreciated all the way to the grave. This character's philosophy is very similar to Ralph's - he believes in trying to find the best in people, and doing what is right. However, he is far more annoying about it than Ralph is. This is because he is absolutely steadfast in his belief, and nonnegotiable. Other people in the book (except for Ralph) make fun of Piggy, simply because they can't take him seriously. They have even gone so far as to dehumanize him, and call him by the name of an animal instead of his own. This character probably represents either the same person as Ralph in historical and modern society, or he represents the ugly person, who can never catch a break, even if they do everything right. Piggy's name suggests that he is not taken seriously, and is actually treated like a pig (which works perfectly, since they hunt pigs, and they ended up killing him as well). His name also suggests that he is fat, like a pig. This character doesn't really develop. He starts of thinking that everyone should think the way he does, and he dies that way. He turned out to be literally "dead" right.

It can be seen here that the cruelty of men often, if not always prevails. This is because Simon ended up on top, Ralph ended up being hunted like an animal, and Piggy, who was most steadfast in his righteousness, was killed. This also shows that adaptability is key. Simon played on the fears of everyone around him to gain power. Ralph tried his best to survive for a while - by partaking in killing Simon, by considering joining their tribe, by trying to talk to the twins and get them to help him, and by running for his life. However, Piggy did not adapt, so he had a boulder thrown at him.

JITLI DOCUMENTARY PHOTO ESSAY

Safir, Sarah-Jane, and Jay explore downtown San Diego with the rest of the JITLI group. JITLI stands for the Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs Teen Leadership Institute. Sarah-Jane is the videographer for JITLI, but she has taken this one opportunity to get in front of the camera, while Barr, the Israeli Jewish counselor from Shaar Negev, documents. Jay and Safir are able to bond quickly, since they both have a religion in common – Judaism. It is early in the trip, so everyone is still sticking to their own groups, where they feel comfortable. While they are walking along, they are searching downtown for the word “peace” in as many languages as they can find it in. They have already encountered some interesting people, and have yet to encounter a few more.


Smah, a traditional Palestinian Bedouin Arab, and Beth Jacobs, an American Jew, both smile in each other’s company, as they are about to enter Seaworld. This is not only Smah’s first time going to Seaworld, but her first time in the United states. Beth reflects upon the fact that they are all in groups of four or so people, and they each only get fifty dollars to split between them for lunch. Although these two have just recently met, they have started to bond and get along, and have already started to learn to see past one another’s appearances, and have fun with each other. An American flag waves in the background, and their bus starts up to leave, now that everyone has arrived.


The 40 JITLI teens are with their families and each other, setting up camp and having fun on the Jacobs land, a strip of land which the Jacobs family owns, out by the beach. This is their last night in San Diego, before they head off to Spain, so they are celebrating the end to a very fun week. Everyone is singing and dancing, and Alberto, an American Jew, coaxes Adam, an Israeli Muslim, into saying “What up dude!” to the camera. He does it, and everyone laughs, as they have successfully partially Americanized him. After that, they resume with the off key singing and terrible dancing.


In Spain, in the hotel conference room, all forty teens take part in one of many giant group discussions, where they discuss controversial issues. In this particular discussion, they talk about identity, and how they each identify themselves. For most of the Jews, it is relatively straightforward. Most either say “American Jew” or “Israeli Jew.” However, many of the Muslims often identify themselves as Palestinians “living in Israel.” Since they don’t have paved roads, or often times even plumbing or electricity, they probably get the feeling that their country has abandoned them. This is a key issue for them to work out, since before they can talk about everyone getting along and working together, people need to be treated equally and see themselves as equals. Here, Sarah Alsana shares her thoughts on why she is not happy with the Palestinian situation in Israel. Also in this shot are Mai, an Israeli Jew, and Beth and Bryan, American Jews.


From the viewpoint in Israel, all of Jerusalem can be seen, including the Western wall and the Dome of the Rock. The western wall is the holiest site for Jews in the world, and aside from Israel being specified as the holy land in the Torah, the Western wall is one of the main attributes of Israel that the Jews are attracted to. The Dome of the Rock is the third most holy Islamic site in the world, and aside from Israel being specified as the holy land in the Qur’an , the temple mount is one of the main parts of Israel that the Muslims are drawn to. Both of these sites play a key role in this conflict, and upon looking at this sight, many of the participants looked past their own holy site for the first time, and noticed all aspects of the holy land.


All of the participants camp out in the Israeli desert. They are all staying in a Bedouin tent. Just outside of the tent, some camels are within view. There is nothing but sand dunes for miles. Within the tent, they are doing a yarn spinning activity, with Palestinian roots. As a result, the Palestinians are teaching the Jews how to do it. Adam, an Israeli Arab, is seen here teaching Shaked, an Israeli Jew, how to spin the yarn. The American Jews and the Israeli Jews clicked instantly at the beginning of the trip, and after that, the Americans Jews and Israeli Muslims began to get along. However, it was much harder for the Israeli Jews and the Israeli Muslims to get along, since they are at the center of this conflict. However, they were now nearing the end of the trip, and as seen here, Israeli Jews and Muslims were indeed getting along.


After their week in Israel, all of the participants dance together in Jerusalem, celebrating their time together and the friendships they have formed. It is 6:00 in the morning, and they are getting ready to tour Jerusalem. The sun is just rising. They all chant together in a circle on top of the viewpoint in Jerusalem. Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Israelis, and Americans alike all join arm in arm, smiling and dancing, as they celebrate the land which they call consider to be the holy land. The Israeli Jews and Muslims are happy to be showing the Americans their home, and the Americans are glad to be experiencing it with them. The people in view in this shot are Aiat, Smah, Amanie, and Islam, all of which are Arabs, and Jenny and Jay, who are American Jews.

Things For Me To Contribute To The Magazine

My top choice of what I could contribute to the magazine would be my mentor interview. My second choice, which is something I would also like to include on the next page (or in a different section) would be the editorial about the San Diego water quality which I am writing for the second half of my honors assignment. My third choice for something to include in the magazine would be the photo essay of my internship, as well as a short little blurb (this could be a paragraph or a full article) I would write about what the documentary is about, and what I went through in the process of editing it.

A title I would suggest for the magazine is The Joyful Juniors.

An article I would like to read would probably be something similar to the third option I suggested for what I could contribute to the magazine. A general summary of what the student's internships were and what they learned from them.

3/23 Optional Assignment

Although we are facing tough economic times, it is predicted that during our recession, there will be a few industries to thrive. Entertainment is the third on this list. We would advise you, the media industry, to target your content toward an online audience. As this article suggests, the television, radio, and news industries are shrinking, and people are now selecting a source of information where they can choose what they see and hear. Adapt your industry to meet these needs, because if you don’t, someone else will. If you have videos, put them on a website where they load quickly, and are relatively short, so that they may appeal to an audience with a short attention span. The same applies for any other forms of media, keep them short and eye-catching, so as to reel in your audience without them getting bored.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/careers/2008/10/27/15-hot-jobs-in-a-gulp-depression.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-marose/in-a-new-media-world-the_b_173103.html

Learnin' From Immersion

During my internship immersion, I learned how to edit a complete documentary without going entirely out of my mind. I literally did about 80 hours of work, over the course of these two weeks. The way I was able to pull this off was by sitting myself down in an empty room, with nothing but the editing equipment in front of me, and starting to work. Every day, I set goals for myself, based off of what I knew my capabilities and disabilities were. I started off thinking I could get 8 minutes of video done per day, then I realized that was too much, so I adapted. I made my goal to get 6 minutes of video done per day. Two before lunch, 2 after lunch, and 2 when I got home. This, as well as other small methods I picked up reduced stress and increased productivity. What I can try to do is take these tactics, and apply them to the work I do in school. Then, I can be less stressed out throughout the school day, and increase the quality of my work.

Honors Blog: 3/1/09

Nick Carraway
Physical Presence:
-The character is about 5'10", weighs approximately 160 lbs, is relatively skinny, mildly athletic, and likes to stand in a figleaf position, and often looks modest.
Visual Details:
-He has dirty blond hair, blue eyes, a modest, simple face, slightly crooked teeth, no tattoos, and one scar from when he fell off his bicycle when he was 4 years old.
Wearing:
-He is wearing a long sleeve collared shirt and slacks (don't mind the picture). He has relatively nice black shoes.
Behavior:
-He is very quiet and polite, he is always reserved, and although not quite shy, relatively modest. He is quick to respond to situations and has the uncanny ability to analyze a situation and think of a solution, or, if in conversation, to think of advice. He enjoys chicken pot pie.
Societal Role:
-He is in the bond business. He enjoys meeting people, and taking walks around the neighborhood. He also strikes up the occasional romance with a new neighbor.
Religion:
-He is Agnostic. He is very innocent, and virtually un-corruptable. He tries not to associate with people who he deems are lacking in morals, although he makes exceptions. He accepts all others, and tries to reserve judgement. This creates great problems when he moves to a place where people are relatively corrupt and do bad things, and yet they are intriguing and interesting to him.
Other's Opinions:
-Other characters in the book think Nick is very nice, and sociable. They enjoy talking to him, and people seem to trust him for some reason.
World Connections:
-Although he is in the East, he and the other major characters come from the West. This sets a sort of contrast to the book, since the West has an environment and mindset that goes along with it, and the East has a totally different one - one which Nick ended up not being fond of.
Name:
-Nick Carraway probably is symbolistic because of the last name. Carraway could be an abbreviation of "carried away", possibly implying that he is always being carried away from one place and situation to another.
Development:
This character develops in the way that he discovers he likes the West better, and he learns more about the main characters, and what their true colors are.

Jay Gatsby
Physical Presence:
-The character is about 6 feet tall, weighs approximately 187 lbs, is relatively athletic, muscular, and usually remains leaning against the wall, mysterious, shaded, and enigmatic.
Visual Details:
-He has dark brown hair, blue eyes, a chiseled face with a strong chin, straight teeth, no tattoos, and one scar from where the bullet hit him and killed him.
Wearing:
-He is wearing a tuxedo and bow tie, along with shiny black shoes and some hair gel.
Behavior:
-He is very enigmatic at first. Once he gets to know someone, he opens up to them. He has dreams and aspirations, and bases every action he takes and every thought he has off of those. This conflicts with the story because he builds his whole life around winning Daisy's heart, so in the event that he would fail, he would have nothing left to live for.
Societal Role:
-He trades illegally, among other things. He enjoys throwing parties, swimming in the pool, and obsessing over Daisy Buchanan.
Religion:
-He is atheistic. He is willing to do immoral things. He is not a "bad person" per se, he is still willing to do things for others. However, he is partly selfish, but for the most part, it's in a way that doesn't hurt anybody (but himself).
Other's Opinions:
-Other character's opinions of Gatsby greatly differ. Some see him as a great man, some know nothing about him, some are willing to kill him, and most just don't know anything about him, and spread rumors which aren't true (although sometimes that have some truth to them). He may be popular, but he is not well loved.
World Connections:
-He comes from the West, and has been to many different places and met many different people. He first met Daisy before he would be shipped off to the service. He also worked for a drunk on a yaht, and he was a janitor in Yale.
Name:
-The case Jay Gatsby's name is very unique in this story, because he is the only person who doesn't use his real name. His original name was James Gatz. The changing of this name is deeply symbolic of how he as a person changed when his life changed course, and he then based his entire reason for being off of two things: the pursuit of wealth and winning Daisy's heart.
Development:
-This character doesn't do much developing, although you discover as a reader that he is not quite as enigmatic as he appears. The fact that he doesn't develop, and persists in pursuing Daisy, and taking the blame for her hit-and-run, is what leads to his demise.

Daisy Buchanan
Physical Presence:
-The character is about 5'7", weighs approximately 130 lbs, is quite skinny and shapely, and usually composes herself in a very innocent way, one which draws attention from sophisticated people such as Gatsby.
Visual Details:
-She has black hair, brown eyes, a simple, pretty face, and nice teeth.
Wearing:
-She wears a blouse, a turtleneck, a skirt, gloves, high heels, a nice necklace, well done hair, nice earings, and a hat worn at a slant.
Behavior:
-Se is very quiet and polite, she is always reserved, and shy and modest (this is how she acts, not how she is). She usually causes more trouble than she fixes, half the time not even being aware of it. She doesn't really have regard for the consequences her actions have lead to.
Societal Role:
-She mooches off of others.
Religion:
-She is athiestic. She has no morals or values. She breaks promises. She runs people over with her car and lets others take the blame. She may not intend to be evil, but she is. She is quite selfish.
Other's Opinions:
-Everyone seems to love her for some reason. By the end of the book however, I am sure that Nick hated her, her hisband was dissatisfied with her, and had Gatsby been alive, he would have probably had a bone to pick with her.
World Connections:
-She knows and takes advantage of people wherever she goes. She probably has the whole East and West coast under her thumb.
Name:
-The significance of Daisy Buchanan's name probably lies in her first name. She appears harmless. Like a daisy. This could not be any further from the truth. This is only in regards to her outward appearance.
Development:
-Like Gatsby, she does not develop her character. Since Gatsby had at least some morals, and he did not change, he died. Since she is evil, nothing happened to her. This parallels America today in many many ways. She represents all that is evil, and all the justice that won't be had upon these evil evil people.


For Nick, I notice he is more quiet and reserved. I notice that the way he acts, and handles situations fits in with this nicely. I can come to the conclusion that he is a very decent person, and there is nothing hypocrytical or amoral about him. For Gatsby, I notice that he has virtually 2 different identities, in many different ways. He has 2 different names and he has 2 different personas. There is no labeling Gatsby. He is neither good nor bad. He is invested in his own interests, and virtually nothing else. However, his own interests connect him to and affect many other people. For Daisy, I notice that she is evil, and everything she does corresponds to that. That is the pattern. That is who she is. Evil.

Internship Immersion!

For my immersion experience, I am most excited about actually getting time in to full on edit the documentary I am working on. I am also excited because I have been working really hard to get everything scripted, planned, filmed, captured, and sorted, organized on the timeline, and now that everything is finally in place, I can start my official work. I feel this way because I have been waiting a long time to actually be able to get to the stage I am at now, and I was worried that I wouldn't get here. The fact that immersion is right at this point in time works out perfectly, because now I can do what I need to do.

I am most concerned about finishing. Last night, I actually managed to sit down and finish 2 minutes of the documentary, over the course of 2 hours. So the fact that I have 70 hours of immersion and 58 more minutes to edit together takes away a lot of the stress, but there is still the worry that something could go wrong. I still have 5 tapes to capture, and 2 interviews to tape. That takes about 7 more hours. Plus, I need to organize a soundtrack. That could easily be another 5 hours. That leaves me with about 58 hours to edit 58 minutes. So, I should be able to pull it off, but I'll need to move swiftly and be at the top of my game.

Pictures:
http://www.variety.com/rbidata/photogallery/variety/6341.jpg
http://www.lorenzopisoni.com/images/Gatsby-Tux.jpg
http://www.tampatheatre.org/MediaPage/My%20Fair%20Lady%20Color%20Audrey.jpg

Outstanding Blogz with a Z because they are OUTSTANDING.

Examples Of Great Blogs:

-Economic advice to Barack Obama - Jacob Harris
This blog was outstanding because it provided a detailed list of ideas for making this country a better place. All the ideas were based on supporting evidence or logic, and weren't just ideas that have been hashed out and used again and again, but new, inventive ideas, such as this one. "Socialize the medical system slowly but surely, so the citizens of America don't feel as pressured into not going to the Hospital for a bad flu." This is why I felt this advice to Barack Obama was well done.

-Literary Analysis - Sydney Lampe
For an honors blog, this person wrote about the book she read - The Great Gatsby. This tells the theme and all the different primary literary elements of the book, and brings them all together and shows the connections. This can be seen right from the thesis, where she states: The Great Gatsby is a novel that addresses many issues. Scott Fitzgerald develops the theme using literacy devices such as symbolism, character description and historical evidence through the book." This gave me knowledge of a book which I knew nothing about other than the title.

-Historical Writing - Ariannah Hood
This was an honors history blog, and it told the story of populism, and the elections in 1893 and 1993. One part of the blog says: Populism, is fighting for the middle class/ working person. Building up to this election populism was very active. All the industrial workers getting right and starting a National Labor Union, having better education for immigrants and women were gaining more rights." This was a well written blog, which informed me a subject I had never known about before this. It was also obviously backed by much research and background knowledge.

-Another Thing That Makes Blogs Great - Jessica Matthews
Something else that makes blogs great is self reflection. It's something seen relatively rarely, so when it does come along, it helps the reader to get a better idea of the person who is writing and article, and what their opinions and beliefs are. An example of this can be seen here: "My junior year humanities class has helped me so much in my own understanding of our country. I feel that my own opinions are not based so much on what other people think, but what I feel is right or wrong. I have been learned how to form my own opinions and biases and how to dig deeper than just the mainstream media and find out the real facts. I really like the discussions that we as a class have because I like learning from not only teachers but my own peers."

Go Darwin! It's Your Birthday!

As humanities students, and as humans, we have the responsibility to understand not only the workings of science, but how and why. This is because we need to constantly question what we know, the same as Darwin did. This is the only way we can prove ideas to be right, disprove ideas that are wrong, and discover new ideas. We need to question why, because that could lead us to our next, perhaps totally different discovery. The same way Columbus simply stumbled upon America in search of another country, we too have potential to stumble upon a miraculous discovery, just by questioning why and how things work the way they do in science.

Scientific inquiry and knowledge should play a very large part in our society. It should be rooted in everything we do. The way our medical care operates, the way our scientists discover new things (whether it be animal science or cancer research) and the way our government operates. This is because when science is tested to a certain degree, it can be proven to be factual, and when this happens, we can use those facts to our advantage,

As stated before, science should be completely rooted in the way our society works. Science can influence our decisions by helping us to understand ourselves better, and maybe help us to use rational thought, instead of myth and theory, like how the world used to operate 2 centuries ago. It can influence our laws by showing medical and evolutionary facts, which would allow us to develop better health care systems, as well as any other aspect of our lives and world that are affected by science. And, it can influence our culture by allowing us to be more educated and less ignorant to the world around us. When we have a greater understanding about how the world, our species, and we ourselves work, we become better for it.

Happy birthday Charles Darwin.

Honors BLog 2/10/09

Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin develop the theme of large obstacles becoming very little in the name of a greater cause, through Setting, Narrative, and Persona.

For many points in the book, Mortenson and Relin are describing their location, in order to help the reader gain a sense of the setting, and what it was like to look at things through their eyes. This isn't so much describing any formulatic part of their surroundings, but rather, the parts that they noticed, that were specifically important to them. One of many examples of this is on page 194, when he says "The school was buffed to perfection. Dozens of new wooden desks sat in each classroom, on carpets thick enough to sheild studens' feet from the cold. Colorful world maps and portraits of Pakistan's leaders decorated the walls." This helps the theme by giving the reader a sense of what the main characters were experiencing, and from there, they could proceed to understand the mindset of not caring too much about any scary situation they may have been in.

David Oliver Relin is the narrator of the whole story, and it is all told from his point of view. His goal in his writing is to cover the actions and words of Greg Mortenson through his journey, but it's all a secondhand account of these events. As an example of this, I could take any sentence from any page of the book, because the entire book is from Relin's perspective. As an example; "It was 2:00 A.M. Mortenson had only slept for two hours, and as he struggled to understand what was happening to him, being deprived of the sleep he so badly needed bothered him more than the eight unfamiliar men pointing weapons at him and pulling him up by the arms." This develops the theme by (as an addition to setting) giving a specific point of view from which to look at the events that unfolded. The story itself, which is told through the narrative, is the focal point of the theme, and is really what portrays the idea of overcoming large obstacles.

Another literary element used is persona. As an addition to narrative, which is who tells the story, persona mainly entails the writing attributes of the person telling the story. This is perhaps the most important literary element, because while the events themselves help to portray the theme, the mundane way in which many major events (such as the previous example) are written is what really enforces this idea that not only are large obstacles to be overcome in the name of a greater cause, but they are to be overcome in a really lackadaisical sort of way. Throughout the entire book, there is an account of all the events, no matter how important or unimportant, all told in a really abrupt, dry, and blase way. This means that there isn't an abundance of detail, which makes it easier to read, and it also adds a level of humor to the book, on top of really portraying that these events aren't meant to have a big deal made out of them (even if they are a big deal). This is shown right from the beginning of the book, when, on page 2, Relin writes: "The red light that had worried me before began to flash faster. The bobbing needle on the gauge showed that we had less than one hundred liters of fuel... Just as the needle hit E and the red warning light began to beep, Bhangoo settled the skids at the center of large H..."