25
January
2007
T.S. Eliot The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Lines 37-48
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
This passage speaks to the insecurities Prufrock has of his outward appearance and how maybe these are the reasons he is not able to speak to women. The lines “My morning coat…simple pin” gives the reader a good idea of what Prufrock looks like and to the reader it seems like he should have nothing to be ashamed of in his outward appearance because he is clean and well dressed. But then his thoughts get the better of him ad he says, “[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]” In this passage Prufrock constantly goes back and forth with what he looks like and how those around him perceive him. In this sense the voice of this passage is fairly meek and worried sounding.
Prufrock is very deluded with the idea that he has all the time in the world to make his move. He constantly says “there will be time,” even though when he looks talks about himself he gives the illusion that he knows he is aging. “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair.” He knows that he is getting older and older but yet he still puts off his confrontations, and with the excuse that he is getting old but then he still says there is time. That all seems very confusing, but throughout the poem he constantly contradicts himself.
The other thing that struck out to me was the lines when he says “Do I dare/ Disturb the universe?” This shows what Prufrock thinks of the idea of confronting women. He feels that it is such a big deal as to say he would be disrupting “the universe.” In reality, it is not such a big deal but since he makes it one in his mind that shows his extreme insecurity.
The rhythm and rhyme of this passage flows very fast at first as if he these ideas are rushing out of his thoughts. But then at line 45, “Do I dare…” he gives an abrupt stop and seems to be thinking “wait. Am I really going to go through with this?” Then he deludes himself with the time issue and falls back into his rhyming pattern. It is as if he comes to the point where he is about to make a decision and then he falls back on the idea that he doesn’t have to make that decision just yet because he still has a lot of time. The more he thinks about this issue, the more excuses and what-ifs he comes up with which hinder him from moving forward in life.
Posted under Prufrock
22
December
2006
The inadequate funding of schools leaves the school and state in charge of funding many of the schools needs. With the No Child Left Behind Act, a higher performance is required, but since the schools do not have enough money to provide the students with all their needs, such as books, other supplies, and good teachers, many students easily fall behind. When these students fall below the test scores they are possible moved to another school that has better test scores. And in Jamie McKenzie’s article on the effects of the No Child Left Behind Act, she says:
NCLB’s Choice provisions ignore such realities, suggesting that poorly performing students will somehow magically become good readers by moving to a school with good scores.
The realities that she is talking about are how students who are below the test score level need extra help, which the new school may not be able to provide. Then when testing comes around again, the schools overall scores may greatly decrease. The money that is put into education is gotten out through the teaching and helping of the students. To improve the performance of the students, the school must provide more capable systems, including more capable teachers and better supplies. As Richard Elmore says:
Want to improve schools? Invest in the people who work in them.
The idea of “leaving no child behind” is great, but in reality this system allows for more students to easily fall behind and not so easily achieve their fullest potential.
Posted under Domestic Issues
21
December
2006
President Bush’s economic policy is that of “supply-side economics.” It is very similar to the policies of Reagan in the 1980’s. Both programs reduce taxes (tax cuts) and give money to businesses so that the money will eventually “trickle down” to the working class. This makes it less expensive to produce goods and the idea is that businesses will then give that money towards higher wages for their workers.
With Bush’s program today, much of social welfare funding, such as for education and health care, is being cut. According to Jacquie Heffner’s article on Bush’s economic policy, Federal programs are going to be cut by $470 billion over the next ten years.
Exactly what does this [470 billion in tax cuts] mean? It means, to start with, Medicare must be cut by $214 billion, $93 billion must be cut from Medicaid, $15 billion in cuts to veterans programs, and $12 billion in cuts to the food stamp program.
And, according to Robert Greenstein, these cuts
could harshly affect the poor, the vulnerable, and many middleclass Americans, alongside lavish tax cuts for the nation’s richest individuals.
The bad effects of Bush’s program seem much worse than the “good” effects, which are that his program will boost the economy. In reality, when Reagan implimented supply-side economics, it did boost the economy a bit but it did not offset the tax revenue and greatly increased the U.S.’s foreign deficit. And in fact,
Two tax increases in 1990 and 1993 helped put the nation on the road to fiscal and economic recovery.
Bush’s economic policy has not helped the U.S. economy and has only helped the rich get richer and the poor become poorer, especially since her has cut so much funding from welfare programs. Also the program does nothing to help our growing deficit, it actually only increases it.
Over the next ten years this plan will decrease federal revenues, increase deficits and require the federal government to cut back almost all of its entitlement programs.
The realities of this program are very real for the middle and lower class, as they will be the ones feeling the burden of these tax cuts.
Posted under Domestic Issues
19
December
2006
Water conservation and prevention of pollution is a major issue which the U.S. needs to put more effort into. Currently our largest aquifer, the Ogallala, is being depleted 8 times faster than it can be replenished. Also with the increase of pollution, the amount of usable water is decreasing. It is much more expensive to clean water, such as in sewage treatment plants, than to keep it clean in the first place. One of the main causes of pollution is from nonpoint source pollution. The source of this pollution is not identifiable and therefore hard to control and set regulations on.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, one way to get cleaner water is through conservation. By simple things, such as fixing leaky faucets and implimenting more efficient irrigation systems, tons of water could be conserved, leading to better water quality because of dillution. They go on to list the benefit of water conservation and pollution prevention.
The many benefits of water use efficiency include cost savings and pollution prevention even beyond nonpoint source pollution because many pollution prevention practices and activities result in reduced water use, which saves money. However, some pollution prevention practices that do not reduce NPS pollution also provide a cost savings, making these three driving forces (water use efficiency, cost savings, and pollution prevention) great companions.
Not only would conserving water help with water quality and provide for a better environmentally stable future, but it would also save money, which could be put to use towards other issues such as education, social welfare, medicare, and other important domestic issues.
Posted under Domestic Issues
17
December
2006
In the New York Times article on the summary of the Baker Report on solutions to the war in Iraq, the committee suggests a combination of ways to influence the area. One is about how to get the surrounding countries involved in promoting peace in Iraq. I feel that this is extremely important for the implementing peace in the whole region, especially when going through the religious leaders of the two dissenting groups. The real conflict is over religion in the area and the religious leaders will have the best success at getting through to the two factions. I am not exactly sure how we could do this but if a neutral person talked things over with the leaders, I think that progress could be made. It is important to be in communication with the surrounding countries so that they do not escalate the civil war in Iraq.
The Iraq war is dividing all the countries around it. In a Seattle Times report, it was said that
Saudi Arabia’s royal family and government leaders are deeply divided over how to handle the growing crisis in Iraq and other looming Mideast problems like Iran, with some favoring strong aid to fellow Sunnis and others more cautious.
This confusion within the country lead to resignation of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S and could also lead to the U.S. involvement in Iraq becoming more difficult and complicated. If the U.S. does not treat this war as a regional conflict, there will definitely be trouble ahead and our influence in the area may wane. It is of our best interest to start getting involved in talks with the surrounding countries of Iraq if we want any positive progress to be made.
Posted under Iraq War
15
December
2006
One afternoon back when I was a child in Yoroido, a little boy names Gisuke climbed a tree to jump into the pond. He climbed much higher than he should have; the water wasn’t deep enough. But when we told him not to jump, he was afraid to climg down because of the rocks under the tree. I ran to the village to find his father, Mr. Yamashita, who came walking so calmly up the hill, I wondered if he realized what danger his son was in. He stepped underneath the tree just as the boy- unaware of his father’s presence- lost his grip and fell. Mr. Yamashita caught him as easily as if someone had dropped a sack into his arms, and set him upright. We all of us cried out in delight, and skipped around at the edge of the pond while Gisuke stood blinking his eyes very quickly, little tears of astonishment gathering on his lashes. (417)
Sayuri tells us this anecdote right after she finds out that the Chairman, the man she has been hoping to love her since the day she met him, tells her that he does. In order to do this, Sayuri put her entire future in jeopardy and ruined one of her best friendships. Just when she thought nothing good was going to happen to her, the Chairman overwhelmed her with his declaration of caring for her. Up to this point, Sayuri left her future up to fate and destiny, believing that she would have to be unhappy, but when she did take matters into her own hands, it turned out for the best.
Sayuri often relates to stories from her childhood to tell how she is feeling or explain an action of hers. I found this passage so sad and yet happy. When she says how the boy could not jump and also could not climb down, I pictured Sayuri battling with her inner self on how she had gone too far to stay true to her duties and yet she was still “stuck” in that she could not have what she wanted. Sayuri is saying that the Chairman rescued her from her inevitable fall, just as Mr. Tamashita caught his son, “as easily as if someone had dropped a sack into his arms.” The one thing that could set Sayuri free from her hopelessness, the Chairman gave to her by expressing his love for her and understanding her. In the end, when she says “little tears of astonishment gathering on his lashes,” she is expressing how incredibly relieved, surprised, and grateful she feels towards the Chairman. While their relationship was complicated and it took them so long to find each other, the smooth transition that they made after expressing their love for one another, was like that of the boy being caught after an anticipated doom.
Posted under independent reading
4
December
2006
I looked at her with the idea of making one last plea, but when I saw the expression on her face, I thought better of it. I can’t say what she was thinking; but she seemed to be peering into nothingness with her perfect oval face creased in the corners of her eyes and mouth from strain. And then she let out a heavy breath, and gazed down into her teacup with what I took as a look of bitterness. (page 296)
This passage comes after Sayuri (Chiyo’s geisha name) has learned that Nobu wants to become her danna, meaning she will become his mistress and pay for many of her expenses. While Sayuri likes Nobu-san and knows he will be good to her, she doesn’t love him as she loves the chairman and since the chairman and Nobu are good friends, she could never be with the chairman if Nobu became her danna. Here she is pleading with her “older sister” because she wants to live a life of love. Her older sister, Mameha, tells her that it is her destiny to be with Nobu and must be happy with that because he will treat her well. Sayuri tries to ask her if she ever loved a man. But in the end she gives up her pleas.
This passage reveals what it is like for a geisha on the inside. On the outside, they express only happiness and flirtiness, but really they give up all hope of ever being in love, which is the thing Sayuri wants more than anything. The chairman is the one who gave her hope of becoming a geisha and now that she is one, she wants to be with him. Sayuri is still very young at this point, only about 19, and as Mameha tells her, being a geisha means giving up her hopes and dealing with disappointments. Sayuri doesn’t like this but has no choice. Most decisions of Geisha are made for them as with Sayuri but Sayuri is very strong willed and although she goes along with what she is told, it is hard for her to hide her true feelings. We also learn a lot about Mameha through this passage. Mameha is a very successful geisha in Gion and has everything she could want, independence, a nice home, a very wealthy danna, and she is very popular in the town. But to get where she is, we realize that she had to give up many of her hopes, dreams, and wants. The life of a geisha does not seem as happy as it appears on the surface.
Posted under independent reading
27
November
2006
Right now the U.S. seems to be involved in a war that potentially has no end. The path we are on now is similar to the one we took during the war in Vietnam; we keep investing troops with no real peaceful end in sight. Both wars were to fight against an ideal, not an object so therefore the goal is difficult to reach in the beginning. With Vietnam, the U.s. was fighting against communism and with Iraq, the U.S. is fighting against terrorism. In the case of Vietnam our goal was not meet and in Iraq, new terror attacks happen almost every day. Also, as Ronald Bruce St. John points out, there are very similar fighting techniques to those that were used during Vietnam:
American troops are fighting a guerrilla war in Iraq. The terrain is difficult, and the insurgents know it better than we do. The enemy attacks at a time and place of its own choosing, avoiding troop concentrations where U.S. firepower can be brought to bear.
One of the main differences is that with the war in Vietnam, the U.S. had no alternative motive. That is we had nothing we were personally seeking to gain by fighting the war, we only wanted to defeat communism. In Iraq, it is a different story. Iraq’s oil field had a big impact on why we went into the country in the first place. While “fighting terrorism” we also wanted to further our influence on the Middle East, mainly for their oil resources.
In the article we read in class Condoleeza Rice said that there are no similarities between Iraq an Vietnam and that it is dangerous to draw those similarities. While there are a few differences, the similarities are striking and need to be considered before the war in Iraq becomes as devastating as the Vietnam war because as it stands now, that is the path the U.S. is headed towards.
Posted under Honors Civics
26
November
2006
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Page 127: first paragraph:
This was the moment when I began to unserstand how unaware I’d been- not only in planning to run away, but in everything. …. We must use whatever methods we can to understand the movement of the universe around us and time our actions so that we are not fighting the currents, but moving with them.
In this paragraph Chiyo fully understands the consequences of her actions towards her future. Up to this point, Chiyo has done so many things wrong that she has been banished to being a maid. In this passage, she talks about how a human being may change the life of some little creature such as a beetle by stepping on it and so too some force of the universe connects and controls all humans. For such a young girl, she has a grown up view of the world. Up to this point she has wanted to change her future, to run away or to become a geisha, but she has had no idea how to do either and she has failed at both. Now she realizes that she has to work with the system to get where she wants.
One of her sentences in the passage is:
I’d never understood how closely things are connected to one another. And it isn’t just the zodiac I’m talking about. We human beings are a part of something very much larger.
To understand at the age of 12 that all humans are connected is incredible. This experience on Chiyo in thinking that everything is connected will most likely follow her throughout the rest of the book. This passage also highlights the Japanese thinking and culture at the time; that the women were very supersticious and that they thought of the outside forces of the universe affecting them. I feel that from this feeling of everything and everyone being connected, Chiyo will be much more careful in her actions and words to those around her. This passage also carries a feeling and tone of hope in Chiyo’s voice that she can flow with the powers and change her future, but only if she is willing to be patient, and from this passage, it is easy to see that she now knows that she must have patience.
Posted under independent reading
20
November
2006
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Page 26: last paragraph:
Satsu stood, she was so agitated to hear this. ….. In a moment she was gazing around the room as if we’d never had this conversation at all.
In this paragraph, Satsu, the main character’s sister, is denying what Chiyo-chan has just told her about them being adopted by Mr. Tanaka and having to leave home. This paragraph really highlights the differences between Chiyo and her sister. Chiyo is very open to change whereas Satsu refuses to believe that they have to leave their house. The paragraph describes how Satsu rejects what she has just been told and then goes back to normal like nothing has happened. During this time Chiyo and Satsu’s mother is dying and their father is very old and the girls have just been inspected by a strange lady. They are both very young and this passage shows the differences that will play out for them.
In this paragraph, and throughout the book so far, the author uses lots of imagry and metaphors. Here the narrator, Chiyo, says:
She was squeezing out the things I told her in the same way you might squeeze water from a sponge.
Chiyo, who is nine years old, is able to somewhat accept what is happening to them, but her older sister doesn’t allow herself to even take it in as a possibility. I like that the author uses such descriptions as this to tell what the characters are doing and thinking. They are powerful and help create great images in my mind so that I feel like I am actually there when these things are happening. It really sets the story and setting up well for the rest of the book and this passage highlights the relationship between Chiyo and Satsu.
Posted under independent reading
