TFA Chapter 21

In chapter 21 of Things Fall Apart, aspects of the Ibo religion and European religion are compared and contrasted during a conversation between Mr. Brown and Akunna. Akunna attempts to justify his religion to Mr. Brown by comparing their religions, claiming that the one Christian God is like the main Ibo god, Chukwu, and that messangers such as Mr. Brown can be compared to the smaller Ibo gods carrying out the main god's wishes. Mr. Brown works to contrast the two religions to make the Christian religion seem more superior. Although neither of the men are converted, they work to understand each others religions. At the end of the conversation, Mr. Brown realizes that a "frontal attack on it would not succeed (pg 181)."
Why does Mr. Brown link religion and education together as a "secret attack" on the Ibo religion?

Okonkwo's return is not as big of a deal as he thought it would be. His daughters receive a lot of attention from suitors but he can not initiate his sons into the ozo society because they initiation happens every 3 years and he must wait another 2. Is the lack of enthusiasm regarding Okonkwo's return due to the drastic changes in the village or has Okonkwo's fame withered away during his exile?

Things Fall Apart Chapter 7

Chapter 7 of Things Fall Apart focuses on Okonkwo's son, Nwoye. Okonkwo was worried that Nwoye was lazy and following in his own father's footsteps. However, Ikemefuna has been a role model to Nwoye over the past three years, which has transformed Nwoye into a more masculine, hardworking person. This pleases Okonkwo. When the Oracle says that Ikemefuna must be killed, Okonkwo joins in on his murder, despite being advised not to since Ikemefuna calls Okonkwo “father.” Okonkwo does this because he does not want to seem weak. When Nwoye cries over Ikemefuna’s death, Okonkwo beats him.

Will Okonkwo’s actions affect Nwoye’s transformation to “manhood”? Since Nwoye is now scared of Okonkwo, will he follow his father’s footsteps or will he try to be different than him, just as Okonkwo wanted to be different from his own father?

One Day In The Life of Charlotte Sinclair

I’m lying awake in bed before my alarm every goes off, just waiting. I don’t want to get out of bed. I just want to sleep but I can’t. Once my alarm- PYT by Michael Jackson- does go off my heart races. Even though I’ve been awake for a good forty minutes, I am still not prepared for the break of silence. Once I finally get the energy to get out of bed, I walk to my closet. Dress? Jeans? Sweatshirt? Long or short sleeve? I choose jeans and a Dave Matthews concert t-shirt. I jump in a quick shower to wake myself up, blow-dry my hair and eat breakfast. Pancakes with syrup and bacon. I take my time, hoping that some miracle will occur and I will not have to go to school today. The miracle never comes.

Seven-thirty. I rush out of my house blasting Dave Matthews through my car. “Dancing Nannies” is a great beginning to the day. I arrive at school just on time, three minutes to walk to class. I go to statistics first; math is not my subject. I try to listen but often zone out, thankful when the bell rings signaling that the class is over. My next class I enjoy: photography. Watching the image magically appear when the paper is placed in the developer is one of my favorite things. I love seeing my photos come to life. Next is morning meeting, a series of announcements that often string together as one. Often times there are some that generate laughter from the entire student body. From there I head home. Often times I relax and watch tv; sometimes I blast music through my house and just lie on my bed getting lost in the sound.

Once its time to return to school for afternoon classes, I hurry back so I’m not late. The afternoon classes go by quickly; class discussions, power points and note taking. At the end of the day I return back home. I slowly do my homework while texting, listening to music and talking to my family. I multitask pretty much the whole time which makes homework take even longer but I don’t care. I eat dinner with my family and talk about my day. Then I return to my room, and putz around before getting in bed and slowly fall asleep.

I Am A Worrier

I have realized over the past couple weeks that I am a worrier. I do not know if it is something that has developed over time or if I have always been a worrier. I guess I never really realized this about myself until a friend of mine pointed it out to me.

I do not worry about weather I am going to die today, or fail a test. It’s not that kind of constant worrying about random issues. Instead I worry about my friends and family, a specific few to be exact. There is even a certain someone who I worry about probably the most out of everyone, and he is not even in my life anymore. He is not in my life and I still worry everyday about how he is doing.

The type of worrying I do tends to be a long-term thing, instead of something I worry about one day and then forget about the next day. You might say that this is a good quality about me, and to an extent it is. I care about my friends and family more than anything. At times though I wish I was not a worrier. This would be the quality about me that I would like to burn, my “fwame-wesistant suit.”

Or maybe I want to be a worrier, but I also want to be able to turn this quality about me on and off. My worrying often brings me down, like I have a constant weight on my shoulders. I used to feel like it was my responsibility to help my friends, like if they could not help themselves I could help them fix whatever problem they were having. I used to believe this so much that my friends’ problems became my problems and anything that was going on in my life would take the back seat. When I could not help my friends I felt partially responsible for what was going on in their lives. It was exhausting.

A few weeks ago I had an epiphany. I finally realized that I could not help the person that I had focused so much of my time helping. I finally realized that as much as I care for that person, it was not my responsibility to fix his problems. I think this was the first step in the process of burning my flame resistant suit. Although I am still a worrier I now realize that I cannot fix everything and that it is not my responsibility to fix everything. Sometimes I still feel the weight on my shoulders but I am learning to separate the problems in my life from the problems in my friends’ lives. I still worry and I probably always will but I hope that I can separate myself from the weight that comes with my friends’ lives while still being there for them. (480)

Antigone and Creon’s Opposing Viewpoints

Throughout the play, Antigone, Creon and Antigone have opposing viewpoints about who is the supreme power in Thebes: Creon, the king, or the gods. I believe that both of them think that the gods’ will is important; however, Antigone believes that the gods’ are the most important and Creon waivers a bit on his views.

Antigone holds the gods’ laws higher than Creon’s laws. When Creon decrees that no one can bury Eteocles because he attacked the city of Thebes, Antigone follows the gods’ laws. She breaks Creon’s law and vows to give Eteocles a proper burial even though the consequence is death. She accepts that this is her fate before she ever breaks Creon’s law. She feels that pleasing the gods is the most important thing in life.

Creon believes that the laws of the gods are important. However, he does not understand why the gods would ever want Eteocles buried because he attacked their city of Thebes. Therefore, he decrees that Eteocles is never allowed to be buried. He thinks it is what the gods would want. In this way, Creon also believes that the gods are the supreme power; however, Creon has a different interpretation of what the gods want than Antigone does.

Creon begins by honoring what he believes to be the wishes of the gods. Later in the play, after Antigone has broken Creon’s law, he rants about the importance of his position as king. He says that the city is his and that his laws are to be obeyed, whether they are right or wrong. Once his authority is questioned, he changes from honoring the gods to honoring only himself. Another important factor that cause Creon to put Antigone to death is that Antigone is a woman, and men ruled over women at this point in time. It is not until Creon’s actions have killed Antigone, his own son, Haemon, and his wife, Eurydice, that he realizes his actions were wrong and that the gods, not himself, are the ultimate power and he vows to always obey the gods.

In the end of the play, Creon discovers that Antigone had been right all along and that his actions were the cause of death for those he loved the most. He learns that his word is not always right, and is not always the best for the city of Thebes (400).

Books that Influenced Me

1.Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
I love this book becomes it teaches the importance of family and acceptance of others.

2. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
This is one of my favorite books because it deals with teenage problems without being your average teenage gossip novel and Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors.

3. Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
This autobiography is one of my favorites because it is written by the lead singer of one of my favorite bands, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and becomes its about never giving up for what you want.

4. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
This book is heart wrenching, terrifying and gritty. I love it because it makes you realize how great your life really is.

5. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chboskey
I love this book because it’s a piece about growing up and finding your way.

6. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
I loved that it was an innocent story about boys growing up at a boarding school but behind the innocence there is worry about the war and what the world will become.

7. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
I was reading this book at beach day on my study abroad summer program and I started sobbing. I love that it asks questions that really make you think about family and the importance of life.

Summer Reading

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The Lovely Bones

I began reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold with the expectation that I might be able to connect with Susie Salmon’s family after she was raped and murdered by her seemingly harmless neighbor, Mr. Harvey. Although I was connected, I was extremely haunted by the novel. Being a girl, I was terrified along with Susie during her rape. Being a younger sister, I understood the pain and void that would occur from the possible loss of an older sister, the same pain that Susie’ sister Lindsey felt. Although Sebold wrote an accomplished novel, I understand why many individuals would have difficulties reading this novel.

Susie Salmon was murdered, raped, and cut to pieces on December sixth, 1973 when she was just fourteen years old. Mr. Harvey had a problem that he attempted to suppress by killing animals but when Susie was walking home from school, his obsessive urge to kill overtook him. In a hole-like shelter built by Mr. Harvey in the middle of the town cornfield, Susie struggled to free herself but failed. During this violent, filthy, and descriptive scene, I found myself curled in a ball on the coach practically shaking. While I felt chills go down my spine, I wanted Susie to be safe. Although I have never personally experienced anything comparable to this, I almost felt like I was watching in on what Mr. Harvey was doing. The feeling continued throughout the entire book.

After her murder, Susie watches the effects it has on her own family from heaven. Her mother, Abigail Salmon, feels so lost that she cannot deal with living in the town Susie grew up in without her. She has an affair with the investigator Len Fenerman whose working on Susie’s case. Lindsey Salmons attempts to cope being the “murdered girl’s sister,” and tries to be her own person. Susie’s father is determined that Mr. Harvey is Susie’s killer and practically goes mad trying to prove it. Susie’s younger brother, Buckley, continues to ask where his big sister is, too young to comprehend what is going on. As Susie watches this from heaven she wishes that she could help her family cope and catch Mr. Harvey but is unable to. Instead, she has to learn to let go of life on earth.

Throughout the entire novel, I was hoping that Mr. Harvey would be caught and sent to jail for his crimes, and that Susie’s family could come to terms with what happened and move forward with their lives. I had hoped that good would conquer evil. However, Mr. Harvey is impaled by an icicle and dies before he is caught. Susie’s family is torn apart. Abigail abandons her family for roughly eight years. Her father turns to drinking and isn’t emotionally strong enough to raise Buckley and Lindsey. I had hoped for a happy ending, instead I received glimpses of happiness; Lindsey and her husband, Samuel, have a baby named Abigail Suzanne is Susie’s honor. Abigail returns and the family begins to piece itself back together. Despite the glimmers of happiness and the reforming of a family, I would recommend Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones but caution any reader that it takes courage and persistence to read. (539)