Final Text Paper

The Fourth of July is the birthday of the United States and the day as a country we grew up and parted ways with our mother, Great Britain. Audre Lorde delves into the abyss of independence of not the country but of the human race controlled for the past four hundred years. In the passage “The Fourth of July”, Lorde utilizes her tone and opinions on racism in a narrative by a graduating middle school student. Lorde uses the narrator as her persona to establish her values and give the essay an active voice. Additionally, by incorporating colors that Audre Lorde so lavishly depicts adds a dimension to the two distinct colors of white and black. All the injustices that the narrator’s family endures, her parents ignore them as if they never happened. While outraging Audre, we see the effects of silent complicity on blacks and on Audre Lorde. The symbolism of brightness, sunlight, and sunglasses permeate throughout the essay, establishing another color symbolism. Audre Lorde uses the birthplace of the United States as her setting to illustrate the deeper meaning of freedom.
Audre Lorde disguises her theme of racism deep into a story of a girl who just graduated from middle school. Her family set out to Washington D.C., home to monuments of war, deceased presidents, and democracy. At first, the narrator is awed and excited that she is going to Washington D.C. The narrator, however, journeys through a rite of passage in which we see her grow up from a teenager to a young adult ready to understand the complicated world of racism in America.
In the first sentence of the passage, Lorde describes the time as the “…edge of summer when I was supposed to stop being a child” (567). What is “stop being a child”? Is it when the child transcends that journey to high school as it is in the story or a broader meaning to adults? When will adults mature to a point in which racism and ignorance become the past? These are the questions Audre Lorde poses deep into her passage. The phrase “stop being” appears again stressing the universality of human weakness; we will never stop being judgmental to foreigners. Lorde additionally uses Washington D.C. to represent the divided America. Washington D.C., which has so much history, commemorates the Civil War and President Lincoln’s fight for equality amongst all Americans. Furthermore, July Fourth is “Independence Day” for Americans. But who really was freed from the wrath of Great Britain? The answer is whites; it took one hundred more years until blacks were “freed” and approximately another one hundred fifty years later and blacks are still not socially equal. It is also important to note that the first impression of the narrator towards Washington D.C. is like she was mesmerized. Lorde describes the city using alliteration as “…the fabled and famous capital of our country.” (567). We will see at the end, the narrator’s attitude toward D.C. has changed dramatically.
Instantly Audre tells us that the family is poor and must ride at night on the milk train. Here we see Audre’s first example of the disparity between black and white. White milk, night train, and cheap, by reevaluating we can understand Lorde meaning of blacks still bonded in a slave-like manner. The family must ride the night train because whites manipulate money in order to influence blacks; they cannot afford anything else. The author moves us through the train ride with colorful descriptions of different foods. “She packed slices of brown bread and butter and green pepper and carrots. There were little violently yellowed ice cakes with scalloped edges called “marigolds,” that came from Cushman’s Bakery.” (567) Notice the words violently yellowed and the reappearance of “edges”. Lorde uses her diction carefully to denote violence and different colors. The alliteration of brown bread and butter signifies whites and blacks are in economic sense complimentary goods. They need each other to make a whole; they belong together like peanut butter and jelly. The misleading words “preparations in the air” gives the tone of the essay an energetic sense, yet, as we read further on the reality sets in that everything is a false hope. The word choice of dainty and mobile feast triggers images to reel the reader into story.
The importance of Philadelphia is understood more than Washington. The city of brotherly love and home of the Liberty Bowl is a more ideal place for equality than the capital of the country, Washington. William Penn, founder of the state of Pennsylvania, reminds us of a short period of equality in the fledging Americas. Penn’s radical thinking shunned him from England, but he became a symbol of respect. Instead of forcing Native Americans westward, he bought their land. Pennsylvania was the first the state to allow people of all religions. Pennsylvania symbolizes Lorde’s perspective of a progressive state.
An interesting comparison is made on page 568 between ice tea and mayonnaise jar. Ice tea is the color brown while mayo is white. Lorde is utilizing color to further her theme of racism. The iced tea inside the mayo jar represents blacks locked in the grasp of whites. The actions of the blacks are confined within a space with no freedom unless this jar is to be broken. Lorde uses rosewater and glycerin as examples of universal truths. Rosewater portrays nature and its beauty and perfection; on the other hand, glycerin is man made with side effects if consumed. As a result, we conclude that the natural way of life is perfect, but the influence of humans disrupts nature and causes long term consequences. Relating again to economics, in the end the natural flow of life will find the true equilibrium.
The sister of Audre, Phyllis, is told by nuns that she will not be welcome to her high school senior trip because she is a “negro”. The underlying fact here is even religion is discriminating against blacks. The one place, time that everyone is equal is in the eyes of God, yet God’s servants are hypocritical to not allow a negro girl to accompany her classmates to Washington D.C. because Phyllis “would not be happy at the hotel.” The response of the parents infuriated Audre Lorde. Silent complicity is the act of as if nothing ever happened. How could Phyllis’s parents do that, living in silence? Audre Lorde is trying to persuade to us that silent complicity will not help, the only way to further the human rights of blacks is action. “As usual, whatever my mother did not like and could not change, she ignored. Perhaps it would go way, deprived of her attention.” (568) Lorde makes a strong point that the mother represents a stereotypical black by succumbing to ignorance. Her lack of confidence to deal with racism head on infuriates Lorde, who through the narrator voices her opinion of pro-action. The brilliancy of Lorde continues by comparing the father and mother. The mother is bright, and father is brown. Uncharacteristically, the “brown” father is the one who thinks progressively. The exact opposite is perceived by the world; whites are adopting new ideas and progressing and blacks decaying under ignorance. The daughters, furthermore, are in between the mother and father, indicating they are in the middle between white and black or grey areas.
Why did Audre Lorde choose the name Phyllis? In Greek mythology, Phyllis is the daughter of the King of Thrace who she marries the son of Theseus, Demophoon. However, when Demophoon leaves to help his father in the Trojan War, Phyllis’s sorrow leads her to commit suicide by hanging herself from a tree. The name of Phyllis alludes to the action of lynching of blacks in the early twentieth century.
The tone of “The Fourth of July” is innocent at the beginning but slowly morphs into outrage and anger. The tone is also informal, especially at times when Lorde inserts teenage vocabulary such as “umpteenth time” to connect with the young audience. “Mother never mentioned that black people were not allowed into railroad dining cars headed south in 1947.” (568) I can hear the boom of Audre Lorde’s hammer striking the tone and innocence of the story out with a tense anger driven narrator craving to find out why everyone ignores the constant discrimination they face. “My mother and father believed that they could best protect their children from the realities of race in America and the fact of American racism by never giving them name, mush less discussing their nature.” (568) The child does not understand why her parents are so passive in their views of combating discrimination. As a result, when we see the child narrator start to mature and understand the realities of American society, she takes an active sign of combating racism by writing to the President, while the father silently dissuades her from that notion.
We already know the narrator is on the opposite side of the spectrum, but Lorde solidifies that position at the hotel. “In Washington D.C., we had one large room with two double beds and an extra cot for me.” I understand now; Lorde has purposefully distance the narrator from the rest of the family. The incidence at Breyer’s ice cream and soda fountain demonstrates the difference. Everyone in her family, sisters and parents, are silent about what happened to them, thinking they should have anticipated the outcome. The determined narrator, on the contrary writes a letter to the president in her diary.
Brightness, sunlight, the whiteness of the buildings and pavements all procure disgustful images into the narrator’s mind. The “dazzling whiteness” results the narrator to constantly squint, eventually her eyes become dilated and vulnerable. She becomes vulnerable to the white perspective; it surrounds her and follows her. It is omnipotent. When she wants to wear sunglasses the dark perspective, her parents naively shoot the idea down. The whiteness encompassing everything from the government monuments to public land symbolizes white’s supremacy.
The sentence structure and organization are simple to keep the story flowing. Lorde does not use complicated vocabulary words because she found it more persuading to use the diction of a middle school student to capture the essence of racism in America. Action not silent complicity is what Audre Lorde praises. By the end of the passage, we see the author’s emotions erupt into leading the protagonist to write to the president.
In a world with inequality and injustice, the words of Audre Lorde speak to her readers. Was it not until Martin Luther King Jr., and his companions took a stand that they were finally given the unalienable rights that are mention in the constitution? By incorporating vivid images of color and the disgust of silent complicity, Audre Lorde’s purpose is to relay nothing good will ever be with silent complicity. The emphasis of white and black, two colors on the opposite color spectrum, by Audre Lorde makes the reader realize that there are grey areas in which we can all exist. People are treated unfairly everyday in the world. Audre Lorde asks them, literally begs them to hearken and be proactive in shaping this world into equality for all.




Works Cited

Lorde, Audre. “The Fourth of July.” Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. Ed. Paul Eschholz et al. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. 567-570.

thanks for reading. please leave a comment.

Fourth of July

The Fourth of July is the birthday of the United States and the day we grew up and went different ways with our mother Great Britain. Audre Lorde delves into the abyss of independence of not the country but of the human race controlled for the past four hundred years. In the passage “The Fourth of July”, Lorde utilizes her tone and opinions on racism in a narrative by a graduating middle school student. Additionally, by incorporating colors that Audre Lorde so lavishly depicts adds a dimension to the two categories of white and black. All the injustices that the narrator’s family endures, her parents ignore them as if they never happened. While outraging Audre, we see the effects of silent complicity on blacks and on Audre Lorde. Audre Lorde uses the birthplace of the United States as her setting to illustrate the deeper meaning of freedom.
Audre Lorde disguises her theme of racism deep into a story of a girl who just graduated from middle school. Her family set out to Washington D.C., home to monuments of war, deceased presidents, and democracy. At first, the narrator is awed and excited that she is going to Washington D.C. However, the narrator journeys through a short rite of passage in which we see her grow up from a teenager to a young adult ready to understand the complicated world of racism in America.
In the first sentence of the passage, Lorde describes the time as the “…edge of summer when I was supposed to stop being a child” (567). What is stop being a child? Is it when the child transcends that journey to high school as it is in the story or a broader meaning to adults. When will adults mature to a point in which racism and ignorance become the past? These are the questions Audre Lorde poses deep into her passage. Additionally, Lorde uses Washington D.C. to represent the divided America. Washington D.C., which has so much history, commemorates the Civil War and President Lincoln’s fight for equality amongst all Americans. Furthermore, July Fourth is “Independence Day” for Americans. But who really was freed from the wrath of Great Britain? The answer is whites; it took one hundred more years until blacks were “freed” and approximately another one hundred fifty years later and blacks are still not equal. It is also important to note that the first impression of the narrator towards Washington D.C. is like she was mesmerized. Lorde describes the city as “…the fabled and famous capital of our country.” (567). We will see at the end, the narrator’s attitude toward D.C. has changed dramatically.
Instantly Audre tells us that the family is poor and must ride at night on the milk train. Here we see Audre’s first example of the disparity between black and white. The author moves us through the train ride with colorful descriptions of different foods. “She packed slices of brown bread and butte and green pepper and carrots. There were little violently yellowed ice cakes with scalloped edges called “marigolds,” that came from Cushman’s Bakery.” (567) Notice the words violently yellowed and the reappearance of “edges”. Lorde uses her diction carefully to denote violence and different colors. The importance of Philadelphia is understood more than Washington D.C. The city of brotherly loved and home of the Liberty Bowl is a more ideal place for equality than the capital of the country, Washington.
An interesting comparison is made on page 568 between ice tea and mayonnaise jar. Ice tea is the color brown while mayo is white. Lorde is utilizing color to further her theme of racism. The iced tea inside the mayo jar represents blacks locked in the grasp of whites. The actions of the blacks is confined within a space with no freedom unless this jar is to be broken. Lorde uses rosewater and glycerin (used by the family) as examples of universal truths. Rosewater portrays nature and its beauty and perfection; on the other hand, glycerin is man made with side effects if consumed. As a result, we come to conclude that the natural way of life will be perfect with no animosity while the influence of man to disrupt nature causes long-term problems .
The sister of Audre, Phyllis, is told by nuns that she will not be welcome to her high school senior trip because she is a “negro”. The underlying fact here is even religion is discriminating against blacks. The one place, time that everyone is equal is in the eyes of God, yet God’s servants are hypocritical to not allow a negro girl to accompany her classmates to Washington D.C. because Phyllis “would not be happy at the hotel.” The response of the parents infuriated Audre Lorde. Silent complicity is the act of as if nothing ever happened. How could Phyllis’s parents do that, living in silence. Audre Lorde is trying to persuade to us that silent complicity will not help, the only way to further the human rights of blacks is by peaceful action.
Lynching in the south was predominant in the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century. Why did Audre Lorde choose the name Phyllis? In Greek mythology, Phyllis is the daughter of the King of Thrace who she marries the son of Theseus, Demophoon. However, when Demophoon leaves to help his father in the Trojan War, Phyllis’s sorrow leads her to commit suicide by hanging herself from a tree. Thus the older sister Phyllis alludes to the lynching of blacks in America.
The tone of “The Fourth of July” is innocent at the beginning but slowly morphs into outrage and anger. “Mother never mentioned that black people were not allowed into railroad dining cars headed south in 1947.” (568) I can hear the boom of Audre Lorde’s hammer striking the tone and innocence of the story out with a tense anger driven narrator craving to find out why everyone ignores the constant discrimination they face. “My mother and father believed that they could best protect their children from the realities of race in America and the fact of American racism by never giving them name, mush less discussing their nature.” (568) The child does not understand why her parents have to so passive in their views of combating discrimination. As a result, when we see the child narrator start to mature and understand the realities of American society, she takes an active sign of combating racism by writing to the President, while the father silently dissuades her from that notion.
The incidence at Breyer’s ice cream and soda fountain is the turning point of the narrator. The tone relates anger of a higher magnitude. Everyone in her family, sisters and parents, are salient about what happened to them. With the inclusion of the narrators hatred of Washington D.C. because it is much brighter and hotter, we see Audre Lorde utilize the colors of white to tell us that white supremacy is everywhere; its omnipotent.
Lorde’s use of alliteration is apparent in describing the mother as “bright” and father as “brown”. Additionally, Lorde describes the family sitting down at the ice cream shop by alliteration of the consonant “c” (corded and crisp). The author’s imagery captures our imagination with different sequences of colors clashing against each other: the bright mother, dark father, bright memorials, white pavement, and vibrancy of food. The peaches of fuzz and violently yellow iced cakes puts our minds to relaxation and comfort, exactly what Lorde’s purpose is. Lorde makes us feel connected to the story by using an innocent child recapture her adventure. I personally felt a faulty sense of security with the images of food and traveling. The sentence structure and organization are simple to keep the story flowing. Lorde does not use complicated vocabulary words because she found it more persuading to use the diction of a middle school student to capture the essence of racism in America. Action not silent complicity is what Audre Lorde praises. By the end of the passage, we see the author’s emotions erupt into leading the protagonist to write to the president.
In a world with inequality and injustice, the words of Audre Lorde speak to her readers. Was it not until Martin Luther King Jr., and his companions took a stand that they were finally given the unalienable rights that are mention in the constitution? By incorporating vivid images of color and the disgust of silent complicity, Audre Lorde’s purpose is to relay to us nothing good will happen with silent complicity. People are treated unfairly everyday in the world. Audre Lorde asks them, literally begs them to hearken and be proactive in shaping this world into equality for all.

All I see is green!

Thanks to Al Gore, the country has gone hay wire that the world is about to end. In a world in which going green is the fad, more and more people are becoming self conscience of how they live. The two articles I read do not necessarily have to do with each other, but they both talk about trying to save fuels.

My first article is from the National Review Online and is called "Biofueling Disorder". Of course this article being serious and all is very objective. China this China that, it goes on and on. However, this article points out that thanks to China, which suddenly decided to start using massive amounts of energy and the increase of production of biofuels the price of food is going to rise substantially. Apparently the world’s supply of wheat and grain are thinning out. Thus, countries that have to import grains are literally screwed. There is hope and that's where biotechnology comes in to help productivity and many other things. Economically speaking and this is my point of view, we might be lowering the cost of fuel to consume but we are additionally raising the cost of food. And everyone knows that when people get hungry and don't have to eat anything, then the government better watch out. As a result, as of now it's not a good solution to increase the production of biofuels. I propose that scientists keep on doing research to find more efficient biofuels so the world grain supply will not be strained.

My next article is a blog called “Filling Up for Less” in which someone has written steps for people to make their car and gasoline more efficient. I think it is a universal truth that women are real bad with cars and never check anything until the engine light comes on. That’s at least with what I saw at my high school and my mom and sister. There are many easy steps such as maintaining your car’s air filter and oil. Additionally, don’t carry extra weight in your car and don’t drive like you’re in the Fast and the Furious. It’s okay to roll your window down also. All these small notes are so minor that we forget them, when in fact they may help our car gain five to fifteen miles more to the gallon. It’s a shame that people think we need to find the next cure for cancer in order to save our world form our own destruction. Take Gore’s advice and be conscious of you live your life.

Prime Directive

Prime Directive is enlightening and layered with deep meaning. David Griffith writes with eloquence about the morality of humans and how far it can take them before committing an unthinkable act. From the very beginning, the narrator Captain Kirk is wishing he had gone to evening Mass before the eve of Halloween. “I could’ve used the reminder that we are on the eve of a holy day. And I could have used the blessing.” What does he mean? The answer is that he mentions above that the world seems rife with omens; Halloween represents death and the uncertainty of what your life is after death. Thus Griffith is already battling inside his own mind, his conscience, pitted against instinctive nature. “… and I always drink a few beers to help me sleep.” Clearly Griffith wants us to know how fragile humans are to changes in their surroundings. With his wife and family gone, Griffith is lonely, slowly turning into an alcoholic, and constantly doubting himself if he’s dong the right thing. But here is a major difference between Army Specialist Garner and Griffith when it comes to Abu Ghraib, Griffith would question his morals and beliefs before committing any atrocity.

“The Prime Directive is the moral code that governs the conduct of all Space Federation members;, it says no Star Fleet personnel may interfere with the healthy development of alien life and culture.” Don’t we have such a document? I am thinking of the Geneva Convention. You know the document all humans are supposed to abide by. It’s almost the same thing except the U.S. Army is the Anti-Starship Enterprise. Instead of leaving aliens or foreigners alone, the U.S. army invades their culture that has be instilled there since Prophet Mohammad and the beginnings of Islam.

" But no one mentions Abu Ghraib." Here we hit the pit hole of U.S. war on Iraq. Griffith mentions Abu Ghraib to exemplify the atrocities of us humans. Then again Griffith is biased towards people who go to war. "Those soldiers were hicks from the sticks; something in their environment made them this way." It's obvious to say that hicks who live in the middle of nowhere in their trailers go to the army because they are uneducated, naive, and easy to manipulate. These "hicks" are "not aware" of surrounding life that includes foreigners. He assumes that we the audience are educated, metropolitan people; thus he believes that we would never go to war which not always true.

Additionally, Griffith refers to pop culture of Outkast and Ching. This is merely to a tool for the audience to feel as though they have some similarities with the current culture. This enables the audience to believe that they at any time are part of the story. Later on Griffith expands on his idea of including the audience as a part of the story. When looking at the pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison, I was disgusted. Who could be so perverted? Obviously only hicks who have enlisted in the army. However, you can tell the narrator is also just as perverted when thinking about the girls in the Chingy video or looking up Scarlett's short skirt to see her fishnet stockings.

After taking the picture with one of his old acquaintances, the narrator suddenly realizes what he has done. By just posing in the picture, he did the unthinkable. This whole time he thought that only hicks from Nowheresville, USA could be naive enough to do the things at Abu Ghraib. Now, an educated and metropolitan person had just taken part in the Abu Ghraib atrocities. "When we deny that we have anything in common with Graner and the others who are pictured in the photos, we allow all that is most despicable and ugly in our nature to thrive." This is what Griffith was getting at!! We are all capable of doing the atrocities of Abu Ghraib.

During this nonfictional narration, the setting and time is during the festive holiday of Halloween. Halloween commemorates all the dead saints; but it is also a time of masked people wandering to find their real self. On this night, the narrator found his true self (while drunk). In the end, Griffith is writing to show how humans' fallacies. I would never do that, etc. are all worthless because in the end we are all the same evil and bastardized people. Hell that's why we have religion.

Sorry I did this in two parts, kinda of long.

What's for dinner? Nukes!

Skimming the articles on The National Review website, I came upon an article about nukes in Syria. I know what you’re thinking? Who else wants nukes because all a country has to do is literally put themselves in the waiting list? Well, Syria wants nuclear weapons for respect. Of course, it wasn’t the U.S. that took preemptive action; it was Israel, which is very logical. All the Islamic states in the Middle East want Israel “wiped off the map”. Thus, Israel secretly air raided facilities in Syria.

The tone of the article which is more disbelief than anything else. Quotes like this " Yes, that's right: a possible Syrian nuclear facility." in the article exemplify the author's view of astonishment. Even lowly Syria wants nukes. Words such as unmiffed and feverish give the article a feeling of anxiety and trepidation. With the mass arms influx in Lebanon and now a nuclear facility in Syria, Israel is looking to have more influence in the region. That's what I believe. Additionally, don't be surprised to see Baby Israel snitching to its mother (America). I'm sad to say that this article was rather boring and not fun to analyze. I felt like I was reading a brick wall. Oops, sorry Peter Brooks.

I'd still like to ask some questions to Peter Brooks on how Israel can do whatever the hell it wants. We all know that Israel is U.S.'s female dog or vice versa (its hard to tell the pitcher and catcher in this realtionship); but does that give Israel the right to be spying on another country and then attack that country because what it is doing is not in the best interest of Israel? Or what about the U.N. stepping up to the plate and saying you can't do that? Well, it's obvious since U.S. is the lone superpower it can do pretty much anything it wants.

My second article also has to do with nukes, except this country has a bit more experience toying with the world. Iran+Nukes=Trouble and add another variable (rest of the west-tern world); it pretty much equals one of my proof problems in my calc III class. The only difference is the calc problem has a solution. "Iran: War Can Wait" deals with how the Bush admin. is going to deal with Iran within the next 18 months while they are in power. There are two scenarios: 1) take no military action and use negotation or 2) go to war and screw over the next presidency.

Sarcasm and critical tones captures the author’s view of this is Bush's problem. "They don’t “trust” any potential successors to “deal with Iran decisively?” I can’t begin to tell you how offensive that idea is – not to mention its raw stupidity." I love the author's response to the question. It seems that the author actually thinks logically and systematically; he isn't awed by the b.s. out there. additonally, occasionally the author has closed in boxes of what the White House's opinion of the problem. What I'd like to know is what the U.S. should really do? I feel that unless you annoy an animal it won't attack you, but being stupid and aggravating the animal will just cause trouble. That's my stand to the Iran-Nuke issue. Even if they get which they will eventually, they won't do anything unless attacked upon.

Football vs. futball

People, please may someone tell me why football is so addicting to watch? Football, a sport that I normally despise, is much like cocaine without the side effects. Well, the only side effects are loss of time spent watching a three hour game and more time wasted. Come on Americans, the game is not even that interesting. Yet, we can't stop watching football. If Americans did't play so many diverse sports, we would be one the best soccer recruiting grounds. Heck, a world cup would be in the bag. But football, it's a womans compared to rugby. I guess Americans like people hitting each other constantly. That's the only resolution I can up with. NOTHING about football is pretty (I mean the way it is played, like soccer is dubbed the beautiful game.).

For some reason though, I can't keep away from the t.v. set. From watching the University of Tennessee get hammered by California to Tony Romo screwing that extra point, there is always something to enjoy (I'm indifferent to Tennessee.). Vince Young, wow is all I can say about him. But I don't know how anyone can stand the long commercials. It's as if I'm glued to my television. Eureka! It just came to me. The reason people like football so much is that the game is only played in a couple of minutes at a time. Thus people start to crave to see more of the game. And lo behold, we've just wasted three hours.

On the other hand, futball is 45 minutes of die hard action. One chance for a team can immediately turn into a chance for the other team in a matter of seconds. Watching women play futball isn't so bad really. Waking up in the morning and seeing the women's world cup.

Theme- The Family

Preface

The theme of our group is family, but I wanted to think outside the box so the group decided to write a story incorporating our experiences and ideas.

“The Family”

The back door of a tidy middle class home slammed shut.

“Oops! Sorry mom. I didn’t mean to do that,” said Peter.

“Oh, Peter. You are something. I’ve made some homemade cookies for you. And don’t forget to do your homework,” said Mrs. Ramses.

“Mom, I’m sixteen,” says Peter.

She smiles and ponders on how fast her only son has grown up. A couple of hours later Peter walks into the kitchen and grabs a cookie.

“Hey mom, I’m going over to John’s to hang out,” said Peter.

“Okay, be home by dinner time,” replied Peter’s mother.

Peter walks over to Sina’s home to find his other friends Heidi and Rita there also. However, instead of finding his friends laughing and joking with each other as they normally do, they were mellow and frustrated.

“What’s going on guys?” Peter asks confused.

“Oh, it’s just our families. We’re so irritated with them,” replied Heidi.

“If it’s okay for me to ask, what’s wrong?” said Peter.

“Well, I’ll start first,” said Heidi.

I just started dating a wonderful guy this past Sunday. He's absolutely great! My mom and most of my family think he's pretty cool, but my dad and his father aren't too happy about his ethnic background. He's half Mexican, half white. My dad and his father are very against interracial relationships. Not only that but also my mother is very controlling. She tries to control most parts of my life. Thus, she doesn't want me to take any risks and follow my heart right now and start a long relationship. We know we don't really have the time and money to do so. We weren't planning to make this relationship serious right away because we are still in high school. My sister said that we should wait until at least after college and then to feel free to do as we please. My mother cannot control me no matter how hard she tries. She holds the fact that she still pays for all my belongings as leverage.

“That’s real unfortunate,” said Peter.

“No, that’s not as bad as my story,” said Rita.

My family works like if my mom says something, it goes. We might as well not ask my dad anything because all he says is "asks your mother". And if she isn't home, well we are just out of luck. My mom is being really strict. I think my mother is so strict because she grew up in a family with conservative parents in the Navy. Who knows? But she always has rules and more rules. Call me when you get there, call me when you leave, call me if things change are her most common phrases. I don’t know why I don’t just put my cell phone on speaker so she can pretend like she is with me all day. I hate it when she would ask me how my day was or anything else because her words are meaningless because she doe not show affection. Her rules are really ridiculous, especially being in high school and still having to call my friends’ parents when I went to their house. My brother and sisters area always my saving grace whenever my mom drives me crazy at the end. We have gotten really close lately since they always have some sort of elderly advice for me.

Recently, I started dating my boyfriend who is black. I didn't really know how that would go over with my parents. I knew my grandparents would freak out but my parents aren't really as old-fashioned. Well, when my boyfriend came to pick me up for our first date, he walked in the door. Immediately, you could feel the temperature of the room reach the freezing point. My mother at the time was trying to be polite, but it was obvious from her facial expressions that she was bewildered. After that she tried to change my mind and mention things like "maybe you should date someone that's the same color as you". Though, I ignored everything she said. I wasn't going to let color affect the way I felt about someone. She tells my grandparents everything, but she didn't tell them I had a black boyfriend. She seemed ashamed. When she told people about him, she would refer to him as my "friend".

“Phew, that was long, but it’s true. I feel all bottled up and ready to explode,” said Rita.

“I see where you are coming from Rita, but my mom is trying to persuade me what college to attend, what field of studies I should major in, and what occupation I will have,” said Sina.

Being of Persian heritage, I daily encounter the ins and outs of the Persian culture and way of thinking. Persian people are very proud, elegant, and also lazy (who isn’t and the Chinese don’t count). For some reason, having “Dr.” preceding their name or “Mohandis” (which is Farsi for Engineer) gives Persians a sense of accomplishment. However, my mom has a prejudice against engineers, mainly since she is one and so is my father. She always complains that they are too many engineers in the family and not enough doctors. Then she gives me this look of khodahyah, oh my god, I’m going to take you out of my will if you don’t become an orthopedic surgeon. This really bothers me. Oh and I almost forgot to tell everyone about the guilt trap my mom tries to play on me by saying doctors help people so they are automatically going to heaven, which is really a naïve perspective.

Although she has a point that I learn by memorizing information better than working with theories and concepts, I still prefer engineering. I have to admit to that one. Another point that she keeps bringing up is my ability to comprehend material very easily without having to delve too much time into one subject. I hate myself now; truly I would make a great doctor. So that’s the million dollar question, why don’t I just become a doctor.

First of all, I don’t like blood. I might be able to get use to it, but come on who likes to cut other people and then sew them back together. If you think about it, medicine has not really changed. Well ok it’s changed but the basics are still there. The doctor cuts up the patient, takes out what the problem is, fixes the problem, and then puts everything back together like a puzzle. It’s a gruesome depiction but it gets the job done.

“I’m sorry to hear you all are having trouble with your families. You know my parents are relaxed about those kinds of situations,” Peter explains. My parents know that in the end I’ll have to make my choices and their job is to give me advice along the way and support me through the process.”

“I think we can all agree on that one,” said Sina.

“Yeah, thanks Confucius,” said Rita.

THE END

The concept of family is what has brought civilization from the Babylonians to the present. Without a sense of family, humans lose the ability to function. No matter how dysfunctional a family is or is not does not matter; at the end of the day when you’re sick, tired, and demoralized, you can go to your family and talk things over. Additionally, this is for all teenagers, we as offspring from our parents are in a literal sense part of them as they are a part of us. The genes from our parents made us; the blood, nutrients, and bodily functions of our mother all helped to create a child. And to say that they don’t know what they are talking about is absurd, our parents care for us or they would have never put us on the production line. They are trying to make sure “we” don’t make the mistakes they made. They are only trying to help us, so listen.

The Million Dollar Question?

For some people, picking what they want to do in life comes naturally but for others it’s outright frustrating. How about your parents trying to pick what you should do for the rest of your life based on your traits? If I just sent chills down your spine, then we have something in common. It is really unfair to make an eighteen year old choose the way of life for the next oh fifty to sixty years. When my mom started trying to influence me on which college to go to and what my major should be, I … I really wanted to piss her off. As a result, I decided to attend University of Memphis and major in civil engineering. No, no I am not disgracing the U of M because I think it’s an all around academic school with a really great basketball team. Nevertheless, I had the chance to go to either of my dream schools: Georgia Tech and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

I find that looking at history can answer many questions. Technically I’m an American because I was born in Memphis, but my heritage is Persian. Notice how I say Persian and not Iran, I don’t want the extra garbage of people asking do you think your leader this and that or whatever. So I’m Persian; and, that’s final. Persian people are very proud and elegant and also lazy (who isn’t and the Chinese don’t count). For some reason, having “Dr.” preceding their name or “Mohandis” (which is Farsi for Engineer) gives Persians a sense of accomplishment. However, my mom has a prejudice against engineers, mainly since she is one and so is her husband. She always complains that they are too many engineers in the family and not enough doctors, and then she gives me this look of oh my god I’m going to take you out of my will if you don’t become a orthopedic surgeon so I can prance around town and tell everyone my son is a surgeon. That really bothers me. Although she has a point that I learn by memorizing information better than working with theories and concepts, I still prefer engineering. I have to admit to that one. Another point that she keeps bringing up is my ability to comprehend material very easily without having to delve too much time into one subject. I hate myself now; truly I would make a great doctor. So that’s the million dollar question, why don’t I just become a doctor.

First of all, I don’t like blood. I might be able to get use to it, but come on who likes to cut other people and then sew them back together. If you think about it, medicine has not really changed. Well ok it’s changed but the basics are still there. The doctor cuts up the patient, takes out what the problem is, fixes the problem, and then puts everything back together like a puzzle. It’s a gruesome depiction but it gets the job done. Oh and I almost forgot to tell everyone about the guilt trap my mom tries to play on me by saying doctors help people so they are automatically going to heaven, which is really a naïve perspective.

The Daily Helmsman

For everyone out there who does not know that the University of Memphis publishes a daily newspaper except on Mondays (I don't know why they do that.), shame on you. I think it's one the best ways of getting involved in the campus. Everything happening on campus from sports to politics is covered by our very own U of M students. I find it relaxing reading the newspaper between classes or while I'm slurping a mango smoothie at the FedEx Institute of Technology.

Does anyone else feel much older now that they read an actual newspaper daily? Personally, I feel much more optimistic about life. Of course, my old high school (White Station) plays a critical role. If you (referring to my classmates) went to a high school that published a newspaper, you might know where I'm coming from. White Station had a newspaper staff, yet they only published a newspaper maybe twice during my senior year. Really, how incompetent can a group of students be? Don’t answer that! There’s probably more out there but let’s keep them anonymous. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the second newspaper the staff published was when I had finished school.

So what? The Daily Helmsman isn’t The Commercial Appeal of The New York Times or a newspaper from Harvard University, but it does job. Distributed at random locations of the campus, one can get a copy if they know where to go or find one lying around. The editors of the Helmsman are very critical of the administration’s faults such as the incident in which a visitor was abused at the field house. Yet they feel as we students feel of the frustration of Spectrum not working every other day. And write touching stories of retired professors.

Can you guess what “der Steuermann” is in English? If you don’t know, you can check dictionary.com for its translation into English. But I’ll help you out by giving it away; it means “the helmsman” in German. You can sort of tell by pronunciation out loud, since English has many words fro the German language (I think. I wasn’t really paying attention in etymology class in high school.). A helmsman is a person who steers a vessel. Assuming the University of Memphis is the vessel and the students are the passengers, you can depict us going down the Mississippi River like Huck Finn had in the 1800’s finding new adventures at every stop. Then the helmsman helps us stay on a straight path away from the dangerous land (If you haven’t read Huck Finn, every time Huck went on land it was a bad endeavor.) by providing a new perspective of information so we can make better judgments than Huck Finn. That’s what I personally see in the The Daily Helmsman. It’s not too late to jump on the bandwagon.

Group List

After frantically dishing ideas for about 10 (Wendy) minutes, my group came up with family as our theme, such a touchy subject. (That's as emotinal as I get.)

-money
-car crashes
-family realtives
-political beliefs
-luxurious cars
-little brother
-house chores (mom's and dad's)
-sports
-home improvement projects (this one is big)
-college choice
-my career choice
-my sister's career choice
-diagreement on how money should be spent (dad-save and mom-enjoy a little more)

Finally, my group ,which consists of Ashley, Emily, and me, decided that I should write on how my mom wants me to be something I'm not.

Hail Arsene!

All hail Arsene Wenger! For all who do not know Mr. Wenger, he is the manager (coach in America) of Arsenal Futbol Club in London, England. Arsenal is in the English Premier League (you know.). Does Manchester United or Chelsea ring a bell anyone? Well, Arsenal is in the same league and just as good. I'm mentioning this in my blog because he is one of the best coaches in the world. Let me put this in perspective to Americans and their favorite pastime baseball, the Atlanta Braves is a prime example. The Braves are known for using the minor leagues to develop their young players and then slowly promoting them as they become seasoned. This is all so in the end the Braves don't have to pay big salaries. Arsenal is run the same way. Mr. Arsene Wenger finds talent from all over the world and makes them world class players. And here's the best part, other clubs come and pay massive amounts of money for these players. This cycle is never ending. And during all this Arsenal is one of the top clubs in Europe.

So where is this blog going? Arsene's contract was due to expire at the end of this season, but as of today he signed a new three year contract worth about four million pounds per year. With a young squad currently tied for first in the standings, this is a moment in paradise considering all that has happened in the past couple of months. The past couple of years rich, bored billionaires have invested millions of dollars by buying these soccer teams in England. The first one I think was Russian Roman Abramovich, who bought Chelsea. Here's a history lesson of how Abramovich got rich (real quickly). Apparently the story goes that a train loaded with oil headed to some part of Russia (moscow?) left during the night and the next morning it had disappeared along with its oil; and, the rest is history as they say. Here's a link to his biography if you want to read it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich So on with other rich billionaires who include Manchester United American owner Aaron Glazer (also owns Tampa Bay Bucs) and former and currently exiled Prime Minister Thaksin from Thailand owns Manchester City. As result, because Arsenal is such a profitable business, billionaire all over have made bids to buy the majority shares of Arsenal. This has cause trouble in the board room for Arsenal but it seems they might have survived. additionally, the face of the franchise (as Americans would say it), Thierry Henry left to play at Barcelona. It's like Kobe leaving L.A.; you just can't imagine it. Thus with all this chaos forming over the club, the players have presevered. And the future for the next three years looks brighter than ever. If you want to catch a glimpse of Arsenal here's a link. They're wearing red jerseys. http://goaltube.org/modules.php?name=Video_Stream&page=watch&id=822&d=1

Talking Turkeys Anyone

If talking to turkeys arouses suspicion that the human race has gone berserk, don't worry because I'm with you. Apparently the article writer (Bill Buford) feels fascinated that communicating with turkeys is worth his and your time. "Talking Turkey" by Bill Buford from the New Yorker November 2006 edition is appealing to an audience of well let's say extraordinary. With the right imagination the article at times becomes interesting, if you don't get lost from the writer skipping from personal stories to history lessons to other stories within the same paragraph.


However critical I may be, Buford has (if science is your thing) organized an essay with descriptive detail and historical accuracy. With a sense of fascination and interest in turkeys, Buford writes an informative but very personal article. His opinions and personal experiences are meshed in with the actual article. There are times, never the less, that the author's voice is sarcastic and borderline downright amused about the topic of man talking to a turkey. Even Joe Hutto, the man who says he can talk with turkeys, finds it hard to persuade people of his perfected talent. Buford's choice of words to describe the Joe Hutto are one of a kind. Describing Joe as boyish with delicate shoulders does not do Joe justice until Buford says Hutto reminds him of an antelope. What can you say? This guy has raised everything between coyotes, owls, black bears , deer, monkeys, and opossums.


This article for obvious reasons is to entertain and inform the audience of facts most likely only needed for game shows such as Jeopardy. But let not that spoil the playful article from giving a highly intellectual representation of Joe Hutto attempting to shorten the distance between humans and animals communicating. "Slowly, Hutto came to see that he could also tell the birds where to go, or what to look for... until finally they reached a point where they had no "significant miscommunication." Imprinting, the process of convincng newborn animals that you are thier parent, is the means of establishing a connection. The point Buford is trying to get to is that humans make generalizations of animals way to early to notice that they too have unique characteristics that make them special and in some cases better than humans. Hutto says,"A tiny flicker of motion fifty yards away gets their (wild turkeys) attention ...". This makes me and I'm sure everyone else feel dull and lethargic comapred to these wild turkeys. Additionally, humans do not appreciate the serenity and beauty of our environment and how we take for granted the other species that also share the same habitat. I'd like to finish this blog with a quote from Bill Buford," I came away with a sense that there was an order in an environment that seemed otherwise crowded and overgrown and impenetrable... and I found myself feeling an abstract interconnectedness: the fossils, the memory of mammoths, estuaries everywhere, the history of hunters and gatherers, these elusive birds."