I'm collaborating with Kylie Sagisi:
PLOT:
- Yet another dystopian novel, Brave New World takes place in London, where the generations of man are artificially created in hatcheries and bred to become who they are destined to be through a caste system that works much like the educational grading system. Through following Henry Ford's "assembly line" lifestyle, the character, Bernard tries to break away from his society. He meets John at a "savage" reservation with his mother. John is brought back to the World State to cope with his ancestry, but cannot change who he is and adapt to his new environment, making him immoral in the eyes of his peers and Mustapha Mond, their district leader. He falls in love with Lenina but cannot express it the way he wants to. John eventually freaks out, which causes disruption to the society's happiness, which then forces Mustapha Mond to exile Bernard along with his friend, Helmholtz, and John exiles himself some distance from the World State. People visited the "Savage," Lenina visited him later, they had an orgy, John lost himself to the society and killed himself the moment he realized it.
THEME:
-The major theme of all dystopian novels is the imperfection that arises from perfection. On the surface, societies of a dystopian novel functions perfectly, but there is everything wrong in the eyes of a free thinker. Society will crumble through systematic routine. It is unnatural to suppress free thought or action. With perfection comes a human life that isn't worth living.
TONE:
- Huxley's tone is very scientific and hypothetical throughout. A very factual and straight-forward science fictional author, Huxley gave the mechanical World State a type of truthful reality that almost broke the fourth wall while reading his work.
5 LITERARY TERMS:
- Allusion: "History is bunk"
- Metaphor: Mustapha Mond's pipe metaphor about human pleasures
- Pun: the "World State" can be read as the "World's State" of being
- Motif: Ford serves as a motif to remind the reader of where the World State's vision comes from. It works hand in hand with the allusion but plays along in religious context such as "Year of our Ford" instead of "Year of our Lord."
- Symbolism: Soma symbolizes artificial happiness
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
CREATING A NATION
Most of the students within this course are currently composing their senior project of which they can each call their "masterpiece." They are all collaborating - doing whatever necessary to complete a project relevant to a goal. While they scramble, I reflect, because my masterpiece has been performed long before we were assigned our task. Together with some colleagues of mine, we shaped an idea into a reality. Attending a high school where "school spirit was at an all time low," where "unity did not exist," and where "the average student could not connect with others," we decided to make a change. Together we forged a campaign and built a "nation" of students who brought back the spirit of Righetti High School. This Warrior Nation became rumored as "one of the best," and we did it in one single year. Thank you to all of the students who participated in the section. It couldn't have been done alone.
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| Some of the many faces behind the making of Warrior Nation! |
Sunday, March 16, 2014
JOHN THE SAVAGE
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, a noble "savage" who's name alludes to religion - shunned by the world state - roamed around. Later to become the World State's zoo animal, John found himself to be from almost a different planet after being redeemed from the "Reservation" of savages like himself. In the eyes of his newly-found peers, John the Savage was immoral, and from his point of view, he could not change who he was.
The World State is a perfect society - a utopia, but within all perfection lies imperfection to a foreigner. John, being the alien, found this "Brave, new world" confusing. He could not cope with a world where all emotion but happiness had been cast away. He could not understand the casts to which people were unnaturally born into. His first physical offense, however, was his refusal to take soma - the happiness drug. Being characterized as a more "human" being, artificial happiness just wasn't to John's taste, making him immoral for not succumbing to one of the most valued norms of the World State.
His second offense was the revolt. John attempted to encouraged the lower castes to rebel against Mond's traditions and, in doing so, dumped liters of soma. By leading this sort of "tea party" in this land far away, John set himself up for his last and final offense to the World State - to commit suicide. Knowing that John could never be truly happy in the utopia, which is the goal of its people to maintain, John killed himself the moment he participated in an orgy that symbolized his surrender to the World State. Yet instead of truly surrendering to the artificial happiness that is the world's state, John executed upon the one and only action that expressed his religious depression. By committing suicide, the savage not only rebelled against the world state's culture, but he also sent the message that he would never will artificial happiness so long as he should live. Dying for an immoral belief was his greatest offense of all.
In the eyes of the reader, the true immorality lies within the World State's dystopian culture, but in the eyes of the denizens of the World State itself, the immorality lies with John. Like a fish out of water, John died once he was brought out of the ocean to attempt to breathe the air of man and only to fail - a sad ending to a valiant experiment.
The World State is a perfect society - a utopia, but within all perfection lies imperfection to a foreigner. John, being the alien, found this "Brave, new world" confusing. He could not cope with a world where all emotion but happiness had been cast away. He could not understand the casts to which people were unnaturally born into. His first physical offense, however, was his refusal to take soma - the happiness drug. Being characterized as a more "human" being, artificial happiness just wasn't to John's taste, making him immoral for not succumbing to one of the most valued norms of the World State.
His second offense was the revolt. John attempted to encouraged the lower castes to rebel against Mond's traditions and, in doing so, dumped liters of soma. By leading this sort of "tea party" in this land far away, John set himself up for his last and final offense to the World State - to commit suicide. Knowing that John could never be truly happy in the utopia, which is the goal of its people to maintain, John killed himself the moment he participated in an orgy that symbolized his surrender to the World State. Yet instead of truly surrendering to the artificial happiness that is the world's state, John executed upon the one and only action that expressed his religious depression. By committing suicide, the savage not only rebelled against the world state's culture, but he also sent the message that he would never will artificial happiness so long as he should live. Dying for an immoral belief was his greatest offense of all.
In the eyes of the reader, the true immorality lies within the World State's dystopian culture, but in the eyes of the denizens of the World State itself, the immorality lies with John. Like a fish out of water, John died once he was brought out of the ocean to attempt to breathe the air of man and only to fail - a sad ending to a valiant experiment.
Monday, March 10, 2014
BENCHMARK...
I guess you should know why I'm about music. When I was 4 years old, I walked into the living room. My big brother of 9 sat at the piano, playing a tune. He was already at "level 3" when it came to reading music. "Maybe you'll learn to be as good as me one day," he said.
He left to go play outside. My parents were out. I rolled back the cover that protects the keys of black and white and put my ear to the piano. It was electric and old, but I said, "One day, I'll be able to play this thing like nobody else can." Using nothing but the memory from which I heard him play, I taught myself to play the thing; not by reading the foreign symbols placed in front of me on my brother's papers, but by something much stronger. By the time he walked back into the house, tired from play, I was playing his song. I was 4.
I'm no prodigy. I was only born with a desire to live in music. I took lessons from that point on, and I've won classical piano tournaments throughout the state of California, but I never learned how to read the music I played until I was much older, and this quality damaged my chances of going any further with my lessons.
So I quit. I picked up some software and became a producer. I even sold the music I produced for a while, which was made on FL Studio (basic stuff, nothing special). Having sold all that I've made, I no longer have the rights to any of my songs; so as an older hobby, I guess I could pick it up again. Regardless of the project I choose to be a part of for my "masterpiece," I intend to show you all somehow how I make music and hopefully give you insight as to why it is important to me. My memories of family, my philosophy of living, and the ways I think can all revolve around the endless moments that I can sit at the piano and hit the same chord over and over again just to feel the same way.
Sometimes I still rest my head on the keys. It's weird, I know, but now that my brother has moved out, I find myself alone in the house a lot with nobody but myself to impress, meaning there's nothing to stop me from playing as loud as I want...
He left to go play outside. My parents were out. I rolled back the cover that protects the keys of black and white and put my ear to the piano. It was electric and old, but I said, "One day, I'll be able to play this thing like nobody else can." Using nothing but the memory from which I heard him play, I taught myself to play the thing; not by reading the foreign symbols placed in front of me on my brother's papers, but by something much stronger. By the time he walked back into the house, tired from play, I was playing his song. I was 4.
I'm no prodigy. I was only born with a desire to live in music. I took lessons from that point on, and I've won classical piano tournaments throughout the state of California, but I never learned how to read the music I played until I was much older, and this quality damaged my chances of going any further with my lessons.
So I quit. I picked up some software and became a producer. I even sold the music I produced for a while, which was made on FL Studio (basic stuff, nothing special). Having sold all that I've made, I no longer have the rights to any of my songs; so as an older hobby, I guess I could pick it up again. Regardless of the project I choose to be a part of for my "masterpiece," I intend to show you all somehow how I make music and hopefully give you insight as to why it is important to me. My memories of family, my philosophy of living, and the ways I think can all revolve around the endless moments that I can sit at the piano and hit the same chord over and over again just to feel the same way.
LIT ANALYSIS
Brave New World is my next literary analysis... Don't worry, it will be here soon. I recommend to also read, 1984 by George Orwell, which I read literally at the same time as our class read Brave New World. No spoilers here, but you can visit my literature analysis on that in the meantime...
10 QUESTIONS
So we have to find an expert for our Final "Masterpiece" Project of which I still have no direction. I'm starting to bend toward leadership/self-reflection, but who knows where my project will turn. I'm like an undeclared major in a community college - unpredictable to where this might end up, and equally as predictable to be a failure. Here are my 10 questions.
- What is your job?
- What does your job mean to you?
- What do you think your job means to others?
- How do you accomplish goals?
- Where do you go when you need help?
- What was the greatest moment of your life?
- Does school really matter?
- Where have you found happiness?
- What do you think of when you hear the word 'masterpiece'?
- Is a masterpiece structured or conjured?
Sunday, March 9, 2014
THOUGHTS ON BRAVE NEW WORLD
- It was interesting
- All dystopian novels seem to have endings where the characters either lose themselves physically or mentally to the perfectly imperfect society that man has created
HI THERE...
So our big "masterpiece" is coming up, and I haven't been posting much on my blog lately. So, if you are reading this, I'm offering you something that could possibly benefit your final masterpiece. I don't have a group yet for my masterpiece, so I'm willing to participate in another group. After a disappointing performance from last semester's piano duet, I decided to stay away from doing my own project and try to join another, although I am still very passionate about music. So, if you're doing a video for your project, I can produce literally any type of music if given enough time. I can produce music, play piano, do whatever. I offer that skill to you/whatever you ask of me for your masterpiece
Sunday, March 2, 2014
LITERARY ANALYSIS 4
PLOT:
-This is a dystopian novel. Winston Smith, the protagonist, lives in an area formerly known as London in the continent, Oceana. According to the new innovations from the continent's philosophy, called Ingsoc, there can be no free thought, and history does not exist. The Party, those who worship "Big Brother" - their leader- control everything. The Party (which is basically the government) controls history, time, existence, thought, and language within the four parliamentary bastions: the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty, which are all named ironically of themselves. Winston later meets another agent of free thought named Julia, and they fall in the only form of love that exists in Oceana, which is strictly political and hardly emotional, but later that love develops into something stronger. There is thought of a resistance of the Party called "the Brotherhood," supposedly led by a man named Goldstein. O'Brien, a friendly type of person later identifies as a leader of the "thought police" and captures Winston and Julia and reconditions them into viable members of the party through torture.
THEME:
-The major theme of all dystopian novels is the imperfection that arises from perfection. On the surface, societies of a dystopian novel functions perfectly, but there is everything wrong in the eyes of a free thinker. Society will crumble through systematic routine. It is unnatural to suppress free thought.
TONE:
-The tone is hopeful all throughout until the plot twist and betrayal of O'Brien is realized. In the Ministry of Love, the tone takes a philosophical turn for the worse until it once again changes at the very end of the novel into a hopeless work.
10 LITERARY ELEMENTS:
1. Pg. 12: Rhetorical question: "What if they were to catch me?"
2. Pg. 17: Motif: "WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
3. Foil: Julia serves as a foil to Winston. Winston is more oppressed whereas Julia is a younger, more free spirit.
4. Pg. 166: Point of View: Winston's point of view is similar to Goldstein's book. The Party's point of view is completely opposite of his.
5. Pg. 11: Stream of Consciousness: Winston writes in his diary exactly what comes to mind, which is a mixture of random words.
6. Pg. 170: Exposition: Goldstein's book gives background knowledge and history of the development of the Party.
7. Pg. 210: Allusion: "Thou shalt not..." relates to the 10 Commandments
8. Pg. 221: Repitition: "...triumph after triumph after triumph: an endless pressing, pressing, pressing..."
9. Pg. 229: Simile: "I could float off the ground like a soap bubble if I wanted to."
10. Pg. 234:Synaesthesia: "He could hear the blood singing in his ears."
CHARACTERIZATION:
1.)- Direct Characterization: Most characters. "She was a bold-looking girl of about twenty-seven, with thick, dark hair, a freckled face..."
- Indirect Characterization: Most round characters were indirectly characterized later on through their speech. Winston's thoughts indicated him as a free thinker, confused within his society for knowing and remembering too much and not being able to master doublethink.
2.) Orwell's syntax and diction was very structured. Diction related to the fact that free speech could not be used entirely. The thought of always being watched with very little freedom always came into play, and it gave a sort of philosophy to the writing.
3.) Winston is an incredibly round character in an incredibly flat world. Being a round character is a crime in Oceana, making the novel much more interesting for Winston who must obey and hide his real character in order to survive and live with the automatons that the society has created of mankind.
4.) I related to Winston, especially being a student-athlete where my routines consist of wake up, study, learn, practice, eat, work, study, sleep. In the world today, people are challenged and suppressed into becoming yet another cog in the machine of society. Colleges want us to apply to their "prestigious ranks," but first, they want to hear every one of their applicants succumb and accept and even embrace the truths of becoming "a part of something bigger." Free thought hasn't been extinguished today in my world as it did in 1984, but I definitely feel the oppression of living, working, then dying in my country.
-This is a dystopian novel. Winston Smith, the protagonist, lives in an area formerly known as London in the continent, Oceana. According to the new innovations from the continent's philosophy, called Ingsoc, there can be no free thought, and history does not exist. The Party, those who worship "Big Brother" - their leader- control everything. The Party (which is basically the government) controls history, time, existence, thought, and language within the four parliamentary bastions: the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty, which are all named ironically of themselves. Winston later meets another agent of free thought named Julia, and they fall in the only form of love that exists in Oceana, which is strictly political and hardly emotional, but later that love develops into something stronger. There is thought of a resistance of the Party called "the Brotherhood," supposedly led by a man named Goldstein. O'Brien, a friendly type of person later identifies as a leader of the "thought police" and captures Winston and Julia and reconditions them into viable members of the party through torture.
THEME:
-The major theme of all dystopian novels is the imperfection that arises from perfection. On the surface, societies of a dystopian novel functions perfectly, but there is everything wrong in the eyes of a free thinker. Society will crumble through systematic routine. It is unnatural to suppress free thought.
TONE:
-The tone is hopeful all throughout until the plot twist and betrayal of O'Brien is realized. In the Ministry of Love, the tone takes a philosophical turn for the worse until it once again changes at the very end of the novel into a hopeless work.
10 LITERARY ELEMENTS:
1. Pg. 12: Rhetorical question: "What if they were to catch me?"
2. Pg. 17: Motif: "WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
3. Foil: Julia serves as a foil to Winston. Winston is more oppressed whereas Julia is a younger, more free spirit.
4. Pg. 166: Point of View: Winston's point of view is similar to Goldstein's book. The Party's point of view is completely opposite of his.
5. Pg. 11: Stream of Consciousness: Winston writes in his diary exactly what comes to mind, which is a mixture of random words.
6. Pg. 170: Exposition: Goldstein's book gives background knowledge and history of the development of the Party.
7. Pg. 210: Allusion: "Thou shalt not..." relates to the 10 Commandments
8. Pg. 221: Repitition: "...triumph after triumph after triumph: an endless pressing, pressing, pressing..."
9. Pg. 229: Simile: "I could float off the ground like a soap bubble if I wanted to."
10. Pg. 234:Synaesthesia: "He could hear the blood singing in his ears."
CHARACTERIZATION:
1.)- Direct Characterization: Most characters. "She was a bold-looking girl of about twenty-seven, with thick, dark hair, a freckled face..."
- Indirect Characterization: Most round characters were indirectly characterized later on through their speech. Winston's thoughts indicated him as a free thinker, confused within his society for knowing and remembering too much and not being able to master doublethink.
2.) Orwell's syntax and diction was very structured. Diction related to the fact that free speech could not be used entirely. The thought of always being watched with very little freedom always came into play, and it gave a sort of philosophy to the writing.
3.) Winston is an incredibly round character in an incredibly flat world. Being a round character is a crime in Oceana, making the novel much more interesting for Winston who must obey and hide his real character in order to survive and live with the automatons that the society has created of mankind.
4.) I related to Winston, especially being a student-athlete where my routines consist of wake up, study, learn, practice, eat, work, study, sleep. In the world today, people are challenged and suppressed into becoming yet another cog in the machine of society. Colleges want us to apply to their "prestigious ranks," but first, they want to hear every one of their applicants succumb and accept and even embrace the truths of becoming "a part of something bigger." Free thought hasn't been extinguished today in my world as it did in 1984, but I definitely feel the oppression of living, working, then dying in my country.
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