Tao Te Ching 44-End

Books like the Tao Te Ching are the types which make people like me realize how ignorant we have been all our lives. Hopefully, the students in this class are also beginning to take another look at the actions they make, because there is a whole other perspective to view them from. The book tells us to not study, or to not be kind and generous, but that’s how we have been our entire lives. Many of these lessons contradict the values that our elders worked so hard to make us follow. I admit that several verses confused me in this way, but there was always a message to extract from them.

I’ll share with you the most valuable lesson I found in this section.

SEVENTY-EIGHT

Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water.
Yet for attacking the slid and strong, nothing is better;
It has no equal.
The weak can overcome the strong;
The supple can overcome the stiff.
Under heaven everyone knows this,
Yet no one puts it to practice.
Therefore the sage says:
He who takes upon himself the humiliation of the people is fit to rule them.
He who takes upon himself the country’s disasters deserves to be king of the universe.
The truth often sounds paradoxical.

That last sentence, I believe, was the perfect way to conclude the several ideas transmitted throughout the verse. In the beginning, I strongly agree with the concept that weak can overcome strong. This is an essential concept used in several martial arts; size should never get in the way of victory. Like it said, there is nothing on earth softer and more yielding than water, yet it is still strong enough to rust metal and eventually make it fall apart.

The verse ends by talking about humiliation and taking upon the people’s disasters. I don’t think I can make it any clearer, but by connecting it with the present I can say that almost all of today’s leaders only take upon victory and glory, but won’t admit the errors they have caused. This shows cowardice and fear, qualities that a true ruler wouldn’t have. In the end, I can conclude this entry by repeating how paradoxical the truth can actually be.

Tao Te Ching 29-43

Throughout my entire life, I have thrived to achieve results. The reason is probably because I enjoy the feeling that comes with it. There is nothing better than to finally accomplish something you have always wanted. Unfortunately, the Tao Te Ching disagrees with this concept. According to the verse that I have chosen, one must view achievements in a very different way.

THIRTY

Achieve results,
But never glory in them.
Achieve results,
But never boast.
Achieve results,
But never be proud.
Achieve results,
Because this is the natural way.
Achieve results,
But not trough violence.

Even though I believe that achievements are always things to be proud of, there are still many parts of this verse that I agree with. Of course, you shouldn’t boast your accomplishments and show them off to everyone. I also agree with the fact that one should always succeed in his/her own natural way. Nowadays, violence and cheating are getting very popular amongst people who seek glory. I don’t believe that getting first place as an athlete while using steroids is an achievement someone should be proud of, the same goes for getting and 100 on a test you cheated off. Practice and determination are one of the main roads that will lead you to success.

Tao Te Ching 13-28

After getting to know this book a bit better, I began realizing how contradictory it was from the Essential Analects.

The following verse will support my assumption:

Nineteen

Give up sainthood, renounce wisdom,
And it will be a hundred times better for everyone.

Give up kindness, renounce morality,
And men will discover filial piety and love.

Give up ingenuity, renounce profit,
And bandits and thieves will disappear.

It is confusing to see how different the minds of two of the greatest thinkers in Asia can be. Almost all their ideas are opposite to one another. We just read an entire book written by Confucius which emphasized on sainthood, wisdom, kindness and morality, everything which the writer of the Tao Te Ching tells us to renounce. I believe though that most Asians were inclined more towards The Analects, while the people in the Americas have more Taoist characteristics.

I felt that the lessons in the Analects were criticizing the way I lived while the Tao Te Ching is more of a guide. Until now, I feel way more connected to it than I did with the Analects.

Tao Te Ching 1-12

Until now, the Tao Te Ching has been an incredible text. There are so many passages that I would like to write about, but I ended up choosing the one which made me reflect the most.

Passage 11 says the following:

Thirty spokes share the wheels hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Therefore benefit comes from what is there;
Usefulness comes from what is not there.

The lesson that these words contain is amazing. I’m not even sure, but I think it’s telling us to feel good about the things we have, but there is much more to gain from what we don’t. I began thinking of every situation possible in which this is applied. For a human, accomplishments are already there, of course it is a benefit to have them, but the question is; why should you ever put an end to it? The things that are not there are your thrusts in life, use them to realize how long the way is compared to what you have done. Emptiness is useful because it makes you want to fill it, but there is nothing left to do from a task already accomplished.

Night Part 2

After reading the book, I noticed a value that the author repeatedly emphasized on throughout his entire memoir. It was the faith in God. If a bunch of guys came, and pulled me out of my home, took my clothes away, separate me from my family, put me in a little room with a bunch of other men, hit me, torture me, and not feed me, then I would seriously start wondering if there really is a God out there watching all this cruelty and allowing it to continue. According to Eliezer, most people in the camp continued celebrating Jewish holidays and praying. Even though they were put into a situation where death was a major option, people sustained their level of faith for God throughout their entire time there. It’s surprising how much resemblance this story has with the book of Job. Both Job and the entire Jewish religion were under one of God’s tests to see whether they lost faith in him not. Although Eliezer had his doubts at some points, I still believe most of them were able to remain loyal to their religion until the end. It might have been that perseverance that kept them going through the hell they were living in. Belief in something has always driven people to do crazy things, one of which is never giving up.

Night Part 1

It always shocks me, whenever I’m reading books about the holocaust, how everything slowly begins to develop right in front of the characters own eyes. Then it all hits them when they least expect it. I mean, first they heard it in the radio, then they were warned by Moche the Beadle, and finally, the Germans actually came and stayed in their city for a while before taking them to Auschwitz. They could have reacted (like that time a man appeared through their window trying to advise them to come go with him) and probably escaped, but I don’t blame them. How could any Jew there, ever imagine what inhuman torture and pain was waiting for them in the camp? I admire each and every one of those souls lost and also the ones who were able to escape.

I have read about the holocaust several times, but it truly has to be written by someone who was actually there in order to feel the way I did while reading Night.

Final Entry of The Analects

I think that The Essential Analects was a book worth reading, and which I learned allot from. First I just read, but half the time, I spent analyzing and reflecting. Sometimes I imagined how different the world would be if everyone followed Confucian teachings. As I said in one of my past entries, I was born in Hong Kong and lived there until I was five. I still remember culture and how the people´s actions. Moving to Latin America was a huge change because absolutely everything was different. People weren´t the same. In Asia, everyone was quite, respectful, and didn´t look for attention. Most Latino´s were probably the exact opposite, and didn´t find shame in anything. I´m not saying it´s worse, it´s just that people have different principals all around the world which might seem weird in different places. Many Asians follow Confucian teachings which to people in other countries might seem way too hard to do.

Even though Confucius says that these teachings are the true way of life, I still like my life the way it is. I will though, push myself as much as I can to be filial and respectful with others.

Book 19

I chose this Book to read because it was the only one which consisted in only passages from the disciples. In the end, both Confucius and his students were prized with the satisfaction of having learned and of successfully teaching. Both are equally important because it was the task from the beginning. Having accomplished this, the pupils can then become teachers but continue to learn forever, as Confucius did. In line 19.12, Ziyou makes a wrong assumption but it is not his master who corrects him, but his colleague. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and anyone with the desire to ever imagine finishing it must be willing to learn before anything else. The Way is a concept that an average human would never be able to understand, you must have the qualities of Jen (as we discussed in class) to ever get close to it. I will always admire those who dedicate themselves to this.

Books 15,17,18

¨When the multitude hates hates a person, you must examine them and judge for yourself. The same holds true for someone whom the multitude love.¨ (15.28). I chose this quote to share with you because it reminded me of one of the fallacies we worked on some time ago, Argumentum ad Populum. This fallacy uses an appeal to popular ascent, often by arousing the feelings and enthusiasm of the multitude rather than building an argument. I find it interesting how you can actually analyze someone accordingly to Confucius through their writings.



¨Women and servants are particularly hard to manage: If you are too familiar with them, they will grow insolent, but if you are too distant, they will grow resentful.¨(17.25). This quotation proves that men all around the world, and even from different time periods have something in common, their trouble to understand women. Even Confucius seemed to be confused. It´s incredible to see how they easily a woman can dominate a man but how hard it is for men to do the same. I´m not talking for everyone, there are some who do make an exception.

It is hard to make an opinion on book 18 because it is short and confusing. It tells the story of when Zilu was traveling with Confucius but ends up falling behind and meeting a farmer who invites him into his house for the night. The only message a see behind this is the goodness and respect that the farmer had for Zilu. Nowadays not many people would do such a thing because everyone is selfish and don´t trust others.

Books 12-14

It was in book 12 where I notice the true importance that the master has for the ¨rituals¨ when he states the following: ¨Do not look unless it is accordance with ritual; do not speak unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not move unless it is in accordance with ritual.¨(12.1). I´m guessing that this ritual is the sum of the entire Confucian teachings. It must be very hard for a common person to be aware of it at all times, during every one of his actions. I assume that this is also why the master says that a person who is truly good, will accomplish this effortlessly.

Book 13 focuses allot on proper ways of governing. One of the best answers that I found for the subject was, ¨When a ruler is correct, his will is put into effect without the need for official orders. When the ruler´s person not correct, he will not be obeyed no matter how many orders he issues.¨ This was basically a response for the Duke´s who came to the master looking for help in defining a real leader. According to him, a ruler who follows who loves ritual propriety will automatically have an almost perfect society.

Book 14 has probably been the book that I have understood the most of, making it also be the most influential book until now. I cannot share all the the lessons, so I chose my favorite ones. ¨Those who possess virtue will inevitably have something to say, whereas those who have something to say do not necessarily posses virtue. Those who are good will necessarily display courage, but those who display courage are not necessarily good.¨ (14.4). This tells us that by mastering a major value such as virtue or goodness, you will immediately obtain smaller values such as speech or courage. The next lesson is at the end of the chapter, when the gate keeper asks Zilu: ¨Isn´t Confucius the one who knows that what he does is impossible and yet persists anyway? ¨ (14.38). This reminds of the Nike logo, ¨Impossible is nothing¨ because you only need time and dedication to accomplish something that might not seem possible at first, but ends up being the opposite.

Books 7, 8, & 11

The central message that I recieved form book 7 was that you really have to be willing to learn in order to succeed. I agree with this completely because if you have no interest for the subject being studied then obviously, you will never get anywhere with it. Everyone has a passion for something, even though he or she is not necessarilly good at it, because if you really want something, you will do anythining in you power to achieve and master it. This is the type of student that the ¨Master ¨ chooses to teach.

I can´t say much about the eighth book because it was very unclear and it skipped from one thing to another without emphasizing on a central theme. My favorite line though, was the following: ¨The common people can be made to follow it, but they cannot be made to understand it.¨ (8.9). Although I find this very intresting, Confucius doesn´t seem to specify what exactly he means by ¨it¨.

In the eleventh chapter, the master criticzes and tests each one of his disciples by asking them about their aspirations. One of the questions they had to answer was that if someone were to appereciate them, what would they do? While three of the students answered in terms of big aspirations, I think that the true answer was the last student´s, when he thought in smaller terms, of a minor aspiration.

Books 4-6

I noticed that book one mostly talks about goodness and how to use without having to make an effort. It tells us stuff like to be good, you must be around good people and that you can learn something from anyone wheather he is a better or worse human than you. The lesson though, that I would most apply to my own life would probably be: ¨People in ancient times were not eager to speak, because they would be ashamed if their actions did not measure up to their words.¨ (4.22). The message is pretty clear, it´s easier to say you can than actually doing it.

In most of the fifth book, the master evaluates his students by making them realize for themselves what they have learned. There was one part in which they begun discussing their aspirations, each one shared his own, and the master´s was the following: ¨To bring comfort to the aged, to inspire trust in my friends, and be cherished by the youth.¨ (5.26). According to the book, a perfect Confucian should choose this as a way of life.

Lastly, I would like to share a quotation from book five which I had to ponder on for a long time. ¨The wise take joy in rivers, while the good take joy in mountains. The wise are active while the good are still. The wise are joyful while the good are long lived.¨ (6.23). In this passage, Confucius divides good and wise into two different ways to live. It made me wonder which one was more rewarding. I decided that being wise would be better in a way, because even though your life is shorter, you enjoy it more that a good person, who´s life is longer but a less exciting.

Books 1-3

These first three books of the Essential Analects talk alot about ones public and private values. It reminds me alot about God in the new testament and parts of the Exodus.

Confucius must have been an extremely noble and respectful man, stating that being filial is the way of life. Another point that the "master" chooses to emphasize on is your relationship with your elders. "A young person should be filial when at home and respectful of his elders when in public." (1.6). This quote coincides with one of the Exodus's ten commandments to honor thy mother and father.

From the second book, may favorite line is "One who rules through he power of virtue is analogous to the pole star: it simply remains in its place and recieves the homage of the myriad lesser stars." (2.1). In other words, you will only be looked up at by the rest from good worth.

I was born in Hong Kong and lived there for five years. From personal experience, I can say that in Asia, many people use the lessons in this book as guidelines for life, making them very different from people here in the western hemisphere.

Job 38-End

It´s in this last part of the book when Job finally opens his eyes. God appears to him from a whirlwind, and begins to explain to him that he has no right to be mad at the creator of the world. Humans weren't there when God made made water, light, animals, and the rest of the things that surround us. We were put in to ¨play along¨ with them.

I still remain with the question though, did Job win or not? The story ends up having a happy ending where Job gets back all his lost possessions, including his children. This must have meant that God won the bet with Satan. The thing is that, God never would have had to give Job the entire lecture of creation if the man had really understood the meaning of the situation. If it were up to me, I wouldn't agree that Job had passed the test entirely. He was confused and irritated for long time. Whenever his friends would try to help him, he would turn them down. In chapter 42, God made it seem as if it were their fault that Job was confused (I don´t think this is fair at all because friends are there to back you up and they don't deserve to be blamed for that). Anyway, if Job never would have had his face to face encounter with God, then he never would have gotten his mind straight. This is why I am saying that humans partially failed that test.

Job 11-38

At this point of the story, Job is confused, irritated with his friends, and disappointed with God. He wondered why God was punishing him this way if he could simply altar his behavior. The worst part was not being able to confront this problem physically. Job´s friends tried to convince him that nothing good came from wickedness. This was the only lesson that Job needed to follow, and I think it goes out to all of us. I know that even though the man wasn´t doing anything wrong in the first place, he was punished anyway. I´m talking about the long run, when it´s all over, both God and Satan will see whether humans are good or not. If Job had lost, then the entire human race would loose.

Job 1-11

When I had just begun reading, the thought of God taking away every possession from an innocent man didn´t really make me feel to good. This was the first encounter we have read between God and Satan, and I wondered why God had to accept the offer if he was creator and had nothing to prove. Then I realized that this test was the only true way to see if deep inside, Gods creations were good or evil. They took the ¨perfect¨ human because if he failed, everyone would.

Satan sends the first four messages in one day, making Job suffer allot, but continue having faith in God. It´s the next torture (skin soars) that makes the man wish he had never been born. Three of Job’s friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, come to visit him. This is when the importance of friendship comes in. Whenever your having doubts about life, you can always turn to them for help.

Tertiary Sources

"Once More, Once More: Derrida, the Jew, the Arab" by Gil Anidjar, introduction to: Derrida, Jacques (2001). in Gil Anidjar: Acts of Religion. New York & London: Routledge, 436. ISBN 0-415-92400-6/0-415-92401-4.


Gobierno - Government (English version)


Mayor of London, London Assembly and the Greater London Authority - Official city government site


Better Business Bureau US & Canada
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business"


United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Vienna,

2nd Book of Samuel 1-12

The second book of Samuel is basically the continuation of David´s story. It does thoug, concentrate more on the decisions he makes as a king instead of how he became one. The first major topics that come up are those of war, fight, and betrayal. David and his genral Joab, are in a fight against Ish-Bosheth and Abner. Abner betrays his leader and goes to David´s side but gets killed by Joab for having murdered his brother. This huge twist somehow ends up giving David victory over Ish-Bosheth, making him king of Israel.

Until now David might a like a very honorable person. He does good, he was chosen king for having a pure soul, and also goes well on the battlefield. It is in the second book of Samuel though, that David commits the terrible sin of adultry, disobeying one of God´s comandments. He sees a woman bathing and ends up sleeping with her. This is already bad enough, but it gets worse when he sends the woman´s husband to be killed at war. The bible states that David was married to a woman called Michal and I dont recall it ever mentioning a seperation between the two. As a king, you must a roll model and should not go around doing the wrong stuff. I wouldn´t be able to trust a leader who commits a sin like this. Nathan later relates that story with a parable about a wealthy man who steals a poor man’s only sheep.

Samuel 16-End

There are many things that I liked about this first book book of Samuel. To start off, I would like to share a quote that God said to Samuel in Chapter 16 while they were looking for the new king: "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth: for man looketh on owtward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.". For many reasons, this quote explains exactly what is going on in the world today. It is the natural habit of humans to be superficial when what really matters is in the inside. The bible said that all of Jesse's older sons had an incredible appearence, but Samuel ended up choosing the youngest of them all, David, to be king.

The second lesson I learned was when Goliath, a giant monster, threatened to kill the Iraelites. David, the smallest of all brothers, was able to kill him with a rock and a slingshot while everyone ran away in fear. This story shows us that mind will always triumph over muscle, as proved by David. This is how us, weak humans, have control over the rest of the animals like lions or goriallas who are several times stronger than we are.

Last of all, I enjoyed the fact that Saul's jealousy of David never got him what he wanted. No matter how much he tried to kill him, David would always come out winning. In the end, he escapes with the help of Saul's daughter and son. This proves that although vengeance might seem like a good idea at first, it will only end up making the problem bigger. Think it out first, there is more than just one solution to your problem.

exodus 1-11

Everyone knows Moses as practically a hero, the person who freed the Jews from cruelty in Egypt. This man made miracles, caused plagues, and was even able to control the phoroah himself. Moses is one of the best known biblical characters toeday because of his exciting story and incredible accomplishments. The question though, is why? Why did God choose him out of all the other respectable men at the time? No one would have expected a man like Moses to do what he did, and for many reasons. First of all, he was a stutterer, a sign of insecurity and fear. Second, he wasn't the bravest man for having escaped and hidden from the Pharaoh. Last, it took Moses a long time to get his mind straight and accept God's offer. Whoever knew this man well, would think he was a coward and a traitor. God of course, viewed him in a very distinct way. One of the acts that most defined him was when he saved a Jew who was getting beat up by Egypcians. After running away for his life, he immediately made himself useful by working for a man who became his future father in law. This proved Moses to be humble, loyal, and with potential to do good. Just the type of man God needed for the task.

Exodus 11-40

This is the scond part of the story of Moses. After accomplishing the task of freeing the Jews from Egypt, he establishes something extremely important to millions of people today. These are the ten commandments, a ¨guideline¨ to everyone who call themselves Christians.

Ten Commandments:

You shall have no other Gods but me.
You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
Respect your father and mother.
You must not kill.
You must not commit adultery.
You must not steal.
You must not give false evidence against your neighbour.
You must not be envious of your neighbour's goods. You shall not be envious of his house nor his wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Supposedly, every good Christian should follow these rules since they are the pillars of the religion. Unfortunately, out of all other religions, Christianity is one who is least respectful to it´s laws. It´s all just laziness, nobody wants to go to church and nobody wants to follow the rules of God. Christians should use Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and any other religion as an example, who take their beliefs seriously. I´m not saying that every Christian is like this, there are still millions who are loyal, but it´s not enough.

Genesis 11-28

These 17 chapters in the Genesis were basically the story of Abraham. Many people are familiar with it, where this well known biblical character has a conversation with God and establishes many principals. What surprises me the most though, is how Abraham is probably the only religious figure that is respected by three major religions in this world. Christianity, Muslim, and Judaism all have a connection with this man in one way or another.

I say this because Abraham was the man who initiated many traditions of these three different religions, such as the Jewish and Muslim tradition of circumcision. Many Jews know him best as a grandfather whose grandson Jacob actually founded Israel, but Muslims know him as one of the most important prophets. He appears in all three books of the Bible, Torah, and the Koran. Jesus mentions Abraham in the Gospels, but it was Paul who concentrated more on him. He did it primarily through Abraham's original response to God's Call and through the old man's faith. Islam concluded that God chooses his people on grounds of commitment rather than lineage, meaning that Abraham's only true followers are true believers, or Muslims. The Koran´s version of the story is a bit different from the Bible and Torah, but in all of them Abraham is a figure to look up at.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003355-6,00.html

Franklin Delano Roosevelt-Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

This entire paragraph consists of hasty generalizations, where president F.D.R jumps into conclusions about the Japanese governments plans.


The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Here, we can find alot of pathos, becuase the president states alot of facts which have to do with emotion.

Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

The main fallacy here is post hoc, ergo propter hoc. This this fallacy assumes that first because of the first thing, the second thing happened. It occurs after F.D.R states all of Japans attacks, he makes a conclusion because of them.

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

In the first sentence, F.D.R uses logos to show gut and character by stating his high rank in the army.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God.

The entire paragraph is filled with hasty generalizations about victory and danger.


I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.




http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrpearlharbor.htm

Genesis 5-11

These six chapters were basically the story of Noah´s ark. I think most of us know how it goes, God created a flood and told Noah and his family to build an ark and escape with a pair of every animal in the world. What interests me though is why God decided to create this flood. According to the Genesis, he wasn´t pleased with human´s and disliked their impurity. Because Noah was so noble and and warm hearted, God chose him to live over the rest and guide life in a new journey while everyone else died in a flood. This has to have a relationship with real life. It must have been a point in history where humans stopped thinking in one way and began a whole new mentalllity. I doubt many people would think that God actually killed everyone on earth except for the one person who´s soul was clean. I don´t beleieve that we are doing any better nowadays then we were doing back then. Who knows if the bible will repeat itself and another ¨flood¨ will occur, maybe not how it says in Noah´s Ark, but in a way in which we least expect.

Genesis 1-5

I remember this story from our summer reading book Ishmael. It told us all about the creation of the earth in seven days, followed by the birth of humans humans with Adam and all of his descendants. What interested me the most though, was the part about the forbidden tree. God allowed Adam and his wife to eat from any tree in forest except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The serpent though, convinced the humans to get one of it´s fruits. In that moment, they opened their eyes and became conscious of right and wrong. For example, they noticed their nudity at once and covered themselves up, but I believe it goes way beyond that. If Adam and Eve had never taken that fruit, then people would have lived through the history of earth just as another one of God´s unconscious creatures. The forbidden fruit represents the factor which separates us from the rests, It´s what proves the reason why humans are so successful but at the same time selfish and destructive. The apple made us think we have the power to tell good from evil, something no other creature has, making it our gift and even more our curse. Who knows if the apple only tricked into thinking that we were brought into the light, when all along we´ve been living in the dark.

The Three Myths 16

Nisus and Scylla

Minos, king of Crete, went into war with Nisus, king of Megara. Scylla was the daughter of Nisus but fell in love with Minos. She ends up escaping from the city, into enemy territory and surrendering to the king of Crete. Minos though, ends up fearing the woman and escaping the island. In this myth, Scylla shows that her love for man is more than her love towards her country. She chose to betray her dad and the city she belonged to for the king of the enemy. (A very similar situation occurs with Troy, when Paris steals the beautiful Helen from Mycenae). Love could probably make me do some pretty crazy stuff, but nothing will ever make me do something like Scylla did, or at least I hope so. At the end though, Minos leaves and the war ends.This is good because her selfish act ended up saving her country, but she ended up loosing the love of her life.

Component Fallacies

Pipe Dreams


IN a time when we endlessly scrutinize the ingredients of our food and insist on pesticide-free peaches, why are we still mixing carcinogens into our children’s lemonade? From herbicides to arsenic, the Environmental Protection Agency has set standards for 80 different chemicals, specifying how much of each should be allowed in our drinking water. Yet no regulations exist for thousands of other contaminants that make their way into our drinking water.

I think that the first sentence is a straw man argument because it overstates and exaggerates. I´m not sure, but the question in in the same sentence might begin a circular reason. The last fallacy is in the final sentence, which commits a hasty generalization because the writer already jumps into a conclusion.


These unregulated contaminants include industrial byproducts, agricultural chemicals, drugs and even most of the toxic compounds that are formed when we add chlorine for disinfection. The combined effect of these contaminants has never been evaluated.


Again, the author exaggerates and makes a straw man argument. He ends the paragraph with a false cause, showing a cause and effect relationship.

There is nothing we ingest in greater quantities than water. In light of this, here’s a radical concept. Our drinking water should be water. Nothing more. Paradoxically, the best way to make that happen is to purify less of it. Here’s why. The technology exists to remove all of these chemicals from our water. But the E.P.A. balks at insisting on the elimination of all hazardous chemicals and microbes from the 10 trillion gallons of water we use every year because the cost would be so great.


In this paragraph, they answer the question asking why we should we purify less water while the real question is why do we keep mixing pesticides into the water we drink. This fallacy is called an irrelevant conclusion. Lastly, and for the third time, the author used straw man arguments. Maybe, we can conclude that this is simply the style that the writer always uses in his work. Instead of a fallacy, it could also be considered a style.






http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/opinion/03morris.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

The Three Myths 15

Cadmus

This myth was about Cadmus, a prince of Phoenicia, sent by his father to look for his sister Europa who had been taken away by jupiter. Unable to find her, he consults an oracle which tells him to build the city of Thebes. When he reaches the land, his men go out in search for water, unfortunately they find a cave guarded by a ferocious snake and they all get killed. Cadmus goes to avenge their death a kills the snake. He goes back and builds the city, but the gods curse him though, for having killed their serpent, and all of Cadmus´s decendents perished unhappily. So he left Thebes with his wife and said said that if the snake meant so much to the gods, then to turn him into one. So they transformed Cadmus and his wife into serpents. The myth has a very awkward development. Cadmus sets out to find his sister but ends up killing a snake, building Thebes, and being turned into a serpent. There is a quote that I believe fits this situation, ¨Life is what happens while you´re busy making plans for something else.¨. All this time, Cadmus thought that his main goalm in life was to go out on a search for his sister, but while that was happening, a whole bunch of new, unexpected things occured. Those events were the ones which eventually made up his entire life. This surprisingly happens to many people, other than cadmus. They spend most of their life´s looking, or waiting for something, when really, what they were looking for was what they living the entire time.

The Three Myths 14

Dyrope

This myth was about a woman called Dyrope, who one day, takes a walk in the woods with her sister and her child. She accidentally rips a flower off of its stem. She did not know though, that it was a nymph who had shape shifted into it. As a punishment, Dyrope was turned into a tree and separated from her family forever. This myth makes me think that the Greeks and Romans must have been big environmentalists. Unlike us, they should have respected nature, nurture it, and let it live freely. It may have been of fear of having the same faith as Dyrope, but soon we´ll also have that same fear. When human´s see that nature is slowly disappearing, then we´ll be afraid of loosing the resources that keep us alive. Soon, the myth will represent us much more.

Venus and Adonis

While reading this myth, I found a very interesting quote: ¨Be brave towards the timid,¨ she said ¨Courage against the courageous is not safe.¨ (P. 53). I hate to agree with this, but I also believe that it´s braver and more admirable to confront someone just as or even more courageous than you are. In my opinion, a coward would be the type who challenges a person, and knows he/she is inferior or more timid. I remember hearing somewhere that courage is not the absence of fear, it is that presence of fear yet the will to go on. The two quotes completely contradict themselves, but I choose to stand more on the side which states that courage only comes with fear. If you are not afraid of your challenge, then how can you be brave while confronting it?

Apollo and Hyacinthus

Hyacinthus was a good friend of Apollo. The myth states that one day, they were playing a game of quoits together. Apollo throws the discus filled with strength and skill, but when Hyacinthus when over to catch it, it hit his head and he died. The God felt so bad that he even wrote a song in memory of his friend. There is not much to say about this story. I believe it´s bad enough to loose a friend, but to be his killer too would be too much to take. Maybe the myth is just trying to tell that with a stupid and silly mistake, you can end up loosing a friend. Maybe not like Apollo did, but by doing things that a real friend wouldn´t do. Take care of those close to you, because any day, you can end up loosing them.

The Three Myths 13

The three myths I read today were Echo and Narcissus, Clytie, and Hero and Leander. All of them were about falling in love with someone who will never love you back. In Clytie, a water nymph falls in love with Apollo, who had left and made no return, She awaited him for so long, that eventually she became a flower. In Echo and Narcissus, several nymphs fall in love with a man called Narcissus. He never loves any of them back, which makes a goddess curse him in the same way. So one day, he sees his reflection in the water and falls in love with it. He stares at at it until eventually he too, becomes a flower. In the last myth, Leander falls in love with a hero who lived in an opposite shore. Every night, he took a swim to in company of her, but one day, the sees were rough and the man drowned. The hero became aware of this and also perished into the water.

Love is always a complicated matter, especially if you are in the shoes of one of these people. There is no bigger torture then to see that the person you love does not love you back. If you do have this love, then you put it in front of everything, even your own life, and would absolutely anything for it to be safe. Many people, like the characters in the myths I read, die without ever having their true love. I hope it will never to me because there should nothing sadder or lonelier than to die this way.

Greek Words

Labyrinth: An intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit.

“Pan’s Labyrinth” is a political fable in the guise of a fairy tale.

Palladium: anything believed to provide protection or safety; safeguard.

Palladium Equity Partners of New York has bought Houston’s Castro Cheese, the maker of La Vaquita cheeses and dairy products, the companies announced Monday.

Museum: A building or place where works of art, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed.

The Museum of Television and Radio in a panel discussion examined why murder has been such a compelling ingredient to "The Sopranos."

Narcissism: Inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.

NARCISSISTS will be pleased to know that they now hold the fascination of psychotherapists more than ever.

Odyssey: A long series of wanderings or adventures .

A Space Odyssey," a film in which infinite care, intelligence, patience, imagination and Cinerama have been devoted to what looks like the apotheosis of the fantasy of a precocious, early nineteen-fifties city boy.

Meander: To wander aimlessly

Economy Meanders, but Gas Prices Stick to Trend.

Protean: Readily assuming different forms or characters.

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Protean Challenge

Nectos:

Stoical: Impassive; characterized by a calm, austere fortitude befitting the Stoics.

FILM REVIEW; Stoical War Heroes Who Endured

Herculean: Having great strength.

THAT loud, rippling sound heard all over town yesterday was Steve Reeves, the movie strong man, flexing his biceps in "Hercules Unchained" at neighborhood theatres.

Laconic: Using few words.

TELEVISION REVIEW;Laconic Portrait of a Laconic Hero.

Zephyr: A gentle, mild breeze.

Likewise, the Lincoln Zephyr, a midsize sedan that made its debut last year as a 2006 model, lasted in the big leagues barely long enough for the proverbial cup of coffee.

Nemesis: Ones biggest enemy.

A Nemesis of Matsuzaka May Intrigue the Yankees.

Flora: Plant life.

Flora With a Star in Its Corner.

Ambrosia: Something especially delicious to taste or smell.

Ambrosia is one of them, a private compound set on 2 lush acres just a block from Duval Street.

Hermetic: Not affected by outward influence or power; isolated.

The Heroic, the Hermetic and the Honky-Tonk.

Promethean: Creative; boldly original.

Sibylline: Of, resembling, or characteristic of a sibyl; prophetic; oracular.

Tantalize: To tease.

Delphic: Oracular; obscure; ambiguous.

Helicon: Coiled tuba carried over the shoulder and used esp. in military bands.

Platonic: Impossible.

Draconian: Rigorous; unusually severe or cruel.

Calypso: Sea nymph who detained Odysseus on the island of Ogygia for seven years.

Amazon: One of a race of female warriors said to dwell near the Black Sea.

Siren: A seductively beautiful or charming woman.

Mercurial: Changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic.

Procrustean: Tending to produce conformity by violent or arbitrary means.

Aurora: Dawn

Iridescent: Displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.

Panacea: A remedy for all disease or ills.

Lethargic: Of, pertaining to, or affected with lethargy; drowsy; sluggish.

Gorgons: A mean, ugly, or repulsive woman.

Harpies: A scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; shrew.

Hydra: A persistent or many-sided problem that presents new obstacles as soon as one aspect is solved.

Lagniappe: a gratuity or tip.

Martial: Inclined to war.

Sophistry: False argument; sophism.

Fauna: Animal life.

Stentorian:Very loud or powerful in sound.

Phrygia: an ancient country in central and NW Asia Minor.

Victory: Having won something.

Gordian Knot: To act quickly and decisively in a difficult situation; solve a problem boldly.

Pandora´s Box: Bringing about many problems.

Cassandra: A person who prophesies doom or disaster.

The Sword of Damocles: Any situation threatening imminent harm or disaster.

Achilles: A great warrior.

Oedipus: Being obsessed with your mother and jealous of your father.

Midas: A person of great wealth or great moneymaking ability.

Hades: The abode or state of the dead.

Spartan: Being strong and brave.

Titanic: Huge in size.

Marathon: A race of 26 miles.

three myths 12

Diana and Acteon

This myth begins when a young man named Acteon, decides to go for a walk in the woods. Meanwhile, Diana the goddess, was being by her nymphs in a beautifully decorated cave. Not knowing this, Acteon walks into the caves a sees Diana unapparelled, making her very angry. She turns him into some type of animal and his own friends hunt man down. With his death, the goddess becomes satisfied. I´d like to compare the Diana in this myth, to celebrities nowadays. It happens all the time, someone young, attractive, and famous is caught exposing her private areas. To some of them, it happens accidentally, but there celebrities that do it on purpose. However, none of them can react the way Diana. Of course, they do feel ashamed, but the person responsible for it is never suffers like Acteon did. There is another difference too, the media nowadays is always in the lookout for something like this to happen, making it their fault. Acteon, on the other hand, accidentally walked into Diana while she was bathing, and he still got a way more severe punishment.

Latona and the Rustics

This myth was about a goddess, Latona, who finds a crystal clear lake in a valley. She had just been on a journey and was very thirsty, and thought of taking a drink of water from the lake. Unfortunately, when she tried to do this, the Rustic people who lived in the area, forbid her from taking water. No matter how much she begged, their answer was no. Enraged, the goddess put a curse on all the Rustics and turned them into frogs. This myth brings us to the argument about how humans waste water. Experts say that in just a few decades, water will become an issue of concern. Each year, humans are wasting gallons and gallons of drinkable water, even though there are millions of people out there dying of thirst each day. Soon, this amount will increase and it will be our children, the next generation, who will have to confront this problem. I´m not sure if the Rustics were trying to conserve water if they just selfish. In any case, they should have shared this resource while the world still had allot it.

Pygmalion-Dryope-Venus-and Adonis-Apollo-and Hyacinthus

Pygmalion was a sculpture. One day, he a create a perfect statue of a woman and immediately fell in love with it. This obsession lead the man to marrying his work of art. One day, he asked the gods to turn her into a real woman. Pygmalion went home to find out that his wish had come true. I believe it´s absolutely normal to be proud of something you made, but this man crossed the line. It´s even more than an obsession that he experiences, he actually falls in love with the statue. By doing this though, he is able to make the gods turn her into a real woman. Although he his act was extremely crazy, Pygamlion ends up having what he wanted.

Fallacies of Relevance

Our Moral Footprint

OVER the past few years the questions have been asked ever more forcefully whether global climate changes occur in natural cycles or not, to what degree we humans contribute to them, what threats stem from them and what can be done to prevent them. Scientific studies demonstrate that any changes in temperature and energy cycles on a planetary scale could mean danger for all people on all continents.

From what I could see, this paragraph uses three types of fallacies. The first, appeal to force. Just because of what the scientists said in the last sentence, then it´s a threat and must make us concerned. The second type is circumstantial. Due to the harm that humans causing to the planet, then author states an argument on climate changes. The last fallacy was appeal to emotion. Obviously, the text is trying to open our eyes to threat which we humans are inflicting on ourselves, giving it emotion.


It is also obvious from published research that human activity is a cause of change; we just don’t know how big its contribution is. Is it necessary to know that to the last percentage point, though? By waiting for incontrovertible precision, aren’t we simply wasting time when we could be taking measures that are relatively painless compared to those we would have to adopt after further delays?

This paragraph was a bit harder to analyze. I think that it´s only fallacy is an appeal to emotion again. I think so because it´s a logical issue which tries to affect our emotion. The text tries to make humans feel bad about what we are doing.

Maybe we should start considering our sojourn on earth as a loan. There can be no doubt that for the past hundred years at least, Europe and the United States have been running up a debt, and now other parts of the world are following their example. Nature is issuing warnings that we must not only stop the debt from growing but start to pay it back. There is little point in asking whether we have borrowed too much or what would happen if we postponed the repayments. Anyone with a mortgage or a bank loan can easily imagine the answer.

This paragraph was also tough. I did though, find an example of a snob approach. When the text states that other countries were following Europe and The U.S.A´s example, it showed that they did it because the ¨best people are doing it¨, even though it´s not doing any good for anyone. This could also be considered appeal to improper authority. Meaning that you follow someone or something superior even though it may not be reliable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/opinion/27havel.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

The Three Myths 11

Apollo and Daphne

It all started when Apollo found Cupid playing with his arrows and told him to keep them because the boy was too young to have a weapon. Cupid responded by shooting Apollo with an arrow to excite love, and shot Daphne with an arrow that would repel it. This way, Apollo, no matter how hard he tried, would never be able to conquer the woman that cupid made him fall in love with. This story could be a representation of the several times in which a situation like this has occurred between humans. There is nothing worse than to fall deeply in love with someone who will never love you back. This was cupid´s punishment for Apollo, instead of causing him physical pain, which many believe is horrible, the boy made him feel a much deeper inner pain, which in my opinion, is much worse.

Cephalus and Procris

Cephalus was great in wood sports and loved hunting. He was gifted with a dog who could beat any rival, and a javelin which would never miss it´s prey. He loved his wife (Procris) very much, but every time he went out hunting , he would tell the wind that he was in love with the breeze. Procris got jealous and spied on him from behind a bush one day. She began sobbing when she heard her husband saying he loved the wind. When Cephalus heard the sound, he through his javelin at the bushes and killed her. In the story, I´m not quite sure whose fault it was that Procris died. There is nothing really wrong with loving the wind, but if Cephalus weren´t so addicted to hunting, then he never would have killed his wife. In the other hand, Procris should have stayed at home and trusted her husband. I´not sure either, the reason for her sobbing, just because he hoped for a cool breeze. It was both their faults, but a pity really because they loved each other so much.

Callisto

This myth was about a beautiful woman, Callisto, who even captivated Jupiter´ attention. Juno, who became very jealous of her, turned her into a bear. As a bear, she was in constant fear of hunters while other animals feared her. One day, she saw her son in the forest and approached him. The boy became alarmed and was about to shoot the bear down until Jupiter arrived and made constellation of both of them in the heavens. This myth shows the evil side of the gods, turning an innocent woman into a bear for life. There is also another very interesting part, when she was a bear, feared humans. This shows a bit of what the animals feel towards people who are trying to hunt them down. Finally though, she gets rewarded by living in the heavens with her son forever.

The Three Myths 10

Aurora and Tithonus

This myth tells us the story about the goddess of dawn who falls in love with the mortal Tithonus. She steals him away from his home and asks Jupiter to grant him inmortality. The wish was granted only that the goddess had forgot to mention eternal youth. So as the man became older and older, she began punishing him until he finally became a grasshopper. This myth makes me think that inmortality in many ways, is not the best thing you can ask for. Like Tithonus, you might eventually run out of things to do, places to go, and even become as useless as a grasshopper. Everyone has a task to complete in life, and once it´s over, then you die and your life ends.

Acis and Galatea

This myth was a about two beautiful women. One was chased by men all the time but could repel if she wanted to. The other was a goddess who had no escape from the man she married. Although many still do, I´m glad that parents don´t force their children´s marrige as much as they did before. It´s a basic and obviouse right for any human: rich, poor, intelligent,dumb, etc, to choose whom they will spend the rest of their lifes with. If parents just want their kids to be happy, let them make their own choices about their future.

Apollo and Daphne-Pyramus an Thisbe-Cephalus and Procris

This last myth sais that a python came out from the earth´s slime and began terrorizing people. Apollo, who had never used his arrow in such a situation, shot the beast down in one go. Because of this impressive act of skill anb bravery, he instituted the Pythian games. The Pythian Games (Delphic Games) were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, a forerunner of the modern Olympic Games, held every four years at the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythian_Games.) Some of the activities in the tournament were: music, theater, athletic competitions, and chariot racing. The games lasted from 6-8 days, and from the records (which were mostly destroyed) we could tell that they were very glorious and glamerous. Like the Olympic games, the Pythian games also show the Greek´s determination and passion for sports.

The Three Myths 9

Roman Divinities

This myth mentions a basis of the gods in which the greeks and romans believed in. It explains the story of how it all began with the titans who ruled the universe, specially Cronos, and how the rest of the gods came to be. It helped me reflect on the differences between their religion and ours. The one which I believe to be the most important is that the Greeks and Romans completely created their gods, making them have a human aspect. Their probably just trying to show what a human with no fallacies would be like. It´s been proven though, that these gods never existed, and nobody believes in them any more. In the other hand, I´m a catholic, and my whole religion was created centuries before I was born. I believe in one God and scientists are still trying to prove if he really existed or not. Maybe the Greeks felt the same way about their gods in their time, as I feel about my god now. Who knows if there will be another religion centuries from now who will think of me the same way that I think of the Greeks.

Endymion

This myth was about a very attractive man who fed his flock on Mount Latmos. The whole story talks about how the gifts that this man recieved just for his beauty and youth. I have noticed that physical appearance has played a very important role in most myths I´ve read until now, specially among the gods and mythological creautures. These beings were supposed to be superior to humans, but in the end, they demonstrate very humanlike characterstics. Outer beauty is something that average people would pay attention to, but gods, who are not average, should instead look at the inside.

Orion

This myth is about the gian Orion who chooses to marry Diana, Apollo´s sister. Unfortunatley, Apollo doesn´t approve of this and tricks Diana into shooting and killing him while the giant was taking a swim. Once again, the Greeks show another human characteristic in the God Apollo. This characteristic is a mixture of jealousy and stubbornes which is the reason why Orion gets killed. His memory though, is still remembered in the stars witht he constellation that Diana made for him.

The Three Myths 8

Two out of the three myths I read today were about famouse Greek poets. These were Simonides and Sappho. Each poet had an inffluene to ancient Greece, and to all literature lovers today. "Simonides's genius was inclined to the pathetic, and none could touch with truer effect the chords of human sympathy." (P. 162). The "Lamentation of Danae" is his most inportant fragment which remains in poetry today.

"Sappho was a poetess who flourished in a ver early age of greek literature. Of her work, few fragments remain, but there are enough to establish her claim to eminent poetical genius."(P.163). This remarkable woman shows that female, just as much as male, were recognized as geniuses. In most greek stories, men are usually the ones who are act as heroes, or become a person who is remembered through all of history. Sappho though, proved that women also had power.

The writings of these two poets, not only have showed us he mentality of greek men and women, but they also have been the source of inspiration to many writers this century. Humans may never be able tot hink the same way as these people did, because our minds have become way more lazy and unable to view life the way the ancient greeks did. Some people say that we're getting smarter by the generation, but this confidence has also caused us alot of igorance.

The Three Myths 7

Adriadne

This myth was about a woman who was abandoned in an island by Theseus. A god feels sorry for her and sends her an inmortal husband, Bacchus. When Adriadne dies, Bacchus a constellation of his bride. Each of these patterns of stars holds a legend which have passed down through the Greeks. The constellations play an important role in modern astronomy. They bring order to the sky by dividing it into smaller segments, providing a base for naming celestial objects. (http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/const.html). Until this day, the Greek's stellar observations have helped us with our modern science.

The Rural Deities

This myth talks about Pan, the god of the woods and fields. Though he enjoyed exploring valleys, mountains, and other parts of nature, he was also dreaded by those who passed the forests at night. This reflects the fact that although nature has its amazing beauties, it also has its terrors. There are many things dwelling in ocean and land, that human should fear. Uncountable amounts of plants and animals have caused fatalities to people that we never saw coming. Shark attacks, poisonus plants, insects, and even just wilderness itself are examples of threats to us humans. Inspite of all its beauties, nature will always play some dirty trick on us.

Admetus and Algestis

This final myth was basically a fight for love between Ametus and Algestis. This is always the typical story fot humans. When someone falls in love with another, that person will do anything in his/her power to be lovved back. Ony true love will prvail and get you the prize that you faught for so much.

Op-Ed Response

Taxing the Hand That Feeds Us

REPUBLICAN presidential candidates can’t get elected without owning the tax issue. So far, the current crop is giving it away.

A huge reason for Ronald Reagan’s popularity was his cutting of all income-tax rates and ending of “bracket creep,” in which inflation pushed earners into higher tax groups. Congressional Republicans promised a tax credit for children while sweeping the 1994 elections. In 2000, George W. Bush promised to expand that tax credit and to reduce income taxes.

Yes, the top Republican contenders for 2008 are promising to keep all of Mr. Bush’s tax cuts. But the Democrats are not threatening the child tax credit or Mr. Bush’s reductions in the lower-level income-tax rates. Those issues are off the table.

(Taken from: http://www.nytimes.com)

This text was just a piece, taken from an op-ed article on the New York Times website. The very first paragraph, talks about the present. According to the table we made in class, its other characteristics woud be: demonstrative, values, heart, and pathos, but I beleive it's none of those. The paragraph, probably belongs more to the characteristics of Ethos, which are: charater, blame, and gut. This proves that our table doesn't fit all situations.

The second paragraph refers to the decisions of some american presidents in the past. Because of this, I once again think that it doesn't fit the column that it was placed in in class. It belongs more to mind and choice, when talking about Reagans reasons for success and Bush's promises in 2000.

The final paragraph is focused more on the future, when mentioning 2008. It does though, for once, fit the entire clolumn for logos. The facts in this paragraph show mind, and the republicans show choice. This proves that the theory made in class, about wheather the three types of rhetoric should be part of the table or not, coud sometimes fit an entire column, or vary with many different characteristics.

The Three Myths 6

Out of the three myths I read today, I decided to focus more on "The Olympic and Other Games." This caught my atention because I am very interested in the Athletism of the Greeks. "The first and most distinguished game were the Olympic, founded, it was said, by Jupiter himdelf." (P.124, Olympic and Other Games). What fascinates me the most, are the pricipals of sportsmenship that were used in the competition. I investigated an ancient latin quote which is nowadays used as the Olympic Motto:

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." This phrase teaches us that where you end up doesn't matter, it's how you get there that really matters. This idea could probably be considered as a pillar of competition.

There games were so inffluencial that they even exist now, centuries after they were invented. I researched some some of the olympic symbols and their meanings which are used nowadays.
The best known symbol is probably that of the Olympic Rings. These five intertwined rings represent the unity of five inhabited continents (with America regarded as one single continent). The Olympic Torch commemorates the attainment of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, when a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics.

The text states the following: "The excercises in hese games were of five sports: running, leaping, wrestling, throwing the quoit, and hurling the javeline, or boxing. " (P. 125, Olympic and other Games). Currently, the Olympic program consists of 35 different sports, 53 disciplines and more than 400 events. This shows how well the games have progressed and how thankful we should be to the Greeks.

(Information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games#Olympic_sports)

The Three Myths 5

In this entry I chose to write about nymphs, because my three myths (The Camenae, The Winds, and Rhoecus) were all about these creatures. A nymph is any member of a large class of female nature entities, either bound to a particular location or landform or joining the retinue of a god. Nymphs live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, and in valleys and cool grottoes. In all the myths, there was a male character who falls in love with a nymph, probably showing that these are sensual and attractive creatures.

"Boreas loved the nymph Orithyia, and tried to play the lover's part, but met with poor success."(P. 141, The Winds).

"It was said that Numa, the second king of Rome, was favoured by this Nymph with secret interviews, in which she taught him those lessons of wisdom and of law which he embodied in the instructions of his rising nation. After the death of Numa the nymph pinned away and was changed into a fountain." (P. 141, The Camanae).

"Rhoecus , happening to seek an oak just ready to fall, ordered his serevents to prop it up. The Nymph, who had just been at the point of perishing with the tree, cam and expressed her gratitude to him for having saved her life and bade him ask what reward he would. Rhoecus boldly asked her love and the nymph yielded to his desire." (P. 138, Rhoecus).

These three quotes, taken from the myths I read, demonstrate the life, actions, and role of the nymphs in greek mythology. As I stated before, they all belong to nature, and in a way, they reflect it's beauty. Maybe this is exactly what they were intended to show, the hidden beauty of nature, beyond what men could see.

The Three Myths 4

Today, I decided to read three myths about the water deities, Netune, Amphitrite, and Nereus and Doris. Before anyone, Oceanus and Tethys were the two Titans who ruled over the watery elements. Jove and his brothers overthrough these Titans, assuming their power. Neptune and Amphitrite succeeded to the dominion of the waters in place of Oceanus and Tethys.

The first myth was about Neptune, the chief of the water dieties. His symbol of power was his trident, a the three-pronged spear. He used this to shatter rocks, create storms, and to shake the entire ocean. The second myth told us about Amphitrite, the wife of Neptune and the daughter of Nereus and Doris. These were also the parents of Nereides, dthe most celebrated of whom were Amphitrite, Thetis, the mother of Achilles, and Galatea.

The "diagram" above gives a brief description of the water deities family tree, beginning with Nereus and Doris, their children, Neptune getting married with Amphitrite, and the last generation of children.

Rhetoric

This first quote uses logos because it makes a logical statement about the new pilot program.

A new pilot program, however, would require that any Mexican trucks approved for entry into the United States be inspected for safety every three months. http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/opinion/11tue2.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26nQ3DTopQ2FOpinionQ2FEditorialsQ2520andQ2520Op-EdQ2FEditorials&OP=352fdfc5Q2FJQ7CLcJ2nDQ3Efnn9IJIeeQ23JeQ5EJQ25Q25Jn8i_in_JQ25Q259Q26LIl@9d(

This next quote uses uses a bit of logos in the first sentence, just proving something logic, but stating the crash made it Pathos.

It is of utmost importance to ensure the safety of Mexican trucks — or any trucks — driving on American highways. This was underscored yesterday by the spectacular crash and explosion of a truck carrying explosives in northern Mexico that killed at least 37 people. http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/opinion/11tue2.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26nQ3DTopQ2FOpinionQ2FEditorialsQ2520andQ2520Op-EdQ2FEditorials&OP=352fdfc5Q2FJQ7CLcJ2nDQ3Efnn9IJIeeQ23JeQ5EJQ25Q25Jn8i_in_JQ25Q259Q26LIl@9d(

This next statement falls under the Pathos category because they criticizing the Homeland security.

And there’s no reassurance to hear Homeland Security officials defend their slow progress, arguing that there has been no similar attack since. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/opinion/10mon3.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials

This statement sounds like it's using Ethos, showing the authority and abillity of the agency.

The agency has proved far better at developing security plans than at implementing them. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/opinion/10mon3.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials


This last quote is also Ethos because it shows the character of the experts.

To be fair, experts say the difficult task of consolidating and reshaping the many rival bureaucracies will likely require two to three more years, and there has been moderate progress in some target areas. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/opinion/10mon3.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials

The Three Myths 4

This time, I decided to read three myths about Perseus. These were: Perseus and Medusa, Perseus and Atlas, and The Sea Monster. They go in chronollogical order from the moment he was born, to the moment he finds his bride.

It all begun with Perseus and Medusa, when the young man was destined to kill thse monster who turned any creature that looked her in the eye to stone. Perseus sneaks up to Medusa while she was asleep and cuts her head off. This was his first of many acts of bravery. The hero (son of Jupiter) continues his journey to the western limit of earth where he confronts King Atlas, a wealthy giant. Perseus only asked for food and rest but the king refused. As a result, the giant was turned to stone after being shown the head of Medusa. The last adventure was when Perseus travels to the country of the Aethiopians. The kings daughter was being held as a sacrifice to a sea monster. The hero offers to save her only if he gets the princess as a prize. Perseus ends up killing the serpent of the ocean a taking the kings daughter as his bride.

These three stories could actually be referred to as the epic of Preseus. It fits all the description given by Aristotles, some of which were: Has a character we admire, who would be represented as Preseus, and It has no exact time. The only condition that it doesn't fit is that it is not written in verses.

The Three Myth's 3

This time, I chose to read the myth's of The Centaurs, The Pygmies, and The Griffin. All of them are based on the stories of three different species of mythological creatures. I believe that each one of these species represent a type of person in our nowaday society. The text describes centaurs as "men from head to loins, while the remainder of the body was that of a horse." (P. 102). It also states that some centaurs were rude while others were nice. In the marrige of Prithous with Hippodamia, one centaur gets drunk and sexually harasses the bride, giving an inferiror name to the entire species. There are incredible amounts of humans nowadays who act in the same way. It's the typical routine of going to a party, getting too much to drink, and making an unintelligent move which ruins it for everyone.

The pygmies, in the other hand, were "a nation of dwarfs" (p. 103) who apparently seemed to be agressive and warlike, but facing challenges far beyond what they could handle. "An army of pygmies which finding Hercules asleep, made preparations to attack him, as if they werw about to attack a city. But the hero, awaking, laughed at the little warriors, wrapped some of them up in lion skin, and carried them to Eurystheus." (P. 103) Many people in our society seek fights way out of their league, just to prove how tough they are. This people are represented by the warrior pygmies.

The last species are the Griffin, "a monster with the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and back covered with feathures. " (P. 103). The griffins were more honorable and respectful creatures, who searched for gold in the mountains and made nests out of them. Griffins would represent the succesful and talented human beings who have superiority over the rest.

The Three Myth's 2

The three myths I chose to read were Amphion, Linus, and Marsyas. Although very short, all of them had a story write about. It was interesating to see how in two out of the three myths, the main character gets punished with death instead of honor and glory. In the story of Linus, it states that "Linus roused the anger of Hercules, who struck him with his lyre and Killed him." (p.155) Marsyas ended up the same way Linus did. He (Marsyas) was tempted to challenge apollo himself to a musical contest. "The god of course triumphed, and punished Marsyas by flaying him alive." (P. 155). There are still though, just as many myths with positive endings as there are with negative. In the story of Amphion, Amphion ends up being king. "Amphion, having become king of Thebes, fortified the city with a wall." (P. 155). This proves that the main character doesn't always come out winning. As you can tell, both Linus and Marsyas were killed by gods, meaning that they had to have done something wrong. Or maybe the myth's were just trying to show us what the fury of a god could cause. Like I said, there has to be meaning to why sometimes these stories show a character prevailing, while others show the character failing.

The Three Myths

Today I read three creation myth's based on the belief's of very different cultures. These were the Koreans, the Greeks, and the Mayas. Each of them had a touch of uniqueness, distinguishing them from one another. The Korean myth was very interesting because in the beginning of the myth, a Heavenly Prince asks his father for the "beautiful" peninsula of Korea. This is surprising to me because out of all the places on earth this prince could have chosen from, he picked the peninsula of Korea, and it had to be for a reason. This brings me to a concept that every culture's creation myth is written or explained as if that culture was the only one in their creator's mind. The same hapens with the Mayan myth, where two all powerfull beings imagine whatever they wanted to create. The story tells us how the gods made the Mayan's earth, mountains, trees, and finally, after several attempts, the actual Mayans. The Greek myth wasn't any different. This culture tells us how the three most powerful gods, divided the earth into three parts, Zues being the god of gods, Poseidon being the god of the oceans, and Hades being the god of the underworld. Again, I state my point that every myth was written with the conscience that they were the perfect, or ideal civilization according to the gods they believed in.

How Much Shall We Bet?

This is a text which shows how the universe, galaxies, the solar system, our earth, and any other type of cellular life couldn't help to be born. The author used the story of two beings, who spent their time betting on the outcome of of several things yet to happen in the universe, the choice was virtually unlimited. At first, their conversations were about what would happen in outer space, until one of them succeeded in suggesting eventualities that had no apparent connection with what they were arguing about, these eventualities were about human's and earth. Strangley the being that would always's win with events having to do with nebulas, supernovas, etc, lost all of his bets when it came to humans. It was as if his calculation's wouldnt't work on people. It is unclear to me why he always lost. Maybe it was just because we couldn't help to be different and unpredicatable. Just one thing is for sure and it's that the natural path the universe was taking, changed when the human race came into existance.

The text states that "According to cybernetics, the universe is formed by a series of feedbacks, positive and negative, at first through the force of gravity that concentrates masses of hydrogen in the primitive cloud, then through nuclear force and centrifugal force which are balanced with the first. From the moment that the process is set in motion, it can only follow the logic of this chain." I'm thinking that this chain eventually lead to human beings, immediatley giving it a feedback. My only guess is that it only affected the chain in a negative way, prooving the reason why Ofwfq (the being that always won the bets) began losing against the Dean.

Final Entry

In class, we were able to conclude that Gilgamesh is an epic. But the question though, still keeps coming up, what exactly is an epic? I've decided to answer this question not only with a definition, but with proof from the text.

First off, an epic should have a hero of imposing status, national or international importance, and of great historical or legendary significance. Obviously, this description is referring to Gilgamesh, a man one third human, and two thirds god. Not only this, but he was also king of the dominant city of Uruk, which brings us straight to our next characteristic: an epic's setting is vast, covering many nations, worlds or even the universe. Uruk is not the only place where the story takes place. For all we know, the Cedar forest, or the sea of death could have been miles away from the city. In the epic, they describe distances in leagues, I honestly don’t know how much that is, but I’m sure its way more than we think.

An epic's action refers to deeds of great valor which require heroic courage to achieve. Supernatural forces such as gods, angels, or demons are the ones who interest themselves in this action. It's easy to say that it would take more than an average being to accomplish what Gilgamesh did. He fought and defeated Huwawa, the demon of the cedar forest, killed the bull from heaven which Ishtar the godess had sent to him as a punishment, was able to reach Utnapishtim after undergoing a terrible journey, and lastly, he even rescued his friend Enkidu from the Nether World.

To finish my analyzation of an epic, I will say that they all have a style of sustained elevation and that the poet retains a measure of objectivity. This means that most epics are not influenced by the author's emotion or personal opinion. Who knows what the author of Gilgamesh was thinking when he wrote it, but he definitely made it fit the genre's conditions.

The Resurrection of Enkidu

The last section of the book had some parts that were quite challenging for me to understand. The following quote explains one of them.

"The Drum and Drumstick I had in the Carpenter's house, where the Carpenter's daughter was, and the carpenter's wife and daughter were like my mother and sister the Drum and Drumstick that I had fallen down through a hole into the Nether World, out of my sight, down through the hole in the floor."

It was hard for me to discover the symbolical reference of the Drum and Drustick. At first, I just thought they reprensented Enkidu, who had had died and gone to the Nether World. It was a good generalization until I read that Enkidu volunteered to bring it back, meaning the drum couldn't be him. My other guess was that idea could be literal, not symbolic. It could always be an option that Gilgamesh had some sort of drum and drumstick that meant alot to him, of course, this idea is very improbable, taking into account the fact that something so important should ahve mentioned or explained before. As for the part where Gilgamesh mentions the carpenter's daughter and wife, I can can only assume it means what he says it does, that they were like his mother and sister. Who know's what connection between the carpenter's family was with the drum and drumstick, the only thing im sure of is that they relate to the resurrection of Enkidu.

(This entry is the one for pages 85-92, not the final one)

Section Analysis

There are several parts of this section of the book that I would like to analyze. First off, it is obviously clear that the story of how Utnapishtim becomes a God, is suprsingly similar to the biblical tale of Noha's ark. In both versions, the main character gets warned by his god that there will be a flood and that he must a build a boat in order to survive. This person ends up being the savior of all species. This comparison shows us the religiouse similarity between us (catholics) and the ancient Mesopotamians.

Another part of the book that I found very interesting was when Gilgamesh retrieves the How-the-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-a-Young-Man plant. Unfortunatelly, when he's taking it back to his city, a snake steals it and eats it. The author never mentions this, but the idea of the snake eating the rejuvinating plant, ezplains why they leave their old skin behind, and change it for a brand new one every once in a while.

Life

Life is the greatest gift that god has given us. You should always be thankful, as long as you have breath in your lungs, and a beat in your heart. People like Gilgamesh put their lives in front of them, and do everything they can to survive. This gift is something to fight for, something to be proud to have. You don't gamble with it, you live each day as if it were your last, but also enjoying to maximum. People don't realize the importance of life until they see it going. This is what happened with Gilgamesh when his good friend Enkidu died. The king journeyed to where no mortal had, just to see if his desitny was to live or to die. He traveled 12 leagues across the pitch black tunnel, swam to the boatman's island, and sailed across the sea of death. He risked his life in all these ways, just to survive.

Death

Death is always a hard time for everyone. From an average family, to a royal one (like Gilgamesh and Enkidu), its never easy to hide the pain. I can't tell you exactly how it feels to loose a loved one because I never have. I know though, that a loss like this should rip out a part of you that could never be replaced. The best thing to do, is to seek the people who love you, and ponder the thought that death only leads to a better place. There is more than one way to be with someone, it's not always physically, but also spiritualy and through the heart. Afterall, you do love with the heart, not with the eyes.

This theme relates to the story of Gilgamesh beacause the gods punish the two "brothers" by sending an illness to Enkidu. Both of them suffer for mant days until the wild man's time came. In his honor, Gilgamesh built a statue of his brother, so that the good man will always be remembered.

Loyalty, Frindship, and Courage

I believe that courage, loyalty, and friendship played and extremely important role during the fights against Huwawa and the bull. The bond between Enkidu and Gigamesh had practicaly gone from being friends, to brothers. When one of them was in need, the other would always be there to back him up. They wouldnt have stood a chance against Huwawa in the Cedar Forest when they saw the demon's face, but the other would give him courage to go on, this is what brought them victory. Again, while Enkidu was fighting against the bull from heaven, Gilgamesh saw that he seeked help, and over to assist him.

These important values are the ones who save the people you love, this is why the two men were undefeated until now.

The Kings Dream

I believe that the whole story (that we have read until now) could be interpreted with Gilgamesh's dream about the falling meteorite. It go's as the following: Gilgamesh dreams about a meteorite that falls in the plains outside of Uruk. He was drawn to it as if it were a woman, and failed when he tried to lift it. Gigamesh decides to consult his mother, Rimat Nunsun , to interpret it for him. She tells him that the meteor (obviously representing Enkidu), would be a companion to him and guard him for life.

The reader would believe that the previous prediction were wrong, thinking that Enkidu was supposed to kill Gilgamesh. In the contrary, the two men comfronted, but ended up kissing and embracing once they realized each other's power.

As I had said, the kings dream was a symbolic interpretation of the entire chapter.

Gilgamesh 1

It was a challenge in the beginning to read and understand the first page and a half of the book. I then dicovered that it was just a matter of getting used to the author's writing before its all clear to you. I noticed that the story had alot of poem like characteristics, and repeated many of the same phrases over and over again.

Some of the main points of the first ten pages were the following. The people of Uruk were having problems with their all-mighty king Giglamesh, so they seek the Godess Aruru for help. She promises them to create a double so that the two could contend and bring peace to Uruk once again. A hunter was the first to see Ekindu (Gigamesh's double), a wild, hairy man, strong as Ninurta, God of war. They think that bringing him a prostitute to seduce him, then he would go away.

This first part of the book gets you a bit confused, because you are almost sure that Ekindu will arrive at Uruk, kill Giglamesh and bring peace to the city once and for all, but this would make the story way too short. It all gets clear to you in the last ten pages.