The Dervaes Family

I enjoyed watching this family through the movie. I really thought that their ability to sustain themselves was absolutely amazing. It really made me think about how personally, I am wasting resources everyday. It also made me think about how I can reduce my waste, like their family did. It also struck me when at the beginning of the movie the father said "Growing your own food is the most dangerous profession, because it can make you free." That line struck me because I went back to what Ishmael was saying about keeping food on lock and key. If the food is not under lock and key, then the citizens of that culture are "free."

I think that the Dervaes' family Wants vs. Needs sheet looks a lot like a sheet of a person that is not doing so well on money. I say this because a person not doing so well on money puts the more important things on the Needs column, while not so important things on the Wants column. I also think that the Dervaes family does not put food under Needs because they do not need to pay for food, they get all of it for free. I think that they do, however, put their garden and plants under Needs because that is how they survive, and without them, they would be, well screwed.

The Dervaes family fits into what we are learning about in My Ishmael because Ishmael keeps talking about civilizations that keep their food under lock and key. But the Dervaes family does not live by this principle. They are more like the Leavers when they first left, they spend all their time growing food and then eat the foods that they want whenever they want. But they are not exactly the Leavers because they do not keep their food under lock and key for themselves. No one forces them to grow their own food, they do so on their own accord.

My thoughts on this family is that they are probably one of the best examples of how to live sustainably in a modern city. I think that if everyone shifted to the way that the Dervaes lived, the orginal "Leaver" way, than I think that we would not be in this cultural and climate predicament that we are in.

Erratic Retaliation

1. Anthropomorphism: an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.

When Ishmael talks about this in the chapter, I think he is talking about how humans always interpret what animals do in the human sense not only because we are used to seeing the kind of behavior, but subconsciously we are assuming what they are doing is something a human would do because the human way is the “right” way. Just like in the consecutive lines after the mention of this word, Ishmael talks about animals and territories. Animals have no want for territory, nor do they need it. We just think that animals are claiming land for themselves because that is what humans do. Really though, the animals are just trying to survive, and taking land that has the resources to sustain the animals.

2.
a. I think erratic retaliation is a fancy way of saying “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” In the case of the Cawks, this means that if one tribe starts to irk another tribe, the tribe being irked will try and bother the other tribe, so that they can be even.

b. Erratic Retaliation is a peacekeeping method because it forces the peaceful Cawk tribes to defend themselves, instead of just being annihilated by other more aggressive Cawk tribes. Basically, it forces Cawk tribes to defend themselves when others attack them, keeping any tribes from just being wiped out because they chose to lay down and die.

c. Cawks don’t annihilate one another because that would be useless. Going back to the example of the white-footed mouse, if the white-footed mice tried to kill themselves, that would not contribute to the gene pool. But if the white-footed mice kill other pups, than that makes it more likely for one white-footed mouse family to contribute their genes to a gene pool. To refine what I am saying, the Cawks don’t kill themselves because that would not help them advance.

Ishmael Questions

1. What are Ishmael’s two general rules on how to identify people from our culture? Do you agree with Ishmael when he says that people from all over the world are part of the same culture? Why or why not?
Two general rules that Ishmael states you can use to identify someone of our culture is to look if a culture has their food source on lock and key and to see if the people see themselves are flawed who are eventually going to die. I do agree with Ishmael when he says that people all over the world are of the same culture. I agree with this because even though the people of the world are American, Chinese, Indian, etc, we are all part of the Human culture. We all share the same idea that we need to love one another, and must stick together to succeed.

2. Ishmael disagrees with Mother Culture’s voice that says that humans are inherently flawed. After reading through page 66 of My Ishmael do agree or disagree with him? Why?
After reading these chapters, I do agree with him that humans are flawed. I agree with him because (just going off the book and not other reasons) we keep our food under lock and key and we think that the way we do something has to be the right way. I do not think that we should keep our food under lock and key after reading the story of tunes and dancers. I think that people should be able to “dance” for the amount of food they want and then be left alone. If some people wanted to dance all day, let them dance all day. But leave the people that only dance for a few hours each day to their own business. The second reason I agree with Ishmael is that we always see the way we do things as the right way, and when a different or abstract idea or process comes up, we condemn it right away because it is not the way we do it. Just because we don’t do it doesn’t make it wrong. It just makes it different.

3. Ishmael uses a parable of Tunes and Dancers to explain his idea of Takers and Leavers. Who are these Takers and Leavers and how do they relate to American culture?
The Takers are represented by the regular everyday people in the American culture. The Leavers are represented by farmers and food distributers. Ishmael’s parable of Tunes and Dancers relates directly to American culture because it is how we “operate”. At one time, all the people in the American culture used to be hunters. They would hunt only when they were hungry, and not store excess food. But as time went on, they became Leavers who turned to agriculture to keep themselves fed. Later, these Leavers (farmers) found that they could make money by withholding the food from the public unless they danced for the food (paid for the food). In time, food distributers appeared, who kept the food under lock and key. Even now, this system of food under lock and key still exists, which is why the parable of Tunes and Dancers relates directly to American culture today.

Sustainability

I think living sustainably means that we continue to prosper yet having no bad effect on the world. We currently are not living sustainably because we live in a world where we burn fossil fuels that are burning holes in the Ozone layer and leaving dangerous greenhouse gases that are heating up the earth, resulting in the melting of the polar ice caps. I also think sustainability means being able to live without exhausting the resources at hand, such as money or oil. If the world as a whole can go on their daily lives without running out of oil, then I consider that living sustainably. Alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar energy also help the world live sustainably.

I think I have a lot of freedom, but am also restricted a lot. I feel restricted in the sense that I cannot do certain adult things such as vote and drink, but I feel very free in the sense that I am free to express my opinions and talk about the government without any repercussions or consequences. I think that the latter is more important to me, even though at times I wish I could vote on topics such as the next president and bills regarding things like economic spending packages.

I think I could live my life more sustainably if I paid a lot more attention to the world around me and counted it as a whole instead of looking at the general city I am living in. I also think that I could live my life more sustainably if I looked more in depth at the decisions I make every day. Buy a reusable water bottle, instead of a plastic one that I just throw away. Not leaving the heater in the house running when it is not in use. If I put my life under a fine tuned microscope, I know I could find even more ways to live my life very sustainably.

My Goals

1. I think I am definitely more high schooler-ish. I'm starting to think about college and my life after school and what I want to do with my life. Other than that, it really doesn't feel different than how I started in August. I went through all of middle school in a High Tech school so coming into high school was basically just rising another grade level in the High Tech society.
2. I think that my most important skills in succeeding in Humanities is my ability to write well. This ability will help my bring more life to the papers I write, whether it be a writing such as a research paper or a creative writing from WEX.
3. One thing I would like to improve on this semester is getting my papers more often and by a bigger group of people. I will accomplish this goal by not only giving my papers to people in our grade level, but people in the 10th,11th, and 12th graders to proofread. I will also give my paper to people outside of the school, such as my parents and fencing friends.
4. The one thing that I would really like to learn about this semester is grammar and different writing mechanics. I think that learning more about grammar would really be beneficial to my writing because I will have a wider range of tools to use when I do write. I like how we have been keeping things like the writing concept of the week, it has really helped my writing. If we had even more tools, I think I could make my writing that much better.

Dialectical Journals Books 7 & 8

Chapter 30, 12/2/08
"Odd as it sounds, the feeling within that cozy copse evoked a hearth of home, a haven. One could still smell that deery smell, the gamy scent of their coats. None of the party spoke, yet each, I will wager, was thinking the same thought: how sweet it would be, right now, to lie down there like the deer and close one's eyes. To allow all fear to depart one's limbs. To be, just for a moment, innocent of terror."
~Page 321

I chose this quote because I thought it was amazing the way the author described the way this part of the story. It shows that even though the warriors are Spartans, they still feel fear. I could imagine how they feel because of this paragraph, how they want to just be free of war. Be free of the worries of dying and battle. It also struck me because I have felt like this before. Many times when I make the top 4 or 2 in a tournament, I always just want to lay down and let go the worries of "What if I lose this bout?". But I always persevere, just like the soldiers of Sparta.

Chapter 32, 12/2/08
"The Persians within the tent fought just as their fellows had in the pass and at the Narrows. Their accustomed weapons were of the missile type, javelins, lances and arrows, and the sought space, an interval of distance from which to launch them. The Spartans on the other hand were trained to close breast-to-breast with the foe. Before one could draw breath, the locked shields of the Lakedaemonians were pincushioned with arrow shafts and lanceheads. One heartbeat more and their bronze facings slammed into the frantically massing bodies of the foe. For an instant it seemed as if they would utterly trample the Persians. I saw Polynikes bury his eight-footer overhand in the face of one nobleman, jerk its gore-dripping point free and plunge it into the breast of another. Dienekes, with Alexandros on his left, slew three so quickly the eye could barely assimilate it. On the right Ball Player was hacking like a madman with his throwing axe, directly into a shrieking knot of priests and secretaries cowering upon the floor."
~Pages 337-338

I chose this quote because it shows the distinctions between the Persian and Spartan warfare. The Persians were more formal while the Spartans were more ferocious and beast like. The Persians had more long range weapons, whilst the Spartans had more close range weapons like the xiphos to slash away at opponents. I also chose this quote because of the way the battle is described. I could really see many Spartans such as Dienekes and Alexandros hacking and jabbing away at the Persians so quickly that the eye could not process it fast enough.

Chapter 35, 12/3/08
"'Do you hate them Dienekes?' the king asked in the tone of a comrade, unhurried, conventional, gesturing to captains and officers of the Persians proximately visible across the oudernos chorion, the no-man's-land.

Dienekes answered at once that he did not. 'I see faces of gentle and noble bearing. More than a few, I think, whom one would welcome with a clap and a laugh to any table of friends.'

Leonidas clearly approved my master's answer. His eyes seemed, however, darkened with sorrow.

'I am sorry for them,' he avowed, indicating the valiant foemen who stood so proximately across. 'What wouldn't they give, the noblest among them, to stand here with us now?'"
~Pages 360-361

I chose this quote because it shows how honorable the Spartans are. Dienekes shows that even though the Persians are the enemy that want to take over all of Sparta and Athens, he would still invite him in for a drink. I think this is because he knows that many of the soldiers that are fighting for Xerxes don't want to be there and would invite the Spartans over for a drink as well if they were not fighting in a war.

Chapter 36, 12/3/08
"'As when a wildfire upon a hillside at last consumes itself and flares no more, so my fit of grief burned itself out. A peace settled clemently upon me, as if gift not alone of that strong arm which clasped me yet in its embrace, but of some more profound source, ineffable and divine. Strength returned to my knees and courage to my heart. I rose behind the king and wiped my eyes. These words I addressed to him, not of my own will it seemed but prompted by some unseen goddess whose source and origin I could not name.
'"'Those were the last tears of mine, my lord, that the sun will ever see.''"
~Pages 373-374

I chose this quote because it is a very powerful quote at the end of the book. This is when Lady Paraleia is talking about Alexandros' death after word is reached that the 300 lost at Thermopylae. It is just so powerful the way that she relates her grief to a wildfire. Wildfires are very strong forces that often takes very long to stop. The fact that her grief is this strong is very interesting. I also chose this quote because I felt very strongly toward this quote. I had a very important in my life die once and I felt exactly this way. Yes the pain gradually grew weaker, but there was always that last dying spark of the wildfire of grief that still hung on.

What I am Thankful For

(<---That's Hannah)
I am thankful for a lot of things that I have that I take for granted everyday. The first thing that I am grateful for are my two best friends, Hannah and Lilia. They are always there for me, ya I know it sounds cheesy but its true, when I need them. They both are there whenever I need a hug or someone to talk to about girl troubles. Both of them have also been very supportive of my Olympics dream, always bringing it up when I'm feeling down and feeling like I won't be able to get there. I love them to death and are practically sisters to me, as I am practically a brother to them.

Another thing that I am thankful for are my parents. As this goes without saying, they have always been there for me in good times and bad. They are very supportive of my fencing dream and do anything they can to help me reach this goal. Both of them drive me to fencing and back every night, I am very thankful for that. They also buy me all the fencing equipment I need for tournaments and practice, which I will always be thankful for because fencing gear can add up really fast =/. But I love my parents, and will always be thankful for them.

Of course, these two things aren't the only two things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for my house, food to eat, and a wonderful school to go to everyday. I think that sometimes we take everything we have for granted. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday because the things that we take for granted come into the spotlight as we give thanks for them.