The Confucius Conundrum

            I chose to write about Confucius because I love philosophy. I like to see how people from all over the world, throughout time, saw life and the universe. Philosophers usually have a big hand in helping the progression of human knowledge. What I respect about Confucius is that he worked to make people better.

"Do not do to others, what you would not want them to do to you." Analects of Confucius: 5:11

Confucius was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher. He lived in Ancient China during the Zhou Dynasty. Confucius was a government official, and during his lifetime he saw growing disorder and chaos in the system. Because of the turmoil and injustices he saw, he set himself to develop a new moral code based on respect, honesty, education, kindness and strong family bonds. His teachings and practices became known as Confucianism. 

             Confucianism is not strictly a religion, but a set of moral beliefs. The principles of Confucianism center around the concepts of jen and li. Jen embodies the most important aspect of Confucianism, the compassion and sensitivity to others. Li is a combination of morality and etiquette, custom and ritual. A collection of his teachings, the Analects  , was put together by his followers.

            My partner from China, Zoey, explained about a chant conference that they do every year on Confucius’ Birthday. They sang quotes extracted from The Analects of Confucius. This year, Confucius is 2565 years old. In some areas of China, the people will have activities and celebrations on his birthday.  Though Confucius died long ago, many of his beliefs are still practiced and respected in this modern age.

Chinese chant conference

Sources:

"Religion." Asian American Reference Library. Ed. Helen Zia, et al. 2nd ed. Detroit: U*X*L, 2004. Discover Collection. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

"Confucius." Ancient Civilizations Reference Library. Ed. Judson Knight and Stacy A. McConnell. Detroit: UXL, 2000. Discover Collection. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
Zoey.Carissa Magnone.November10,2014.E-mail

Class Response 10/27/14

I started with the bias test. My results were little to no automatic preference between black and white people. I was not surprised by this. I do not care about how someone looks, I care about how they act. I have met good and bad people of all races and am glad that I have no bias to them.

Next, was the face to face stories. While listening to them, I took note of how parents were telling their children to be careful. I was shocked how easily the Americans turned on their own citizens when the bombings happened. The Americans blamed the race of the attackers and not the people who actually attacked them.

It was sad to hear about children who lost friends because of their race. The Americans were too quick to discriminate against the Japanese and the Muslims. It was childish how they could think of a friend they had known for years, as a monster in one instant. The Japanese and the Muslims themselves were horrified by the attacks. It seemed like others thought they didn’t have the right to cry for their country. They were American citizens, and in one moment, they became the enemy.

The final blue and brown eyed test was the most interesting. It was interesting how the children began to become what others thought of them. When the blue eyed children were better, the brown eyed children seemed to become less intelligent and when the brown eyed children were better, the blue eyed children were less intelligent even though they were better the day before. This really shows how you should not put people down, because they will fall with your expectations.

Reading Response #4: Article 5

         Article 5 is set in a future America where citizens have little to no rights, every religion other than Christianity is forbidden, girls and boys cannot date, and 'immoral' books and materials are banned. The Bill of Rights was rewritten into the Moral Statutes. The main character, Ember Miller, and her mother are arrested for violating Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. Article 5 prohibits women from having children outside of wedlock. The two are arrested and Ember is sent to the Girls Reformatory and Rehabilitation Center of West Virginia.

the Girls Reformatory and Rehabilitation Center of West Virginia

Chase Jennings, a soldier who Ember loves, develops a plan to get Ember away from the reformatory school and reunite her with her mother. They encounter challenges along the way. While gathering supplies at closed mall, other soldiers find them and attack them. Chase almost kills one of them with his bare hands, but Ember intervenes.

            “‘They were going to hurt you.’ His voice was low and uncontrolled.

            ‘So that makes it okay?’ I countered. No, I didn’t want to be hurt- I certainly didn’t want to die- but that didn’t excuse murdering someone, however foul, based on speculation!(pg. 171-172)”

He later states:

 “‘Yes, that makes it okay’, he said between his teeth, eyes flashing with the lightning. ‘And don’t pretend you wouldn’t have done the same thing.’

            ‘I would never!’

‘Never? Not even if they’d threatened your mom?’

His words pierced clear through me. If I had been Chase, and my mother had been me, nothing in the world could have peeled me off of Rick.

            I realized then with a terrible clarity that maybe Chase and I weren’t so different after all. Everyone knew that a dog backed into a corner bites. I’d just never actually considered that the dog could be me. (pg.172)”

There are people we know and love who we would go to the ends of the world for. For some it’s family and others it could be friends. There are no limits to the devotion people could feel for each other. Some could not endure the thought of their loved ones being hurt by bad people. Chase was right to defend Ember and I feel that the soldier’s death would have been justified.

 

Reading Response #3: Proxy

   

       Proxy takes place in a world where the rich could pay someone to take their punishments. The people who pay are called patrons while the people who take the punishments are called proxies. Some proxies are lucky. Their patrons hardly ever get into trouble. Those proxies get credit (their form of currency) for just being around. Other proxies are not so lucky. The main character Syd is one of the unlucky ones.

Upper City (where the wealthy live)

 

 

 

       Syd’s patron is an irresponsible boy named Knox. Knox lives in the moment. He gets into all kinds of trouble and Syd takes the punishment. One night, Knox gets into a horrible wreck and kills a girl. Syd, who is two years away from being free of his proxy life, is going to be sent to a harsh labor camp for sixteen more years because of the accident. Syd is angry with the system and decides that he will not go quietly.

        “He refused. It was that simple. He was not unredeemable and he was not a terrorist and he was not just a body they could discard and replace to teach some patron a lesson.
    He was Sydney Carton-or whatever his name had been before-and he was a human being and he wasn’t just going to lie down and take this. He had to do… something. He had to escape before they came to take him away.” (pg. 74)

    Knox usually didn’t care about his proxy being punished. It was the punishment from the accident that made him feel bad. He wanted to help his proxy. He went from a rich kid with no cares to a rebel who cared too much.

        “I’d tried it all those years with everything from stealing to getting tweaked out of my head, but it never really helped. I figured maybe sneaking Syd away would do it.” (g.351)
        “Now I want Syd to get to safety because he’s earned it.” (pg. 352)

Reading Response #2: The Night She Disappeared



Road where Kayla was kidnapped



                This book is about a girl, named Kayla, who gets kidnapped on a back road by a forest . Her kidnapper was actually trying to kidnap Kayla’s co-worker Gabie. They work together at Pete’s Pizza together. Gabie and Kayla switch shifts at work so Kayla can work Wednesday and get Friday off. Gabie drives a Mini Cooper and when the kidnapper ordered his pizza, he asked if the girl who drove the Mini Cooper would deliver them. Even though Kayla did not drive a Mini Cooper, she was working Gabie's shift, so the kidnapper mistook her for Gabie driving a different car.

 

Black Mini Cooper

                When Kayla awoke in the white room her kidnapper placed her in, her first reaction was panic.

                                “But the handle won’t turn more than a half inch. I twist it the other way. It won’t move at all. “Let me out! Let me out!”  I pound on the door. Then I stop to listen. Nothing. Silence.”(pg.37)

                Kayla reacted how most would react in a foreign situation. Most would panic until they wear themselves out and force themselves to stop. Kayla then takes the time to evaluate her surroundings. She meets her kidnapper who wants her to be his imprisoned slave. Kayla won’t cooperate and has to be beaten into submission. She submits for a while. She secretly plans to get herself free.

                                “I still have to play along. I can’t afford to let him see that I’m still here. Inside the other Kayla. I have to pick my time and place. And I’ll only have one chance.”(pg. 159)

                Kayla puts on a show for her kidnapper. After she realizes that begging or force won’t get her out, she starts using her brain. She turns to logic and strategy. She uses her limited household resources and makes tools for her escape.

Reading Response #1: Dust & Decay

             Dust & Decay is set in a world where zombies run rampant. The main character is Benny Imura. He receives bounty hunter training from his older brother Tom Imura. Tom also trains Nix, Chong, and Morgie. In the last book, Benny and Nix come across Lilah, a girl who has been alone most of her life and hunted to survive.  While out in the great Rot and Ruin (or the outside of the settlement in Mountainside), a great jumbo jet circles the sky. The jet could mean civilization. Nix, Benny, Tom, and Lilah decide to track the jet and see where it came from. For the first stretch of their journey, Chong decides to join them, mostly because he has a crush on Lilah and wanted to go with her. This review is going to focus on Chong.

Mountainside

            The group experiences trouble at the start of their journey. They run into a white rhinoceros. The rhinoceros is territorial and charges at them. Chong panics and makes their escape more difficult. Lilah's view of him is low because of that. She thinks that he is not cut out for the Rot and Ruin and tells him so.  Chong feels weak and inadequate. He feels guilty about the trouble he caused so he runs away.

            When he is on the run, two bounty hunters find him. He tries to fight them, but they are more skilled than him and knock him out. When he comes to, he is greeted by the great White Bear. White bear takes Chong to Gameland so he can be thrown into a pit and forced to fight against zombies. When Chong is first thrown into the pit, he reflects on his past moments.

Zombie Pit

                        “While he knelt there, his mind did terrible things to him. It conjured images of Lilah standing over him, watching him kneel in sobbing defeat, and laughing. Laughing at the weak, skinny kid. At the “town boy” who thought he could be a warrior. At the fool who dared to think that he could ever in a million years win the love of someone as magical and powerful as the legendary Lost Girl. At the loser who had endangered the lives of his friends. At the coward who had run away. The images and the implications were like nails driven into his flesh. But sometimes shame is a more powerful engine than rage.”(pg. 270-271)

            A lot of times, you will see this kind of thought in anything you see or read. It’s a great invite for character development. At this point, Chong could give up and be what everyone thinks he is, or fight to prove to himself that he is strong.  He ends up choosing to fight for himself.

            There is a good moral here. When you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is up.

           

101 Things About Me

1. My favorite television show is Supernatural. I like the story the show tells and I like the characters.

2. My favorite history is ancient history.

3. My favorite mythology is Norse mythology because it has the weirdest tales.

4. Astronomy and astrology fascinate me.

5. One of my favorite book series is the Adventure of Sherlock Holmes because I love reading how Mr. Holmes solves crimes by observation and deduction.

6. My favorite color is black.

7. Some of my favorite bands are Lincoln Park, Green Day, and Bastille.

8. Halloween is my favorite holiday because I love dressing up.

9. My favorite bird is an owl (any species) because they look so intelligent and are the symbol of knowledge.

10. My favorite movie trilogy is the Star Wars trilogy (the older movies).

11. My favorite hero is Batman because he doesn't need powers to fight crime.

12. I play clarinet in the PHS Viking band.

13. My favorite brand of shoes is converse because they aren't bulky (like tennis shoes) and cover the whole foot (unlike sandals and flats).

14. My lucky number is 13.

15. My favorite mythical creatures are dragons because they come in so many shapes and sizes and are so powerful.