So I finally saw Inception...

And I liked it. A lot. But after taking this course, and sort of knowing what to expect, it wasn't that big of a trip, like everyone said it would be. I didn't lose my cool when the credits rolled; I accepted it. In fact, I kind of thought 'so what?". I'm not sure if it was because of the build-up from everything everyone's said about it or because at this point, thanks to this class, I could just enjoy the effect and not lose my shit. I'm thinking the latter. Maybe Christopher Nolan took a course like this and read Man in the High Castle.
Now my fingers are crossed that Kindred won't make my head spin.

The "truth" will get you an A-, or maybe an F...

Look what I found:
click here

Finally!

So, I have finally been shown how to access this website and post a post. Although it's extremely late, I feel as though in this case it's better late than never. All I can say is that "The Man in the High Castle" was hard to interpret and made class participation difficult (I found myself oblivious to what points were being made in the conversation). Writing an essay on it, however, forced me to use thought processing and helped me to understand some of the points Dick intended to make. I enjoy writing essays... Anyway, I am looking forward to reading Kindred on my plane ride home!

This video might be a little nerdy.
Anyway, this is how this class is making me read now. Focusing more about how effects are made and how the book wants me to think. I don't really see anymore into truth or lies in things now, but I am starting to think more about if effects are intentional or accidental and if things can be different for different people.

What Is Reality? Does It Matter?

I just wanted to comment on what is my biggest problem with understanding this novel and this entire course: the idea of reality and truth. Throughout the entire course we have been wrestling with this idea of what is true, what is real, what is factual, and what do these things even mean. My problem with all of this is that throughout high school most of my english teachers taught me that none of this matters. Most of them were in the reader response school of thought, and taught us that the most important thing about reading a book is your own view of it and what you learned or gained from it, not necessarily what the author actually intended you to think. Although we can all contemplate other truths, we can only experience life from one perspective and that is our own. This is why it only makes sense for Juliana to react the way she does to the revelation that her world is fictional. This is the world that she is experiencing and the only one she ever will, so in her life it is still true. We could all be characters in a fictional world right now, but it simply does not matter because we will only ever be able to experience this world, so contemplating other realities is ultimately frivolous.

The sand art.

This is the video of the woman who does sand art about WWII.

A Stretch At The Truth

Out of all the books we have read this semester thus far, I have to say that this one holds the closest thing to the truth.....just a very, very, very stretched out truth. In this book, the author uses actual, highly noted historical events and twists them around the way that he wants to to produce an alternative "what-if" kind of world, which to me is genius. It's safe to say that all of us always think of the "what-if", from simply "what if I had toast for breakfast instead of eggs" to a more complex "what if I had chosen a different university", etc. The place we're at today, at this very moment, was compiled of decisions we have made in our lives, some easy, some hard. With that, what if the US hadn't won WWII? In an alternate world, would Dick's novel be a history book used in classrooms? It's scary to think about, but hypothetically speaking, would there have been a better world out there if history had run a different course?

Gresham's Law

On page 48: "A Gresham's law: the fakes would undermine the value of the real"

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gresham%27s+law


Apparently, it's a real thing. I wasn't sure if it was a 'law' that only existed in this Axis-won-the-war world or not so I googled it.

Historicity

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkpGQUflBwU
This youtube link is an example of a number that has some historicity. People actually pay to have this number!! But why? It's just a random number like anyone else's right?
WRONG. This awesome song makes people want the number because a band made this memorable jingle to it. :)
And now it shall be stuck in your head all day. Mwahahaha.

On a more serious note:
When it comes down to historicity VS contemporary.. It makes one wonder why a piece of history attached to an object really matters at all if it is compared to a replica that achieves the same purpose of use or aesthetics. In all honesty, it would make life boring if certain objects didn't hold more meaning. The world would just constantly be moving forward, throwing away the old (this would mean ancient civilizations too), and keep making new objects.
It can be safe to assume that many people enjoy finding deeper meaning in life rather than the surface--and one form of this is holding more meaning in an object once the history of it is learned.
It is not necessarily a bad thing, however it could be more expensive for the person. It creates more jobs (antique stores, people to restore and preserve the items, places that certify that the item is really what it is, etc) , it creates museums.
However silly it may seem that Lady Gaga's sweaty gym sock would be framed in someone's room or that 867-5309 is a number that people want because a band made it popular (even though so many people call this number as a prank!!), it gives a little more meaning to the monotony of life.
Would you agree?

Voodoo Queen

I found the lecture to be enlightening because I really didn't know much about Voodoo previous to the lecture. What particularly grabbed by interest was the Voodoo Queens. New Orleans had Voodoo Queens whereas everywhere else had Kings. He mentioned Marie Laveau, and the people who are from here or this area understood him and recognized the name. As a carpetbagger, the name was unfamiliar, until the other day that is. My family came to town and my mom dragged us to see a cemetery. Looking at the tombs, we noticed one that was especially decorated. Most of the decorates seemed to have been placed there recently, others a while ago. It was covered in graffiti, especially 'XXX'. Apparently the three x's are marked by vistors of her grave with the hopes she will grant them a wish. My family was impressed when I was able to recount what I had learned at the lecture about the Voodoo Queen.

God is to Earth; as author is to book. The powerful relationship

God is to Earth; as author is to book, with information being most valuable, to both the reader in the midst of story, and to the person in reality.However, to the person in reality, the author has only limited power, since the author can only fully appeal to the reader's senses, to intern affect one's personal views. Although, once the reader undertakes the task of interpreting the author's work he/she will undoubtedly incorporate his/her own views, before arriving at a final conclusion.

A broad example would be The Things They Carried, the novel itself. Simply because no one, in Truth Lies and Lit, was in the Vietnam War so, therefore, can not Know it. We have merely been informed of its occurrence, just so that We Might understand the Gravity of its consequence. however, Through gaining knowledge of This war We gain the ability to make inferences, that remain ours. By recognizing the Secondary nature of our educated guesses, or "claiming our claims" we are also able to recognize what we cannot Know. This notion coveys a distant relationship between our literal selves and the material. In other words, the literal, you reading about something that, the literal, you have never experienced displaces, the literal, you, while simultaneously engaging you, the reader, and allows you, the reader, to experience the event with a heightened awareness of the context, otherwise unobtainable.

Sterotypes

The biggest thing I carried away from the lecture on Voodoo was the importance of getting past stereotypes. Coming from the northeast, I knew absolutely about Voodoo or it's followers, and have only seen it depicted in movies on a more radical note. With these portrayals, I expected an old crusty priest from the bayous of Louisiana to walk in and preach about the high powers of his religion. However, the second the speaker walked in I automatically got past those stereotypes and set in to learn more about the fascinating and historic practice of Voodoo, and was fascinated on how well he connected to everyone in the room regardless of religious affiliation.

Voodoo Lecture

I found the Voodoo lecture the other night to be very interesting. Even though I am from New Orleans, I know very little about Voodoo other than what tourists see in the French Quarter. What I found interesting was how Voodoo is passed down through families. Unlike other religions that attempt to spread their beliefs and practices, Voodoo practitioners seem content to keep their beliefs within the family, which says a lot about how they view truth. The speaker seemed comfortable admitting that while he believes wholeheartedly in his religion, others may find truth in other beliefs or religions.

Voodoo Lecture

I really enjoyed the lecture I attended last night. Being from New Orleans I've heard rumors and misconceptions about voodoo often. Luckily the lecture by Mark last night cleared up New Orleans voodoo for me. It was interesting to hear him explain the history I have heard often. Marie Laveau is a very familiar name to most New Orleanians and hearing the history from "voodoo priest" was enlightening. I also found interesting how assured he was about the things he had seen and experienced it reminded me of discussions we've had about truth versus reality. It would be interesting to see a ritual and see if this "truth" is reality or something experienced only be very spiritual people. Overall I'm really glad we had the opportunity to learn more about this religion.

Being open minded

All my life I have grown up as a devout christian who thought of voodoo as the "devil" or sorcery... and after Mark's talk last night I really can say that I have a new found appreciation for the religion of voodoo. (I didnt even know it was a religion at first!). MY fiancee' just so happens to be Creole and his great-grandmother practiced Voodoo as well. I took him to Mark's lecture and even he learned some things that he did not know before! I cant wait to talk about this in my World Religon's class on Tuesday... Everything about Mark made that speech amazing. Especially his accent. All in all it was probably the bst 2 hours i could have spent on a thursday night. :)

Voodoo Lecture

I am glad I attended the Voodoo lecture, not only because it was required but I did find it very interesting. Last semester I took the course "World Religions" and it briefly touched upon the Voodoo tradition. Mark, or to some people known as a Houngan (male priest), was very informative on the history of the Voodoo practice and erased most of the misconceptions I had about the Voodoo stereotype. Also, I thought it was very interesting when he spoke the language of the native Haiti with some people in the audience. All in all, I believe it was an interesting presentation on the slightly misinterpreted tradition of Voodoo.

Voodoo Lecture

I really enjoyed the lecture, but I went into it with quite a bit of apprehension. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of how much I would actually learn, or if I was going to be force fed the sensationalized version of "voodoo." Luckily, the lecture wasn't one sided, and focused on the two main interpretations of what has been come to be known as Voodoo. The history of the religion/culture was given, and the flashy form created for commercial purposes was introduced as well. The lecture depended heavily upon perspective. As the audience, we had to be conscious of the importance of perspective when we were introduced to the term, "zombie" and it's meanings. In reference to the raised from the dead "zombie," Mark Mollendorf said that even though this meaning is best known to the public, that doesn't make it the truth. That really struck me as connecting to this class. The sensationalized "Voodoo," although deceptive in some aspects of the facts and actual beliefs of the religion, was based upon the religion. In that sense it is not a whole truth, but not entirely a lie, either. Although the complete truth and integrity of the religion is often jeopardized by the senstionalized version, it does serve a good purpose. It has helped to build up New Orleans' economy, which reminds me of what Bokononism was to San Lorenzo.

Where is the Line Drawn?

Irrational arguments between Jensen and Strunk, killing a baby buffalo, talking and laughing with the dead.
The Things They Carried has created a question of boundaries for me. It started when I wrote my thesis for the book. It is evident that social codes are elastic in the Vietnam war for these characters. If civilians acted in the same manner, it would be appalling. So where exactly do the boundaries stop in wartime?
And to further broaden the topic (I know it's really going outside the novel), where are situations where boundaries for traditional social interaction/standards/customs/codes allowd to be stretched or broken?

The lecture

I found to voodoo lecture to be intriguing. I never had really considered how much voodoo had to do with the history and development of New Orleans, partly because I am not a native and it didn't really concern me back home. I was an informative lecture, and I really enjoyed it. It made me think about how other religions and cultures affected the growth of other major cities around the United States.

Voodoo Lecture

The Voodoo lecture tonight was very interesting. I really enjoyed listening to Mark talk about the history of Voodoo and was very surprised to find that the perspective I had of Voodoo was wrong all along. I like the way he said it "runs in the blood," this goes to show how important family is in Voodoo. I always took people who practiced this to be evil and dangerous, but Mark was very nice and seemed harmless. He did say, however, that he has the power to have things done to someone but it isn't done in the way I thought it was. It is actually done through spirits who respond to God and he (Mark) has no control over what the spirits decide to do to this person. Mark was very friendly and funny, he made the lecture fun and I enjoyed it very much.

I'm just a boy...

Today in class we talked about how O'Brien's daughter, Kathleen, acts as a metaphor. Professor Schwartz mentioned how her "field trip" to Vietnam with her father was something too old for her. Similarly, Timmy (young version of O'Brien) goes to see the movie The Man Who Never Was, which was about WWII. This is the second time we see kids doing something too old for them.
This got me thinking that this emphasizes how young the boys in the war are. For them, the war is something too old for them. The kids doing and seeing things that are beyond their age range represents the youth of the soldiers. As Azar says "I'm just a boy." Even O'Brien (the character, not author) believed himself to be too young to be drafted to Vietnam. It seems to be a reoccurring point that O'Brien (the author, not the character) brings up.

Detecting Similarities between Bierce and O'Brien

Hey everyone,

We spent a lot of class last Thursday talking about the chapter in O'Brien's book called "How to Tell a True War Story." At the time, I said that Ambrose Bierce said some things that are very similar to what O'Brien says in this chapter. What O'Brien says aren't perfect copies, and Bierce's comments were said in a different context (responding to this guy named William Dean Howells, whose name probably isn't important to you), but I'm sure that you will quickly detect similarities, esp. when you remember that Bierce participated in and wrote a lot about war.

"Probability? Nothing is so improbable as what is true. It is the unexpected that occurs; but that is not saying enough; it is also the unlikely--one might almost say the impossible. . . . Considered from a viewpoint a little anterior in time, it was almost unlikely that any event which has occurred would occur--any event worth telling in a story."

"Fiction has nothing to say to probability; the capable writer gives it not a moment's attention, except to make what is related seem probable in the reading--seem true."

[Compare with O'Brien chapter mentioned, especially p. 68, as cited below):

"In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. It's a question of credibility. Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn't, because the normal stuff is necessary to make you believe the truly incredibly craziness."

Bierce, "The Short Story," in The Opinionator, vol. 10, The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce.

Truth, Lies, and Literature

In my opinion, "The Things They Carried" most nearly describes the title of our English course. Reading page after page, I can't help having a hunch that this book is more of a memoir than a fictional piece, because frankly O'Brien uses such tremendous detail of combat, death, life in the line of combat, family, etc., that he couldn't possibly make this stuff up. I find it difficult when reading this book to draw a line between fact and fiction, because I can practically close my eyes and picture a scene that O'Brien has written about. That's how much detail he uses. The man is clearly a literary genius, and must absolutely stump pretty much anyone who reads this novel.

A few years back I read another Vietnam War book titled "A Rumor of War" by Philip Caputo, and have seen uncanny resemblances between the two throughout the entire time. Of course, Caputo's book was an autobiography detailing his own experiences, which eerily enough echo the story of the soldiers throughout the current novel we are reading. On the whole I do not analyze and nitpick books to this extent but O'Brien has left me, as stated before, stumped.

In Tim O'Brien's novel, he says "They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it. They found jokes to tell .... It wasn't cruelty, just stage presence. They were actors." When I first read this, I immediately thought of Vonnegut's fictitious religion Bokonon in Cat's Cradle. They are living by foma, harmless untruths, in order to survive the war. Also, each soldier feels the same way, yet they all pretend as if they don't to seem like a man, like a soldier. This reminded me of the people of San Lorenzo, all of whom practice Bokonon and know this, yet still pretend as if no one does. The soldiers act as if they are brave to be brave, to fight for their country, but mostly to stay alive. The jokes they tell and the "stage presence" they put on keep them sane, and those are the lies, or untruths, that are necessary in life.