Tao Te Ching Ch. 2

I think this part of the Tao Te Ching is trying to explain that opposites make up the universe. For something to exist, it must have something that counteracts it. To measure the meaning of a descriptive word such as long, high, before, difficult, and being, one must be able to describe other things as their opposites: short, low, after, easy, non-being. One must also then be able to differentiate the two opposites, which is done by relative measuring. Thus, the Tao Te Ching describes a world that is measured by relativity and peoples' perceptions of a thing. When Chapter 2 talks about the "Master," it is talking about a higher power of organization that rules over all by simply playing by the rules of relativity. If a person can live according to Chapter 2 and "go with the flow of life," then that person can find the truth of life by discovering what perfect quality is based on their relative definitions of everything in the world. One must completely seperate oneself from emotions and simply act according to inclination and not worry about past actions. What has happened is, and what will happen will be, according to Chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching.

Quotes from The Little Prince

"Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."---Here, the fox is telling the Little Prince that what is important to life are not the deeds that you do, but the emotions you get from doing those deeds. By committing acts of love, one's soul can be cleansed and pure joy in life will unfold. The fox basically tells the Little Prince that with a little care, anything he does is valuable.

"You must become responsible for what you've tamed."---The fox, again, tells the Little Prince if he makes an emotional bond and becomes attached to what he tames, the he himself is tamed by that which he tames. Therefore, he has a lingering responsibility to always care for it because he has committed to that thing emotionally.

"I would put myself on his level and talk about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And my grown-up was glad to know such a reasonable person."---This quote embodies what the entire book is about: it is a satire/commentary on how the world is handled by adults. It looks at adult society and questions its validity. It mocks adults comprehension of seemingly useless topics of conversation and doesn't focus on questioning themselves and their way of life.

"One sees clearly only with the heart."--- Again, this quote involves one's self-recognition and discovery through emotional attachment. Once a being is tamed, there is no escaping the truth one sees in the love and care one gives its partner. The book defines true life as a discovery of one's passions and values amidst care and love given to a certain topic, thing, place, or being.

"Look up at the sky. Ask yourself, “Has the sheep eaten the flower or not?” And you’ll see how everything changes. . . . And no grown-up will ever understand how such a thing could be so important!"--- At the end, the narrator asks the reader to question a seemingly unpractical occurrence (to grown-ups that is), and he restates the purpose of the book: to show that adults do not always think outside of the box; that sometimes, simple questions can lead to thought-provoking discussions and revolutionary answers that could lead to a better understanding of the human race.

The Test

Situation: A young student recieves a test along with the rest of his classmates. He is used to doing well on tests, and his classmates are used to him doing well too. They always look at him during tests because they believe looking at him will give them the power to get answers right.

I was confident like always, and I was ready. As I recieved the test, I realized I could not understand any problems. He started to sweat as he frantically searched through the pages, seemingly unable to find a problem he could start on. He sat there knowing so much, but not knowing how to apply it anymore; it was as if his brain was full but turned off, like a car full with gas but not running will never propel its driver and passengers forward. His classmates looked at him as a fountain of power and knowledge, but they noticed that he was struggling immensely. He and they knew what had happened, over-confidence had impaired his knowledge and had turned him into a foolish failure.

Eva Inside Her Cat

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story called "Eva is Inside Her Cat" is a mentally stimulating piece of literary work. Marquez uses mystique, confusion, and a sense of irony to capitalize on the reader's emotions, without ever really capitalizing in a way that is direct, obvious, or blunt. To capitalize (the climax of the story), Marquez completes Eva's mental deterioration in a surprisingly more confusing manner than the precursors to the conclusion. The entire story is about Eva's mental instability in a world that expects so much of her, but her instability is not fully recognized until the reader realizes exactly how insane Eva was. The end should not come as a surprise to the reader. But Marquez's sheer confusion at the end of the story is so much more complicated than the events that lead up to the conclusion. The reader feels as if he/she should be confused throughout the entire story, but the events in the story are relatively comprehendable compared to the undoubtedly incomprehensible ending. The irony in this lies in the fact that the reader is confused about being confused about the story. Wow.

The Metamorphosis: Creative Writing

Chapter 1- Another Day's Work

Anthony Williams, the IRS agent, had just completed another day of work. He didn't feel bad about what he did, even though he TOOK families' income away who couldn't afford it, who needed more money for basic needs. He didn't feel sorry for them because taking these peoples' money was his job. Anthony was a devoted tax-collector and auditor. He viewed his job as a duty. He would always tell the poor that they would recieve the benefits of federal taxes one day. But they never did. Wealth continued to find its way into the upper 1%'s hands. Years of trampling over poorer people had turned Anthony into a hard-nosed, money-taking go-hard who could care less if he took peoples' money rudely or by force.

Chapter 2- The Transformation

As Anthony entered his house, he felt a jabbing pain on his body that started at his feet and traveled up his body, ending in an enormous migraine that nearly split his head in half. The pain was a repetitious stomp, like his body was being stepped on by shoes with daggers on the soles, with a rhythm of footsteps. He started sweating, feeling as if he was being tortured by being tied down to a table, unable to move, with a single drop of water hitting his forehead every 5 seconds. He kept feeling the pain, he felt his surroundings change, his being migrate from a conceited, self-centered, uncaring human to the object of his own work. He decided to go to sleep to escape the pain.

Chapter 3- A Fitting Ending

When Anthony woke up, everything was different. He was a long, flimsy, and made of straw. He was a bridge in the mountains of Peru, installed to ease transportation for poor Latin American peoples. People had no regard for him; they trampled on him and abused him until they had crossed on to a new part of their lives. He was now the one being used for other peoples' interests, without anything given to him in return. After the poor, indigenous people had discovered their new opportunites from crossing Anthony, they left him behind, trampled on and bent out of shape, without another thought or care about who they were affecting.

I'll avant your garde....

This week in World Literature we have been learning about the artistic movement of avant garde. It is generally known as a movement that has ideas that are ahead of the present time. It advances the concepts of art without crossing the artistic barriers and limits of the day.

My selected movements within avant garde begin with Cubism. Cubism orignated in France in the early 20th century and spread throughout Europe and the world for the next 30 years. It emphasizes the process of destruction and reconstruction of a picture, idea, or scene into a mix of different basic geometric shapes. Cubism's greatest representatives include Pablo Picasso of Spain and Georges Braque of France. Picasso's greatest piece is considered to be Guernica-an enormous shape reconfiguration of the hectic scene as bombs were dropped on the town of Guernica, Spain during the Spanish Civil War under the rule of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco in the late 1930s.

The next movement I picked was Surrealism. Again, this movement was centered in France, but was spread through Europe. Andre Breton was credited for coining the term "Surrealism," and this type of art depicts the subconscious of the arstist's mind and cannot usually be logically understood by a viewer. Famous surrealist artists include the well-know Salvador Dali and his famous piece, The Persistence of Memory, and Rene Magritte.

Avant-garde is AWESOME!!!!!!

National Eating Disorder?!

Complete Overdose in Action!!!!!

Is there a National Eating Disorder rampant in the United States? It depends on what you consider a "disorder." An eating disorder could mean that all the food in a meal is piled on a table in a disorderly manner. In this case, I believe there is an eating disorder. If you look at an example like, let's say, The Billiard House, one will notice that there is something extensively wrong with the amount of food there is on the table. All the bowls can't even fit on the table! As a former waiter at this "fine" dining establishment, I saw first-hand the disorder that exists(or the order that doesn't exist) when the entire dining room gets full. Bowls dropped, food on the floor, drinks spilled, people slipping, customers hurling all over the table, bowel movements every 3 minutes; all this leads to the most disorderly restaurant on the planet (pretty much). Does this sound like an eating disorder? Yes.

Taken less literally, the meaning of an eating disorder could also mean the complete indulgement of Americans in unhealthy foods. The point is that we, as a country, eat the most and the worst, but can we really be blamed for this so-called "disorder"? Obviously, eating unhealthily has become a part of our culture, or maybe it is our culture. So can we really blame ourselves? As descendants of the "robber barons" and capitalist super-hogs of the Gilded Age in early 20th century America, is it our fault that we have evolved into micro-entrepreneurs in everything we do? We have evolved as the Homo Americanus into people who desire the most for the least: this just happens to include unhealthy eating. Perhaps this was in the cards for us from the beginning. Maybe we were predestined by God himself to live and eat this way. Whether you choose to believe in Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection, or you are a devout Christian, I just proved to you (with tons of speculation!) that we don't have an eating disorder: we have a "roll" to ful"fill." (Nice pun, I know =])

I <3 America

Historic First Blog Post

The all-important first post! I would just like to say that I thank you for viewing this blog (whoever you may be). This blog is designed for my World Literature/ Magical Realism class, and I hope that this will be helpful to whoever follows it. First of all, my name is Lyle Jones and I am a senior at Rabun Gap Nacoochee School. I play soccer, basketball, and golf, and I love to spend time with my friends. School work is very important to me, but is not of higher importance than keeping my life well-rounded. I keep a very busy schedule of academics, athletics, service, leadership positions, and volunteer work, but I seem to balance them all with relative comfort. That is just a little about me. But since I try to keep myself up-to-date with academics, I hope this blog will be easy, informative, and helpful to follow. As I am not sure exactly we will be blogging about, I hope I and others will put this blog to good use. So, here we go!