6 Words

America now is what america was.

Apples to Apples

In the article it talks about how Americans have entered Pakistan with the intentions of helping the military with their combat tactics. I think it is an example of hypocrisy because as the americans are trying to help Pakistan although there are a lot of protests, yet the Pakistani government secretly supports the US efforts. It was confusing though, because later in the article, it says how the americans were trying to focus on changing the government and eliminating Al Qaeda and the Taliban from the tribal areas. In Bolivia, Che witnesses the Bolivian Revolution and begins to adapt revolutionary ideas. Then, instead of helping stabilize the government, he tried to use marxist and revolutionary ideas to completely change the lives of citizen.

Argentina

'Voice' in writing is defined/characterized by Diction (word choice), Detail (facts, observations, incidents), Imagery (verbal representation of a sensory experience), Syntax (grammatical sentence structure), and Tone (expression of attitude).

1. The first passage I chose was when Ernesto had fallen ill. He says "My green eyes refused to sleep and in them, a pair of green spots swirled, representing the world I had left behind me and mocking the so-called liberation I sought. The harnessed their image to my extraordinary flight across the lands and seas of the world" (Guevara 40).

This quotation really stuck out to me when I was reading and I think Ernesto's voice really surfaces here. The diction is very well done. He uses the words harnessed, extraordinary, liberation, flight. All these words sound so positive and they all infer freedom. Readers can sense his excitement and his crave for change. Also, his imagery was powerful. He describes the pair of green spots as they swirl through his eyes. The detail and imagery gave the passage a sense of unreality in a way. His tone, like I said, was positive. I think this quotation was almost his last words to his old life. He sees the world spinning before his sleepless eyes, yet instead of embracing the journey into the unknown with fear, he is taking it with all it has to offer and he is not afraid. He explains that he is leaving his old life behind as he searches for liberation and freedom.

2. The second passage I chose was when Ernesto was in the hospital and his friend Alberto takes a picture of him. Ernesto says "Alberto photographed me in my hospital gear. I made an impressive spectacle: gaunt, flushed, enormous eyes and a ridiculous beard whose shape didn't change much in all the months I wore it. It's a pity the photograph wasn't a good one; it was an acknowledgment of our changed circumstances and the horizons we were seeking, free at last from "civilization"" (Guevara 41).

This was a very good example of Ernesto's voice. The diction was very strong when he describes his status. He is gaunt, flushed... ect. Also, his details and imagery are very good too. He describes his new, free look with his new beard. This beard is really what makes the face of Che. Everyone knows that face and this passage was the start of it. Also, I thought it was interesting how he put quotation marks on civilization. This was interesting syntax and I think he used it to emphasize the point that he was for change.

Introduction Theme #5

"For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn."

I think Hemmingway is referring to a baby that died at birth. I think the parents are selling the shoes of the dead baby. I think it has a negative connotation to it, but I also think that having only six words is very effective because it can be taken in many different perspectives.

Essential Question

I want to become a person who puts others before myself. I want to live, love, and laugh everyday. I want to become a person of layers and substance. It is important to me that I achieve the most that I can and that I work to my potential. It is my goal to help the less fortunate than me, and with a college education, I hope to use my gift to help others. I want people to know who I am and want my help. I want to impact the world in a positive way and create a place for me to thrive in life. I was lucky to be given such a strong background and education, but it is how I use it that makes the difference. I will use my knowledge to change the world.

Introduction

4. There is nothing lonelier than adventure. (22)

Everyone craves adventure
The freedom
the unknown
Hoping to learn a great deal
About life
About you
Experiencing the beauties of the world
around us
in us
Trying to reach the unreachable
whatever
where ever
Lost in life
trying to find strong ground
facing the realities
the triumphs
but the search never ends
secluded by dreams and aspirations
There is nothing lonelier than adventure

Ideology

I really do not have any values or ideals that I would defend at all costs. I do not think that my ideals and values are strong enough yet to defend them at all costs. I am still learning what I do and do not believe in, and I am easily influenced right now. As I get older, it might become easier to defend values and ideals because I will know exactly what I believe in.

El Che Reaction

The documentary on Che seemed to show his changing personality. I noticed that at first, he was described as a young man in search for adventure and he had a lot of dreams and aspirations that he wanted to reach. As the documentary progressed, Che began to get involved with the military aspects of life, and to me, he started to become benevolent. He was greatly influenced by Fidel Castro, and together, their main priority was to overthrow their dictator Batista. His innocent motorcycle journey soon took a u-turn and became an all military journey.

Das Kapital Meets Easy Rider

The Motorcycle Diaries was described as Das Kapital meets Easy Rider. This is kind of ironic because the two comparisons are basically opposites of each other. Easy Rider is this free loving movie about two hippies going on an adventure, while Das Kapital is a socialist/Marxist treaty about anti-capitalism. Marx was very critical toward capitalism and said that "the economic formation of society as a process of natural history". I think the idea of Easy Rider is the intention of the Motorcycle Diaries because he starts out as a young guy in search for an adventure. He later becomes a communist and that is reflected by Karl Marx in the Das Kapital. Che starts as an Easy Rider, but slowly turns into a Das Kapital.

Bio and Intro

I think travel diaries and journals are usually very descriptive. People like to remember every part of their trip and journey so their entries are usually very detailed and descriptive. I have read a lot of diaries and travel journals. When I read them, a lot of them were about people going through rough times. A great deal of those dealt with the Holocaust and World War II. The writing is very descriptive and their is really explicit imagery that really allows you to paint a picture of their journey. I also find that they deal a lot with realization and the search for self. Invisible Man and the Great Gatsby both dealt with a certain time period in specific areas, and the characters learned who they were through their quest for a destination. I think the Motorcycle Diaries will be more about the journey and how people in Latin America were really living.

Preface Comparison

So far, we have read The Great Gatsby and Invisible Man. To gain a deeper understanding of the novels, we spent a lot of time researching the historical and social issues and events taking place at the time. I think when we read The Great Gatsby, it helped a lot when we split up into groups and researched a specific topic. Then, for the final project, one person from each group was put into a new group to share their information. I think this was helpful and I learned a lot. For Invisible Man, I liked how we watched the speech with Ralph Ellison about his writing. It helped me gain insight as to why he wrote the book. I think poems and primary sources are the most helpful when conducting research because they are directly from that time and written by the people who experienced that time period. I think poems help a lot because they are the authors true feelings about their life and the life around them.

Epiphany Post

Epiphany is when a person has a revelation about their life or their self. It is a really quick moment when a person realizes the meaning of something or someone. A moment like this changes a person's life a lot. It impacts how they perceive the world. Once a deep meaning is added to a person's life, it changes not only them, but who people look at them.

Glenn Beck Video Reflection

I think this video clip was really interesting because it takes one side of the Che argument and makes such strong points that you lose the other side of the argument. Beck really attacks everything Che was and what he stood for. I think the clip was effective though, because it did get the point across that Che is not who everyone thinks he is. Glenn Beck uses an aggressive style to prove his points. He uses words that people associate as negative (i.e. Fidel Castro, Bolivia, Socialists, Stalin) to make his points. Since viewers associate the words above as negative, they will therefore come to the realization that Che was not a hero. Beck also uses a sarcastic humor (Driving people on a log, milking for cash, ect.) to depict how unheroic Che was. I think the video is kind of unfair in a way because it does not talk about who Che was. Now, the message I am left with is that Che is this awful person similar to Fidel Castro.