Friday, June 25, 2010

Poem: If you forget me, by Pablo Neruda



I want you to know one thing.

You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if I touch near the fire the impalpable ash or the wrinkled body of the log, everything carries me to you, as if everything that exists, aromas, light, metals, were little boats that sail toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now, if little by little you stop loving me I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly you forget me do not look for me, for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad, the wind of banners that passes through my life, and you decide to leave me at the shore of the heart where I have roots, remember that on that day, at that hour, I shall lift my arms and my roots will set off to seek another land.

But if each day, each hour, you feel that you are destined for me with implacable sweetness, if each day a flower climbs up to your lips to seek me, ah my love, ah my own, in me all that fire is repeated, in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten, my love feeds on your love, beloved, and as long as you live it will be in your arms without leaving mine.


I find this poem very touching and interesting. The statement "my love feeds on your love"; shows that as long as his lover loves him, he'll love her too. If she forgets him and does not love him, he'll forget her before she does. Thus his love feeds on her love, without her love, his love will die.


This poem also goes hand in hand with the saying "treat others the way you want to be treated". If you want someone's love and care, you should love and care for them. If you want someone to keep you in mind, keep them in mind.

Quote from Death of a Salesman, Act 2 pg. 56

"Whoever heard of a Hastings refrigerator? Once in my life I would like to own something outright before it's broken! I'm always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and it's on its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddamn maniac. They time those things. They time them so when you paid for them, they're used up."

One thing that I disapprove of in Canada is that everyone is so materialistic; though this is common worldwide but I notice it more here. Everyone is wasting time and energy and working for such things like a car, a house, and etc. If you finance let's say a car, by the time it's actually yours the car is old. If you buy a house, you pay mortgage for 10 years and more and by the time it's actually yours, you're old and so is the house. You put all your money into these materialistic things thinking it'll give you happiness and the end your back to where you started from; you're left more miserable and frustrated, and in many cases broke. Because of these expensive materialistic goods, many of us live our lives on the edge. We save every bit we can so we'd be able to pay off coming month's mortgage and etc.

Quote from Death of a Salesman, pg. 73

"Let me talk to you- I got nobody to talk to. Bernard, Bernard, was it my fault? Y'see? It keeps going around in my mind; maybe I did something to him. I got nothing to give him"

Willy asks Bernard, someone he doesn't like very much, to talk to him because Willy has no one to talk to. I think when we're desperate and lonely, even our enemies are better than nothing. Once I went to a city where I didn't know anyone. I was confused, alone, and desperate for help, and finally someone from my area, who used to be an enemy to me helped me out.

Quote from The Catcher in the Rye, Chp. 15

"Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell."

This quote reminds me of the saying "money is the root of all evil". And indeed it is true, money is the root of all evil; it's the "weapon of satan" in other words. Those who don't have money do evil to gain money; those who have money use it for evil. The more money one has the more selfish and prideful one becomes.

Quote from The Catcher in the Rye, Chp.6

"When I really worry about something, I don't just fool around. I even have to go to the bathroom when I worry about something. Only, I don't go. I'm too worried to go. I don't want to interrupt my worrying to go."

As I read this quote, I remember times that I felt like this; worrying to the point where you can't even go to the bathroom. If I'm worried about something, my worry does not go away until I've taken care of what I'm worrying about. Sometimes it ruins my whole day!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Qoute from Death of a Salesman; act,1 pg,11.

"I've always made a point of not wasting my life,and every time I come back
here I know that all I've done is to waste my life"


If you waste your time you lose, you are not winner. Like Biff says he knew he had been wasting his life, many of us are sometimes like Biff. When we think back to our past we regret many decisions and actions that seem pointless to us today. We don't appreciate the value of time until its gone. Personally I'm content with my life so far, I don't feel that I've wasted my life in the wrong way.

Quote from Death of a Salesman act.2. pg,104

"we never told the truth for ten minutes in this house."

Here all of them came togather in the house Biff wants to leave home, his father is not willing to shake his hand. Finally they have argument, blaming one another for their failure.
This scenario is very interesting. I don't know if it's human nature or just some us are like this, but we always point fingers at someone else for our down fall. We always like to blame the other person; we don't think even for a moment that our failure in life is mostly caused by our own hands.
Maybe if I don't get good marks at the end of this class I'll be blaming you (Mr. Chesser), while really my failure would be caused by me because I didn't work hard enough.

Quote from Death of a Salesman act 1, pg .40

"I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person."

Here Linda is talking to her sons and letting them know that Willy is trying to commit suicide. Linda tries to have her sons to help Willy out, because he is confused and exhausted.
I got a flash back of one of my very good friends as I read this quote. He was a good person; he had a great personality. He was very giving. He was always there for anyone who needed help, or just needed someone to talk to, but he never shared his own problems with others; while his life was full of it. He was very poor; sometimes he slept hungry. He became an orphan at a young age and had been taking care of his family since. And one day he just disappeared in thin air. No one knows what happend to him. Some assume he committed suicide, others say he ran away or he got killed.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Quote from Death of Salesman; Act 2, pg 105

"Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!"

Aren't we all like Willy Loman sometimes? I think many of us strive to be something we don't necessarily want to be. We usually try to be something just because the rest of the world desires that. We fear to be different; we all want to belong in the same category as everyone else.

Mental Health



According to the article, Understanding Mental Illness, mental illness comes in many forms, just like physical illnesses. Mental illness is very common; one out of every five Canadians will have some kind of mental illness at some point in their life. The good news is that most mental illnesses or psychiatric disorders have treatment.


As I read the two books, Death of Sales Man and Catcher in the Rye, I have noticed that there is similarity between the main characters. Holden and Willy seem to both have some kind mental health problem. They are both delusional, and both have some sort of phobia of mistrust.


Holden's unstable mental state is caused most likely by the death of Allie Caulfield. The loss of his brother and everything else happening in his life has made Holden depressed, delusional and suicidal. Holden mistrusts everyone around him, except his younger sister Phoebe. He considers everyone a "phony"; a fake.


Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, is displayed as mentally unstable. He struggles with himself in his thoughts throughout the play. He believes that he's running out of money, and he cannot pay for his appliances, and then he imagines his nameless mistress and etc. Like Holden, Willy Loman also has dependency problems. He cannot trust his own son Biff, and we observe that he feels betrayed by him.


Internet sources:


http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=3


Newspaper source:


http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-06-06-mental-usat_x.htm

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

MOVIE RELEVANT TO "THE CATCHER IN THE RYE"

The movie,Igby Goes Down, is relevant to Catcher in the Rye. This movie is about a teenage boy who flees from his wealthy and self -absorbed mother. Igby"father is schizophrenic patient who has been commited into an institute .Igby dreads that one day he too may have mental illness like his father.
Like Holden ,Igby too has flunked out of several schools,and he ends up in a military academy where he is bullied by his fellow student . According to Mimi, Igby's mother , Igby does not take responsibility for his action and he has been like this since childhood. As a child he would blame his toy bear Digby for things he had done ,and whenever he did this his family would call him Igby,and thus he was named Igby.
Holden and Igby are both quiet similar personalities:they both blame others around them for their downfall, and they both feel that the rest of the world is against them


Monday, June 21, 2010

How might Holden or Willie Lowman have used a blog/Twitter/Facebook or other media to change their own outcome?How might I use those same media?

As technology has advanced many people stay connected thruogh such sites as Blogger.Twitter and facebook ;and other social medias such as .msn messenger and ect.People around the world take advantage of these internet sources to share their ideas and stay connected with friends and family around the world .I believe if Holden had used these social medias like Twitter.facebook and ect. he may have had better outcome.Holde could have stayed in touch with his sister Phoebe and other friends;which may have helped and prevented his downfall.He could have asked for some advice from his sister or friends before he decided to leave Pency Prep,which would have prevented much of the trouble he went through.
I use facebook,msn messenger and yahoo messenger to stay connected with my family and friends back home. Calling them all the time would be too costly and usually the reception is terrible, thus these social medias are convenient and more affordable .I speak to my family by means of yahoo messenger once a week and not only do I speak to them directly using microphone ,I also see them through web cam.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

What are some common elements that people see in the books they like to ban?



There are many books that are banned in Canada and elsewhere in the world, for various reasons. Though Canada promotes freedom of speech, there is still some sort of censorship on the reading material that one receives from the public library or school. Referring to the article, A hot list of banned books, I believe some common elements that people see in books that they like to ban is sexual content, racism, religion, and politics.


One common element that people see in books they like to ban is sexuality. Personally I do not like the idea of allowing students to read books with sexual content or foul language; because school is suppose to be an environment where one discovers themselves and with such reading material a student will learn nothing of value.


Another element that I have observed in banned books is religion. Religious leaders ban books that are threatening to their faith. These leaders ban such books to protect the members of their faith from immoral and obscene ideas such as; homosexuality, pornography, and infidelity.


And lastly, the government or politics also play a major role when it comes to banning certain books. The government may ban some books to avoid embarrassment, a threat, criticism or failure of leadership.


I believe it is important that Canada ban some books because some books may not be age appropriate for students, or they maybe disturbing to the reader because of discrimination or racism and etc. I do not think that this is devaluing freedom of speech but rather it is only giving more value to freedom of peaceful assembly.




Research source (Internet):
http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/A_hot_list_of_banned_books-6339.aspx

Monday, June 14, 2010

poetry cafe Mr. Chesser

Poetry cafe was amazing. It was interesting to hear different styles of poetry; especially yours Mr. Chesser. Some poems that other students presented were pretty senseless but funny, though the humor in them was kind of out of context. All in all, I think its a good idea to have this kind of educational setting, it gives us a little break and relax, at the same time enjoy learning. Last but not least, my most favorite part was the food.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

“Phony”: The Catcher in the Rye

Phony is a word that describes a person or situation that is false or fake. Holden Caufield considers everyone around him as a phony. At Pency Prep he considers his fellow students as phonies because he thinks they all try to be something they are not. They are all playing a part and they aren't honest. He also criticises the motto of the school "molding boys into splendid, clear thinking young men"; Holden believes that any other school would do this sort of molding. He believes that the motto is phony because according to Holden there are no splendid and clear thinking young men at Pency.

In Holden's view movies are also phonies; though he enjoys them. He considers movies as phony because of their fake life style, fake emotions, and exaggerated drama which usually is far from reality.

Holden goes on a date with Sally, whom he sometimes considers a phony as well; one can observe this in chapter 15. Later in chapter 17, we find that Holden goes on a date with Sally Hays. The date is full of Holden's phony observations. He finds the actors in the play and also Sally's friend as phony.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Quote from The Catcher in the Rye

“People never notice anything” Pg 9

I picked this quote from the book because it seems true to me. In my point of view it means that people never notice the good things you do for them. We are generally quick to pick up negative aspects of someone or something but we rarely appreciate or notice the positives.

Quote from The Catcher in the Rye

"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one" pg 188.

This quote is very powerful. Many want to die for a cause but they never strive to live for one; and in that sense many of us are immature and only some are mature.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Quote from The Catcher in Rye

One of my favourite quotes from the book is:

"Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules"
Mr. Spencer, Chapter 2 pg. 8

I agree with this quotation because one truly has to play according to rules, otherwise one will be confused and lost in life. These "rules" are our guide lines, that guide us to our goal and allow us to live in peace the people around.

What advice would you give Holden if he was your friend?

Holden is a shallow and careless character from the book The Catcher in the Rye. He is a failure at school and also in his personal life. He is kicked out of school for poor grades, he decides to leave school and not return home. If Holden were my friend I would advise him to focus on his studies, push himself to do well and never give up. Holden considers everyone around him as phonies and he criticises everything and everyone. He is liar and has a foul language; I'd advise him to be honest with others and himself; and not pass judgement on everything. Nothing interests Holden; he feels that he's too good for everything. If he were my friend, I'd tell him to look on the bright side of life, and that life isn't always fair and things don't always turn out the way one wants them to.

I'd tell Holden how valuable and precious life is. We only live once and that we should make the best of it. He should not spend his life as a drunk and in loneliness. He should appreciate the education that he is getting; he should appreciate his parents and friends; and everyone that cares for him.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

chapter 7 catcher in the rye

Holden talks for a while with Ackley and then tries to fall asleep in the bed belonging to Ackley’s roommate, who is away for the weekend. But he cannot stop imagining Jane fooling around with Stradlater, and he has trouble falling asleep. He wakes Ackley and talks with him some more, asking whether he could run off and join a monastery without being Catholic. Ackley is annoyed by the conversation, and Holden is annoyed by Ackley’s “phoniness,” so he leaves. Outside, in the dorm’s hallway, he decides that he will leave for New York that night instead of waiting until Wednesday. After passing a few days there in secret, he will wait until his parents have digested the news of his expulsion before he returns to their apartment. He packs his bags, dons his hunting hat, and begins to cry. As he heads into the hallway, he yells “Sleep tight, ya morons!” to the boys on his floor before stepping outside to leave Pencey forever