Perspective

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

I just finished reading 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime' by Mark Haddon. It's about a boy called Christopher with either Aspergers or autism, and it is written from his perspective. it really shows you how some people think of the world very differently than you do.

One of the biggest examples of this was when he talked about perspective himself. He wrote that when other people stand in a field, they think, 'Oh, there are some cows and grass and flowers in a town in the distance.' But then he said that he remembered while standing in a field, that,"

1. There are 19 cows in the field, 15 of which are black and white and 4 of which are brown and white.
2. There is a village in the distance which has 31 visible houses and a church with a square tower and not a spire.
3. There are ridges in the field, which means that in medieval times it was what is called a ridge and furrow field and people who lived in the village would have a ridge each to do farming on.
4. There is an old plastic bag from Asda in the hedge, and a squashed Coca-Cola can with a snail on it, and a long piece of orange string.
5. The northeast corner of the field is highest and the southwest corner is lowest (I had a compass because we were going on holiday and I wanted to know where Swindon was when we got in France) and the field is folded downward slightly along the line between these two corners so that the northwest and southeast corners are slightly lower than they would be if the field was a flat inclined plane.
6. I can see three different types of grass and two colors of flowers in the grass.
7. The cows are mostly facing uphill." 
8. and that he recognized more than 30 other exact things like this. We visualize the world in general statements, like there were clouds in the sky, but some people like Christopher might remember that there were big fluffy clouds shaped like sheep and they filled most of the sky. People tend not to notice the small details around them, unlike Christopher. this changes our perspective on the world. 

Christopher also sees feelings very differently. He thinks that feelings are just a picture in your brain and that you can't change the way you are feeling that quickly. He hates when people have poker faces on, or are crying when happy, etc. because he can't distinguish between feelings that well and can't feel empathy at all. He doesn't like feelings, which is why most of the time he only tries to feel happy, angry, or sad. He doesn't like being confused. Most people can feel empathy, which makes it easier for them to figure out what other people are feeling, so it isn't that hard for us. We see other people in a different way than he does.

He also takes things very literally. Christopher doesn't understand phrases like, "You'll catch your death out there", or "See you later, alligator", or any other phrases like that. He takes them very literally, so they don't make sense to him. We have learned what these mean when they are said, unlike him. This also causes him to not be able to lie, almost unlike anyone else. He can barely stretch the truth, because he thinks that only one thing happened, and if he lied, he would start thinking about al the things that didn't happen, of which there are infinite options. We can lie easily, which is usually bad, whereas he can only tell small white lies. He doesn't understand why someone would lie, which makes him more trusting in a way. When someone says something, He'll take their word for it. He sees the world in a completely different way because of this. 

Christopher has a very different outlook on life than we do. He remembers things down to the smallest detail, he doesn't feel any empathy at all, and he cannot tell a lie. This book and Christopher's character showed me a very different perspective of what life can be like.

 

Things Left Behind

Stand By Me


While watching Stand By Me directed by Rob Reiner, I noticed how much of an impact Gordie's brother had on him. Not only was Gordie outshone when his brother was alive, but after his death Gordie was basically ignored by his parents. Anyone's life will change when a sibling dies, but Gordie's biggest inspiration and his biggest supporter was his brother Dennis.

Gordie said in the beginning of the movie that the summer after his brother died was the summer he was ignored by his parents. And there is a scene near the end of the movie showing one of Gordie's dreams in which him and his family are at Dennis's funeral. As the casket is being lowered, Gordie's father says, "It should have been you, Gordon." Gordie acknowledges in the movie that his brother was the pride of the family, being a star football player and popular, both of which Gordie isn't. So naturally, although he loves his brother, he feels as though his parents love his brother a lot more than they love him. I think that Gordie sometimes agrees with his father in the nightmare, thinking that he should have been the one dead. He probably thought that his parents wouldn't miss him at all, and family life would carry on like normal. Gordie is carrying shame and guilt after Dennis's death, thinking that he should be the one buried in a coffin.

Dennis was also the one who supported Gordie the most. His dad was furious at Gordie for writing, an activity he thought was more suited to girls, and not doing football like Dennis.In one memory, Gordie remembers his brother announcing that Gordie had written a really good story. His father gets mad, telling Dennis that he has to focus on football,not Gordie's stories. Gordie's mom seems interested, but doesn't pay much attention to it. After their dad tells them not to focus on anything but football, Dennis whispers to Gordie, "Gordie, I really liked it. I thought it was great." He cares about Gordie's feeling, and supports him no matter what. When Denny dies, Goride doesn't have anyone to support him except for his friends, but he trusted his brother's opinion more than anyone else's. Now, he feels worthless, and even though all of his friends, especially Chris, support him and encourage him, he still doesn't think that he will ever become anything. Denny left Gordie alone, or at least that is what it feels like to Gordie.

This is why when the Yankees baseball cap Denny gave to Gordie before he died was stolen from him, Gordie is depressed and wants to go back and get it immediately, unlike Chris, who wants to leave it and steal it back later. I think that Gordie is a lot sadder about that than he shows, considering how much the cap meant to him. It was the last thing Denny gave to Gordie before he died, and it was one of his most important possessions. The memory of the cap being given to him was a good one for Gordie, and he wants to hold on to it. So when it's stolen, it's like the last piece of dennis is taken away from him, too. This means a lot to Gordie, and he probably feels ashamed that he couldn't hold onto the last thing his brother had trusted him with.

Gordie was probably the most deeply affected in his family when Denny died. His parents ignored him, and this made him feel worthless. Any sibling death will be extremely difficult to cope with, but for Gordie, being the 'unwanted' brother, it was especially bad. Denny left too many things behind that needed to be dealt with, and he was the one holding the family together, or so it felt to Gordie.

Romeo and Juliet- Is It Love?

Even though a lot of the characters in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare are very complex, I think that the most interesting one is Romeo, especially where it concerns his love for Juliet. He can sometimes be very rash and doesn’t really think about his choices, but most of the time it is out of love. He makes decisions very quickly, sometimes too quickly for his own good.

One thing he says that makes me think that he is being too rash is when, in 3.3, Romeo attempts to commit suicide because Nurse tells him that Juliet is devastated. We know that by the end of the book, he kills himself because he thinks that Juliet is dead, which is pretty extreme, but killing himself because she’s sad?? He does this because he thinks he loves her, but if he really loved her, he would realize what killing himself would do to her. He doesn’t think about how him dying would affect anyone else, and he is quick to make this decision. I think that even though I wouldn’t have done it, committing suicide when he thinks she is dead is a lot more reasonable, because she is the only one he cared about and he loved her. If the only one he loved was thought dead, he has a better reason for committing suicide.

He sometimes makes decisions based on his love for her, though. For example, he  said that ‘Unfold the imagined happiness that both receive in either by this dear encounter’ of him and Juliet getting married (2.6 lines 28-9). He knows that they will both be happier if they get married, and can’t imagine how happy he will be. This is a sign of true love, and isn’t really a rash decision. People get married when they are older because they know they will be happier, and Romeo and Juliet are doing the same.

Romeo is an interesting character with many opinions and he changes a lot. Sometimes he is undoubtedly in love with Juliet, and sometimes he makes quick decisions that will only create bigger problems for him later. What do you think? COMMENT!

The Worst Things In Life Come Free to Us

A Team by Ed Sheeran

So I don’t really have a favorite song, but I chose A Team by Ed Sheeran because that’s what I’m listening to. I think that two of the main themes of this song are that life is not perfect at all, and that you have to look deeper into someone before you judge them.

In the chorus, he says, ‘But lately her face seems/ Slowly sinking, wasting/ Crumbling like pastries/ And they scream/ The worst things in life come free to us’ I think that he wants to express that we have to work for good things to happen, but bad things can happen to anyone no matter how much they deserve it. People sometime’s can’t deal with this, and turn to other things to try and help them get through life. He also said, ‘Cos we're just under the upperhand/ Go mad for a couple grams’, which says that It’s not the girl’s fault entirely that she turned to drugs, but her life in general. She needs something to keep her from becoming nothing, and didn’t think that she could go to anyone. People can’t prevent bad things from happening, and you can’t always judge people completely for making bad choices.

Sheeran also says that,’ Struggling to pay rent/ Long nights, strange men’, which means that she needed to make money to try and survive, and she probably didn’t think through turning to prostitution because she didn’t have time. She made a bad decision, but she needed to do something and didn’t have anyone to guide her. She shouldn’t be judged for that. People make bad choices when they are stressed, or exhausted, or need help fast. And she couldn’t help that. I think that people shouldn’t be that quick to judge others when they don’t know the full story behind what they did.

So many people are judged too harshly. Sometimes they had no other choice and did something bad. Sometimes they don’t have people to help them and they don’t have a role model to help them. No one knows this, so the person is an outcast. People don’t have perfect lives, and if they want to become a better person with a better life, they have to really work for it. As Sheeran said, ‘The worst things in life come free to us’.

Secrets Kept

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Spoiler Alert!

A Great and Terrible beauty is about Gemma Doyle, a girl who grew up in India but has always wanted to go to school in England, where she is from. When she sees a vision of her mom dying after they fought and finds out that it's true, she moves to Spence, a boarding school for young women. There, she finds a diary from a girl who also had visions. Supposedly, that girl died in a fire, but Gemma finds out that it is her mother. 

One big part of the book is whether a secret should have been kept or not. One of Gemma's friends, Pippa, has epilepsy, but her fiance doesn't know that. She knows that if she tells him, both him and her parents will shun her. In the end, she decides to tell him because she doesn't like him. I think that she did the right thing by telling him. She hated him, and that let her let him go. If she hadn't told him, she would have had a seizure and he wouldn't know what to do. He would probably disown her anyway.

One thing that happened is that Gemma started having visions and she didn't know what to do. I'm not sure if this should've been kept a secret. It helped Gemma understand herself better and challenged her to do what was right, but there are some things that happened that didn't have to happen and wouldn't have if Gemma's mom had helped her with the visions before she died. For example, Pippa wouldn't have died in their spirit world if Gemma knew about the magic of the Runes.

I think that the secret of Gemma's mom being Mary Dowd, the writer of the diary, should have been revealed. Gemma would have known so much more about the Rune and how to deal with them. Her mom thought that she was protecting Gemma, and in the beginning she was, but she should have told her when they were in the spirit world. She could have warned Gemma of Sarah, which would have saved Pippa. There are so many bad things that wouldn't have happened if Gemma knew.

Sometimes, the characters made good choices, but sometimes they didn't. Based on the small amount of evidence I've given, what do you think?

Free Speech on Facebook

. "Are Facebook "likes" protected by the First Amendment? A recent ruling by a court in Virginia raises questions about free speech in the digital age.." Upfront Magazine 2012. 14 Jan. 2013 <http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Are+Facebook+%22likes%22+protected+by+the+First+Amendment%3F+A+recent...-a0310150547>.

Upfront Magazine,

Are Facebook "likes" protected by the First Amendment? A recent ruling by a court in Virginia raises questions about free speech in the digital age.

 

This week i read an article in Upfront Magazine called, 'Are Facebook "likes" protected by the First Amendment? A recent ruling by a court in Virginia raises questions about free speech in the digital age.' It's about a public worker, Daniel Ray Carter, who got fired for liking his boss's competitor's facebook page. As a public employee, he has the right to free speech without being fired. ut last spring, Judge Raymond A. Jackson of the Federal District Court in Norfolk, Virginia said that liking a page on facebook wasn't making a statement, so that wasn't included in his rights. There is a similar issue in school, with kids saying something on facebook or twitter about faculty, and the principals not knowing if they can be punished. There is a fine line between home and work life.

 

I think that the author wants you to decide for yourself whether the judge was right or wrong. They are not really biased, though I think that they might be leaning more towards Carter's side. They probably want you to think about what the difference between home life and wor life is, and where those should meet. They used examples that relate to anyone, whether it be work or school, so that we can all understand better what is happening. They make you feel like that is a really weird reason to fire someone, which I think it is, and that the writers of the Bill of Rights didn't foresee this happening. The judges have nothing to go on, and this is what is causing controversy.

I think that this is ridiculous and that you shouldn't be fired for liking an opponents page, especially if you are a public worker and you have the right to free speech. Liking something on facebook is like saying, "Oh, I agree with you", which is a statement, which would count as free speech. Carter's boss shouldn't have the right to look on his facebook page and then fire him because of doing something that was supposed to be part of Carter's home, not work, life. I also think that schools shouldn't have the right to punish children for things they do at home. The courts ruled with me, so the same thing should go for work. And maybe Carter only liked the page because he wanted to see what his opponent was doing. Unlikely, but still. He shouldn't have been fired for 'liking' something on facebook.