Fahrenheit 451 Analysis

Faber is a character who I saw as very intelligent and wise. He was a gingerly old man who had been around awhile and knew how the world used to be before all the extreme censorship and false happiness. He knew about the time of learning and prosper and books. Although he feels that it's not the physical component of books that is important but rather what's inside, "It's not books you need, it's some of the things that were once in books." (82) And Faber does not just specifically single out books as important either because both books and media had the potential to become storage units for information, "The same things could be in the 'parlor families' today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not." (82) Unfortunately media had never fully developed as much as books did to store the information so books became to primary source of storage, "Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget." (82-83)
Faber then goes on into explaining what he sees as the reason for the importance of books, "Number One: Do you know books such as this are so important? Because they have quality."(83) A new component that was part of the three pieces of a society prospering that were truly missing; "Number one, as I said: quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. And number three : the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two." (84) Now, "what does the word quality mean?" (83) Quality to me means best or reliable, when I go shopping I look for the best quality of product available and I do this because the product with the best quality is seen as reliable and better. But quality to Faber meant something a bit more specific and interesting, "To me it means texture." (83) Texture? Like the touchy feely stuff? A cat is soft and fluffy, while a lizard is dry and rigid. Exactly! Books have texture, "This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more literary you are. That's my definition, anyway." (83) Books have life; like a character through the use of adjectives and literary devices we build a person that resembles an idea and gives us this sense of life. Books have the ability to do that, give life, that is why Faber also touches on the fact that the best authors the legendary writers are the ones' that bring books to life, "Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies." (83)
Books are important and Faber realizes that he sees the real importance and has deeply analyzed the reasons for the great importance of these books. And I completely agree with Faber's analysis and explanation of the importance of books and the true meaning of quality.
But while thinking about it, I thought, books really do have great power! Books can give us emotions and informations to take action. So if the society wanted happiness so badly then why did they take away the one thing that could give them such a thing. If you want something so badly, such as happiness, then isn't the small bumps in the road, like being offended or wrong, just a price to pay for beautiful literature?

TU Tuesday - Local

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Mistakes-advances-in-New-York-s-hospitals-6650

The best hospitals are known for their god-like care and flawless procedures. These hospitals do not disappoint but yet exceed patients and relatives expectations. So we all then have expectations set that hospitals, all hospitals, are safe, reliable, and the greatest place to be in a detrimental event. But is that really the case? We through the media, past experiences, and common knowledge have been given this mistaken idea that every hospital is the safest place to be, but should we be having this much trust for every hospital we visit?

"In one case, a middle-aged man with cancer had a complex surgery that involved his pancreas, gallbladder and stomach. A retractor, a metal instrument used to hold organs in place or keep a wound open during surgery, was unknowingly left behind in the abdomen, said Louis Filhour, a registered nurse who is senior vice president for clinical quality at Albany Med." Many cases like this one have been seen throughout New York State in many of the hospitals that we trust, "Both Albany Med and Nassau University made the Watch List for the second year in a row." The point of the article isn't to plant a spirit of mistrust within citizens but rather an understanding that some hospitals are of a lesser value of service, "The two institutions were among the 26 hospitals whose below-average safety performance earned them a place on the Watch List in the second annual patient safety analysis conducted by Niagara Health Quality Coalition for Hearst Newspapers." 

Although these particular hospitals within the region have performed poorly in safety, there are many hospitals that have been giving us the best care since they started performing surgeries on patients, "In the Capital Region, St. Peter's Hospital was named an Honor Roll hospital, one of 20 hospitals whose patients had fewer complications, injuries and infections among the 246 New York hospitals in the analysis."

It is also essential for readers' to know that impossible events happen and we should plan for them, "Retained foreign objects remained a problem, even though it is considered a "never-event" -- a type of incident that should never happen. There were 84 cases statewide of foreign objects left behind after surgery, only four fewer than the previous year. While some were innocent events, like a broken tip of a catheter that is easily retrieved, others were much more serious." The article reminds us to remain wary of the hospitals and health care we are receiving and to always get check-ups so we never fall behind with our health. 

7-Do you think Memorial Day is about remembering deaths or celebrating live?

Do you think Memorial Day is about remembering deaths or celebrating live?


I think that memorial day is a mixture of both and the celebration that tastes place is important and unique. We use memorial day as a time to remember those who have been scarred or were victims of war. We also celebrate life because we know and appreciate that we were granted the gift of life from these people who have risked their own t o protect ours. We remember, mourn, and embrace on memorial day.

What is Crippling Us?

The points that were made within both texts were the facts that lead to an interpretation that states the government and policies they provide us with are all leading the population towards conforming and uniformity.
With the Gatto piece he's predicting the future and the effects our actions will most likely have on society if this keeps going, "The integrating function. This might well be called "the conformity function," because its intention is to make children as alike as possible. People who conform are predictable, and this is of great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force." Basically within society we are already seeing it, everyone is trying to make themselves like the perceive image of perfection. We get these perceptions from media and our social interactions, which for the children is school the place that we spend a majority of our childhood at. The schools then rate us on our potential when we first enter the program. They do not see us as individuals but rather workers, and they do not look towards the future but rather towards this instant so no scholar is ever able to be great or see what they could become if they at first are not the greatest, "The selective function. This refers not to human choice at all but to Darwin's theory of natural selection as applied to what he called "the favored races." In short, the idea is to help things along by consciously attempting to improve the breeding stock. Schools are meant to tag the unfit - with poor grades, remedial placement, and other punishments - clearly enough that their peers will accept them as inferior and effectively bar them from the reproductive sweepstakes. That's what all those little humiliations from first grade onward were intended to do: wash the dirt down the drain."
Within Fahrenheit 451, Raybury makes the same points that all lead to conforming as a society and uniformity. The only difference is within the story the society has already reached the point of no return that we seem to dread. But what is so remarkable about this story is the fact that it was not published recently but rather in 1953! Raybury had to foretell the circumstances that our society would be experiencing today and then infer even farther into the future. His story is the basis of what we worry about today. "Impatience. Highways full of crowds going somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, nowhere. The gasoline refugee. Towns turn into motels, people in nomadic surges from place to place, following the moon tides, living tonight in the room where you slept this noon and I the night before" (57), this is all things we see today! We all move so fast not paying attention, real close attention to what is smack dab in front of our noses. We have become so dependent on technology as well that we don't think anymore we have become so dependent on a machine to so basically all the tough thinking our brain needs to remain healthy and on the ball. Its sad but the lack of thinking and individuality is exactly what the government and school systems need to create labors or even mindless robots, "More sports for everyone, group spirit, fun, and you don't have to think, eh? Organize and organize and superorganize super-super sports. More cartoons in books. More pictures. The mind drinks less and less" (57)
I was persuaded by both pieces of work, they held back no punches and were not afraid to say what others can't. We need to change or what tis foreseen in Fahrenheit 451 will happen to use as well and I'm not so sire we will be able to recover.  

Tried and True

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/17477297690/my-28-most-tried-and-true-writing-prompts

My Father: David Tennant 

 I would choose to  have my father as David Tennant because he has all the characteristics that I stride to have. Tennant is Sympathetic, Gorgeous, Talented, Hilarious, Sure of himself, Intelligent, Fashionable, Open-minded, Determined, Athletic, Inspired, Modest, Confident, Genuine, and just a well rounded amazing human being. I could learn so much from him and inherit so much from him. Strictly looking at personality he is one of a kind and genuinely is motivated by his inspiration to reach goals and dreams that he sets for himself. Also being scottish (but does amazing american and british accents), having amazing hair, super thin, and being 6'1'' are all just bonuses. Plus he doesn't drink, so I know to the best of my knowledge, and I cannot stand drinkers or addicts of any kind. Drives me mad, so that is a trait that I would not enjoy seeing in my father so I am glas he is not much of a drinker. 

My Mother: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins

I would choose to have Adele as my mother because to me she symbolizes a trooper, she has been through a lot and all of it is reflected through her heart-felt music. Like Tennant she is well-known and wildly talented. Oh and foreign, as a born and bred Brit. The only down fall is she smokes, and so I have heard, had to get surgery because of her habits. But if I were her daughter and Tennant her husband I'm sure her stories wouldn't be so harsh -maybe even love stories- and she wouldn't smoke. 

TU Tuesday - Commencement Speech

http://www.timesunion.com/business/slideshow/Steve-Jobs-through-the-years-30518.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/06/141122856/steve-jobs-speech-at-stanford-university

http://www.graduationwisdom.com/speeches/topten.htm

http://blog.ctnews.com/deloma/2011/10/05/apple-board-of-directors-puts-out-statement-on-steve-jobs-passing/

Steve Jobs was a highly successful "American businessman, designer and inventor" and "he is best known as the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc." Steve Jobs has had many lasting impacts on society  through his character and renovating technology. Steve Jobs "was widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution and for his influential career in the computer and consumer electronics fields." He was a great man and it was a tradgedy to loose him on "October 5, 2001". 

Before he passed "Steve Jobs delivered [an inspirational speech] to Stanford University's class of 2005." Within his speech he reflects on three stories from his own life. His first story, chronologically, starts from the beginning of his life, "It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife." He basically states that his mother did not want him for herself because she was uneducated and wouldn't have been able to provide for her son the way that another erudite set of parents would. I agree with Jobs in saying that yes having a well functioning and financially stable family does have its perks and would help with giving the child the opportunities generally needed to succeed. But right before he explain his situation he states, "I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why'd I drop out?" Basically blaming his situation on the reason for him "dropping out". I do not agree with that. Although like I stated before having a well financed and intelligent family helps, its not all that is needed. Many highly successful people have risen from the slums and changed the world, while many wealthy people have sat around and rotted in their drunken corpses not making one positive change to the world. With all that money you would assume they would have some decency to spend it on a good cause or maybe go to school and learn a few things so they can become a scholar and change the world that way rather than flaunting their money around and say "here". But beside the point, we cannot choose the cards we are dealt but  we can choose what we do with them. And I was kind of disappointed at the way he started off his speech not taking responsibility or humbly stating what he had accomplished. It seemed to me like he was even disappointed in a way of what he has done. He is a great man and he didn't need a fancy family to get him to where he was, and he should have said that- in a most modest way possible. 

He then continues, "Except that when I popped out, they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: We've got an unexpected baby boy. Do you want him? They said: Of course. My biological mother found out later that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college. This was the start in my life." his biological parents were promised that their son would find his way to college, he did at 17 leaving to start another chapter of his life. But he didn't use the opportunities he was given in a sense , he left all the things he was given- college- behind and went on to do his own thing. Of course it worked for him...but what if it hadn't? Would he have been paying for a mistake? Or what if he had stayed throughout all of college? Would he have been more successful? Less successful? We can never know. Buit what we do know is Steve Jobs was given a crappy group of cards, but he was special enough to turn them in to something magnificent. And I was very happy to see that he reflected on his luck and opportunity for the passion he had found when partnering with a college in the Apple corp, "My second story is about love and loss. I was lucky, I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20."

Quote I loved:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." 

50 Friends I Cant Wait to Meet

I CANNOT WAIT to meet my Camp Scully friends. Camp Scully is the camp that I have been going to since I was just seven years old. The friends I made well our relationships were unbreakable and we were able to hangout and chat outside of camp, it was nice knowing we could still be friends even when the summers ended. And the counselors I had always looked up to in awe, I was always so grateful to have these amazing, hilarious, and talented people present in my life even for just a couple of weeks a year. And it was one of my childhood dreams to be able to work as a counselor for this great camp. But this year I was worried that because of my age I would not be eligible to work as a counselor -or any other job- at camp, the minimum age that one needs to be to even be looked at as a possible candidate for camp is 17 years of age. But like I said I have been going to this camp since I was seven so the camp director Colin knows me well and has watched me grow up literally. Knowing that I was too young to work at the camp I signed up for my second year of the LIT, leaders in training, program and volunteer for the extra four out of seven that I would not already be at the camp for. But Colin, when I was volunteering at the Spring Camp, pulled me aside and decided to talk to me about my options for this summer. He basically told me that because of my age I could not work there at all and he would love for me come as an LIT and maybe take over for someone who leaves or quits. I was stoked and impassioned with excitement! So I went home from volunteering and did not have any thoughts of even becoming a counselor, but long story short, Colin called me one day and said it would be foolish to not have me as a welcomed member of his staff this year. I was even more excitement- if possible- than before. I got off the phone with him and immediately started filling out my application. Colin made my childhood dream come true, and I am so excited to meet all the fellow staff members who most of them are past camp friends. It will be a whole new experience working with them 24/7 for 9 weeks and I couldn't be happier. As I have been saying since I got offered the job, THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST SUMMER EVER! 2012 WHOO!