Two

         Anyone can learn to memorize names and dates, or learn the difference between; two, to and too, however it takes a “real” teacher to teach you who you truly are as a human on this planet. To be able to say I have learned who I am, who I want to be, and what I am capable of, is a blessing in itself. My passions and talents reached new levels and really showed me why I was put here on Earth. I am meant to make change, smile, laugh and embrace. Throughout my life “living” was all I ever hoped to accomplish, however there is so much more to be done. This English class has expanded my knowledge of the world and taught me to truly care and understand everything around me. I can’t even bring my self to buy milk from the corner store without questioning every aspect of it, such as: Where has it come from? Who is responsible for the health and well being of these cows? What kind of life do the workers have? And etc. The point is, I have changed. I am better, stronger, smarter and more loving then I ever thought I could be. I am a “real” English student, even though I may mess up my two’s. 

Communication is Key

         Communication is “the imparting or interchange of thoughts [and] opinions.”(Random House Dictionary). This idea of having clear communication can sometimes be “foggy”. When discussing in terms of a relationship many people would say, “communication is key”. Agreed, the cliché is overused, however if we truly look into the depth of what that is saying, it proves to be very important. When looked at more closely a key is used to unlock or lock something up. Just as good communication can either unlock a delightful future or with bad communication can lock away the relationship for good. Learning how to use “proper” communication will be the key to a successful relationship.

         People are all very unique, the way they dress, the way they look and how they live their lives. How would it be logical to think everyone communicates in the same way? In a relationship it is important to try and understand the other persons thoughts and opinions. Just because they don’t communicate in the same way as you doesn’t make them wrong. Some people like to discuss all the details and have long talks about what is bothering them. Others may want to get straight to the point and find out what the straightforward cause of the matter is. No matter how people like to discuss different topics and issues, it is important to recognize that they are willing to talk and are interested in your side of things.

         For communication to work properly it must be equal from both sides of the relationship. It is important to remember that there are two people in the relationship, therefore to never let it become one sided. Both people must feel comfortable to be able to share their thoughts with one another, without getting “shut down”. This helps to build confidence in the relationship, and demonstrate they can trust each other with their opinions.  In Ernest Hemingway’s, “Hills Like White Elephants” the couple has an “awkward” sense of communication. The girl in the story is pregnant and the man who has been “at her bedside” wants her to have “an awfully simple operation”(Hemingway, pp.40).  This so-called “simple operation” is for her to have an abortion. Their communication is definitely one sided, with him trying to be very persuasive – “ I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple”(Hemingway, pp.55) and her avoiding conversation about it – “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking? (Hemingway, pp.95). This makes solving things quite difficult. The best way to overcome this is to learn about the other person, find out their way of communication and what works best for them.

         Just as it is important for one person to be able to speak their thoughts, it is important for the other to listen. Listening plays a huge roll into “proper” communication. People can communicate back and forth, however if they are not absorbing what the other is saying, how will they grow?  If one person isn’t paying attention it shows the other person they do not care enough about what you are saying to engage themselves. Hemingway shows this by having the female character constantly starting conversation at the beginning. She says how the hills “look like white elephants”(Hemingway, pp.10), however the man is quick to cut her off.  He is mainly concerned with bringing up the topic of the abortion he fails to notice how she is truly feeling about the situation.

         The song “Talk” by Coldplay portrays communication in more then just an intimate relationship; it can also be looked at for friend relationships, or family as well. The song is discussing how someone is seeking to communicate and worried if they don’t, they won’t have this relationship in the future. He says “Well I feel like they’re talking in a language I don’t speak – And they’re talking it to me” (Coldplay, pp.3). This meaning, he is trying to understand what people are telling him but they communicate differently. This is where understanding how the other person communicates will help, and not leave you feeling confused. He goes on to say, “You’ll tell anyone who’ll listen but you feel ignored” (Coldplay, pp. 5); this is regarding people hearing you, though not truly absorbing what you are saying. It is necessary to show your acknowledgement in order for them to realize that you do care about their point of view.

         Communication is the base of a solid and healthy relationship, remembering to understand and listen, will make conversation a lot easier.  From now on when communicating with your loved ones, make sure to remember these points. Hopefully you are able to unlock your future into an amazing relationship, because “communication is key”. 

 

“Talk” by Coldplay

 

Oh brother I can’t, I can’t get through

I’ve been trying hard to reach you ’cause I don’t know what to do

Oh brother I can’t believe it’s true

I’m so scared about the future and I wanna talk to you

Oh I wanna talk to you

 

You could take a picture of something you see

In the future where will I be?

You could climb a ladder up to the sun

Or write a song nobody had sung

Or do something that’s never been done

 

Are you lost or incomplete?

Do you feel like a puzzle, you can’t find your missing piece?

Tell me how you feel

Well I feel like they’re talking in a language I don’t speak

And they’re talking it to me

 

So you take a picture of something you see

In the future where will I be?

You could climb a ladder up to the sun

Or write a song nobody had sung

Or do something that’s never been done

Do something that’s never been done

 

So you don’t know where you’re going and you wanna talk

And you feel like you’re going where you’ve been before

You’ll tell anyone who’ll listen but you feel ignored

Nothing’s really making any sense at all

Let’s talk, let’s talk

Let’s talk, let’s talk

 

 

 

WARNING: This video contains crude language and may offend some viewers. The beginning has nothing to do with what I am trying to say, and is crude. (Link Below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hemingway, E. “Hills Like White Elephants.” Perrine’s Story
         and Structure. Helen Thriller-Yambert. Eleventh Edition.
         Boston, USA: Micheal Rosenberg, 2006. 210-215.

 

Coldplay, “Talk”.

 

Relationship Communication.” Youtube. Feb. 14, 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKDFNyYvuUk

 

 

 

Kept in the Darkness

 

         One must become awakened to the truth of society in order to take the first step into fully understanding humanity. We have been socially conditioned from the day our society began; have been taught customs and ideologies without truly knowing where or whom they come from. The process of thinking for yourself has been designed for us. We as a society are lead to believe that we make decisions for ourselves based on our wants and needs, though that could not be more of a deception to the public. Since power lies where there is money, and money lies with the major corporations; this is where the strategic planning of our every move takes place. Corporations are the masterminds behind monitoring our thought process. They create products that will stimulate parts of the brain to keep us consuming. Comparable to cattle, society allows government, media, and major corporations to guide us where they please. This task is not hard for them to accomplish, seeing as “[t]he mainstream media is owned directly by large multinational corporations”(Global Research). It is not until we are able to recognize and understand how we are being manipulated that we will ever be able to change these ways. Such as Joseph Conrad said in his classic novella Heart of Darkness, “the meaning of an episode [is] not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which [brings] it out only as a glow brings out a haze.”(18). This quote significantly relates back to the fact that the media, corporations, and government are truly controlling our society. We look at society like a kernel, and in doing so, we fail to see the bigger picture which envelopes our tale.

 

         If Conrad is arguing that it is the corporations that have control over society, then what are we, the people? It could be argued that the indigenous natives in Conrad’s novella represent us. They are shackled, enslaved, and manipulated, however, not in the same way that we are manipulated today. The natives are portrayed as having animal like qualities, when “one of the creatures rose to his hands and knees and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink.”(36); It represents how insignificant they are with their “[b]lack rags [that] were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind [that] wagged to and fro like tails.”(33). Conrad is showing the reader that they are unimportant to the higher authorities, who are only focused on the ‘greater good’. The ‘greater good’ is the goal of the corporations; what profits can they make from their products. They do not care about who they must hurt in order to fill their pocket, only how they will achieve it. Even in society today, we are made to feel irrelevant. While we are not so directly compared to animals, advertisements and the media constantly make us feel insignificant by bombarding us with images that promote a low self esteem.

 

         Money holds a place at the stem of all society’s problems today. The topic of the ‘greater good’, that our corporations have become so focused on, is generated from the craving for money. Conrad uses this topic in his novella when he discusses the greed for ivory. Kurtz, the “first-class agent”, “in charge of the trading-post,”(37); ”[s]ends in as much ivory as all the others put together…”(37).  In order for him to bring in the amount of ivory he does, results in him having no one stand in his way.  Much like corporations today, Kurtz did not care whom he had to kill in order to get more, even if it was a “friend”. The “Russian” a man of many colours who took care of Kurtz, was blown away when Kurtz declared “he would shoot [him] unless [he] gave him the ivory”(92). The eagerness for more took control over Kurtz “and there was nothing on earth to prevent him from killing whom he jolly well pleased.”(92). Equivalent to what happened with Kurtz, money has consumed our society causing an immense amount of problems.

 

         In Conrad’s text, Kurtz uses fear to gain more ivory, much like corporations and government use the media to make us fearful.  Kurtz made himself superior to the Congolese people and showed this by killing them and placing their heads on stakes, to create a fence around his house. This did in fact affect the native people of the Congo, as “they would not stir till Mr Kurtz gave the word.”(95). One way that the media creates fear in society, is with commercials and advertisements of child abduction. They present an example of someone dear to you being taken in your community and within a matter of minutes they are onto a commercial about the new phone containing tracking devices to keep your child safe. Once again, they are able to manipulate us into buying and following them out of fear. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows the reader how they are being manipulated, and creates a more intelligent and aware reader in doing so. The point of the novella is to educate the reader on how they are being manipulated in their every day life, and Conrad has triumphantly succeeded. Being aware of the meaning behind the higher authorities actions will help to you to make more efficient decisions for yourself. We as society have started to become awakened to the truth and should never stop to question the information we are being fed – we deserve to be kept out of the darkness.

 

Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness. London, England: Penguin Books, 2000.

Global Research, December 05, 2012. http://www.globalresearch.ca/truth-propaganda-and-media-manipulation/23868

 

 

Kept in the Darkness

One must become awakened to the truth of society in order to take the first step into fully understanding humanity. We have been socially conditioned from the day our society began; have been taught customs and ideologies without truly knowing where or whom they come from. The process of thinking for yourself has been designed for us. We as a society are lead to believe that we make decisions for ourselves based on our wants and needs, though that could not be more of a deception to the public. Since power lies where there is money, and money lies with the major corporations; this is where the strategic planning of our every move takes place. Corporations are the masterminds behind monitoring our thought process. They create products that will stimulate parts of the brain to keep us consuming. Like cattle, society allows government, media, and major corporations to guide us where they please. It is not until we are able to recognize and understand how we are being manipulated that we will ever be able to change these ways. Like Joseph Conrad said in his classic novella Heart of Darkness, “the meaning of an episode [is] not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which [brings] it out only as a glow brings out a haze.”(18). This quote significantly relates back to the fact that the media, corporations, and government are truly controlling our society. We look at society like a kernel, and in doing so, we fail to see the bigger picture which envelopes our tale.

If Conrad is arguing that it is the corporations that have control over society, then what are we, the people? It could be argued that the indigenous natives in Conrad’s novella represent us. They are shackled, enslaved, and manipulated, however, not in the same way that we are manipulated today. The natives are portrayed as having animal like qualities, when “one of the creatures rose to his hands and knees and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink.”(36); It represents how insignificant they are with their “[b]lack rags [that] were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind [that] wagged to and fro like tails.”(33). Conrad is showing the reader that they are unimportant to the higher authorities, who are only focused on the ‘greater good’. The ‘greater good’ is the goal of the corporations; what profits can they make from their products. They do not care about who they must hurt in order to fill their pocket, only how they will achieve it. Even in society today, we are made to feel irrelevant. While we are not so directly compared to animals, advertisements and the media constantly make us feel insignificant by bombarding us with images that promote a low self esteem.

Money holds a place at the stem of all society’s problems today. The topic of the ‘greater good’, that our corporations have become so focused on, is generated from the craving for money. Conrad uses this topic in his novella when he discusses the greed for ivory. Kurtz, the “first-class agent”, “in charge of the trading-post,”(37); ”[s]ends in as much ivory as all the others put together…”(37).  In order for him to bring in the amount of ivory he does, results in him having no one stand in his way.  Much like corporations today, Kurtz did not care whom he had to kill in order to get more, even if it was a “friend”. The “Russian” a man of many colours who took care of Kurtz, was blown away when Kurtz declared “he would shoot [him] unless [he] gave him the ivory”(92). The eagerness for more took control over Kurtz “and there was nothing on earth to prevent him from killing whom he jolly well pleased.”(92).

In Conrad’s text, Kurtz uses fear to gain more ivory, much like corporations and government use the media to make us fearful.  Kurtz made himself superior to the Congolese people and showed this by killing them and placing their heads on stakes, to create a fence around his house. This did in fact affect the native people of the Congo, as “they would not stir till Mr Kurtz gave the word.”(95). One way that the media creates fear in society, is with commercials and advertisements of child abduction. They present an example of someone dear to you being taken in your community and within a matter of minutes they are onto a commercial about the new phone containing tracking devices to keep your child safe. Once again, they are able to manipulate us into buying and following them out of fear. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows the reader how they are being manipulated, and creates a more intelligent and aware reader in doing so. The point of the novella is to educate the reader on how they are being manipulated in their every day life, and Conrad has triumphantly succeeded. Being aware of the meaning behind the higher authorities actions will help to you to make more efficient decisions for yourself. We as society have started to become awakened to the truth and should never stop to question the information we are being fed – we deserve to be kept out of the darkness.

 

Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness. London, England: Penguin Books, 2000.

decisions

To hold the power to fully control ones self is something humanity has lost, constantly brainwashed into doing what higher authority wants. We are continuously lead to believe that we need to consume more products, and that the ones we posses are “no good” and “outdated”. In my opinion, decisions lie where there is power and power lies in the corporations; this is the chain that controls all the major outcomes in society. For example, Wal-Mart, our well-known “supercenter” easily shows us through television ads and fliers that they carrier the lowest prices; though, what they are showing you is misrepresented. They do not show the horrible way of retrieving their products, and how dreadful the people are treated in the process. We as society must stand up to these corporations and take charge of the products we consume. It is time to make our own decisions.

Based on the decisions we make, people generally fit into one of three categories, these categories being the instigator, the bystander, and the leader. The instigator would be the person who causes the problem or joins in. The bystander, being the passive person who doesn’t stand up to the instigator and seems to fade in the background. A leader is the one looked upon preforming the heroic actions. A simple choice can move a person through this permeable wall between these titles. Many people state that they would act heroically in a time of need, though we are never certain of what we would do.  In an afflictive situation many people fall into the “bystander” category, pretending not to see what is going on and continue with their previous actions.

Joseph Conrad faces his reader with this choice in his novella “Heart of Darkness”. On a journey through the Congo river, Marlow, Conrad’s main character, finds his “feet [feeling] so very warm and wet”(pg.77) from the blood of the helmsman. Easily showing concern, Marlow feels uncomfortable with the thought of losing this man. Though, in his “devotion to efficiency”(pg. 20) Marlow is quick to throw his shoes overboard, [wanting] to push on (pg.67). Holding the control of his decisions, Marlow’s determination to meet Kurtz overthrew the importance of his morals. Marlow represents the majority of humanity who act as bystanders in uncomfortable situations. He has let his desire to succeed abolish what he knows is right, and consequently control his decisions, much like corporations are controlling ours.

 

Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness. London, England: Penguin Books, 2000.

 

dream

Never give up on your dream even when the world tells you too.

forward thinking

     The brain does not function the same in all people, we are unqiue beings with different ways to process information. Having restricitions on the way we write will only downgrade our writing. When people are given the room to express information in the way they wish, their writing will have more passion behind it. In the school district students have been prisoner to the strict curriculum forced upon them by the teachers. It is easy to tell when a student is not interested in what they are writing about, when they don’t write about personal opinion and only meet the expectations of the teacher. We need to make a change in the way we allow each other to express our thoughts on paper and when we do creativity will flow.