sábado, 5 de marzo de 2011

HONDURAS



Threat to its people,
Assailant, kidnappers,
Player with violence and planner of revolts
Scary, unsafe, unpleasant,
Country of frightening actions:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have heard la Resistencia in the streets and seen their vandalism in the walls
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true for I have heard and read in the news death, death, and death.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: In the
streets there are beggars asking for food or money for drugs.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at my country, and I give them the sneer
back and say to them:
Come show me a country that has lifted itself
so proud of being catrachos and of achieving its best.
Restoring some order through revolts, being able to be recognized by other countries, and
classifying to South Africa World Cup. Here is a small achieving country set against the
big rich countries;

Small as an ant with heavy loads on its back, seeking
to rise as other countries in the world
Stealing,
Kidnapping,
Revolting,
Killing,
Screaming, wanting, demanding
Under the boom, the gun in his hand, grasping with
large hands,
Under the work for the future, grasping as a little
boy grasp his toy,
Grasping even as a climber who is
about to fall,  
Hoping and grasping that under his hands is the future
and in his mind the faith for success
Grasping!
Grasping the dirty, old, worn out tools of
Working, bruised, perseverant, trying to reduce the
Assailants, Kidnappers, Player of violence and planner of revolts;
The threat to the people.

sábado, 4 de diciembre de 2010

Just Because Poem: WE ARE DIFFERENT



Just because I’m a triplet
Doesn't mean I have to be identical to my sisters
Doesn't mean we use the same clothes
And it doesn't mean we think alike
We are not just one person, but we are three extraordinary girls
Because we were fraternal
We have different personalities
And who knows if we are telepathic
But it doesn't mean they’re ugly, dress ugly, or think incorrectly
It means they’re different in a beautiful and special way
And I love them just the way they are.

domingo, 28 de noviembre de 2010

Thinville: A City Of Perfection

In the town of Thinville, where exercise prevails, stick figures run all day under the yellow shiny light. These people eat while doing jumping jacks and work on their computers while doing sit ups. This city is not similar to perfections, its live perfection. New technologies in this town are not new blackberry phones or new touch computers, they are new workouts. “Tired” isn’t a word in a Thinville citizen’s vocabulary, it is an unknown word that they are not interested in knowing. There are no red signs placed on the street that impedes people from working out and makes them stay in their thin houses.
Slimmer, the skinniest man in town who lives in the tallest but thinnest house at the end of Size 0 Street, is the leader of Thinville. He wore a huge heart everyday to remind people that their health is important so they could keep exercising. His responsibility is to encourage people’s exercise. He did through huge advertisement posters that replace stop signs on the streets and by selling green bicycles to help people transport faster but still supporting one’s health and exercise. There are no cars, buses, trains, or any other motor vehicles in the town for two major reasons. The first and most obvious reason is because they don’t allow productive exercise. People just sit in a comfortable seat pressing pedals while the car does everything for them in a faster way. The second reason is due to equality. Rich people will not be showing off expensive Ferrari cars in the streets and poor people will not be searching and waiting for taxis that can transport them. Everyone will walk/run to the place the need to be at and will burn enough calories per day. This will promote equality in transportation.
Slimmer also helps the “biggest” people of the town by recommending them profound exercises as representation of his care. Slimmer has a list of exercises that helped him become the thin man he is; though people are free to do any other exercises they come up with. He even hears citizen’s opinions and asks them for new exercises to help others and to promote a free corruption society.  
Thinville’s education is 60 percent about exercise (35 percent: different types of exercises and 25 percent: techniques) and 40 percent are for equations, test tubes, writing, ancient books, and other subjects required in life and in a citizen’s knowledge.

                According to Slimmer, “People in this city enjoy themselves more than what people from technologically advanced cities do due to their health. Families get to enjoy their kids better because they are more active than what people from other cities that have relatively the same age.” In fact it is true because both old and young people have an active and healthy life which helps them live longer. “This city is a role model to other cities” says Slimmer “because life is not only about improving life through technology, it is about improving your life and your health through a daily routine of exercise. At the end, it’s not technology that will suffer, it’ll be you.” 

work cited:

domingo, 10 de octubre de 2010

Jean Valjean at my tavern


On a Sunday evening on October of 1815, I was taking care of my old tavern. Due to the weekend day I didn’t have workers or many customers so I didn’t bother myself to clean the place. Then, while I was talking and serving one of the few costumers I had, a fisherman appeared in the street door of my underground tavern asking for food. The old fisherman couldn’t go fishing because he was part of a crowd regarding a man named Jacquin Labarre, so he decided to refuge himself in my tavern.
After serving the starving fisherman, I then heard someone slowly opening the rusty handle of the back court door of my old tavern. Then, the person who had just entered mumbled something in a tough tired voice while dragging his bare feet in the wooden floor. I couldn’t understand anything so I asked out loud: “Who is it?” After a few seconds the demanding voice responded: “One who wants supper and a bed.”  When I told the man that he could sup and sleep in this tavern he weakly threw a yellow paper in the wooden table and sat rapidly in a chair near the fire so he could stop the shivering and calm the fatigue.
I saw him set himself slowly, with no energy and I felt miserable and sorry for him. He looked kind of sick or pale and very exhausted. The smelly man also looked dirty because his clothes were patched and his beard was long and messy. The poor man was barefooted and he could hardly walk. I assumed he hadn’t received a morsel of food for maybe a week because he repeatedly asked for something to eat.  I was about to get him a glass of cold water and a slice of baguette bread with ham and cheese when the fisherman called me.  
I noticed that the fisherman that I had just dished up was looking at the traveler with small strange eyes. He called me to him and told me that he had seen the same dirty but mysterious traveler walking along Bras d´Asse and Escoublon. He warned me about this traveler. I thought about the conversation the fisherman had given me a few seconds ago. Concerned about the old fisherman´s words, without providing the poor man any food, I rejected the mysterious traveler to prevent any possible problem. The traveler, whose name was I believed Jean Valjean, insisted me to let him stay because he had been rejected as well by another inn. Even though I kept feeling sorry for him, I put my hand on his shoulder and repeated to him firmly to go away and he did as I told him.
He left as slowly as he had entered and he left from the same door he had come in. I watched him go by through the cold evening and along the long road. I wished I had given him at least a piece of bread as I had given the starving fisherman

WORK CITED:

sábado, 25 de septiembre de 2010

Classical Parallels

This letter from Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams was written on August 19, 1774 while John was attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and Abigail was home in Braintree, Massachusetts.
This letter talks about the concern Abigail has for her country and the loneliness she holds every day because she misses her husband. It’s been a month since John departed, and Abigail and her children miss their “Pappa”. A friend of the family, Mrs. Warren, wishes him luck in his trip with no obstructions in the way and good decision making, and Abigail wishes him wisdom for every difficult day presented to him.
Two major rhetorical devices I found in the letter were appeal to emotion and red herring.
“The great anxiety I feel for my Country, for you and for our family renders the day tedious and the night unpleasant” (Adams 676). The previous quote is appealing to emotion because Abigail throughout the paragraph describes her feelings such as anxiety about what is going on, from her husband leaving to the actions taken in the country.
“I have taken a very great fondness for reading Rollin´s ancient History since you left me” (Adams 676). In this quote, Abigail deviates from the previous topic about her loneliness and anxiety by mentioning the book she reading to keep her mind of the feelings she needs to handle every day. She later comes back to her feelings again.

WORK CITED:
Adams, Abigail. Classical Parallels. Braintree: Agust 19, 1774.

domingo, 12 de septiembre de 2010

blog #4: REFUTING PATRICK HENRY

 Gregory Wilson

As a colonist of Virginia, I firmly believe on the right of freedom for all colonists. Though, I firmly believe we shall get our freedom in the proper way which is not fighting. Fellow citizens of Virginia, I disagree with Patrick Henry on obtaining our freedom through fighting when we can get it in a more peaceful way without losing what we have. I suggest we shall get our freedom by compromising with the British because they are stronger than us. They have stronger troops and a full control of the slavery going on in our colony. It will be a nightmare to fight the troop who we are under chain. Therefore, my suggestion of a peaceful compromise with the British will secure a more comfortable life with the British. First of all, instead of fighting British troops, we may use the troops as a protection for the colony. Instead of living in slavery chains for life, we may secure equality by teaching each other our customs and adapting to them. Instead of deciding for death, as Henry suggested, we may decide on a better life by living in peace with the British. However, if we lean towards Henry´s advice, we may suffer even more than we suffered before.


If we decide to take Henry´s suggestion of fighting for our freedom, I believe Henry shall take responsibility of his decision for the following reason. I completely disagree on deciding whether liberty or death, as he mentioned in the last paragraph of his speech. What happens if we go with Henry´s stupid idea of fighting and we lose the fight? Is Henry going to decide death for not obtaining the liberty that we were seeking? I’m sorry, but as owner of the idea he must stand for the consequences because not all the colonists who fought want to die. They have families to feed and houses to protect. Therefore, he must not leave us future problems caused by the war because he shall be the one forced to solve them in order to get our liberty. Do any of you colonists want to be held responsible for the battle´s effect? No, I don’t think so. Therefore, as for the compromising I suggested, I am willing to take care of my actions, without helping anyone responsible.


Also in the sixth paragraph of his speech, he stated: “There is no longer any room for hope” (Henry 2). How it that possible if he is suggesting a fight between us and the British troops? Doesn’t he hope we win the rough battle? Doesn’t he understand that hope is what we need in order to obtain our freedom? It is that simple for both of our suggestions: If we fight we shall hope we win and if make a compromise with the British we shall hope to get along with them and live the peaceful life we all deserve. As you can see, there is hope. Just because his thought of war and violence doesn’t give him room for hope doesn’t mean the rest of us colonists don’t have room for hope.


Finally, in the last paragraph he mentions that the war has started and that we must fight. I don’t think we should fight back because the British are going to fight back even harder and more violently. I believe we should stop the battle and solve it peacefully by compromising with the British because as the metonymic expressions says: “the pen is mightier than the sword”. If we talk out our problems with the British we may get better results than solving our problems with swords. We don’t want to lose our family, our home, our beloved colony of Virginia, or our dignity, so we must do what is best for us and stop the war. Let´s stop the violence and the slavery and let’s start living like civilized people. Violent won’t solve our problems because violence brings more violence.


Therefore, if fighting is the solution, neither I nor any of you colonists shall be given the responsibilities of the lost battle. On the other hand, if compromising with the British is the solution, I am willing to know everything about the British in order to provide you a safe environment. As I shall restate, war won’t benefit us in any aspect because compromising is what we need.