GO! Entry

I think playing Go was very interesting game, and I liked it because it was a change of ambience in the class, we are always reading and doing different kinds of stuff but never playing computer games. I also liked it because it made you think a lot but at the same time have fun. It was also fun in the sense we were all competing who did each level faster. Though the game is not at all easy, in fact it was challenging i really liked it.

I didn't quite do all the 47 levels i did like 28 or so because it takes a lot of time and also thought, but I really liked it because it makes time go by in a really productive way. Instead of taliking on MSN or facebeook you can play this game and exercise your intelligence. I think we should play more games of this sort in English class I liked it a lot and I think playing it on board game will be very interesting. I also love the uncertainty of picking on a spot and waiting to see at the bottom of the "board" if it says failed or SUCCESS!!!

incorporating paraphrasing, summaries and quotation into speeches.

Persuasive Speech, Poverty

Good morning ladies and gentlemen thank you for being here today. Today I’m going to talk to you about a very serious issue in our country, that we all talk about but never actually do something about it. This is poverty. Poverty is one of the biggest issues in or country, it is estimated that more than 45% of the population is poor in Colombia.

This means that this huge group of people don’t have their basic needs covered. “Poverty began in our government in a 60% it is now between a 42% to 45% and the goal for 2010 is 35%”. This our president Alvaro Uribe said in a press conference in June 2006. (Example of quote).

In my personal opinion I think every single person should have a home either rented or ideally owned, with services like water and electrical supply. Parents must have an income that allows every family to satisfy their needs according to the number of members in the family. They should have money to provide their children a good and balanced nutrition. Another important need in our country is education, which includes primary, elementary, middle and high school at least. Many children in Colombia don’t attend to school because they are working either in a voluntary way or forced to do so by strangers, to exploit them, it means children can´t keep the money they get in a legal or an illegal way. Some children are used to sell drugs or to sexual purposes. That is how poor children in our countries are exposed at a very early age to drugs, alcohol and other substances. Gangs may take advantage of these kids making them believe they can give them protection, the kind of protection that their families cannot, but in change they make children commit crimes. This is how poverty initially starts, because since little children, or better yet, children’s parents think that it is better working that going to school. And this is a total errand thought because if children get education they will become someone in life and succeed. In this same press conference our president Uribe said the following “Avery important program for us is to support the poorest family in nutrition, school assistance and access to health. This is what we call families in action.” (Example of quote).

I can think of some mechanisms to solve this issue. The first one would be creating new jobs, by promoting the creation of new business instructing both men and women in professional careers. This way the unemployment rate would decrease and poverty diminish at the same time. Government should also encourage education to children by prohibiting them to work, or adults to hire them. School should be the only future for the children, at no cost, providing a free education until college. When President Uribe spoke about a bank for the poor people and giving them micro-credits I think he was trying to say is that lending money to poor people is vey important for them is to invest in their little industries. (Example of paraphrase).

The next basic need to be covered is health; it should be paid according to the family income. When persons are unemployed, the government has to take care of them, there is no reason for a person to be rejected by a hospital when having a serious illness or an emergency, just because they can´t pay immediately.

As you can see there are some material things like health, shelter, job and education which are important factors that contribute to human dignity. There are some basical needs for every human being that when they are not satisfied it makes people live with less dignity considering we all have the same rights. It is urgent to create mechanisms to solve them from the very roots. We all possess the same rights regardless our color, nationality, beliefs or in this case economical state. I belief my opinion should be taken on account for I believe in the future of this country. The following is a summary of president Uribes intervention for the Ibero-American chiefs of stet and government on Nov, 10, 2007. He started by telling the audience about the 5 principle values we are working in Colombia which are modern democracy, respect for the liberty of thought and social improvement. He also spoke about the international debt an problems with oil. (Example of Summary).

Matthew 13-22

Jesus is always talking to the crowds to come to him and that you can always be a better person., one thing I noticed that happens to Jesus and many times it happens to us, or even worse, we sometimes do it to others is rejecting people because no on likes them (even though we do). A good example is when Jesus is rejected in Nazareth his hometown. The majority of people are there for you in the good times (when you are wealthy, having fun, etc) nut in the bad ties all those people go away and pretend they’ve never known you. And the truth is that if we really love somebody we should stay by their side regardless what other people think about them.

In Matthew Jesus gives a warning against the temptations of wealth. I agree with it because there is a saying in Spanish that says : “El que nunca vio a Dios, cuando lo ve se asusta”. This means that when you don’t have money when you have it you go crazy. So Jesus is just to respect our place of prayers saying don’t go that way.

Most of the things Jesus does I agree and admire, but one thing I don’t that he said in his preaching’s that he forbids divorce. This is because if you are truly not happy with the person you are married to you should take different paths and no one should force you to be with them if you don’t want to.

I also liked when in 21:13 Jesus states “My house shall be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers”. I liked it because it tells to respect our place of prayer and even our house.

Matthew 1-12

Starting to read the New Testament was a totally different experience tan Reading the old one. One thing that I noticed very clearly was that at the beginning when Mary is pregnant they don’t pay as much attention to her as she deserves, instead they focus more on Joseph. Then I thought it was maybe because he was a good parent and stayed at her side at all times. In chapters 1-12 basically 3 things happen: 1. Jesus birth 2. Jesus does miracles 3. Jesus sermons. He gives his famous Sermon on the Mount where he encourages where he encourages a lot of values about love, humbleness, trust, faith etc.

In one part Jesus mentions that “poor, meek, and hungry are blessed”. I like this a lot because Jesus, considering all the power he has he “hangs out” with poor people. He helps them and loves them just as any other human being and doesn’t treats them with inferiority. But like always there were people who criticized Jesus for hanging out with the poor. The good thing is that Jesus didn’t even care, he doesn’t mind about what people think about him he has a lot of personality and authenticity, which is the kind of personality we should all have.

Tao Te-Ching 44-66

I think the person who wrote this must have put a great deal of time and thought, because in every sentence there is one thing you learn. And in every chapter there is at least one thing to analyze. Some views of the Tao I saw along the reading were: The Tao stresses a lot in telling us that material things are not what matters he says wealth is not the most important thing. .He says we have to be humble and be content with what we have. He also tells us that when something is too perfect its not right he says spontaneous things are the best. A thing that is very connected with this says that you have to let things be, don't insist on changing the course of things. Something I don't quite get is that he tells that when Tao is not present everything is "unleashed".

Some values expressed in the reading are: be good to all people,be humble at all times, be kind and thankful and lastly love everything around you. Among loving they mention that that who truly loves life will live without fear. Do things without expecting a reward, dint talk to much. One thing that really surprised me was that in chapter 57 he says "Wage war with surprise moves"once more i think this is very contradicting from Tao´s part, considering he always tells us war is not the answer.

Lastly it is said that we should all follow Tao´s teachings because it is the healthier way to live your live. Among the text they say that his teachings are a way of making your life and thoughts better. Also he says non-action is the best in most of cases.

Tao Te-Ching 28-43

When I always finish reading my chapters assigned from the Tao Te Ching I end up overwhelmed of so much knowledge! You end up thinking all you have read about and how wise it is. I came up with some important points for today's reading according to Tao´s teachings:

- Be an example to the world and be a leader, but never forget where you come from and your values.
- Life is hard for some and easy for others, but either way we've got to affront it.
- Achieve your goals, but never be too proud of them . Also don't use force to achieve them because this is not Tao´s way.
- A man of war prefers the easy path while a wise man prefers the correct one even though it will lead him to the most difficult one.
- Tao is everywhere all things depend upon it.

I think all these tings above are correct and every well thought, but in chapter 36, there is certainly one thing i don't agree upon it says: "Soft and weak overcome hard and strong". I think this quote is mistaken, because if this were true nothing would happen to good people, for example no one would get mugged or kidnapped. Also we have to be realistic the big ones always have the power in a sort of way, so physically I don't agree with this quote. But mentally maybe I do!

One thing that also bothers me about this text is that it is very contradictory. they always say that your work should be recognized and taken in account but at the same time is says that you shouldn't be proud of the good things you do. At the beginning of the book they mention that effort is not always taken in account, but as it goes in it mentions that you shouldn't be proud of your accomplishments, which is something that I don't agree with. Because when you do something good you should feel good with yourself and no underestimate yourself.

Tao Te-Ching 13-28

When I started reading the second half assigned of the Tao Te Ching i started getting it a little bit more. The things they said i found them more logical and understanding. When i started reading in chapter 13 something caught my attention. I liked that t hey talk about "accepting". They mention that we don't accept what is happening to us and instead we complain about it all the time. It says we have to accept our disgrace and accept everything that happens to us and we don't agree with. It also says to accept misfortune, which is something that most of the time we don't do. When something bad (or at least we think it is) we don't accept it and just look at the negative side from it . we don't try to see it from other perspectives and understands that things may happen for a reason.

Towards the ed in Chapter 24 I saw a typical example of what we sometimes are it says: "These are extra things and unnecessary luggage". I think this applies to people in today's world because we buy and consume a lot and the worst part is that we don't even need all this things. It is amazing all the things we spend money on and consume, and we don't stop and think that maybe someone could use this money in a wiser way. We think that everything that matters is money and material things, but that's just not the way life works! Life is composed of beautiful things that we don't realize they are there and ignore them. For example a beautiful sunset is an incomparable thing but we don't see how extraordinary it can be. Instead we want Ipods cellphones etc, things that at they end they are not worth a cent.

In conclusion I am really starting to like this book, because it talks about things that most of us don't dare to, it makes us realize things and lets us thinking:
"I'm i really living my life correctly?"

Tao Te-Ching 1-12

So far I am liking the Tao Te-Chiang I think it is a little hard to understand because you have to wait there until you understand every line and analyze it really well. I think it is sometimes a little confusing because it talks about different topics and goes off the road, but all the things they say are really smart and well thought. I think they put a lot of importance in "effort" it says effort is really important though it is sometimes not recognized. It also talks about women and that they do a great job in all tyhey do.

I really liked Chapter 8 were it mentions this:

In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dedaling with others be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In daily life, be competent.
In action, be aware of time and reason.

No fight: no blame.

I thought this chapter was very interesting because is says very deep things that are a guide in our lives. I think this simple paragraph might be useful to guide someone to have a healthy life. There are great values in here.

Though the book is still not very clear for me i am liking it a lot and like The Annalects I think I will learn a great deal from it.

Night P 50-109

The last part of the book Night was very different to that of the beginning. In this new stage of Eliezer you can see him with a lot of anger ad rage inside his heart. at the beginning of the book he was very religious and believed in God in every aspect. As time goes on and Eliezer sees more tragedies and accidents he starts to wonder ¿Where did God go? He begins to incite rage against him, and to not believe in him. He doesn't understand what is happening, from my point of view he hasn't made the "click" of what has happened to him and the society.

He becomes like a robot person he only works and eat, works and eats. Occasionally he talks with his father but short sentences with no meaning at all. I think this book is a demonstration of loyalty, honour courage, loyalty, but mainly the message that this book transmits us is love. In every single page f the book a sample of love is shown. It can be with a smile or a simple a piece of bread, but the truth is that this feeling is always shown.

This book made me realize many things like we have to be thankful for what we have and we don't always see that we are very fortunate. the last pages were really sad because it is when the father dies and Eliezer and his dad have to separate. I think that as the story goes on the boy gets colder and colder and like he said at the end of the book he is just a living skull. From my point of view this is a very depressing book and even at the end when they come and save all the Jews you don't feel happy as you should . Because it already happened and nobody can erase all that you saw, heard did, live and specially feel.

So when something like this happens to you your life will never be the same, you will stay with those images in your mind forever and no one will erase them. I think for the rest of his life Eliezer felt really guilty because at the end he just wanted his father dead and to get over with all of that that was happening to him. I think this book was very good and on a whole different level that we are used to reading. It is for a bigger age of mature and conscious people.

Night Pages: 1-50

When I started reading "Night" by Elie Wiesel I thought it was going to be a common Holocaust book like others i have read. but as i kept reading i realized that it is actually very different, it might be because of the author and its perspective. i like this book so far because it gives a detailed description of what has happened to this boy ever since the nightmare started. i think this book is a bit cold if you could call it like that, because it tells everything with no "fear" or compassion. It tells the horrendous events that took place in the holocaust in Auschwitz. considering it is very detailed this book actually makes you feel the pain and fear that the same characters are actually feeling. One scene that particularly left me in schock was when they struck the father. The boy describes it like if he was watching it and had a pen in his hand. You can feel a shiver when they stuck the dad and the sadness when you know the child wants to do something but he barely can.

it is definitely a very depressing book, and most people don't like to read about depressing stuff, but in a way the author wants all to know what really happened. And even though it is really hard to accept it we have to do it. I also like how the kid describes every character, he gives a full description of their face, and he describes them so good you can imagine them exactly like it is said. He tells how he struggles to survive to stay at his fathers side.

A clear evolution is stated in this book, it is incredible how someone can change from one day to another just by the circumstances. You can see that one day he was a happy boy anxious to learn about everyting and at the next day he doesn't want to know about anything or anyone. He was also very picky , for example with food, and now he would eat whatever they would put him in front of him.

Lastly I love how the relationship of father and son is stated. They love each other so much that from my point of view the only way they can express it is being silent.

The Annalects Final Entry

Overall I think the Annalects is a very good book. It guides to to become a better person and to live your life according to some rules. It is very different to any book we have ever read, I think some of the quotes of this book I will never forget they are very wise. I also got to know better what Confucians were because I didn't know before.

Another interesting aspect of the book is that it basically describes the steps that lead you up to having a healthy and honest live. It gives you tips and other sayings that you will remember for sure. They emphasise on important topics like respecting adults and yourself. It also talks about what happiness really is. I liked this book a lot and I hope we keep reading these type of books in the future.

The Annalects CH: 16 (Non read Chpater)

When I read chapter 16 some of the differences I saw regarding the other chapters we have read is that it is more "personal" benefit. The other chapter talk more about your relationship with others and how you should interact with them. Instead this talk more about one-self and your qualities etc. It talks about benefits and how you should take advantage of them. He mainly talks about men and their different temptations. Lastly it talks about joyfulness and friendship and how acquiring this things will make you a better person.

The Annalects CH: 15, 17, & 18

While reading these chapters i thought that compared to other books we've been reading The Annalects is more similar to "Ishmael". this is because they tell you a lot of tips if you could call the like that for living. they mentions a lot of interesting quotes they will later on be useful to you. Also it is basically about two men; Conficious and Ishmael that are very wise and know a lot of things. they are like teachers or masters of life. People learn a lot from them and have a great respect towards them. So far I am liking the Annalects more because it doesn't get to much off topic and it is very precise. Also I love the quotes that they say. I think they they come from a very wise and knowledgeable person. They have students who learn from them and later apply their concepts to life. In this case the readers would be the students.

The Analects CH: 12-15

In chapter 12 through 15 they talk about several things, I like that at the beginning of each chapter they always mention what they are going to talk about. I liked a thing that they mention in chapter 12 and this is it: “Life and death are governed by fate; wealth and honor are determined by heaven” I totally agree with this let’s call it quote because it is certainly true. The truth is that you never know when you are going to die it is a mystery. You could be her one day and the other second BUM a car runs you over and it is all over. So that is called faith you never know what is going to happen. Also life is governed by faith because I have never know own if the destiny is already written or if it’s just meant to be. According to this quote it is all about faith.

The second part of the quote states that wealth and honor are determined by heaven, I think this is also true because god decides the things he is going to give you while you live. Obviously when they talk about heaven they are talking about t god and saying that he is the only person who will decide what is next for you and also what to give you.

Paraphrasing Excersise

1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

Paraphrase: The Antarctic provides basically all the cold from our planet, it has a major control in our climate. Jacques Cousteau said that the water from around Antarctica goes up north to mix with warm eater from the tropics. Also the upper flows help maintain cool the water and atmosphere. ." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

2. The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

Paraphrase: the twenties was a decade where things like drinking weren’t accepted. The law couldn’t do anything about it because they didn’t have the enough power and respect. So basically everyone broke the rules and they new the bars were liquor was sold. Classical music became a thing of the `past and jazz became the ¨hit¨ music. Young people began to be influenced by people like Louis Armstrong etc. ¨Flapper¨ movement was originated girls started to use very short skirts and sponged hair. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.


3. Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

Paraphrase: a study made stated that each year they are approximately 1000 bicycle death a year caused by bumps in the head. It said that using you r helmet would reduce an 85% of the chances that you get an injury in your head. Most of this 1000 people are school children, but this could be prevented using your helmet, considering the helmet cushions your head from the ¨schock¨. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

4. Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.


Paraphrased: The painter Matisse is one of the most recognized modern artists. He is characterized by making every picture seem very real and also including the viewer in the painting. A very famous painting he made is "The Casbah Gate". Which is about a wall near the sultans palace. He uses matisse to get his sepcial touch or effect. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.



5. While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

Paraphrased: Sears Tower is definetely the tallest skyscraper in the world until now. But there is one architect whose name is William LeMessurier who designed a one-half mile tall skyscraper. This could be classified twice as big as the Sears Tower. But there is another architect whose name is Robert Sobel who claims that "technology now a days could be ccpcabale of producing a 500-storybiulding". From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

The Analects CH: : 7, 8 & 11

In these three chapters of the analects I saw a lot of wise quotes, but there was one of them that really caught my attention: “If wealth were something worth pursuing, then I would pursue it, even if that meant serving as an officer holding a whip at the entrance to the marketplace. Since it is not worth pursuing, however, I prefer to follow that which I love.”

I think this quote is very knowledgeable and enlightened considering we are al very materialistic now a days. We are all constantly searching for fame and recognition. But the master is saying that that is not the important thing in life, what is important is following what you love and internal and spiritual things. He also mentions that if you are seeking for wealth you are probably6 going to obtain it but the truth is that it is not worth it. He says people can do anything and overpass all the limits to obtain wealth, but at the end it will not make you happy, what makes you happy is to follow your heart.

The Analects CH: 4-7

When I finished reading the chapters assigned I personally always end like overwhelmed! There is a lot of wise things mentioned I not his book that you begin to wonder and think about “life”. It says a lot of things that I am sure will be kept in my mind for quite a long time.

One of the quotes I liked was: “While your parents are alive, you should not travel far, and when you do travel you must keep to a fixed itinerary”.
This is telling us more or less that life is never assureds or guaranteed and that we have to enjoy our parents while we have them by our side.

They also talk about what “Goodness” is and means. It mentions being good is not just a matter of fact of being nice, but it goes far off beyond that point. It means doing good to other people without expecting nothing in exchange. It means not only caring about your interests but also about the others interest. It analyzes what being good really is.

Lastly a quote that really impacted me was the following: “I have never met a person whose strength was insufficient for his task”.
I like this quote a lot because it basically states that God will never put you upon a challenge that you can’t handle. And if you have a good attitude and a positive face towards life you will be able to accomplish everything. Also it explains that not one single person cannot do a thing they propose. It reminds me of a thing my parents have always told me about math: “Math is 99% attitude and 1%aptitude”. But in this case I think it would be: “Life is 99% attitude and 1% aptitude!!!!!

The Analects CH: 1-4

The analects is a very different book regarding what I have read so far in my academic transition. It is a book similar to the bible in the away that it is set up. For example it is divided with chapters and verses, just like the bible is. It deals a lot with moral values and stresses them a lot. It talks about how we should act when we are with our parents and in public. I also noticed that it emphasizes how we should treat old people. It says we should respect them and give them in a way privileges.

In respect of the book itself I think it might be a little confusing because you really don’t know who is talking and to whom. I like that at the beginning of each chapter it more or less tells what it is going to talk about. It has words like in another language in parenthesis and I don’t understand why. I think so far this book is very interesting because it doesn’t’ involve a story but a moral.

Tertiary Sources od Speech

From Wikipedia:

http://www.eumed.net/cursecon/ecolat/

http://www.euromonitor.com/OTC_Healthcare_in_Colombia

http://www.who.int/countries/col/en/

http://www.saludcolombia.com/actual/lareform.htm

http://ciponline.org/colombia/index.htm

Mr. Tangen I couldnt get any sources from Ebsco Host beacuse it was not working.

Samuel 1 16-341

While reading this sections i confirmed my belief of the Old Testament, which is that God is not like they describe him to us. He is very susceptible, if you could call it like hat. he gets mad for everything, and punishes everyone for every bad thing they do, regardless of its importance. I think in the New Testament this will change, because I don't understand why they always describe us God as a great person (which he is) and they tell us that he forgets everything no matter how bad it is. He is also very demanding and picky to every detail.

I think later on in the bible this may change. So i am very anxoius to find out

Exodus 12-40

Considering all these chapters f exodus chapters 12-40 were really long i realized some really important points:

The first one is that they start with Moses story and there is the Passover which is when a plague passed through all the doors of Egypt this was called the Passover. Then for seven days people couldn’t eat leavened bread. God is very repetitive with this and it is very important to him. I started thinking a very curious thing that now a days it is called “Pesah” and this is a Jewish holiday now a days. So I processed that Pesah stands for Passover. God makes a great emphasize and he says that any person who does not follow this rule shall be put to death which I think it is a very exaggerated thing to say. One detail I also noticed was when he talks about a chandelier, he might be talking about Hanukah.

God is very demanding and picky he is very precise with the details. He is nothing to what they tell us he is like they describe him in the Old Testament. He makes clear that whoever breaks the rules shall die which is a very mean thing to say especially coming from God. He also repeats himself a lot and tells everything twice. He mentions the rules and consequences and establishes them securely. Also he is the one who says “Eye for eye tooth for tooth”. This is a phrase which I don’t agree with. A very important thing is that the 10 commandments are established. He talks about eh altars and the offerings he says to always give him animals etc. I think that is a very classist thing to say. God should not say this type of things he should accept peoples gifts regardless of their value. Maybe this explains why he cursed Cain.

Public Speaking Video Barack Obama

Public Speaking

Dynamism:
1. Barack Obama, from my point of view i think is a varied speaker he mixes things up and doesn’t repeat what he has done previously in the speech.
2. At the beginning he didn’t emphasize much in important arguments and words; he had the same face and was very serious. But then as he went on and on, he started to get more “excited” and enthusiastic.
3. One thing that I thought was very evident was that this man was not trying to be anybody else. He was very natural and this made people believe him and at the same time take him seriously.
Voice:
1. Obama pretty much kept the same tone of voice during the speech, in one moment he lowered it a little too much but then he went to his normal volume.
2. His tone was very appropriate for the occasion he didn’t speak in an unusual way or out of character tone.
3. His speed was fine, sometimes he went a bit fast but you could understand him. He never slowed down.
Gestures:
I noticed that at the beginning of his speech he kept his hands all the time in the counter where the microphone was, but when the speech was at its end he used a lot of hand gesture and he looked very energetic, this made him increase dynamism.

Face.
I think Obama did a very bad job with the facial expressions. He was very serious and didn’t show much emotion in the face. He was very serious during the whole speech, towards the end he started laughing a little bit but in regards to his face expressions he showed no emotion at all.

Physical Elements of Speech:
A. When the speech began I remembered the exercise we performed this morning. His diaphragm was crooked therefore he couldn’t speak for that long before he had to breathe.
B. He didn’t speak by his nose so his voice was pretty normal.
C. He took a breath after every sentence which is the correct thing to do and he released the air at the end also.
D. His nasal qualities were good as a said before.
E. Considering this was a very serious speech he obviously didn’t speak with a pen in his mouth, I think that is a rule which is a bit ridiculous to mention because no one would ever do that. But he didn’t have anything in his mouth which could interrupt our understanding.

CLASS RUBRIC

1. Dynamism
2. Clarity/Credibility
3. Gestures
4. Content

1. At the beginning he was not being very dynamic but then he started making more hand gestures and expressing himself more. What he failed on doing were the facial expressions.
2. His clarity was perfect I understood everything he said. His credibility was not so good from my point of view. It was like he was just telling us a story and not trying to convince us of anything.
3. At the beginning he didn’t do gestures of any kind. The n he started doing a little bit with the hands. Facial expressions were very lame he just smiled once in a while.
4. The content of the speech I didn’t like it very much. I think issues with Negro people etc are very very powerful subjects. I think he could have made a much greater speech and still transmit the same message. I didn’t like the examples he gave, neither that he was focusing a lot on himself and his situation rather than on the worlds issue. Also he didn’t do a good and powerful conclusion.

The Bible Exodus (Ch 1-12)

As soon as I started reading Exodus Ch 1-12 I realized all the story would be about one of my favorite movies: “The Prince of Egypt”. I was really impressed considering I thought this story was made up and I never thought its origins were from an important text such as the bible. I like this story a lot since I was a little kid, because it taught me a lot of moral values and I never forgot it. Still when they are passing it in T.V I love to watch it; it is one of those movies you never get tired of watching. And off course it is not the exact same story, some characters are added and others are removed. For example in the movie the sister of Moses appears, and also Moses gets married. Instead in the bible they are limited to Moses and his brother Aaron. Also they specify a lot more the connection between the Pharaoh, whose name in the movie is Ramses and Moses. They loved each other at the beginning and where like brothers, but Moses was tired of the superficial life he was getting along with and decided to change. That’s when god tells him to free his people and he tells his brother in all the possible ways, until he has to send all those plagues. Also in the movie Ramses has a son and unfortunately he dies because of the plague. What I’m trying to say here is that even though it is the same story and bases I learned a lot more from the movie because it has great t aching.

What I also noticed in this text was that they repeat everything like 4 times. It gets to a point where you know what they are going to say and it is very tiring. I think they should state things one time and that’s it, not repeat them again and again because it then gets monotonous.

I have liked The Exodus because they don’t mention as much names and descendants like in the Genesis, this way you don’t get so confused and you learn much more than just reading names and names that you will never end up remembering. What you will truly remember later on in your life is the story as itself and the lessons or values it taught you. So far these are the chapters I have liked the most in the whole bible, I guess this is because it makes me remember of my childhood and I have a lot of “love” for that movie.

The Bible (CH 11-28)

While reading genesis chapters 11-25 i realized that most of the stories in the bible we already know them, what we don’t know is that they come from the bible and we also don’t know much details of the story. For example Adam and Eve, The Arch of Noah, The Babel Tower, Abel and Cain and the story of Abraham. All these stories we knew them but we didn’t know much details about them.

Important things happen in these chapters amongst them: Abram journey into Egypt, when he meets him wife Sarai, Abrams name is changed to Abraham. Destruction of Sodom, Isaac and Ishmael (his sons) are born, Abrahams faith is out into trial, Sarah dies, the seek of a wife for Isaac, Isaac meets Rebekah, Abraham dies. Then it passes to the next generation where Isaac has 2 sons names Esssau and Jacob, Isaac grows rich (he finds a well), and a fight between his sons.

What I don’t understand much about this whole religion issue is that I noticed that most of the names in the bible are Jewish names know a days, and I fully understand that Jesus was Jewish and that his prophets were also. What I don’t understand is if Jesus was Jewish, why doesn’t Jewish religion belief in Christ?? I think this is illogical because if one of the people of the Jewish community did this huge act (just like Jesus did) why don’t they believe in that time to one of their community members. Why don’t stick up for him if he was one of them? I am very intrigued and I hope to find the answer for this later on on the bible!

Finding Fallacies in a Speech

Speech Read: I have A Dream By Martin Luther King Jr.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Fallacies of Relevance:

Genetic Fallacies: in a way I think this speech has genetic fallacies because it claims that white and their ideas are untrustworthy because of their racial origin. He claims that white people think that simply because of the reason that they are white they have the right to do anything and go past anyone.

Abusive: it arguments the proposals, assertions, or arguments of a group which in this case are the white people. Again this speech is mainly against of the whites and their superiority.

Bandwagon Approach: Luther replies that his argument is completely correct. An example is when he mentions that the declaration of independence was signed for all men to have “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”.
Appeal to Emotion: I think this text might contain a bit of this fallacy because he is mentioning that he hopes that one day black and white children can hold hands and uses metaphors like these that have a lot to do with one person’s feelings.

Component Fallacies:

Begging the Question: I think this type of fallacy occurs in the text and it is also very notorial. This is because he assumes as evidence for his argument the conclusion. Since the beginning of the text he talks about the same thing and doesn’t develop his ideas in an orderly way what I think happens is that he jots down every idea he has and repeats it a lot in the text.

Circular Reasoning: This type of fallacy is very common in all speeches because most of the time the purpose of speeches is to convince people of something. Therefore they repeat the same thing in different words. That’s pretty much what Luther King does he tries to convince that black people should be free and equal to everybody else.

Red Herring: with this phrase Luther King tries to change the subject or divert the argument from the real question and to set a side-Pont.
“America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt”.
I think this happens this way because Luther goes a little off the road but at the same time is making a discrete but true “joke” about how Americans have given black people a hard time, and made them felt like they have “insufficient funds” meaning that they don’t serve for anything.

Straw Man Argument: I found a great paragraph were there is a very clear example of an attempt to prove his own point by overstating which is that he repeats at least 50 times “I have a Dream”.
But in one part I think he exaggerates a lot:
“But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”
I think this is a little to much, saying that white people “crippled” and the best part is that he even accepts it! When he says: “….. We´ve come here today to DRAMATIZE…..” he accepts that he is getting a little way beyond limits.

Slippery Slope: This occurs because he says that once the first step is undertaken (“unleash” black people) the second and third step will inevitably follow. These two steps could be freedom, equality, happiness etc. Just by taking simple steps positive things will follow.

The Bible (CH 5-11)

When I began reading The KJV bible version I thought that all those names that are at the beginning were a bit unnecessary. They name all the descendants of the third son of Adam and Eve. But after comes a story I really like which is the story of Noah’s Ark. I like this story because it was a form of God punishing humanity because all the war going on. He decided to make the world rain for 40 days and 40 nights and told Noah to make an arc with specific regulations and in one of those requests he told him to take one of each animal species (male and female). Also he could take his wife sons and grandsons. When the 40 days and night passed the Universal Flood had ended the lord, as representation that he would never do something like his again to humanity. This sign or “token” like they call it in the text was an arc, later called the “rainbow”.

After this story they mention the descendants of the 3 sons of Noah. I liked these new chapters of the KJV bible and I’m really looking forward to read the rest of the Genesis.

The Bible (CH 1-5)

I felt really familiar reading the first 5 chapter f the bible, considering it sounds just like a myth story. It starts talking about the creation of the earth and why we came to be here and why, which is much of what we have been studying in class. I liked it lot because we had all heard about the "myth" that God created the world in seven days, but we hadn't actually read it in detail and most importantly: directly from the bible! At the beginning they describe the very beginning of the earth, when it was all black and there wasn't even light. Slowly it tells us how God created one thing every day, one day he created day and night, other he creates light and dark, another he created animals etc. But on the sixth day he created a being who would rule upon the others and this would be man. he would have complete power over everything and would "rule". Then comes the story of how men reproduced and the story of Adam and Eve takes place. This is the story we all know that first came Adam but he needed company and out of his rib came Eve. Then comes the story of Abel and Cain, which were two brothers that have very different personalities and Cain ends up killing his brother and he is severely punished to death. Lastly which is a part I think they should omit is the descendants of Cain and his wife, but there are a lot of names so it confused me a little bit.

What i thought was very curious was that i also read this spanish bible called "Dios Habla Hoy" and it was very similar to that of King James version. But I noticed some clear differences. One of them is that in the Spanish bible there is much more quotes, and the characters talk more. And a very curious one was that on the spanish bible at the end of chapter 5 it says that Adam and Eve had another son which they called Enos and later he started to evoke the name of the lord.

So far I'm having a lot of fun reading the bible and I'm also liking this King James Version a lot, I also find it very interesting comparing it to the Spanish bible so Ill keep on doing this.

Commenting About3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. The Golden Fleece 2. The Griffin or Gryphon 3. Giants


The Golden Fleece: I think this myth is very similar to the story of “Noah and the Ark” One of the reasons could be because”Argo” like the “arch” was called in this story is similar to that of Noah’s ARK. Also when the dove leads them to the right path it also relates to it because in the story of “Noahs Ark” they explain how a white dove symbolized peace and made Noah do the right thing.

The Gryffin or Gryphon: It pretty much describes the Griffins (which also can be called Gryphons). They have the body of a lion but the head and the wings of an eagle. India is the native country of these particular animals. Their instinct tells them were buried treasures are.

Giants: It tells and differs monsters from human giants. The great difference between them is that human giants did have feelings and felt love Hate etc. instead conventional monsters were beings of unnatural proportions and parts that regarded terror and had a huge strength and ferocity. Also it says that monsters feared the gods so much that they had themselves under various forms like birds, goats, cows etc.

Commeting About3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. Minerva 2. Niobe 3. The Grageae and Gorgons

Minerva: I thought this myth was very interesting and it teaches us a lot of things. It deals a lot with what happens in the world. Competing and rivalry is one of them we always try to be better than others and try to demonstrate it, it is in our blood to want to be better than others. Also when someone is wealthier, or more “important” they don’t like someone of a lower class or status competing against them. That is what happened in the myth, a goddess didn’t want a simple weaver to compete against her, that’s why at the end when she saw the maiden was doing a better job than she was, she turned her into a spider. This also tech us that we are very bad losers, and often we hurt (either verbally or physically) the person after the “competition” is over.

Niobe: Once again in this myth a goddess and a non-goddess dare themselves to see who is better. It is about hate revenge, rage and a lot of mixed feelings. I think this myth was fun to read but it was very dramatic. At the en all the 14 sons and daughters Niobe had (she was the non-goddess) died the children of Latona killed them. And also they killed her husband, so she wouldn’t have anything to say she was better.

The Graeae and Gorgons: This myth the only thing they do is introduce who are the Gorgons an who are the Graeae. The gorgons were monstrous females with huge teeth like those of swine, brazen claws, and snaky hair. The Graeae were three sisters who were gray-haired from their birth, whence their name. They were personifications of the terror of the seas. Their names in Greek mean the love epithets.

Commenting About 3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. Juno and her Rivals 2. Glaucus and Scylla 3. Perseus and Atlas

Juno and Her Rivals: This myth treats about treason and cheating. But I didn’t like it much because it involved many characters and you got really confused. At the beginning it started with a story and you ended up with a totally different one.

Glaucus and Scylla: This myth had a lot to do with revenge and rage. When people get mad sometime they do things they don’t want to do and say things they don’t want to say. That’s why sometimes it is better to count until 10 and chill. That’s exactly what happened in this story two people loved each other and in revenge a goddess turned Scylla (the lady) into a monster, just because she didn’t want that these two people would be together.

Perseus and Atlas: Once more this myth treats about assumptions and presipitations. Without even knowing people kill others without being secure of their procedence.

Commenting About 3 Myths

Myths Read: 1. Pyramus and Thisbe 2. Cepahlus and Procris 3. Prometheus and Pandora

Pyramus and Thisbe: This story has a lot to do with the silly mistakes humanity makes. It treats about two young teenagers who are very wealthy and they love each other. Unfortunately their parent’s don’t want them to be together. So one day they decide to escape so they can live happily together. They set a meeting place and Thisbe got there first. There was a thirsty lion nearby and ripped off her veil and destroyed it with her bloody teeth. But fortunately or rather unfortunately nothing happened to her. When Pyramus arrived he saw the veil covered in blood and thought about her beloved Thisbe, he thought he was dead! So he killed himself with a sword too. When Thisbe arrived he saw Pyramus died and therefore ended with her life too. This I can relate it a lot with miscommunication and that human are very accelerated and want everything now and can’t wait. Also just by looking at something we draw out errand conclusions and act without thinking. We act very precipitated and don’t stop and analyze things.

Cephalus and Procris: Once again this myth has a lot to do with miscommunication and drawing out poor conclusions. Cephalus and Procris were a happy couple who loved each other deeply. One day Cepahlus went hunting and said “Come, sweet breeze, come and fan my breasts, come and allay the heat that burns me”. Somebody heard him and went and told Procris, the story ends up badly once more. People should first be sure of what they are talking about before actually telling to other people. It could end up hurting innocent people and making a big and unnecessary problem.

Prometheus and Pandora: This is a typicall creation myth which talks about Prometheus, which was a Titan who created the earth. When he finished creating the earth there were only man, but after a woman called Pandora came , and she opened a box in which feelings of men were introduced. Pretty much it talks about the Golden Age and the other stages which the world went through so we could get to this.

Fallacies Blog Entry

Our Moral Footprint
By VACLAV HAVEL
Published: September 27, 2007
OVER the past few years the questions have been asked ever more forcefully whether global climate changes occur in natural cycles or not, to what degree we humans contribute to them, what threats stem from them and what can be done to prevent them. Scientific studies demonstrate that any changes in temperature and energy cycles on a planetary scale could mean danger for all people on all continents.
It is also obvious from published research that human activity is a cause of change; we just don’t know how big its contribution is. Is it necessary to know that to the last percentage point, though? By waiting for incontrovertible precision, aren’t we simply wasting time when we could be taking measures that are relatively painless compared to those we would have to adopt after further delays?
Maybe we should start considering our sojourn on earth as a loan. There can be no doubt that for the past hundred years at least, Europe and the United States have been running up a debt, and now other parts of the world are following their example. Nature is issuing warnings that we must not only stop the debt from growing but start to pay it back. There is little point in asking whether we have borrowed too much or what would happen if we postponed the repayments. Anyone with a mortgage or a bank loan can easily imagine the answer.
The effects of possible climate changes are hard to estimate. Our planet has never been in a state of balance from which it could deviate through human or other influence and then, in time, return to its original state. The climate is not like a pendulum that will return to its original position after a certain period. It has evolved turbulently over billions of years into a gigantic complex of networks, and of networks within networks, where everything is interlinked in diverse ways.
Its structures will never return to precisely the same state they were in 50 or 5,000 years ago. They will only change into a new state, which, so long as the change is slight, need not mean any threat to life.
Larger changes, however, could have unforeseeable effects within the global ecosystem. In that case, we would have to ask ourselves whether human life would be possible. Because so much uncertainty still reigns, a great deal of humility and circumspection is called for.
We can’t endlessly fool ourselves that nothing is wrong and that we can go on cheerfully pursuing our wasteful lifestyles, ignoring the climate threats and postponing a solution. Maybe there will be no major catastrophe in the coming years or decades. Who knows? But that doesn’t relieve us of responsibility toward future generations.
I don’t agree with those whose reaction is to warn against restricting civil freedoms. Were the forecasts of certain climatologists to come true, our freedoms would be tantamount to those of someone hanging from a 20th-story parapet.
Whenever I reflect on the problems of today’s world, whether they concern the economy, society, culture, security, ecology or civilization in general, I always end up confronting the moral question: what action is responsible or acceptable? The moral order, our conscience and human rights — these are the most important issues at the beginning of the third millennium.
We must return again and again to the roots of human existence and consider our prospects in centuries to come. We must analyze everything open-mindedly, soberly, unideologically and unobsessively, and project our knowledge into practical policies. Maybe it is no longer a matter of simply promoting energy-saving technologies, but chiefly of introducing ecologically clean technologies, of diversifying resources and of not relying on just one invention as a panacea.
I’m skeptical that a problem as complex as climate change can be solved by any single branch of science. Technological measures and regulations are important, but equally important is support for education, ecological training and ethics — a consciousness of the commonality of all living beings and an emphasis on shared responsibility.
Either we will achieve an awareness of our place in the living and life-giving organism of our planet, or we will face the threat that our evolutionary journey may be set back thousands or even millions of years. That is why we must see this issue as a challenge to behave responsibly and not as a harbinger of the end of the world.
The end of the world has been anticipated many times and has never come, of course. And it won’t come this time either. We need not fear for our planet. It was here before us and most likely will be here after us. But that doesn’t mean that the human race is not at serious risk. As a result of our endeavors and our irresponsibility our climate might leave no place for us. If we drag our feet, the scope for decision-making — and hence for our individual freedom — could be considerably reduced.

Appeal to Force: This article doesn’t contain any Appeal to Force relevance fallacies. This is because these fallacies use force, threat, or some other unpleasant backlash to make the audience accept a conclusion. The author uses the complete opposite of this; he calmly exposes his reasons and writes in a very persuasive and convincing way.

Genetic Fallacy: Considering genetic fallacies are types of fallacies that claim an idea, product, or person must be untrustworthy because of its racial geographic or ethnic origin this article does not relate at all with this type of fallacies either. For the contrary the author expresses that we are all equal and that our resources are limited for everyone no matter the race, ethnic origin etc. He said that when they are all over they will be over for all of us. And that we all waste them for equal and are not contious.

Personal Attack: A personal attack is generally when the author is praising the people who make an argument, rather than discussing the argument itself. This doesn’t happen in text, considering that the author is very general about the topic, he not only addresses one person but the whole world. He is not pointing any person or group of persons but instead is making the world realize the damage it is doing to itself.

Abusive: Abusive fallacies argue that proposals, assertions, or arguments must be false or dangerous because they originate with atheists. This goes completely out of the theme because in this article the author doesn’t involve any religious group. I think it is very good because it makes it not-biased, or inclined towards one position or religious view.

Circumstantial: Once again this text doesn’t contain Circumstantial Fallacies, which are fallacies that include person’s circumstances in their lives. The author expresses his point of view that is very clear. But he doesn’t involve any personal circumstances or events.

Argumentum ad Populum: This kind of Fallacies is very common, they give when feelings and enthusiasm arouse from the multitude instead of building a solid and strong argument. I don’t think this occurs here, because he does state the point of view of other people like scientists etc. But he does build a solid argument to I think the Argumentum ad Populum fallacy would half-apply to this text.

Bandwagon Approach: This is when the majority of people believes an argument or chooses a particular course of action, the argument must be true, or the course of action must be followed, or the decision must be the best choice. I think that this kind of fallacy could certainly be applied to this article because the author says that we have to make the world better and it is our one and only choice, and that this is the action we all must take. Also most people believe this, so it applies perfectly to the kind of text.

Patriotic Approach: This argument is about when certain stance is true because it is somehow patriotic, and those who disagree are unpatriotic. Personally this doesn’t apply to the text, considering in no part of the text the author mentions one single country. He is not specific he just talks about the world in general.
Snob, Approach: It is a type of fallacy his name explains it all. It says that all the best people are doing it. Once more the author doesn’t mention any names or social classes therefore it does not apply.

Covering Oneself in a Cross: This is when a certain political or denominational stance is true or correct because it somehow is Christian. I don’t think this occurs in this text simply because as I said before the author doesn’t involve religion in this case.

Appeal to Tradition: It asserts that a premise must be true because people have always believed it or done it. In part this is true because the author explains that for many years now people have been trying to be more careful and “reserved” with the world issues. He says that many studies have been done therefore this is what people must do because “The human race is at a serious risk”.

Appeal to Improper Authority: This type of fallacy attempts to capitalize upon feelings of respect or familiarity with a famous individual. It also often mentions movies and famous people. This doesn’t happen, because the author is just focusing in making the world realize the damage it is doing to itself, and he doesn’t he off topic.
Appeal to Biased Authority: When the authority is knowledgeable about the subject. This doesn’t happen again because he doesn’t involve any specific person, either the authorities.

Appeal to Emotion: When the argument is from pity and emotional appeal, often feelings are involved. This certainly happens in the text, because he is using feelings to make us realize the world issue we are having right now.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (10)

Myths Read: 1.Nisus ans Syclla 2. Echo and Narcissus 3. Meleager and Atlanta

Nisus and Scylla: Nisus was the king of Megara and Scylla was his daughter. The problem was that Scylla was in love with King Minos, who was the King of Crete. Crete and Megara were in a war at that time so they couldn't be together. One day Scylla escaped from the palace and went to King Minos with the keys of his fathers castle and told him that she loved him and would betray his father for him. At the end Minos rejects her and she and her father are turned into eagles.

• I dont think there is much relationship between this myth and Gilgamesh considering the two main "topics" of this myth are: betrayal and love. And in Gilgamesh none of these are manifested.

Echo ans Narcissus: Echo was a nymph that was in love with Naricissus. But she could only talk to him if he talked first. But he never did, one day he talked to Echo but rejected her, after she died. Then Narcissus fell in love with himself, thinking it was another person he loved himself and didn't understand why "that other being" didn't talk to him. He died thinking that that person didn't love him.

• I think this myth I can relate it not with Gilgamesh but with human kind. We love who doesn't love us, and don't love the person who really loves us. We are never happy with what we have and want more and more. It is like a vicious cycle in which we are not content.

Meleager and Atlanta: Meleager is a warrior who's destiny is written and since little they said he is going to die young. One day when goes to war, Meleager encounters with Atlanta, a beautiful girl that is going to war too. They love truly in love, but at the end as destiny was written Meleager dies.

• This is a perfect relation to Gilgamesh because as Enkidu Meleager dies. And Gilgamesh and Enkidu ans Meleager and Atlanta are both soul mates and need each other. But at the end sadly one of them has to die.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (9)

Myths Read: 1. Midas 2. Bausis and Philemon 3. Vertumnus and Pomona

Midas: This myth treats about a king called Midas who was granted a wish, anything he could possibly think of would be given to him. He decided he would wish that everything he touched
would be turned into gold. At first he thought it was very fun because very rich and all of his possessions were gold. But as time went by he realized that he couldn't eat beacuse the food he touched turned into gold. So he was starving. At the end they don't specify what happens to him, but they comment that many generations after his story was told.

• I can relate this to Gilgamesh because like Midas Gilgamesh was a king, and also to gain more power and fame,m he put in risk Enkidu's life by exposing him to Huwawa. After he died because the Gods decided it that way. They both asked for unnecessary things they didn't need and got bad consequences.

Bausis and Philemon: Bausis and Philemon were a happy couple that were very poor and humble. They were very kind and one day some visitors came over to their house saying that they didn't have any shelter and asked them if they could spend the night in their hoose.They off course agreed ans accepted their company. While they were serving the wine, they realized that it was renewing itself in the pitcher. Suddenly they realized who their guests were: the Gods! The Gods told them that considering that they had been so kind they should leave their house and take their belongings. They, later named them keepers of the temple.

• This myth relates to Gilgamesh because as Bausis and Philemon Gilgamesh was a good and kind man and wanted the best for everyone.

Vertumnus and Pomona: Is about a man called Vertumnus who loves a nymph called Pomona. She loved to grow apples, trees, plants etc. Vertumnus insists her but she doesn't want anything with any man. So he decides to disguise himself as an old woman and go to her garden considering that no men can enter to this garden. So she dresses up as an old lady and starts telling her that she should pay attention to Vertumnus. She even tells Pomona a story about a man and a woman in a similar situation. At the end the disguise falls and his true identity reveals.

• The one relationship I can see with Gilgamesh in this myth is that in Gilgamesh is that in Gilgamesh there is also a goddess that is in love with Gilgamesh but he doesn't want anything with her. Instead in this myth it is the woman who doesn't want anything with the man. How contradictory!

Pardon poor Larry Craig

Pardon poor Larry Craig
By Frank Rich

This article is about the recent problem senator Larry Craig from Idaho , had in a restroom at the airport in Minnesota . The fact was that this senator apparently was making sexual insinuations to a man that really was a policeman, he was not uniformed. Senator Craig made some signs with his hands and also stood in a ccertain way that let the other man (the policeman) that he wanted to have sex with him. He was arrested and now he is in serious risk of loosing his seat in the Senate of the United States.

My analysis of this article is that it touches so many aspects of human ethics that are very imoportant. To begin with it has a lot of blame to this man, every one has been feeling free to judge him guilty for doing inmoral acts in a public place, in fact he felt so guilty (PATHOS) that at first he confessed these acts and offered to abandon his political position, he was not assesed by a lawyer at that point. Moral values are very much important too, because homosexuality has never been openly accepted in our society and many times considered to be bad, even though the law in the United States does not consider anymore ilegal sex between two persons of the same sex if it is a consensual act between two adults, if we see from this point of view, he did nothing wrong, as the author says , the onle thing he could be condemned of is to be flirting , which is also very common in a gay bar for example. (Logos)
The article is based in a fact that is happening in the present, but could have repercusions in the future of the gay community.
The author also tells the opinion of other members from the gay community and tells us that this man has been used maybe as a political tool to talk against Republicans, and the hypocrisy not only in general population but also in the government, because in the last years many gay scandals have been in the news, also some other kind of sex scandals involving prositutes hired by politicians that defend the family and marriage as the center of our society. "Being in the closet" is still the conduct of many homosexual politicians, because unfortunately society does not accept them and would not let them have a successful political carrer. All these facts are demosnstrative of the hypocrisy taking place in the government of the United States according to the author. (Ethos)
In the next days there will be a hearing of the arguments of the senator thet will give the basis for deliberating and taking a decision, the decision is going to be at all levels, legal, political and to the public opinion that in some way will have to decide about the acts of the Governor, because a person may not agree with someone action but it doesnt mean necesarilly it is a law offense or make s him unsiutable for a public position.(Ethos)

Fallacies Entries

To make a fallacie entry, I first needed to know what a fallacie was, this is what I found:

• A fallacy is, very generally, an error in reasoning. This differs from a factual error, which is simply being wrong about the facts. To be more specific, a fallacy is an "argument" in which the premises given for the conclusion do not provide the needed degree of support. A deductive fallacy is a deductive argument that is invalid (it is such that it could have all true premises and still have a false conclusion). An inductive fallacy is less formal than a deductive fallacy. They are simply "arguments" which appear to be inductive arguments, but the premises do not provided enough support for the conclusion. In such cases, even if the premises were true, the conclusion would not be more likely to be true.

Bibliography: nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

An example of a Fallacie that I found in the New York Times was an article by Paul Krugman here is the page but I am going to give the main points and summarize the article a little bit: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/opinion/21krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin.

The article mainly talks about that politically it is now possible for all American to have assured medical health inssurance. He sais that people have overcome the fear that they had to Clintons failed plan. Kruger sais to consider Hillary Clinton's evolution and her new plan for medical enssurance. Right on that moment I found an example of a fallacie when they ask Clinton how is she going to handle the costs she answers the following:

“It depends on what kind of system you’re devising. And that’s still not at all clear to me, what the body politic will bear.”

I dont think this is politically correct and it is an example of an inductive fallacie., which states that the person arguing doesnt have enough information. Also in several part of the text, Kruger defends Bill and Hillary Clinton´s ideas without even knowing them well or explaining the main concepts.

At the end Kruger finalezes his article woth this sentence:

"It’s good to know that whoever gets the Democratic nomination will run on a very good health care plan"

Tjis is another example of Fallacies mainly it is an inductive fallacie. beacuse along the text he didnt give enpugh support and arguements to justify this. But it could also be a deductive fallacie beacause it conatins some premises right and has a false conclusion.

In conclusion this text contains a lot of Fallacies. I think that Fallacies arent wrong or right but people should be more carfel to not show their political possision or any possission they have when writing an article for an important newspaper. Somrtimes it is very biased and it is evident that Kruger is a democrat who wants to justify both Clinton´s actions. Withput knowing if they will turn out right he is saying that it is the best choice for everyone.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (8)

Myths Read: 1. Orion 2.Aurora and Tithonus 3. Acis and Galatea

Orion: Orion was a hansdome guy and was a hunter. He was in love with Merope, but Merope's father didn't agree with this, and started watching them closely. He noticed that Orion tried to gain possession of the maiden with violence. So one day he cast him and blinded him. After this Orion got a guide to guide him and tell him where he was going. This way he met Diana the huntress. Apollo his brtoher (Dianas brother) didnt like Orion. But Orion and Diana were about to marry. So Diana decided to kill him, but then she regreted him and honored him for the rest of her life.

• This myth is similar to Gilgamesh because like Orion, Gilgamesh thought he could do as he pleased and the truth is that he couldn't. Beacuse they were kings or important persons they thought they can do whatever they want without getting any consecuences. A clear example is when Orion tries to make Merope fall in love with him by violence. Also when Gilgamesh sais something, he thinks it has to be done inmediately.

Aurora and Tithonus: Aurora was the Godess of dawn, and she liked mortals a lot. But especially she liked Tithonus, son of the king of Troy. They met, married, and eventually had children. But when Tithonus started getting old Aurora rejected him and turned him into a cricket, and locked him up in a tower. They had a child called Memnon who became a Trojan warrior. His mother always watched from the sky, but she was always worried about him and that something would happen to him. One day he died ans she remained unconsolable for the lost of her son.

• I think this myth DIFERENCES from Gilgamesh beacuse in most of the myths I have read so far I have seen that most of them deal with love and couple issues. Two people that love each other mostly a woman and a man. But in Gilgamesh it is about two frinds that love each other. In resume each myth has different kinds of love. Though most of them deal with this feeling.

Acis and Galatea: It basically talks about two women called Galatea and Scylla who tell their stories to each other. Scylla had many admirors and they all went after her. And she didnt want anything with anyone. Instead Galatea didnt have anyone and really wanted a person who she could spend her life with. Acis was in love with Galatea, but again she didnt correspond her love to him. I think the qoute "No one is happy woth what they have" totally applies to this situation, because neither Galatea or Syclla are happy with what hey have.

• This relates to Gilgamesh beacuse like Galatea and Sycclus they are not happy with what they have. Gilgamesh is not happy with just killing Huwawa, he wants mora and more. Also Galatea and Syclla are not happy with what they have.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (7)

Myths Read: 1. The Sea-Monster 2. The Wedding Feast 3. Pegasus and the Chimaera

The Sea Monster: Perseus was flying one day and landed on the country of Ethipoans, were Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia was his queen and she was very beautiful. But she dared to claim herself as "more beautiful than the sea-nymphs". Mad and discouraged the nymphs sent a sea-monster. Cepheus was told by the oracle that his daughter Andromeda should be exposed and devoured by the monster. Perseus saw her chained and sad and came to give her support. But then the gigant monster appeared. Perseus defended Andromeda and fought with the monster. Finally he killed him, and in return won fame honor and Andromeda.

• This myth is simalr to Gilgamesh beacuse they both deal with heroes that kill a monster and in return gane great things, In this case Perseus fought the beast and won fame, honor, and the girl. And in Gilgameshs case it was Gilgamesh and Enkidu, they fought Huwawa and became famous and recognized.

The Wedding Feast: Perseus and Andromeda were going to get married, and they were in their wedding banquet feast. But as in every myth or real life story, there had to be a but. Suddenly Phineus entered raged and shouting saying that he was the one who should marry Andromeda. Cowardly Perseus run and hid. The guests started fighting and it was a commmotion. At the end Perseus turns into a mass of stone.

• I can compare this myuth to Gilgamesh beacuse as I was reading this myth I came to realize that in most of the myths I have read, no one ends happy or with the person they loved or wanted to be with. A great example is that Gilgamesh and Enkidu didnt end up together and neither did Perseus or Andromeda. Also in most of the stories there has to be a BUT that ruins it.

Pegasus and Chimaera: Pegasus was a winged horse that was formed when Perseus cut off Medusas head. Chimaera was a fearful monster, breathing fire and his body was composed with that of a lion and a goat. The king Iobates decided that his on-in law was the perfect to destroy him. He wanted him dead beacuse he was jealous of him. His name was Bellerophon, and they told him that for this mission he needed Pegasus. He went and looked for him, and he did. They became good partners and when it was time to fight Chimaera it was a piece of cake and they killed him. Iobates was very mad, so he assigned him several missions for him to get killed but it was impossible he was very strong. Then he gave Bellerophon his daughter in marriage. After they killed Pegasus and he died misserably too.

• This myth is similar to Gilgamesh beacuse like most warriors, Bellephorus had a companion, which was Pegasus, he was there for him in good and bad times and always helped him in everyting. In Gilgamesh the companion was clearly Enkidu, they fought together and did everything together, they where great friends. Also a good comparition is that they both died when their partner died. Maybe Gilgamesh did not die textually, but he died in soul. And so did Bellaphorus who died when Pegasus died.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (6)

Myths Read: 1. Hebe and Ganymede 2. Daedalus 3. Castor and Pollux

Hebe and Ganymede: Cup-bearer to the Gods. she didn't want to marry Hercules, but it was her destiny. one day she met Ganymede and fell in love. But they weren't meant to be together.

• This myth relates to Gilgamesh because it talks about two people who couldn't be together even though they wanted to. they were force to be apart in Gilgamesh's case Enkidu and Gilgamesh were destinies to be apart even though they were soul mates.

Daedalus: Daedalus constructed the minotaur labyrinth for king Minos. but the king didn't want the work to be acknowledged to him. so he locked him up in a tower with his young son Icarus. one days they decided they would escape flying away. They made wings with animal feathers by pasting and waxing them. when they were finally ready to take of flight Daedalus said to Icarus not to fly to close to the sun or t know. but his soon didn't follow his instrucitons and flew very high. the sin melted his wings and he fell and died. he grieved him but kept on with his life. he trained his nephew Perdix but realized he was more intelligent than him. so one day he killed hi. the goddess Minerva then turned him into a bird.

• This myth is similar to Gilgamesh because both Gilgamesh and Daedalus at the end got what they wanted. They got fame and freedom. also they wanted to be recognized and acknowledged fr their work. but at the end they weren't exactly happy. They needed something else, and that was love.

Castor and Pollux: Talks about two brothers who were inseparable they fought together and did almost everything together. "They were united by the warmest affection and inseparable in all their enterprise". I think his quote almost describes all the story. At he end , in a battle one of them gave its life for the other. They received divine honours and even the their names became the names of stars.

• Obviously this myth relates to Gilgamesh because of the relationship pf Gilgamesh and Enkidu.. They were inseparable and even Gilgamesh came to wonder of he had to live or die along with his brother.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (5)

Myths Read: 1.Pygmalion 2. Venus and Adonis 3. Apollo and Hyacintuhus

Pygmalion: Is a lovely story about a man named Pygmalion, he was a sculpture and fell in love with one of his creations. Pygmalion had never wanted to marry or have children he was more interested in creating master pieces and taking car of them. His true passion were his sculptures and that as the only thing he loved. He gave them presents, jewelry, and treated them with careful. But there was one in particular who he felt more affect towards, and this was the Ivory Virgin. he kissed her and loved her, he even called her his wife. On a festival he made a wish, and wished that this beautiful "woman" would become real. When he got to his house it certainly became real! When he got home the magnificent sculpture was alive. they eventually married and had children . they lived very happily for he rest of their lives.

Venus and Adonis: Venus was playing with cupid one day and she got hurt by one of his arrows. the wound was very deep and it was more serious than what she had thought. She beheld Adonis and was captivated with him. Adonis became the most important thing in her life. She rambled through the woods dressed like a huntress. She had dogs and many animals that defended her, she called them her troops. she told Adonis to beware of such dangerous animals in the forest. But one day Adonis did not follow Venus´s rules and a beats attacked him. Venus grieved him until the end . His blood became a flower and was called Anemone.

Apollo and Hyacinthus: Hyacinthus always accompanied Apollo in everything he did. Whether it was sports, hunting or just a simple walk. Hyacinthus was like Apollo's escort or bodyguard. one day they were playing quoits and Apollo the the ball very far away. When Hyacithus tried to catch it it fell on his forehead and killed him Apollo decided to make a flower in his honor he named it Hyacinthus.

All these Myths relate to Gilgamesh because all of them when someone dies they are remembered and honored. For example when Enkidu dies Gilgamesh remembers him in memory and in works of art etc. In these myth they remember people in flowers or in sculptures but they always remain in each others heart.

Rhetoric

These are fragments of speeches and news published at sometime in the New York Times:

1. “We have to go ahead and recognize the strain on the military forces and give them the tasks that they can do so well,” said Mr. Reed, a former Army captain, “but within the capability of their resources and the best interests of the United States.”

• I would classify this quote as Ethos, beacuse the speaker is trying to convince the government of USA to take an action towards military forces and their needs and reputation. This segment of the speech is rhetorical beacasue Mr. Reed is trying to be persuasive about political issues that he thinks should be considered in a near future.

2. “We need a new direction that redeploys our troops from Iraq, rebuilds our military and refocuses on fighting terrorism across the world".

• This quote could be in the section of Ethos beasue she is trying to regain other peoples confodence and trustworthy. This is rhetorical beacuse she is stating her opinion in a very discrete way but at the same time is persuading people to stenghten military forces across the world.

3. "While the focus is to save lives and fight diseases, it is also important to address underlying risks, such as solid and liquid waste, industrial chemicals, sewage treatment and the salinization of drinking water. The damage to ports and industrial infrastructure may be severe, with untold risks to human health. Likewise, revitalizing local communities and their livelihoods will require rehabilitating and protecting vital natural ecosystems, in particular mangrove forests and coral reefs,” Mr. Toepfer said estos for nearly a year during a work project at the building.

• I classify this quote as pathos kind of retoric because it was part of a speech given by the United Nations Environmental programme , after 2004 tsunami. It was clearly moved by dessperation and the difficulty in helpin those thousands of people damaged, dead or sick because of the earthquake and the tsunami that came after it and killed almost 300.000 people.

4. Sept 11 2001, 1:15 p.m. – Bush departs conference room for Air Force One in a camouflaged Humvee. Talks to Cheney againen route to Nebraska air force base and schedules a 4 p.m. meeting of his national security staff. Also talks toNew York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki. "I know your heart is broken and your city is strainedand anything we can do, let me know," Bush says.

• This is part of the speech given by the President of the United States 9/11/2001 it can be classified as pathos because it was driven by emotions of grief, impotence and anger caused by the terrorist attacks that killed almost 3000 thousand people, these word were told to Rudoplh Giuliani , mayor of New York at that time.

5.Today we know that most ulcers are caused by Helicobacter infection. A chronic infection that involves the entire stomach also increases the risk of stomach cancer, the second most common of all forms of cancer. People are infected in their early childhood years and then carry the infection throughout their life. Half of humanity is infected, but luckily most people have no symptoms of the infection. Helicobacter pylori lives only in the human stomach. From the standpoint of both the bacterium and its human host, ulcer disease, cancer and death are to be regarded as a failure in an otherwise long and relatively harmonious relationship.

• This is a fragment of the Medicine Nobel Prize winner in 2005, explaining the audience ofthe importance of studying peptic ulcer disease and one of its complications caused by a germ called Helycobacter Pylori. This fits in a logos type of retoric because uses logic and scientific method to convince the listeners of what he is talking about and its relevance for science and mankind.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (4)

Myths Read: 1. Calisto 2. Diana and Actaeon 3. Latona and the Rustics

Calisto: There was a woman named Callisto who was very beautiful. But she was in love with a man who turned out to be Jupiters husband. So Jupiter decided that there would not be any woman more beautiful than her and turned Callisto into a bear. One day when Callisto was wondering around the woods she saw her sun all grown up. When she was approaching he shot her an arrow. Jupiter places them in at the heaven as The Great and Little Bear. Now a days they are in heaven.

Diana and Actaeon: Actaeon was the King Cadmus he was a strong warrior and everybody followed him. Instead Diana was the sacred huntress queen. One day they met, but Diana was naked and he saw her. Suddenly she said some words kind of like a spell and he turned into a strange crteature. After Actaeons troops came looking for him and they found this animal they soon attacked him beacuse they thought it was dangerous. But off course Acateon couldnt defend himself so they killed him. The story ends when all the troops start looking for him and he doesnt appeaear. Diana is very satissfied.

Latona and the Rustics: Latona was a godess and everybody feared her, but one day she went to drink water in a river and there were some persons which she called "clowns". She asked them permission to drink water, even though she was the God and they said no. She begged and begged and they kept denying her some water. Then she got raged and pulled a spell on them in which they would stay on that pond forever no matter what. With time,they became strange species. I think this was how crocodiles emerged according to the story.

All of these three myths are related to Gilgamesh because of a very interesting reason. This is that in all of them the gods decide what to do with other peoples lives. They decide the destiny of others. Whether it is to die or to turn into hideaous creatures. In Gilgamesh the Gods decided Enkidus faith and they didnt even consult with him. They dont care about if they agree or not they just do it because of a very vague explanation. Most of the time they cast the spells in a moment of rage, when the other person does something they dislike. They dont stop and think. They just do whatever they want beacuse they believe they have absolut power over everyone and the truth is that hey have it...

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (3)

Myths Read: 1. The Sphinx 2. The Centaurus. 3. The Pygmies

The Sphinx: A man named Edipus was left by his parents when little. When he was a grown up the Sphinx who was a creature who told riddles (if you accerted you "passed" if you didnt you would die) asked him the same that poepla could never answer. But actually he did answer it correctly, everyine gave him gratitude and love. he later married the queen (not knowing that she was his own mother). But years later the secret was discivered and they both ended up with thier lives.

The Centaurus: Talks about the centaurus and how important they were at that time. Chiron was one of them, he was instructed by Apollo and Diana. was clearly known for his skills in hunting, medicine, music, and the art of phropecy. One day he got killed and considering he was the wisest and most fair he was placed in the constellation as a star at the constellation Sagitarius.

The Pygmies: Deals with a nation of dwarfs or pygmies that lived near the sources of the nile. Their ferocious enemies are the Cranes and they always fight for land and honor. These theme is important because it is used to create several works of art.

All these three myths are similar to Gilgamesh beacause they deal with monsters and satrnge creatures that either poeple hate or love. A great example of this in the book Gilgamesh is Huwawa it is a being that everybody wanted ot fight, but was very dangerous at the same time. Mthological creatures like Sphinks also are metioned and they a really influential in the writinf now a days. Most of the time the end up killed by a big warrior like Gilgamesh and Enkide di to Huwawa and the Centaurus ended uo dead too. But these creatures willl always be remembered and known.

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh (2)

Myths Read: 1. Apollo and Daphne. 2. Cephalus and Procris 3. Dryope

Apollo and Daphne: Is about a man called Apollo who cupid stroke with an arrow. But the problem was that he falled in love with the most unconvinient person: Daphne. She didnt like guys and didnt desire them. She wasnt interested in getting married or having any kids. Apollo always tried to impress her or make her fall in love with him. One day she was turned into a tree by the Gods and Apollo decided that he would take care of her for the rest of his life.

Cephalus and Procris: I liked this myth a lot beacuse it dealt a lot with misunderstanding, and that happens a lot in life. Cephalus was a man who liked to speak with the wind. One day his lovely wife heard him and thought she was talking to another woman and suicided herself.

Dryope: This myth was very sad beacuse it was about a mother who was feeding her child and accidentally toook a petal out of a flower and it was a nymph! She was cursed and was converted into a tree with her child in her hands.

All these myth realte to Gilgamesh beacuse they end up with life. All of the characters in this myth end up dying beacuase of irrelevant things and the same happens with Enkidu. He dies not beacuse he did anyting wrong, but beacuse the Gods decided his faith would be this way. Most of the times in myths either they start life or end up with it...

Connecting 3 Myths With Gilgamesh

Myths Read: 1. Clytie 2. Hero and Leander 3. Perseus and Medusa

Clytie: Talks about a nymph called Clytie who is in love with Apollo but he has never payed any attention to her. She starts not eating or drinking beacause she is very sad and discouraged about this. She looks at the sun so much that she starts seeing Apollos face in the sun. One day she becomes a sunflower, and off course she has to look in the sun (apollos) direction all day long. At the beginning she was so obsetionated with him and it was like a dream come true.But then destiny got in charge of making Clyite see him forever. This la ter became a sort of curse considering shell be "standing up" with him forever.

Hero and Leander: Treats about how Hero and Leander (a lady and a man) lived each one in one extreme of the ocean. They were in love with each other and always liked to visit each other. But one day in a huge storm Leander dies on his way to visit his loved one Hero. When Hero sees his body floating in the ocean she throws herself from a tower, and dies.

Perseus and Medusa: A king named Polyderes sends Perseus to kill a woman called Medusa. This is because she has done many evil and harm to him and was very powerful. Also the godess Minerva was jealous of the fact that Medusa was prettier than her. So Perseus ends up killing her.

The three stories are related to Gilagmesh beacause they all contain mixed feelings: either love, hate, jealousness, hapiness, sadness etc. In Gliglamesh there are a lot of feelings expressed. Also superior beings exist among these myths. For example gods and godessess. Also beings that peolpa look up to nad respect.