Since the last blog post, many events have occurred like Heather being able to hypnotize Orr. She becomes successful at hypnotizing him with the intention to let him rest but also allowing him to dream something that won't harm reality. However, that does not happen because she is not specific with her dream, she told him to dream of a world where aliens are not on the moon but she left it at that. In his dream, the aliens have now landed on Earth and problems are following. Orr later decides that he needs to go to Haber to change reality once again because the aliens are invading earth which are causing problems. It later turns outs that the aliens were actually peaceful and were just having a hard time communicating with humans. Orr dreams once again and aliens are seen as ordinary but now everyone has the same gray skin color. Heather does not exist anymore and Haber has started to record his brain waves. A few dreams later of altering reality where Heather is Orr’s wife and Haber learns to make anyone have effective dreams. This would obviously call for chaos leading the world starts to melt. Orr decides to turn off Haber’s machine leading the world in pieces it eventually everything becomes normal. Orr later works for an alien’s store and Heather walks in.
In one of Orr's dreams, he dreamt that everyone was equal and there was no race instead everyone had a gray skin color. I found it interesting how in Orr’s new reality everyone has the same skin color. This, however, solves one problem but then creates another. In our world racism is still very much alive but I believe that this book is able to display what would happen if we were all the same skin color. I think that it was really fun reading this book because it was interesting reading about the different dreams. I would never know what the dream could be about since it all depended on Haber and Orr, so there was no way of know. Additionally, I believed that it interesting to see that Haber and Heather were not specific with their dreams, they think about the outcomes and tried to avoid them from happening. I would definitely recommend this to a friend it was such a good read. I will comment on Angeli's and Matthew's blog.
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Connections between the book you are reading, and the real world.
Now that Orr wants to get out of the oppression of dreams from Haber he decided to get the lawyer to sit during one of the therapies. Once it was over she was able to see how it can take a toll on Orr but Haber would not share certain specifics of the treatment due to the feeling that the lawyer may share his outcomes. Orr went to therapy on a Friday which was not out of the ordinary, however, he was already exhausted from the therapies and from being used by Haber. After therapy, he had a lunch date with the lawyer to talk logistics instead he wanted to escape. He decided to go to a cabin far away from where he would not be near Haber. Once the lawyer knew that he basically stood her up, she left and decided to go where he lived to see if he was fine. After searching she was able to arrive at the cabin where he was hiding since Friday and it was already Sunday when she found him. He looked exhausted and as the book describes him, high and drunk. This was due to not sleeping he did not want to sleep given that he was afraid he would have an effective dream. Aliens are now real since Haber had told him to dream of world peace in which wars were over but the world needed someone to fight against and that had to be aliens. The lawyer, Heather, will now help him by hypnotizing him to an effective dream. This book reminds me of the book “The Giver” where the citizens have stripped away from any pain and in their society strive for sameness. They don't have any memories, colors, or climate. Although this book has climate and memories of their current world the book has a sense of dullness and does not seem like a place where people would want to live. The dullness reminds me of the book where life seems uneventful excluding the wars which seem like they are the only events. The war is a similarity I see in the book that is an event currently present in our world. With our current president having a travel ban with middle eastern countries seems to display the U.S relation with Middle Eastern countries. I will comment on Sheyla's and Angeli's blogs. The book that I'm reading is The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is a science fiction novel set in Portland, Oregon in the year 2002. The book was published in 197O it was a book set in the future where Portland has three million inhabitants, is deprived, there is a am immense war in the Middle east between Egypt allied with Israel against Iran. The main character is George Orr, a draftsman who has been taking to many medications and abusing the use of them to control his ¨effective” dreams which have been able to alter reality. After having one of his "effective" dreams the new reality is the only reality that everyone else was ever in, however, only George can remember the previous reality. After being caught using too many pharmacy cards, they regulate the number of drugs a person can consume, George kept using different cards that allowed him to get as much as he could. Being threaten to be placed in an asylum he is given the option to voluntarily accept psychiatric care to help administer his drug abuse. He begins to attend therapy sessions with a psychiatrist and sleep researcher named William Haber. He believes Orr and decides to help him which hypnotizes him and controls what he dreams. Eventually, he begins to like the idea to control reality and Orr does not like it. Which leads him to a lawyers office seeking for a lawyer to sue William Haber.
I have read a dystopian novel before and I think that it is really interesting how this book connects to the world we live in. There is a lot of similarities between this book and the world we live in now. I have found connections from their world to ours, climate change is a serious problem that we are currently facing causing temperatures to rise. Additionally, in the book, it mentioned about overpopulation which is a problem that we are currently facing today. Overall, this book is really interesting and I enjoy reading it. I will comment on Sheyla's and Angeli's blog. CNN
4/10/18 “ The states where disease and death are highest: A visual guide ” Jacqueline Howard This article is about the comparison United State’s disease and health in each state. Giving data about life expectancy at birth, the probability of death rate, along with disease in each state. It also gives an insight into the causes or reasons of individual states ranking. Life expectancy in each state of the U.S has never crossed my mind, however, it is something worth knowing. This article was giving information about a study which was published on Tuesday of this week by JAMA about the impact differences state-by-state in youth, adults, and in the older population. The study divided the data into three different age groups: 0 to 20, 20 to 55 and 55 to 90. Gathering information and data since 1990 to 2016 from the Golden Burden of Disease study often used as a research tool. Hawaii has been at the top of the list for life expectancy at birth since 1990 to 2016. Compared to Mississippi who is at the lowest of all states for the same amount of time. Year expectancy in 1990, Hawaii had an average of 78.5 years and Mississippi with 73.1 years; compared to 2016, Hawaii at 81.3 years and Mississippi with 74.7 years. Impressive enough, California, in 2016, was behind Hawaii as second-highest with an expectancy of 80.9 years. An observation that I was able to make from the different states listed is that states who are close to the ocean and have agreeable weather seem to have a higher life expectancy. The probability of dying young, by the state which did not include data from the District of Columbia, was observed in the study. Over time, from 1990 to 2016 probability of death from the age range of 0 to 20, a high decline has been seen in South Carolina, Georgia, Alaska, and New York. The declines were associated due to the improvements in neonatal disorders, noncommunicable diseases, congenital, along with a slight increase of mental and substance use disorder. In older adults from the age of 55 to 90, there is a concern which has been causing death rates to rise. That concern is the Cardiovascular diseases. States such as California and Hawaii were seen with low probabilities of death. California displaying a high point decline between 1990 to 2016. This event is a form of general information that is accessible to everyone. Living in a time of age where technology is constantly evolving allowing more people to have access to information. Medicine along with technology is advancing at a fast pace allowing new discoveries in diseases and medical breakthroughs. This article was able to reveal data that can help the reader understand the causes of death and disease state-by-state. My opinion on this matter is that more funding should be given to prevention programs that have been proven to work. I also believe that more people should want to look after their health whether that may be more physical activities or a healthy diet because, in the end, it can lead to a longer life. The healthcare system needs to improve because it is a factor affects the health of the population. https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/10/health/states-life-expectancy-study/index.html I will comment on Sheyla’s and Angeli’s blog posts. The New York Times March 4, 2018 "School Officer: A Job With Many Roles and One Big Responsibility" By Stephanie Saul, Timothy Williams and Anemona Hartocollis The article I chose, talks about the job and responsibilities that a school officer holds. Due to the recent unfortunate school shooting in Florida, authorities have been trying to figure out what could have been done differently. The school officer that was present during the shooting has been portrayed as a coward for not facing the shooter. This article also includes a story of a school security and students thoughts if a similar situation were to arise, if they would feel safe. There is a lot of controversy on Deputy Peterson actions, who was the school officer on duty when the shooting took place. Many have called him a coward for going inside instead of attempting to stop the shooter. Students have felt unsafe in a school environment when it should be a place where safety shouldn’t be a concern. However, others have restrained their judgment towards Deputy Peterson and placed it on the training that school officers receive. The article mentions that these school officers don’t necessarily want to be school officer but want to be “out on the streets catching the bad guys”. For these officers, their ideal job is not being a school officer but an officer that is fighting crimes. That can be a problem because if an officer doesn’t have an interest in their job and protecting others, then that officer won’t be able to be best for protecting that school. Since there is no specific/mandatory training requirement for an officer job, the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) strongly encourages a 40-hour course, that includes emergency plans for schools, de-escalation techniques, academic work, including studying the adolescent brain, along with shooting training. NASRO’s goal is to provide the highest quality of training and promote safer schools. This event took place at Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018, where 17 killed. There is not exactly a way that one can understand why an individual would want to take the lives of their peers. However, authorities have tried to investigate reasons that may have motivated or encouraged the shooter to commit such a violent act. It is so sad when events like these happen which result in the loss of innocent lives. How is it that the places where students should feel a sense of security are the places that have been found to be vulnerable to violence? There has to be something that as a country we are doing wrong allowing violent acts to prevail such environments. I think as a country we need to come together and promote love for humanity and life. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/us/school-resource-officers-shooting.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus I will be commenting on Sheyla's and Angeli's blog. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Write a mini sequel (or prequel, or spinoff) I have finished the book. Various of events have occurred since my last blog post; people have been revealed and have tried to escape. Hester meets Dimmesdale and tries to convince him to leave to Europe where they would be free yet he believes she is only talking about him when she is envisioning all three. In the end, she convinces him. However, Dimmesdale returns back to the town where he slightly glances and Hester and Pearl. While he does that he remembers that a ship is about to sail to the Old World however it will leave in four days. In the meantime, he wants to leave the New World on a high note. He delivers his election sermon, yet he encountered a moment of weakness where he restrains himself from pursuing the same situation he did with Hester. Only this time as the book narrates it, a young virgin who was a new member of the church, he restrained himself by not meeting or introducing himself to the new member. E begins to questions if he has sold his heart to the devil since he has perverted thought leading him to re-write his sermon. The commander of the ship approaches Hester to let her know that another passenger will be boarding the same ship and of course it was Chillingworth. The day comes and Dimmesdale is walking through the town everyone is gathered around him yet as he walks towards the church he ignores Hester and Pearl. Both whom then get offended, the witched notice and stood next to her, now everyone was looking because an adulteress and a witch were together. American Indians are now staring at Hester chest where the scarlet letter lies. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale is in the pulpit and as the narrator says it marked them both for their sins. He gives his sermon yet his face doesn't look well but rather a “man near death” another minister tries to help him out. Instead, he pushes him and points to Hester which he later invites up along with Pearl. There together he pronounces the sin they committed. He dies after this confession. In the conclusion, a year later Chillingworth dies and leaves his property in England and The New World to Pearl. Hester and Pearl leave and then return when Pearl is already married and. Hester continues to wear the scarlet letter as a sign of respect and is later buried near Dimmesdale. If I had to write a sequel I would probably want to have a happier ending for not only Hester but Pearl as well. I think it was quite sad to read that they did not get to live as a family. They were separated for so long along with being unable to interact. Most likely, the sequel would be about how Pearl continues to live with the knowledge of her parent’s sin. There would most likely be another scenario like Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, however, Pearl would be able to guide them to the best possible solution. I will be commenting of Angeli's and Sheyla's blog. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Put yourself in the book Since last weeks post a lot of events have occurred, speculations were rising and characters were plotting vengeance. Hester Prynne decided to settle on the outskirts of the community where she had been able to sustain herself and child through being a seamstress. She was also able to become an embroider, where she was able to embroider gloves for the governor. It allowed her to find answers to rumors she had heard about taking away her daughter Pearl, due to her sin. Their reasoning that Pearl was a demon and not a human. When she arrived at the Governor's residence she began trying to fight for her daughter. Along with the Governor were Roger Chillingworth, Reverend Dimmesdale, and minister John Wilson who were stating that Pearl should be taken away from Hester. In the end, she was able to convince them that her daughter is her happiness and torture. Reverend Dimmesdale was able to advocate for Pearl further convincing the rest of the parties. It is thought that Dimmesdale was able to become sympathetic towards the child when she ran to him and placed her hand on his cheek. Roger Chillingworth becomes the personal physician to Dimmesdale as he describes thin and unwell who devotes a lot of his time to his ministry. In the introduction to the book, we are told that Reverend Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl and lover of Hester Prynne. Chillingworth has been hinting that he knows Dimmesdale has a dark secret that he won't speak about. As his personal physician, he believes all men should reveal their secret allowing them to be free and those who don't are scared that God will not allow them in heaven. Dimmesdale at night in a secret room tortures himself as a way of punishment for the sin he committed. However, that does not help him at all with his guilt, he has however tried to tell his congregation his secret. Yet whenever he begins to speak he retrains his tongue and decides to not speak yet it is slowly eating him alive. If I were to be in the book I would probably be friends with Pearl. She is a young girl and has been able to develop an attitude as a defense mechanism yet she seems to be in need of friendly affection that does not come from her mother. Although it would be looked down by everyone in the community it must feel horrible to be looked down upon when she had no choice to be born out of sin. I would feel that I would not get along with Roger Chillingworth due to him being an older man who instead of being the bigger person he has decided to seek vengeance. I would also try to sympathize with Hester, however, morally I would know that what she did was wrong. If I were to be in the book I would not want to be a character instead I would prefer to watch how the events unfold. I will be commenting on Angeli's and Sheyla's blog. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Character Relationships So far, Hester was taken to prison along with her daughter Pearl where she would stay for a long period of time. The book does not state the length of her stay yet it does move forward to when she is released. Her daughter has grown up (around 6 years old) and the narrator devotes a chapter to her daughter Pearl whom is the total opposite of what Hester had in mind: she believed that she was going to be a corrupt child due to the sin she was birthed from. Pearls father made an appearance early on who passed as a doctor. It was a tense scenario where both parties were able to share their thoughts on this situation; it was stated that Roger Chillingworth sole reason to arrive in New England was to unfold Hester's lover. The book bases around three people those include; Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale which greatly impact the plot of the book. As far as I have read I have not been able to isolate the relationship between Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, knowing that they are very important due to the information is given in the introduction, I know that it will be stated further into the book. Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth are people who should not be left alone in a room due to how lousy it can get. A chapter was devoted to their encounter when Hester's husband passed as a doctor with the name of Roger Chillingworth who provided medication. Seen as dangerous that her husband whom she has not seen in quite some time is now handing her a concoction. There they both express their feelings of anger and grudge against each other. Hester believed she was trapped from her youth and forced to marry a man who she never loved and most likely never will. Roger will keep Hester alive so that she can live with the pain of the scarlet letter on her breast. In the end, they both agree each others identity a secret and Roger begins his journey to find and expose Hester's lover whom she committed the sinful act. Hester is strong emotionally to deal with all of the problems around her. In the beginning is it shown that she was tortured by words to reveal her daughter's father, however, she refused to confess. Everyone would get bothered and pestered by the fact that she would not release the father's name. She was in isolation with only her daughter for a period of time and once released she began to worry about her daughter's reputation. The advice I would give her to improve her relationships is to allow Pearl's father to meet Pearl and allow her to know who her father is. I know who he as he was mentioned in the introduction, however, I believe that he is not portrayed as meeting Pearl with frequency which is something that would help the child. I will be commenting on Angeli's and Sheyla's blog. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Predicting In the book so far Hester Prynne has been in the pillory and been judged by the public. The book starts with Hester coming out to the public with her 3-month-old daughter clenched to her chest along with the letter A, beautifully sewn to the dress that drew everyone's eyes to her. The people gathered around begin to gossip as they wait for Hester to be punished during a time period of three hours. The punishment she deserves is death but after a great act of mercy, she is only sentenced to wear the mark A on her bosom for the remainder of her natural life. The act of her transgression is introduced in the third chapter when a white man made eye contact with Hester and began to question the reason of her being publicly humiliated. He decides to ask one of the nearest townsman and everyone is surprised that he is not aware. They begin to say that if they don't know why she is being sentenced it is because they are not from that town. The townsman begins to explain that she was she was born in England and moved to Amsterdam where she lived and married. Her husband sent her to Boston in advance while he took care of remaining affairs, in her young stay she had an affair and committed adultery. Yet the question remaining is the father of the child named Pearl. I believe that further in the book I'll be able to see if her husband will make an appearance. The book is majorly based around three characters and I would like to see how these three characters will affect the story. I would also like to see who the father of the child is and if the father is involved in the with Hester. I predict that the father will make an appearance yet no one will know that it is him only Hester. I also predict that her punishment will be extended into something much serious. So far, I have been enjoying reading this book because of the writer's style that includes a lot of detail which allows me to visualize. This book will also help me improve my literary skills, it is from the year 1850 meaning that the vocabulary is more extensive. I look forward to continue reading this book! I will be commenting on Angeli's and Sheyla's blog. Current Event #1 Aguilar Ramos
THE NEW YORK TIMES January 25, 2018 "Tiny, Wealthy Qatar Goes Its Own Way, and Pays for It" Declan Walsh Qatar, a small wealthy country in the middle east, is now facing crucial financial status. Known to be very wealthy has now faced problems that can’t be solved with money. Being targeted by neighboring countries has not made it any easier, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab of Emirates began an air and sea boycott that has caused tensions to rise. Wealthy Qatar is now facing diplomatic and food crisis. Seen as bullies and rivals to Qatar are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab of Emirates that have always belittled Qatar. Despite the current situation, Qatar has continued to build more futuristic skylines in its capital Doha. The boycott started when both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab of Emirates retreated their ambassadors from Doha which caused a diplomatic crisis in 2014. It took nine months to come to what was seen as peace between these nations. Yet, with no indication, abruptly the tensions spiked once again last year. In September, nations representatives exchanged stinging appellations such as “rabid dog” and remarks, “When I speak, you shut up! between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The boycott has caused the borders between these nations to close. Citizens from Saudi Arabia and the Emirates used to go to Qatar for weekend getaways and now those roads are empty. The boycott has dictated so much that animals weren’t pardoned, 12,000 Qatari camels were evicted for causing a stampede at the border. Qatari citizens aren’t allowed to travel to certain places in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, and Bahrain. Due to the boycott, land and sea trade has been unachievable, leaving fresh food to arrive by planes and causing prices to rise. Travel bans have not only hurt the economy but also families who have been torn apart. This is only a fragment of the issues and crisis that Qatar is facing along with terrorism allegations, fake news, and terrorism supposition This event took place in an Arab country in the middle east. Qatar is located on the Persian Gulf shoreline. This happened in 2017 when countries unexpectedly cut off ties with diplomatic relations due to what they believe is supporting terrorism. Those countries included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab of Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt. Qatar wasn’t always wealthy in fact for most of the 20th century it was rather barren and impoverished. Where due to poverty people often went diving for pearls and herded camels as a source of income. In 1940, they discovered the onshore Dunkhan Oil and the joined the Middle East’s oil club. In the 1990’s, technology allowed Qatar to receive tanker ships that exported and liquefied gas. Subsequent to the oil discovery, Qatar has been ranked the number one on the list of the richest nations. It is outstanding at how fast Qatar was able to be rich extremely fast compared to other nations. The average income of $125,000 gives an idea of how wealthy this nation is. They happen to own french castles, Greek Islands, branches of; Georgetown, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon and Texas A&M. Their wealth does not end there but they also own more of London than the Queen and they built an $8 million research hospital. The leaders display their wealth to flaunt their independence to large neighboring countries which causes them to dislike Qatar. It is unsure whether Qatar supports terrorism due to insinuating terrorism but also fighting and supporting women's right that contradicts itself. It is one of the reasons that countries have cut ties with Qatar. I believe that these nations have to come together and talk about their perspective on this crisis. Each nation should be able to share what the country is facing and how this crisis is impacting them. The meetings have had outcomes where nothing is resolved and stays the same. If Qatar, to other nations, seems to be displaying support towards terrorism then they should clearly state it. It causes a misunderstanding between nations when it could easily be stated. If this crisis continues Qatar will additionally be facing an economic crisis. I will comment on Angeli's and Sheyla's blog posts. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/world/middleeast/qatar-saudi-emir-boycott.html |
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