Thesis.

Thesis Paper:

A Step From Heaven

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiE1mltGBy0BfTyjzbkF/SIG=11vh0vj64/EXP=1180494773/**http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/divers54/25.htm

“Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart, Salma Rushdie.” Distinct protagonist images in literature signify the highest places in human beings because it reveals sincere kindness. Furthermore, the highest places in human are also shown in literature when characters encounter their purest form of happiness. On the other hand, the lowest places in human society and spirit are shown through the antagonistic images of characters as they are acknowledged with evil intentions. Equally, the lowest places in human society and spirit are also revealed through the pain and anguish that characters within each literature face. The narrator within all literatures does not hold back with the truth and shows all of the characters secrets to the readers. It does so to inform the readers the true identity of all the characters. Sometimes, the true identity of characters within literature is not fully revealed in all stories but clues are provided to leave the true identity of the characters to the readers’ imaginations. A Step From Heaven, by An Na is a powerful piece of literature that exposes the sheer identities of humans encountering the challenges of life. As a Korean family struggles to assimilate in the U.S., conflicts rise due to cultural differences which, cause turmoil within a household.
Throughout history, many immigrants encountered difficulties assimilating to the American way of life. Some found it difficult because the cultural barrier posed difficulties in many daily activities that made immigrants feel inferior, such as speaking the English language and physically fitting in with the “American look.” A Step From Heaven, by An Na exposed the life of a Korean family who strived to seek a better way of life in the Unites States. The main character in the novel was Young Ju, a naïve little girl from Korea who struggled adapting to the changes in her life. Bound to her family’s strict traditions, she stumbled through her journey in becoming a successful student, friend and a daughter. Her father, whom she called Apa and her mother, Uhmma, were very stringent, but they wanted the best for their daughter. Through conflicts, the plot of the story progressed with extreme consequences. Young Ju was first introduced with her first conflict in school. In her first day of school she found people around her very strange. She felt awkward because she did not know how to speak the English language proficiently. Determined, Young Ju tried very hard in school to gain knowledge so she could pass it on to her parents, so they too could speak English proficiently. However, Young Ju also struggled with physically fitting in with the other students. Young Ju even tried to fit in by saying lies as a way to say something important and look good upon her classmates. In second grade she lied to her classmates and teacher by saying that her brother died. In response, the people in her presence oozed pity and Young Ju felt accepted. Her teacher said “ Oh my. Oh I’m sorry… then hurries over to hug Young Ju (43).” Luckily, Young Ju found a good friend, Amanda whom she was comfortable with and acted genuine to. She felt at ease with Amanda and their cultural differences proved insignificant between them. Sadly, Young Ju’s parents stood as walls in between Young Ju and Amanda’s relationship. When Young Ju was invited to go to Amanda’s birthday party at the beach with boys, Uhmma did not allow Young Ju to go. “Uhmma and Apa did not like it that Young Ju’s best friend was an American girl, a girl who might influence her in the wrong way. Supposedly, American girls do not study, they are boy-crazy and they do not think of anyone else but themselves, (105).” Brought up with the Korean traditions, this kind of behavior was not accepted by her parents. Regardless of the firm beliefs of her family, Young Ju is fortunate to remain best friends with Amanda. Aside from the friendship conflict, the resonating conflict in the story was between Apa and her family, especially with Uhmma. Shortly after the news of Halmoni’s death unfolded, Apa grew weary and unsatisfied with their condition in the United States. In the beginning of the novel Apa said, “In Mi Gook everyone makes lots of money even if they did not go to an important school in the city (13).” Contrary to Apa’s vision he found himself working a strenuous job and found no luck with money. He grew miserable and furious that he could not visit his mother’s funeral because he had no money to fly back to Korea. In response, he took out his anger to his family, especially to Uhmma. One night Young Ju found bruises all over her mother. Shocked and appalled, Young Ju still knew that it was all her father’s own doing. At first Young Ju did not understand why her father acted the way he did and then her mother explained it to her with such an unjustifiable clarification saying, “He is a prideful man…. So he has to hit us (130).” Young Ju took all of the negative aspects that happened in her life as a force of motivation to push her to become a successful student. She studied strenuously and even earned an award in school for having the highest GPA in her class. Characterized as once a naïve little girl, she evolves into a strong and determined individual who helped out her family in such a significant way. In the very end, her mother was separated from her father because of the abuse that they went through together, but yet as a family of three, Young Ju, Uhmma and her younger brother Joon stuck together as a family of dreamers.
This piece of literature successfully showed a Korean family moving to the United States revealing the true identities of the individual family members. Above all, it bared the genuine personality of Young Ju with relations to the ups and downs of her life. The tone of the novel was very sincere because it was in a sense, very open and forthcoming in revealing Young Ju’s story. This novel expressed that the human spirit is very difficult to understand. In this novels case, as a family with high hopes from Korea facing cultural diversity in the United States, it was evident to see that conflict among humans was inevitable because humans do not always meet eye to eye. As a result of opposition, relationships often shatter, like Young Ju’s family’s relationship with their father. One of the underlying implicit themes of the novel was that it was very difficult to survive traumatic conflicts in life, supported the idea that the ability of the human spirit to survive was at times complex. This is so because humans tend to hope for more and they neglect to appreciate what they all ready have. Humans only realize that small things are also important when they are no longer there. Overall, the novel reflected probable lifestyle of a true person because it showed the fights and struggles that some families today face. It is highly probable for immigrant families to face the struggles that Young Ju’s families faced, including the separation between her parents because depending on people’s conditions. People may go through mental and emotional alterations because unhappy and unsatisfied with their living conditions. Like Young Ju’s father, he was just hit with the death of her mother and was not at a very blissful state because he did not have much money and would always fight with his family.
Through the use of characterization, conflict, theme and tone, An Na proved that, as a Korean family struggling to assimilate in the U.S., conflicts rose due to cultural differences which, caused turmoil within a household. An Na went about demonstrating this by revealing the true life of Young Ju. Young Ju was a strong individual who fought against the cultural differences that she faced which furthermore separated her father from her family. Conflicts rose and relationships shattered when hopes and expectations among the family escalated.

Reflection

Reflection

The senior blog assignment was a very convenient and a creative way to do work. It made assignments more fun in a sense that we could just type thing rather than writing long essays on paper. I think this method of getting work done was very beneficial. I learned how to post blogs and become more informed in how to use the computer and the internet. The blog assignments were very fascinating because some were very interesting to do and I could really be expressive in many ways. I was able to upload pictures to go with the writings I posted and I was able to relate my writings to the pictures.

I really liked the blog because it was just a very different approach. I did however have problems with the blog. At times, I was not able to put the pictures where I preferred them to be. Otherwise, this blog idea was very neat. Throughout the year, I posted many things on my blogs. I liked the final product of my mythology project because it looked very nice with the pictures. Though it took a long time to do the mythology project the final outcome was worth the work and time. Overall, the senior blog assignments was fun and very much appreciated.

Unsolved Crime...

WHO KILLED THERESA ALLORE?

http://www.whokilledtheresa.com/
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/06/searching_for_j.html
http://osgoode.yorku.ca/media2.nsf/83303ffe5af03ed585256ae6005379c9/a09106e63d80048285256de30057df07!OpenDocument
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2002/09/20/allore020917.html
http://fightforjustice.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_archive.html

Theresa Allore's body was found near Compton in a creek on April 13, 1979. She was reported missing November 3, 1978. When her body was found she only had a brassiere and underwear on. Her body was faced-down and severely decomposed that it was believed that she died from a "violent death of undetermined nature." She was last seen on November 3, 1978 on the stairs of the student residence of Champlain College. After that she disappeared.
I believe that a serial killer raped and killed Theresa Allore. Due to the fact that she was found with much skin showing, it was also a sex crime. I think that the person who killed Manon Dubé and Louise Camirand killed Theresa Allore because as Theresa's brother found links between his sisters death and the other two girls. Manon Dubé was a ten year old girl who disappeared from a playground in downtown Sherbrooke just 10 months before Theresa's death. Her body too, was found face down in a stream near Ayer's Cliff. Louise Camirand was a girl who was last seen outside her Sherbrooke apartment, was raped, strangled, and found in a snow drift near Magog.

Micro/Flash Fiction

1) Summer Loving by Phil Gardner.
http://www.philgardner.net/mfSummer.html
http://www.selfhealingexpressions.com/summer_love_relationships.shtml

This is a micro fiction and mainly the theme is the love between two people.
It takes place on a warm summer day in the meadows. The main storyline basically displays a man, who reminisces about the good times he and his lover have experienced together, such as taking a dip in the pool last week, the funny hair cut his lover had in the spring and the matching coats they wore in the winter. A literary element used in this micro fiction is symbolization. “The sky blue, the sun shinning” signifies a happy and blissful atmosphere between the two lovers. It also seems as if the the man has somewhat of a low level of happiness and also very appreciative. It seems to be this way because he finds value in little things such as getting funny hair cuts. Because this man can cherish a moment so simple, it also shows that his personality exudes a sense of appreciation to many things around him.

2) Spring Peep Show by Pamela Gay.
http://buweb.binghamton.edu/pgay/micro.fictions/spring.htm
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1071846795030852042vofuCF

This is another micro fiction. The main setting is outside in front of a woman's yard in the spring. The theme behind this micro fiction is clearly described within the title "spring peep show." The theme is basically exposing skin in the spring because it is hot outside. The characters in this story are the boys on the bus and the girl on the front lawn laying down in her bikini. I think this particular story was rather vulgar. It spoke of a woman in bikini with such extreme descriptions, such as "a woman's crotch sealed in black like fresh tar on a driveway." The main storyline is a bus filled with boys inside stop in front of a woman's yard. It so happens that the woman who lived there was outside laying in her front lawn in her bikini. The boys find tremendous satisfaction and entertainment by watching the woman in her bikini. Comparable to reality, many boys do get wound up when they see a beautiful woman in her bikini.

3) Idiot Love by Craig.
http://emptyhead.rumble.sy2.com/xcss/iframemimic3.html
http://blankbaby.typepad.com/photos/snow_2005/ahh_love_cold_love.html

This is another micro fiction. There is really no specific setting in this story. It was a vague reflection about an affair between two people. The man reminisces about his affair with her. He enjoys the time he spent with her. However he does not understand why many woman find anything interesting about him. He sees himself as someone who is not out of the ordinary. Nevertheless he uses this unknown feature that he has to attract woman. Specifically, the woman he spoke about was someone tall, beautiful and strong. Maria was her name. They make a pact not to tell anyone of their love or affair. But in the end they lose touch of each other and he says "Why do I always pick the loveless ones? Because they're beautiful you moron." Personally I think this man portrayed in this story is confused and mentally disturbed because he can only engage in affairs and not find a real love.

3) Night Falls by Ben Marroquin.
http://storymask.wordpress.com/2006/08/24/night-falls/
http://nmadasamy.com/

The setting of this micro fiction takes place at night. It is about a family facing the horrors of the night filtered by their imagination. The mother who supposedly sees a creature outside their house. The full moon is out and the family is terrified of what the mother had seen. Throughout the whole story the true identity of the creature was never revealed and only left the identity of the creature to figures of imaginations. I thought this particular micro fiction was boring and corny. I didn't really like it. This micro fiction basically reveals that in the night our imaginations heighten and we react to these imaginations which such extreme and scandalous behavior.

My poem (a line inspired by Eamon Grennan)

The Voice
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/054.html
http://www.dreamstime.com/microphoneinshadow-image227888

She sings alone in front of the lot of us-(inspired by Eamon Grennan)
Such a power and confidence exudes from her voice.
Wonders of beauty flows through the room,
as her soothing voice flutters in the air.
Love at first sight burst in the air,
as a man in awe is hypnotized by her voice.
The chorus commences and all are enthralled.
Climax is reached in the last verse of the song.
Like a bungee jump into a cliff,
people grasp for breathe.
Thrilling and breath-taking,
the song soon comes to an end.
She satisfies the audience in the end,
with a long powerful note.
Smooth and captivating, the voice resounds.
The song ends, tears of joy burst in the atmosphere.
Gorgeous voice exposed, people astounded.

Citation

Works Cited

D’Aulaires, Edgar Parin. D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Mythology. New York. Delacorte Press. 1962.

Pinsent, John. Greek Mythology. Middlesex England. The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited. 1969.

Patrick, Richard. All Color Book of Greek Mythology. New York. 1972.

Ions, Veronica. Indian Mythology. London. Chancellor Press. 1967.

Millidge, Judith, Editor. Ancient Cultures, Indian Gods and Myths. New Jersey. Chartwell Books. 1998.

Berriedale, Keith. The Great Gods of the Epic. The Mythology of All Races. Louis Herbert Gray. Volume 6. New York. Cooper Square Publisher Inc. 1964.

Millidge, Judith, ed. Japanese Gods and Myths. Edison: Chartwell Books, 1998.

Ions, Veronica. Egyptian Mythology. London: The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1968.

Mercatante, Anthony. "Cernunnos." The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend. Anthony Mercatante. Second. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2004.

Jordan, Michael. "Cerridwen." Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses. Michael Jordan. Second. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2004

“Poseidon.”http://www.webster.k12.mo.us/Schools/Edgar/ward/Fourthgradehomepages/murphyweb/casey_greek_webpage.htm. December 19, 2006.

“Athena.”http://www.crepuscolo.net/immagini/fantasy/forgotten/imagepages/image8.html. December 19, 2006.

“Shiva.” http://rinoa.nu/shiva/godshiva.html. December 19, 2006.

“Durga.” http://rinoa.nu/shiva/godshiva.html. December 19, 2006.

“Thoth.” http://www.tarotnorge.com/articles/history.htm. December 22, 2006.

“Shen Yi.” http://www.3kingdoms.net/rtkportraithtm/rtk7portraitshtm/rtk7ports1.htm. December 22, 2006.

“The Moon Goddess.” http://storiesfromchina.myblogsite.com/blog. December 22, 2006.

“Cernunnos.” http://www.magickdream.com/wolfrose/cern.html. December 22, 2006.

“Cerridwen.” http://www.ilcerchiodellaluna.it/central_Dee_Cerridwen.htm. December 22, 2006.

“Mensabek.” http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/gods.html. December 22, 2006.

“Tlazolteotl.” http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/gods.html. December 22, 2006.

“Philippine Treasures.” http://www.reflectionsofasia.com/philippine_treasures.htm. December 28, 2006.

Jonathan Enrelower. http://quizilla.com/users/NeoPrincessSerinity. December 28, 2006.

God in the Water. http://www.wessleyfreeheart.com/painting.html. December 28, 2006.

Lava. http://bigadventures123.com/PREFACE.htm. December 28, 2006.

WALFREY'S "GODS"

APOY

Apoy is a very powerful god. He is known as the Lava God, the Father of fire and the Volcano God. His strength comes from fire and lava. He can manipulate fire and lava and use it as his weapon. It is believed that one night he was sleepwalking. He climbed a volcano and when he got to the top of the volcano, he fell into a pit filled with lava. Apoy did feel anything. In fact he swam in the lava. He became very comfortable with the lava that he decided to live there. As he lived in the lava he noticed that he was able to control all the volcanoes in the world. So it is believed that when a volcano erupts, it is because Apoy is mad, and when a volcano is dormant, it is because Apoy is hibernating.

TUBIG
Tubig is the fierce god of water. He has the power to manipulate water and any liquid substance in the earth. It was told that Tubig got his power when he was a little boy. As a young boy he was always getting bullied. One day a group of people was bullying him and they decided to drown him in the sea. Tubig’s spirit remained in the water but his body floated away to an isolated island. Nobody ever found his body. People say that when a there is a tsunami the water forms a face that looks like Tubig. Tubig controlled the sea. He sent tsunamis whenever he felt like it. Rain is also because of Tubig. When he cries, the ocean gets too much water that the clouds are forced to pick some up and distribute it to the land. Tubig is usually shown as an old man in pictures.

HANGEN

Hangen is the Wind Goddess. She is responsible for the tornadoes and monsoons. Hangen is the daughter of the most powerful god in the universe, Eartho. It was said the Hangen ran away from Eartho because they got into a very big argument. It is said that whenever tornadoes and monsoons came, it was a reminder to Eartho that she was still mad at him. Eartho and Hangen have not reconciled yet. That is why we still have tornadoes and monsoons. People say that if the two would reconcile there would be no more tornadoes and monsoons. Also, it would bring a moderate climate to the rest of the world.

GLORINA

Glorina is the most powerful and most widely respected goddess in the universe. She is very beautiful and her presence brings everybody in the room in awe. She is also cupid’s mother. Glorina is responsible with the “falling in love” between two lovers. Unlike cupid who shoots arrows, Glorina sings love songs to the lovers’ ears. When the lovers hear the music coming from Glorina, the lovers meet eye to eye and kiss. Glorina has the power to sway people’s emotions. Most agree that this is the most compelling power to have. Glorina is one with many voices. Through her songs she can make people feel sad or happy or worried or carefree. What the most spectacular ability that Glorina possesses is her perfect timing in swaying people’s emotions. People say that lovers who were brought together by Glorina will never get heartbroken. Their love will last through eternity.

Filipino

PHILIPPINE MUSIC:

A very popular type of music in the Philippines at the end of the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth, is Kundiman. Kundiman is a genre of traditional Filipino love songs. The melody is characterized by smooth, flowing and gentle rhythm with dramatic intervals. Kundiman as considered as an art form. Filipino composers such as Francisco Santiago and Nicanor Abelardo formalized the Kundiman and sought poetry for their lyrics, blending verse and music in equal parts. The singers of the kundiman expresses the pain and beauty of love felt by every listener. The kundiman iss not merely entertainment but an embodiment of collective emotion. The kundiman naturally served to express patriotism in times of colonial oppression, in which the love for a woman actually symbolized the love of country and desire for freedom.

Harana- Popular way to serenade girls in the Philippines. Usually the boy goes to the girl’s house at night and sings love songs. Songs are often sung with somebody playing a guitar.

Musical Timeline in the Philippines:

1970
A revival of Spanish zarzuela began.
The Manila sound of Pinoy rock begins.
1978
Freddie Aguilar’s “Anak” is the most popular Filipino song in history, and helps popularize pinoy rock.
1986
Pinoy rock becomes socially aware in its lyrical tone, and helps set the stage for a revolution in this year; at the same time, some reject this new development, resulting in a punk rock scene in Manila.
1992
The release of Frncis Magalona’s Rap is Francis M. moves Pinoy rap towrds a more distinctive national sound.
Recent
Artists that are very popular now in the Phillipines are Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar (rock), Regine Velasquez, MYMP and Martin Nievera (pop), Southborder and Freestyle (R&B) and Gloc 9 (hip hop).