Do The Right Thing Response

The similarities between "How Bigger was Born" and "Do The Right Thing," was that the way Bigger was the fact that bigger was created by the angry people who surrounded Wright before he wrote "Native Son." When referring to how Bigger was created, Wright stated, "He is product of a dislocated society; he is a deposessed and disinherited man; he is all of this, and he lives amid the greatest possible plenty on earth and he is looking and feeling for a way out." (447) The film, "Do The Right Thing" connects to this quote because Sal and his sons were products of a society where most people were angry with the way things were going. Sal and his sons were also angry due to the way things were going in their lives because they did not like to be around people who were not like them. The anger in their lives were shown when Vito attacked Smiley and when Sali was so frustrated that he broke Radio Raheem's radio with a bat. Sal and his sons had anger because they were not content with the society they lived in and all of the resentful anger they had came out when Sali broke Radio Raheem's radio. These examples are different because even though Sal, his sons and Bigger had anger, they had anger for the opposite reasons. Bigger always had anger because of white people always putting himself down. Sal and his sons had anger because African Americans always bothered them in their restaurant.

My personal response for this movie was that I enjoyed the movie because of the way Spike Lee showed the different sides of races and their beliefs on a common problem in one area. Even though I have the most sympathy for Sal and his sons because the problem was not initially their fault, the problem would of never happened if Sal never lost his temper.I also believe that Radio Raheem did not deserve to die, but it was ultimately his fault in why he did because it was unecessary for him to come into Sal's restaurant blasting his boombox. In the end, no character did the right thing because if no one lost their anger, none of the problems amongst them would occur. I believe Da Mayor's actions when saving the children were the most humane because he sacraficed his life for a child on the street. I lost the most respect for Buggin' Out because if he never had a problem with the picture on the wall, Radio Raheem wouldn't of been killed. The selfish act of making someone put pictures on their wall to satisfy himself ruined many lives that were surrounded by Sal's restaurant. In the end, everything was lost. Lives were ruined, phyiscally and mentally but in the end Mookie and Sal learned that the only way to resolve something is not by doing it with violence.

Documents 7 and Document 8 on Power

Document 7 was a documented interview by McCoy, called Schools for the Community. The purpose of the interview was talking about the changes of the school from being controlled by the district, to then being in control by the community. The interview also stated that McCoy believed it was better for there to be more black educators teaching both white and colored students. Along with McCoy, other black leaders believed the problem in schools was not the problem of colored students learning to read and white, but the problem was the lack of education that was happening in the world around the students. Studies proved that black teachers are more prone to teaching students about what is happening in the world, other than white teachers who were more prone to sticking to only the reading and writing cirriculum. Question Three asked, "What, according to McCoy, were the most important things that schools needed to teach? Why did McCoy turn to Malcolm X and black nationalists for inspiration?" In response to the question, McCoy stated the most important thing schools needed to teach were current events because students needed to learn what was happening around them in order to learn about society. McCoy turned to Malcome X and other black nationalists for inspiration because they all believed by learning current events, it would make students understand that their lives have purpose to and they can change the world, just like black leaders have before in the past and in the present.
Document 8 was a document by the Racial and Prejudice committee, called The End of an Experiment. The document made an overview of the problems that were happening in the schools of New York. The problems consisted of whites and blacks being racist and also the problems of anti-semitism in the schools. The end of the experiment were of how blacks and whites treated each other in different schools as they were sent to the different schools. The key idea of this experiment were of how Jews and blacks would be together in one school and of how if it would work. Ultimately, this did not work out for either parties do to the racsim and anti-semitism. In response to question three, " The report of the mayor’s committee notes: “It is ironic that this conflict should develop so speedily and massively between Jews and

blacks—two groups who for many years have so successfully cooperated with each other inattempting to promote a higher level of human dignity, racial and religious understanding, and  equality of opportunity for men of all colors and creeds.”How do you explain the rapid escalation of this confrontation between two groups that had been

longtime allies? What do you think could have been done to mediate this confrontation? One could explain the rapid escalation between both groups because even though both groups have fought the same fight for a long time, they were both different groups. Although both groups in similar for what they wanted, they were still not the same group of people that went through the same past. When mixing any two groups that have different backgrounds and different beliefs, there will be fights in any area. Ways that this confrontation could be mediated is that these two groups should be educated by teachers on why they have been allies for a long time and that the groups are much more similar in beliefs then from what they originally thought.

Memory, Rememory, and the Power of the Past

The novel talks about the issues of memory, rememory and the power of the past at this point of the book by the spiritualism of Beloved. Throughout the story of Sethe running away from Sweet Home, Sethe has many weird psychological moments where she beleives there is a human touching her, when in reality, there is nothing there. "Tumbling forward from her seat on the rock, she clawed at the hands that were not there." (113) The "hands" that were supposedly clawing at Sethe's feet were the hands of the dead child that Beloved turned into. The power of the past and rememory have an important impact on Sethe because after her conversation with Paul D, she was able to release the horrible events that have happened in the past by talking about them with Paul D. "Trust and rememory, yes, the way she believed it could be when he cradled her before the cooking stove...Her story was bearable because it was his as well-- to tell, to refine and tell again." (117) Sethe had stated that the power of the cruel stories that happened to her in the passed were now able to release and she was able to talk about them because she had someone with her who shared the same stories as she did. The challenges that arise when when the past is either raised or avoided is that Sethe has a hard time talking about it. It is embraced when Sethe has someone to talk to (Paul D) because she is becoming abled to trust him since they went through the same cruel events together. It is hidden when Sethe has a hard time trying to admit that she killed Beloved. Throughout the entire book, Sethe does not speak of what happened to Beloved, only that there was a spiritual connection between them.

Emerson Response

How does (and should) a person define his/her place in society? (what does Emerson mean by "society" anyhow?)

A person should define his/her place in society by being an individual. By being an individual, he/she would not be conforming to groups. Emerson states when a person conforms to a group, he/she loses their own personality and has changed their "uniqueness" to the personalities and beliefs of the groups that person has joined. " The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you is, that it scatters your force. It loses time and blurs the impression of your character." (23) In this quote, Emerson writes on conformity and how when people conform to society, or to a particular group of people, the real personality and morals of the person is distorted into the beliefs of the groups. The characteristics of the person changes after conforming to a specific group because it changes that person's beliefs on what they should and should not believe in. When Emerson talks of society, he is describing a group of people that have certain beliefs and have sets of norms that everyone in that group has to follow. When someone does not follow a certain norm, they can be outcasted by that group of people, also known as society. Emerson also writes about the people who are outcasted can end up successful due to their new and enlightened ideas. "Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood." (25) Emerson speaks of that is acceptable to be a non-conformist because even though these great people were outcasted almost their entire lives, they have made extreme impacts on life today.

-Z

9/11 9 Years Later Response/Burning Quaran

The are many Constitutional issues of the church in Florida burning the Quran. The Constitutional issues that circle around the people of the church in Florida are freedom of speech and expression. The Constitutional issues of freedom of speech and expression allows the church to burn the Quaran, even though it is ignorant if they do so.

My personal response to this issue is that I believe it is mortifying that Americans would actually steryotype an entire nationality of people based on a few people with different views on life. It is ignorant for Americans to stoop down, be immature, and to blame an entire national for something that they did not do. Even though a group of people who were Arab flew plans into the World Trade Center, all Arabs should not be repremanded and looked down upon by the people who belong to the church in Florida.

I remember the entire day and night of 9/11 vividly. My dad was on a flight to New York that morning and as I was in the car going to school, I had found out from the radio that there were planes that flew into the World Trade Center. Before I got into school, I knew my dad was not in the plane because he called me to ensure that he was safe. As I was in school, we wathced the news and I did not think anything of it because I thought it have could of been an accident. As my mom picked me back up from school, I watched my TV for the rest of the day and night to try to understand what has happened in America. I later then watched George Bush's speech on how he wants war and revenge on Al-Queda.

Response

To all my dearest fans,

The main purpose of this passage was to learn about the background of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. By learning about the different backgrounds of these historical figures, I learned how much these men gave up for their country. "Their courage and determination, their commitment to what they called the Cause of America, were almost beyond our imagining. To sign your name to the Declaration of Independence was to declare yourself as a traitor to the British Crown." (p.59). I agree with this sentence because these men gave up their own lives to sacrafice for freedom and independence of this country. If there is one thing this article taught me, it was that no matter what you do, we are all still Americans. I can connect this to my life because I can connect this to the men and women serving in the army because they are also willing to sacrafice their own lives for the soul purpose of keeping this country free.



-Z

The American Crisis Response

The main purpose of this passage was about how people suffer in times of struggle. In hard times, people need to try to overcome and persevere in order to become successful in the end. In this passage, Thomas Paine wrote of how even though America was dependent on Great Britain at the time, Paine stated that America needed to become independent because Great Britain was making negative influences on America. "Not all the treasure of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "Bind me in all cases whatsoever," to his absolute will, am I to suffer it?" (p.53). I agree with this quote because I am also against offensive wars when they are not neccessary, but in times where I have been physically and/or mentally attacked, war is necessary against the enemy. I can make this connection to my life because I would not randomly attack someone mentally and/or physically because of my hatred to that person. Although I would never go up to someone and attack them, I would defend myself in times where it is absolutely necessary because I believe in sticking up for myself. I can connect this to America and Great Britain because the people of Great Britain bullied and attacked Americans and it was time to take action against Great Britain. I overall enjoyed reading this passged by Thomas Paine.