Blog Post About America or Gasby or Something

I think the American dream is a lot of different things for a lot of different people living in the United States. I think in general the American dream is very materialistic like it seemed to be in the 20's and in The Great Gatsby. Most people seem to only think of the American dream as having the ability to become rich and famous. People seem to only want to be able to rise up the ranks in order to obtain wealth, power or fame. Some people want to be able to make millions a year, to have everyone in the world know who they are and look up to them or to be be the president of the United States in order in obtain power.

For me personally the American dream is just having the freedom and opportunity to do something that makes you happy. The United States isn't a perfect country but it does give people more opportunity than many other places where people live in horrible conditions and struggle to survive.

My definition of wealth is to have a lot of money. People tend to think that wealth is associated with happiness, but in reality it isn't. The only thing that wealth does is help to relieve monetary pressures and make life easier. This in itself does not make someone happy. People need to things outside of making and having a lot of money in order to be happy. Many Americans make the mistake of thinking that they will be happy simply by being rich, they don't realize that rich people suffer from unhappiness just as much as poor people do. Being rich comes with its own problems and isn't necessarily a good thing for people. Also, Americans tend to think that just because someone is poor that they are probably unhappy and want to become rich, which is also not necessarily true. There are plenty of people that might be considered poor that are perfectly content with their situation and live happy day to day lives.

Personally, I look and wealth and poverty to be completely unrelated to happiness or the American dream. Being wealthy and working long hours at a job you hate is certainly not "living the American dream." I would rather I had a job doing something I love to do making $20,000 a year than making $100,000 a year doing something that takes up all my time and makes me miserable.

Nothing. Really? Mattress!

#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

diction- The word "insect" is more specific than any of the other translations because it is a specific scientific category.

syntax- This translation should have a comma because it is a dependent clause followed by an independent clause.
imagery/details- "Uneasy dreams" does not create an especially bad visualization, but "gigantic" does seem pretty extreme like he could have ended up being bigger as an insect than as he originally was as a human.
structure- It starts with "as," which means that he found out he was an insect right when he awoke.

any other stylist/figurative elements- There are 20 words in this translation (this could be a conspiracy, maybe).

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

diction- This one does not include the fact that he was transformed in his bed and instead just assumes that it is implied.

syntax- It is made up of one independent clause followed by a prepositional and an infinitive phrase.
imagery/details- "Uneasy dreams" and "giant bug" do not create quite as extreme images as the other translations. This translation makes the event of turning into a giant bug somehow more normal and less disruptive.
structure- This translation only has one subject and verb, and therefore, is all just one clause. 

any other stylist/figurative elements- This one is very short and to the point, but it is also read in a fluid manner.

#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

diction- This one says, "enormous bug," which suggest that it could be a larger bug than some of the other translations.

syntax- This is a dependent clause followed by a dependent clause, and it should have a comma, but it doesn't have a comma.
imagery/details- I imagine "troubled dreams" as being worse than uneasy ones and that he might of not slept well through "troubled dreams."
structure- This one also has no commas in it, but it should have comma(s).  

any other stylist/figurative elements- This sentence has 21 words in it (but this one is probably not a conspiracy).

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

diction- The phrase "monstrous vermin" carries with a it a much more negative connotation than the word bug or insect.

syntax- This translation starts with one morning, which makes it start out about an unknown person until Gregor's name is mentioned.
imagery/details- The use of the word vermin makes me think that he was turned into a giant rat instead of a bug.
structure- There are a lot of commas in this one (unlike any of the other ones).

any other stylist/figurative elements- I would guess that this one was more literally translated, or it was written weirdly on purpose. 

     All of these translations can be read and interpreted very differently from each other. Only a few small differences can result in opposite extremes and the reader to see the story differently in his or her head. All of the translations used a different adjective to describe what Gregor Sams was turned into and each word used carried different connotations with it that could result in a different understanding each time it is read. One translation could result in the reader thinking he was turned into a rat, while another could have the reader thinking was turned into any random type of bug like a beetle. Some are also just much smoother and easier to read because it might be shorter and have little punctuation, while the last translation is full of commas, which slows down the reading for the reader. The last translation also seems far more intense because of its many pauses and sharp diction, while the others seem more to the point and simple.

     It seems like it is pretty much impossible for a translator to perfectly translate a book because of the words that need to be chosen when translating and due to the fact that the translated words can't possible have the exact same meanings and connotations of the original words that were chosen by the author. Also, different languages have different syntaxes, which means that the syntax may need to changed when translating something, which ultimately changes the author's original choices and is not what the author intended for the reader to read. It is important for the reader to take into consideration if the text he or she is reading has been translated or not because of the affect that it has on the meaning of the text.

Also, if you have not seen this then I recommend you take a look... and so does Lionel Richie.

IOC = Freebie

This is a freebie.

Talks to Ted

The Best Gift I Ever Survived

This TED Talk is inspired by someone's difficulties with cancer and what happened to the person because of it.  She is just a normal person, but the thing that differentiates her and makes her a qualified speaker in this topic is that she experienced the situation first hand. This is really all she needs to be a reliable speaker because only someone who experienced all the emotions that she did could accurately tell a story like this. She used a lot of pathos by describing her emotions during her struggle with cancer. Her story does lack in logos because she is focusing on appealing to people's emotions and changing how they feel about their experience. Her reason for speaking is to convince people to think differently. She is targeting her story to really anyone with access to medical facilities that can treat people with cancer because everyone is at risk of getting cancer.

I chose this TED Talk because I was curious to what gift the speaker could be talking about, and I found it to be very interesting because of its surprising ending.This is a story that starts out ambiguous, but consistently positive and at the end it is revealed that the story is really about the speaker's experience with having a brain tumor removed. This was conveyed very strangely and in an unexpected manner because the listener is expecting something positive at the end of the story, but instead the speaker revealed that she was talking about her brain tumor, which is generally recognized as a negative thing. The author's unique way of telling a story was ultimately effective because it helped the listeners to look a something negative in a different light.

Dooble Indeminiety

4. In your mind, are there any heroes in Double Indemnity? If so, who?
The movie Double Indemnity had some interesting characters, but none of them were perfect (especially not Walter Neff or Mrs. Dietrichson). In my mind there was one person who is the closed to being described as a hero in this movie, Mr. Keyes. The rest of the characters proved to either not have the correct characteristics of a hero or there was simply not enough known about them. Walter and Mrs. Dietrichson (despite being the main characters) both proved to be capable of planning and carrying out a murder, which obviously makes them too corrupt to be considered heroes.

Mr. Keyes stood out to me because he was the one who was actively working to find out how Mr. Dietrichson, and who could have been responsible for his death. The main characters in this case seemed to better fit the role of the villains, while Mr. Keyes was the hero trying to stop them from getting away with their evil deed. The fact that Walter decided to confess to Mr. Keyes because Walter would have decided to confess to someone that would do the right thing with the information. Although I do consider Mr. Keyes the hero, I do not consider him to be the perfect hero. He was not doing what he did in the movie out of the kindness of his heart; he was doing it because it was his job and he was sort of motivated by money to do it well.

Macbeth's Netflix Queue

1. The Walking Dead - This TV show is about a group of people who are trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic United States that has been overrun by zombies. There is a lot of death and murder due to zombie attacks and clashes with other survivors in this television show. Macbeth would enjoy this because he would be able to relate to one of the main characters in the show, Rick Grimes. This character goes through a lot of changes throughout the show because he starts out as a noble police officer and slowly changes into a more corrupted person throughout the show. Rick Grimes is forced to do whatever he can to protect his family, even if that includes murder, and he also begins to suffer from hallucinations and paranoia. This is very similar to the issues that Macbeth encounters once his is king and begins murdering people due to paranoia. Rick Grimes changes throughout the story also are reflective of the changes that Macbeth undergo by going from a noble warrior to a corrupted tyrant.

2. Game of Thrones - This TV show is about many different people and families living in a fictional medieval world. This story is full of corruption, betrayal, murder and tragedy. Game of Thrones involves many people struggling to gain a position of power and doing whatever it takes to get there and retain that spot. This would be enjoyed by Macbeth because he knows what it is like to have to murder to get a position of power, and he would be able to relate to the emotional struggles that some of the characters go through when they commit terrible deeds. Many of the characters suffer in the same way the Macbeth does from not being able to "wash the blood from their hands."

3. Castaway - The movie is about a man who works for FedEx that ends up deserted on an island after his plane crashed into the ocean, which was making a FedEx shipment. He ends up befriending a volleyball and naming it Wilson, while his survives on the island by himself for years. Macbeth would enjoy this because by watching this movie he would be able to relate to the main character as he becomes insane. It could possibly help Macbeth to feel better about himself because he would be able to say, "At least I'm not as crazy as that guy talking to the volleyball."

4. Shudder Island - This movie is about a man who is investigating an island that acts as an insane asylum for many dangerous people. There are a lot of strange things going on in the island and even escaped prisoners. The main character finds many issues on the island, but he arrives onto a major problem. Who is he really investigating? This would be enjoyed by Macbeth because he would understand the issues that many of the characters are going through in the movie. Also, he would be able to relate to the main character because of his fall at the end of the movie due to a surprising twist. just like how Macbeth thought he was immune to Macduff, but then found out he was born through a c-section and that he was not actually of woman born.

Macbeth's Guide to Becoming Evil

1. Why do people who are not "evil" take the first step into evil? What, for instance, is involved in taking that first step "down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire" (Macbeth, 2.3)? What are the consequences of the individual choosing evil (particularly the internal consequences)? Use examples from the text to support your opinion.

To take the first step into evil a person has to fall victim to some sort of temptation or be corrupted by someone or something. In the case of Macbeth, he is tempted by the idea of becoming king and having power, but the presence witches add another element to Macbeth going "down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire" (Macbeth, 2.3). The witches played a major role in Macbeth's corruption by telling him that he would become king because if they had never told him that then he never even would have even considered killing King Duncan.

When someone chooses evil that person faces that person faces a variety of issues that include social, religious and moral consequences.

The now "evil" person can be punished because he or she might have broken a role or law of society, which is one problem that Macbeth faces. If anyone were to discover that he had murdered King Duncan, then Macbeth would surely be executed or put in prison.

Also, if becoming evil is against ones religious beliefs, then that could led to that person having an undesirable afterlife or becoming afraid of what ever deity or deities that person might believe in. This can be seen as an issue in Macbeth when he is telling his wife about the murder, "but wherefore
could not I pronounce 'Amen'? I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen' Stuck in my throat." (Macbeth 2.2). This showed Macbeth's worries about the religious repercussions he could face.

Finally, the evil person's conscience can have very negative effects on that person after the evil deed, which can include regret and self-hatred. Macbeth suffered from many internal issues after the murder of King Duncan. He showed his feels while talking to his wife, "I'll  go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done" (Macbeth 2.2). He was becoming very distressed because of his evil actions and had regretted them immediately after they were committed.