Life Of Pi - Atheist vs. Agnostics

In the book "Life of Pi' by Yann Martel, it talks a lot about religion and religious views from Hinduism to Christianity and even Islam. They also touch on atheism and Agnostics which aren't religions but are their own separate views on religion. Pi who is the main character, talks about how much respect he has for Atheist people because, they know what they believe in, they know that they do not believe in God. As for his views on agnostics, it is much different. He does not respect Agnostics because they simply just do not know about their own beliefs. They have many questions but haven't exactly searched for the truth which makes Pi think that they basically aren't trying to search for the "truth". He says agnostics have a doubt of philosophy.

Last paragraph of chapter 7 where it reads "Doubt is useful for a while. We must all pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ plated with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross, "My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me? then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." It may come back to Pi later on in the story because he, himself is on the boat with the tiger for a long period of time he must have some doubt.

Doubt is obviously not always a bad thing, you need some doubt in life in can keep you safe from danger or even help you prove yourself or other people wrong/right. An example is when I have been in a bad situation and I ask God "Why me", I tend to feel at least a little doubtful at times like these.

To Everything There Is a Season

          The main character in this short story believed in the fictional character "Santa Clause" which I guess you could say was a big part of his childhood, a long with his 2 and a half year old brother Kenneths childhood. Many children hold on to fictional childhood characters that are dear to them and feel that it is difficult to let those beliefs go. Believing in characters such as "Santa" is something most young children do. After realizing this "Santa" character is fictional, it is a step closer into maturing and entering what we call "the adult life".

                                               

        Something that made me feel as if I am entering the "adult life" is getting my first actual job. I was so used to everything being done for me, not working for anything I recieved really. Until one day I realized I won't be able to live like this forever and I must start somewhere by getting a part-time job. That part-time job later turned into my full-time job in the summer working long hours but it tought me a lot about life. It tought me that at one point in your life you are going to need to let go of the past and move on with the future, making you a more independent person.
                                           

                                                            


          The older brother goes to visit his two brothers, the main character and Kenneth for Christmas and brings a crate full of gifts labeled "From Santa". The main character still believed in Santa and he needed to realize that he isn't real. His parents told him that since he is old enough to stay up late this year, he is able to stay up through out the night with the family. During his time awake he realizes he has received gifts labeled "from Santa" but "Santa never came, this made him realize that "Santa is not real which makes him mature in a way, letting go of his beliefs in "Santa Clause". I relate to this because after realizing that me getting what ever I wanted would not last forever and we only have so little childhood time left. I finally realize that I must work for what I want and start preparing me for the "Adult-Life"

                                       


       






                 

History of the English language

        The history of the English language has come a long way from when it started. The English language underwent extreme changes in the Middle Ages. Through out the past 1500 years, English has been a language spoken by a few thousand people to one of the worlds most spoken languages, it is a world-wide and universal language understood by many. The english language is the language of worldwide technology and communication. The history of the English language is initially divided into four periods being old English from A.D. 450-1100, Middle English A.D. 1100-1500, Early Modern English A.D. 1500-1800 and Present-Day English 1800-present.


                             

        My favourite Middle English writtings were the Sonnets which are formal poems. They were extremely popular around this time and could possibly been sold for money depending on the importance of the sonnet. Two good sonnets are sonets by Anne Locke and Sir Phillip Sidney. Shakespeare was a big sonnet writter also. Sonnets are special because they are different then other poems, they consist of 14 lines, a strict rhyming scheme, Written in iambic Pentametermer which is a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating syllables.


                            



       If it weren't for the other eras of english, we wouldn't be where we are today with our language. The english language has come a long way. Starting off with old english words changing over time to fit in with the way we talk now. The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words and the present day English has less words and the English language adopted foreign words from many other countries which makes the english language more universal.

                                    

Themes in Shakespeare's "Othello"

Themes in Shakespeare's "Othello"

         There are many different themes in Shakespeare's "Othello" that I would say are still relevant to this day. Starting off with the most important theme in my opinion, discrimination. In this play, discrimination plays a huge role whether it be descrimination against race or even against genders. Knowing that the main character in Othello is black and this play was written a long time ago, there would be drama over the race of this character who also has a lot of power.

         As much as anyone would hate to admit it, racism is still an on going thing that happens in our society everyday. We'd think that we've over come this but it still interferes with everyday life in many ways. Also, descrimination against females which happens so often. We still live in a generation where women can't be treated the same as men.

         Like in Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona who is Othello's loving wife, is accused of some pretty bad things and because of these accusations, Othello treats her with disrespect and slaps her which is a huge insult. Descrimination is'nt only a theme in this play but is an on going thing in our lives.

      The second theme in Shakespeare's Othello, is Revenge. This theme also plays a big role in this play because it is the main objectif for Iago. He is trying to seek revenge against Othello and would do it in any ways possible, no matter what. Iago minipulates the characters in the play such as Cassio and Roderigo to help get his revenge against Othello.

     This theme is relevant today because it seems like everyone just wants to get even with everyone. If someone does something to hurt you, your objectif is to get even with this person no matter. Revenge is never a good idea, it takes time and effort which you could be putting towards getting over the situation insead of stressing over the situation and making it a bigger problem. Revenge is never ending and it could get worse and worse over time if it is done "right".

       Perception verses reality, another big theme in Shakespeare's "Othello". It so happens that this occurs in everyday life. Perception verses reality is simply, things are never as they seem. Like in this play, Desdemona is perceived as a "whore" but is just accused of being one by her husband Othello. In reality, she is a loving and faithfull wife who loves her husband and even says she would never cheat even if given the oppertunity.

      Everyday poeple judge, They see things that are perceived as what they look like but when you do more research on this topic or find out more about what ever is perceived, you may realize the this isn't what you thought. This person that you judged may not be rude or mean just because somebody has said they are, after meeting them and taking the time to get to know this person you may acutally find out that they were nothing like you thought they were. Looks may decieve you! 

Are stupid jobs really stupid?

   After reading this article I came across and essay in the book "Element of Essays," it made me realize a lot of the jobs people do before their actual career maybe extremely pointless and stupid. Including the one I worked at relating nothing to my choice of career in the future. I worked at a souvenir shop during the summer right in the heart of downtown Ottawa, not so much stupid and pointless but it was a job where I had very little to do. Just sitting and waiting for customers, not many things to do. I basically just sat there and waited for something to do.


     I have many friends with the same issue, I feel as if you should like the job you work at to a certain extent. Of course a job shouldn't be something you have a lot of fun doing but it should be somewhere you don't hate going to or doing. Selling clothing and lottery isn't that bad, I could've had it worse. Working at a local grocery department was a drag for one of my friends, she hated it and despised going to work everyday. She'd also try to come up with and excuse in order to skip that day of work even though she applied to it for one reason and one reason only and thats making money. She later quit her job which in my opinion was a good decision because she hated it and probably didn't work as hard as she should've.


   The role of a stupid job in my opinion, is to get you ready for your career or to get you used to the work atmosphere. Once you start working you learn many different things that can help you in the future such as cooperation, dedication, respect and responsibility. Quoting from the book "Elements of Essays" pg. 275 "Stupid jobs are a way to avoid the brain numbing idiocy of full-time emplyment. They are the next best thing to having no job at all. They will keep you sane, and smart" which is also true, they can keep you occupied and teach you many things, as well as the stupider the job the easier the work and in that case, you basically get paid for doing nothing. So I believe stupid jobs are important to have, but you must enjoy it to keep it.