Guns on Campus? No, Thanks.

 

 

The NYTimes article, “Colleges Become Major Front in Fight Over Carrying Guns,” gives opposing views on the issue of concealed weapons on campus, but quite frankly, I don’t think guns should be allowed near students when on college campuses. True, it can provide a means of protection, but who’s to say if the person breaking in the dorm room has a weapon as well? And honestly, I still don’t think college students are responsible enough to keep weapons on campus. These students finally gain independence from the watchful eyes of their parents, and suddenly they can turn reckless and rash.

There are several scenarios where the students can misuse weapons. Perhaps they become heavily intoxicated and go on an angry rampage with their guns. Or, maybe the weight of college work drives students into a corner of deep depression and causes them to inflict injuries upon themselves and others. Of course, there are also students who may have mental issues that have gone unchecked who keep guns in their dorms. In the article, it states that at UK, students are allowed to keep guns in their cars. I still find that dangerous because there are still weapons in the possession of possibly reckless students.

One study in the article revealed that more educated people were actually more likely to have anti-gun views. Also, the percentage of young gun-owners is pretty low at the moment because there are less young people with hunting experience. I think it should stay that way for the safety at schools. College campuses are relatively safe with a little common sense (just avoid going out late at night in a dangerous neighborhood). Guns aren’t needed for protection on campus - there are always security guards and security systems such as card swipe-ins or emergency buttons that automatically call 911. Students shouldn’t have to worry about other students using weapons at school.

The Value of Handwritten Letters

(All the pictures I found for handwritten letters were in cursive. Hmm...)

 

The last time I received a handwritten letter was during the winter holidays from my friend. That’s actually not too long ago, but in a time when all correspondence goes through the hands of electronics, receiving such a letter is pretty rare. People are living in a time of instant gratification: emails and texts are just so much faster to receive and respond to. As a result, letters seem to be a hassle and a test of patience – something people lack these days, myself included. And even though I received a handwritten letter during the holidays, those kinds of letters are expected during that time. Now, as for a letter that I received in the mail that wasn’t for the holidays or special occasions is probably back in elementary school when I would send letters to friends in another state. Of course, that was before I started using email and obviously before Facebook’s dominance over social networking.

There is definitely sentimental value in handwritten letters. Electronic correspondence (no matter what handwriting font you use) will always be done through a screen. It can’t replace the paper and pen people use to create a letter filled with their thoughts. It’s more personal when people have scribbled their words across the page, with the letters of the words changing with each emotion. There are marks scratching off phrases here and there, squiggles deleting possible misconstrued words… all indications that the writer has taken the time to compose a letter. With that being said, I may start personally writing some letters – it would be interesting to see the reactions of the people who receive them.  

First Thoughts on *Beloved*

 

To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy the first sixty pages of the book. It’s still too early to say if I will later come to like to book, but Toni Morrison’s writing is definitely one to get used to. The story line is a bit difficult to follow since it constantly jumps from past to present. Since the story line is choppy, I’m still not very familiar with the characters. I’m confused about the roles of all the people mentioned at Sweet Home. I’m sure the place was abusive, but there are times when I think the home wasn’t as harsh to slaves as other farms/plantations. Mrs. Garner gave Sethe crystal earrings for her wedding gift, but then again, Sethe was brutally whipped at Sweet Home.

I also wonder what the relationship between Paul D. and Sethe is. I thought they were friends, but he just suddenly appeared and started developing an interest in her. I guess it’s purely out of a possessive nature since Sethe’s husband, Halle, is gone. After sleeping with her, however, he doesn’t find her attractive anymore now that he has had her. It seems like he is staying at Sethe’s house from now on, so I wonder where the relationship will go from there, since Sethe doesn’t really have mutual feelings for Paul D.  

The Joy Luck Club

I read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan for my first inquiry project novel. Although there are stronger themes of family relationships in this book, my topic of immigration is highlighted as a cause for differences between generations. There are four Chinese mothers who have immigrated to the U.S. in search of better lives and fortune. They each have a daughter and their daughters’ perspectives in their respective stories contrast with the narration of each of the mothers’ stories. The mothers want their children to assimilate into the American culture while still retaining a traditional Chinese nature of politeness and respect for their elders (filial piety all the way, of course).

Since the whole topic of my inquiry project is immigration, I’ll refrain from being too repetitive on this post and just talk about another topic I found interesting in this novel. Chinese parents tend to prefer sons (more so in the past than now, but there is still a preferece). Boys were seen as the gateway to success since they were the ones that were more likely to break through the strict boundaries of social classes. For girls, especially the mother’s generation of the book, they were only seen as ways to marry into families with connections. Therefore, I liked how the daughters were the symbols of strength for their mothers. They all had successful jobs and fulfilled their mothers’ dreams of bringing opportunities to their families. The sons, when mentioned, were still living at home in their late thirties or had been in jail for some minor crimes. I’m not sure if it was exactly Amy Tan’s intent, but I was glad to see a focus on the strength of the daughters instead of the sons.

"Outlining in Reverse": My Thoughts

This New York Times article by Aaron Hamburger introduces a way to tackle the tedious process of writing an essay. Instead of writing an outline to plan for the essay, the outline is written after the completed essay to better comprehend/critique the work. Now, the outline becomes a revision process instead of a planning device. This concept intrigues me because I’ve always thought outlines were a waste of time – especially during timed writings. I may brainstorm and write down a few ideas before writing, but I don’t go and spend a full ten minutes writing out each claim, detail, and concluding sentence of each body paragraph. I find the process a bit repetitive when I start writing my essay. It also conforms my writing into a certain structure and doesn’t allow for creativity when writing a fictional piece.

For in-class essays, I wouldn’t necessarily write an outline after my writing is complete because of the time constraints, but I would consider outlining in reverse for longer and more analytical essays that I write at home. I always like to just sit down and write a complete essay instead of writing one section at a time. That way, I can keep a constant flow of ideas without breaking my train of thought. However, this can cause me to leave out certain details, so outlining afterwards would help me fill in the gaps of my essay.

To and Fro in the Void of Reality

Ashes
blowing in loose swirls
Blackened, charred and limbless.
Bleak incandescent orange
Sagging hands
of blind wire

The flame-
don't let it go out.
We're carrying the fire.
We're the good guys.

A trellis of a dog
straw hat, cob pipe,
rowboat-
nothing at all,
violence to its origins.

In the cave
the child led him
through the waking world
of the night.

The man,
the boy
wandered in the cold wake
trailing his hand.
Horror, creatures.
Please,
just be a dream.

This was my found poem for The Road. As much as I'd like to say I wrote this poem, all the words and phrases come from McCarthy. I actually enjoyed this exercise since I do like to write poems once in a while. I find poetry to be like a form of art- words don't have to strictly follow their definitions and the tight boundaries of sentence structure can be ignored. Speaking of art, The Road has actually had an influence on one of my paintings for my art class. I am juxtaposing the image of a colorful "Tree of Life" with the dark, post-apocalyptic world found in the novel to bring up the issue of environmental awareness.

As for this poem, my two topics are dreams/flashbacks and ash and fire imagery. The beginning of the poem sets up the "void of reality" the man and the boy must face every day. However, the man is also stuck in the past. His dreams are always filled with his memories- ones he hopes to dispose of because he doesn't want to have "good" dreams. To him, having good dreams means to give up. My title for the poem highlights the man's path as he drifts between past and present.

First Thoughts on *The Road*

I am intrigued by the fact that the man and his son still have hope through their difficult journey. While the mother was suffocating from the emptiness around them and subsequently killed herself, the man and his son were able to walk away from her death in hopes that they will reach a safe haven in the south. I don’t believe that either of the main characters is afraid of death. The father’s sole reason for living is his son, and the boy has already mentioned that he wants to be where his mom is (aka dead). Therefore, I am curious as to what the characters’ reasons are for surviving. However, I doubt I will have my question answered given the ambiguity of the story.

I also find it interesting that the boy has so much trust in others even after being born into a world where sanity is all but lost. If he had a goal, it would probably to go to the south to find other young boys and dogs to befriend. His motivation indicates that he hasn't completely lost a sense of trust, even though his dad keeps him constantly aware of the “bad guys” they often encounter. He also seemed disappointed in his dad for killing the man that put a knife to his throat. Death and murder are things the boy still can’t accept even if he witnesses them on a daily basis.