Blog #2 The Sun Also Rises Hero

  The character Pedro Romero is described by Hemingway as a pure and whole person who is not inflicted by the same feelings of emptiness that Jake and the rest of the characters in the book seem to be troubled with. In The Sun Also Rises other bull fighters are mentioned as well as Romero, however none of the other bull fighters seem to get close and personal to the bull, they rather fake a closeness with the bull and don't instill emotions in their audience like Romero does. In this way Romero shows his heroism towards truly facing the bull and through his satisfaction with himself and his life while Jake and the rest of the characters are cowards and don't face or accept the lives they lead. Romero is arguably the only character who represents the values that were present before the war and by retaining these values, he has the unique quality of getting emotion out of his onlookers and often clashes with the harsh realities of Jake's generation. Not only is Romero's job, bullfighting, a symbol of heroism in modern times but his career also helps form his identity which none of the other characters in The Sun Also Rises can create from their own careers. Romero's genuineness makes him the archetypical hero in the story in that he knows who he is personally, he fights a bull in the utmost reality for a career, and dares to hold on to the pre-war values that in the current generation have been left behind. 
  When contrasting Romero to Jake the reader can see that Jake, who is very in love with Brett, sacrifices everything to satisfy Brett, while Romero does things to protect his career which shapes him into the moral person he is. Despite knowing this, Jake cowardly brings Brett to Romero in order to satisfy her needs although knowing that foreigners pose a threat to his career. This action makes Jake seem cowardly because of the fact that he is passionate with bullfighting and the fact that he knows that bring Brett to Romero may hurt his career Jake still takes her to him disregarding this fact. Rather than confronting Brett Jake remains silent about his feelings and takes her to Romero which proves that the relationship between them is toxic and hurts all of Jake's other relationships. Romero is undamaged by his encounter with Brett and upholds his values that he had before the war despite the distraction.
  Romero is very much the hero of The Sun Also Rises because of his virtues and stature in the bullfighting ring. This symbol of heroism meshes with contemporary view's of hero's in many ways involving morals, saving the day and preventing corruption. Romero upholds all of his morals that he had before the war and presents himself to Jake and the others as the way they should feel towards their own lives, in other words he sets a good example, just as modern day hero's do, to others who may wish to relate to him. Romero some what saves the day when he helps Jake realize that Brett will never be satisfied with just one man, who even she believes is "the one". Romero also helps Jake see that Brett corrupts and changes all the men she comes in contact with. Although Jake's sees this through Romero's affair with Brett he still does not admit the fact that he has fallen victim to Brett's ways as well. Romero's affair with Brett can be viewed as a warning to the other men, in that she claimed she was in love but very shortly after their affair had begun she leaves him and attempts to go back to the men that she knows she can fall back on. Although Jake does not heed this warning viewed through their relationship, it can be said that Romero helps to open some of the men's eyes towards Brett and her ways. In this way Romero is symbolic of contemporary hero's because he attempts to stop the corruption that Brett leaves in the wake of her relationships.

Turgenev Text: Capitol Punishment

The Execution of Troppman, the main event in Turgenev's writing shows the extremes that capitol punishment presents and that by carrying out an execution in front of a live crowd of people that justice is not really served. Throughout the text, Turgenev's opinion remains solid in that he disagrees with the cruelty and spectacle that public execution presents. While present at the execution Turgenev recalls feeling sick and questioning his right to be at the execution. What right did he and the other men have to see this man die? This is one of the many questions that Turgenev ponders revealing that he feels uncomfortable and out of place at the execution because he is against this form of capitol punishment. His argument towards the fact that they had no right to be at this mans execution is strong in supporting his extreme disagreement with public execution.
The tone of the text reflects Turgenev's view on capitol punishment in that the passage gives an overall tone of disgust and resentment. The tone is set right from the beginning of the text when Turgenev states that he did not really want to go to the execution but that if he refused he would look like a coward. Turgenev resents capitol punishment and by giving the reader a strong sense of this one can see his opinion on capitol punishment clearly. 
The purpose of the paper that Turgenev tries to convey is that capitol punishment is nothing but a source of amusement for onlookers. The purpose of including the crowd of people who usually weren't on the streets of Paris at that time of night is to show that the execution appealed to people who were only interested and awake at that time of night to see a man die, and then the spectacle would be over. Turgenev scrutinizes, not only capitol punishment but the people who indulge in the spectacle of execution. Turgenev describes the roar of the crowd as a crescendo of noise getting louder every hour as the execution neared. His purpose of using the word crescendo to describe the roar of the crowd is to show the growing excitement in the onlookers and he believes that this growing excitement is almost animalistic in that the crowd is waiting to watch a man die.
In my opinion Turgenev thoroughly explains the cruelty of capitol punishment and because of his purpose for writing I strongly agree with his argument. Justice being served does not have to be through a public display of death, however more humane ways of making sure justice is served is an option that I also agree with. Through Turgenevs text, capitol punishment is revealed for the fraud that it is.

Blog#11

Culminating Writers Profile
1. My writing style has became more abstract and my analyzing skills need help since I have started this class.
2.As a writer, I feel that I am excel in writing things that I can relate personally to and I have reinforced my strengths by applying them to this definition essay.
3.My writing weaknesses include writing too lengthy paragraphs that are sometimes disorganized and to strengthen my writing in these areas I try and make an outline of my writing before I begin.
Evaluating Your Writing Process
1.If I had the time to write one more draft of this essay I would shorten the paragraphs and attempt my extended metaphor easier to follow.
2.As I received peer feedback and revised my essay I found that the easiest element to improve was to give better examples of my topic.
3.My biggest problem in writing and revising this essay was finding an extended metaphor for the topic of innocence that would be understandable and trying to take out some to-be verbs.
Evaluating Your Successes
1.My most successful large scale revision in this essay was adding instances of parallel structure
2. By combining descriptive, narrative and illustrative elements in this essay my diction provided good descriptions of innocence and helped with my purpose for writing.
3. My best success when considering my audience was that my paper addressed that everyone loses their innocence at some point and I made my paper very relateable.
Being Honest With Self
1. The abstract concept most intimidated me about this writing process and By letting my writing flow I combated the intimidation.
2.The Box Man reading and analysis influenced me to try a new strategy of putting the main idea at the end of my writing and to include an extended metaphor.
3.From reading student essay examples I picked up the idea of parallel structure and I incorporated it into my own writing.
4. I learned to follow up my examples with things that helped provide proof of my main point from my peer editors.
5.As a writer now I see myself as being able to get my point through without stating it obviously and using more complex devices such as extended metaphors and parallel structure.

Blog #10

The term  "Nobodiness" created by King describes feeling unwanted and unrecognized by other people. Many people feel alone in this world, they can be surrounded by people and yet still feel like a nobody. A "nobody" can be associated with social status, having no companions, or just a feeling of emptiness within oneself. One may feel like a nobody because they truly have no one to talk to and feel alone, one may feel like a nobody because they feel like they have no place in contemporary society, one may feel like a nobody because they are different from others around them. Most reasons for feeling like a nobody are internal and have to do with the individual person and how sensitive they are to the things around them.

Blog#15

In the passage "About Men" Ehlrich describes the internal softness and compassion that cowboys and ranchers have despite the stereotypical cowboy image that we all perceive as stern and harsh. Ehlrich gives examples of how the cowboys care for their animals and the passion they contain when performing their daily tasks. In one instance Ehlrich describes a cowboy who nurtures a calf who was born sick back to health, the overall tone of this scene is very loving and tender and one who does believe in the stereotype of the Marlboro cowboy would find this as a surprise. Ehlrich finds cowboys as people of great strength who do what is right and have compassion and love for others, her purpose for writing is to try and show others just how wrong their stereotypes towards cowboys are. The overall tone of the whole piece is admiration, by giving examples and telling stories of these cowboys lives her purpose for writing is achieved.

Blog #14

In Sante's piece "What Secret's Tell" the many different ways that secrets are revealed is discussed. Sante discusses lies involved in the government, the Soviet Union/KGB, in media, and the internet. The internet allows people to get information at super fast speeds with just the click of a button. Most secrets on the web are of celebrity scandals, who we forget are ordinary people like us, and political figures out with the latest on their opponents. I do agree with Sante that the internet is a "nemesis" to secrecy for the fact that the information about almost everyone can be found online. Websites have been made where you can run background checks on people from your own home, and embarrassing photos from that party you may not want to remember can be found on online profiles such as myspace, facebook and twitter. Secrecy does not exist on the worldwide web, and the unforgiving truth about the internet is that anything you post online can be seen by anyone. These constant keeping and telling of secrets shows how much our society hungers for the drama that telling a secret entails.

Blog #13

School teaches many things to us, not just academics but social skills are also learned here. Our interaction with fellow students, and teachers helps us learn lessons that we also learn in our homes. However I do not believe that schools should teach their students personal values, the reason that they are called personal values is that they relate to the individual self and cannot truly be learned about in a formal class. Schools do teach some values when we are young such as treat others as you would like to be treated, keep your hands to yourself, share, etc. but these values are fairly simplistic compared to greater values that our parents, religion or sense of self teach us. The people around us certainly shape what our values are and at school many are influenced, teachers do intervene at times however their efforts are usually in vain. It is up to people who are very close and who personally know the person to steer them in the right direction.