Week 12: TLW Ch.20-23

As the five continue on their journey through Tibet, they meet the same kind villagers that gave them a place to rest and food to eat. The six met a missionary and a shepherd along the journey and had supplied them with great help and hospitality. Marchinkovas died in his sleep while they were on their daily rest. The group were shocked because he was not ill or showed any kind of discomfort. The five were on a trek to India and had to cross the Himalayan Foot-Hills. The Five claimed to had seen the yeti, an abominable snowman, during their journey through the Himalayan. In chapter 22, while the Five were on their way on the snowy trail, Paluchowicz fell from the white cliffs and vanished into the mist. They were in disbelief because he made a vast journey of 4000 miles and died recklessly. At the end, soldiers near the India border rescued Mister Smith, Rawicz, Kolemenos, and Zaro. When they were in recovery, they all suffered mentally. Even though Rawicz had food, he would always store his bread in his clothe or under the pillow. They were in delusion. It has been 18 months of traveling and old habits die hard. But at the end, they recovered and what had been a month, felt like a night's rest for them. In conclusion, they went their seperate path and Rawicz joined the Polish Army and started a new life with a new family. What I didn't understand was why Rawicz did not try to find them after their separation.

Week 11: summary on 197-210

Alexander Cheung writes an opposing essay about the legality of file sharing. Napster created a program that allowed people around the world to download any kind of music. The music industry did not approve of such program that would steal away their business. They took legal action against Fanning, the creator of Napster, in a publicized court case. The music industry succeeded and shutdown Napster’s operation, but his peer-to-peer file sharing still functioned. The P2P program enabled people to download music and other files from different users. Matthew Scrivner from his essay, “In Defense of Music…” explains that, “music is not a tangible object, but rather experiences that cannot be owned by anyone save for the individual listener.” In contrast, Spanier argue that illegally downloading music can be seen as plagiarism is not a good argument. Music and plagiarism does not correlate well because of their vast differences. Music does not support the educational goal, but plagiarism and the stealing of music can be seen as a copy righted material because its an intellectual property. Amos Esty in “Investigating a Mega-Mystery,” explains that the early inhabitants of this planet drove large land animals to extinction. He says, “humans moved rapidly through the Notrth America continent, wiping out most megafauna.” Even in this century, people or continuing to hunt down animals to near extinction. Many animals become endangered and therefore, are protected by special agencies. In recent date in Africa, they are only about 15,000 lions reaming compared to 2 decades ago when 150,000 lions were thriving. Many organizations are helping to protect wildlife from extinctions, creating barriers around national forest to protect them from the thriving species; humans. But some argue that rapid climate change can also play a role in the exticntion of animals, but climate is always changing. There are still a large debate on the issue because there is no singularity in the matter. Noah Feldman, in “America’s Church-State Problem,” explains that evangelicals and protestants do not focus on of religious traditions but rather focus on identifying moral values that can be shared by everyone. He added, “If we could be more tolerant of sincere religious people drawing on their beliefs and practices to inform their choices in public realm, and at the same time be more vigilant about preserving our legacy of institutional separation between government and organized religion, the shift would redirect us to the uniqueness of the American experiment with church and state.” In the early times, church governed the government itself until they were separated by the powers invested by the people who rose against the church. In modern time, the system is balanced in a way that we become operational, maintaining the separation of church from state. Although it is acceptable to have a religious perspective in a given position, it is not ideal because it may influence the choices a person may make that can affect many lives who are not of the same faith.

Week 10: Chapter 11-17

In chapter eleven of this novel, Slavomir describes his journey towards the Russian border. As they venture to the Baikal Lake, the prisoners crossed path with a fugitive girl name Kristina. She had a tragic past in regards to the Soviet Union and thus, fled away from her imprisonment. Kristina had an uplifting effect on the guys and was a positive addition to the crew. She was a strong girl and was able to keep up with the guys. In the next few chapters, Slavomir describes his journey through the Russian terrain to Mongolia. The crew faced many friendly people along their journey. They were all very kind and even offered food to the crew and were especially friendly towards Kristina. Starvation was not a big issue among the crew because they were resourceful. They kept hidden through their journey and avoid the local civilian. They hunted animals and they meticulously raided the villages for food. As they reached Mongolia, they faced a new terrain. The weather was warmer and very humid as the terrain was filled with rivers and trees. They crossed paths with many fishermen and farmers. The crew even helped the Mongolians to farm more efficient and in return, food was provided. Their journey through Mongolia was prosperous, until they reached the Gobi Desert. It was terribly hot and dry. They even crossed paths with a locus swarm and Mongolian travelers on camels. The crew’s bodies ache and were dying of thirst and exhaustion. Luckily they had spotted an oasis and were lead to believe that God had put it there in their favor. After they left the oasis, Kristina had developed a swollen feet and stumbled many times due to exhaustion. She later died on one of the men’s shoulder. She was given a proper burial and the crew was back to seven. In chapter seventeen, Makowski had showed the same symptoms as Kristian and eventually passed away too. The six who were left ventured through the desert and eventually found muddy water and snake to suppress their hunger.

Week 9: DLA summaries

My first directed learning activity was a diagnostic test about women in combat situations. My objective was to develop a focused body paragraph proving that women can mange stressful combat situations. In the workforce, women are occupying important and stressful jobs. They are taking the roles of doctors, lawyers, law enforcement, and firefighters. Women are faced with stressful situations everyday and most are caused by men. Women are constantly preyed upon by men and their pursuit for sexual relations. Even the workforce within the Fontana Success Center provides evidence for women’s workmanship. Ninety-nine percent of the workers in that facility are occupied by women. Society should not overlook the credibility of women serving in the Armed Forces. My second directed learning activity was about argumentation, opposing view point of the Salem witch trials. This activity was designed to help me to analyze rhetorical techniques used by parties on more than one side of a debate. In one of the activity, I had to argue for a person in their defense. The second part to that activity, I had to argue against the person. This activity helped me to understand the importance to be able to understand the two positions so I may have a defense to the opposing view. My third directed learning activity was about plagiarism. After writing the concept essay, I felt that I need to brush up on the rules about plagiarism. It is hard to come up with your own idea about the materials you may read. It is hard for me to describe a specific term or topic without using some of the words of the writer. But I was suggested that I summarize the materials into my own thoughts and create my own understanding of it and perhaps make a connection between the two. Anything outside of your work would be considered plagiarism and anything that you create, in example, your life’s experience would be considered an original material. Some safe practice that I already use is summaries based on memory and make notations whenever I decided to quote the material.

Week 8: The Long Walk ch. 7,8,9,10 summaries

In chapter seven of The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz describes the life in Camp 303. He continues in describing every detail of the camp and its infrastructures. The prisoners’ job was to build their own huts, a living quarter, to shelter them and have a place to sleep. Camp 303 was lifeless, a barren land in the middle of nowhere and snows often. The Camp provided educational class, but ti was based on the ideas of communism. There was a library and Rawicz would often visit it, but most of the books were based on communism and the Soviet Union as well. Rawicz worked at a ski shop and later was hired by the commissioner to fix his radio. The plan to escape was in the midst of his mind and made propositions with other prisoners. In chapter eight, Rawizc speaks with the commissioner’s wife and they conversed about the escape of camp 303. She offers her help because they have a mutual understanding of each other that prison life is not so great. In chapter nine, Rawicz constructs a plan to escape and recruited several prisoners that would be beneficial for the journey ahead. He and the fellow inmates made preparation, gathering and constructing as many tool as they would need to make it across the journey. Food, clothing, weapons, and other essentials were prepared, packed inside bags that the commissioner’s wife had gave them. In chapter 10, Rawicz and the others made an attempt across the snow covered fields and went over and under the barbed wired fencings. Minutes went by as they struggled to get across. Rawicz explains the feelings with great details that I felt nervous myself and having that fear that I would get caught. The first obstacle was successful and they took off running into the forest. The journey described was a sensational feeling overwhelmed by freedom. They traveled thirty miles a day and rested each night having a fulfilling dinner and enjoying each other’s company. They have a great journey ahead of them for the next few weeks.

Week 7: Summary on concept essays.

The essay Cannibalism written by Linh Kieu Ngo illustrates the different beliefs of the practice. Cannibalism can be broken down into two main categories: exocannibalism and endocannibalism. “Exo” represents the eating of outsiders or foreigners and “endo” is described as the eating of members within a social group. Three of the most common functional cannibalism is survival, dietary and religious/ritual cannibalism. The only acceptable type of cannibalism in my opinion is survival cannibalism. It is necessary to take action in dire situation in order to preserve a human life, even if that action may include the consumption of human flesh. The Chemistry of Love written by Anastasia Toufexis can be summarized into two main concepts. Amphetamines fuel romance and endorphins/oxytocin sustain lasting heterosexual relationships. Although the physical evidence is defined, chemical reactions do not explain why specific people are initially attracted to each other. Toufexis explains that the intial attraction occurs because each of us carries a “unique subliminal map” (144) that lead us unwearyingly to a partner. In addition, she explains that men search for maximal fertility, whereas women look for security, resources, status, and a willingness to be a father. The essay Born to be Happy, through a Twist of Human Hard Wire, written by Richard Friedman, describes that everyone has good and bad moods. Everyone suffers setbacks that have emotional consequences. Friedman explains that some people are wired emotionally under two categories: dysthymic and hyperthymic. That is, people’s temperaments and their genes inclined their emotions to behave in a depressed or happy mood and are uncontrolled. The essay In the Blink of an Eye written by Bob Holmes describes that human activities transform the Earth, forcing species to die. What are our moral responsibilities as individuals and as a nation? What are the possible steps to reverse our destruction on the very same planet we live upon? Apparently our human existence is causing rapid contemporary evolution because of our constant destruction on the environment.

Week 6: The Long Walk Ch. 1-5

The first chapter of The Long Walk describes Slavomir Rawicz experience as a prisoner of the Soviet Union. He explains every detail from the clothes on his back to the detailed description of his prison cell. Rawicz was interrogated and tortured on a daily bases. The Russians were persistent in their search for the “truth” and believed that Rawicz was a polish spy because he was able to speak Polish and Russian. They wanted him to sign a release form that stated his identity as a Polish spy. The Russian secret police used several torturing device on their prisoners and often succeeded. One of the device that Rawicz described was called a kishka—a cell-like chimney. The kishka was often filled with bodily fluid, waste and had a horrific odor left by other prisoners. The second chapter describes Rawicz sentence and trial. The judge too was persistent in his search for the truth. Other officials in the courtroom kept questioning Rawicz identity and trying to convince him to tell the truth. Rawicz has spent days and weeks in prison and being tortured. He logically explained to himself that even if he tells the truth and conforms to the identity perceived by the Russian that his life would not get any worst. In fact, after Rawicz confessions, the Russians treated him a lot better than usual, but it did not last as he was to be transported to another prison. Chapter three, four, and five are similar because his experience in the truck, train, and another truck were all conflicted with the same harsh environment. There were little food, clothes, and it was always cold. The three trips he took were not wasteful as he build friendship with other prisoners and found that they had similarities. Most of the prisoners were force to plead their guilt as a threat to the Soviet Union.
The essay Cannibalism was a rather gruesome topic to research. Cannibalism can be divided into many subcategories. The only category that I would approve is the survival cannibalism in which the consumption of human flesh was a last resort to avoid starvation.