My Interactive Reflection Journal

In this blog you will find a number of works that I have written for my English class. The IRJs are passages using different styles of writing (QR- quick response, CP- Creative Piece, OP- Open Prompt, PR- Peer Response). The tabs at the top of the screen will tell you about me, how my writing has evolved throughout freshman year, and other useful English components. Feel free to explore this blog and enjoy.

IRJ Reflection #22

When Fun Becomes Unfavorable: How Too Much Fun Can Ruin One’s Life

I write this IRJ reflection at 2:52 AM. I state that I write at this time in order to illustrate how my lack of time management and my excessive enjoyment becomes detrimental to my overall health. Since the early years of my childhood my mother has nagged me with the words no child enjoys hearing. These words consist of “all play and no work, makes Jack a dumb boy.” I see this statement in its clearest form right now (and hopefully that is not from being delusional from lack of sleep) and realize how I need to change the way I run my life, or extreme challenges await my future.

I will concisely tell the story of my weekend first to show how mismanaged time can ruin my working habits as a whole. On Friday after tennis practice, I attended a small tennis dinner. This dinner ended at 6 PM. I then spent the night at a friend’s house. Naturally at ssleepovers, one does not sleep until 1 Am or 2 and that did not stray from reality. In short, my lack of sleep on Friday, caused a Saturday full of a lethargic me taking a nap for six hours. Honestly, this clearly gives the impression of what I think a bum would do. Then yesterday, Sunday, I thought homework would be easy, so I went to a friend’s house with no lesson learned. I got back at around 9 PM and decided to start my homework. But the Olympics closing ceremonies blared on my television, so the homework process proved to be halfheartedly done. Eventually, I end up in this situation. It is Monday and I am doing homework at what is now 3:06 AM.

I have definitely learned my lesson from this blatant foolishness. I clearly had no restraint on my fun this weekend and showed no desire or concern to complete my homework. I think it is prudent that in order for one to succeed, they must plan effectively. I could have distributed my homework load over the hours of the weekend, but I lacked the sense to do something that intelligent. But I think this situation is applicable to more grand situations in real life. According to the news, a massive earthquake is set to hit California. But my family, nor many others take necessary precautions for this disaster. We have no plan. And in a short analogy, my carelessness with homework is similar to my family’s carelessness with the earthquake precautions. And my consequential catastrophe with my homework may be similar to the consequential catastrophe with a major earthquake that we could have planned for.

IRJ Reflection #21

The Unobtainable Want: The Ultimate Desire to Be Acknowledged

Many understand that poetry has the same ability to communicate a message as a novel or analytical writing. I definately advocate this fact with the poem, “Pescadero” by Mark Doty. The poem starts off by talking about a person who interacts with a goat in an intimate manner, similar to the way a person interacts with thier dog or cat. He mentions how a fence seperates the goat from the character and how the two characters bypass the obstacles by touching through the gaps in the fence. Doty represents the character to be extremely happy when the goat feels him. The exact verse states, “she likes me a lot, she takes interest in me, she doesn’t know me at all or need to, having thus acknowledged me. Though I am all happiness”.

Evidently, Mark Doty constructs this poem to illustrate how people strive to find any kind of affection in life. The goat represents affection and kindness in its purest form. As exemplified by the quotation, the goat as no idea who the character is, yet it finds comfort in showing compassion towards the person. Due to the goat’s actions, the man finds a real sense of happiness that cannot be cheaply emulated. This precious happiness derives from the man’s need for loving and care. Undoubtedly, this loving and care prove to be difficult to find at times in one’s life.

From shoddy parenting to ostracism, pure loving can be hard to come by. Kindness can also be false for the benefits that it may provide later on. One may show compassion to one’s boss so he may achieve the boss’s approval and rewards in the future. But this kind of compassion lacks realness. It simulates a much deeper, more meaningful emotion that seperates it from all imitators. The goat has no pre-disposed feelings towards the man, but it sees that the man’s lonliness needs to be resolved by pure affection. This entire analyzation brings me to the point that if a goat can show such innocent, untainted emotions, why is it so hard for humans to reciprocate them to people they do, in fact, know.

IRJ Reflection #20

The Inexistent Morals: The Need to Follow Under Cruel Circumstances

Throughout my life, people have told me that those who follow God, follow the path of truth and righteousness. Though this may be a exemplary thought process to live by, people who follow God blindly are not superior to those who do not follow God at all. Ironically, this can be proved best by the passage in the Bible. God inquires that Abraham sacrifices his son, Isaac, to God at the top of a mountain. While journeying to the mountain, Isaac asks his father where their sacrificial lamb is and Abraham replies by saying, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” (Gen. 22. line 8 )

As illustrated by the passage, Abraham lies to his very own child in order to fulfill the wishes of God. At the time, Abraham knew that he had been leading his own son to his own death, yet he showed a lack of mercy for Isaac. He demonstrates how a parent’s natural instinct to keep their children safe is deregarded when following God.  In this verse Abraham lies to Isaac and follows his lie by adding the “my son” tag. This almost conveys the point that he comprehends the intensity of the sin he is about to commit, but would rather just comfort his son before he dies. Granted, the God reaffirms his covenant with Abraham for his devotion; But why would God ask a man to do such a thing, as kill his own son? The intentions of God in this chapter confuse me. This quotation also contradicts the ten commandments that appear later on in the Bible. The sixth commandment states that one shall not murder, but by sacrificing Isaac, Abraham blatantly challenges a commandment of God in order to fulfill another mission from God.

In a more real world perspective, I realize that people take religion in a excessively serious manner. If there are those killing in the name of God, then how could they possibly be sinless people. Now I think the usage of God’s name in inhumane acts is inappropriate. One shall not kill another due to the wishes of a supernatural being, mainly because homicide has no benefits. Following religion is a different thing altogether. Religion helps develop values and respectful disposition. The situation that I address takes religion to an extreme level. One should think before he acts and not follow blindly. Because when one is blinded from morals and virtues, he might lead others into dark. And sometimes that darkness can be fatal.

IRJ Reflection #19

Don’t Always Trust What You See: The Media’s Lack Of Crediblity

As I read Time magazine, I came across an article named “Being Fat May Not Be All Bad–if you’re 70″ by Sora Song. In the article, Sora states that people ”ages 70 to 75 in the study, [] who were overweight were the least likely to die over 10 years, compared with people who were of normal weight or obese.” This article frustrated me because it contradicts years of studies that assert that an overweight nature decreases life span. These articles need to make a solid statement without it being contradicted subsequently.

In the past, being overweight has always been proposed as a detriment to a person’s life, especially in American society. As a young child, I held a very stout, chunky physique. Repeatedly, my pediatrician would enforce that I should exercise more because I weighed in excess for my height. He would say: “If you want to live long, you need to be healthy and basically less heavy.” Of course, at the time, the doctor’s comment offended me, but as time progressed I began to exercise alot, almost to a point of excess. I lost much weight and became detrimentfully underweight. At that, my parents forced me to gain weight so I would fall into the correct height to weight ratio. As a young child, the people around me encouraged my body to go on a roller-coaster with my weight. This weight change also supposedly increased my life span, but after reading this article, I do not think I should have hastily lost so much weight in a period of one summer. If being overweight helps one live longer as a senior means that eventually one day people need to become overweight in order to live longer. I do not see how scientists can justify themselves after contradicting themselves repeatedly and causing people to drastically change their lives.

In a more general perspective, the media misleads the majority of the population to the point where a person does not know how to diffrentiate truth from lies. The situation stands that the media says one thing and then soon contradicts it. How does one shape thier lives to these turbulent sources? I strive to find a way to tell fact from fib. I hope the media will solidly state something with certainty and have it not be disproved soon after.

Article: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1957491,00.html

IRJ Reflection #18

Intensified Observation: Jealousy’s Prominence Through Out Time

When I think of jealousy, I imagine that the emotion developed over the progression of mankind. Today, in a matter of seconds, the bible disproved this theory when it states, “Cain rose up agaist his brother Abel, and killed him.” (Bible, 16)  Cain kills his brother Abel because Abel impresses god with his offerings of ship and thier fat, while God does not regard Cain’s gift of fruit. Cain demonstrates jealousy in its entirity by commiting the sin of marytring his own brother.

The irony of this situation lies with the fact that Cain and Abel are the progeny of Adam and Eve. Humorously, the brothers are second generation human and they exemplify one of the most flawed emotions know to man. If jealousy recently (the word “recent” used as a time frame of a couple thousand years) developed throughout mankind, then it would be missing from one of the oldest and sophisticated works of writing known to man. But this situation lacks relevance because it is not the case. Though God punishes Cain for his wrong doings, Cain illustrates how jealousy is an intrinsic sentiment. He clearly portrays that jealousy has existed since the beginning of time and will continue to exist because, if following a biblical thought process, Eve fell to the enticement of the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit.

In conclusion, the malevolent emotion of jealousy occurs throughout history time and time again, starting since the near the biblical beginning of time. So when a person states that “feelings never die”, their statement holds true when referring to those with an envious eye.

IRJ-QR #17

The Perfect Ally

John Faa holds concern for Lyra’s safety when she wishes to travel to the village with Iorek but is reassured when Lee Scoresby affirms, “All bears are true, but I’ve known Iorek for years, and nothing under the sky will make him break his word.” (Pullman 207) Lee Scoresby’s statement verifies the idea that sincerity and loyalty hold to be some of the most respected values known to man.

 

Iorek’s genuineness and trustworthiness exemplifies why his character holds such importance throughout the novel. Iorek and the other bears, though ruthless, all hold loyalty to a patron. This loyalty makes the entire panserbjorn respectable as a race. The characteristics of Iorek also allow him to be the intimidating creature that he is. The fact of the matter stands to be that he cannot be bribed due to his dependability; therefore making him a supreme threat.

If a person has these traits similar to Iorek, he/she will have much success in diplomacy. Trustworthiness holds to be a universally venerable quality. In the real world, those who are diplomatic have a harder time creating animosity and diplomacy is synthesized by creating trust and loyalty between a group of people. Despite the fact that these people will develop some enemies, the enemies will hold respect for the person that devotes themselves to their beliefs. Iorek symbolizes the ideal human in the way that he is trustworthy and an effective ally. If a person shows loyalty, the person demonstrates an impressive value to uphold and that loyalty makes him dreaded by the adversary. Sincere people always finish their duty with their dignity and that in itself, makes them better than the common man.

 

Proposition: Sincerity and loyalty are key traits in a worthy rival and give a strong advantage to whoever holds these qualities.