5-6-15

“The Unknown Citizen” and “Richard Cory” are both powerful poems that both feature a strong message. Auden’s poem speaks about an average, well-liked, and perfect citizen and describes to the reader how the government views him, while Robinson’s poem depicts a man who is idolized by his peers, but who feels detached and empty on the inside. It is noticeable to the reader that Robinson’s poem begins where Auden’s ends, a matter that plays a role in both the similarities and differences between the two poems. The theme of appearance may be depicted by the two poems through characterization, point of view, and ironic outcome.
“Richard Cory,” as well as “The Unknown Citizen,” both speak about a particular citizen who’s characterization directly conveys the theme of appearance vs. reality. For example, in “The Unknown Citizen,” Auden characterizes the perfect citizen who “in everything he did he served the Greater Community.” This “Greater Community” that Auden speaks about happens to be the state and government, who pretty much ruled over this “Unknown Citizen,” even to the extent of a form of brainwash. The state addresses the citizen as “JS/07/M/378.” This classification by the means of a jumbled form of letters and numbers, which characterize this average citizen, depict to the reader how the unknown citizen’s soul was not taken into consideration by the state. The constant battle to be the perfect citizen for the state eventually lead to death for the citizen. The unknown citizen’s death, along with his characterization by the state, both challenge the importance of appearance. In “Richard Cory,” Robinson similarly characterizes another person by the name of Richard Cory, who was characterized by his peers as being known as a “gentleman from sole to crown.” Those around him both idolized him and envied him, even to the point of them wishing they were him. However, Richard Cory’s characterization, along with the characterization of the “Unknown Citizen,” both portray how appearance and reality can be total opposites. Richard Cory may have been rich, even “richer than a king,” but in reality Richard Cory was troubled on the inside, and society was blinded to his real needs. These similarities between the characterizations of “The Unknown Citizen” and “Richard Cory,” along with their eventual deaths, both challenge the importance of appearance and show how appearance can hide true feelings on the inside.
The differing point of views of the two poems also depict the importance of appearance. In “The Unknown Citizen,” the point of view of the citizen was that of the state, along with their “Social Psychology workers.” Auden describes to the reader how the state viewed the unknown citizen as a “saint,” who had “no official complaint.” By saint, Auden does not mean that of a religious status, but a citizen who’s appearance appeared to serve the government in everything he did. The “researchers into Public Opinion,” were also “content that he held the proper opinions for the time of year.” This conveys how the unknown citizen went above and beyond to make sure his appearance pleased the state, even kicking his own opinions to the curb. The poem “Richard Cory,” highlighted a different point of view, which were the peers of Richard Cory, who “went without the meat, and cursed the bread,” conveying how those not as wealthy as Cory idolized him because of his wealthiness. Robinson describes how Richard Cory “fluttered pulses,” and how those who viewed him “thought that he was everything.” However, by seeing the interactions of Richard Cory and the point of view of the poem, the reader is able to get a sense that Richard Cory didn’t really have any relationships with anyone. This proves that the perfect appearance doesn’t always mean the perfect reality. Both poems feature two different point of views, but both point of views translate to the reader the theme of appearance.
Both poems outline a similar ironic outcome, which plays the biggest role in challenging the importance of appearance. In the “Unknown Citizen,” the “Modern man’ who “had everything necessary,” eventually could not bare the wear and tear of being a slave to routine and ended up having the similar outcome to that of “Richard Cory,” being death. Auden paints the picture for the reader to not pity this “Unknown Citizen” because he had the ability to just say no to the state and Bureaucraft and express his own actions, in order to define an appearance true to himself. Instead, he put more time into being the perfect citizen for the state and being “fully sensible’ to their needs, which eventually led to a death that beheld a false identity. Similarly, In “Richard Cory,” there was also an ironic outcome that happened to be death. The “clean favored and imperially slim” and high class Richard Cory eventually couldn’t handle the emptiness, loneliness, and absence of freedom anymore, leading him to “put a bullet through his head.” The suicide of Richard Cory conveys to the reader that what people think means to have everything, doesn’t always mean everything, and that appearance doesn’t always display truth, as Richard Cory’s death would testify. The similar ironic outcomes in both poems declare that appearance and reality are two different affairs, and both the ironic deaths challenge the importance of appearance.
Therefore, both poems include both similarities and differences in their characterizations, point of views, and ironic outcomes, which all play factors in the eventual deaths of the two citizens. Through the death of Richard Cory, who was “admirably schooled in every grace,” along with his characterization by those around who viewed him, Robinsion was able to depict the importance of appearance. Likewise, through the death of the “Unknown Citizen,” along with his identification by the state, Auden was able to convey the difference between appearance and reality.

4-21-15

Before I began watching the movie, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I knew I wasn’t in for a typical, cheesy, old-timey horror movie. I came to this conclusion because after reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s mystery novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I knew it would take a great amount of expertise and hard work to pull of the display of the complexity and mystery that came along with reading the novel. When I began watching the movie, I expected a great deal of entertainment, and that’s what I got. The movie, of course, did feature a few tweaks and changes here and there, but along with what I thought to be negative aspects of the movie, also came with what I thought to be positive additions.

Negatives:

– The movie doesn’t feature Mr. Utterson, who was a respected lawyer and a friend of Dr. Jekyll. I see this as a negative because I believe Mr. Utterson played a key role in the novel. Also, when reading the book, I thought that the continuous action of Mr. Utterson trying to get to the bottom of why Mr. Hyde was the only person on Dr. Jekyll’s will, helped add mystery to the story, which I believe the viewer of the movie missed out on.

-The movie doesn’t clarify background characters very well. I believe this is a negative point because, as being a reader of the novel, I found myself becoming a little confused during the movie because of my lack of knowledge of some of the new characters, such as the group of people that Dr. Jekyll had a very nice dinner with one night. The addition of characters wasn’t necessarily a bad aspect, but the catching up on knowledge on some of the new characters did play a negative role.

-Mr Hyde dies from being shot instead of suicide. I view this as a negative aspect because I think that the viewer is deprived of getting a real sense of how hard it was on Dr. Jekyll to stay away from his evil side. The death in the book does a much better job of painting the picture for the reader because the suicide portrays the constant inner battle that Jekyll faced because of the horrible desires of Mr. Hyde.

Positives:

-The movie features additional scenes, such as the scene where Ivy is performing on stage, that add both more entertainment and even some more understanding for the viewer. These additional scenes do not affect the novel in any shape or form in my opinion. Actually, I believe they help the progression of the storyline and plot.

-Even with different characters than the book being affected, the movie does a good job of depicting Hyde’s evilness. Unlike the book, Ivy is Hyde’s main attention on displaying his wickedness. I thought that the troubles she faced due to Hyde, at times, did an even better job than book of conveying Hyde’s deceitful ways.

– The movie implies irony dealing with the subjects of good and evil. For example, the preacher preaches on good and evil in the opening scene, which laid the foundation for the rest of the movie to follow. It also provided irony because of the later troubles that Dr. Jekyll would face over the issue of being both good and evil.

Overall:
– I believe that the movie does a decent job in depicting Robert Louis Stevenson’s message of good vs. evil from the novel, even with the few changes that are present in the movie.

November 4, 2014

After Figuring out that I would like to spend my future career in the medical field, based on my strong desire to help people and hearing my parent’s suggestions on how they see me becoming a doctor, I found three occupations that I think will best fit my aptitude: orthopedic surgeon, anesthesiologist, and pharmacist.

After researching these careers based on salary, level of education, future prospects, aptitude, and job benefits, I would choose orthopedic surgeon because I have keen awareness of my surroundings; I have always had great interest in the healing of bones, and my dream is to one day work with professional athletes.

The comparison chart below illustrates the criteria that I considered in making my career choice:

Orthopedic Surgeon Anesthesiologist Pharmacist

Salary – Earning Potential

Median pay per year: $187,200

Mean annual wage: $235,070

Median pay per year: $116,670

Level of Education

Doctors or professional degree; on-the-job training: internship/ residency

Four years of undergraduate program, and then 4 years or medical school; one year in an internship and three more in a residency program.

Required to have a Doctor of Pharmacy degree; following PhD, may need to complete 1-2 year residency.

Future Prospects

Good for working in rural and low-income areas. (Trouble attracting physicians)

Most hospitals would love to have someone in this field; job is in high demand.

Number of pharmacy schools has grown, creating more graduates, which creates more competition; if you choose to complete a residency program may improve job prospects.

Aptitude

Problem sensitivity, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, manual dexterity, finger dexterity, near vision, oral comprehension, and oral expression

Specific interests, must want to work with hands, and functionality under stress.

Analytical skills, communicative skills, computer skills, detail oriented, and managerial skills.

Job benefits

More than likely will work in small, private offices or clinics with your own nurses and staff; could provide emotional support for someone by healing him/her.

Extremely high pay, and a lot of vacation time; job can be exciting.

Very well paid; benefit of helping someone out; may work in many places including hospitals, grocery stores, department stores, other general merchandise stores.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov. November 4, 2014

By using the facts that the chart provides, a strong case can be made for becoming a pharmacist. The job of a pharmacist provides a stable income, with the median annual pay being $116,670. The level of education needed in order to become a pharmacist, would be a doctor of pharmacy degree followed by the completion of a one to two year residency program. This job also creates many job opportunities in a variety of locations: hospitals, grocery stores, department store and other general merchandise stores. Through this job, I would satisfy my desire to help people in my everyday life. Overall, this career choice seems to provide the most stability, a reasonable amount of educational training, and a stable amount of income.

The career of an anesthesiologist, speaking in financial terms, would also be a smart choice. An anesthesiologists mean annual wage is $235,070. Similar to the career of a pharmacist, there would be many job opportunities for an anesthesiologist because of the job being in such high demand in today’s society. The reason I consider this career choice is because my grandpa was anesthesiologist until he died at the age of 42. I feel like I would have a sense of pride if I were to continue where he left off. However, becoming an anesthesiologist requires a significant amount of schooling including four years of an undergraduate program, four years of medical school, one year in an internship, and three more in a residency program. Along with the abundant amount of income, comes the long time of schooling when dealing with the career of an anesthesiologist. In the end, I don’t believe this job will best fit the qualities that I will need to possess in order to achieve my dream.

Even though both the jobs of a pharmacist and an anesthesiologist would be great career choices and are appealing in many ways, I would have to choose orthopedic surgeon because it would give me the best opportunity to work with athletes.

One of the main reasons why I choose orthopedic surgeon, is because my dream is to become a professional sports team doctor. A great percentage of an athlete’s injuries deal with components such as broken bones and torn ligaments, both dealing with the orthopedic field. In consequence to this, an orthopedic surgeon job would give me the best chance to complete my dream of one day working with professional athletes.

If I pursued a doctoral or professional degree, I would have a great chance at meeting an orthopedic’s median pay per year which is $187,200. In addition, I will also have a great chance to work in my own private office or clinic with my own staff. I believe I also possess some of the abilities that an orthopedic surgeon should have including: problem sensitivity, deductive reasoning, oral comprehension, and written comprehension. Also, I have the chance to provide emotional support to someone by healing them and helping them get back to their everyday life, whether it be a professional athlete or an average person. Each of these aspects, which the criteria presents, play a role in why I choose the job of an orthopedic surgeon.
Each of these careers I examined involved the helping of others and are in the medical field. All three of these careers also include an extensive amount of schooling and specific interests. However, the job I would like to pour my heart, soul, and diligence into would be an orthopedic surgeon. My interest in the healing of bones, and my strong desire to one day be a professional sports team doctor, both point to an orthopedic surgeon being the career path I should take.

2-17-15

In both the fictional novel, Dandelion Wine, written by Ray Bradbury and “Sonnet 73,” written by William Shakespeare, the idea of death and the effect it has on people is presented. In Dandelion Wine, the reader views death through the eyes of wise, elderly people, as well as through youth, who are often confused about the concept. Bradbury provides the reader with three examples of elderly people coming to their time and place to die and how they handled the situation and how they were affected, along with how people of a younger generation handled it. Similarly, in “Sonnet 73” Shakespeare describes death by comparing the changing of seasons, day becoming night, and fire. He also proclaims how love is the solution to the sting of death. Death is not preventable and must happen to everyone, and the only way to eliminate the fear of death is to realize the time will come to die and by feeling the greatness of love. The similarity between the idea of death in the novel and the poem can be seen through the ideas of the process of aging, time, and uncertainty.

Both Shakespeare and Bradbury discuss their ideas of death through the process of aging and describe how the process of aging is significant to death. Through each piece of literature analogies are used to show how the process of aging relates to death. For example, in “Sonnet 73” Shakespeare explains day becoming night; “In me thou seest the twilight of such day.” (line 5.) This analogy of day turning into night represents how each person will make the transition from youth to an elderly age, eventually leading to death, “black night doth take away.” (line 7.) Shakespeare translates to his beloved that the process of aging will occur throughout life and the upcoming of death will surely be experienced. The reader gets the full understanding of how aging is apart of life and point in the direction of death, and there is no prevention of this. Similarly, Bradbury gives the reader an example of an elderly person who is in the midst of the crisis of rapid increase in age. When contemplating her issue, Mrs. Bentley remembers the words of her deceased husband: “No matter how hard you try to be what you once were, you can only be what you are here and now. Time hypnotizes.” (75.) Just like Shakespeare presenting his beloved with metaphoric ideas relating to the process of aging, Bradbury shows the reader through example that aging increases each day in a person, and there’s no returning to days once experienced in youth; “She could see the children racing off under the cavernous trees with her youth in their frosty fingers invisible as air.” (72.) Therefore, both pieces of literature describe how the process of aging only gets greater with time, and the answer is death itself.

Both pieces of literature examine how time is a crucial aspect of life and connect how time plays a critical role in the significance of death. For example, in “Sonnet 73” Shakespeare explains the process of fire, “In me thou seest the glowing of such fire, that on the ashes of his youth doth lie,” (lines 9&10) and depicts to the reader how time is significant to death. Shakespeare displays to his beloved how time never slows down, and how he is approaching the last days of his life. Shakespeare’s purpose for this is to convey to the reader to live life to the fullest because it is impossible to take time back. The reader gets a full understanding that just like fire will lose its once full energy, time will also eventually expire, “As the death-bed whereon it must expire,” (line 11) which means the end of life. Likewise, Bradbury captures Shakespeare’s idea of time being significant to death by giving an example of a boy losing a close friend who is moving, and the two friends only have limited time together; “For John was running, and this was terrible. Because if you ran, time ran.” (106.) Doug didn’t want to rush his final day spent with John. Through this example, Bradbury, like Shakespeare, is able to show the importance of time because without time there is nothing, whether it be simple friendship like Bradbury describes, or on a bigger scale no lifer at all, meaning death. When William Forrester is talking to Mrs. Loomis, she states: “In a few days I will be dead.” (150.) Just like Shakespeare and the idea of fire, Bradbury again shows through example how critical time is and depicts to the reader to always live life the best way possible no matter how much time is left in life. In the end, both pieces of literature express the thought of time being significant to the overall concept of death, and furthermore explain how loss of time could mean death.

Shakespeare and Bradbury also reflect on the idea of uncertainty and discuss how uncertainty is significant to death. Both authors clearly display how they are both curious as to what will happen after death. For example, after translating to his beloved how “black night’’ (line 7) consumes life, Shakespeare presents his mindset of the afterlife, “Death’s second self.” (line 8.) Through this idea of death having a second side, Shakespeare is able to effectively hint at the thought of eternity. Uncertainty is obviously felt by Shakespeare’s beloved, as he is stretched between what he might think is the consequence of death. Whether it be when death occurs there will be no sort of hope after death; “which thou must leave ere long,” (line 13) or will a person be able to continue living after death in some sort of afterlife. Similarly, Bradbury also makes it known to his reader how he is uncertain of what will happen after death, as he provides examples through his characters. For example, Helen Loomis states to Mr. Forrester how they may meet again in another life: “For I don’t know how long they will let you linger on the other side. Perhaps they send you back immediately.” (152.) Just like Shakespeare, Bradbury is able to, through example, convey to the reader how he is uncertain as to whether or not there might be a second life after death. Both authors come to the conclusion that they are uncertain and also curious at what happens next after death, whether there is another life, “the next spin around, wheels might function right again,” or no second life at all.
Both authors propose many similarities between each other over the significance of death. In both pieces of literature, the authors are speaking to another person, “In me thou seest,” (line 5) with Shakespeare speaking to his beloved and Bradbury speaking to his younger self. Both authors use a sensitive tone when speaking as well. The main comparison between the authors is that they both discuss the complex idea of death, have the similar beliefs that death isn’t preventable and must happen. Both authors agree that death is significant and not preventable. Therefore, both authors use similar techniques to explain their thoughts on death and describe how aging, time, and uncertainty are all significant to the concept of death.

April 10, 2015.

As soon as Colonel Jones steps off the plane, he spots his wife drop to her knees screaming with her eyes filled with tears of joy. For 12 whole months Mrs. Jones suffered from many heartaches, tears shed, and sleepless nights without her beloved husband by her side. Her pain was now quenched at the sight of her soul mate dressed in camo. Even though nothing compares to the overwhelming feeling of happiness after seeing a loved one, I still believe that being in the military is the most challenging career because someone’s life is put on the line each day, and being in the military can hurt family connections.
Each day a soldier steps on the battlefield, his or her life is put on the line due to the attributes of their career. For example, Sergant Tom could hardly bear going to war each day due to all of his past near death experiences. Each morning, Sergant Tom’s mind was filled with the thought of if he would live to see another day. This bone-chilling thought depicts why the career of being in the military may be the most challenging career a person can bear, due to all of the brutalities of combat. In addition, facts and stats regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars show that a total of 50,000 American soldiers have been wounded and 6,802 have been killed. These stats display that there’s no denying that people in the military are thrown in harm’s way on a day-to-day basis, and show on a more literal level as to why being in the military is the most challenging career. Even through brave acts of courage, a soldier’s survival is still questionable day in and day out, which plays a vital role in why being in the military would be the most challenging career choice.
Being in the military also has an abundant amount of potential to hurt family connections. For example, I can recall a time when my grandma told me of all the hardships she faced while my grandpa was off fighting in the Korean War. She described to me all of the worry, loss, and trouble she faced the whole time my grandpa was away. Her words conveyed to me the true challenge that could potentially hurt family relationships due to the absence of one family member because of their career in the military. Similarly, Mr. Smith would be away from his family years at a time because of his station in Afghanistan. His absence affected the family as a whole, even his children, who were showing a lack of production in their school work. At times, Mr. Smith’s family felt like a chicken running around with its head cut off because they desperately needed their leader of the household. In the end, this decrease in family connection plays a huge part as to why being in the military is the best possible choice for being the most challenging career to take part in.
Therefore, Colonel Jones will one day have to return back to the environment of war and fight for the freedom of our country. The excitement that Colonel Jones and his wife once felt because of his return will once again fade. Colonel Jones will then once again return to the daily routine of putting his life on the line and putting himself further from his wife, which both display why being in the military is the most challenging career.

April 24,2015

You might think I’m just
an athletic, nerdy, teenage boy
with dirty blonde hair
and hazel eyes
But I know I am more
way more than that
not a snake or shark
not a ladybug or a puffy cloud
A dog
a lazy, do-nothing dog
When I’m just sitting around
like a couch potato
or being an annoying pest
to those around me
When I disobey my elders
doing whatever just pleases me
I am a dog
just taking up space
and giving off unpleasant odors
to those around
But when I show my
loving and caring side
I display loyalty
to all those around
I become a man’s best friend
Whenever times may be rough
I give off love and affection
when it’s needed most
and can be discipline
to those superior
I’m constantly looking
to ease the pain of my peers
until my job of cheering up
is complete
then I return to
my playful, energetic self
The dirty blonde-haired, hazel-eyed boy
is a dog
a lazy, caring, zippy dog.