My New Humanities Blog

I now have a new work blog at this address

http://www.jv-hill.blogspot.com/

Due Tuesday 4/24 - The press in times of crisis

I couldn't really tell if it was Pro or Con. But I really don't think that the press should ever be banned in thimes of war. I want journalists over in the town, on the front lines, at the meetings so that the American people can understand what is going on overseas. I don't think that they should have to think that the Army and the Navy are doing the right thing when thier blowing up and bombing towns.

Like in the movie that we saw ub class today. I'm glad that the reporters were there to capture and film all of the destruction that was happening. I'm glad that the American people got to see what was going on first hand from the news stations. Not having to believe that we were doing good, helping the Vietnamese and saving there country when we were reallyburning down their homes and burning up their towns.

It' hard for me to have to think that the Army and the Navy are getting tons of support and credit for things that are not even good for the people of South Vietnam. It's almost u DISCUSTING!!!

DUE THUR 4/19 Don Imus Controversy

ANSWER ALL THREE QUESTIONS and post on your blog. Don't forget to put the questions in bold.

Short Answer: a few sentences for each question:

1. According to the NAACP, why should Imus be silenced?
Because he called some black college backetball players a very bad name. Also becasue he saying that has made a big controversy. He calling the players the name that he called them kinda is saying that all blacks are...

2. According to Frank Rich, why should Imus not be silenced?
Because he thinks that he can say it because Glenn Beck assumed that the first Muslim congressman was a terrorist, and also called him a "faggot." So because nobody did anything to her when she said that stuff, then he thought that he could say the things that he did.

3. Do you think Imus should be silenced? Why?
I really think that should not have been fired. If Gleen Beck and Mel Gibson can say what ever they want about anyone and not get in trouble for it, I think that Imus shouldn't get all beaten up about it. The biggest reason of him getting fired was becasue of the NAACP. I really think that they should not have gotten involved with this. Since the players didn't say anything to them, they should have just stayed out of it. Its not a big deal, tons of people say those kinds of things and don't get introuble for it so why should he?

DUE WED 4/18 Plato Reading and Blog

Read all of section c. pp. 85-93 (start where the section begins on the bottom)

Answer one of the following questions or develop your own. Post the response on your blog. Don’t forget to include the question in bold on your blog.

1. Why should plays, and acting in them, be regulated? What is potentially beneficial or harmful from acting in a play?

One way that I think that plays and the acting in them are harmful because what they aer acting out to us may not be true in some was. That way we are not getting the true story so we are liking something that maybe if they told it as it really was we would not like. But I think that not doing it right can also tell you something else that could make the story more interesting to the audience or anyone who is viewing. I really don't agree or diagree with the assumptions that acting isn't the harmful or beneficial, but I do think all of those things.

DUE TUE 4/17- Helpful Blog Comments

Review the comments that classmates have made on your blog and choose two or three of them that you found particulary helpful. Write a short paragraph for each one explaining why it was helpful. Be specific. What is helpful about it and why.

Michael Murillo
Excellent JV! I lone how you fill it with metaphors. I also noticed how you related the bird to what it does, instead of what it is. The only thing that could be improved on is your grammer and your sentence structure. For instance this sentence could be worded differently and structured: "Once I am finished lazily working to please I must then clean up the mess the vacuum eating the seed like an Anteater sucking up the seed like as ants."

I really like how Michael told about the good things that I said but also told me about what I could change. This was helpful because he told me that I nedded to change something and because I didn't see it I now know that I need to look over my work more. I found what Michael was talking about and I could see how it would make my paragraph look and sound better if I change it. So that's why I think that it was helpful.

Jessi
this is an interesting rage. I myself have never really experienced the game part, but I do know how you feel about parents coming home right when you start to enjoy yourself. I think that you could use a few more discriptive words and metaphores. Other than that, great job.

I really like how jessi told me that she knows how I feel when this happens. It lets me know that I'm not the only on that sometimes feels bummed out when your just starting to have fun and your parents come home. She also tells me that I could use some more descriptive words that would make my piece more interesting. That's how she was helpful.

Justin Ureta
Actually, I diagree here. i think the things she mentioned (Other that "Didn't firemen used to put out fires?") was something everyone would have noticed, but simply never have the time to.

I really like how Justin disagreed with what my assumption was. I really like how he told me the part that I was wrong about and later in class explained to me what I could do better next time. with what he siad, it made me go back and read over that part of the book again and realize that all the time he was right and I was wrong.

DUE THR 3/22 - Prep for Seminar

Prepare for Socratic Seminar by writing at least one-half page on at least one of the following prompts, or create your own prompt. If you create your own prompt remember it must be an interpretive question, meaning there is more than one possible answer (but you only have to provide one answer in your response).

1) In your opinion, is it ever right to harm somebody? Why or why not? What would Socrates and/or Thrasymachus say in response to your answer?

I think that you do have the right to harm someone. Say that someone did something really bad to you that inflicted pain and you want a way to get back at them. I think that you have the right to hit them back. They deserve it, I really think so. Thats what I would do. But getting back to the point. You would want to hurt them back to show that you can defend yourself. Its not about just hurting them, its about showing that you not afraid of them.

You should hit them back, but if they didn't do anything that bad like just steal something from you, ya I would take something of theres of the most value. They would never see it again. But thats just me, not to be mean, but to give them what it is like to have something valuable to them.

DUE WED 3/21 Republic Assignment

Write your reaction to the following statement: Whether or not an action is right or wrong is less important than wheter or not it benefits the interests of the agent.

I think that this is morally wrong. An honest person with some kind of moral center would never put himself before deciding whether an action is right or wrong. an honest man would always consider his actions, choose his words carefully, and in the end, make others and himself happy. So really, this statement is directly linked to a person's happiness and ability to stay within what is right by the standards of the law of their governing body. Some might say that the governing body is the agent in many cases, but a government who actually cares about its people would always put itself and its own prosperity after that of their people. There has never been a government truly like this, and that is why we have war, pain, and suffering being caused by many governments around the world. That includes ours.

Due Tuesday, 3/20 Republic Assignment

In your opinion, is Polemarchus definition of justice, derived from the poet Simonedes, an improvement from his father’s definition?

Well, that is really difficult to decide because of how he revered both. However, I definitely lean more towards it deriving from Simonedes.

What is Simonides definition of justice? Has Polemarchus interpreted him correctly?

Simonedes says that justice is to help your friends and hurt your enemies. That is really how Polemarchus interpreted him, and it was correct I believe.

What problem does Socrates see in the phrase, “helping one’s friends and harming ones enemies”? Why is this not an accurate definition of justice?

Well, he sees that man is generally incorrect about things, and that they base their decisions on their likes and dislikes, so a friend might not be actually good and an enemy might not be bad. But that doesn't stop the person from helping the friends and harming the enemy, which is the reverse of what Simonedes meant. It is not an accurate definition of justice because it is based on emotion.

What lesson do you think Socrates/Plato is trying to prove by having Polemarchus give in to Socrates when his father (Cephalus) would not?

I'm not sure if there really is an underlying meaning. The only thing it could do is cause a rift between father and son, or show that the inexperienced are more likely to change their mind than the experienced.E) Whose argument do you find more convincing, Polemarchus or Socrates? Why? (This should be a longer response, short paragraph, about 5 sentences).When you think about it, Socrates really doesn't have an arguement! All he is trying to say is that Polemarchus is wrong, not putting forward an arguement. Nonetheless, he completely dis-assembled Polemarchus' arguement, and in doing so, took away all credibility from it.

DUE FRI, 3/16 Republic Assignment

Answer the following questions – short answer (about a couple of sentences or more)

1) Who are Cephalus and Polemarchus?

They are friends of Socrates, who he decided to see before he left. Cephalus is the father, and Polemarchus is one of his sons.

2) What is the profession of Cephalus?

A Business man.

3) What was Cephalus doing right before the discussion that took place?

He was preparing/taking part in the daily sacrifice.

4) According to Cephalus, what are the virtues of old age?

You have already been down roads that the young have not yet traveled, roads of hardship, and are in turn more experienced and wise. The flip side, is that you know death is near, so many men are afraid that what they have heard in their many years about the afterlife (the horrors and the judgments) are true/false.

5) What are Cephalus’ view of justice?

He believes that justice is paying back your debts and not lying.

6) What is Socrates response?

His response is best described in his analogy, he proposes a situation where you have borrowed a weapon from a friend, but then that friend is deemed mad, at which point you shouldn't return the weapon (paying back the debt). So basically, there are situations where you have to lie or not pay back debts, all Socrates is doing is exposing a flaw in Cephalus' idea.

Write a one paragraph response to the following question

1) Do you agree with Cephalus or with Socrates? Why?

If you don't agree with either of them, write about which one you think makes the stronger arguement, even if you think it is not "right" - and why? To be honest, I don't think that Socrates' knowledge and philosophical way of thinking can out-weigh years and years of experience. I believe that Cephalus is more in the right because of him having a lot of experience with life and because all Socrates has been shown to do so far is find holes in the ideas of others, and not really put forward an idea of his own.

He spends his time going against what others think, and frankly I am not sure of where he stands on justice yet. So, by default, I am siding with Cephalus. But, don't think its just automatically chosen completely, I truly believe that not lying and paying back your debts are a part of justice, just not the whole piece. His statement is only half-way in a sense. Try to give this a shot, if you can’t answer it that’s okay: What do you think Cephalus represents? What is particular or unique about his view of justice compared to the others you have discussed in class? Well, the main thing that Cephalus represents in my mind is experience. He is the one who has seen the most, lived through and dealt with the worst, and he truly has the backing for everything he is saying. Like an elder.

He could also be one of those prisoners who has had a glimpse of the light. He is partially enlightened and is trying to spread what he understands about the higher knowledge, though it may be limited compared to what Socrates has seen and understood. The main part of his idea of justice that is unique is that it completely coincides with what "justice" is defined as "doing the right thing".

DUE THUR, 3/15 Similie of the Cave Reading Questions

1Q) Compare and contrast what Socrates says in “The Simile of the Cave” with Fahrenheit 451. How are characters like Mildred similar to characters in “Simile of the Cave”?

1A) Well, they are exactly what Socrates speaks of. Those prisoners who are just chained up and don't question anything. They believe whatever is shown to them is real, and don't dare or don't care enough to really think about what is behind them. In F451, the society was controlled socially by the government, and brainwashed into believing that whatever the government said was real, and there was no need to question it because there wasn't any room for it to be wrong. They are prisoners who choose to be imprisoned. If you make a decision to be ignorant, like Mildred and many people used to do, then you are solidifying your belief that everything you are given by the governing body or belief is true, whether you really believe it or not. Its a conscious decision being made to not question anything, and often times, that is the sign of a weak mind. A mind that does not question will never discover anything of use. Those "drones", those "prisoners", they are the ones who make up the basis of any society, and that is what is the important similarity between F451 and "The Simile of the Cave". In both, there are far more "prisoners" than those who unshackle themselves and see the light, and truly find that higher knowledge. That is what links them, and in both cases, confines them.

DUE WED 3/14 - Personal Reflection (Plato)

1) Recall a time that you heard a statement of “fact” that was later found to be untrue. It can be from a parent, a teacher, a friend, a government official, a book, or a film. How did you find out it was untrue and how did it make you feel? Did it change your outlook on anything?

I remember this one thime when one of my clos friends told me that every year you eat at least a spiders in your sleep; thats why sometimes whe you wake-up thats why you have that bump on you lipe he said. It sounded so real and so true that I scanned every word he said in to my brain. It was so creepy to now know that each year I scarf down 8 nasty spiders. When I told my aunt she said that what my friend said was not true. She said that it would be hard to swallow a whole spider without feeling it move around in your throat. Now what she said made me really think about what my friend had said. That made me loose some trust in him saying and making my believe that you eat spiders asleep. So when my class went to the science fair in Del Mar I asked some people and they to said no. It started sounding really stupid once I realized that i would be almost impossible to swollow a live spider while sleeping. Even thougth its not true, I still like telling people.

DUE FRI 3/2 Personal Reflection

Write about a time that your pride had negative consequences (or related to that, your inability to forgive). You can also write about someone else or write about pride in another book.

When I was in 5th-6th grades I used to be a troublemaker. I would do lots of things that were unacceptable. In other words, some of the things I did got me in trouble with the teacher. My 6th grade teacher was a very interesting person, he would eat his lunch and other snacks in front of us as he was teaching the class.

Getting back to the question; It was a regular day, the sun was smiling, the birds singing and me about to get into trouble. We were at the park and there was a little stream of water that was going down the sidewalk. There were ants that were trying to cross it; to us a little stream of water is small, but to an ant its like a big roaring river. I was a mean little boy back then so I asked my friend for his eyeglasses. They were such a high prescription that when he put them on his eyes were three times the size. I took his glasses and started to burn the ants and watch them scurry all around. As I was doing that the principal of our school came over and told me that those are Gods creatures and to stop burning them. It was really fun to me and I liked to do it.

So that day when I got home I took the magnifying glass and started to burn the ants that had been peacefully going about their duties. Then I thought to myself; "maybe if I got some tissue and made the ant crawl all over it the maybe I could light it on fire." So that’s exactly what I did. As I was burning it my dad was watching me the whole time through the window. I was in big trouble, because when he came out you could see that he was ticked by the look on his face. I was in big trouble because I wasn't supposed to be playing with that type of stuff. In the end, after doing it again about three more times, and him seeing me; I got all of my things taken away, all because I was having fun burning things.

How was your pride, or the other person's, similar or different to that of Achilles?

I think that me and Achilles’ pride was some what similar, and we both had great consequences. Achilles got punished by Zeus and got shot in the heel by a poison arrow and died. For me, my dad is like Zeus; except he didn't punish me by shooting my heel; he punished me by taking away all of my prized possession which made it feel like as if I died.

DUE WED 2/28 Iliad Assignment

What was your opinion of Achilles before reading Book 9? Does it change after reading Book 9? Explain why or why not.

From what I had heard about Achilles, I thought that he was a very cool guy. He was fearless, not easy to kill, those types of things. Achilles seemed like a big hero to me. He was half god half man. But when I started reading the book I still thought he was cool because he sounded indestructable. But as I read on, I learned that he was killed by a poison arrow. I was so confused, I thought that he could not get killed. I thought, how could he have gotten killed. Mr. Jana then said that when he got dipped in the river, he got held by his heel. Since his heel didn't get dipped it was the one part of his body that didn't become indestructable. I really don't think that my opinions of Achilles have really changed. I still think that he is pretty cool, I think that even thought hes going to die I think that he's a very good fighter and. For him to be fighting on Agamemnons side and not fighting under his orders, I think that is ver cool. It shows that he somewhat likes to be independent.

DUE THR 2/22 Iliad Reflection - Book One

If you were an ancient Greek, which of the following statements would you agree with?

A) Achilles’ rage is justified and I support his decision not to fight, even if it means the Greeks might lose lots of men, or even the war itself.

I support his decision not to fight because I really don't hink that he should have to fight if he does not want to. I think that Achilles can choose the dicision not to fight because he know that he does not have to fight. he's just fight for Agamemnon so that the Greeks can win the war. If I were Achilles I would just not fight, I would not like being used by a king who is just a greedy person who knows that the only way that his side could win was just simply to have me to fight the war for them.
Like in the movie when he is in the boat, he says to his people that they are under his control. He is not going to take and messing around from Agamemonon. He just wants to go to war is because he know s that if he dies that he will be remembered for being the brave knight who killed tons of people all by himself and a few other people.

DUE THR 2/22 - Disagreements and Fights ...

1) In your blog write about a time when you had a big disagreement with a friend or other person that led you or the other person to regret things that were said or done.

There have been many times where I haven't gotten along very well with my friends. A time that I disagreed with my friends, alot of the times are when we are in socratic seminars. I get so frustrated, its like when someone say something that I don't totaly agree with, then I get mad and don't really like that person like I did before the seminar. There are times like in the seventh grade
when I got really angry and completly disagreed with the person, and just yelled out that I completly disagreed and practicly spit in there face telling them why they were wrong! I don't like people who don't totaly agree with the things that I say. Thats all that I think about my disagrements. I really never have any fights at a seminar or with my friends.

DUE WED 2/21 Iliad Reading

1) Ask questions about things that confuse you about the reading. Be prepared to share them with the class.

I am not confused about anything. But I was reading and thought that this sounded much like "Troy". Is it about the Iliad, and does it have some connetion with the Movie that we are watching?

2) Give short bullet point summaries of the most important things that happen in this reading selection.

Page:89 Line: Whole Paragraph

When Achilles is crying and thinking about his mommy. When he reached out his arms and started praying for hi morther. "Mother! You gave me life, short as that life will be, so atleast Olympian Zeus, thundering up on high, should give me honor." I like that part of the reading and think that is important becasue he is realizing that his mother gave him life and is praying for his mom to pray for him because he knows that he is going to die in the battle.

Due THR 2/15 Iliad Assignment

So Basically all that I really want to know is where is the girl that they are fighting over. There isn't alot of mentioning of her in this story. I kinda want to know whats going on with her while all of this is happening!!!

DUE WED 2/13 The Iliad Assignment (Late okay - Due 2/13)

1. Write a summary bullet for each stanza

• So basicly what they are saying in first paragraph is that Thestor's son is scanning the birds and thinks about the things that are happening are going to happen and did happen.


• So what happens in the second stanza is that Achilles is ordered to explain Apollos anger.


• So Achilles wants to make a deal with Zeus to defend him. There is a man that he will make mad, He is a mighty King and he is way to strong to fight.


• So here Zeus is saying that he will pretect Calchas so that no one will be able to touch him when he will be fighting.


• So here In this stanza The priest and Agamemnon are talking about the girl that had gotten talken away as a war prize. The priest does not want any ranson and there is no price that Agamemnon can say that will interest the priest so that he will give up the girl.
  

2. Write a question for each stanza - be specific - don't just say "I don't get it" say "I don't understood who Calchas is on p. x "

• I do not have any questions for these stanzas.
  

3. Make a prediction when you finsish the three stanzas.

• I think that this war is going to go for along time before Agamemnon will get his women back since the priest will not take any ransom for the girl.

DUE TUE, 2/23 - Iliad notes (Late okay - Due 2/13)

1. Summarize with one or two quick bullet points per stanza - ones that you will be able to understand when you read your notes later.

• So basicly what these stanzas are saying is that there is an old man that is terrified. He had taken orders to go down the shore line to where an old priest was praying for the son of Leto.


• There is also a god who is being shot with arrows in his back and falls to his knee.

2. Ask questions about the reading from one or more stanzas.

• Why was the God (that went on his knee) getting shot by arrows in his back?

3. Predict what will happen next.

• I really have no idea what is going to happen next. This is just the most confusing thing that I have ever read!!!

DUE TUE, 2/12 My Rage - Cause (Late okay – Due 2/3)

It is Monday morning and I am so sick. I ask my dad if I could stay home because I don't feel good. So my dad leaves the house. I think to myself saying " what is there to do now". I go onto the computer and go to Myspace.com. There is no one on and I feel like nobody in the world will talk to me. I start to get mad and want to go back to school. But at the same time I realize that I am t sick to even go to school. So I wait and think and wait and thing some more and come up with a solution. I will play online with my PS2 but then I see that nobody is on because they are all at school.

So I just play my games alone in the house with my dog by my side acting like a cushin for my tired arm. Hours go by and I am still in a rage from not having anyone to play with. I hear my dad coming to the driveway. That was a horrible sound to here, I didn't want him to come home because I am starting to have fun playing my games. Now I am even more mad because I won't be able to play my games.