Humanities – ∙Sophie∙

Category: Humanities

For Posterity– The Diary of Luis Roberto

Holding his old journal, Luis Roberto smiled as the dust of the leather cover shimmered in the light, and the prickly earth-smell of the pages filled his nostrils. It’s funny how while writing the journal, Luis thought he would never have the chance to reread it. Yet, here he was, flipping through the decked edges of each page, reliving the wonders of 1952. Here’s how the journal goes…

Many have changed as a result of the Cuban Revolution. The most noticeable difference being the socio-political structure of Cuba. The Revolution supposedly ends Dictatorship– heavily influenced by the United States, replacing the government with socialism. With socialism, numerous policies of Cuba developed. To name a few, Cuba installed universal healthcare, literacy programmes, and (similar to the soviets) land reforms. Yet despite these socialist reforms, the “end of dictatorship” is a mere deception. Castro continued the dictator ways of governing. He continued to execute those who opposed him or challenge his power; inevitably, leading him to be the one with absolute power. Furthermore, the Revolution greatly influenced Cuba’s international relations. Due to the change in government, Cuba holds tensions with the United States, disapproving of Cuba’s government. In return, Cuba then turned to the Soviets– an adversary to the United States. This change in parties drastically affected the allies and adversaries of Cuba, compared to before the Revolution. However, one intent of the Revolution was to end Cuba’s dependency on the United States. Though Cuba succeeded in cutting off its dependence on the United States, ultimately, Cuba continues to rely on another nation– the Soviets.

Homeland or Death: Options for The Cuban Revolution!

March 29, 2021 / Sophie.l / 0 Comments

The Cuban Revolution, a situation unimaginable to most, can be summed up in a word: continuity. To simplify the complex revolution motive, imagine mom urging you to attend school. Upset, you run away to granny’s, only to realize she signed you up for summer camp. Dictated by tyrant after tyrant, what would you do? How did the Cubans handle such a scenario? Find out in The Cuban Revolution in Plain English video below!

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Breaking Down Unbroken

January 21, 2021 / Sophie.l / 3 Comments

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand tells the life story of Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner and military aviator during World War II, and his experience surviving life on a raft and years of horrific abuse as a prisoner of war (POW) in Japan. Themes the novel hints at include that forgiveness often lastingly changes your perception of life, while revenge feels validated solely at that moment.

The book is a fascinating and influential literary non-fiction-take to a Louie Zamperini obituary that I recommend to all readers. From the iconic quotes of the literature(such as “a lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain” and “dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen”) to the thrilling stylistic writing of Laura Hillenbrand, the read is a reading pleasure to its core. Despite the reading, the novel in itself delivers influential themes. Particularly in non-fiction, readers are heavily encouraged to apply the morals of the book to their life, as they believe that it is a realistic approach to their personal life.

I prejudiced non-fiction. The sound of statistics, graphs, and diagrams weren’t appealing to me. However, this unit was surprisingly enjoyable to learn and go through. I discovered the joy of non-fiction, the combination of narrative and factual areas of the book made it fun to read. Speaking of the matter, I learned about how narrative and information parts seamlessly blend, correlate, differentiate, and strategies to recognise them. It was interesting to identify how literary non-fiction authors combine informational areas of the book and, in my opinion, the fun narrative sections.

Rap of the Boxer POV Rebellion

November 30, 2020 / Sophie.l / 0 Comments

Following historical tradition, the winners of wars always tell the tale, consequently, the Boxers resulted in a bad reputation as they were opponents of the Westerners(the winners) – however, I would argue the contrary. From the Boxer’s POV (point of view), they are justified for their behaviors as a reaction to the exploitation of foreigners. China had spent years suffering, keeled under the weight of the Opium War and other foreign influences. This eventually forced China to sign treaties favoring the foreigners – following to not only wealth desperations, but a flood of ethnocentric missionaries attempting to convert the Chinese into Christians. This suffering is the origin of the Boxers. Like other countries throughout history faced with colonization, they engaged in varying forms of resistance and adaptation to colonial rule. The Boxer’s behavior derived from attempts to preserve their traditional values and the accumulation of difficulties from negative foreign influences (wealth, religion, land, etc). On top of that, natural disasters such as floods and drought led to hardships. Naturally, boxers viewed foreigners as the root of their issues, in the case of both cultural and general hardships, rationalizing their motives for the rebellion. Should the boxers have a bad reputation when their intentions were to defend their culture and remove hardships? From the Boxer’s perspective, no. However, that is a valid question

Ahead of time- Hermia

November 18, 2020 / Sophie.l / 0 Comments

Hermia, one of the lead roles of Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, isn’t the classical damsel in distress of her period. As a woman, she defies her society’s hierarchy as a self-asserted and individualistic character. She’s an exception from the crowd of her era, intriguing me to analyze her for this magazine cover task.

Why the picture?
The cover picture possessed an opinionated expression, like Hermia projecting her opinions of marriage. Also, throughout the play, in the context of Greek mythology, Hermia is regarded as fair, beauteous, and love attractive. Merging the two, the appearance of Hermia could be comparable to Aphrodite’s– the goddess of love and beauty.

What are you proud of?
From the color scheme to the choice of font, the overall aesthetic of the cover symbolizes elegance and sophistication. I’m considerably satisfied with the design of the magazine cover.

Me? A Renaissance Humanist?

October 13, 2020 / Sophie.l / 0 Comments

The overall rating of me being a Renaissance humanist would be 95%. As an atheist, I believe in certain concepts of humanism – valuing evidential teachings and curiosity. Like humanists, I structure theories through an evidential mindset as opposed to unquestionably following the declarations of the church. As no superstition is involved in my identity, my beliefs revolve around science and evidence only. Though comparable to the humanism value of learning through science, I, unlike the Renaissance humanists, rely solely on science instead of attempting to finding a balance between religion and science. I also support elements of Humanism. For example, I value individualism by believing everyone has the power to achieve success, take an interest in humanities, and support that using the past to better society is significant and rational. All in all, I value the key elements of Humanism with only a few modifications. Consequently, I gave myself the rating as a 95% humanist.

The Theme of Thunder

September 30, 2020 / Sophie.l / 0 Comments

“Each decision you make today has the potential to open the doors to profitable benefits or close the door to great opportunities. Think before you act and make your decisions wisely today.” -DeWayne Owen.

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Ray Bradbury illustrated the above quote through his piece “The Sound of Thunder,” an example of when being inconsiderate of deeds could lead to significant consequences. In the story lays the existence of time travel — an invention that potentially makes or breaks the pinnacle of human achievements. Eckels, the protagonist, is offered an opportunity of any hunter’s dream– to kill a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The touch of a feather on a puddle, a ripple made in the adventure–a flap of a butterfly, creates a catastrophic tsunami of Eckels’ life. Hence, the awareness of the consequences of actions is crucial for the future.

The ability of awareness in one’s affairs, minor or major, to consider consequences before doing–a virtue unpossessed by most. However, small actions could result in severe outcomes when this skill is disregarded. In the context of “The Sound of Thunder”, before entering the time machine, Travis, the wise and experienced traveler, instructs Eckels to be conscientious concerning the past. He specifies that “a little error [there would multiply in six million years” (Bradbury, 5) and states, “messing around in time can make a big roar or little rustle in history” (Bradbury, 5). Of a broader context, he reveals a theme or moral that could apply to not only the story, but life–actions of all sizes could have vital outcomes. The toss of a cigarette could potentially begin a wildfire, activating the red button could establish a real-life fifth wave. Prior to returning to the future, Travis, in reaction to Eckel stepping on the earth of the past, threatens him with his gun. To which Eckels exclaims, “I’m innocent, I’ve done nothing wrong” (Bradbury, 13). Despite Travis’ agitated reaction of Eckels’ disobedience, Eckels proceeds to believe that he is virtuous, that he “just ran off the path, that’s all, a little mud on [his] shoes” (Bradbury, 13). A simple pause, a thought about the consequences of stepping off the path, would have prevented the tragic results of the literature –the extinction of butterflies, altering history, and the death of Eckels. The disobedience of Eckels, the inattentive move to contact the past world, though unrealistic, demonstrates the butterfly effect: awareness of actions, no matter what size, has affects on the future.

The metal pathway, a symbolic representation of thoughts. The action of withdrawing yourself from the path, stepping into a world without considering consequences, the butterfly effect. Regret is inevitable, the remorseful feeling that you should have studied for an exam or washed your hands before COVID befell upon you. As William Shockley said, “Regret is unnecessary. Think before you act,” together, we must begin thinking before doing, taking impactful steps to make the utopian world a reality.

Ex”ma’am”inating Internal Conflict

September 14, 2020 / Sophie.l / 0 Comments

The found poem above is taken from page 1-3 of the narrative “Thank You, Ma’am,” by Langston Hughes. The primary conflict of the poem is internal – man vs. self. The internal conflict occurs after Roger, the protagonist, got caught attempting to steal from Mrs. Jones. He contemplates whether to run away or stay with her. In the rising action of the story (when Roger was held onto by Mrs. Jones), Roger stresses that he possessed a strong desire to run, shown in lines, “I just want you to turn me loose”(Hughes, 2), and when Mrs. Jones asked him whether he would run if she released him, he responded with a, “Yes’m”(Hughes, 1). However, as the rising action unfolds, it reveals that Mrs. Jones sees Roger as a misguided youth, expressed by Mrs. Jones’s change in attitude toward Roger. At the beginning of the narrative, she was pressuring him. But she then became compassionate by welcoming him into her house, washing his face, and giving him advice after he explains he has no adults to take care of him.

Despite Roger’s desire, when offered the opportunity to run (when Mr. Jones released him and asked for him to go wash his face), he reacted by “looked at the door— looked at the woman — looked at the door” (Hughes,2). Roger’s hesitation indicates that he was conflicted between dashing to the door to fulfill his desire from the beginning or to stay with Mrs. Jones and repay her for her kindness. Consequently, the internal conflict of “Thank you, Ma’am,” occurs when Roger is conflicted about whether to stay and repay Mrs. Jones for the kindness she showed or to run away from her and get away with his robbery.

Day one simulation reflection-Ancient Mesopotamia

February 12, 2019 / Sophie.l / 0 Comments

Our activity humanities today were a simulation where you would compete to get the strongest civilization. During the activates I personally had the job of writing laws and helped out with sorting materials. As a group we divided it up to one-person trading, one or two writing laws, 2 building the temple and after getting the materials two would build the weapon while the others finish up the rest of what needed to be done. Our biggest accomplishment is making the weapon first. We were the first group to build a weapon. This helps us a lot since then we didn’t need to trade it was either give it to us or die. Then we could take over other civilizations. However, our weakness was probably the rules since it was the only one we didn’t fill out the entire sheet but still, we technically got everything done if we didn’t need to fill out all the spaces for laws. If I could do this activity again I would focus on not over complication the rules and just stick to the simple ones. This would be better so our entire group had a really strong civilization.

∙Sophie∙

"kept your face towards the sunlight and the shadow will always fall behind you."-Walt Whitman