Tuesdays with Morrie Blog 4/29/15

Based on the 6 Tuesdays you have read about in Tuesdays with Morrie, choose which topic (The World, Feeling Sorry For Yourself, Regrets, Death, Family, or Emotions) that has had the most impact on you or inspired you. On your blog discuss the importance of this topic with your own opinions, including textual evidence (direct quotes) from the book.

     I think the third tuesday, regrets, has impacted/interested me the most. In this chapter Mitch starts thinking about possible regrets he would have if he started dying. Like any secrets he wanted to tell or apologies. He asked Morrie and he said, "It's what everyone worries about isn't it? What if today were my last day on Earth?" This gets Mitch thinking about his own life, him at his desk writing an article and then getting ill. Seeing his editor snatch up the story as the medics take him away.

     Morrie sees the ambivalence on Mitch's face and goes on to say, "the culture doesn't encourage you to think of such things until you're about to die." Then went on about how no one really thinks about their life or their things because of little challenges they're faced with everyday. No one steps back and evaluates their life naturally, they need someone to guide them into thinking/doing that.

     I chose regrets because of it's main message. Which was that everyone has some regrets and most of the time people don't think about them/their life because of the culture. Everyone always has a challenge or something to do. No one can naturally "take a step back" and see if they like their current position. If it's all they want or not.

Tuesdays with Morrie 4/23/14

Pages Read: Whatever we needed

     My initial reactions to Tuesdays with Morrie were mixed. The beginning seemed nice with a college graduate saying goodbye to one of his favorite professors. Then it went on to tell what happened to Mitch, the college graduate. How Mitch had wanted to become a famous pianist and it was rough. After college he had lost contact with a lot of his friends. Including his professor who had cried when Mitch had left. Which made the happy tone in the beginning go down. It shows the reality and hardships that come after college/in real life. The book started showing how you'd hardly stay in touch with old friends and you can't always get your dreams. Although Mitch did get very successful. It's hard to say my reactions, I was just kind of taking the information in. But, I can say this book's portraying a more happy/hopeful mood to anyone who reads it. With a few reminders that not everything's peaches and cream.  

     Tuesdays with Morrie follows a dying professor. Who overall teaches you to not take life for granted. Even though Morrie is dying, he stays optimistic and tries not to feel sorry for himself so much. Which is a great take/perspective to take when you're dying. A bucket list hasn't come up in the book yet but it's one of the things that are highly associated with death. They usually include fun/scary new things to have done before you die. This is my bucket list.  

-Go down Route 66 with just a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a dream. (And money, of course.)

-Go to college and stay for at least 4 years.

-See how hard farmer's lives are and based on that temporarily become a farmer

-Rent a sports car and drive it full speed (In a controlled environment.)

-Live life to the fullest

-Become independent and stable at young age

-Skydiving.

Life Is Beautiful Blog 4/16/15

     Life is Beautiful and Night both have what usual Holocaust things contain. For example, there's always a showcase of life before and ends at the liberation. A very great connection made was that both fathers died right before liberation. There was also a situation in which the family was separated. Causing the father and son to bond. Although in Night the father/son band was more special since the father and son never usually communicate or hang out with each other. In Life is Beautiful the father, Guido, constantly protects his son's innocence by telling his son that the camp is a big game.

      What events, scenes, or situations are similar or different? What is similar or different about the mood or tone of the pieces? As stated before, the likes and differences are things like family separation, and father/son bonding. Both have a grim mood and only Life is Beautiful had a comedic mood throughout the film. A big difference that I found was that in Night, the prisoners were cruel and one even killed his own father for bread. In Life is Beautiful, most of the prisoners played along and helped preserve Joshua's innocence. 

     Life is shown as beautiful and is easily spotted in the beginning. Guido meets the woman of his dreams. After marriage, they had a kid and Guido opened up his bookstore. Although he did have to make the books half off, he was living his dream in a way. Then in the camp, Life is beautiful because for the most part, everyone's alive. Also, Guido got to comfort/give his wife a sense of security that everything was ok twice. Once by using the speakers and the other time by playing the song they heard in the play when he was a waiter for the camp. 

Night 3/31/15

Pages Read; Done
Prompt: How has Wiesel changed through the book?

     Eliezel Wiesel has changed a lot in the book, one example is religion. In the beginning of the book he wanted to practice it and found Moshe and asked him to teach him all about his religion. "Why did I pray?... Why did I live? Why did I breathe?" Elie started questioning things like if God was actually watching him and why would he let this happen to them. Instead of being really religious he started losing faith in his religion.

     Elie has changed emotionally too. When his father died he said, "I did not weep, and it pained me that I couldn't weep." Elie said this once he woke up and saw that his father had been missing. He also states earlier in the book that most people to be hung never cried, since they were out of tears. Elie is way less likely to cry now than before.

     Elie and many other prisoners are now on survival instinct. They'll do anything to help themselves. For example, Kapos are Jewish prisoners turned into leaders. One told Eliezer, “Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else… Here, there are no fathers, brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone.” Eliezer had a though that he should be getting his father's rations and he shouldn't help him, then feels really guilty afterwards for even having that thought.