The book I chose for this blog entry is Fablehaven by
Brandon Mull. This book was published in July 2006. This is the first book of the five books series. The reason
I chose this book is because I anticipated this book to be full of mysteries, suspense
and action, after reading the back cover of the book which says, “ For
centuries mystical creatures were gather into a hidden refuge called Fablehaven
to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary is one of the last strongholds of
true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually,
quite the opposite….” This book is about two young kids living with their
grandparents for about 17days, while their parents are away on a cruse. The kids find weird
things happening in the forest they are forbidden to enter, but as time goes by they
unlock a locked blank journal which takes them to a complete new world full of
danger and evil. The more they know about the Fablehaven the worst it gets...
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Blog entry: 6
I chose the above image because it represents a warrior. When we hear the word "Warrior," we immediately think of a fight or a war. This image definitely shows a warrior who is engaged in a war or a fight. The sword, horse and the body movement all show how strong, tough minded and determined he is. He is controlling the horse as well as defending himself with one hand, and he also attacking his enemies with the other hand. So this image shows the strong side of the warrior's character.
some of the sub-types of warrior that immediately come to my mind are James Bond, Rambo, Robin Hood, and of course Ong Bak ( the warrior movie that i chose for my earlier blog ). And i don't think the anima and animus figures are different when it comes to this archetype. They both are usually physically strong and mentally tough, but i do think the male figure are a little more aggressive than the female figures.
Well, the warrior usually gets a call to do something physically for the good of his/her society. Then they either accept the call voluntarily or they are forced to accept it. The warrior usually has a mentor who trains him/ her with different kinds of skills and then initiate him/her for a mission. Now the warrior has to complete the mission alone or with some help (usually friends). Then finally if he/she is successfully, he/she will return back to his/her original place or community or he/she could die during the mission. For example, James Bond (warrior) is usually initiated by the British Queen (master or mentor) for some specific mission, and he always completes the mission successfully with the use of his fighting skills and the available technology from the British government.
In the movie Ong-Bak, Ting, the hero of the movie (warrior) is sent to Bangkok City to look for the stolen head of the Buddha. He gets involved in many fights, some of which were life threatening, during this journey, but he never gives up and he kept fighting until he finds what he is looking for. Therefore, the warrior's archetype such as bravery, tough minded, strong and determined are seen everywhere in the movie.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Blog Entry: 5
The movie that I chose for this entry is Ong- Bak: The Thai
Warrior, a Movie which shows the capabilities of what a person with good
knowledge of Muay Thai could do in real life. Like any other movies, this movie
also follows the three basic patterns of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth;
separation, adventure, and return.
Separation: As usual, the separation phase begins with some
kinds of calls to a hero to act. In this movie, a guy named Don comes to a
village called Ban Nong Pradu, and he steals Ong -Bak (Buddha’s head from a
statue). Ban Nong Pradu is a poor village and Ong- Bak is their most valued
ancient treasure. Now, some one from the village must do something to get back
the stolen Ong- Bak from Don, who is believed to be in Bangkok. Ting, the main
character of the movie (hero) volunteers to go to Bangkok to get the Ong -Bak
back. Ting is an ordinary guy with good knowledge of Muay Thai. As usual he has
a helper or a master: a Buddhist monk, from whom he learned all his Muay Thai
skills. Ting leaves his village for Bangkok, an unknown and a certain world
full of danger. Ting gets a sacred amulet (talisman) from his uncle before he
leaves for Bangkok, which latter in the movie saves his life. So Ting (the hero)
going from his village to Bangkok city shows the separation stage.
Adventure: Ting reaches Bangkok City, and he meets his
cousin Humlae, (known as George) who initially doesn’t recognize him. Ting asks
for Humlae’s help to locate Don and the stolen Ong- Bak, but Humlae seems reluctant
to help, he is more interested in gambling and money making business. So Humlae
steals Ting’s money, the money that he got from the villagers, and bets it into
an illegal fight. Ting goes after Humlae to get his money back, but he gets
drawn into the fight instead. This is his first test on his journey to recover
Ong Bak, and he wins it. The main villain of the movie is Komtuan, who runs
these illegal fight and he is also involved in illegal trading of the antiques.
Don works for Komtuan, so Ong- Bak is under komtuan’s possession. Ting uses all
his Muya Thai skills while trying to get back Ong- Bak from Komtuan.This time
he also gets help from Humlae and his
sister Muay Lek. The journey isn’t easy, but Ting (the hero) and Humlae (the
helper) never give up the hope and they finally succeed. Now Ting must return
back safely to his village with Ong-Bak.
Return: Ong Bak is like an ultimate boon for Ting and he
must return back to his village with it. He could stay in city and make a lot
of money form street fights, but he is the hero so he returns back to his
village successfully. His cousin Humlae also returns back to their village. The
villagers celebrate the Ong-Bak’s return and Tign becomes the master of two
worlds. This completes the cycle of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Blog entry:4
The poem “Death, My Friend” is written by Mark R Slaughter,
a biological scientist who was born in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom in
1957. According to Poem Crypt, one of his own website, he developed interests
in biology, music, art, and creative writing at school, and went on to
university to gain a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, a master’s degree in
pharmacology with toxicology, and a master's equivalent in clinical chemistry.
According to him, he initially started writing to challenge his writing skills,
but now he has written hundreds of poems which are featured on community
websites, blogs, newsletters, and in videos on YouTube. He has written couple of other poems on
“Death” such as, ”Death, Inevitable Death,” “Death In Reflection” “Death Is Too
Near” and “Death and I”. I think “Death, My Friend” is about the author trying
to hide is fear of Death by being friend with Death, because the author might
have felt death is inevitable and there is no route for escape. This is why; I think the author repeated the
phrase,” Death, My Friend” several times, and he clearly mentions Death being
his “new acquaintance” and “bosom buddy.”
So it seems like Death is a person and he is standing next to the speaker, and the speaker starts the conversation by saying, “Death, My Friend so good to see you!” Then, he makes few jokes with Death. For example, he tells Death, “I have to say you are looking frightful-Bony chum, you affable ghoul” He then tells Death that Death is his close friend, and “You are always welcome to my home.” So far the speaker is not being serious with Death. He asks Death if he has chance to go to heaven. He goes on to say, “though the stare from your empty sockets, indicates to hell we roam!” so it seems like the speaker is not afraid of Death, and he is trying to make fun of Death. He asks Death, “Be you tired of my frivolity?” Then comes the final line, “Aha, I see- Oblivion, we!” The word “We” at the end could be the indication that the Author thinks Death being with him all the time.
So it seems like Death is a person and he is standing next to the speaker, and the speaker starts the conversation by saying, “Death, My Friend so good to see you!” Then, he makes few jokes with Death. For example, he tells Death, “I have to say you are looking frightful-Bony chum, you affable ghoul” He then tells Death that Death is his close friend, and “You are always welcome to my home.” So far the speaker is not being serious with Death. He asks Death if he has chance to go to heaven. He goes on to say, “though the stare from your empty sockets, indicates to hell we roam!” so it seems like the speaker is not afraid of Death, and he is trying to make fun of Death. He asks Death, “Be you tired of my frivolity?” Then comes the final line, “Aha, I see- Oblivion, we!” The word “We” at the end could be the indication that the Author thinks Death being with him all the time.
First of all, i think the title title “Death, My Friend” itself tells me a lot about what the poem is about. Then comes the first line, “Death, My Friend-so good to see you!” I can say the speaker is excited to see Death, and the exclamation sign at the end makes it even more pronounced. The words like “soul” “heaven” and “hell” indicate that he believes in the existence of spirit and life after death. The language that he has used in the poem almost mislead me to think that the author is not worried about Death, and he doesn’t care about Death, however when I pay closer attention to some of the lines in the poem such as, “stand aloft and view my soul!, Bony chum, you affable ghoul, so charmed-I’m sure!, State your case and tell me straight” I feel like the speaker is helpless. He knows his death is certain, but there is nothing much he can do to prevent it than just wait for the final day; the day Death points at him! For example he asks Death, “Am I worthy of reward, so I venture to Heaven’s Gate?” This line tells me that he believes in heaven and he is concern about it. He also adds, “Though the stare from your empty sockets, Indicates to Hell we roam!” which again shows the fear hiding inside him. The last stanza gives me the most clues about the author’s view on death, because he said: “My! Your finger points at me! Be you tired of my frivolity? Aha, I see –Oblivion, we!” Here, the author first uses the word, “My!” then he corrects himself by using the word, “your” which I think gives me the idea that the author thinks Death is with him all the time; like his shadow. He also corrects himself at the last line by replacing word “we” for “you” which would make his last question look like this: “Be we tired of my frivolity?” Now I am pretty clear that the author thinks that Death will never leave him until he dies, and he is trying to be nice with Death by being his close friend, unlike most other people.
References:
Slaughter, R Mark. Home page.
<http://succumbedtothinking.webs.com/aboutme.htm>.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Blog entry: 3
The poem
“Death, My Friend” is written by Mark R Slaughter, a biological scientist who
was born in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom in 1957. He initially started
writing just to challenge his writing skills, but now he has written hundreds
of poems which are liked by so many people on the internet. This poem was
published in 2009. He is currently lived by his wife and two kids. One very
interesting thing about Mark r slaughter is there are so many good poems
written by him, yet very little information about himself. I spent quite a lot
of time on internet to get more information about him, but I failed. I chose
this poem because I found the title “Death, My friend” pretty strange. As we
all know, most of the people tend not to be friend with death in real life. So
I wanted to see if the author indeed wanted to be friend with death, or is he
just trying to be funny? And the first line goes like this:” Death, my
friend-so good to see you!” This line definitely caught my attention, because
it’s written very simple yet very unique, and he goes against all these
cultural belief that death is a scary thing and we should not make fun about
death.
Death,
My Friend
Death,
my friend - so good to see
you!
Stand aloft and view my soul! I have to say you’re looking frightful -
Bony chum, you affable ghoul.
Death,
my friend, so charmed I’m
sure!
State your case and tell me straight - Am I worthy of reward, so
Venture I to Heaven’s Gate?
Death, my friend, a new acquaintance!
You're always welcome in my home -
Though the stare from empty sockets
Indicates to Hell we roam!
Death, my friend - my bosom buddy.
My! your finger points at me!
Be you tired of my frivolity?
Aha, I see - Oblivion, we!
Aloft: 1. In
or into a high place; high or higher up.
2. Nautical At or toward the upper rigging.
Bony: 1. resembling or consisting of bone or bones
2. having many bones
3. thin or emaciated , boniness Chum: 1. To be an intimate friend.
2. To display good-natured friendliness
3. To share the same room, as in a dormitory.
Affable: 1. Easy and pleasant to speak to; approachable.
2. Gentle and gracious
ghoul: 1. One who delights in the revolting, morbid, or loathsome.
2. A grave robber.
3. An evil spirit or demon in Muslim folklore believed to plunder graves and feed on corpses.
Venture: 1. An undertaking that is dangerous, daring, or of uncertain outcome.
2. A business enterprise involving some risk in expectation of gain.
Acquaintance: 1. a. Knowledge of a person acquired by a relationship less intimate than friendship.
2. A person whom one knows.
Stare: 1. To look directly and fixedly, often with a wide-eyed gaze. See Synonyms at gaze.
2. To be conspicuous; stand out.
3. To stand on end; bristle, as hair or feathers
Sockets: 1. An opening or a cavity into which an inserted part is designed to fit: a light-bulb socket.
2. Anatomy
a. The concave part of a joint that receives the end of a bone.
b. A hollow or concavity into which a part, such as the eye, fits.
Bosom: 1. a. The chest of a human
b. A woman's breast or breasts.
2. The part of a garment covering the chest or breasts.
3. The security and closeness likened to being held in a warm familial embrace
4. The chest considered as the source of emotion.
adj. Beloved; intimate
Frivolity: 1. the trait of being frivolous; not serious or sensible
2. something of little value or significance
3. acting like a clown or buffoon
Oblivion:1. the condition of being forgotten or disregarded
2. the state of being mentally withdrawn or blank
3. (Law) Law an intentional overlooking, esp of political offences; amnesty; pardon
I think the author is speaking to
death as if death is standing right next to him, by personifying death. He
starts the first stanza by saying, “Death, my friend-so good to see you!” but
the question here is: does he really feel that way? I don’t think so, because
he knows that Death is waiting for him to die. This is why he said on the
second line, “stand aloft and view my soul!” He feels like Death is looking from
up there for his soul to depart. I think the author is also trying to be nice
with Death, because he said: “I have to say you’re looking frightful,” instead
of just screaming:” You are looking frightful!” And he is not being that
serious with Death, because he teases him by saying: “Bony chum, you affable
ghoul”, which describes the physical appearance and the ultimate motive of
Death, respectively. On
the second and the third stanza, he is still not being serious with Death. He asks
Death if has a chance to go to heaven, and then he assumes he may go to hell,
by looking at those scary eyes of Death. I think here the author is trying to
make the point that we don’t know whether we go to heaven or hell. He is also
trying to make the point that we will die if time comes, whether we hated Death
or not. This is why he said to Death, "you are always welcome to my home," and he tells
Death to let him know if his time has come or not. As we know, in many culture
death is a taboo subject, and we try not to make fun of death as if that helps
us to live long. I think the author is trying to tell people that death isn’t
as scary as we think. On the last stanza, the author accepts that he is not
being serious with death, at the same time he is confused whether he is the one
who wanted to die or Death wanted him to die, or both of them. He thinks Death
must be tired of his frivolous behavior, but then he realizes he himself is
indeed tired of is behavior as well. This is why the poet at the end corrects
himself by saying:” Aha, I see- Oblivion, we!”
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Blog Entry: 2, "Death, My Friend" by Mark R Slaughter
Death, My Friend
Death, my friend - so good to see you!Stand aloft and view my soul!
I have to say you’re looking frightful -
Bony chum, you affable ghoul.
Death, my friend, so charmed I’m sure!
State your case and tell me straight -
Am I worthy of reward, so
Venture I to Heaven’s Gate?
Death, my friend, a new acquaintance!
You're always welcome in my home -
Though the stare from empty sockets
Indicates to Hell we roam!
Death, my friend - my bosom buddy.
My! your finger points at me!
Be you tired of my frivolity?
Aha, I see - Oblivion, we!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Blog Entry: 1 Internet Research
The web site that I chose for my research is, http://www.thatreligiousstudieswebsite.com/. This is an independent website exploring on topics related to different religious believes, theology and ethics. And according to this site, their sole intention is to inform readers about various religious and ethical topics. I chose this site because i am doing a research on a religious topic, and this site has very good information on that topic. The articles are very clearly written and in a simple language. They have clearly stated where they obtained the information from, whether its from a book or an expert. They even provided external links if you want more information on that topics.
I am a Buddhist, but I know very little about this religion.
One thing I know for sure that separates us from other religion is that we
believe in rebirth and reincarnation. We believe that, every living organism
once die, will be born again in a different form. They could be born on earth,
heaven or hell depending upon their actions, when they were alive. For example,
a person could be born again as a chicken or a dog or go to hell/heaven
depending upon his/her actions. I find this idea of rebirth very interesting,
so I did some research. I came across several web sites, but the one that I like
most is the article on http://www.thatreligiousstudieswebsite.com/ with the
Title “Life after death: An introduction to Buddhist beliefs” ( I have provided
the link to the article below)
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