Dear Reader,
Welcome to my
blog! On my blog is my portfolio, including three essays. These essays show my
progress in writing. The first essay, “For Better or Worse”, is in project text.
The essay is using the memoir Persepolis
and analyzing a specific aspect of the memoir that interested me. In this essay
I analyzed the effect religion had on the main character and how religion
played a part in the government. The
second essay, “The Familiar”, is in project space. The essay is to define
certain spaces and the effect the have on people and the world or certain
issues that are tied to certain spaces. In this essay I wrote about public
space. The last essay, “We Don’t See Things as They Are, We See Them as We Are”,
is in project web. This essay was a cumulative essay; I had to integrate last
semester and this semester. I wrote about perception, and I used exercises I did
in class as examples and support for my paper. Also on the blog is other work I
have done for my English class that helped write these essays. These three
essays show how I have improved in my writing throughout this year. Enjoy! J
Sincerely,
Alexandria Opina
Project Text
For Better or Worse
There are many different influences
in the world today; a big one that most people in the world face is religion.
Religion is an influence that people first encounter during their childhood. They
grow and learn to have faith or it can be the complete opposite. The memoir Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, is the
story of a young girl growing up in Iran, during the Islamic Revolution, and
the war with Iraq. Marji (Marjane), the little girl, is trying to live a normal
childhood, but with certain events throughout history and her childhood it is
not likely that she gets to live a normal childhood. Throughout the entire
story religion has been mixed in, both in a good and bad way. In the story
Marji loses her faith and it changes who she is; religion also changed her
lifestyle by the government putting religion into the law.
From the very beginning of the book Persepolis, Marji is very religious. Since
she was a young girl she believed that was born with religion and would “I was
born with religion” (6). When most children learn about religion they don’t fully
understand the concept until they are older. It seems that Marji has more than
grasped the concept. Marji believes that it is her path to go into religion and
that could only mean one thing, she wanted to be a prophet; in her religion
there has only been men as prophets. When she told all her classmates that she
wanted to be a prophet when she got older, everybody laughed. Her teacher
talked to her parents that day after school, it seemed she warned them that
they’re daughter was saying foolish things and did not know her place. She
truly believed that she was going to be a prophet. She talked to God every
night. She wanted to be “[…] justice, love and wrath of God all in one” (9).
God was Marji’s comfort, even when she hadn’t seen him in a while, or talked to
him that day. She turned to him when she was scared and need comfort. On page
25, panel 8 Marji takes a long bath after hearing a story about her grandfather
being tortured; God came and sat next to her. This shows that when she was
scared He was there to comfort her. In the story “The Heroes”, Marji hears the
awful things happening to the men in prison. She is shaken up and scared about
the stories she hears. Later that night she turns to God, “The only place I
felt safe was in the arms of my friend” (53). In panel 9 she is being cradled
by God. In the beginning her faith is very strong, and she wants to live a
religious life, even though people doubted her.
One would think that her faith is
unshakable, and it was tested when she was a child during the Islamic
Revolution. As a child she didn’t quite understand everything, though she
started to take a little more interest in what was going on in her country. She
started to read about history and understand why her country was in a revolution.
One night she overheard her parents talking about a demonstration; Marji wanted
to go. She started fantasizing that she could be better than Fidel Castro; in
that moment God left her room. That same night after Marji’s parents said no to
her going to the demonstration, she was crying in her bed. She asked God where
he was, and that night he didn’t come. I think this night was one of the
turning points to why she lost her faith. She was a little girl crying in bed,
in need of comfort and God was not there. In the story “The Sheep” Marjane’s
uncle Anoosh, came to visit and immediately she loved him. His visit happened
after the revolution. Even though the revolution was over, the “Divine Justice”
was killing the political prisoners that were let out when the revolution was
over. Marjane’s uncle was captured and sent back to prison to be executed. God
came the night he was executed. Marjane yelled at him to get out and never come
back. This is where her faith was completely lost. She was mad at God. She
wanted to know why her uncle died and why He didn’t save him. She didn’t
understand.
Through all events in Marji’s life
that affected her relationship with God, I believe one other factor was in
play, her parents. From the start her parents were never really religious. I
believe that is why Marjane’s relationship with God never came back. If someone
was born into a religious family most likely that person will end up believing
in what their parents believed in. If Marjane’s family was more religious, she
might have reconnected with God. It was in the chapter “The Trip” where
Marjane’s mother tells her to lie about praying in the day. She said “If anyone
ever asks you what you do during the day, say you pray […]” (75). This shows
that her family is not very religious. In their society if you are not very
religious, they could face some extreme consequences. Her family might not have
been a huge factor in why Marjane lost her faith, but I believe that it had
some effect on her.
Another way religion affected Marji’s
life was how religion was placed into the country’s government. Before the
revolution, when the Shah was ruling, the country was heading toward the
western side of society, there was still religion. Right before the revolution
took place and the shah was still ruling, in the 1980’s there was a “cultural
revolution” (4) this means that the country was going back to their cultural,
their roots. The ‘cultural revolution’ meant that the French non-religious and
bilingual schools were shut down, and schools are now going to be separated by
gender. Now Marji was forced to wear a veil and attend school that was
segregated by gender. Also she was taught that the shah was chosen by the king.
She then learns from her father that the Shah was not chosen by God. She is
confused by this at first. This is another example of how religion came into
play with her life. Their religion has always had a king, and a king was chosen
by God; how can she trust her school if the government is manipulating what is
being taught to the children, and soon enough the universities were being shut
down due to revision to make sure that the “children are not led astray from
the true path of Islam” (73). During the Islamic Revolution, the people wanted
freedom; they wanted to get rid of the Shah and that is exactly what happened.
When the revolution was over,
everybody rejoiced and thought that the worst was over. Though it didn’t turn
out to be what they hoped for. The country was soon governed by fundamentalist.
Anything that was considered western was forbidden. There were “guardians of
the revolution, the women’s branch” (132). Marji was caught wearing punk
sneakers, jean jacket, Michael Jackson pin and tight jeans she was going to be
taken to the committee; thankfully she got out of it. The ‘guardians of the
revolution’ show that her religion was restricting her from who she wanted to
be. Clothes are a way people express themselves and in her culture the women
are the same. Marji had to grow up hiding behind a veil. She had to go to the
black market to buy music she liked; her house was covered with curtains to hide
the things her family did that were forbidden: to have parties, drink alcohol,
not wear the veil, and not pray. Most of her life she had to hide who she was,
because it was against Marji’s religion. In this situation, I feel religion was
taken too far and it limited the people of Iran. I feel because of the
fundamentalist that took over, they made religion a negative aspect in people’s
lives, like Marji.
Religion is often looked as a good
thing; it is the thing that can save people and change people dramatically. In
this memoir it started out as a good influence toward Marji, but she lost her
faith and it changed the person she was. She wanted to be a prophet then she
wanted nothing to do with God. Even though she lost her beliefs as a child, I
like to think she reconnected with God again. And for the events that happened
in her life due to religion, no one can blame religion for what happened it was
the people in charge that took it to the extreme. Even though it must have been
hard to live like that, it made Marji the person she is today.
Work Cited
Satrapi
Random, 2003. Print., Marjane. Persepolis.
New York:
Project Space
The Familiar
There is nothing special about a
sidewalk. It is a plain color. It gets stepped on countless of times. It
doesn’t look like anything pretty, with its dark spots from chewed up gum,
stains from who knows what; the sidewalk is known as dirty. I loved the
sidewalk though. I loved it as a kid because it was the closest thing to the
street. I learned how to ride my bike on the sidewalk. I got to play hopscotch,
and draw silly pictures with chalk on the sidewalk. As I grew up, I didn’t
spend as much time playing on the sidewalk; instead I would run on the
sidewalk. I liked to run on it because it never ended; it was the perfect get
away. Whenever I wanted to clear my head and get away from the world. I’d put
on my running shoes and it was just me and the never ending sidewalk. It would
take me to a different place each time. I never once thought of the side walk
as anything more than what I used it for. Recently though, I’ve found myself
looking at spaces differently then I normally do. The sidewalk that I share
many memories with is a public space. Sounds funny that way, but it is. Taking
a step back, and realizing what public space is, I have come to realize the
difference between public and private, what public space has to offer and what
it means to me.
Public space is open to anyone. It
can be a social place. It is shared and created for open usage throughout a
community. Public space is the sidewalk, parks, museums, it is space that is
welcoming to everyone and does not exclude anyone. There is a thin line between public space and
private space. Private space is individually or corporately owned. Non-government-owned
malls are examples of private space with the appearance of being public space.
There are a lot of places that have the appearance of being public but are
really private. Not many people notice this because they are so used to it.
Used to paying a fee. For instance a museum is defined as a public space. Some
museums are free to get in but most there is an entrance fee, and because of an
entrance fee this makes the museum a private space. It is like a gated pool and
an ungated pool it instantly changes the feel from welcoming to prohibiting. Just
like other places, like fast food places them seem like public space, and
people don’t realize that they do pay “fees” it is the cost of the food. The
line that separates a public space from a private space is a fine line. It is
honestly how a person views it.
In public spaces there is a certain
way people interact with each other. . Somehow everyone knows to keep their
inside voices even if outside, to pick up their trash, to be appropriately
dressed, to be quiet in the appropriate areas and have a sense of personal
space for themselves and others around them. The silent rules of public places
are common sense, mostly. They also know to keep their distance. People need
space. It is something that people feel the need to have a certain amount of
space between them and another person. For instance, when getting in line for
something, you don’t walk right up behind the person where you are basically
touching them, you keep an arms distance. If you ever noticed the closer you to
get the person in front of you, they slowly move up, farther away from you. It
is the “ability to alter public space” (Convergences 331). People seem to think
of themselves in a bubble and if you get to close you start to make them feel
uncomfortable. Depending on the space and where it is at the atmosphere is
different. In a public library verse a street market. People know how to behave
and know what is acceptable. There is nothing wrong with these silent rules
that people follow in public spaces, but it is interesting that everyone
follows them.
There is a public space that doesn’t
have any “silent rules”, Venice Beach; it is the only place that comes to my
mind. What people expect at beaches, they will get that and more! The people at
Venice Beach are so diverse in who they are and what they do; they don’t care
if they stick out. There at Venice, people want your attention they crave it.
The expectations of public space go out the window. You can find anything and
everything there. Plus the people there are very welcoming, they don’t judge.
People at Venice seem to want other people to notice them and who they are and
what they offer. It’s interesting to know that in most public spaces people
have expectations they follow whereas in Venice the only expectation people
have is how crazy it is there.
Another interesting thing about
public space is how it can also be defined as sacred space; the thing about
sacred space is that it can be any space, just depends on the person. Most
people when they hear sacred space they think of churches, monuments, or
historical statutes. These are all sacred spaces and most of these are open to
the public. There is an issue with this though, some sacred spaces for example
the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza have been open to the public to see and learn
about the history. The government used to allow people to climb the ruins to
get a better experience and understanding. Throughout the year, they have
closed the ruins so no one can climb or even touch the ruins because there has
been vandalism and graffiti to the ruins. It is an issue that most sacred
places like the ruins have to deal with if things keep going in this direction,
where sacred spaces are being closed off, the fear of sacred and beautiful
places like the ruins may become harder for the public to see or even closed
off for good. Sacred spaces do not have to be historical or a place that is
known to have much meaning to the public. A sacred space “At its most basic, it
is a place which invites the contemplation of divine mystery, and encourages an
attitude of spiritual openness. A sacred space is not necessarily where answers
are grasped or understood, rather it is where questions are asked,
conversations occur, rituals are perpetuated, dances are performed, songs are
sung, and silence is heard, all in the attempt to find answers. But this in
itself, raise questions” (Genevieve). So a hiking trail, a meadow, a fountain
in the park, and the beach are examples of public spaces, but they are also
sacred spaces too. What makes a space public and sacred is that it has to be a
place where everyone is allowed. Even though everyone is allowed at this place
it may be someone’s site for meaning and truth, a place where they feel safe
and comfortable, to escape the pressures of the world and reconnect with their
higher self, a place to feel calm and centered.
The beach is an example of public
but sacred space, for me. Something that I find incredible about this space is
the fact that to others it might not mean anything or bring any kind of
emotion. For those who do find it sacred a place for them to get away and clear
their mind, it is different for each of them. I find the beach my sacred space
it happens to be public. Even though there are a lot of people there, I find
myself alone there. Getting lost in the sound of the crashing waves, the
horizon and the sand between my toes it is my bliss. I am also aware that other
people find the beach sacred to them. They could be sitting right next to me
feeling the same thing or something different and I wouldn’t notice that is
amazing right there. I think that is
incredible; the fact that millions of people can share this space, the beach
use it for different meanings. My sacred space feels familiar, like home which
soothes the mind and bolsters confidence, strength and stability. It offers
healing and comfort, a relaxed atmosphere to a clear mind. What makes a public
space like the beach sacred to me and others is the mind set it puts us in.
Because of the mindset I am in when I go to the beach to get away that is why
it is sacred.
Public space is something I never
realized, looking at with a different perspective makes me understand the
affect it has on me and others. It can have a certain image or certain things
that are acceptable or not acceptable. There is a common courtesy that goes
about public spaces that everyone knows. A public space is welcoming, it is the
familiar; a place where anyone can turn to. It offers a space to express
oneself, to gather with friends and to feel reconnected. When I think of public
space I think of the sidewalk and the beach. I cherish memories there and run
to when I need an escape. I never thought I’d need or appreciate public space
like I do now. After looking at public space differently, it has shown me what
public space truly means to me.
Work Cited
Atwan,
Robert. Convergences: Themes, Texts, and Images for Composition. 3rd ed.
Boston:
Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.
Genevieve.
"Sacred Spaces." What Is a Sacred Space? Nov. 2009. Web. 03 Apr.
2012.
Project Web
We Don’t See Things as They Are, We See Them as We Are
There’s a place in my hometown called the Top of Temecula; I’m not sure how high up it is, but the view from the top is breathtaking. The drive starts by going up a curvy mountain and you can see the city lights start to look like twinkling stars. To get to the top you go through a street that has no lights and the road is barely big enough to fit two cars. It’s all worth it though. The view is the whole town stretched out across for miles. I never thought of my hometown as pretty, until after seeing it from “The Top” it is amazing. This experience is just like the quote “Expectant of greater things, we try climbing higher and higher; an effort that cost us much, leaving us short of breath to find only the ground below is much prettier”-Phillip Pulfrey.People want so much out of life that they keep striving for more. They don’t really notice what they have, it is always what others have and what they don’t have, “the grass is always greener on the other side”. If you take a different view of things you’ll realize what you have and appreciate it more. This made me reflect on my hometown and I started to appreciate it more; it also made me think of how I started to look at things with a different perspective. I got a chance to look at life differently during my college English class. We have had plenty of assignments where I had to look at things from a different perspective. This class has helped me see the world with different eyes. It started by looking at poems and lyrics differently by understanding the underlying meaning of them, to find the story in every painting and photograph and how perception changes the things and the spaces we view.
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| View of Temecula from The Top! |
I’m the kind of person that can get to one place to the next and not remember any street names. I know when to turn by certain landmarks or buildings but I couldn’t tell you what is next to that landmark or building. I’m the kind of person that can’t tell you what I saw walking to campus besides the basics: trees, cars, and the school buildings. If you were to ask me how many cars were parked on the side of the street I wouldn’t know, or the color of the guy’s backpack that was walking in front of me the entire time, I couldn’t tell you. A lot of people today seem to be just like me and don’t really notice the little things in life. What I have noticed as I walk to school, is that I don’t look at the things around me and I’m not the only one. However, it’s a different story when I go hiking, I take everything in. I seem to be aware of everything and the beauty of things. That is because when I’m hiking I look at it with a different perception unlike when I’m walking to school I don’t notice things. Perception is awareness of things and the understanding of things, the knack of taking into by means the mind. Most of the time, the familiar are the things that most people never notice; they seem to forget about them, because they always know it is going to be there. Taking a step back and looking at everything you pass by makes you realize the things you have and how much you appreciate everything. By looking at thing’s differently, depending on the situations, they can become positive or negative, the glass half full or the glass half empty.
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| My Rock! |
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| Student Lounge |
A different way my professor had my class look at things with a different perspective; she assigned us to go to a public place, and view how people interact with each other and how the environment of the place helps or not. This made me step back and look at an everyday place I go to and see how people interact towards each other and the atmosphere the environment creates. I went to the student lounge in my dorm building, and what amazed me was how nice people really are. People go out of their comfort zone to connect with other people; it is something that helps the environment become a more home like feeling, and I wouldn’t expect most of the students to do so. It was a very interesting assignment and it made me look at other places differently, I started to notice the vibes of certain places gave off and how the people reacted. From these assignment and the rock exercise, I have started to look at things and places from a different view. It makes me notice more which I think is a good thing. I’ve become more grateful of the things I have. Throughout the year, I came across a video of a group of people that wanted to make taking the stairs more fun than riding the escalator. During the night they made the stairs look like a piano keyboard. They wired the stairs to make it sound just like a piano. The next day when people noticed the piano stairs everyone started to use the stairs instead of the escalator; they even tried to make songs with it. This shows that by seeing the stairs in a different form, when normally the stairs can make people cringe at the thought of climbing, it becomes a better experience.
Video: The Piano Stairs
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| Picture I did my assignment on. |
Besides noticing the little things in my life and being aware of my surroundings, I’ve come to try and find the deeper meaning of things. I would never analyze something on my own before, but not so long ago my English professor had us analyze a picture. In this assignment I had to describe the picture which was a black and white photo with a rundown house in the background, trash and broken pieces of wood in the yard, and a little girl in the front of the frame wearing a crown with her hands placed together looking up at the sky. From this picture I found a little girl’s story. This little girl is looking up towards the sky; she’s looking for an answer. With her hands together, she still believes in faith, she believes change will come. I would have never figured this out without looking from a different perspective. From this picture on when I saw a painting or photograph I would try to find out why was this so important that it had to be captured. There is something that is truly magical when there is a picture that has captured your attention, and has brought you some inspiration, a closer feeling towards your spirituality or a feeling of connection. That can’t happen if you don’t ever notice it in the first place; that means there must be some form of looking from a different view. Go beyond the surface. Another way I went beyond the surface was an essay I had to write in English class. I had to analyze the deeper meaning of lyrics. I came to find that the song I chose, “By Your Side”,by Tenth Avenue North, meant a lot more to me than my favorite song for the week. I came to find that the lyrics of the song brought me comfort whenever I was down and that I was never alone. I’m glad that I had to write that paper, it opened my eyes to something that meant a lot more to me than I realized.
http://www.geekologie.com/2010/04/real-people-painted-to-look-li.php
Link: Real people painted to look like real paintings. A different view of piantings.
By looking at things from a different perspective it has shown me how lucky I am. I have started to view things in my life with more appreciation than before. It’s not so much the big things like a roof over my head, bed to sleep in or food to eat; I’ve always been grateful for that. It’s more of the little things, that I overlooked parents that support me, the means of transportation, and materialistic things. A video was shared in my English class of a book, “Where Children Sleep” by James Mollison it showed different children throughout the world and their bedrooms. The feeling I got after the video made me become more grateful of the things I have and the lifestyle I live. Every now and then most people see something similar and become aware of the things they have and their life style, but they soon forget that feeling. They end up going to unappreciating and taking things for granted. I believe that people should never forget this feeling; people should always remember to be grateful.
Video: Silde show of the book "Where Children Sleep" by James Mollison
Looking through a different perspective of things has shown me to appreciate more. To take advantage of things while I have them, even if it’s a view of my hometown, I will grasp every moment I can. The biggest lesson I took from my college English class was to have an open mind to see things from a different perspective. If people could see their lives through someone else’s eyes I think people would be more giving and humble, there would be less pity and less boastfulness. A lot of people wait for a life changing event for them to realize the things they cherish most. I’m lucky that I realized this before. I count my blessings now, I try and find the positive in everything, and when things get tough I remind myself that there are others that are in a worse situation then I am. As a wise person once said “Be content with what you have and take joy in the way things are, and when you realize you have all you need the world belongs to you”. People tend to overlook the things they have, and the lifestyle they live. They focus on getting more; getting to the top and having the best of everything nothing seems to satisfy them. The day people notice the things they have, and become okay with the way things are there will be more people in the world happy with their lives.
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