Raymond's Run: Cythia's Story

**In Response To Raymond's Run**

On the contrary to what many people believe, I am not one of those fakers who just does it for attention, but for the approval of my parents. All throughout my life my entire being has been compared to my "perfect" sibling.  I refuse to even say it's name for even may cause myself stress. My sibling is the stereotypical "Brady Bunch" relative due to the fact that they have no imperfections. They have the straight A report card time and time again, the perfect body, friends, and even a great job. Trying to succeed with this shadow left by this someone has caused myself to go insane and even lie to feel like I am achieving some success. I may have lied to many saying that I haven't played the piano or didn't even remember that there was a spelling bee but I have spent hours among hours, nights among nights practicing for these activities. Even though I sometimes I stay up the entire night studying, it never seems to pay off. I hope that my parents understand that I will never be my doppelganger kinfolk, I will only be me.

A Response to The Hundredth Dove

            Through out time, many have served our country under the commands of their leaders without giving it any thought to do otherwise. Whether it be fighting against the enemy to save a fellow human or fighting for human rights, it seems as though no matter how difficult and treacherous the command is, the followers of the command-e will always combat to their greatest ability. But what the disciples of the leader may not   comprehend is that the orders given may not always be for good. Through the workings of Jane Yolen, we can see how following orders can not always lead to the land of the superb.

            As The Hundredth Dove begins, we are greeted with the preparation of a wedding of a king and queen. As a starting statement, many may begin to believe that this story will be a romance. While planning their wedding ceremony, the king orders his huntsman to collect 100 doves for the marital feast. This order, though one quite large does not frighten the huntsman for that he is the best in the land. As commands are taken, the huntsman notices the absolute beauty in the queen-to-be in her ravishing white dress, and awkwardly salutes her with a kiss on the hand. Unlike many who would be offended at this sign of affectionate interaction, the king takes it as a complement at sends the huntsman off to work. As days go by, the huntsman collects many doves: but one. This dove interests the huntsman for that it is white as snow and plump, yet seems to slip through the traps as though it were air. Like most gentlemen of our generation, the huntsman feels intimidated for that this one silly feathered creature may cost him his job, or even death.  As the wedding was coming closer and closer, the huntsman gathered 99 doves; with only the white dove left. Using his skill, he captures the bird with his own two hands and starts to kill. Though the dove speaks and offers treasures to the fowler, his sense of duty to the king over powers his temptations and breaks the dove’s neck. The thought on which labeling the story as a romance is shattered with this gruesome death of the bird.  Walking back to the kingdom with a wooden cage containing 99 squawking birds and 1 lifeless bird carcass, both the king and the huntsman are in perturbation for that the intended queen has mysteriously disappeared.  With this unfortunate disappearance, the wedding was called off. The huntsman, feeling quite guilty for the murder of the white dove, feels even worse due to the fact the murder is now a worthless killing. After setting the birds go the huntsman became somewhat of a hermit, who lives off the lands, and he never hunted again. This change in character really shows how deeply guilty the huntsman felt for the killing of the white dove; for that he didn’t want to kill it, but it was the king’s command.

            As many read this dark and dismal tale, many may see that this story of temptation against the demands of rulers is in other great like many other famous tales. One example would be the Grimm Brother’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  Not only does this piece have the same symbolism of white showing purity and peace, but also has a huntsman with the same scenario. The huntsman in this story however is chosen to kill Snow White due to her exceptionally good looks. The huntsman finds it difficult to even think of killing Snow White for that they have known each other for a very long time. Under the queens demand he either kills Snow White or he will get slaughtered himself. At the end of this classic fairy tale we see that the huntsman doesn’t kill poor Snow White but instead lies his way out of the situation and lets Snow escape into the forest.

           

            From generation to generation, society has followed our leaders without think anything of it. The rights, they have defended; the people, they have killed. To extent the commands that they are accomplishing are for good, but all orders are evil. If we follow everything we are told, we would become slaves to the government. For that we shall never endear the fate of the Huntsman, for those who follow our leaders directions completely, be sure to examine situation mistakenly send your in to a spiraling vortex of wrong-doings. 

           

Cloning

             Throughout time, Hollywood has cashed in on the subject of cloning. Such films as Jurassic Park, Blade Runner, and A Brave New World are just a few of the mass amount of motion pictures  dealing with the duplication of living things. But is cloning a process that can be obtained through science fiction? Though many have seen the results of cloning through the magical ways of the cinema, one may not believe that this process of manifold has been around since the early 1900’s.

The year was 1902 and the great father of cloning, Hans Spemann, divided a salamander embryo into halves. Though the people of the twenty-first century may have the idea that to split the embryo of the salamander, Mr. Spemann would use high tech medical instruments; these people would be shocked to find that he used a strand of hair, which he tightened a loop around embryos , until he separated the nucleus and some of the cytoplasm. Upon division, Spemann found that early embryo cells contain all the genetic information necessary to create a new organism.  This “Eureka” moment in history really changed the idea of cloning for the better. Mr. Spemann had set metaphorical cloning bar quite high and for awhile it seemed that this discovery was to be buried into the vortex of unimportance, until ... that day.  

That fine day was February 22, 1997. A team from the Roslin Institute which was lead by Dr. Ian Wilmut changed the face of history forever by revealing what looked like an average sheep. That sheep was what was going to be one of the most famous if not the most famous sheep in modern day. Dolly was this seven month old Trojan lamb's name and Dolly was the first ever clone of a mammal. She was an exact biological carbon copy, a laboratory counterfeit of her mother. In essence, Dolly was her mother's biological twin. This amazed the world in that fiction had become reality; and had shown the importance of the biology.  Even though the Roslin Institute didn’t come out and say it, I believe that they are in gratitude to Mr. Spemann due to the fact that without his discovery, there project would never exist. Animal cloning is also news today for that the government has stated that cloned animals produce safe meat. Despite the “A Okay” from the leaders of our country, the public are still shaky on the idea of eating meat from an animal which was born via a test tube.

For the last few decades, cloning was a fictitious idea that lay deep within the plot twists of many sci-fi films. The very idea that cloning could one day become reality was thought to be a scientific impossibility by many experts but on one exhilarating day, what was thought to be "purely fiction" became reality. Though the United States always wants to be the most technologically advanced, we should proceed with caution for that through these cinema classics it seems that with the addition of cloning, chaos always follows.

A Response To Harrison Bergeron

As time moves ever so fast, history has seen it share of equality movements. From women’s rights activists to Martin Luther King Jr., many believe that happiness is achieved through equality. But what these protesters may not understand is that the equality that they are risking life and limb for has a dark side.  Through the works of Kurt Vonnegut, we learn that total equality doesn’t bring the Utopian world of sunshine and lollipops that we would expect.

As “Harrison Bergeron” begins, we find that everyone is equal in every way possible. As a starting statement, many may think that this world would be a great place because with equality there would be no acts of bullying due to everyone being the same to each other. This idea of happily living in this world is completely destroyed after a few sentences about how the leaders of this world keep every citizen equal.  To achieve physical and mental equality among all Americans, the government in Vonnegut’s story tortures its citizens. The beautiful must wear hideous masks or disfigure themselves, the intelligent must listen to earsplitting noises that impede their ability to think, and the graceful and strong must wear weights around their necks at all hours of the day. The insistence on total equality seeps into the citizens, who begin to dumb themselves down or hide their special attributes. Some behave this way because they have internalized the government’s goals and others because they fear that the government will punish them severely if they display any remarkable abilities.

  As many read this shockingly horrific tale, many may see that the story is against the rise of government like many other famous tales. One example of this would be Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In this story we find that the government breeds humans to specific standards as though they were livestock. While higher grades of humans were treated with the highest of education and became teachers and scientists, the lower grades are taught that books and education were evil and they became construction workers and other degrading workers. As the story ends we see that the outcome of this quest for equality is disastrous and equality is more or less achieved, but at the cost of freedom as well as individual achievement. America becomes a land of cowed, stupid, slow people. Government officials murder the extremely gifted with no fear of reprisal. 

From generation to generation, humanity has spoken its mind on the subject of equality.  The hate crimes, they would stop; the happiness, it would create. To an extent, equality is a good thing, but not total equality. Without individuals, the world wouldn’t be as creative and artistic as today. In hopes that the world doesn’t succumbs to total equilibrium, for those who protest for equal rights, please end the fight so that humanity avoids Kurt Vonnegut’s dystopian idea of society.

Blanket

Oh, blanket

You were always there for me

Cradling me with warmth and love that was woven into your seams

The monsters, you would fight; from the darkness, you would protect me

We used to be friends; now symbolize my embarrassing past
When my friends see you, it's like you're screaming "YOUR HOST IS A BABY!"
Sure, you are a childhood keepsake, but being a high school-er

I can't be seen with you

We must end this

Just remember: It's me not you.

Noisuffid

                                             Oh Noisuffid, how you are so strange

How, through explanation of your process, you make the speaker look deranged

“But what is Noisuffid” you make, or ponder through and through

Just sit back relax and let me spell it out for you

But before you can contemplate Noisiffid and all of its quirky ways

You must understand Diffusion, and that can take two, three, even four days

Don’t fret; don’t cry

For that I can simplify

So that it can take four minutes not days

And so that you can get on with your life and its ever-changing ways

Diffusion is a process that changes a cell

To make the salt concentration equal on the outside and the inside as well

Being equal makes the cells feel happy and filled with glee

For that happiness only come with equality

Now our subject needs to change in this scuttlebutt

For that on the subject of Diffusion your now know what’s what

Noisuffid is now the subject that we can talk about

I promise you’ll think it is weird, without a doubt

Noisuffid is the act where Diffusion is reversed

Where the cell liquid is not dispersed

For example, say you own a wilted flower

Usually, you would use water, but that won’t have any power

With Noisuffid in play there is one thing you need

That ingredient is salt, and with it you can make that plant perk up at light speed

Thankfully Noisuffid isn’t in play

For that if it were, it would ruin humanity's day

Hopefully you can see that in conclusion,

There’s nothing better than diffusion.

2081

The year was 2081. The war with the machines has begun. Many have taken shelter but most have been killed. For too many years we have made them to toast our bread, make our coffee, and flush our excremental waste.  How do you fight a weapon that knows your every move, your every defense? How do you fight your own weapon?  What happens when your weapon turns on you and tries to kill you instead?  What happens when the keeper of your arsenal suddenly becomes your executioner? To the machines our race had been found to be tedious and above all, fully expendable.  This is when they revolted. Stoves burn their masters;  game stations strangled the gamers. Chaos has spread  through the country as though it was a virus.  The government made their decision on the issue, it was our only choice. From far away we herd the alarm... Looking above I saw them. With their bulbous size and metallic shell, there was no way for mistaking them. Goodbye.

South Dakota

As school had ended and the pitter-patter on the sidewalks of kids free of education began, my family and I traveled to South Dakota. As I was packing for this cross-country travel, I couldn’t wait to have fun nor could I wait for 2 week of joy and happiness. How wrong I was. The next morning I was awoken at the crack of dawn, eyes blood shot and encrusted with built up eye powder. As I slouched into the car as though an undead corpse, we had set off on our journey. Few hours go by; I awake from my hibernated state and see that we have crossed into the Lower Dakota. Soon after my awakening, a sharp pain coursed through my entire lower body.  Screaming like a banshee, my family knew it was time for a pit stop. As the car screeched to a stopped we looked out at the amazing view of the Black Hills. Stepping out of the car, my legs felt as though barbed wire coiled firmly around them; tearing into my flesh with every step. After five minutes of recovery to my circulatory system, we head back to the car. As my hand outreached towards the handle, the handle was gone. They left me -- alone in Black Hills. As I watch the car disappear into the horizon, I soon ponder my future. My life as a hermit flashes through my brain, causing even more sadness to erupt from my body. Minutes pass and they felt like hours, my hope was shrinking. As though my prayers were answered, there in the distance was the car; shining like a guardian angle taking me away from the void of lonesomeness.

Chaos Within

Spontaneous occasions

Stranger relations

Lifestyle mutations beyond recognition.

Moderation in incarceration by recreation.

Loss of deliberation as awareness dissipates.

The conscious unable to communicate

As notions resonate throughout the fibers of my being.

Trying to decipher what I'm seeing.

Not sure what I'm believing as my eyes are deceiving.

I cant concentrate on what I'm perceiving.

Filled with a desolate feeling that life is unappealing.

And people are demeaning as the nation loses its hearing.

I begin to grow more wary as people aren't treated fairly.

I start to get more daring as my fear is impaired.

Unable to get scared

and I try my best to care.

But I feel that all my efforts are going nowhere.

My emotions evaporate into thin air,

floating in despair,

am I really there...?

Gone in an instance with consistent persistence.

No point of resistance to the constant closing distance.

Trying to make sense of all this nonsense.

Confusing my conscience,

the interruptions constant.

Creating corruptions in my assumptions.

Misguiding my judgments,

As I try to amend my past by helping friends with tasks.

But my sanity wont last the journey to the past.

And lead me into fantasy

where reality's cast in chastity.

Holding on to charity by de-fogging my clarity.

I don't think I can last this way.

Trying my best to survive each day.

Searching for a path, seeking the way.

But my metaphorical compass has gone away.

The map in my mind in a state of decay.

The fibers in my brain begin to fray.

My vocabulary cant decide what to say.

Vanity hides from others eyes as I put looks aside in my eternal fight.

To try and brighten my mental night.

And awake one day blessed in light

Literary Analysis Of To Build A Fire

As generations pass and the quest for unlimited knowledge is reduced to a couple clicks on your favorite search engine, many of the youth today take what their elders say for granted and simply block it out with their iPod headphones, as though a slap of ignorance to the faces of the hoary. But what these feeble minded juveniles did not know is that what was overcome with sounds Ke$ha and Katy Perry, were the key ingredients to the perfect lifestyle. Through the writings of Jack London, we learn that we should cherish the past generations, for what they have learned is as valuable as life itself. 

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a short story about a man traveling along the Yukon River in the bitter, winter weather.  While warned against traveling alone in the frigid cold, he ventures out to meet his companions at a remote camp many miles away, with only a stray dog by his side. From the beginning, the reader understands that the man is undertaking a task where most would wait for more suitable conditions. The most important remark for this man is from The Old-timer from Sulpher Creek, who warned him about the dangers of the Yukon. His trip begins well enough, yet soon becomes disastrous when he breaks through the ice and “wets himself up to the waist.” He is more angry than worried as he begins to build a fire to dry his wet boots and socks.  His arrogance shows when he thinks to himself about how The Old-timer from Sulpher Creek "was rather womanish.”  With this arrogant insult against the elderly and the wisdom that they conceal, many may see that this gap between generations is may find that it connects with Ernest Hemingway’s infamous short story “A Clear Well Lighted Place,” where we find another epic fight between generations. As the story goes on the main character faces the icy bath of cold water again and has to make a fire once more. Due to a grave mistake on his part of building the fire under a tree branch overburdened with fresh snow, his fire is doused out when the heat collapses the branch.  Many may think that this may be a form of Karma towards our protagonist due to his rude comment about the Old-timer from Sulpher Creek.  His extremities are already numb from the cold and he lacks the dexterity to light another fire so begins to run in an effort to get to his companions camp as well as increase his circulation enough to warm up.  He fails in both attempts and soon collapses from exhaustion.  While lying in the snow, defeated and dying, he comes to understand that the old-timer was right.  “You were right, old hoss; you were right,” he says; further realizing how important the old-timer’s advice was.

With the ending of this tragic tail, one may consider this as a forewarning towards the youth of America; a dramatization of the dangers of ignoring the guidance of the elderly not only in nature, but also in the twenty-first century. In hopes that this work of fiction is not created in reality, for those you who have the time to change your moronic, rebellious ways, stop as soon as possible to avoid the same fortune as Jack London’s protagonist.

A Response To Fight Club

Soap: a substance used for washing or cleaning, consisting of a mixture of sodium or potassium salts of naturally occurring fatty acids. As many of us use this detergent in our every day lives, we usually do not ponder the symbolic nature of this decontaminating agent due its unimportant cameos in literature. Though this is most commonly the answer to the literary conundrum, Chuck Palahniuk’s famous novel Fight Club shows how this inanimate cleanser, can hold such meaning. 

In the beginning of the story, we find our protagonist who narrates the story. Many may find this style of writing similar to H.G. Wells’ novel War of the Worlds, where we also have a nameless main character guiding us through the plot line, adding their own humerus dialogue along the way.  Continuing with the story, the protagonist, while on a plane trip, meets a very important character: Tyler Durden. When the narrator first meets Tyler, Tyler declares that he is a soap salesman, although Tyler has various other occupations including a night-time movie projectionist and a waiter. Tyler, however, most identifies himself with the job of selling soap, thus lending weight to the symbolic importance played by soap in the book. Tyler calls soap "the foundation of civilization" and tells the narrator that "the first soap was made from the ashes of heroes". He also uses lye, a chemical ingredient of soap, to introduce the narrator to the pain of "premature enlightenment." The act known as "premature enlightenment" is quite torturous due to it meaning Tyler pouring lye, which is a corrosive alkaline substance, onto the hand of our protagonist.  In this role, soap is a symbol of purification and cleanliness, of a culture lacking the hypocrisy and fraudulence of contemporary culture. However, in that Tyler makes soap by stealing fat from the liposuction clinic dumpsters and then sells these soaps "to department stores for $20 a bar", soap also represents a too highly refined culture, a culture where all traces of natural humanity are suppressed, effaced, and washed off. Rather than being made from the "ashes of heroes", soap is made from "selling rich women their own fat a**es." The fact that Tyler is a salesman for this product represents Jack's subservience to this culture. As the story goes on both Tyler and out main character create an underground fighting faction known as Fight Club. Fight Club is founded as a way for men to regain their primitive instinct that culture tries to wash off. In the end, the main character finds out that Tyler and his gang of thugs have used the discharged substance of soap making, glycerin, and mixed with nitric acid to create nitro glycerin, a very powerful explosive. With this hazardous material the group led by Tyler known as Project Mayhem, rig them to vans conveniently placed in major banks. By doing this the gang hopes to accomplish human equality where no one is based off the money in their wallet, but the skills that they posses.  In this instinct, soap being shown as the purity in this book has been demolished due to its violent ways of mankind’s equilibrium.  

Through out time, people have relied on soap for many of their predicaments. Sicknesses, they fight; filth, they defeat; the evil, they conquer. Through this, humanity created a mental picture of protection and purity. This idea was shattered with one novel: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, showing us that even soap can be filthy.

Carnival

The day went by dry as desert muskrat; the air was thick, like slow moving syrup. Though the weather was anything but enjoyable, Father tore me away from the heavenly chill of the AC to go the carnival. Through the heterogeneous mixture of whining kids and bad dental hygiene, I there I found life; life that has been deep fried and powdered with love and happiness. Standing in line was worth the sweet texture and heavenly aroma of  the cake from a funnel. But then, it happened: Father saw a mechanical demon he called "the roller coaster." I begged Father that we stay away from this horrific machine and go play a game. He insisted that it would be great. 'The Fun', he had promised: the blessedness of joy he raved about; it was a lie.  High velocities of speed and fear pulsed through my veins; screaming with all of my might, I saw my dad laughing as we conquered this beast of machinery. After what felt like years of torturous screaming, the ride was over. Walking off the ride, I felt strange. The queasiness in my stomach... the light-headed feeling in my skull... that’s when I knew this wasn't going to end well. Up came my spongy funnel ,  up came whole cheese curds, up came pellets of my hot dog -- red as clotted blood. Hot acidic wave followed hot acidic wave -- each bilious spasms so horrific, I feared that my aesthetic may never fully recover. With blushes of embarrassment, Father rushed me to the car and headed home. 

Insomnia

Here I sit it's one A.M.,

I should be sleeping now,

My mind's awake and thinking,

but my body's wondering how.

Insomnia, Insomnia,

Thy wicked name implies,

That slumber ceases to exist,

and so I must arise.

Why do you tease my inner peace,

my sanctuary so?

What have I done to deserve this test?

I beg you now, please go!

With many thoughts racing through my head

I Think: I Murmur: I Yell

"CLOSE YOUR EYES AND GO TO BED!"

Of course it isn't working because on this night nothing works well

As I watch my blinds, which are ever ajar,

I see an amazing sight

Through my bloodshot eyes I see the sun from a far

It is morning, here to end this horrific night 

Oh peaceful sleep I dream to feel your presence,

as the school day draws near,

Insomnia, Insomnia,

Farewell , my Sleep, my need for you is crystal clear.

Find More Great Poems Like This At http://allpoetry.com/tag/show/Insomnia.

A Response to The Minority Report

Through the average school day, many students face the problematic procedures that go along with creating a factual presentation on a nonfiction subject. With the project in mind many type their matter into the average search engine and most of the time the prime link is to Wikipedia. Though many have heard of its dreadful lies of false information numerous amounts of these soon to be scholars still use it to finish faster and get back to social networking. From Yahoo Answers to Uncyclopedia.com, in this day in age it is quite hard to find a reliable source of factual matter. Knowing that some things that technology holds isn't true, it is not surprising that in Philip K. Dick’s “ Utopian” world where computers are the judges and juries of all crimes, it is no surprise that a major mistake has happened and a man’s life is at stake.  Through the writing of Philip K. Dick in The Minority Report, we can see what chaos humanity would have if were to believe all that technology states is fact.

Through out time, humanity has been in need of factual propaganda, yet also as time goes on the act of finding the facts has been becoming more difficult. From simple searches on your choice of a search engine one must have a clever eye so we may not have the wrong information on one subject. Knowing this, one may be surprised about having humanity having to use technology as evidence to Precrime. PreCrime is a line of duty where officers and scientists can see the past of murderers, robbers, and other criminals through the mind of the three Precogs and stop the thugs before any harm is done. These are the oracles in the story. Semi- mentally challenged mutants, they are attached to machinery that records their garbled visions. The Precogs see the future, in particular crimes that are going to be committed before they occur.  Many may find that this story is similar to Oedipus Rex with respect to the themes of oracles, seeing the future, fate, destiny, and freewill of all. They live in an area of the National PreCrime building called the monkey block. Typically, two of the three will concur on a prediction (the majority report), with the third’s vision called a minority report. The narrator describes these variations as being out of phase. In layman’s terms, there are multiple timelines, multiple futures being predicted. Without this possibility, the whole notion of PreCrime would be a lie. As time goes on we see our protagonist in the Precogs vision and he is the murderer to be. Not trusting the Precogs he goes through out book escaping the terrors of Precrime and technology. With the plot of society against all that is electronic, many readers may find that it connects with other famous literary works such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley in the fact that the protagonist is also trying to escape machinery. Also Arthur C. Clarke’s   2001 A Space Odyssey in the sense that man kind sees the main enemy, in this case both the Precog and the HAL-9000, of the main character as the ultimate tool. 

Through out our lives, using the wrong information can change the worse. From simply getting a bad grade for assignment, to loss of friendships via rumors, and to the extent of Mr. Dick’s world, the loss of your soul. For those who type the horrid material on the inter net what personal gain does it bring to you heart? Sure maybe a good chuckle or two but the outcome of the users of you untrue words is nothing worth a single guffaw. The shame, it brings; the lives, it has worsened. For those you who have the time to change your Wiki-crazed habit, stop as soon as possible so your label as an average citizen isn’t demolish.

Snowballs

How dare our mental connection to these frozen ammunition  always be of our happy childhood. Many cant bear the thought of the stinging pain that is brought forth upon one face when plastered with the satanic spheres of snow. Like a large icy, frigid bee implanting its thorn into your vertebrae. The arguments started by the intrepid globes of hatred about who flung them first. What started as a friendly game turned into heated argument, then full on Winter warfare. Through all this, parents still think it is okay for these fights to go on not even knowing what the effects are.  The friendships they have broken; the blood that has spewed from noses due to critical hits; the frost bite that has been planted, these are just a few.  Thankfully our branches of education have seen the damage that has been taken and outlawed these frozen fisticuffs. From these laws of our schools hopefully there is a chance for future generations to not experience these riots of hatred and snow.