What makes a novel "a classic"?

I've never really thought about what the actual definition of "classic" is. I guess it's something that has great value and is recognized as a perfect example of something. I think a novel becomes a classic when, first of all, it needs to have a pretty deep meaning behind its words. It should have a lasting effect on the reader, either a positive or negative effect. the novel should cause some type of controversy among it's audience. It should be an original story, something that has never been thought of before. It can be criticized, degraded, but it can never lose its value in the eyes of it's supporters.

wuthering heights: my comments on others

hey Rhina!, 

I totally agree about your opinion on revenge. No matter how much someone hurts or insults you, revenge will do nothing but make you feels worse. sure, if someone deeply hurts you, you'll be very compelled to get them back for it, to make them feel your pain. but if you seek revenge to make that other person understand your pain, then it is completely pointless. if that person didn't care to try to understand the repercussions of his/her actions in the first place, then they're probably not going regret it even if they also feel your pain. i can't think of anytime were i got revenge for petty things, and i actually felt good afterwards. i just think if someone gets satisfaction out of watching others in pain, then they should really go see psychiatrist cause there is something very wrong with them

Alexa,

i agree with everything you said. i mean, there are people out there who consider their cats and dogs as a "real" family member! so of course an actual human foster/adopted child is part of the family. a family is a group of people who take care of each other. sure, being biologically related plays a part too, but i don't see any reason why an adopted child can never truly be part of a family. afterall, why would someone want to take in a child into their family if they aren't going to considered a part of the family?

 

hey angel

i believe in everything you said about people "living on" in our memories. when people die, the only proof there is that they existed are people's memories of them. actually, there has always been a question on my mind about this; if someone dies and no one on earth has any recollection of them whatsoever, then were they truly alive in the first place? it really confuses me if i try to think about it though. anyways, i agree with you about people"living on through love given from others". i love the worded that sentence and the sentence following it. you really bring life to those presidents.

also about childhood friends; i think for someone to become a loyal friend, you have to have complete trust in them. i think childhood friends might not be the loyalist of all friends because with the friends you made when you were young, there really wasn't a reason or need to trust friends at that young age. you just wanted to have fun with them. their loyalty was the least of you concerns! but occasionally there are a couple of friends who stick, and those are the ones you can trust, because they stuck with you even as you grew up and changed.

Dead people come back to life?

When someone dies, he or she cannot "come back from the dead". Well, technically, as far as we know, dead people can't come back to life. But it also depends on what exactly "dead" means. Does it mean your heart has stopped, you have no brain activity, or just simply that your soul has left your body (if you believe in that). I think when people refer to a person as dead, it usually means their heart has stopped, so if someone's heart has stopped then they are clinically dead, right? But I've heard and read about people whose hearts have stopped, been "dead" for a period of time, then "come back to life". So what would that be considered as? I guess they actually didn't "die" since that term has been used it describe something that is gone, never to come back. But I believe that an actual human being is not actual matter, but is a soul, like many religions say. I just think that our minds, emotions, personalities, etc. are too complex to be put into the category of matter, like a chair, or table. On a quantum level, we're all energy. And technically, energy can't be created or destroyed. So when we "die", or should I say our bodies die, I would like to believe that whatever happens the "soul", or the energy that we all are, (since it cannot be destroyed) wherever it goes, there has to be a way that it will resurface again. I believe if there is a  way to go somewhere, there is always a way to get back, even if it is not in the same form, or "body" as before. So can a person come back to life? I don't think "dead" people can just "come back to life" like zombies, but hey, I also don't think there has ever been a human out there that has ever come close to having enough knowledge to confirm anything about death.  Just because we think it never happened, doesn't mean it can't.

My comments

Kimberly-

I can totally relate to what you said about how books can be some sort of escape from reality. Like movies, books can introduce you to a totally different world and make you forget about the difficulties of your own reality. I guess that’s how Malcolm felt when he was reading his books in prison. His current state was so sad, but he was able to escape it all by reading books 24/7. Everyday I hear people claiming that books are stupid and a waste of time, and I can't help but imagine what they are missing. also, when you said "I know that especially when I am stressed, the two things I turn to are a good book and music", I realized that reading can also be very therapeutic, and even similar to meditation.

Ashley –

I agree entirely with what you said. My parents are like yours; my dad is Norwegian and my mom is Armenian. Personally, I don't care if a person is white, black, brown, or yellow. People are people, and their skin color has absolutely nothing to do with anything. People of different races are not smarter or better than each other. If everybody was blind, no one would be able to tell the difference between a black person and a white person. I also think that last quote you put " Forget stereotypes; everybody's different" shows the pointlessness of racism. You can't judge an ENTIRE race of people based on one person just because they look the same.

Shayna –

Shayna, I really can't imagine what you and your family went through when your sister got sick, but I'm happy she's doing better now. But personally, I have my doubts about life being all written down. I guess the reason that idea is so popular is that it is comforting, since, then technically, people aren't really at fault for things that happen in their lives. But I strongly believe that life is what YOU make it to be. You are in control of what happens or doesn't happen in your life. Things happen to everyone, it doesn't matter if they are good or bad; deserving or undeserving. The point is how you deal with what is in the present. The fact that your sister is all better now proves that she and everyone close to her took control of the problem and overcame it. Now I assume everyone is stronger from that trying experience.

Jamie –

After reading this, it became so clear to me how Barack Obama is a perfect example of how Malcolm said black people have to help themselves. I mean, today, a black man holds the highest position of power in the US! And just like you said, he not only inspired black people, but every minority in America. The fact that someone like Obama is president today, when about 50 years ago, he wouldn't be able to use the same bathroom as white people still amazes me. I remember in history class, it was mentioned that Obama walked down the republican hallway exit, or something like that, which Dinardo-White explained was an extremely bold move towards political unity. So he not only broke down the barriers of racism, but he also working towards uniting America as a whole. That's one of the countless reasons I respect him so much.

Malcolm's pilgrimage to Mecca post #5

After reading like 5 chapters about Malcolm's anti-white sentiment and a full 30-page chapter about his devastating downfall from the Nation of Islam, i cant explain with words how relived i felt reading about his pilgrimage to Mecca. Disregarding the minor setbacks he faced, Malcolm's experience in the Middle East was so pleasant! Up until now, all he had been thinking about were extremely stressful things. Now, when his eyes were opened to the truth, and he felt relieved, i also felt relieved! For the first time in his life he was treated with respect, hospitality, kindness, and love by people of all different colors. " All ate as One, and slept as One. Everything about the pilgrimage atmosphere accented the One-ness of Man under One God (Haley 337). This shows that Malcolm is finally understanding what it means to be a Muslim. The following quote also shows this " Love, humility, and true brotherhood was almost a physical feeling wherever I turned" (Haley 332). Throughout the entire book, i couldn't help but think that Elijah Muhammad's teachings weren't true Islam. it was all standing up for black people and blaming white people for their misfortune. In the Middle East, Islam is totally different, and Malcolm discovers this, changing his entire life. Malcolm's life prior to Mecca was technically centered around combating racism. If you break his motives down you discover that the core reason was to achieve personal happiness. So basically, as a child Malcolm was a victim of racism, then moved on to hustling and etc. to combat it and gain some control over his life, then in prison he converted to Islam, and used that to combat racism, then, finally, on his pilgrimage to Mecca, i believe that that was the climax in his life where he achieved so much happiness, that even i was happy! In a place were racism didn't exist, he was at peace. In a place where he didn't think about racism he was happy. 

Personally i feel like i can relate to Malcolm's pursuit, because i think i've been doing the same in my life. Generally, my personality is more on the shy side. When i was young, i was so extremely shy that in kindergarden i would never talk to a teacher. If i had to use the restroom, i would literally whisper to a close friend if they could go ask the teacher if I could go the bathroom. Throughout the years, i've pretty much conquered that extreme shyness, but now being a teenager, that shyness has become anxiety. My mom has become quite an expert in the field of natural healing, holistic nursing and in reiki (healing by emitting energy through your body). Her views on life have introduced me to a whole new world where i can  be in control. Where i'm going with this is that over and over again, i thought i found the perfect way of thinking, but it turned out not to be. But the more it happens, the following time i have learned what was lacking in the previous times, and applied that to the new view.  That was what Malcolm was going through. He thought being a hustler was an effective way of life, but he went to prison. He devoted himself to the Nation of Islam, but it wasn't perfect. The He discovered the new view of Islam in Mecca, finding himself. This website explains a couple od aspects of finding yourself  http://www.wikihow.com/Find-Yourself. When i went through the content on this website, i noticed most of the bullet points were evident in Malcom's life. 

Harlem field trip post #4

I really enjoyed going an a field trip to Harlem, and seeing the neighborhood that Malcolm X spent his years in. I had been to Harlem a couple of times before to visit family friends, but the school trip there showed me a completely new perspective of the place. I liked the bus tour at the beginning; Andi Owens pretty much gave a background of the area in a very enjoyable manner. I had always had a certain image of Harlem in my mind, like many others, which was almost completely replaced as early as the tour guide gave the tour of Harlem. I would have liked to walk a little more around Harlem on foot, instead of just on the bus, but i realize that would have been hard with such a big group. At the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, it was interesting to see a whole exhibit dedicated to President Obama. Even though the place was just full pictures, they really had a lot of meaning and a few were also entertaining. Also, i didn't think that a place like the Schomburg Center would exist in Harlem, so that also was interesting for me. Personally, i usually find bus tours to be boring and repetitive, but this time Neal Shoemaker, the other tour guide, really kept my attention. Even though he himself was entertaining enough, but the things he talked about were actually very interesting, especially in the way he presented them. At Sylvia's Restaurant, the fried chicken was seriously the best i have ever tasted. I actually hadn't really heard of soul food before, but i just assumed that "soul" was just a label for something relative to African-Americans. But after lunch, i understood the part where "putting your soul into your cooking " came into play. Later on, the time we spent  at the Apollo theater was really amusing. I had heard of the Apollo theater before, but i didn't think it was such a big deal. Also, for some reason, after hearing it was a  prominent landmark, i expected it to be a little bit bigger. But the interior and all the designs were beautiful. The little show Billy put on was also very entertaining. I was looking forward to going to the mosque Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, but i have to say that it was also not like i imagined it. I thought it would have a little more elaborate exterior and entrance. Actually, now that i think about it, i find it ironic that i would think that, since previously, i thought Harlem was more of a rundown  community. Anyways, in the Mosque, the separate entrances  for men and women, or sisters and brothers, was the first time i encountered such a separation, other than the usual separation of bathrooms, of course. I was looking forward to hearing th Brother talk about Islam, since I've always been interested in learning about different religions. I loved that he was so enthusiastic. 

Overall, i enjoyed this field trip because it gave me a whole new view point of black Harlem. Actually, i recently realized that my experience in Harlem was similar to Malcolm's experience on his pilgrimage to Mecca. I don't mean all the complications he had, i mean the part where his entire view of Islam was changed. Throughout his journey, his eyes were opened to what Islam truly was. All the muslims he encountered were overwhelmingly hospitable and welcoming. For me, it was almost like that in Harlem. My view on the Harlem way of life changed and everyone we met was very welcoming. Malcolm's experience also reminded me of the movie The Last Samurai. In the movie, the main character finds himself in the same situation as Malcolm. He is a soldier who has an emotional downfall, then finds support and strength in a different country which he was supposedly supposed to hate. What i mean is that both of their views were changed by another type of people who they thought were one thing, but tuned out to be totally different. 

Malcolm's anger post #3

In chapters 14 & 15, especially 15, Malcolm's entire attitude consists of anti-white sentiments. Everything he points out is against whites, let it be "integration", "assimilation" etc. That's all he's doing; being aggressive towards everyone white. As the book goes on, it becomes obvious, at least to me, that he is relying too much on anger to get things done. All throughout chapter 15, he rants about and scorns whites' attempts to integrate by digging up any and every possible explanation for it to prove his own point that white people are evil. He puts all his effort in explaining every small negative aspect about everything. Sure it might seem like he's making progress, but doesn't it all seem like he is just lashing out at white people for their treatment of black people? You can only get so far with negative and aggressive views, since that's only half of the story. What about all the non-aggressive, non-rebellious views? Only with a peaceful attitude can people overcome world problems like racism. Also when i read "...one of my principle rules, which is never to let myself become over emotional or angey" (Haley 290), i couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Where exactly did he draw the line separting a little emotional and over emotional? All that talk about the details about how white people abuse black slaves, raping their women. I don't know about you, but to me a subject like that tends to be a little over emotional at times. I feel like at first, before all the media and public speaking, Malcolm had good intentions, but as he was introduced to a world of challenge, he slowly and unconsiously exceeded his principles in order to justify his words. If you take away all the logic, all the facts he presents, all the "religious" principles, if you look down into the nature of his words, you will see that Malcolm X is a very angry man. And with anger you can't get very far, until you see the bigger view.
I got this impression while readin this chapter, but what really took away the doubt was when my mom read a couple of pages of the book. The first thing she said was "this man has so much anger inside him, it can't be healthy" Also while reading this, i remembered a movie was had watched recently, 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama. One of the Dalai Lama's principle beliefs is that only peace can achieve happiness, not violence or war. Only with peace and forgivness can you overcome hatred, no matter how strong it is. These couple of quotes demonstrate his wisdom http://www.thinkexist.com/English/Author/x/Author_825_2.htm.

blog post #2

During Malcolm's life in Harlem, it was obvious that he blamed all of black people's unfortunate lives on white society, but i don't think that's true. A lot of the black race's condition is also their own fault, because ever since they were brought to America, they were programmed to think they were inferior. But the truth is that they aren't. Just because they thought they were doesn't make it true. Because they thought they were inferior, they didn't think they had the power to change their lives or live a better one. Just because white man was looking down upon them didn't mean blacks couldn't improve their situation. This article describes the psycology behind racism and how it can be overcome http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Bush1.html.
People's lives are what they make them to be. I don't know how many times i've heard that before i actually understood that. I would hear it, but not take a moment to listen to it. Now that i understand it, it actually makes a lot of sense. You think you're not in control, but you are! If ur life is in the dumps, who do you think can help you? Some random person isn't going to give you their hand and pick you up. The choice to give yourself a better life is up to you. It comes from inside yourself. There have been countless times where i've felt so hopeless in a situation, but i keep reminding myself that it is up to me how this will turn out. I read this story about this guy who chose to live instead of to die because he always kept a positive attitude towards life. http://www.famous-motivational-quotes.com/Inspirational-Story-5.html.

The White "devil" post #1

For the past chapters, all Malcolm really has done is rant about how bad and evil white people are, but i'm sure that i'm not the only person who thinks that's a very general and unfair stereotype, even for those times. The idea that ALL white people are evil is actually a really outrageous theory. Blacks can't generalize and blame every single white person for the suffering their ancestors went through. And then when the Nation of Islam presented that notion to the american population, the american's reaction was only natural. After all, if any race of people call you the devil, of course you are going to go on the defence. and why wouldn't you? They are insulting you and your race. Of course you are going to try to deny it, then try to deal with it when that doesn't work. But then again, the blacks did have an understandable reason to have so much anger towards the white race for abusing their ancestors, but their reaction to the whites' reaction was pretty ridiculous. No matter how the white people reacted to this idea, the black muslims would have found a reason to use that to further back up their religon. The main reason i disagree with white people being devils is that, ok, the muslims ranted and preached and argued and degrated the white people, but what were they going to get out of it? Sure, a couple more black supporters, but my point is that how would calling their neighbors devils ultimately turn out good? It only made whites even more wary and doubtful of black people. They wanted to achieve separation. Not segregation, but separation. How did they think they were going to acheive a separation of races? Both blacks and whites were living in the same place! America! Where were they going to go? Did they actually think that they could completely separate the lives of black people and white people who lived in the same place? To me it doesn't make much sense. But that's propably because i don't know the details about the Nation of Islam and their beliefs. If they could convince a smart guy like Malcolm X that this is true, then there must be some logical explantion, but still, it seems like an outrageous idea to me.
I understand exactly how black people felt against the whites because being part Armenian and growing up in a very much Armenian integrated surrounding, i have a similar attitude towards turkish people. All throughout history, and especially during the 1800s and early 1900s the Turks had continually abusing Armenians, massacring, oppressing, and degrading them. In the late 1800s, Abdul Hamid, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire committed a major massacre of the defenseless Armenian villages in his empire. Then the main genocide occured in 1915, when the Young Turk organization massacred 1.5 million Armenians, with the intention of completely oblitering the Armenian race. This website presents a summary of the genocide http://www.gendercide.org/case_armenia.html. Up till this day, almost 100 years later, Turkey fervently denies ever committing the genocide, even with very compelling evidence, disturbing pictures, survivor stories etc. out in the open. Armenian attitude towards the Turks is very similar, yet quite different to the black's attitude towards the whites. But an explaination for that could fill a book.

Malcolm X

After reading the chapters about Malcolm's life in Harlem, I was amazed on how much he had changed since the beginning of the book. I had practically forgotten and could hardly recall most of what I read about him prior to all the drugs and robberies. I can't say that I wasn't expecting most of it to happen, but it still surprised me. He used to be an innocent unfortunate kid, but as his jobs became more and more illegal, his lifestyle not only changed but his personality too. When he put the gun at his head declaring that he's not afraid to die, he had changed so much that he even Shorty, Rudy, Sophia and her sister looked at him with fear, thinking he was crazy. Then, when he was sent to prison, it was like he changed again, just asquick as before, but towards a more religious lifestyle.

Race privileges

I feel like even though many white people are against racism and prejudice, their minds subconsciously make that distinction whether they meant to or not. Those thoughts are built down into people's minds, because the man's first instinct is to act upon what they see. What they see are people who look different to them, and that is the first thought they come across of when they see someone of a different race. Because the white population of the world was technically the first race to advance much more than others, it came natural to them to look at others and see inferiority. If it is all massively broken down to the simple basics of human behavior, every action they make against people of other races are simply and driven by some sort of fear and the need to protect one's self. Back then when the oppression came forth, it makes sense that it originated from the sense of the white race to push down any others who were potentially a threat to their stature. When I think about it, it seems like the idea that racism is originated from fear might be hard from some people to grasp. But by ignoring for a second their side of the argument, it should be clear to them that fear is a reasonable explanation. Now I understand and there are a lot more massive and obvious reasons to shutting people from other races out, and that's what people probably see the clearest, but I think that that primitive sense of fear has evolved into a much more complex idea of racism. That idea has been knocked into everyone's head naturally, because that has become instinct. The privileges that come to white people are also mostly left into the subconscious until an outside source forces that person to actually think about it. No one really notices it because it has become the norm for so many people, who can't help but take it for granted. Even people who are aware of it and are fighting against it can't help but see black people as black people. Then that primitive urge to distinguish yourself from them kicks in, but ultimately your actions are left up to your moral values and what you believe in. People subconsciously act in reaction to what they sense with their senses, but if they care to look beyond that with their mind, that's when they can be sure they have supassed that racist attitude.

Malcolm X

At the beginning of the book, it was obvious how Malcolm was treated as if he was an empty shell of a person. He wasn't appreciated as a fellow human being although people didn't openly degrade him like they did other African Americans. But as he lived his early life around those people, I felt like underneath it all, all the feelings of unappreciation were being bottled up inside him. Even from his childhood, the effects of racism were beating down on him, leading him to let feelings of resentment, frustration, irritation and unsatisfaction build up inside. I think those feelings all exploded when he started drinking, doing drugs, and going out with women, especially when he met Sophia. His behavior with Sophia seemed exactly like how white people were treating him. She wasn't really an actual person to him, just a tool he used to burst out all the emotions that had built up in him because of white people like her. It's like he was being a hypocrite, but not exactly. Being a hypocrite is playing two opposite roles, usually one in a certain situation, the other in a different one. But what Malcolm was wasn't exactly a hypocrite, it was rather his way of getting back at the white race by lashing out on them the pain they caused him. It was his method of rebellion towards them, and also himself. The pressure from the whites led him to selfdislike and shame, causing him to act like his bullies.