Tess of the D'Ubervilles

The ending that Thomas Hardy paints in Tess of the d'Urbervilles in very intriguing. Throughout the novel, Hardy repeatedly shows the dominance of males over females, with the prime example coming from when Alec rapes Tess. Hardy makes it his point to clearly show his audience the roles of men and women during the 19th century in Great Britain, with the former being much more controlling and predominant than the latter. At no point in time or instance does Hardy choose to let a female speak up for herself and take action against the will of another man other than near the end of the novel, when Tess surprisingly murders Alec. Ironically, this is the most heroic part of the novel, an event where Tess stands up against a man and breaks the expected pattern of a woman submitting to a man. Yet Hardy chooses, following his tragic genre, for Tess to get captured while running away and to subsequently be executed as a direct result of her heroic moment. Hardy vividly shows the injustice as to how woman are treated in Great Britain  through the tragic character that is Tess. One has to wonder how different Tess's life would be if she were born into a society that gave women just a little more power and voice in society. This harsh critism against the cultural and social values that England has against the roles of the sexes plays an important part in the novel, as Hardy is able to effectively criticize the traditions of his time in order to do his part to advance English society.

-Conrad

Last Week's Class Discussion

Living in Sin
        In class last week we were confronted with the poem, "Living in Sin"  by Adrienne Rich. Though the contemporary idea of living in sin is associated with "shacking up" or living with a person that is not your spouse the inner meaning of Rich's poem does not serve to discourage or ostracize those that live out of wedlock. Instead the words strive to expose a far larger problem that each of us have undoubtedly dealt with. The narrator in the poem describes a life of dichotomy, one in which she finds happiness in the nighttime but slowly sinks into depression as the day progresses. In this description, we found, with Mrs. Elliott's assistance of course, that the sin in which the narrator was living was not the fact that she was with a man that was not her husband but that she had yet to do anything to save herself from the emotional rollercoaster that she was experiencing. Personally, it reminded me of this quote;

            "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" - Albert Einstein

      Indeed this woman that Rich described was, in Einstein's definition, insane because she did nothing to change the situation she was in even though she knew that change was needed to alter her sad life. So let us all take a lesson from Adrienne Rich's literary figure and choose our own hapiness and our own sanity.

                                                          - Jake

Short College Essay :)

In 250 words or less, please tell us about your chosen field of study for college/university. Why have you chosen this field? If you are undecided, please discuss a few of the fields of study are you are considering and why.

          As a child, I was very indecisive concerning what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I considered a myriad of careers, from being a teacher to entering the fashion industry.  Of the many professions that I had contemplated, I knew that I did not want to go into the medical field.  A girl who spent most of her childhood playing dress up and fantasizing about becoming a Disney princess, I knew that I wanted my future occupation to be something glamorous.  Nonetheless, this all changed on September 14, 2005, when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.  Forced to spend the majority of my seventh grade year in the hospital, my life was anything but enchanting.  Despite cancer being the most challenging thing I’ve ever dealt with, much good came out of my struggle with it.  I learned to take any negative situation that I am placed in and make it into something positive.  I therefore discovered that just as my doctor had helped me to be cured of cancer, I want to spend my life helping others.  I am now positive that I want to study medicine and become a neonatologist in the future.  The main reason that I had once considered becoming a teacher was that I love children.  As a neonatologist, I will be able to care for young lives.  I can give them a second chance at life, just as I received.

~Kellie

UC Application :D

This is my UC essay for the second prompt. I was procrastinating till the last day to write it, so it probably doesn't sound great, but hope you guys enjoy it!

             Crying is an embarrassment, and it is worse when it happens in public. As a teenager with the habit of tearing up in difficult situations, I hated challenging myself or facing anything that people would consider abnormal. One of the problems was my English accent, which was a natural result of being an immigrant. Even though it was nothing to be ashamed of, it made me very self-conscious. As a result, my greatest fear became public speaking.

             Throughout four years of high school, I attempted to overcome this fear. Joining a Speech-and-Debate team was one of the choices, but the motivation eventually wore away and brought me back to the usual routine, avoiding challenges and ignoring chances of self-improvement. However, last summer, I impulsively chose to attend Mastering Leadership program sponsored by National Student Leadership Conference. Main reason, unfortunately, was because it was a one-week program; I did not expect more than tedious lectures and activities that would somehow make me feel accomplished.

                           Such assumption proved to be false, for it was far more demanding. Out of all the activities, self-assessment called “FEAR” made me feel uneasy the most. It was a time for attendees to share their fears within assigned groups. Clearly, the first word came into my mind was public speaking. The group advisor asked me to stand in front of the group members to demonstrate that it is really irrational to be afraid of talking in front of a crowd. Even though his idea was logical, I could not stand the pressure and broke into tears.

                           The experience was horrifying. It was extremely embarrassing to cry in front of people, especially when they were almost strangers. Even the advisor was confused and apologized for pushing me too hard; but I knew it was me who was too weak to bear the challenge. On the last day of the conference, the guest speaker Mr. Martin told us to discuss the changes brought upon us as a result of attending this event. People stood up and talked about themselves, sometimes crying, as well as the fears they have overcame. I was one of them, casually presenting myself to 83 conference attendees.

             After the program, I was not fearful of people anymore. I promised myself that I will not forget the challenges that I faced during the leadership camp, and that I will always attempt to stride out of the comfort zone. The program taught me that I could become a powerful leader as long as I remember how to welcome and face obstacles. Today, I still struggle, but I can proudly announce myself as an ambitious, but prudent, risk-taker.

-Chloe

An Interesting Prompt

What do you find intellectually engaging? Thats what Stanford University wants to know in one of there three short essay response questions.

·         Stanford students are widely known to possess a sense of intellectual vitality. Tell us about an idea or an experience you have had that you find intellectually engaging.

 Here's mine

When we think of gravity, we imagine the constraints and limitation that it holds on us. I know I have had my fair share of aches and pains from this undeniable force. As a soccer goalie, I would meet the hard ground in a cloud of dust for every giant leap across the goal. Gravity does have its benefits though, as Mr. Lawrence Su helped me realize.

 One day in class, whilst feeling my weekly soccer bruises, my Physics teacher embarked on another of his tangents. But to these words I listened intently because of their atypical perception of gravity, not as an oppressor, but as a unifier. Mr. Su explained that, due to Isaac Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation, every single thing, even a meek student, has a gravitational force that pulls on every object around. As a corny joke, he made the assertion that, because of this basic law of physics, everyone else in the world was “physically” attracted to him. From this gag, I acquired the idea that there is, in scientific fact, a connection between all things even though it may not be visible.

 By comprehending one of the most essential aspects of physics, I was able to truly value gravity as a benevolent, natural force that brings all people together, voluntary or involuntary. Perhaps Newton’s law doesn’t exist to restrain our abilities but rather to provide a bridge among individuals when there is no other and that is what I find intellectually engaging.

-Jake

College Essays

The essay I submitted responds to the prompt for the University of Oregon Honors College.

During the fall 2008 election, Clark Honors College graduate Steve Novick lost a primary election for the U.S. Senate to Jeff Merkley. Why should anyone run for public office?

            One of the main components of the Democratic Republic the U.S. chooses as our form of government includes the election of public officials to make decisions for voters. However, the reasons why most prospective public officials run for office are usually not reasons why people should run for public office. The enticing perks of positions of public office, such as the power an individual in public office holds as well as monetary incentives, often attract people with less than honorable motivations into public office.

            People in positions of public office have many responsibilities, for example as civil servants they perform a service for the voters. People with innovative ideas of government should run for office because their ideas may be well liked by the public as well as more effective. Many people are dissatisfied with the welfare system as it is because they feel there is no incentive for people on welfare to support their own households. If a new mind were to come up with a new system to assist people on welfare that still encouraged them to find the means of supporting themselves, that person should have every opportunity to put this idea to practice. In more unfortunate areas there are problems that most people who are elected to political positions would have trouble identifying and thinking of a solution for the issue. Poorer areas may have trouble with convincing their youth to finish their schooling. Most people elected to office are educated and may not sympathize with young people who have difficulties with getting to school safely or do not have parents with college degrees. This should serve as an incentive for someone who has experienced some of theses same difficulties to run for public office.

            While there are many reasons why a person should run for office, unfortunately many of these reasons are often not the real motivations of those who run for office. Considering the immense power brought on by an election to public office, it is not surprising that corruption might eventually occur. At times the party supporting a candidate will have specific goals that the candidate is expected to help the party accomplish. Such a situation blurs the candidate’s vision and focus on assisting the community he is supposed to be representing. Greed also distracts some candidates from their real purpose in office. In my own hometown a councilman has recently been convicted of grand theft. This is an especially gregarious situation because politicians such as the one in my town are not overly concerned with using the assets of the government to assist the people in it.

            In truth, public office is somewhat of a paradox, in that some individuals who run for office do so for the wrong reasons. The question of public office hinges on the motivation of the person running, however, the people with the right motivations will clearly beneficial to the community they are serving.

-Jasmine M.

This week in class we discussed the importance of tone in a text.  Tone is an author's feelings toward his or her material and audience.  Tone is found in all pieces, including poems, novels, and movies, and greatly affects a literary work's meaning.  For example, William Wordsworth's poem, "The World is too Much with Us," contains a tone that is both scornful, as he castigates society for being so preoccupied with material wealth that we overlook what truly matters, such as the beauty of nature, and sarcastic, as he goes on to explain that he'd "rather be a pagan suckled in a creed outworn."  By this he means that he would much prefer to be raised in a time characterized by old-fashioned values because then he would at least have the chance to appreciate nature. On Friday, we discovered the true impact that tone has on a literary piece when we acted out the well-known story, Little Red Riding Hood.  Each person was given an adjective to use to act out their part.  This activity showed how a different tone can completely change the meaning of a story.  Tone is extremely significant to our writing, so it is crucial that we continue to develop our voice as we write our college application essays.

~Kellie