Blog #7

This week, I finished Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. Jacob finishes his story of his life at the circus including it's happy ending. Then, the book comes back to present day. Jacob waits for his son to come and visit him so that they can go to the circus that is in town, but his family never comes. Jacob decides to go to the circus by himself, even though he isn't allowed to leave the nursing home. At the circus, he meets Charlie, who is a manager, and Charlie invites Jacob into his trailer after the show. There, Charlie learns that Jacob isn't supposed to be with him, but Jacob explains that he wants to join the circus again; Charlie agrees.

"And then I laugh, because it's so ridiculous and so gorgeous and it's all I can do to melt into a fit of giggles. So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me, why shouldn't I run away to the circus?" (331).

This excerpt from Jacob's thoughts sums up the message of the story. Whether we're old or young, we can only ever be truly happy when we do what we love. Jacob loved being a part of the circus; when he wasn't with the circus, he was cranky and mean. So, becoming a part of it again made him realize how happy he can be when he does what he likes to do.

Blog #6

This week, I read from the Koran in a text translated by Arthur J. Arberry. The Koran is the religious text for Islam and was written after the teaching of the prophet Muhammad. The section of the Koran that I read was written for men; it elucidated the religion's rules about mens interactions with women. The Koran explained to men how many wives they can have, how to treat women in the society, and who they are allowed to wed. The Koran stated, "marry such women as seem good to you, two three, four..." (176). According to this excerpt, men in Islamic societies are allowed to have as many wives as they please. The Koran also said, "Men are the managers of the affairs of women for that God has preferred in bounty one of them over the other" (179). Men are seen as more powerful and more respected in society than women are. Men are told to order the women around because God prefers men over women. Finally, the Koran states, "Forbidden are you to your mothers and daughters, your sisters, your aunts, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters..." (179). The list of forbidden wives goes on and on. What it says is that men may not wed their family, however distantly related. So, according to the Koran, men in Islamic societies have much more power than women do because men may choose as many wives as they please, God favors the men, and men are allowed to wed anyone they wish as long as the woman isn't in their family.

Blog #5

Dear Camel,
What made you decide to befriend Jacob? You are an experienced and normally well-liked employee that seems to be quiet and shy towards others. After making friends with Jacob, people no longer see you as the quiet, shy, responsible one. Maybe you just wanted to prove to everyone that you aren't just the quiet one, that you can be risky and clever as well, but what about him made you want to be nice to him in the first place? After knowing him for all of 2 hours, (and you were asleep for one and a half of those hours) you backed him up and helped him get a respectable starting job and then helped him advance further and get promoted to higher jobs; his job was better than yours! So why did you do it? Since you are a circus worker, I doubt you chose to because you are just a good person that wanted to help out someone in need, but I also do not believe that you chose to become friends with him because you wanted to help yourself. So, did your friends force you to be nice to him? Did you just have a good feeling about Jacob? Whatever your motive, your decision to befriend Jacob changed how everyone felt about you because they changed they way they thought of you. This decision turned you from the nice and quiet Camel to the smart and knowledgeable Camel. So, whatever made you decide to befriend him helped you greatly.

Blog # 4

Sara Gruen, the author of Water For Elephants, stresses the importance of being obedient through her book. When the main character, Jacob Jankowski, is a young boy, he is very obedient. This is shown through his actions and words, which makes him likable by his superiors and furthers his career.

What Jacob does shows the reader how quickly he complies to others. An example of his compliance is when he is asked to shovel out a train-car full of horse manure. Rather than refusing to do this dirty task like most college students would, Jacob agrees. After he finished this job, Jacob was more respected by the circus people and was promoted to a better, cleaner, job.

Through his words, Jacob shows his obedience as well. One instance when Jacob's words show his obedience is when he is speaking to Cecil. Cecil is one of Jacob's superiors at the circus. Whenever Jacob speaks to Cecil, he is humble and as helpful as he can be. He doesn't ask Cecil for favors or expect things of him, but understands that Cecil is in charge of him. Because of the way Cecil is treated by Jacob, Cecil puts in a good word or two about Jacob to the men in charge of the circus which allows Jacob to move even further up the circus jobs to a better one.

By analyzing Jacob's words and actions, it is possible to see that his obedience is very helpful to him and his career. His easy compliance is so helpful because it shows respect for his superiors, who in turn respect Jacob, which advances his career in the circus.

Blog #3

Dear Mr. Jacob Jankowski,
What was going through your head when you decided to run away to the circus? I know that your mom and dad just died in a car accident and that no one understands how you feel right now, but why would you get on that train? I suppose it must have been a spur of the moment thing- jumping on to a train speeding by just when you're thinking about getting away from your life and the real world. Does that mean that it is okay to leave behind everyone that loves you, like Catherine, your long time girlfriend, without telling them where you are going let alone saying goodbye? Not to mention circus life is hard and scary a lot of the time. If you say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time, you could get badly beaten up. Three people have already told this to you and you have not even been at the circus for a day. Despite all of this, you stay. Thoughts of home and Catherine and your life pre-circus never even cross your mind. I understand that you need to just be away from everything for a little while, but how long is a little while? How long are you going to keep Catherine worrying about where you are and what happened to you? I hope you can figure out how much damage you are causing soon because I know I would like to know where you are if I was Catherine. Good luck to you,
Sarah

Blog #2

This week, I read the first two chapters of Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. This book is about a man named Jacob Jankowski. Jacob is old- so old in fact that he is not sure how old he is. He lives in a nursing home, but seems to wish he didn't have to and could support himself. One day when Joseph McGuinty sits across from Jacob at dinner, he claims that he carried water for the elephants in the circus when he was younger. Jacob doesn't believe him and they get into an argument. Then, the reader is taken back in time to when Jacob was twenty-three and a student at Cornell. When Jacob finds that both his parents have died in a car accident, he runs away and finds himself on a circus train.
"Age is a terrible thief. Just when you're getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops you back. It makes you ache and muddies your head" (12). This quote comes when Jacob is sitting in his room, pondering how he is treated at the nursing home. It is obvious that Jacob despises being old and senile. He makes a very good note about how life works, though. All through your "young" years, you are struggling to find who you are and what you want to be. All the twists and turns of life startle you and it takes a while until you get back in your grove again after an accident. When you are older though, life's unexpected mishaps fail to surprise you and it is finally possible to live contently. That is when you become too old to do anything but sit in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. This insight may be what the whole book is about; life is unfair because once you can figure it out, you're too old to care.

Blog #1

This week, I read an article about how the brain creates all of our emotions. This article called Sad Brain, Happy Brain was from Newsweek and was written by Michael Craig Miller. "Neuroscientists consider it settled that the mind arises from the cooperation of billions of interconnected cells that, individually, are no smarter than an amoebae" (53). It is amazing how emotions, simple like sadness and happiness, or complex like jealousy and love, are all created by a bunch of individual brain cells working together. What is even more amazing is that complex emotions, for example jealousy and love, only use certain parts of the brain, while simpler emotions, like being happy or sad, use over 70 different parts. One thing I found esecially interesting about this article was how the brain recognizes harmful situations and sends fear through your body. The brain analyses the environment and registers emotional significance and sends the body the proper response. The fear system works really fast; you don't even need to know whats going on to have fear. If a car swerves into your lane, you would be afraid of it before the visual brain has chance to see what is going on. I found that to be very interesting; even when you don't know what is happening consciously, your brain does. This must be an instinct we humans have had from the beginning of time to help us survive. I really enjoyed reading this article and learning about how our brains work because it is very interesting to me to learn more about myself and how our bodies work.