ENGLISH 100/ 102/ 103/ 110
When you blog, in the Title, write your first and last name as you would as if you are turning in a paper to me. Then you do not have to write my name because I know you are in my class.
For example, one would write:
Kayla Marley
English
Goldenwest College
Post #1
Homelessness
In addition, for the title, pick the topic of discussion, grammar/ organization/ content lesson or reading/literature/article title that we have discussed in class. Write the posts like this: write #1 Post or #2 Post, so I can easily keep track of them and how many you write.
Of course, you are welcome to write more than several posts, and in doing so is another form of participation and does count in the participation grade. Perhaps, in class, you may not participate all that much but in the realm of the blogosphere, you can from the comfort of your own home,Font size
* reflect on the day's class discussion, grammar, reading, writing, thinking, and life lesson or offer up an insight that you found particularly interesting, etc., etc.
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* How does it change the way you think, reflect, and/or thought before on the subject?
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* What actions might you take in the future? Anything is open to interpretation.
Of course, I need not go on and on about being respectful towards your peers' opinions and beliefs. If you disagree with another student's views be discreet about it: Do not say so and so is completely wrong because of this and that. Instead, say, I disagree with so and so and here are the reasons why I do. Go after their evidence and support and do not, I repeat do not attack someone else personally. This is supposed to be a forum for everyone to share their ideas and views.
I will enforce the blogosphere like I do the class if disrespect happens (either here) aimed at me or a fellow student as well elsewhere.
1. Use a quote: Introduce the author, title of work, and a verb, such as says: For example, Plato, in “Allegory of the Cave,” says, “Better to be a poor servant of a poor master than live as they do after their manner” (paragraph number).
2. Do relate the piece of literature to your life in some fashion and/ or media, pop culture, current events, and so forth.
3. Each post is worth 10 points—I have given you some sample posts for examples
4. I get an e-mail sent from the blogosphere saying who posted, and that is how I tally points.
Adrian Moreira
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #3
The Allegory of the Cave
First of all I want to say that thanks to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, I kept saying "So Crates" in my head when I was reading this story. Secondly, I am not a big fan of philosophers. I too think they are somewhat pretentious. I did however have some insight on this story and here's what I think....
I read this story twice and I think that Socrates and Glaucon are having a conversation that most of us have had at one point in our lives about what's real or what is truth.
Sometimes we are blinded like the cave dwellers and only see what someone else wants us to see. Glaucon says "how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads". I grew up in a conservative Christian home, and feel that as a child and teenager, I was raised to see things a certain way and there was no other way about it. For example, my siblings and I weren't allowed to go to the movies because the movies were the Devil. And we grew up thinking that that was true and we'd go to hell if we watch Crocodile Dundee. Back then, the movie theater was a shadow on the wall we were to stay away from. It wasn't until my parents decided to "turn their heads around" and see the light. My first movie experience was Home Alone 2.
Like the cave dweller that was allowed to escape and see the world for what it truly is, to have to go back to my cave and the days of no "secular" music and no movie nights. To go back to playing the "name that shadow on the wall" game would be difficult for me also. It would be almost impossible for me to go back to thinking the same way I did before I myself, took my blinders and shackles off. Although I do not pity those who are still living in their caves, I do hope that one day we all have a chance to change our views on something particular in our lives and see a truth as it truly is.
Andrew Murphy
English 103
Cerritos College
Post#1
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
I believe this passage was an appropriate one to start of the new semester. ..."let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened..." (Line 1) This whole passage shows the intellectual in our world along with the dim. The prisoners ,who are bound, only see the shadows displayed on the wall and associate what they see as something. For example, if someone who holds up a glass to the fire which projects a shadow of the glass, the prisoners will see the shadow of the glass and associate the shadow as a glass instead of the real glass. ..."would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?" (line 9)
Without formal education we only see things 2-dimensional. We begin in this world as the prisoners did, looking at the wall, but only we can break the shackles and go onto the upper world to learn and comprehend our surroundings. ..."the journey upwards to be the ascent...into the intellectual world"... (line 36) So as I stated earlier, being the beginning of a new semester I take it as a reminder of how learning and understanding can be our liberator.
Raul Moreno
English 103
Cerritos College
Post: 2
First let me just say that Michael over in the 100 class seems to be like a strong intellectual. I think whoever is in his class better bring their A game for class discussions because he's definitely going to bring some heavy thought and bold statements for everyone to chew on.
As for filler material, and please excuse me if I'm out of line in this direct address, but I doubt this is filler material. It's tremendously dense unless, most likely, you already have a degree in philosophy, literature and perhaps even mathematics. If it is indeed bull****, then for the sake of discussion and provocation of thought let's get out of it what we possibly can, yes?
Homonyms
I've been at this text for about two days, looking into the subject of set theory, religion, sex, Einstein, logic, philosophy and even getting some sort of reference to Frida Kahlo among other things.
There's a lot to really talk about, but I think the basic underlying idea is to always ask something to the effect of "Why?". The most focal passage would be in P2: "What does it mean to say that the concept 'red' designates red objects?" This is in reference to Immanuel Kant, an 18th century philosopher who at one point in his career, despite being a very extroverted personality, isolated himself for a "silent decade" to elaborate on the ideas of how the human mind acquires data and how that data is processed.
Further, upon looking into the life of Frege, one should note that his "career" as a philosopher stemmed naturally from his mathematical work. He sought to prove that basic mathematics was not based on axioms but on logic. In this endeavor, he began questioning deeper, more philosophical subjects. He questioned the idea of "meaning" itself.
I want to bounce off of what Andrew Murphy and what he had to say about AOTC. With application of Agamben's philosophy in this passage, one would see that his thought is incomplete and with fault. Formal education can also be merely a voice in the cave or another shadow cast on the wall. According to Agamben, we must dig deeper for truth. To optimistically take everything presented us by professors and teachers throughout our education, both elementary and advanced, is to only look to another kind of shadow in the two dimensional realm. It is not until we go deeper and further back to the roots of these ideas and lessons and, dare I say, real life application and experience with said ideas that we truly might emerge from the cave.
I believe Agamben's text here might be considered a sort of specifications list for Plato's AOTC, albeit too dense and roundabout for the common reader to really stick around for the moral of the story.
There should be no authority here on this earth that goes by unquestioned and without comparison. It is our responsibility as individuals to seek truth, and though we should take heed to wisdom of past, we must not be constrained to the traditional methods of such a critical journey. Cast off unbalanced subjectivity, and be prepared to have your world and what you believe turned upside down now and again. Push on upward towards truth and love no matter the pain or hardship.
"The day is soon coming when turning your back won’t be an option.
Keep telling yourself what you really don’t believe.
You can compromise what you know to be true,
and you can turn off all of your senses,
but in the end you’ll see nothing stands between a man and his maker.
No matter what it’s your decision."
-August Burns Red
Rayray J.
English 103
cerritos college
post # uno
Homonyms-
Reading the title i predicted that this was story was going to be another lesson in the mechanics of english and boy was I wrong.
This text hits hard some of the basic ideas of metaphysics. According to my understanding of this text, any object or a thing cannot be classified by a name since the object and the name of the given object are two different things (hence the title of the paper).
To me, this brings in question the basic principle of exsistence itself. Take for example the number five (5) it exsists in phonics as "five" and in graphics as "5" yet nobody has ever seen the number five only the concept of it. Giorgio Agamben states that "if we try to grasp a concept as such, it is fatally transformed into an object, and the price we pay is no longer being able to distinguish it from the concieved thing"
I suppose what Giorgio Agamben is trying to put in question is the paradox of existence itself since he says "the idea of a thing is the thing itself". Going by that assumption, i believe that it is necessary for an existence of a universal property that can both satisfy the objects in the real or the physical sense and the non real or the conceptual sense. the lack of this property would nullify the exsistence of all things such as the universe itself and all its inhabitants.
