THE KORAN

I read a piece of the Koran to see how it was written, what was it about, and to make a comparison with the Bible.

From the moment I started reading it I realized that it was written in a way similar to the Bible. Also, the Koran has some similar events to the Bible. For example: it talks about a flood caused by god because some people didn't believe in god and about Noah's ark. Another example is that it talks about Mary and his son. Finally, it talks about Moses and his books; in the bible those books refer to the 10 commandments. 

Some things that I found a little different are that men are consider superior than women because it talks about restrained carnal desires except with the wives and slave-girls. Also, is that they mention seven heavens whereas in the Bible there are not seven heavens.   

In conclusion the Koran and the Bible are very similar, they both tell you that you should believe in god in order to go to heaven; otherwise you would go to hell. Also, they both agree that God is the creator of everything, and that the man was created from an essence of clay. 

LATIN LITERATURE- TERENCE

 "Andria", scene I. 

The first scene is about Simo, Pamphilus' father, talking to his freedman, Sosia, about Pamphilus and his wedding. Simo wanted Pamphilus to marry Philumena, but then he discovers that he's in love with Glycerium, a woman from Andria that Pamphilus got pregnant. Not only Simo wanted his son to marry Philumena, but also Chremes, Philumena's father. He complained to Simo that Pamphilus wasn't going to marry his daughter, instead he was going to marry Glycerium. Although, all that was part of Simo's plan, to pretend Pamphilus was going to marry Glycerium but at the end he wanted him to marry Philumena. 

Then Simo and Sosia kind of discuss the bad things about marrying Glycerium, and explain why they shouldn't get married. After that, the scene ends with Simo telling Sosia that was the plan and that he had to pretend the wedding was real, terrify Davus, Pamhilus' slave in case he was making a scheme helping Pamphilus to marry Glycerium. Also, he said that there was no doubt that his son didn't wish for a wife.

This play is on of the six comedies of Terrence, it was actually the first one he wrote. This genre, comedy, is very different than what I thought it was. I thought it would all fun and laughs, but it's actually about a love story about a man trying to marry a woman that his dad doesn't approve. In class we saw comedy kind of a subgenre of drama. I think that's why a comedy doesn't have to be all funny. Probably as the play goes on it gets a little funny because from what I read it sounds like a love story to me. Also, I found this play very interesting from the beginning. It has a great background, but a little confusing at the beginning because of all the characters' strange names. Most of the time I don't like romantic stories, but I find this comedy very amusing.

Link of the play: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22188/22188-h/files/terence1_2.html#andria

CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGES

The Na'vi languague is a constructed languague created for the Na'vi in the movie Avatar with fictional purposes. It was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the USC Marshall School of Business with a doctorate in linguistics. Naʼvi was designed to fit James Cameron's conception of what the language should sound like in the film, to be realistically learnable by the fictional human characters of the film, to sound alien but pleasant and appealing to audiences, to be a language that humans could plausibly learn to speak, and to be pronounceable by the actors, but to not closely resemble any single human language.

The Naʼvi language has its origins in James Cameron's early work on Avatar. In 2005, while the film was still in scriptment form, Cameron felt it needed a complete, consistent language for the alien characters to speak. Based on Cameron's initial list of words, which had a "Polynesian flavor" according to Frommer, the linguist developed three different sets of meaningless words and phrases that conveyed a sense of what an alien language might sound like: of the three, Cameron liked the sound of the ejectives most. When the film was released in 2009, Naʼvi had a growing vocabulary of about a thousand words. However, this has changed subsequently as Frommer has expanded the lexicon to more than 1,500 words and has published the grammar, thus making Naʼvi a relatively complete and learnable language.

SPOT THE CLASSICS

Ángel de la Independencia, México D.F.

Los Arcos, Guadalajara 

Acueducto, Culiacán

Rotonda de los Jaliscenses Ilustres, Guadalajara 

Mercado Garmendia, Culiacán

THE TROJAN WOMEN

 “The Trojan women” is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides, which was made into a film. This takes place during the Trojan War which starts when Paris of Troy took Helen from his husband, the king of Sparta. The part that I watched starts when a soldier brings water to a part of Troy were a lot of women are and Helen of Troy, but she was in a prison. The soldiers drank almost all of the water, and didn’t give anything to the women of Troy, but they gave a little of water to Helen which she used to wash her body. That made the women of Troy really angry and started a kind of rebellion. The soldiers thought that gave the women of Troy a reason to start fighting against them and kill Helena, but it wasn’t very smart since the soldiers had horses and started hitting them. They also brought Melanaus, the king of Sparta. The Trojan women wanted Melanaus to kill Helena, and then Hecuba, the queen of the Trojans, arrived and told Melanaus to kill Helena just like all the Trojan women. Then Helena tried to defend herself giving all the reasons why she shouldn’t be killed and said it was Hecuba’s fault because she gave birth to Paris, also she said that she went away in secret from Melanaus’ house with Paris because when she saw him Aphrodite came with him and it was her fault she ran away. And she finished saying that when Paris died she tried to go back to Greece, but she couldn’t. Although, the queen of the Trojans wasn’t going to stay in silence. She said that she was lying, that she desired Paris without the need of a goddess, and that she wanted more luxuries, luxuries that Paris could give her. Also, that Helena was looking for the winning side and that was Paris’ side. After saying all that, Hecuba insisted telling Melanaus to kill Helena. After hearing all that, the king of Sparta said he will take Helena back to Greece and give her away to all the relatives of the people that died because of her.

I found this movie really interesting because of the story. I think it’s a really good story with a very good film production. It looks a lot like an ancient place in Troy and the dialogues are great even if there’s some kind of poetry in it. I really liked the parts I watched. 

POETIC METER

Avicii- Wake me up

FEEL/ing/ my /WAY/ through /the/ DARK/ness (Dactylic trimeter)
GUID/ed/ by/ A/ beat/ing /HEART (Dactylic trimeter)
I/ can't/ TELL /where/ the /JOUR/ney will /END (Anapestic trimeter)
But /I/ KNOW/ where/ to/ START (Anapestic dimeter)

They/ TELL/ me/ I´M/ too /YOUNG/ to/ UN/der/STAND (Iambic pentameter) 
They/ SAY/ I'm /CAUGHT /up/ IN/ a /DREAM (Iambic tetrameter)
Well/ LIFE/ will /PASS/ me /BY/ if /I/ don´t/ O/pen /UP/ my /EYES (Iambic heptameter)
So /that's/ FINE /by/ ME (Iambic dimeter)

EGYPTIAN LITERATURE

THE TRICKY MICE

Once upon a time there was a cat pharaoh that was loved by all the people in Egypt. Dogs, cats, mice, and horses, they all loved him. Sometimes they used to bring him offerings like food, jewelry, and flowers. Every year, there was a day named the Pharaoh’s Day, it was the day every animal in Egypt came to huge pharaoh’s pyramid to spend all the day with him, and bring him any kind of presents, from small jewelry to huge sculptures.

      That year, the Pharaoh’s Day was coming and everything was getting ready for that day. Although the Pharaoh couldn’t everything by himself and he chose the mice to help him with the celebration. He chose the mice because there were a lot in Egypt, but the pharaoh didn’t know if he could trust on them but he had no other option. They started decorating big pyramid with different colors like blue, purple, and red. Then they continued by making a huge box for all the presents. The pharaoh was amazed by how fast the mice could work and get everything ready; they got everything twice as fast than last year. The only thing left was the food; the thing that the pharaoh was most scared of because mice loved to eat and he thought that they could eat all the food before the big day.

     The mice started cooking all the food, meat, and chicken prepared in so many different ways, also different kind of salads and for dessert they made a huge cake for the pharaoh. Once again, he was impressed by how fast they cooked everything and how delicious it looked, he couldn’t believe it. Therefore, he thought the food wasn’t going to be good, but he tried the salad. He said that it was the most delicious salad he had ever tried. Then, he tried the kitchen, and the meat, and he said again it was the most delicious meat and chicken he had ever tried. Finally, he tried the cake. He was surprised by how sweet and delicious it was, it was the most beautiful and delicious cake he had ever tried. So, he said everything is ready for the big day, my day.

     The celebration was about to start; the pharaoh was ready wearing lot of precious rocks and metals like gold, silver, rubies, and emeralds. He looked perfect for the situation and finally the guests started to arrive. The first to get to the celebration were the dogs. They came with lots of huge presents for the pharaoh because they were grateful things he had done like helping them to get water on the hot days. The pharaoh was happy as ever because of he presents and that all the dogs could have made it to the celebration. They all started saying hi to each other and hugging. Then, the horses arrived to the pyramid with big presents just like the dogs, they were so grateful because the pharaoh helped them getting food on the cold days. They started saying hi and hugging the dogs and the pharaoh. The pharaoh couldn’t be happier, and still the mice were missing. Finally, the mice arrived with huge presents just like the other animals, they said they were grateful for letting them prepare everything for the Pharaoh’s Day, they said it was an honor.

     As the celebration went on, it got better and better. They all started with the dinner and the horses and dogs were impressed by how good it was, they couldn’t believe how something could taste so delicious. After they finished with the dinner, they started dancing and talking, they were having so much fun until something unexpected happened.

     The mice locked down the pharaoh in a room because they were trying to get the power of Egypt. The pharaoh didn’t know what to do so he started to yell the mice are evil they locked me down, help me! As soon as he yelled the other animals heard and tried to helped the pharaoh. The horses started fighting with the mice, because before mice didn’t used to be very small, and the dogs tried to find the pharaoh with their good sense of smell. The horses and mice had a tough encounter, but it was about to end because the dogs had just found the pharaoh. He got out of the room and screamed so loud that his voice could have been heard in all Egypt. He was really mad at the mice because he thought they were nice animals trying to help, but he realized they did all that to try to get the power of Egypt. After he realized that, he thought the mice should be punished. Therefore, he made all the mice in Egypt very small as punishment so they couldn’t do anything evil again. That’s why mice are very small now and cats are always chasing them. 

FLOOD STORIES

What are important similarities between the stories? They all talk about a god, a flood, and a man that was like the chosen one and got saved from the flood.

What are important differences between the stories? They are about different religions; therefore they talk about different gods, the causes of the flood are the same on two, but on the other two are different.

What are the gods like in the different stories? In two stories they were evil because the try to destroy humanity by just saying humans were evil, in the others they seemed nice because they helped the chosen one.

What is the importance of animals in the stories? Very important because they were supposed to survive with the chosen man so after the flood they could make the world just like it was before.

What was difficult to understand about the stories? The most difficult thing was the reading comprehension because of the English is written on, also the reason why the gods caused the floods.

Why do Utnapishtim, Noah, Deucalion, and Manu deserve to survive when other people will die in the floods? I think because they were man that had a good, honest and healthy life, and they believed in god.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of big standing stones set within earthworks. It was made between 2950 and 1600 B.C. in Sothern England. This was made so perfectly and with a high level of complexity that people started questioning how it was made and why. First of all, the stones that were used to make the Stonehenge weren’t from that place, they were brought from Wales, which is 130 miles away, and bringing the heavy stones must have been a really hard work. I think the most acceptable theory is that they came with the ocean stream all the way to England, then with the rivers stream they got closer and finally men took them to the place they wanted to. I think that they moved the heavy stones by lots of men pulling them, and probably they used tree trunks on flat surfaces to put the stones on top of them and move them faster. There other theories about this but I think they are too sophisticated for that time. Also, another problem was raising the stones. I think that this was solver by using the crib method because the ramp method would have taken a lot of space making it impossible to build. As well, shaping the stones was tough to do because they were big and they almost had exactly the same shape. Although I think this was done by using smaller stones until they almost the same shape. I know this would have taken long periods of time, but I think it’s the most acceptable theory. Finally, I think the reason they built it, was for the summer and winter solstice. Lots of bodies’ remains were found close to the Stonehenge, but I think that was the purpose, I think that those bodies that were buried there, were men that helped making the Stonehenge.

Music Styles

I'm coming Virginia - Frank Trumbauer And His Orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJgfGK7jTho
The style of music is slow, and soft.
There are no voices in it, but the instruments playing in it are saxophone, cornet, trombone, clarinet, guitar, piano, and drums.
I think this song sounds a little bit hard to play, especially for the saxophone
I think this kind of music is for quiet listening, to relax.
This song was recorded in New York, in May 1927.
The intentions of the music-makers are to entertain people showing off his skills especially with the solo and expressing his feelings.

The Beatles - I Should Have Known Better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhPvtDDxEV0
The style of music is slow, and soft but happy.
There are incredible voices in it, and The instruments playing in it are guitar, bass, harmonica, and drums.
I think this song sounds kind of easy to play since it has very common instruments.
I think this type of music could be for dancing since it’s a happy song.
Thissong was recorded in London, in 1964.
The intentions of the music-maker are that if you regret something you did and feel if you had given it more thought, you would not have done it, and it explains it with a situation with a girl.

Los Saicos – Demolicion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fML-0M3e6Tk
The style of music is fast and loud.
There are voices in it, and the instruments playing in it are guitar and drums.
I think this song sounds kind of hard to play because it’s rock and it’s very loud and fast.
I think this kind of music could be for a big rock concert.
This song was recorded in 1965.
The intentions of the music-makers were to show his feelings, which sound like an anarchy and I read it’s based on surf, probably because when you are surfing you are free to do what you want.

Carlos Montoya – Farruca
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv2Fyjk0GGM
The style of music I find very interesting because most of the time is fast and loud, but in some parts it gets slow and soft.
There are no voices in it, and the only instrument playing in it is the guitar.
I think this song sounds hard to play because the man makes all these fast movements with his hands that it looks that you need to have a lot of skill.
I think this type of music is for dancing, especially flamenco.
This song was recorded in 1950, probably in Spain.
The intentions of the music-maker are to show his skills through a good flamenco song, and that’s probably how he felt when he did it.

Varèse - Ionisation - Boulez, Ensemble InterContemporain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TStutMsLX2s
The style of music starts really slow and soft, but as the song goes on it gets faster and louder.
There are no voices in it, but the instruments playing in it are piano, toms, some kind of xylophone, bongos, claves, and drums.
I think this music sounds easy to play since they the instruments look kind of simple.
I think this type of music is for a big orchestra concert.
This music was recorded in 1977.
The intentions of the music-maker are probably to show his feelings through something relating to nature because to me it sounded like the woods or the jungle.

SPANISH CIVIL WAR

The Spanish Civil War had started on July 18^th, 1936, when some Sergeants under the control of Francisco Franco had power of one third of the country. An important factor was the negligence of the government accepting the situation and the possession of guns among civilians. Also, Spain was in a state of possible anarchy. The British were afraid of the influence possibly developed by the Communists in a country that was very important in business for them.  On September 29^th, Franco was put in charge of the government, and by October, 1^st, he was calling himself as head of the state. His ambitions were clear. 20,000 died in a massacre ordered to execute by Franco.  Then, the battle for obtaining the heart of Spain began. The Nationalists army moved northwest and southwest Spain, and in half month all the towns within 15 miles were under their control. The insurgents were brave, but their inexperience cost then plenty soldiers and territory.  Dolores, also called La Pasionaria, inspired the people of Madrid to keep fighting. She also said “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees”, “They shall not pass!” to keep inspiring the Madrileños and resist in war. The Republican Madrileños transformed their beloved city into a fortress. The next ten days, Germans and Italians were dropping bombs on Madrid, but even that wasn’t enough to end with the will of the Madrileños. They kept resisting, even kids helped in the war by building barricades in the streets. Also, women helped, they grabbed guns and helped the resistance. For the next 4 months, Madrid became the objective in the battle. On June 19^th, Bilbao fell and the Basque language was prohibited.  The nationalists tried to break into Madrid, but they just couldn’t with the tenacious Madrileños defending it. By this time, the Nationalists had two thirds of the country, and it looked that Franco was starting to win the war. The Republicans needed a spectacular achievement to gain moral encouragement. On January 17^th, 1938, The Republican line finally broke, but the fight kept on going for one more month. The Nationalists army was still being covered by the German airplanes. La Pasionaria said that the Republicans did well, they could go home proudly, and they were legends. On January 1939, Barcelona was in possession of Franco and the Republicans shared the graveyard with some Nationalists. By April 1^st, 1939, the Civil War was won by Franco.

WARTIME LETTER

Dear Natalie,

It has been one week since I left home and I already miss you. I have no idea how much time is going to take for the War to end. We arrived at the trench yesterday and the situation here it’s horrible. As soon as I got here I could smell the horrible smell of dead bodies, smelly soldiers, gas, and smoke. Everyone says I’ll get used to the smell, and I hope so, otherwise I’ll die. Las night was horrible, I was trying to sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Also, I couldn’t sleep because of the constant booming and banging from both sides and I sleep in a very uncomfortable bunk. I have to admit that I’m scared, random bullets firing at us, bombs exploding, every day there are men dying. Every day we are climbing the trenches to attack the enemies’ trenches hoping that I don’t get killed. I’ll always have you in my heart just wait for me to get back.

I love you,
Alan

BOOK REPORT "THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS"

This novel is about the point of view of 9 year-old boy during the World War II. The book starts with Bruno living in Berlin. Bruno was a very curious guy, like most of the kids of his age he liked to explore. He lived in a huge beautiful house where he had lots of fun exploring it every day. He also has a 12 year-old sister named Gretel although she was very annoying. Bruno disliked her attitude because she was not only annoying, but she also acted like someone older, like a 16 year-old girl. Bruno´s parents were total different to each other, his father was an officer that worked for “The Fury” (Adolf Hitler), he liked his job because he always wanted to serve his country, but he also cared a lot about Bruno and Gretel. On the other hand, Bruno’s mom was very nice, and sweet, she wasn’t as strict as the father, but she also lover Bruno and Gretel very much. In the house they lived they were also servants, Bruno liked them very much and sometimes enjoyed spending some time with them.

The interesting part of the book comes when “The Fury” comes to Bruno’s home to have dinner. They all had a nice talk and enjoyed dinner, but later Bruno and Gretel got bored because they were kids and didn’t cared a lot of what the adults were talking about. That night “The Fury” promoted Bruno’s father to Commandant, but they have to move away to a place called Auschwitz. As soon as they moved Bruno got impressed by the house because it was smaller and uglier that the older house, he didn’t like that house at all. Every afternoon Bruno would get really bored because there wasn’t anything that he could explore. One day he made a swing with a tire that got from the help Kurt Kotler. Kotler worked for Bruno’s father and he was very rude, he treated Jews like trash. Bruno hated when Gretel was with him because she wanted to act older, flirt with him and that was the time when she would get the most annoying. After making the swing, it was the first time Bruno was having fun, but it didn’t last long because the rope broke and he fell and got hurt. Then Pavel, the waiter that worked for Bruno’s family, went with him and helped him. He got Bruno in the house and cured his leg that got hurt. Then Bruno’s mother came and found out what happened, most of the Nazis would have done something bad to Pavel for touching Bruno, but because the mother was really sweet she only thanked Pavel for helping Bruno. One day he was bored at his house, and he noticed through the window a group of people wearing the same striped pyjamas but because he was just a kid he didn’t understand who they were and where they were. The reality is that those people were at a concentration camp and they were wearing uniforms. At that camp there were only Jews, and they were treated really bad with no mercy, and there were a lot people killed every day. Even though Gretel also was young she could understand the situation because of their teacher. Gretel and Bruno, they were both doing homeschool with the same teacher, but they only learned some subjects like math, history, geography, and Bruno didn’t like any of them he liked poetry and literature better. That’s why Bruno didn’t learn very much because he wasn’t very interested in those subjects, but Gretel started liking them and then the teacher started telling her about the situation. As Bruno liked to explore, he was very brave and when he saw those people with the striped pyjamas he wanted to find out who they were. So one day he found out a way to escape from his house and he did it. He walked for long time next to a fence but he didn’t find anything. He was like a explorer so he kept on walking until he gave up, it was getting late and he had to get home for dinner so he said he was going back tomorrow. And he did, he walked again next to the fence until he saw this little kid named Schmuel. Bruno was kind of nice to him even though he was Jewish, but of course Bruno didn’t understand that difference between Jews and Nazis. They talked for a long time, Schmuel was the same age as Bruno bur he did understand the whole situation because he was at a concentration camp, and he explained Bruno he and his family got kicked out of his house and got sent here, but what Schmuel wanted was to be with his father. Bruno thought it was fun to live in a concentration camp because there were a lot of kids that he could play with, but he didn’t know they were mistreated only Schmuel knew that. Then Bruno got back to his house because it was getting late, but he felt very happy because he made a new friend and he could have fun talking to him every day. After a lot of meetings between Schmuel and Bruno they became best friends and they started to meet there almost every day. Everything was normal until one day the mother persuades the father to take them back to Berlin. One day before going back to Berlin, Bruno goes as a final adventure with Schmuel but he got in the concentration camp to help Schmuel find his father. Bruno got one striped pyjamas and went with Schmuel to help find his father, but Bruno had no idea he was getting in a concentration camp not even he could get hurt. After looking for him for a long time they got mixed with another group of Jew. It also started raining and they still couldn’t find Schmuel’s father. Bruno wanted to go home because of the rain but because he was a good explorer he was brave and kept on looking for Schumel’s father. Just about he was going to give up and go home, they got in a march and then finally got into a gas chamber, he was very innocent and he assumed it was to keep dry during the rain, but like we all know it was for killing Jews. Then the end comes when Bruno and Schmuel hold hands in the gas chamber, it was very dark and we all know what happened next. Bruno’s father looked for him for a whole year but he only found Bruno’s clothes next to the fence. His mother thought he went back to Berlin by himself and she expected he was going to be there when she got to their home in Berlin but Bruno wasn’t there. Gretel kept crying because she missed his brother very much and no one could find him because he was dead. Bruno’s father got really depressed for losing Bruno and stops caring about his job, the Red Army arrived few months later to liberate the people from the concentration camps, but they also ordered Bruno’s father and other Nazis to go with them. He went without complaining because he didn’t mind what they did to him anymore.

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS

Upstairs, Downstairs is an award-winning television series made in the early 1970s that tells the story of one British family from 1903 to 1930 in 68 hour-long episodes. The family upstairs, the Bellamys, is a wealthy titled family involved in politics; the servants downstairs take care of them. When the series starts, Queen Victoria has been dead a couple of years, and her oldest son is now King Edward VII. This episode takes place in early 1909, and it’s about the King visiting the Bellamy household for a dinner party.

Historical points

Manchester United: With Manchester United you can clearly see that the British were interested in football like always, but it’s not very important in this chapter. It just makes us clear that the British have been interested in football since 1910 and probably before that too.

King Edward VII: A very important historical point of this chapter was the King Edward VII because practically the whole chapter was about him. He was king of the United Kingdom and emperor of India from 1901 until 1910. From this episode we can learn that he was the most important person during that time because the family was very excited to have him eat dinner with them although his mother Queen Victoria though he was a young foolish man.

Hierarchy: I think this is the most important point of the chapter because in the whole episode how there hierarchy everywhere. First of all, the ones that lived upstairs had a higher position that the ones that lived downstairs. Then, there was the noble hierarchy, where the King was in the highest position and just below him the Lords. This episode shows how the hierarchy was at that time because there has always been different ways of hierarchizing people.

MODERNISM IN THE ARTS

Visual Arts

Le dejeuner sur l'herbe

This painting was one done when the Modernism was just starting. I think this picture was too much just to start the Modernism because it shows 2 men with a high social level with 2 hookers although I find very interesting how Eduard Manet (author of the painting) was brave in doing it. What I also find interesting is that the painting is not so much focused in sharp lines; it’s more focused in color and light.

Composition with Yellow, Red, and Blue

This painting was done later when the Modernism had already begun. I think it’s a little silly to consider this as art because it’s just made of lines and colors; I know this is abstract art, but I can’t find what Piet Mondrian (author of the painting) was trying to express. This painting was a part of the Modernism but I think is kind of odd because it looks too simple.


Music

Here I listened some music from the Modernism in the Arts. I found 4th of July from Charles Ives very interesting because I like how it all started very slow and clam but the it turned more enthusiastic and louder. Of course it's very different from the music we listen right now, but I think this was part of the Modernism because they were introducing to music different ryhtms. In 4th of July you can clearly hear how it gets louder, I think it's just like a horror story, it starts calm but as time passes it gets more enthusiastic. 


Poems

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) United States

From “Sunday Morning”

We live in an old chaos of the sun, 

Or old dependency of day and night, 

Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, 

Of that wide water, inescapable. 

Deer walk upon our mountains, and the quail 

Whistle about us their spontaneous cries;

Sweet berries ripen in the wilderness;

And, in the isolation of the sky, 

At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make

Ambiguous undulations as they sink, 

Downward to darkness, on extended wings.

“The Snow Man”

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

This poems were part of the Modernism, I think that in this part of the Modernism there was not a big difference with poems before. Wallace Stevens (the author of the poems) makes both simple things into something very emotional. In the first one, he wrote about how a sunday morning was like first with the sun, mountains, animals and at the end how at the end of the day the night will come. He turns all of these simple things into something beautiful. In the second one, I think the author talks about how winter is but what he expresses his feeling saying how a snow man feels like, what surrounds a snow man during that time. I find very interesting because when I read that title I thought it was going to be something simple but when I read the whole poem I found how authors expressed their feelings in such a beautiful way.

THE MISSION

CLAPHAM SECT

The Clapham Sect was a leading group of Anglican anti-slavery activists. They ask the Parliament to allow missionaries into India, and in 1813, the Parliament decided to allow this. They wanted to spread Christianism in India, but it didn’t end well; this created a clash of civilizations between Christians and Hindus, and also a rebellion by the Hindus.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE

He was a missionary and explorer. His motto was “Christianity, Commerce, Civilization”. He was shocked to discover that slave trade was still active in East Africa. He wanted to create an active economic exchange between the British and residents of African interior that could help to replace the slave trade as a source of profit. Also, he wanted to Christianize India, but he regretted because of all the bad effects it had. Years later he accomplished his mission changing religion and commerce in Africa.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BRITISH IN AFRICA AND INDIA

There were a lot of differences between the African and India, but the main difference was that the British were able to induce the Africans into Christianity. On the other hand, the British struggled a lot doing the same thing in India because they already had a religion and they didn’t to have a new one. Another differences that impressed the British were African sensuality, tribal practices such as, slave trade, and in India were female infanticide, suttee. 
THE SEPOY MUTINY

The British army in India, British officers and native Indian soldiers are called sepoys. First of all there were a lot of differences between the British and Indians. The British were trying to turn Hindus into Christians, but they didn’t want to; therefore, they started a rebellion. Also, a rumor spread among the sepoys that their new rifle cartridges were sealed with pork and beef fat, which would be unacceptable to both Hindus and Muslims because of religious dietary prohibitions. A lot of Indians were punished and killed during this time; this mutiny was partly caused because the Christianizing process wasnot going very well.

HENRY MORTON STANLEY 

He was an American journalist set out to find Livingstone and finally located him in Tanganyika, greeting him with the famous question, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” He added another C to Livingstone’s motto, and changed it to “Christianity, Commerce, Civilization, and Conquer” He tried to use Christianity as an excuse to conquer Africa. 

ECONOMICS CONCEPTS

THE GENTLEWOMAN AND THE ROBBER BARON

ROMANTICISM & REALISM

ROMANTICISM
It means being a strong individualist, believing in the rights of other individuals, and expressing deep, intense, and  uplifting emotions. Often, but not always, it means having a deep, spiritual relationship with nature. 


REALISM
It's an attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life. 

INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY

Most of the Latin American independence wars started as a result of Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasions to Spain. Meanwhile in one of the colony of Spain, Paraguay, all the citizens of the second category were creoles (Spanish offspring born in the colonies), which were the majority, while all their leaders were the authentic Spanish people. The creoles wanted more rights and more participation in political issues, that’s why the movements of independence started in Paraguay. It all started with battles between the Spanish army and Paraguayans, because Manuel Belgrano wanted to get the governor of Asuncion as prisoner. 

After a battle, the Spanish army got exhausted and less in number, so the Paraguayans began another attack. One of the most important events happened during this battle, the Spanish army under Manuel Belgrano tried to imitate Napoleon’s square strategy, but it was useless, and during the battle a Spanish bullet reached a drummer boy. Therefore, Manuel Belgrano ceased fire and gave up on the battle because he didn’t want any more deaths. Portugal helped Spain because they were going to give Portugal more territory. Spain had few soldiers and they had a bad organization because they were more concerned about what was happening back in Europe with Napoleon than in the colonies. After more encounters and battles, the creoles decided to take over Asuncion and surround the governor; he finally accepted to do what they wanted and Paraguay got its independence.