Ben

blog

[bensteves-blog]

Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without A Cause is confusing, that's for sure, but the message it tries to portray really isn't so much. The movie blends in a lot of different issues some teens face in our current culture, like trying to fit in with groups and family issues, though this is over-exaggerated at some points. Nobody really plays chicken anymore or has a fight with switchblades necessarily, but it provides an example for others doing certain things to get in some sort of group nowadays. Many people may be so worried on what group they want to be in, that they end up finding themselves in trouble, like Jim.

[bensteves-blog]

Secondary Source 1

http://www.metrolyrics.com/wavin-flag-lyrics-knaan.html K'naan is a hip/hop rap artist who was born and raised in Somalia, Africa. His 2010 album "Troubador" is a perfect representation of his craving for freedom from a very corrupt and poverty-stricken nation. One song that really breaks the mold to this wanting of freedom is the song "Wavin Flag" which is about him wanting to grow older as fast as he can in order to escape and move to another country. He sings about how struggle-some Somalia was to him and how grateful he is to have this freedom.

[bensteves-blog]

Freedom and Independence: Post 5

Later on in the book, Joe, Saloma Furlong’s oldest brother, is talked about in detail. Furlong says that Joe could at times be more scary than Datt could, because Joe was a manipulative person a lot of times towards her.

Joe is described also as being the favorite child to his mother. Furlong describes that a lot of times Joe and Mem had “their little talks” that only they were supposed to hear.

It is at this point in the book where I really question Furlong more than I have before. A lot of the book is her sort of venting out frustration at times about her family, which I understand completely due to the problems she has encountered. But I feel like it’s getting less and less about the Amish as it moves, and more about the dysfunctionality of her family. It’s very clear that there were instances where her elders acted like dictators to Furlong, but now I feel the problems in her family seem more advanced and more personal than just the strictness of the Amish. Joe’s arc doesn’t seem to be natural, it doesn’t seem to relate 100% to why the Amish culture oppressed her. She just kinda explains that Joe is a bully, and honestly people like that can be in any family in the world. On a broader scale, families with dysfunctional parts aren’t necessarily uncommon. As I read, I'm finding Furlong more so leaving a strict, unorthodox family, rather than leaving "The Amish." Both ways are largely understandable, though, on why she’d want to get away from this oppression.

[bensteves-blog]

Freedom and Independence: Post 4

Furlong talks about her father's funeral later on in the book. At the time of the funeral, Furlong had moved on from the Amish culture and had escaped into the world away from it. She had found a husband in this time as well, David. Before the funeral, Furlong talks about a recurring dream she had. "In this dream, there is always a church service about to happen, but everyone is waiting for me to arrive before beginning the service. I cannot go there until I have my Amish clothes on, and yet my organdy cape no longer fit me" (60). This dream, however, is almost overturned, as once she goes to her father's funeral, she does not feel uncomfortable having to wear regular clothes, even while surrounded by Amish who are all wearing Amish clothes. This really signifies how independent she is from the Amish culture and her strength to be who she wants to be.

[bensteves-blog]

Freedom and Independence: Post 3

One interesting technique I have seen throughout the book so far is Furlong’s introductions to new ideas and tales. Each chapter holds for a good 20 pages, but within those chapters there are different mini-memoirs that are split up into chunks. Normally after explaining something about her rough childhood, she segways into parts where her present, freed-from-the-Amish self, reflects on other past childhood events. For example, after telling a story about her mother’s newborn dying in the womb, it transitions to Furlong in her college days walking to collect mail, while thinking about her grandmother’s strictness.

A lot of times I feel the transition to be a little rushed, but truth be told I don’t mind it. Furlong still manages to indulge me with her views, whether it be her childhood stories or her College stories. It is truly interesting to learn about what could have prompted Furlong’s endeavor to leave the Amish culture, even with these split-up points of view.

[bensteves-blog]

Freedom and Independence: Post 2

Reading on, Furlong talks about her fairly struggle-some life with her dad (called Datt), and how he was not totally afraid to disrespect anyone in the house. Datt used this disrespect as if he were a dictator, and it caused his children to be scared of him at times. He also had bouts of random coldness. One example of this is when the narrator Saloma Furlong, had broken her toenail, and her mother (Mem) was caring for her as well as yelling at Datt because he did not care to help. "Mem kept scolding, 'You could have gotten her cold water to soak her toe!'" (8). Does this frustration given to Furlong by her father propel her want to leave the amish? Are Datt's actions due to the strictness of the Amish culture, or is Datt just a disrespectful guy in his heart?

[bensteves-blog]

Freedom and Independence: Post 1

Currently, I am reading “Why I Left the Amish”: A Memoir by Saloma Miller Furlong.

The first sentence of this book is one that I find very interesting. Furlong brings up the point of there only being two ways to leave the Amish culture, through life or through death.

“To leave through life, someone has to deliberately walk away from the security and conformity of the strictly ordered community. Once abandoned, the future is self-determined, exhilarating, and terrifyingly open. Anyone who lives the life determined by the community leaves solely through death” (1).

Then Furlong goes on to talk about how her father had once tried to leave on his own, but then regretted it and came back, and that in the end he left the Amish by Death. This is the opposite for Furlong, as she is able to leave by life, and have a family once leaving. From context, it appears that leaving the Amish through life is exceptionally hard, due to the strictness of their culture. Furlong was forced to leave school at 13 because it was “The Amish Way,” as described in the book. When does it get to the point where the Amish culture becomes too oppressive?

[bensteves-blog]

Kitchen Table- High Art

Anyone reading this may be convinced I am the strangest person in the world for believing that my kitchen table should be considered a High Art. Someone may be perplexed that I find such a random object to be so artistic. Though some may believe that a kitchen table is just a big block of wood where people sit and eat, I think of it as a big block of wood that took time and effort to create and was made to show beauty and strength. The Stickley Furniture Company, the masterminds behind the constructing of my table, know that in order to make a fine table, there needs to be a significant amount of effort behind it. Their motto “Als Ik Kan” is a Dutch phrase which means “As Best I Can” or “To the Best of My Ability.” Not only does it take a substantial amount of effort to create, it envelops beauty, as most antique pieces do. My kitchen table also has a rare ability, which is to tell a story. It was first constructed at the Stickley Furniture Plant in Grand Rapids, MI, during the 1920′s. Since then, it has been circulating through peoples homes. It’s been through many world events like World War II and the Civil Rights Movement, and has heard Johnny B Goode and Eleanor Rigby. It’s been to many other shops and many other homes. The next time you eat at your kitchen table, whether it be antique or modern, think about how much effort and time it took to create and try and uncover all of the beauty that lies inside of it. It is these qualities that make me believe my table is a High Art

[bensteves-blog]

There is no Unmarked Woman

It takes time to process, but once you really indulge into Tannen's writing you realize that she is indeed right. There really is no unmarked woman. The prefix in front of a woman's name marks them married or unmarried. If they put makeup on, they mark themselves to look prettier. If they don't put makeup on, they're marked because people may think they are lazy and/or don't care a ton about how they look. Men, on the other hand, are always referred to as "Mr." whether they are married or unmarried, and men don't have to worry about putting on makeup in the morning. I agree with Tannen's assertion that there is no unmarked woman.

[natebuchanan-blog]

http://detroittigers.tumblr.com/post/151037643166/the-12th-time-miggy-has-recorded-100-plus-rbis-in

I would consider the game of baseball to be a high art. Anyone can play it when they are young. But as you get older it gets more and more competitive and harder to play. For most people, it takes years to learn and perfect the skills in baseball like pitching or hitting. In order to play in the majors you have to be drafted and there are only around 200 major league players in the United States so it is very hard and a huge honor to get into the major leagues.

[bensteves-blog]

I agree with this Nathaniel. And, major league baseball is one of the hardest sports to even get drafted in too. For college baseball, full ride scholarships are almost non existent unless you're the 2nd coming of christ. Only 4 or 5 players on an average college team ever get drafted too. Knowing this, it makes the sport even harder and even more artistic because in order to get to the "artist" baseball level, you have to be really good.

[bensteves-blog]

Coldplay is another musical group well respected band and one that I personally enjoy as well. Their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto, is a very colorfully themed album that allegedly tells a story about these alien type people who are trying to rebel against their government whom are oppressing and don't allow color or sound (the fine print details of this album's story are fairly complicated, so I just gave a little general idea on what it's about.) Because of the color that is incorporated from the album's theme, Coldplay then proceeded to paint their instruments with vibrant fluorescent colors. The way they painted and designed their musical instruments for this album is art because of how it connects to the album in which they based this artwork from.

[legoalbums]

Daft Punk

[bensteves-blog]

Daft Punk is by and large one of my favorite bands/musical groups. Their music is enjoyable to me and catchy by all means. I believe this is art because this account created all of Daft's album covers with legos. Obviously there are other albums that they have created using legos too, but this one stands out because I enjoy the musical group a lot.

[theladyintweed]

Kedleston Hall

Photo by me

[bensteves-blog]

Antique furniture can be considered High Art because of how it is made and why it was made. A lot of antiques have a story behind them, whether an Italian woodcrafter designed a cabinet or an Egyptian artisan designed a bowl. It sounds boring in a lot of ways, but when you really dig deep to see how antiques were made, you discover a lot about when the antique was made and from which area of the world it was created in.

[warpiggly]

Hermosos terrarios convertidos en pokebolas 

¿Cual te ha gustado? 

[bensteves-blog]

I believe this is high art because of the way the Pokémon are each made with a certain ecosystem in mind for that certain Pokémon. If you don't exactly know how Pokémon works, there are different types of Pokémon (fire, water, grass, ice, dark, etc). With each Pokémon's types in mind, this person was able to configure a little ecosystem inside of a Pokéball for them. I'm also a pretty big Pokémon nerd, so I feel if as I have some sort of connection with the ecosystems this person created.

[bensteves-blog]

This may be what some consider one of the weirdest songs on the internet because of the random lyrics, but it is hard to argue that this song is art. Tay Zonday uses the metaphor of “Chocolate Rain” to portray a song about deep rooted racism. It is very interesting to know that what most people think are just silly and random sentences, actually is something with so much meaning.

[bensteves-blog]

what do you want from your education?

This question seems to be a question that the schools don't consider asking too much in my opinion. A lot of teachers seem to want students to regurgitate information from a textbook instead of applying the knowledge in some form. Math and Foreign Languages are notorious for this. Education should be applicable. Students should be able to apply their knowledge in everyday situations. Don't get me wrong, a lot of teachers are great at teaching students how to make connections and apply knowledge in adventurous ways. Others haven't gotten the memo yet, though. What I want from my education is an environment where I can apply my learning so I can be prepared for college thinking.