blog for eng yo

keeping an english blog B)

[hipengblog]

How a War Turned a Seemingly Innocent Kid Into a Villain

Elijah “Whiskeyjack” Weesageechak is a compelling and complex character. He grew up with Xavier and Xavier’s aunt Niska after being “rescued” from the residential school by Xavier. Elijah is Xavier’s best friend, and their dynamic did not change over the war. 

Because of his strong abilities of understanding the English language he is called ‘”Whiskeyjack”, which doesn’t concern Elijah in fact, he embraces it. His relationships between his British soldiers and himself come at the cost of his very identity, a clear sign that something is changing within Elijah. He is no longer the innocent kid living in the woods, hunting small animals for dinner.

- Joseph Boyden (courtesy of Historica Canada)

While reading ‘Three Day Road’ by Joseph Boyden I noticed that Elijah’s actions had become more disturbing and messed up.  Elijah is a bloodthirsty killer, this is a undeniable fact. After killing the enemy soldiers, he runs up to their bodies as they are dying and forces their eyes to open and stare up at him. This makes Elijah feel good, knowing that he was the last person the enemy soldier saw before the life faded out from them. 

Elijah has a fascination of violence, signs, while minor, are prevalent even before Xavier and Elijah are drafted into the war. The first World War only seems to bring this more out of Elijah and makes him a fantastic sniper in his battalion. He is praised for his killings and he even seems to enjoy killing them, reveling in the praise and the feeling of murdering another person. 

Elijah’s actions during the war sets off red flags within my mind. It’s one thing to kill another human being in a war, but to enjoy it as well is very off putting and quite frankly disturbing. His lack of hesitation before killing further proves to me that Elijah is truly meant to be the Villain archetype

This is how I viewed Elijah while reading this novel. Elijah does not give out or invite good vibes and all around he’s a very disturbing character. 

[hipengblog]

Planning the Portfolio

An essay that I plan to create for my Portfolio is an argumentative essay. I chose the argumentative essay because it will allow me to effectively communicate my ideas and evidence i was able to gather from the book. An argumentative essay has a controlled tone and uses the thesis as a proposition, it allows me to use logic and reason to explain my thesis. 

The three choices that I picked that I will create for my portfolio are:

Blog Post: I picked the blog post because I believe that I can effectively communicate my ideas by being informal in my writing. Using a conversational tone and being humorous would let me explain my ideas as if I am explaining them to someone in person.

Concept Map: A concept map will help me effectively find key phrases and concepts that I can use in drafting process. Allows me to find relationships between ideas and connects them.

Remix: A remix is significantly different than the original component and me utilizing it can allow for me to come up with new ideas and key concepts. Making a remix allows me to use my original and create something new with it.

[hipengblog]

Which Literary Theory Had Provided Me With The Most Insight?

The literary theory that had provided me with the most insight while writing these blogs is Archetypal literary theory. For me Archetypal had the most evidence towards the archetypal characters that I had spotted while reading this novel. 

Archetypal literary theory had allowed for me to realise that Elijah’s character was messed up, it opened my eyes to see that he was truly a villain archetype. Archetypal theory had allowed me to think more deeply about the characters and how these characters came to be these archetypes that they had grown up into. Comparing Elijah’s character to others that I have seen and/or read in other media allowed me a more deeper look into his character and why he became the way he did. 

The biggest key idea in ‘Three Day Road’ is Identity. Many characters are based on their identity, Niska for example  refused the lessons she was taught by the nuns in the residential school and lived in the bush, keeping her identity safe.

I question I do still have is why Elijah had never stood up for Xavier if their fellow soldiers had been racist towards him or if they made fun of him for his poor English? 

[hipengblog]

Three Day Road: My Reader Response

After reading ‘Three Day Road’ I have made connections from many different types of media to this text.  

In Ojibwe class we learned what residential school survivors went through by watching interviews and movies about what would happen in residential schools. I was able to relate this knowledge  to the events in the book because of my prior knowledge before reading the novel. 

I had noticed a parallel while reading this story that has had a huge impact on the two characters involved, which are Xavier and Niska. Niska refused the lessons she learned from the residential school and chose to live in the bush, which allowed her to keep her identity. Xavier had also been rescued from a residential school but not by his mother, but by Niska instead. Niska raised him since his own mother was too depressed to do it herself. Since Xavier was rescued early on his English skills are very poor, which is the opposite for Elijah. Xavier being rescued has made a huge impact on who his identity is within the story, it allowed for him to fight for what he thinks is right and to stand by his morals.

Any mental image that had popped up in my mind were both pictorial and feelings.

What I learned about myself as a person was that I am able to retain knowledge while reading, that I can have mental images that are both pictorial and “feelings about”, and that I can easily relate books/movies that I have read/watched to things I have read. 

My strengths as a reader are mentioned in the above paragraph.

My weaknesses as a reader is that i'm prone to procrastination, I constantly forget to write down evidence for a literary theory, or that I am easily distracted while reading.

My really productive reading strategies are reading in complete silence, only allowing myself to focus on the book or the other strategy is listening to music at a low volume so that I can ignore the sound of music while reading. These strategies allow me to focus more on the book when I use them. 

When I come across “boring” bits my mind becomes more distracted and is searching for a way to stop doing something boring. My mind will wander and I will pick up the nearest thing, usually my phone, to distract myself with. To overcome this though I read at school because my mind is sharper and more work centered when in a classroom.

[hipengblog]

Reflecting Post-Colonial Literary Theory In ‘Three Day Road’

Post-Colonialism themes are very present in ‘Three Day Road’ by Joseph Boyden when I read it. Since the story is set before and during the first World War, residential schools still exist and assimilate the wemistikoshiw. Many non-indigenous characters are racist towards the indigenous characters (Xavier, Niska, and Elijah). 

Niska and a frenchman had a relationship sort of thing going on, but the frenchman only seemed concerned with forcing the “Indian” out of Niska. He had brought her to church and told her that it was a holy place, where a man takes his woman to be his forever. Niska and the man have sex within the empty church. He had called Niska a holy Indian. When they had finished he said he had fucked the Indian out her, that he had fucked her spirit, her ahcahk. “You are nothing special, just another squaw whore. I took your power away in this place and sent it to burn in hell where it belongs” (Boyden 174). He had taken away her power, and made her powerless within the church.

Xavier is outcasted in his own battalion because of his poor English speaking skills, his skin colour, and because he is an indigenous person. "This is all like a game to him. Elijah can out-talk even the officers with his nun’s English and his quick thinking. The others in our section are drawn to him and his endless stories. I am forced by my poor English to sit back and watch it all happen, to see how he wins them over, while I become more invisible. A brown ghost" (Boyden 65).

The residential schools are very important to the story since Niska, Xavier, and Elijah all attended residential schools at one point. The nuns would abuse any indigenous kid who dared to speak their native tongue, they would rip out hair and put soap in the kid’s mouths. "When I was caught speaking my tongue, they'd force lye soap into my mouth and not give my anything else to eat for days" (Boyden 92). Since Niska was rescued by her mother from a residential school, once she learned that Xavier was put in one she rescued him as well. Elijah had stayed and became fluent with the English, using it to get out of trouble or trick the British. Xavier was rescued before he could fully learn the language so he is outcasted by his fellow soldiers because he was forced to learn the same language at them.

[hipengblog]

Applying Archetypal Literary Theory to Three Day Road

After having finished reading ‘Three Day Road’ by Joseph Boyden I can confidently say that the characters are presented with archetypal personality elements. The two main characters are: Xavier (The main protagonist/narrator), and Elijah (Xavier’s best friend). There are some other characters within the story but this blog post we’ll only be talking about Xavier and Elijah. 

Xavier Bird:

Speaking of Xavier, while reading the book I noticed the traits of the Hero archetype within Xavier, along with the Rebel archetype as well. After being drafted into the first World War he grows into the Hero archetype, this quote is evident of this “’It’s Elijah that’s the killer,’ Grey Eyes says suddenly. ‘X just spots for him. Elijah told me how X threw up the first time he saw Elijah get a kill.’ …I leave without a sound so that they do not know I have been there, my ears hot” (Boyden 97). Xavier leaves without telling them the whole truth; he left without telling them that Elijah could not get those kills without him. Xavier is the Hero archetype who is not bound by honour.

Elijah “Whiskeyjack” Weesageechak:

Elijah was an innocent kid from the reserve. He attended Residential schools where he became fluent in English and constantly sweet-talked his way out of trouble. He grew up with Xavier and was his best friend. This was before the war, before he was fascinated with violence and killing German soldiers.  

Elijah is the Trickster archetype, since he was fluent in English he managed to convince the British soldiers that he was like them. Elijah also had a very convincing English accent, and it confused the British soldiers in their battalion. An excerpt from the book demonstrates this: “’Dear Henry,’ Elijah says, using their code, ‘would you be a kind chap and make me a cup of tea?’” (Boyden 144). In the text Elijah is also called a trickster outright, “Weesageechak is the trickster, the one who takes different forms at will. Hudson Bay Company traders could never pronounce it with their thick tongues. But they saw the trickster in the whiskeyjack, the grey jay that loves to here his own voice, is bold enough to steal food from their hands when they are not watching” (Boyden 154).

Elijah also gradually builds up to the Villain archetype. His bloodlust is what made him a good soldier, but it was also his downfall. An example of his villainous traits is evident by this excerpt: “Before he leaves a corpse, Elijah tells me that he has taken to opening each man’s eyes and staring into them, then closing them with his calloused right hand, letting a strange spark of warmth accumulate deep in his gut each time that he does it, noting the colour of the iris, knowing that he, Elijah, is the last thing that each will see before being placed into the cold mud and water here” (Boyden 200). There was something messed up with Elijah and the war only helped in bringing it out more. 

Characters similar to Elijah, who also have the trickster or villain archetype:

- The Joker (Villain)

- Loki (Trickster/Villain)

- Cheshire Cat (Trickster)

What these comparisons reveal about Elijah’s character is that he can’t help but feel fascinated by violence, he also can’t help tricking the soldiers on their battalion. Elijah’s Lunacy is what causes his downfall, it’s why he can’t help but be the last thing a person sees before they die. It’s why Xavier killed him.

[hipengblog]

Is Adnan Syed Guilty?

Adnan Syed & Hae Min Lee

My Opinion

I personally believe that Adnan Syed is innocent, but there is no way to be certain of that. There was a girl named Asia who has seen and talked to Adnan in the public library. Asia can place Adnan at the library during the time of Hae’s disappearance. 

While I believe that certain evidence can prove that Adnan is innocent, there is some evidence that can't be explained. Such evidence is the phone call, Adnan says that he did not have his phone on him during the phone call and explains it away by saying it was a butt dial. The phone call was charged for lasting around 2 minutes, but no one can say if it truly was a butt dial, or their was a conversation that is not being talked about. 

Overall, I believe that Adnan is innocent. Though there is evidence that goes against Adnan but no one can actually say if Adnan is truly innocent or guilty.

Why This Medium Is Better Than Others

I chose this medium because it allows for others to interact with my posts with likes, reblogs, and comments. People can find my post by looking at the tags that my post has used. This medium also allows me to make different kinds of posts. I can post photos with captions, audios, videos, quotes, chat posts, and links with descriptions. The medium I have chosen has many different types of people and communities that can find my post and maybe interact with it. It has a wide range of people that could potentially find my blog. It’s much easier to find than a website vlog, or podcast.

[hipengblog]

“Ice Ice Baby” vs. “Under Pressure”

the Vanilla Ice had used an existing bass line to make his song “Ice Ice Baby”. This bass line had come from Queen and David Bowie’s song “Under Pressure”. There have been many debates and discussions that claims “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla is an original copy of “Under Pressure”. For “Ice Ice Baby” to be a copy it would need to copy the chords, the words, and the tempo for it to be cover or a copy. “Ice Ice Baby” does not do this, it is an original that samples a bass line from “Under Pressure”. 

Vanilla Ice has copied the bass line that plays in “Under Pressure”. This is a fact, but he not use the exact bass line that is used in David Bowie’s and Queen’s song. Vanilla Ice added an extra beat to make the bass line seem longer and faster than in “Under Pressure”. The bass line is still very similar, but it does play through the entirety of the song. Vanilla Ice transformed this single bass line to something that is slightly different, but recombined it with new elements such as rap, and symbols. 

Vanilla has created an original song, but he did so by basing it off of a bass line from “Under Pressure”, which Queen and Bowie did not receive songwriting credits or royalties. “Ice Ice Baby” is in no way a copy of “Under Pressure”, but Vanilla Ice ripped-off Queen and Bowie by only slightly changing the bass line that was still recognizable. To what extent I believe the artist has created something original that doesn’t infringe on the originals copyright, is when the original is credited and the remixed song isn’t recognized because of the eerily similar sample.

In conclusion, the guidelines that I think that creators should follow to avoid “ripping someone off” are: credit it them for the inspiration, take from multiple sources instead of just one, and steal an aspect from the original and create something new with it. These guidelines are vital to avoid ripping someone off. 

[hipengblog]

Serial: The Podcast

Personally I found this podcast very engaging and professional. I liked how it drew me in because of it’s formal tone, and because I really like true crime podcasts and documentaries. 

I’m very surprised that nearly everyone involved has retained their memory. The mind is a tricky place and as we grow older it’s hard to keep track of it. I can barely remember what I did yesterday. This is concerning whether being able to remember exact details or not can be the deciding factor of whether someone is innocent or guilty. 

I recommend this podcast to people who enjoy true crime podcasts.

[rorythom]

Should Grade 12 University Level English Be A Requirement For Entry Into All University Programs?

I disagree that grade 12 university level English should be a requirement for entry into all university programs, because I believe grade 12 university level English should only be required for university programs involving literacy, as students with grade 12 college level English pursuing programs with little to no connection to English already have a basic understanding of literacy to function in their respective careers. 

Grade 12 university level English should only be required for university programs that rely on a deeper and heavier knowledge of literacy. Students pursuing a career either heavily involved or surrounding English should undoubtedly be required to take grade 12 university level English in order to have a deeper knowledge on the subject. In comparison, you wouldn’t want an individual with only a college level understanding of math teaching a university level of math. 

Many careers don’t require a vast knowledge in English, even in university programs. Which is why I believe students with only a grade 12 college level English credit should be allowed to have access to these programs. Grade 12 college level English educates students on the same fundamentals of writing and reading as grade 12 university does, it just doesn’t cover it as vastly as university level does. A certain level of English understanding should not block students from pursuing careers that don’t necessarily require the subject. 

I wholeheartedly disagree that grade 12 university level English should be required for entry into all university programs, because many careers that students pursue do not require a vast knowledge of English. 

[hipengblog]

cool post :) but im going to have to disagree with you on this. Many University professors give their students long writing tasks, Grade 12 English allows for to students to prepare for University. Also jobs look for unique applications and no grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors. Grade 12 English should be a requirement, but i agree that not every program needs a vast knowledge of  english 

[hipengblog]

Blog #1. Should Grade 12 University Level English Be A Requirement For Entry Into All University Programs?

Yes. I believe that Grade 12 English should be a requirement for University Pathways. Many University programs, even non-english ones, require long papers such as a thesis, a lab report, essays, etc. Being able to write long papers is a necessity for University students. 

Grade 12 English cultivates those skills and prepares students that are graduating for University.

English is a base for communication in Canada, English is Canada’s most commonly used language. 

Employers and schools look for good grammar, proper punctuation, spelling, and lack of informal tones and language. Usually when applying to a university an application essay is required. They are looking for professional students that know how to be unique and knowledgeable in their writing. 

So yes, I believe that Grade 12 English should be a requirement for University programs. It teaches student extensive languages, how to properly write essays, and it prepares them for many University programs.