Did the plague desensitize death?

In the novel plague, we continuously see people going about their daily life to life routines. Although so many around them are dying and eventually they are even quarantined off, you see the behavior that none of this is going on often within the book. Which lead my group to ask the question, is death desensitized by the plague? I would have to answer yes to this question. I think that any time there is tragedy in abundance it is hard to be empathetic and sympathetic to every single death. For example, when I read this book, it put me in the mind of how Chicago is. Literally, every single day there is another murder if not more in Chicago. We see it, sometimes we may comment on how sad it is, but we keep moving on with our lives. We keep living. Gun Violence in Chicago is very much  so like the Plague. I feel that it's safe to say that while a lot of us have been affected by gun violence in Chicago we are becoming desensitized to the large numbers at which people, especially our youth, are being killed. I also would make the assumption that this is true for every society that is experiencing death on a large scale, including the people being affected by the Plague.

WWYD? (Plague)

If I were in the higher ranks of politicians and controlled what the citizens did & did not know, I would definitely hide certain things from them. Like a catastrophic event that was inevitable and unavoidable, I would not inform my citizens of such information. I feel that by allowing so many people to know such horrible news, it would send them into such a chaotic state of mind. I would rather let people live their last moments in a happy space. Once people know that they are going to die they won't think about how they should be valuing this time with their family. They'll be living their lives in a sheer panic which isn't fair to them in my opinion. If it were me in the citizens position, I wouldn't want to know. I would rather go about living my life as if I am oing to continue to live for the next moments versus dying being terrified.

Malcolm X

           When I first started this novel, I was under the impression that I would be completely disinterested. Of course, I had heard of Malcolm X, but I didn't understand what his goal was through the speeches he made. The only thing I really knew of Malcolm X was that he made some bold statements and he wasnt't as peaceful as some of the other activists. As I started reading the novel, I realized how everything in people's lives really do connect, and it's usually towards the end of one's life that they can connect the dots for themselves. Everything from Malcolm's childhood to his early adult life truly had an impact on the person that he is today. Naturally, with me being on the outside of his life looking in, it's easy for me to say how one event connected to the next. Although I don't personally agree with some of the statements made by Malcolm X, it's definitely easy to see how he formulated these ideas he believed to be true. I also found the power of believing in yourself interesting. We've all heard that once you believe what you are saying, others will too, but Malcolm X is a huge example of this. He oozed knowledge and confidence in his speeches and it made people want to believe him, to want to follow him. He started off not being so confident in himself, partly because he wasn't educated. However, once he educated himself and found something that he believed in, it became much more natural for him to give the message to others that he had found light in.

Is King Still King?

Dr. Martin Luther King is definitely still King. I feel that as long as your legacy lives on so do you, and King's ideologies are brought in our era all the time and they are still relevant. Just the other day Whitney Young's niece came to speak to us on show us part of the documentary that she has been working for in dedication to her uncle. In the documentary it shows him working with many civil rights activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King. In the video it was obvious that Whitney Young valued the friendship and the work ethic and methods of King. It was truly moving. I also feel that as we look around today we can still see that he is King by the comparisons that they make between he and others, especially Barack Obama. Having great people say that they admire you and the things you did is a huge honor.

My Favorite Songgggg.

My favorite song of all times comes from the debut album Spirit by Leona Lewis. The song is Bleeding Love. I feel that Leona Lewis did beautiful work on this album but the lyrics of Bleeding Love are extremely relate-able and touching. Yet, this is still not the reason that this is my favorite song. The vocal range and power that was shown in this song is absolutely amazing to me. I feel that no one could ever sing this song as good or nearly as good as she did, which I feel always speaks volumes for the artist. Absolutely amazing piece of work. 

Camus was not a very optimistic person, and that is an assumption that can be made from his novel the stranger. Judging on his outlook on life, I would say that Camus would probably vote for whoever he feels that the majority is going to vote for, because he'd feel that literally, his one vote, would not change anything. Originally I wanted to say that he would vote for Gary Jonson because unfortunately he has no shot at winning, so in that case it wouldn't really make a difference. I actually can't say with confidence who Voltaire would vote for neither, but I will make a guess and say Jill Stein. I would say Jill Stein because Voltaire is for cultivating your garden and thats something that he has in common with Jill Stein and the Green Party.

Perspective of Meaning

I feel as though everything in my life has meaning to me, whether I enjoy that part of my life or not. All the typical things have value to me, but so are the really small things. Things as small as being able to take a warm shower and eat when I get hungry, even breathing. These are things that have huge value but are usually over looked because you've been accustomed to having them. I think that meaning in one’s life is complete perspective. Everyone thinks differently, where you may see a beautiful sunset they just may see that the sun is setting, just the way it does every day. It’s just a routine. It’s completely left to the individual to decide what and if life has meaning, its all perspective.

Punishments of Candide: Too harsh?

                                                               Throughout the novel, we witness Candide having to endure drastic consequences for simple mistakes. I definitely believe that Candide's punishments were too harsh.I also believe that the harshness of Candide's punishments were always a form of satire on Voltaire's part to illustrate to society how dramatic we can be & overreact to certain situations. As humans, we judge & persecute each other heavily for things that can be viewed as simple mistakes, like when Candide was kicked out of the castle for having illicit relations with Cunegonde, although Candide was only imitating something he'd seen. Just like in today's society how people judge others heavily for their sexual endeavors for whatever their reasons are. It's unnecessary, and I believe with all of Candide's punishments, they were only so harsh to stir a reaction from the reader and hopefully get them to make the connection with their own society. Although it's more than likely much more mild.

How I know What I know

                                                     
                                         As children, we all feel as though we "know" that Santa Clause exists. Every year we try to be on our best behavior to receive this wonderful gifts from a man we've never seen. The only thing that most of us know is that we write a list to him of what we want, we must behave well, and our parents know him. All of this information comes from our parents, older siblings, companions, and other adults. Although, we as children have never seen him, we believe that he is because it's what we've been told. It's the only thing we know. As we get older, we begin to find loopholes in the stories and situations, and realize that certain things just don't add up. Eventually, we are told that Santa Clause is not real, and that he is a mythical being. Disappointed, we accept this knowledge and eventually move on knowing that Santa never did or will exist. Then, behold, in school we learn that Santa Clause was based on a real person named Saint Nicholas, who was a richer man who gave gifts to the poor. Although, this was not the Santa that we grew to knew, we know again that he was in fact real. The point I'm trying to make by this is that we know what we know by deciding to trust certain people, who trust certain people, who trust others who have delivered history.

The Unexamined Life, Worth Living?

Personally, I feel as though its hard to say whether or not someone's life is worth living, whether they examine it or not. Life is a very special thing and people typically live life knowing of things a certain way. If the person is aware that they are not examining their life and decide that that's not the proper way of life, it's their choice. As well as if a person does not realize that they should be examining their lives and therefore cannot make a change, since they're oblivious to that aspect.

The person that I view as a modern day Socrates would have to be Jeffrey Wands because he has come up with the idea that everyone has a psychic ability, but because they refuse to believe or acknowledge it, that it can't be accessed. Although, I'm kind of skeptic to the entire "psychic" thing Jeffrey Wands as well as other "psychics" or "mediums" have led to ask if it could be possible.

Eulogy

                                      Arteisha Gorden is currently a 17 year old Whitney M. Young high school senior who was born on November 13th, 1994. She is a single/middle child who is really close to her family. Arteisha is her mom's only child but she also has an older brother & sister and two younger sisters on her dad's side. Arteisha doesnt have a "traditional" religious upbringing nor background. Although she believes that their is a possibilty that there is a higher power she does not claim a religion. Arteisha does have a sound set of morals and interpretations of what is right & wrong and she is willing to think beyond the boundaries of normality.