Author: Mateo

Personal Response to Brave New World

Brave New World is a dystopian novel written in 1932 by Aldous Huxley, a British writer and philosopher.
This story takes place in 632 AF (After Ford), throughout the novel there is a lot of reflection. As a main theme he often uses the future, but also about Huxley’s society in the 32s. Almost all things have evolved over time, from our society today to that of 1932. It is for this and other aspects that I think this novel is a good example of comparison of how the future was seen before and how it is now.

As for the novel, it got a little boring for me after a certain point. But one of the things that brought it back to life was the entrance of a character named John. This kid was what we would call “normal”, but to them this kid was an indomitable and a savage. Another character that stands out a lot and I quite like is Bernard himself, this character was also different from the others because he had his own thoughts and views on the world and didn’t just follow the hypnopedia that everyone else followed in an infinite loop. However, these two perosnages were not the same, as on the one hand John would take Soma as soon as one thing overtook him. Slow novels bore me, and luckily the speed at which events unfolded was a very good pace. The plot itself I also liked as far as I could tell.

One of the things that strikes me the most is to see the way people perceive all the things that in this supposed “perfect society” are normalized. Things such as the sexual freedom that everyone has, including small children, as well as the fact of creating human beings at will and likeness in laboratories. Because really, nowadays there are similar things in the world we live in.

After reading this novel I have started to ask myself a lot of questions about things in our society today. The reasons why we do such things in such a way, etc…. It has changed my perspective on the differences between dystopia and utopia as I progressed through the book “The Brave New World”.

GYM – PW #6

This story goes back to last week. I was at the gym (it was time for chest training), when I got to the point in my routine where I had to do an exercise called “dumbbell lunges”. Depending on the inclination of the bench this exercise works one or another part of the pectoral.
Anyways, in the exercise there is a moment where you have to bring the dumbbells together at the highest point. So I was doing the exercise and when I go up I usually make sure that the dumbbells collide with each other and not with my hands. But it didn’t always work out. So on the second to last set, I overdid it and the dumbbell smashed my pinky finger against the other dumbbell and shattered.

Currently my finger is purple and leaking blood into the nail.
As advice I can tell you, do not be afraid to put weight on the exercises, but be careful with the technique.

 

Go hit the gym guys!

IRJE #6

The book I was reading is called “The Kite Runner”, a book written by Khaled Hosseini. It is about the story of a friendship between a wealthy Afghan boy, named Amir, and Hassan, the son of his father’s servant. After the unfolding of many events Hassan passes away, Amir later discovers that the two of them had always been half-brothers.

“‘When you kill a man, you steal a life,’ Baba said. ‘You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?’” (Chp. 3) (P. 16)

I have decided to quote this story, because it deals with a very important theme in the character’s development and in the Islamic religion. Amir, after learning that drinking is a sin in the Islamic faith, asks his father if he is also a sinner since he enjoys his usual glass of whiskey. Placing Amir on his knees, Baba explains to him that stealing is the only sin and that all others are a variation of the same sin.

Machu Picchu #5

Have you been to Machu Picchu? I think it is one of the most impressive and beautiful Aztec ruins in the world. I personally would love to visit it sometime, it is a destination that I always have in mind for a future trip, the problem is that I either don’t have time or money.
But Machu Picchu apart from being one of the Aztec works, best reserved in the world today, I also find it a beautiful town, as it is located in a valley between mountains and not overlooking the views but everything in general is beautiful.
It is definitely a destination that I would recommend to everyone, and it is an experience that I think everyone should go to live at least once in life.

Brave new world #IRJE

We are going to talk about a book called “BRAVE NEW WORLD”, written by Aldous Huxley. This book talks about a world in the future that is based on a system that produces artificial human beings, each belonging to one of five castes. Although the theme of this world is a utopia, with time we can realize that this is different.

A nurse rose as they entered and came to attention before the Director.

“What’s the lesson this afternoon?” he asked.

“We had Elementary Sex for the first forty minutes,’ she answered. “But now it’s switched over to Elementery Class Consciousness.”

The Director walked slowly down the long line of cots.

Rosy and relaxed with sleep, eighty little boys and girls lay softly breathing.

The reason I think this reference is important is because it reflects that in this society people are more concerned about being entertained by wasting time with their favorite activities than doing practical and useful things for themselves. It is seen how the higher ups use the distraction of useless and empty sex as a method to entertain the new specimens. Since sex in this world is a very important pastime.

Personal Writing #4

Last week in the park, there was a poor unfortunate soul who was being followed by a police car. This boy was no angel, but that did not matter. After being caught smoking by a police officer, he ended up with a ticket for being in a smoke-free area. In the first place, his mother was always nagging him about going to the park and not smoking, but he could not because of his friends, and then secondly, it was not a smoking area. The boy walked into the park, and he sat on the bench for a few minutes.

Reflection from the feedback

I cannot say much about Mr. Master’s comments, since for some reasons I was not able to perform the test in its entirety. However, with what I did, Mr. Master was able to draw enough conclusions to write me a very good, useful and practical commentary. What has become clearer to me is that I have to try to get it, because if I give up before even trying I will never get it. And I also have to believe more in myself and my capabilities.

Utopia

To begin with, a “utopia” is an ideal plan or system of rule and government in which there is a perfect, just and equal society, where everything flows and takes place without conflict and in harmony.
Utopia or a perfect society to me would not be much different from the general idea on this subject. Almost everyone is looking for a world of equality, where there is nothing to fear, a safe, fair, appetizing and healthy place. My utopia will certainly have to fulfill at least 4 of the 6 clear objectives I just named. It is very important for a society that everything goes smoothly and there are no conflicts or at least as few as possible. Therefore in my society the issue of trials and corrupt affairs, will be very strict. There can not be any criminal on the loose, however so that there would be no problem the jail would not be inside the city, just in case. In this way the prisoners are not only more isolated, but they will not have the possibility of worsening their sentences, but so that everything goes well with the relatives and people who want to visit them, they will have no problem to do so, the only difference is that the prison would be outside the city, not too far from human civilization.
The justice system would be the only strict thing, everything else has to flow perfectly and without any problem, for that the majority vote would be very important in the society of my utopia.

Reflection “Western Fronts”.

In this comparison, we will focus on 2 texts and 1 film, these are “All Quiet On The Western Front”, “Soldier ‘s Home” and “They Shall Not Grow Old”. It is clear that the film, apart from being something much more visual and aggressive, is made for an adult audience. In this film they show us how the war was seen and how life was like from a trench, they also explained all the brutalities and nightmares that are lived in the war. This is all very similar to the book “All Quiet On The Western Front”. One of the biggest similarities between these two works is the way they depict and explain the war. All the disgusting and terrifying tasks and actions they had to do, whether it was wallowing in excrement or killing a badly wounded person, etc… These are things that the two stories also have in common.All this, in comparison with the last text “Soldier ‘s Home” has nothing to do, since in this last text the war is not described as much as in the previous cases, and much less gives that amount of details. Instead of all that here it explains the life of the soldiers after the war (Krebs as the main character).

IRJE #1: The pearl

The book “The Pearl” written by John Steinbeck, is about a very small family of 3 members; Kino, Juana and their little son Coyotito. This family is poor and one day their son Coyotito falls ill, so they are forced to work more than they should. This couple works as pearl diggers.

“What’s wrong? -asked the doctor.

-An Indian with a creature. He says he’s been stung by a scorpion. – says a boy.

The doctor lowered the cup carefully before letting his anger loose.

-I have nothing to do but treat insect bites on Indians? I’m a doctor, not a veterinarian.

-Yes, master,” said the servant.

-Have you any money? -asked the doctor.

-No, they never have any money,” said a man.

-Do you have money to pay for the treatment?” (p. 7)

Regardless of whether this person has the money or not, the way to treat them just because of their origin makes no sense. Discrimination against First Nations people was absurd and senseless.

Comparison of Soldier’s Home and All Quiet On The Western Front

Once we have read both stories (Soldiers home and All quiet on the western front), and we have all the aspects in which they are similar, and the aspects in which they are differences between the two protagonists; Paul and Krab.
The first thing that can be appreciated as similarity is that both stories talk and deal with the war and the experiences of soldiers in it.

Between these two main characters there are similarities and differences, but let’s start with the similarities. The two main characters in each story are part of their respective armies. Something they both have in common, and almost all soldiers who have gone to war is the fact that they don’t want to remember it for anything in the world, they both have traumas and nightmares about it, neither of them want to remember the subject and try to avoid it. Just thinking about her scares them and they don’t want to go back there.

Now I will talk about the differences between the protagonists of these stories. Although both were in the army they are not in the same combat sector, since Paul enlisted for the common army and Krab is in the marines. Apart from this difference, they also did not belong to the same side and therefore not to the same army either. Krab was on the American side as a marine, while Paul was in the German common army. But definitely the biggest difference is the ending that each character has, as Paul dies in the war while Krab manages to stay alive and survive.

Personal Response to “All Quiet on the Western Front”

The novel I am going to write my personal response about is “All quiet on the western front”, written by Erich Maria Remarque. This novel provides us with a side of the War that is not usually taught in books, specifically World War I. This is because this novel doesn’t focus on highlighting things like the typical fearful soldier. This is because this novel does not focus on highlighting things like the typical fearless soldier who made history or the classic heroism of battles. Rather, it talks about the realistic aspects of war, the traumas, the nightmares, the fears that war leaves in a person who will never be the same again.
I would like to quote a short text by Paul in chapter 3 “There is no escape anywhere. By the light of the shells I try to get a view of the fields. They are surging sea, daggers of flame from the explosions leap up like fountains. It is impossible for anyone to break through this.” (p. 66) This part shows a situation in which there is apparently no escape from death, which shows us that soldiers also go through moments in which survival is not an option, and this kind of approach to war is not very common in books and novels that talk about it.

Moreover, because of situations like the ones just mentioned the soldiers end up convincing each other that the only task they can and have to do is to kill and survive. Unconsciously, because of the experiences, the way they teach and raise the soldiers to think and work, innocent people who had no need to die or kill or hate, end up hating, killing and dying because of two powerful and cowardly people who to solve a disagreement of ideas use armies formed by innocent, empty, terrified and traumatized people. And all those deaths and lifelong traumas only serve to fix the personal dilemmas of two cowards.
And it is mainly because of this that I firmly believe that the point of view of this novel is unique and peculiar since it is not usual to write or at least publish the truth and all the points of view about a real war.

Class intro

Hi, my name is Mateo Martínez and I’m from Spain. I was born in Barcelona but I moved to Madrid when I was 3 years old. I like so many sports, but the sports I like most are; soccer, volleyball, athletics and working out. I’d like to improve my English level and my athletic skills.