Siddhartha Notes from Class Discussion

He was homeless for years 

A Brahmin (most religious in India and are thought highly of) of high standing, a religious man

He felt very alone, did not know where he belonged in life

He began to think about these things and moved on. He was ready for a new beginning, not looking backwards. He was maturing. Finding who he really was. 

He had grown in a Brahmin lifestyle where he was always expected of so highly and lived under such a high expectations and he wants to get away from that. 

The snake in his path as he stands paralyzed symbolizes the devil/evil. 

Snakes "shed" their skin like he shuffles off his old identify and begins a new one in a new skin. 

Who he's going to be is yet undefined. 

He's no longer looking back to what had prohibited him from being the person he is destined to be. 

The town is overwhelming and stressed because he is suddenly brought upon himself a massive bunch of ideas of who he is and has been and who he should be. 

Conversation #4

My fourth conversation was with Chrystal Dulay. Hers is about about giving teenagers in small communities like Santa Maria stuff to do, without being charged money. There's so many kids who turn to drugs/alcohol when they're bored because there's they believe there's nothing better to do. Instead of stuff like this affecting their lives, she wants to create an atmosphere where kids can have sober fun! Shes not really sure what type of atmosphere we'd create yet because there's things already like the Abel Maldonado center but she was thinking about teaming up with someone like CJ from Fighting Back Santa Maria (or other similar people) to get something like this started. I am so proud of chrystal and cannot wait to see what she has in store!!! Also, I would love to help her in her journey!

Literature Analysis: American Sniper

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. 

Additional Comments: Before reading this book, i anticipated that it would demonstrate more of the hardships and the fortuneless of countries our US Navy Seals had to battle against. Although it did portray some of this, it didnt demonstrate much so this book does relate to my masterpiece but hardly. Although, i am very glad I chose this novel to read because I am infatuated with it and had a hard time putting it down!
1. Throughout this amazing novel, the narrator, Chris Kyle a US Navy Seal, reveals his life story before and after being a US navy seal. He enables the audience to join him through his journey and feel as if they are right in on the action with him. In the story there is no exposition, climax, falling action or anything like that. To me, the whole entire book is a climax because of how good the book was and how exciting his experiences and stories were. Chris begins the novel by describing his childhood birth, city, home, lifestyle, etc. He and his family lived in Texas and were extremely "Hick". He claims that he was a cowboy if you'd ever seen one! He then goes on to explain his journey of becoming a Navy Seal and all of the strength and determination it took to become one. Battling both internal and external conflicts was an everyday thing for Chris every single day while a Navy Seal. There was both positives and negatives associated with the career but its negatives outweighed the positives greatly. Providing the audience with all of the steps, troubles, struggles, etc of being a Navy Seal, Chris makes it seem as if being a Navy Seal is no fun. It's not until he gives the audience detailed stories about his experiences on the battlefront that the reader gets intrigued in the idea of being a Navy Seal. Whether it being the awesome feeling of carrying a gun and killing the enemy or being devastated because a crew member had died, the Navy Seal was a continuos job filled with blood, sweat, determination, and love. Chris Kyle served 12 years in the US military and being a Navy Seal. He served 4 terms in the Iraq war and was rewarded several awards for his bravery, acts of heroism, and excellence. Known as "the Legend", Kyle proclaimed most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, having accumulated 160 confirmed kills out of 255 probable kills. Throughout all of his time in the military, he suffered trouble with the long distance between himself and family. Stationed in Iraq, he was thousands of miles apart from his young, new family and this caused several problems not only with himself but his marriage and relationship with his wife Tara. Tara was basically a single mom taking care of two ver young kids desperately and anxiously awaiting her husbands return. Each year when Kyle was asked to reenlist she begged him not to but he insisted his duty was not yet complete and continued to reenlist leaving his family. Tara suffered great anxiety and began feeling resentful towards her husband until his fifth enlistment opportunity when he finally agreed that his time in the US military was complete. After serving his extremely successful 12 years in the US Military, Kyle founded his own military training institution known as Craft International which kept him busy and his family happy. The author did an excellent job writing this novel and giving people the real life presentation of how intense US Military occupations really are. He not only fulfilled his purpose, but excelled it.
2. The theme of this book can be a controversial topic. To me, there are several possible themes that this book can portray. Passion and Patriotism are both themes that this book portrays throughout the entire plot. When concerning passion, Chris Kyle depicts this through all of his hard work, determination, commitment, and duty in the Navy Seals. He shows such a great amount of passion in everything he does not only for the job but for everyone in the country. He is so dedicated and committed to protecting his country that the reader never has a chance to doubt how great of a man he really is. Patriotism is also portrayed throughout the entire novel. The definition of patriotism is devotion to ones country. This theme is portrayed in every single page of the book. Chris Kyle is so devoted to his country that he continuously chooses his country over his family, he continues to return even when he's both mentally and physically hurt, and he is all about the USA and its success. He is the symbol of patriotism and the stars and stripes of the American flag. 
3. The author of the story, Chris Kyle, uses the same tone throughout the entire novel. It is extremely intimidating, passionate, and straight up. Quotes that support this include, "In the end, my story, in Iraq and afterward, is about more than just killing people or even fighting for my country. It's about being a man. And it's about love and hate as well." Another supporting quote is, "Just to make it through training, you have to be one bad ass motherfucker." An additional quote that associates with the authors tone is, "If I had to order my priorities they would be God, country, family."
4. Some literary techniques that bettered my understanding of the book included tone, theme, diction, metaphor, personification, rhetorical question, hyperbole, allusion, analogy, onomatopoeia,  and symbolism. The authors theme helped me understand the book better in which it provided me with deep moral meanings and honestly opened up my eyes to how thankful i should and we all should be to be protected by a such passionate and strong military. The author's tone being so intimidating helped me understand how intense and difficult it is to be in the military  and especially a navy seal. Obviously, like portrayed throughout the novel, being in the US military is no walk in the park, its a walk in water (very difficult.) The authors diction, like the tone, helped me better understand all of the conflicts both internal and external the inhabitants of the military encounter and are forced to overcome/triumph. A metaphor that was portrayed in the novel was "Seals are silent warriors." This indicated that Seals do all that warriors and battlers do but without all of the boasting and bragging. They are conservative individuals who know their worth and do not have to boast to make themselves feel better or superior. An example of personification that was provided in the text was "My fear and relieve came out as unintelligible sobs." This indicated how tough war and battle can be. Its as if there's no way to win. You are at constant battle with not only the enemy but yourself. A rhetorical question that appeared in the text was "Did i ever hear the end of that." In the text he literally indicated that it was a rhetorical question when he was pranked by the other guys for being a newby and he totally embarrassed himself. An example of hyperbole that was in the text was "You're not a cowboy until you can break a horse." This was not a literal task, it was exaggerated. Kyle's father used to give him a hard time because he was timid around horses so his dad made up this statement so that Chris would get over his fear of horses. An allusion that was made in the book was "It was like a party on the titanic. The movies got us all psyched up, but we knew that ice burg was out there, looming in the dark." This quote supported the fact that being a Navy Seal is difficult yet has its positives. They are enabled to spend quality time with one another doing off job things but they know that the fun will always be disturbed by reality. An example of analogy that was in the text was "we're like baseball players with our little rituals and must-dos." This provided me with the knowledge that Navy Seals all have their own rituals that they do to prepare for war and get them psyched and pumped up. An example of onomatopoeia was "You'd hear the rounds coming past you in the air-errrrr- then you'd hear the echo-erhhhrhrhrhr-." This indicated how gnarly and intense the war was. They were constantly being fired at no matter where the were. The symbolism portrayed in this book was when Chris Kyle said the statement about the Fourth of July. "I've always loved the Fourth of July. I love the symbolism, meaning of the day, and of course the fireworks and barbecues." This specific quote symbolizes the whole purpose of the book; US freedom. Because of the US military, we are able to celebrate the Fourth of July and are continually battling against our enemies.
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Two examples of direct characterization from the text are "The Navy credits me with more kills as a sniper than any other American service member past or present." This indicates that Chris is an absolute stud and is a great Seal that faced a great amount of success throughout his entire career. Another example is, "I don't mind hard work, at  the same time i like to have fun. Life's too short not to." This indicates that he is a hard worker yet he likes to enjoy his life and have fun sometimes. The major example i came across was, "People try to put me in a category as a bad ass, a good boy, asshole, sniper, seal, and probably other categories not appropriate for print. All might be true on any given day." "Just to make it through training, you had to be one tough motherfucker." This indicated that Chris is a strong, determined, bad ass guy because he passed through training! Examples of indirect characterization include "Studying and classes are not my thing." indicating that he is not a very school friendly individual and most likely excels in physical activities rather then educational ones. "I was sitting there saying to myself "God" over and over." This indicates that he has some type of religion (Christian) and he looks up to God as the father. 
2. No, the author's diction does not range from character to character. It stays the exact same throughout the entire story and that is what makes the story such an inspiring and motivational one. 
3. The main character, Chris Kyle, is both a dynamic and round character because he changes completely over the course of the story. In the beginning of the story he was die hard Navy Seal who chose everything over his family. As the story progressed, he realized that there was more to life than war and that he needed to be there for his family. He then began to spend a lot more time with his family and strengthened his bonds and relationships with his wife, kids, friends, and families. I'd say that the only area that he is a static character is his dedication to his country but no matter what he will always love and protect his country.
4. After reading this  book I can walk away and say that I know Chris Kyle: The Legend: The American Sniper. The book had such a big impact on me and I feel that I have known Chris for a long time. He is such an inspiration in so many ways and I am so thankful that this book was written and I was given the opportunity to read it. This novel has made me so much more thankful for our US service members and because of this I am going to make more of an effort to thank those individuals who risk their lives every day protecting our country. I am so glad to be an american!! 

Conversation #3

My third discussion was with Ms. Hannah Hurd. Hannah and I had been particularly interested in each other's masterpieces due to the act that we are both set on pursuing careers in the medical field. Here is her masterpiece ideas: there are two roads she could go down that She is interested in. The first one is setting up a clinic for a week or so where she goes into a hospital and helps out the patients. She is unsure of the types of patients she will be assisting but she is sure that it will be a range of patients that need assistance. This came from the idea of disformations or asymmetry on face or sorts of the body that people are drawn to look at and it makes the people with those things feel bad and. So she wants to give those people self confidence or just a memory of someone who looked at the words and stories they told rather than what they looked like. Her second idea is going along more reaserch and the idea behind how we change ourselves to have the same characteristics as the people we hang around? Like me, she is still developing and constructing her masterpiece and I cannot wait to see her finished product. :) I am very interested in also contributing to her masterpiece if she would like me too! Great job, Hannah! 

Conversation #2

For my second conversation I had a nice chat with Sierra Sanchez. For hers, she  hasnt completely decided on what to do. She has several different ideas consisting of either a fashion show type of deal where she involves students with other big ideas that coincide with some aspects of the fashion show other then the fashion aspect like someone who wants to coordinate it or do the music aspect and she would do the styling part! She was also thinking of doing something on her own where she picks a whole bunch of different categories of styles and dress people up in the outfits She puts together for them and show that to the class along with setting up a blog where she posts outfits that either she wears or styles other people in and include short little descriptions of them and have inspirations and other little fashion styling tips as well. I think this is the perfect combination for Sierra because of her never ending passion and loce for fashion. It will be perfect preparation for her future and I cannot wait to see what she's going to put together for the class. :) So cool!!

Conversation #1

My first conversation was with Courtney Reyburn. While we were discussing the matter I jotted down some notes that included, "about special Olympics. She wants to make it so that the "normal" society can look at those with special needs as normal people. So in order for this to happen we need to have more inclusion so she's going to plan some events and get as many as we can to attend alongside those with special needs so one thing she wants to do is a dance where each student with special needs gets asked by one of us and then we have a big dance and another thing is a big soccer game but have everything normal like a regular soccer game just special needs kids are mixed in the some of the regular soccer players and then finally at the end of the year during the summer she wants to get a group of kids but like a big group to go and support them at the world games and raise money to stay for a few nights in a hotel!" After discussing with Courtney I began to get very emotional and excited for her masterpiece. It is such a beautiful idea because I love spending time with special needs kids. They are no different than any of us, they ARE normal! I am going to join in on every single activity and event Courtney plans to not only better myself and help promote her effort to make equality  among us kids, but also to help her become as successful as she can because she deserves it! I want to help her find students who will contribute to her project and make it amazing. I am so proud of her and love her masterpiece!!! <3

My Masterpiece

Over this past semester i have progressed and matured a great bit. In the beginning of the year I was focusing my masterpiece that would mainly benefit myself and my close peers. Although, as the year progressed, I became less selfish and decided that i wanted to perform a task that would benefit a large range of people. After coming up with several of ideas, there was one that i believed fit perfect with my life scenario, future, and the present era. I decided to aim my effort towards not only spreading love around the world and making the world a better place for us inhabitants all over the world but to spread joy, medicare, and happiness to parts of the world who do not experience these things as much as we do and are not as fortunate as we are. All my life, I have wanted to always be caring and loving to everyone no matter what the circumstance. Because of this i want to base my masterpiece on giving back to those people who aren't as fortunate as I am.
     As many of you know, I was born with a severe heart condition that has impacted not only my life but my family's life in many ways. Throughout my journey, i have been blessed with the best of the best in medicine such as doctors, medicine, and love. Every hospital I go to, every doctor i see, is filled with love and passion.  Those amazing individuals have not only taken care of me and are the reason i am still alive but also do that for thousands of other people and i believe are not evenly distributed throughout the globe. Via my hospital trips and surgeries i have met several kids and adults that have shared with me their stories and the type of care they receive where they live and let me tell you i break down in tears every single time i have a conversation with them. Me, along with thousands of other individuals who receive care in the US, continue to fail at appreciating the amazing medical care we receive day in and day out. I feel so welcomed and taken care of every single day of my life that it makes me feel extremely greedy. My heart aches for those individuals from other parts of the world who are provoked from obtaining quality care. Because of this, the main concept that i am aiming my masterpiece towards is spreading/distributing good quality medicare to other parts of the world. I firmly believe that this movement will help spread world peace for everyone, especially for me.
      If this movement is successful, my life will be almost complete. This idea is so globally beneficial and inspirational that i believe it will persuade and ignite a lot of people to perform more things like this and to also be more thankful for what they are given and provided with. It will put into perspective for people how lucky we really are in several aspects of our lives and how fortunate we should be while there are millions of people suffering all over the world.
     This task requires great determination in all areas of school but heavily in science and math. To be able to make this movement successful, there is going to be a higher demand in medical students and colleagues which requires huge amounts of mathematical and science studies. Personally, i will have to begin obtaining knowledge in how i will be able to make this happen. I will have to find reliable people who will be able to enable me to make this mission successful, i will have to have a great amount of support from many people and i am going to have to stay determined and motivated and remember that all of the hard work will pay off in the end. I will begin preparing by researching ways and people that could help me achieve my goals and then move on from there and hope for the best. For instance, i could speak to several teachers, doctors, students, professors etc in search for advice and leads to success. I want to promote my mission all over the world so that greater things can result and more care could be spread. I could go to schools, board meetings, hospitals, etc and give presentations to reach out and see if people could help and contribute to my movement. I will also create another blog just for this movement so individuals can keep up with the progress of the mission and can join in whenever they want to. Twitter, instagram, and facebook will be my main archives for a while until the world gets out to the real media and begins to boom.
     To be honest, i am not quite sure where to start with this movement but i am hoping that people will see this post and have the urge to help me in my quest to making this world a better place for everyone. :) Lets spread our love and care to all!