Hi my name is Adrian Powditch, welcome to my English 114 Blog! A little background knowledge about who I am as a person can be simply put into four words, sports and the beach. Positive connections have always been a struggle for me to find in school, but English 114 sparked an interest which allowed me to write about what I enjoy, the beach. The freedom in this class has improved my study habits and my outlook on school entirely. What you will be reading on my blog are the three essays I wrote from my second semester of English 114. First, Project Text is an essay reflecting on the childhood of Marjane Satrapi. Second, Project Space; where I dive deep inside the conflict of protecting the Earth’s water. And third; Project Web is an essay that displays my personal changes over the course of English 114. Thank you for taking the time to read my introduction and I hope you enjoy what you read!
Project Text
Beliefs Fade as we Grow
As children we trust, listen, and
believe in what our elders tell us. Our parents try to protect us from the
wrong doings of the world. Most humans are sheltered from this information
until our teenage years when we as people start to understand what actually
goes on in the world. Everyone experiences different things in their childhood
that makes them who they are. In the memoir Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi, Satrapi shares how she loses faith in both her religious
views and the Iranian revolution as she ages through out the story.
Marji’s
early childhood was shaped by religion. She looked up to God, had conversations
with him every night, and she was certain she was the last prophet. For example
in the very beginning of the story Marji shows her belief by saying, “I really
didn’t know what to think about the veil. Deep down I was very religious but as
a family we were very modern and avant-garde. I was born with religion” (6).
Marji knew that she wanted to be a prophet by the age of six and kept her own
holy book, just like her predecessors. Because she did not understand why her
maid was not allowed to eat with the family and why her grandmother’s knees
hurt, she wrote down her own rules for when she became a prophet. In her rules,
she addressed problems that were not necessarily major issues, showing how she
was naïve in dealing with the outside world. In addition Marji displayed her
connection to religion by talking with God. She writes: “Every night I had a
discussion with God… I wanted to be justice, love and the wrath of God all in
one” (8-9). Marji would lie in bed every night and had a conversation with God,
which shows that she believed she had a special connection with Him. Marji’s
childish imagination allowed her to think that God was the answer to all of her
problems. As a young girl she was not able to see past what her parents and
peers were telling her about religion and God.
As
Marji grew up she began to experience things that were not controlled by
religion and some outcomes that might make her unhappy. These experiences
started her rebellion against the Iranian revolution and her overall outlook on
religion. For example when she finds out her friend Kaveh is leaving Iran to
move to the United States she states: “I think I really liked this boy…
Actually I liked him very, very much. It was the end of the world!” (63) After
learning more about what the government is doing to the rebellious Iranian
citizens and how corrupt the government has become, Marji watches her friend
move away. This affects her in a way more than the stories that she has heard
because it is her first personal experience. Marji loses faith towards her
government and God during this tragedy. Secondly, when she has begun to gain a
temptation to rebel she is drawn in by her friends to ditch class, “No, we’ve
got physical education but were not going. We’re going for burgers.” After her
friends told her that they were going for burgers Marji responded: “I wasn’t
chicken, so I followed them. I had already broken the rules once by going to
the demonstration in ’79 this was the second time” (111). Marji now is
knowingly going against what she knows is the right thing to do. Even though
she is only going out for burgers rather than going to class, she is showing
the signs of losing her old beliefs just like almost all humans do, as they
grow older. Marji has realized that things are not perfect, even if you believe
in God, and she sees what really is going on in her country. These factors
ignite her rebellious behavior.
Towards
the end of the story and the start of Marji’s teenage years, she continues to
lose faith in everything that she used to believe in and now starts to rebel
more drastically. Firstly, Marji rebels against her mother once again after she
yells at her for cutting class, “As for me, I sealed my act of rebellion
against my mother’s dictatorship by smoking the cigarette I’d stolen from my
uncle two weeks earlier… Now I was grown up” (117). Marji is now rebelling
against her mother right after she was caught cutting class. She knows that her
mother won’t allow her to smoke cigarettes so she smokes one to prove that she
is independent and now a woman. In addition Marji speaks to God for the last
time after experiencing many tragic deaths to her loved ones, “Shut up, you!
Get out of my life!!! I never want to see you again!” (70). After she screams
at God she narrates: “And so I was lost without any bearing… What could be
worse than that” (71). For the first time in Marji’s life she has totally lost
faith in God and wants Him to never come back to talk to her. This was a major
turning point in her life because she has put all of her faith into God and now
is taking him out of her life completely. These events in her life effected
what she used to love and look up to more than anything so greatly that she is
willing to throw it all away. Lastly, Marji expresses her feelings in a way
that she has never before, “After the death of Neda Baba-Levy, my life took a
new turn. In 1984, I was fourteen and a rebel. Nothing scared me anymore”
(143). Marji’s life has now fully turned around, she knows that she is a rebel
and will not allow anyone to effect her viewpoints. She fully lost her faith in
God and is now rebelling as much as she can against the government. She is old
enough to realize what is happening in her life and how she now has the power
to control it. Marji changed in a major way during her story and has now
completely lost faith in God and the Iranian government.
Marji
went through many tough experiences through out her childhood dealing with war,
prejudice, death, and much more which caused her understand the world in a
different way than she thought it was like as a little girl. Marji worshiped
God and her religion very intensely when she was a child. She would have
conversations with God every night and even had dreams of being a prophet. This
all changed from Marji after she experienced how harsh the world can be. She
lost friends and family because of the Iranian revolution and this had a major
impact on her religion. By the end of the story Marji was fully rebelling
against the revolution and was not as religious as she was when she was a young
girl. Marji went through many major experiences through her life that caused
her to be who she is today.
Project Space
Surrounded by Space
Our universe is one
hundred percent made up of space. Space surrounds our world in every direction
and it is waiting to be occupied. It is too big to think of space as a whole so
to put it in the human perspective we usually look at it as our earth. Space on
earth is made up of about thirty percent land and about seventy percent water.
One unique fact about space is that everybody on earth perceives space in their
own way. There are not two people on earth that view their surrounding space identically.
Ones perception of space may change greatly over time or might not be changed
at all. A person might think they know exactly what goes on in a certain space,
but when they view it from a different point of view they find that they are
incorrect. I traveled to my favorite surfing spot with a friend from the United
Kingdom, a space that I have been to many times in my life, but this time I was
forced to look at it from his point of view. This experience impacted my
outlook on space as a whole and how I take it for granted. After this trip, space became undefinable. I
also read a poem titled, “An Empty Classroom, Lincoln Heights” by William
Archlla, which gave me a different outlook on a space as simple as an empty
class room. Lastly, I researched the topic of water pollution within the United
States which is and will be an ongoing problem as long as we live. Water is a
space that we use every day and it affects the lives of every person on earth.
Space cannot be described in a simple definition, it is important to go beyond
the cover and truly look at how the space is used.
The beach is a popular place for people to go on vacation,
spend time with family, relax, and do many more activities. It is a beautiful
piece of nature that has people all across the world envious of the ones who
live by it. Fortunately, I am one of those people who live by the beach. For my
ethnography assignment during Project Space, my friend Tom and I went to a
beach called County Line on the northern coast of Malibu, California. I have
been to this beach many times in my life. County Line is a great surf spot for many
of the local population. It is not a main attraction for the people who visit
Los Angeles from across the world, but it certainly is a fantastic beach. In
order to look more closely at this space, I decided to look at County Line, a
familiar average Californian beach from outside perspective, Tom’s perspective.
Our
trip to County Line really opened my eyes to what went on in the mind of a
person who is unfamiliar with this space. It made me realize what I took for
granted and how this magnificent space should be cherished. Tom looked at this
beach as a wildlife habitat for dolphins, pelicans, and even a whale that we
saw.
He
looked at it in a way that I could not see unless I was there observing him.
His smile and cheerful demeanor was showing me that he was truly in paradise. The
excitement in his voice portrayed to me that his expectations of a Californian
beach were met. For someone coming from out of the country it must have been an
overwhelming experience to see some of the beautiful landmarks that he saw. The
beach is a perfect example of how our spaces can shape our beliefs and
conceptions of our world. When Tom first arrived at the beach his visions of a
beach in California were finally completed and possibly made better. As humans
we often wonder about things that we are not familiar with and we try to
picture it in our mind. Some places may fit our visions and expectations and
some places certainly don’t. For example, Los Angeles as a whole is not all
famous movie stars walking around the streets all day; there are way more
underlying things that make up LA. But County Line shows exactly how a beach in
California can look. It is not crowded with people and tourists; it is cleaner
than most public beaches; and at the same time it demonstrates the wide variety
of people who go to the beach. My ethnography helped me realize how space can
connect people’s visions and dreams to a reality. Tom showed his appreciation
of the beach that I needed to see in order to look at it in a different way.
Space can have meanings behind what lies in front of
one’s eyes. There can be deeper meanings to certain spaces; you just have to
look beyond what you see. In the poem, “An Empty Classroom, Lincoln Heights”,
William Archlla writes about the setting of an empty classroom but goes underneath
what he is seeing and explores the space
inside the empty classroom. Archlla states “A child has / chalked on the board
letters that bend like her / mother at the sewing machine. Others / have laid
word after word as if they knew / the exact movements of their fathers, brick /
after brick” (6-11). When Archlla looks inside this classroom he does not see
empty desks and just words on a chalkboard, but he looks deeper in this space
and can envision what the children look like and how they perform during their
work. He knows that he is in a classroom in Lincoln Heights which is not a very
nice area of Los Angeles. This helps him look at who the kids might be and might
grow up to be. Archlla promotes the idea of looking beyond what is right in
front of us and encourages us to look in the space for a deeper meaning. Every
space in the world could possibly have a deeper meaning to a person or group of
people; we just need to look past what is presented before our eyes.
One major factor that all natural space has to deal with
is protection. It is extremely important to protect and maintain a healthy
environment for all humans to enjoy our planet and also for the animals that
make it their home. Water pollution has been an ongoing problem here in the
United States because water is a necessity for everyone. Water is one of the
most important “spaces” on the face of the earth because it makes up most of
our earth and humans cannot survive without it. The United States Government
and the Environmental Protection Agency have been trying to protect our
drinking water, lakes, rivers, and oceans from the harmful toxins that big
companies produce and allow to filter into the water system. For example Lisa
Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, announced that “the Environmental Protection
Agency would overhaul drinking water regulations so that officials could police
dozens of contaminants simultaneously and tighten rules on the chemicals used
by industries”(Duhigg). Drinking water is a space that is a priceless need in
our lives and it is important that the water that we put in our bodies is clean
and will not make us sick. Over the last fifty years chemicals have become more
noticeable in the water products and in our bodies. The chemicals in our
drinking water have been linked to diseases and still pose potential risks. The
E.P.A. has put regulations on drinking water before but has not been strict
enough on punishments and rules (Heal the Bay). The announcement was made on
March 22nd, 2012 but the rules have not been released yet. Even
though the impact of these rules has not been felt, it is reassuring that our
government is helping to protect against harmful chemicals in water.
Another
issue involving water has been the ocean quality around the Los Angeles County
beaches. Last year, at the end of the summer months, the Heal the Bay
organization graded the Los Angeles County beaches at eighty-five percent
grades between A’s or B’s. In the previous year the beaches were graded at
seventy-nine percent A’s and B’s. Los Angeles County has been known for having
the worst beaches in California in terms of bacteria and poor water quality.
But it is a promising sign that our government is taking action and that the
people of Los Angeles are beginning to care more about our beaches. The space
that takes up water is tied between many issues involving quality and
availability and it is important for the people to see that organizations and
the government care about this ongoing problem. Arguably the most important
space in our lives is the Earth’s water and we have to do our best to protect
it.
Space has no boundaries and no definition but it can
certainly mean a lot. Everyone on this earth has their own thoughts on what
kind of space matters to them and what doesn’t. Space ranges from a beach in
California to an empty classroom anywhere in the world. Conceptions and beliefs
are determined by the person who is looking at or thinking about the space.
Issues force us to come up with solutions to protect the spaces that we
cherish. Space is all around us and will forever stay with the human race. It
is the individuals’ job to determine what it means to him or her.
Project Web
Don't Judge a Book by its Cover
Looking at a picture seems to have no meaning past what you see with your eyes. In my first semester of English 114 I was assigned to describe a picture and turn it into words. This assignment caused me to look deeper into just a picture of a wave. Explaining the picture of the wave was the easy part but looking deeper past the barrel formation of the water was the challenge. This wave symbolized much more to me than just one wave out in the ocean. It showed the entire ocean and the life in the ocean to me in just a small picture. It forced me to think about much more than just the wave and the people who could ride it or swim next to it but it made me image people from all over the world. Every wave is different just as every person on our earth is different from the next. It was not easy to see a connection that I could make with just a picture of a simple wave but when I looked deeper into it and tried to decipher what it could represent I found the theme of everyone is different. Waves are all different, people are all different, and there are people and places beyond my reach that I need to explore to create great experiences. This assignment helped me realize that it is possible to look deeper into any situation presented and that there is much more to people and places than they show on the outside. Looking inside a situation can teach you a lesson and change you for the better.
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| "The Perfect Wave" |
In an assignment following the word-picture assignment we had to travel to a public place and observe the people and their interactions to their surroundings. For this assignment I traveled to Topanga State Beach to observe the people who enjoy the beach for many reasons such as surfing or just hanging out with their families. My time at Topanga was different this time because I was focusing on who was at the beach and what they were doing. I observed many people when I was at the beach and it really helped me understand some of the different reasons people have for going to the beach. For example I observed a man who was alone but looked like he was enjoying his time and he was very social with the people around him. This man showed me that he used this particular beach as a social spot where he can come to relax and be around the people who he wants to be around. In addition I observed a young couple who looked like they were tourists. The man seemed to enjoy dipping his feet in the water and shared a lot of laughs with his partner. She was trying to read but seemed more interested in watching him have fun rather than her book. This showed me that this couple traveled to the same beach as the first man had, but for a very different reason. They were focused on their relationship and are enjoying the time they are spending together. My trip to Topanga was a good lesson for me to appreciate my surroundings to try to understand the various reasons people would travel to the beach and the needs they hope to fulfill.
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| "Topanga State Beach" |
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| "Protect Our Oceans!" |
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| "County Line" |
During Project Space we were assigned to do an ethnography and fieldwork for this paper. I traveled to County Line and Zuma Beach with a friend from England, Tom, to conduct my research. The assignment was to view a place from a different point of view and I chose to view it from Tom’s point of view. This was Tom’s first time to a beach in California and it certainly lived up to his high expectations. I am very familiar with these beaches because I have spent a lot of time throughout my childhood and teenage years coming here. When we arrived at county line Tom’s eyes lit up with excitement. We saw dolphins, pelicans, and even a whale which all added to his joyfulness. Tom spent time taking pictures and lying in the sand and really looked like he was enjoying where he was. I noticed the huge smile across his face and the enthusiasm in his voice which proved to me that he was in his paradise. This beach is an average beach I go to twice a week in the winter and almost every day in the summer months but it gave a new person such excitement. I was very glad that I got to experience this beach from someone else’s point of view because without Tom being there, it is just a “normal beach”. I realized that I take nature for granted and that I am lucky to live by such great landmarks. Simply looking at this beach from a different angle changed my perspective on my surroundings. I looked deeper into the message that this beach portrayed to my friend and in seeing how happy it made him it also made me happy too. I learned that even a familiar place might need me to look deeper into what is really there before I can judge everything that goes on in that space.
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| "Zuma" |
Taking English 114 has improved my ways of looking at my surrounding world and helped me to become a better-rounded person as well as a student. Whether if something is valuable to me, a cherished place, or maybe just a picture I can understand how to now look past what I can just see superficially and look for a deeper meaning . Describing pictures, observing people, and writing various essays about how I can see deeper into normal spaces will help me for the rest of my life. It is very important to not “judge a book by its cover” purely on first impressions, but to look beneath the surface for hidden messages and meanings. This is something I will be doing from now on.
Adrian Powditch
