Tuesday Title: Chester Brown’s Louis Riel

Chester Brown’s Louis Riel, cover

Instead of posting on an ordinary book with words and distinct literary value, I present another graphic novel (the first one was from week three). This time, this work comes from the realms of Canada and illustrates as well as narrates the life of Louis Riel, a Canadian politician and leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies.

The Métis are a group of people of mixed native Indian (or First Nations) and European ancestry.  Back in 1869, the Red River Rebellion occurred as a land battle between the then-Canadian government and the Métis of the area. Between all the squabble and the fights, Louis Riel, the Métis leader, emerges and attempts to retain land rights for the Métis people. Throughout the entire story, Brown illustrates the rebellion from its stages of inception to the very end when the people stand in defeat. Richly researched and extensively detailed, the biopic serves as a digestible volume of a critical part of Canadian and First Nations (or Métis or Native American) history. The story of attaining autonomy from greater powers and the struggles the Métis faced relates not only to historical events of years past, but can be extended to challenges minorities face today as they seek to attain autonomy.

Review from amazon.com

Brown’s exploration of the life of a [...] 19th-century Canadian revolutionary Riel is a strong contender for the best graphic novel ever. Over five years in the making, Brown’s work is completely realized here, from the strikingly designed two-color cover to the cream-colored paper and pristinely clear drawings. The story begins in 1869, with the sale of the independent Red River Settlement area of what’s now Canada to the Canadian government. The area is inhabited by the French-speaking Metis, of mixed Indian and white ancestry, who are looked down upon by the Canadians. Riel is bilingual and becomes a de facto leader for the Red River Settlement, demanding the right for them to govern themselves within Canada. Not surprisingly, this request is denied, and the conflict is set in motion that ultimately consumes Riel’s life. Brown doesn’t deviate from a six-panel grid for the entire book, telling his story in a cartoon realism style reminiscent of Little Orphan Annie. And while the book concerns imperialism, empire, nationalism and the chaos that results, Brown maintains a still, almost silent atmosphere. He brilliantly renders a lengthy courtroom sequence by setting figures against a black background, heightening the tension of the events by employing minimal effects. Even the battle scenes are subdued. All of this will hook readers’ minds and eyes, but never tell them what to think or feel. Instead, Brown calmly lets his story unfold, making the reading process deeply affecting. This is an ingenious comic and a major achievement.

Post submitted by Courtney Lee

Daily Word: Eulogy

EULOGY

Pronunciation: [yoo-luh-jee]

noun, plural eu·lo·gies.

Definition:  

1. a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially a set oration in honor of a deceased person.

2. high praise or commendation.

Sample Sentence: The eloquent eulogy my sister gave for our grandmother would have taken me ages to compose.

Daily Word derived from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eulogy?s=t

American Cultural Literacy: “They will try to put the bite on us.”

“They will try to put the bite on us.”

IDIOM

They will try to borrow money from us. 

Monday Money: How to Write Analogies

Scrolling through tumblr (an awfully wonderful website to kill time), I stumbled upon these attempts at writing analogies and nearly fell off my chair. Though many of these deserve a pat on the back for creativity, they lack clear logic that can be understood by other people. There is a difference between being creative and being clever; the above showcases little of the latter. So how do we create clever analogies that capture instead of exclude our readers?

First, what is an analogy? According to Butte College, “an analogy is an extended comparison between two things usually thought of as unlike. Analogies illustrate and explain by moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar, comparing several points, each of which has a counterpoint.” So, referring to the picture and one of above analogies, “the lamp just sat there, like an inanimate object” does not work as an analogy because “the lamp” is being compared to a similar object, “an inanimate object.”  Here, there is no contrast because the lamp is an inanimate object (unless he/she actually owns a living lamp… in which case, such an important detail should be included).

Moreover, an analogy is meant for further illustration or clarification of a point. We do not want to test our readers’ imaginations or sense of reason. Therefore, analogies should make logical sense that helps the reader understand a point instead of estranging them. A good way of gauging the limits of your analogy-making is by knowing your audience; who is reading this, and will they be able to connect A to B?  Analogies can be tricky because certain words carry different connotations or meanings for different people. So, be wary of this discrepancy and remember that your analogy should be written as simple and accessible as possible (to capture a weighty idea) because, ultimately, analogies are meant to shed light on an abstract concept. To write an abstract analogy (as some the examples above) loses the audience and does not help the reader make a connection or gain an understanding of what you are trying to communicate.

Some examples of good analogies are: 

1) “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

2) “What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”
― Joseph Addison

3) “Without inspiration, we’re all like a box of matches that will never be lit.”
― David Archuleta, Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song and the Power of Perseverance

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For more advice on how to create “killer” analogies, visit this blog.

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Post submitted by: Christina Trieu

Daily Word: Culpable

CULPABLE

Pronunciation: [kuhl-puh-buhl]

adjective

Definition: Deserving blame or censure; blameworthy.

Sample Sentence: The jury found the woman culpable of professional misconduct, but the court imposed no period of suspension.

Daily Word taken from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culpable?s=t

American Cultural Literacy: “He burns the candle at both ends.”

“He burns the candle at both ends.”

IDIOM

He is working too hard, spending most of his time and energy on multiple projects and commitments.

Family Values

Family Values

*NOTE: For more information on the reading and prompt that inspired this essay please click here.

Last quarter I challenged myself to speak up in my sorority because it was a place where I was completely out of my comfort zone. Just being in that space alone had been a challenge because I was not accustomed to being around so many different races. To be honest, I was somewhat intimidated to talk because I felt inferior to the other girls. After some time however, I realized that you should not feel inferior to anyone and especially not in a sorority where the people you feel intimidated by are your “sisters”. I challenged myself to speak up in that space and after doing so I felt more confident in myself. I acknowledge that it is necessary to share because you bring your own voice and experiences to the table, which are equally valid. This quarter I am no longer in my sorority and although I am saddened I have also grown from the experience.

During spring break I discovered that my father had received a medical bill from when he had been hospitalized for inuring his leg. My family did not expect this medical bill to be so expensive and was struggling to find a way to pay for it. When I found out about my family’s situation I was heartbroken because I knew I should help my family, but saw no other way of helping unless I stopped paying for my sorority for the quarter. I talked to my sorority president, but in the end I was faced with an ultimatum, either I paid for the rest of the year or I terminated my pin. I must admit that I was hurt by having to make this decision, but I knew that I needed to prioritize and helping my family was what is most important to me. I feel like this situation was my new challenge because it was a difficult decision to make and has definitely made me grow into a stronger and more responsible individual.

While I understood why my sorority could not do anything to help me, I do feel that students under these circumstances should be better supported by their organizations. Many other students face unexpected circumstances such as mine and I don’t believe they should have to end their affiliation with these organizations over something they cannot help. I believe that sororities and fraternities pride themselves for having family values, but where do those family values stand when individuals undergo such trajectories? I think that students’ different needs should be taken into consideration so that they do not have to face such harsh ultimatums. I feel that these organizations can do much more to work with students so that like families, they support their members in both good and bad times.

This experience has also made me recognize that since I started college I have become fairly distant from my family and have not made any time to really communicate with them. My new challenge will be to keep in touch with my family so that they know that I am still here for them. This experience serves as a lesson for the future because I understand that I will face many more difficult decisions and in those cases I will need to remember what is most important to me and to do the right thing.

Post By: Alexandra Barba 

Free Speech Friday: What is B-boying?

A lot of people have no idea what b-boying is. To some people unfamiliar with the culture, they see b-boying as a flashy dance style that incorporates a lot of power, flips, and other cool moves. However, b-boying is not to be mistaken with breakdancing (which encompasses all those flashy elements); b-boying is more about style, balance, originality, power, purpose, story-telling, and a way of life. This video (accompanied by the song) is eye-opening and intensely powerful because it tells a story of how b-boying can save lives, especially those who grow up in a poor environment infested with frustrations and crime due to poverty. To redirect tension and frustrations from breaking into outright physical violence, b-boying allows young boys from underprivileged areas to pour their energies and concentration on dancing with a purpose.  B-boying is a commitment, a life style that challenges you to push your body and mind to be the best it can be, requiring determination, perseverance, resilience, compassion, and an “all-out” mentality where you must believe you can do it. B-boying is about confidence while remaining humble; you need the confidence to execute and pull-through each move, and you need humility to save respect for everyone else pushing themselves through similar challenges. Through b-boying, communities are built and people within the community respect each other and can share their emotions, feelings, and stories through the art of dance. Though few words are exchanged, b-boying is a poetic style of communicating through body language, surpassing the limits of spoken language, what often seems to disconnect people of different nations and cultures. From toprock, uprock, downrock (ground work) to power, transitions, and freezes, b-boying is powerful because it brings together people of all different backgrounds and cultures, allowing room for understanding, curiosity, and compassion to blossom from the ground up.

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Post submitted by: Christina Trieu.

Daily Word: Abscond

ABSCOND

Pronunciation: [ab-skond]

verb (used without object)

Definition: to depart in a sudden and secret manner, especially to avoid capture and legal prosecution

Sample Sentence: The perpetrators, in collusion with the settlement attorney, absconded with all of our assets!

The Word of the Day was taken from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abscond?s=t

American Cultural Literacy: “That is one for the books”

“That is one for the books.”

That is something so monumental that it should be written down in the history books.

A Veil of Assertiveness

A Veil of Assertiveness

*NOTE: For more information on the reading and prompt that inspired this essay please click here.

The mystery of public speaking still baffles me. I am able to recall the thrill of satisfaction that I struck by taking a deep breath in and challenging myself to share some of my innermost thoughts in the open arena of a classroom this past winter. Despite my consistent internal coercion to indulge myself in blind faith, and step up to the podium to speak in a realm that transgresses the comfortable boundaries of my own mind, I am no more confident in my abilities to do so. This process, as ever evolving as it is, has challenged me to beg the question of why I have constructed such a fear of public speaking.

The inner crevices of my fear do not reflect a deep antagonism towards social anxieties. I am perplexed by public speaking techniques and often receive very positive feedback towards my (limited) speaking engagements. Most people cannot understand what I have to be afraid of. Despite the quiet murmur of my shaking hands, by some miraculous filter, the dancing butterflies within are not translated into a meek voice, but a surprisingly calm demeanor to deliver my thoughts. I have dabbled in public speaking over the past few weeks (not by my own choosing) but have made an intentional commitment to embracing the role of a detective through these blessed opportunities, to gain an honest understanding of my disdain towards public speaking.

So when I stood in front of a group of about 100 individuals my tongue ready to whisper my introductory remarks, I looked into a room oozing with diverse life experiences, a deep knowledge of umpteen languages, and a spectrum of political dispositions. I came to realize that for me, public speaking is a public declaration of self assertiveness. I felt migrating, hesitant flickers that began to ignite my body with apprehension. What I fear most is myself. That sentence flashed before my eyes. It is not the audience that I fear, or my nerves, or the petty fear that I will tremble and make a mistake. I fear my lack of assertiveness. I fear that it holds me back from reaching my unforeseen potential, one of my most raw fears. I often use my lack of assertiveness as a crutch. I justify these fears, that of public speaking especially, because I hide behind them like a veil. The honest corners of my mind know that the veil is transparent. Public speaking has manifested itself as a fear I fear that I have been unprepared and mostly unwilling to conquer. Public speaking forces me recognize that I must be assertive with myself before I can expect to be assertive with my thoughts, feelings, and opinions that involve the rest of the world. There is no other individual I can extend the responsibility to, other than myself. I must validate my own thoughts, see their real value, before I project them to the outside world.

Next week when I venture towards my next public speaking event, this time one that captures the most personal details of my life, I vow to assert myself with the empowering and compassionate knowledge that what I have to offer at least one person in the world is valuable. I encourage you to do the same. Seek the assertiveness in yourself in whatever form it manifests itself. That’s the only genuine request we can really ask of ourselves.

Post Submitted By: Ashton

Thursday Take-Off: What is your cause?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College campuses are a forum for invention, innovation, and intrigue. They breed big questions and light the path towards various avenues of what we like to deem “self discovery”. In the midst of this dynamic environment we are invited to dust off our courage and take a stance, to make a choice, to cultivate our own label. I’d like to think that this label is not “woman”, or “Asian-American”, or “Jewish”. Labels should not be blanket statements, but rather precursors to a cause. In this zealous time in our lives it is opportune to seek out a cause to champion to become an “empowered woman”, an “Asian-American advocate”, or an “out of the box Jew”.

This campus in particular is dripping with opportunities for involvement, for causes to champion, and for pathways of knowledge to be discovered. We can refine our passions and our ultimate places in the world by honing in on a cause, by immersing ourselves in a campaign for self or world betterment. In the process of engaging with the bigger picture, we are afforded the opportunity to refine our own characters.

The beauty of this period of our lives is that our decisions are never necessarily permanent. We have the power to consistently change our path, to alter our cause, or delve into a new cause to champion. This cause merely delivers you with another lens by which to understand the world. That’s all we can ever really want. Ask yourself, what is your cause?

 

Post Submitted By: Ashton 

American Cultural Literacy: “He had money to burn”

“He had money to burn.”

He had an excess of money, enough that he could spend it on frivolous things.

Daily Word: Inoculate

INOCULATE

Pronunciation: [in-nok-yuh-leyt]

verb (used with object)

Definitions: 

1. to implant (a disease agent or antigen) in a person, animal, or plant to produce a disease for study or to stimulate disease resistance.

2. to affect or treat (a person, animal, or plant) in this manner.

3. to introduce (microorganisms) into surroundings suited to their growth, as a culture medium.

4. to imbue (a person), as with ideas.

 Sample Sentence: Right now we are developing a serum that will be used to inoculate people against further infection.

Word of the Day taken from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inoculate?s=t

Wednesday Word: Remember Marathon Bombing Survivors

The article I am posting for today tells the story of Boston Marathon bombing survivor James Costello.  Costello’s image has been featured in newspapers since the bombing. Costello urges America to remember the survivors and victims of the horrific bombing on April 15, 2013.  This event is something that should not be forgotten.  Costello, who has had numerous surgeries to recover from his injuries, was with his friends when the bombs exploded; each of them lost a leg as a result.

For me this article generated a feeling of reminiscence and sadness.  It reminded me of when I was 10 years-old and I heard the news of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and witnessed the second plane crash on TV.  Seeing the aftermath of both events crushes my spirit.  I don’t understand why things like this happen.  I feel horrible and wish I could provide comfort to the victims, survivors, and their families.  But, similar to 9/11, I am left behind feeling helpless, knowing that there really isn’t anything I can do.

However, what we all can do is remember.  Remember those affected by these events, the men, women and children whose lives will never be the same and whose lives have been lost.

To read the article, click here.

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

My First Poetry-Sharing

*NOTE: For more information on the reading and prompt that inspired this essay please click here.

I was first up. But I had asked for it. I had never been to one of these events, but I still pushed myself to go first. I was sure that other performers felt the same jitters going through their unsettled fingers that held onto little sheets of paper or even journals. Those carrying journals impressed me to no end as I would imagine all the nights and mid-day epiphanies they would scribble onto a page, or even the day dreams and lofty thoughts they would half-way draw and frivolously write in hopes of capturing. These were true poets awaiting their moment to astound us with their words so profound that we would have to sit in silence and feel the urge to resist clapping because we didn’t want to ruin the moment into which they drew us.

I knew, at a place like this, that honesty surrounded me. Words of vulnerability, serious topics based on real experiences, and faces from different places gathered into this single space. I figured, before the windows got foggy from a room stuffed with emotions running, I should go first.

At my very first spoken word event, I decided to open with my original short poem about sharing a bathroom. To ease in, I figured my bathroom humor would shake the nervousness off everyone’s shoulders and hopefully my own. After I shared, the day after the event, people still remembered my bathroom poem and said they enjoyed it. Yet, this was just one of my pieces of the night; I had read and performed three more originals – one that I didn’t even think could be considered a poem. But when taking the risk, people found that last piece to be their favorite. It was raw. It was written in two minutes, but had been thought about and realized over twenty-two years. The experience was amazing.

By trying out this new outlet, a place to perform real pressing material in front of an open-minded audience, I found myself absorbing life experiences that I never knew about. My ears were on edge, my lips at ease from neither wanting to speak nor wanting to refrain from speech, and my fingers a little tingly from feeling the powerful vibrations of the voice. This was a place you could surrender yourself easily, yet somehow walk out with a greater grasp of who you are and the things you care about.

I decided to expand on my challenge from last quarter but in a different form; instead of singing cover songs in front of a crowd, I performed an original piece in the form of a poem. Being in front of a crowd is one fear to overcome, but sharing a piece that comes from your mind is a greater challenge in the sense that you are uncertain if your audience will like your ideas, thoughts, word choice or composition. However, being at a spoken word event, I was more concerned with my delivery. This is similar to my last challenge except greater because I was not only worried if people would like my voice but also if I was communicating my ideas clearly and effectively with the tone shifts and volume of my voice.

Overall, I would say this challenge was a learning experience – one that helped me learn what it means to be a poet on stage; the one who embodies experiences through language and sounds and who brings these tense emotions to life through subtle bodily motions. Something that would have helped me during this first performance is if I didn’t think of spoken word as delivering a performance but rather an outlet for a body and mind trying to relive the moment or subject of the poem and convey its meaning in the best way possible. I think it should be an emotional experience, one where you really have to trust yourself to be so passionate about the subject that you forget anything else in periphery – all bodies, all eyes, all judgments – and you are sharing this moment with one subject, one entity, whether it be slow dancing or yelling over who left the faucet running. To be a spoken word poet means to be in touch with yourself and to be so honest—so raw—that the stage is nothing but another outlet to liberate you.

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Post submitted by: Christina Trieu.

Daily Word: Obfuscate

OBFUSCATE 

Pronunciation: [ob-fuhs-keyt]

verb (used with object), ob·fus·cat·ed, ob·fus·cat·ing.

Definitions:  

1. to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.

2. to make obscure or unclear: to obfuscate a problem with extraneous information.

3. to darken.

 Sample Sentence: As a legal advisor, your interpretations are supposed to clarify and improve our understanding, not obfuscate important issues and confuse lenders.

Word of the Day taken from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/obfuscate?s=t

American Cultural Literary: “Next week we will come clean”

“Next week we will come clean.”

Next week we will be completely honest about what’s been going on.

Daily Word: Sanguine

SANGUINE

Pronunciation: [sang-gwin]

adjective

Definitions:

1. cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident: a sanguine disposition; sanguine expectations.

2. reddish; ruddy: a sanguine complexion.

3. (in old physiology) having blood as the predominating humor and consequently being ruddy-faced,cheerful, etc.

4. bloody; sanguinary.

5. blood-red; red.

Sample Sentence: Our friend who studies economics is genuinely optimistic the U.S. economy will improve, in part because of his sanguine belief that the federal stimulus package will be renewed.

Word of the Day was taken from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sanguine?s=t

To Adventure or To Not Adventure?

*NOTE: For more information on the reading and prompt that inspired this essay please click here.

Looking back on the self-challenge I posed for the middle of winter quarter in the middle of spring quarter now, the activities from the quarter past do not seem terribly significant but it remains a pleasant memory in my head. All I did was go out for a community bike ride out in the greater stretches of Westwood to demonstrate support for bike lane implementation on Westwood Boulevard, south of Santa Monica and north of National. The single act did not seem like much then, nor does it carry such critical importance that I think about the impact the event had on me. The impact remains subtle. I just did not realize it until I started thinking about weeks past and how everything has changed. For the better or for the worse, who knows. I shall come to some semblance of an answer shortly.

Here’s a breakdown of my adventures during the first half of spring quarter: meeting new people, late night adventures exploring buildings, surviving twelve rounds of Korean barbecue and attending CicLAvia, a car-free streets event that becomes a bicycle party. Rolling eastward and westward on Venice Boulevard, the sun rotated about the sky as people poured out in droves to ride their bicycles to the beach and back. Stoplight after stoplight, intersection after the next: La Cienega, La Brea, Western, Normadie, Vermont, Broadway — the streets continue on. Adventures of other forms took place in the form of computer programming in the C++ language, with time spent being the architect of my own designs that execute something useful. The hours pass, early evening turns into early morning, and I’m still not finished with programming. As I enter pieces of a constructed language into my compiler and wait for the computer to understand my words, I eagerly await the results. The wait turns from seconds to minutes to more minutes. In the meantime, I cannot seem to detach myself from the project at hand. Anytime something goes wrong, I spend something like an hour attending to highly specific errors. Other work beckons my attention, but programming soaks up most of it first.

With those hours and hours and nights spent programming in C++, non-programming work for my other classes remains untouched. I now have fewer hours in my day to attend to every single task on my ever growing to-do list. With all these adventures in the real world and as an architect of computer language, I felt myself slipping away from everything I once knew as routine and descended into the land of being behind on my studies and neglecting a few other tasks. Particularly as the middle of the quarter just ended and I have these adventures behind me, I reflect on the challenges I faced during this extremely rough one-week period of midterm exams.. Because I have been spending time writing code instead of studying for my midterms for non-programming classes, I ended up walking into my pen and paper exams underprepared. Taking adventures will need to be put on hold for a while.

The desire to go and pursue adventures outside of the UCLA campus has not died out completely. It remains on a temporary hold as I assemble my life from the bits and pieces as it lies now, scattered amongst the chaos. I am beyond tired, for I need to rest. Something I realized about all the adventures I take is that I become tired, mentally and physically. Caffeine only helps with the physical alertness — I feel my brain falling asleep when I need to be awake.  While I do enjoy every moment out and about, absorbing everything there is about the world, I find my energy levels decreasing to dangerously low heights and a serious recharge is needed.

That’s what the next few weeks are for, that is, the weeks leading up to and including finals week. Actually, that includes the entire second half of spring quarter. I need to recharge. I need to gather all the energy I used during those adventures outside of campus and within my own mind operating with minimal rest and come to slow down. Spring quarter is generally rife with activity and good weather, but that does not prevent me from losing myself in the flurry of craziness that occurs. I must prioritize my time and optimize how I decide to spend it. Given that I have not properly rested since early February, catching some decent shut-eye will give me the energy recharge vital for having fun adventures I desire. Offering half-thoughts, half-efforts, or half-heartedness is not the way I want to walk. If there exists anything to learn from the most recent winter quarter and the art of taking adventures, it’s definitely:
Take adventures, but not to the point where feelings of drowning arise. Also, stay calm and slow down.

The challenge has evolved.

Post submitted by: Courtney Lee