Color... Is It Necessary?

"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts." -Marcus Aurelius

"'Why can't everyone see them? Why did colors disappear?'

The Giver shrugged. 'Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.'

'We shouldn't have!' Jonas said fiercely."

Look around you... really, look around. What do you see? Just everything you normally see, right? All those colors, the contrast between shades, patterns in the hues. It's just so common to you that it fades away, unimportant. Like music playing at a party, it's just a background. Something we take for granted and forget about, until it's gone. If you woke up one morning to find everything in black, white, grey... of course you would notice. Can you imagine it now? The familiarity of your everyday life in dull shades of darkness, nothing noticeable anymore. The velvet red petals of a rose... gone. The comforting blue of the sky, missing.

"When you're a [child], you don't see color." -Marshall Mathers (Eminem)

Jonas, main character of The Giver, finds it "unfair" that his world is colorless. What do I think he means by unfair? I think he's imagining the possibility of color... it's one of the small things we have today to define your personality. There was even a time in our history where people were judged on the color of your skin. This also brings in the possibility that color can be used in negative ways, and can bring problems. When the Committee takes out the pain and the conflict, they also exterminated the joy and the love. Everything is neutral, just the same: "The Sameness", the Giver calls it. No colors can bring out the differences in the society, nothing that can cause envy and fear. So, color can bring problems, too... who knew?

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." -Rabindranath Tagore

Unfair that nothing has color, unfair. What does that word mean? Fairness is everybody getting everything they need, and do you honestly need color? Can you live with everything the same? Jonas grew up with it, could stand it. His parents and their parents before them didn't feel anything about it. Yet, once you saw the colors, felt the warmth (and the chill) they bring, once you've tasted their sensations, you couldn't leave it. I would wake up one morning and notice if everything was colorless, but having to live that way, wake up to it day after day is unbearable. Will my eyes even be able to take the difference?

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." -George Burns

Is "unfair" the proper word to use in the situation? You can only ever get what you need by getting it for yourself, and if you need color, well... how do you get it back? Let's rewind, and go back to when there was color. How did it disappear? Where did it go? The people of the society decided for themselves when they wanted to block out war and pain. Did they know they were also eliminating color and cheer? During Jonas' family's "Evening telling of feelings", his sister, Lily, claimed she felt "angry". His father had announced he felt "concerned", and his mother confessed her "guilt" and "fear". That's what they are probably taught, that when you feel more weight in your chest, you are sad. When your skin starts to prickle and your mind is overwhelmed with thoughts, you are angry.

"The color of truth is grey." -Andre Gide

Even though we have the ability to feel much more intense feelings than Jonas and his community, we are extremely lucky in the fact that we don't have to feel them. I doubt anybody I know has ever felt truly angry, when something is so special, their unconscious mind will take control. Oftentimes, to be angry, you will first have to be afraid. Fear can very much lead to angry acts of aggression. I don't believe any one I know has ever felt deep sadness, when the world just looks darker and the colors don't seem to matter anymore. What more is what we call anger, than frustration? What we know as sadness is usually just disappointment. When people like Jonas, who knows what those words really mean, hear incorrect uses of them... well, it must be extremely frustrating to hear such things.

"If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon." -George Aiken

So, what do you think? If you started reading this post from the beginning to right now, would you please take the time to answer this: Is color necessary? Did what you think a few minutes ago to right now change? Color... it's everywhere. Is it possible for us, as humans, as living creatures, to live without it? Do you agree that it shapes us, makes us who we are? Color changes the way people act around us, different colors create different atmospheres. Of course, it is in no way the only trait you can judge someone on, especially their skin color. Eye color, hair color, paint color, curtains color, wall color, all of it. It's all important and they all play a huge role in the way we live. The tail of a peacock, vibrant juices in a rasberry, clouds of the sky, it all matters. So, why is it unfair that Jonas cannot see color? Because feelings, all feelings: Head-lifting feelings, eye-widening feelings, heart-stopping feelings, are indeed necessary to living. Not just surviving, but living.

"Being born, especially being born a person of color, is a political act in itself." -Alberto Giacometti

Thanks so much to the site below, where I got the color quotes!

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/

P.S. My blogpost partner is Olivia, and I have commented on her two Giver blogposts.

My future. Two simple words that, when put together correctly, can mean so much... but why? What is so important about knowing what will happen to me tomorrow, what I will be in ten years? Just lay back and let whatever happens happen! If that's how you think, you haven't read "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. In Jonas' community, he can't just wait for his life to suddenly make sense to him. The Committee decides everything, hands you your life piece by piece, and you take it.

Would I want to have my future decided? Before I read "The Giver", I would've quickly answered "NO," and I'm sure you would, too. Even after reading, I would have the same answer, but I'm a little more hesitant. We think our community is better organized than Jonas', because we have the freedom to make our own decisions. Think about Jonas, though. He probably thinks his way of living is the best way, because it's all he's ever known! He might become a little nervous when confronted with a chance for freedom. Also, having other people decide for you doesn't seem like a bad idea at all. Think of having people, first analyzing your personality, fit you with a job that you can work well with, and with a positive attitude. In our society, a lot of people don't get good jobs, and you see many people lose them and end up with no money to support their family. Jonas knows nothing of that. He finds it unfair that the world is color-less, that people should be able to make choices.

Choosing things for yourself, is it a good thing? The Committee found that sometimes, people made the wrong decisions. They didn't think, and got themselves in a dilemma. You can see that today, many people without homes, food, money... the poorer countries often can't afford education or safety, and are forced to make even more decisions to make up for the mistakes others make. Who's to blame? If you want to know the answer, you need only look into a mirror. How our life is, the way our world works, is shaped by us. Our way of living has mistakes because we make mistakes. Jonas rarely chooses things on his own, so everything is easy. The best choices are brought to him. Would I want that for myself? I have to think about my answer, but it's still "No". I still want to feel emotion, will go through the pain to feel the happiness. I will also try and make the wisest choices I can, because they affect the people around me.

Thanks for reading,

Hime

The Charming Cleopatra VII

Why do you think Ancient Pharaohs created monuments?

I think Ancient Pharaohs created monuments because they wanted to mark their land with something of theirs, some kind of accomplishment. They were very powerful and needed to show that somehow, and place something on their land as a sign of just how much control they have over the area. In years to come, people would look at those monuments and know how powerful the pharaoh was, and it also helps us find out what kind of person they were. Cleopatra made a temple for the Egyptian goddess Isis, which tells us that she was important to her in some way, and that she believed in the gods.

What monuments in our society are similar?

Some monuments are just copies of the Great Pyramid, the original in Egypt. There's the Transamerica Pyramid in San Fransisco, the Summum Pyramid in Salt Lake City (Utah), and the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. These are all in shapes of pyramids, like the Great Pyramid in Giza made by one of the pharaohs Khufu (he lived before Cleopatra). None nearly as great, though! Also, the uses are much different... the ancient Egyptians used pyramids as tombs and burial chambers for pharaohs who have passed away. A pyramid today, like the Luxor Hotel, is very simply, a hotel!

The Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada

How did the using google docs as the main portal for collaboration help you with this assignment?

Using google docs to work with a partner helped by being able to work on one document together, and seeing how what we both submitted worked out together. If we both worked on separate documents and then put it together later, it wouldn't work out so well. To make it the best we can, my partner and I both worked on on script together, so we could see each other's ideas and mistakes, and either add on to it or fix it.

What did you learn from this assignment?

I had always been fascinated by Cleopatra, but I didn't really know her until I did this project. I had a book about her, which was interesting but didn't have a lot of information about her. I also had a video about her, but it was extremely repetitive and boring. I didn't learn too much about her from either of those sources, so this assignment seemed like the perfect chance to see just who Cleopatra really was. I knew Cleopatra was very seductive, but I didn't know this helped her make Egypt some powerful allies! Who knew charm could be a weapon and a tool to help you gain power?

5. What was challenging?

The challenging parts of this assignment was probably the recording of my partner and I stating the information. We couldn't make the individual recordings too long or one mistake will affect the entire thing, but making them short made it harder to put it together in a way that seemed natural. In the end, it turned out okay, but after we uploaded it to YouTube, there seemed to be a problem. Near the end of the video there was the music we chose for the ending, then a long period of empty silence. Then music again! I'm not so sure what happened but that's not what was intended.

Which school-wide learning results were evident in this assignment?

I think the school-wide learning results I had to use in this assignment were Collaborate Constructively, Communicate Effectively, Learn Enthusiastically, and Think Creatively. We have to collaborate constructively to work with a partner, and make sure you get some work done together. I had to communicate effectively to do this, so I know how my partner wanted things done. I also had to show what I wanted. I learned enthusiastically by researching the Egyptian pharaoh we were assigned, in my case, Cleopatra. I know much more about her than I did before the project (That's what was supposed to happen, I think....). Thinking creatively was important to make the project interesting and, well, more creative!

My Home City-San Diego

1) What you believe you did on the project.....

Well, I think overall my presentation was okay, but I added too much additional information and not enough needed information. It took me a while to convince myself that San Diego "home heating" was not necessary in this project. So I took it out, and replaced it with San Diego sports teams! Better than home heating, but still not important. I had four slides of assigned information and three slides of information I decided to add.

2) What would you improve for future presentations/projects?

In future presentations I would try to concentrate on the needed facts and not get carried away with the additional material. I have to be careful with the opposite, too. I only need basic facts and for some areas, I had a little too much detail, but in others I didn't add enough. An even amount of information would be easier to memorize and present in front of the class.

3) What did you learn in the preparation of this presentation in addition to the presentations of others?

I learned so much about my home city that I never knew before, just by doing this presentation. That's probably one of the reasons we had to do it, other than analyzing progress in development. Sometimes we may think because we are from a certain place, we already know all we need to about it, but that's not always the case. I've lived in San Diego for about 9 years, but was still ignorant about many things that have been going around me all my life. I knew San Diego was a pretty popular tourist destination, but did I ever know how it came to be that way? No, but digging in deeper in the resources and history of San Diego made me realize just how clueless I had been about the place I call home!



4) What is your analysis of your performance?

I think the information I had was okay, but lacked a little more history on why people chose San Diego as a settlement. Before the presentation, I was pretty sure I didn't need to worry about the presenting too much, but when I got up to present in front of 20 people waiting for me to do something interesting, I wasn't as positive. My brain froze and relied on my eyes to provide them the information by just keeping them fixed on the board the whole time. I knew I couldn't do that, but I still glanced at it more often than I should have. Maybe if I had practiced my presentation in front of a family member, I could've been more prepared and the presentation could have been better.

If you're curious about what my presentation looks like, take a look at it here:

https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/present/edit?id=0AZ0UqHZQtP7PZGNmZjJkYzNfMjNkNzludjNnaw&hl=en&pli=1

My Resolution(s) For 2011

One of my resolutions for the new year of 2011 is to spend more time with my family. The winter break has allowed me to think about this, since I had no school or homework to worry about. I noticed I haven't talked with my sisters so much before the break, and it made me realize I spent more time with them during one week of vacation compared to one entire school trimester. Family is really important as you're growing up, and years without spending time without family are years you aren't ever getting back. If I'm ever going to grow up, I'm going to do it having fun with my family!

Another resolution I have for 2011 is to learn to clean up my room. I'm sure every child knows what a messy room looks like: un-made bed, papers all over the floor, books left.... everywhere! I make a mess and leave it behind, too lazy to clean it up and think, "I'll clean it up later," but I never get around to it until my mom's fifth reminder. Lately, I've been picking up things that I drop, emptying the contents of my pencil sharpener in the trashcan, and not the floor. (I don't usually empty it out on the floor.... not on purpose!)


I spent the majority of my winter break at home, but I didn't spend all of it here. My family and I drove to Singapore, and stayed there for four days. The hotel was too small for a family of five, but that was okay as long as we didn't attempt to live in it. We had to eat out and do the fun things we intended to do somewhere else. Visiting the zoo, for example. We also went on the Singapore Flyer, which was really interesting as you can see the city of Singapore from sky-high.

Here's the view from the Singapore Flyer:

My family and I loved the zoo! It was fun to just walk around and look at all the different animals. Here are some pictures of the animals I took pictures of:

Singapore was a really good experience for me and my family, since we don't travel often. Seeing a new place was definitely exciting, and spending time with my family was also fun!

Zeitgeist-2010

2010 has been such a brilliant year, we will really miss you. It's really sad you have to leave, but I think your time here has been well spent. Now, let's have fun in 2011!

Learning Profiles-What Am I?

1. I learn best when.....
My profile suggested that I learned best when everything is in order, lined up and neat. Sometimes I may be that way, like have my papers in a certain order so it's easier to find them or have my books categorized. They never stay that way for long, though. I mess the order up and don't really care, so I have to disagree with my profile because when I try to be neat I end up disorganized again. I like it that way, though. It makes it more natural. So I suppose that I learn best with some order, but I don't mind surprises!

2. I need to.....
Try to concentrate on the big picture more. When I am stressed, I have trouble using the gestalt side of my brain, which is the "go-with-the-flow" side. I guess when I'm stressed out I need all the details in front of me so I don't have to stretch my mind more than it already it is. I can't think clearly when there are too many things on my mind, and if there's a visible order to things then I can access it without thinking too much about it.

3. The strategies that would help me with my learning.....
Strategies that would help me with my learning would be a basic sequence as a structure. I don't need every single detail drawn out for me, but to have some sort of visible order would be easier for me. Some classes I have allow me to walk into the class and know what to do with just a glance at the board, and I'm okay with that. I only want that kind of order in a few classes though, if my life gets too organized then I might start to feel a little bored.

4. I would like my teachers to know this about me.....
I like things with a sequence but if things get too orderly, I might not learn as well as I could be. Sometimes I enjoy having no idea what direction the class is going to take, but if I'm completely clueless, then it will take some of the fun out of it.