No Man is an Island

John Donne~ Meditation 17

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe

is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as any manner of thy friends or of thine

own were; any man's death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Jason Van Gederen~ Mankind is no Island (visual)

Armin Greder~ The Island

How do these texts explore similar themes?

The themes in Meditation 17 are: all men are mortal (therefore death will come) and all of mankind's lives are intertwined. In the long run, we all depend on each other and need to give support and care to others.

The theme in Mankind is no Island is: Empathy. When they show the homeless man they say that people tend to look away. This is true. It is easier to look away than to see tragedy. This is one example of people in our society that need our help the most.

The themes in The Island are: Fear, compassion, xenophobia and prejudice. We must never judge a book by it's cover and always treat others with respect. As a society we must be welcoming and show compassion through a persons rough time. Most importantly, we must never turn our backs on people who need it the most.

The themes all relate to the fact that, we as mankind, live amongst each other equally. No man is an island all by himself, rather a part of a city/country. All of mankind deserves to be treated with respect, because we all have hearts and souls and underneath the surface we all look the same.

How do the texts provide insights into prejudice and "otherness"?

The insights on hate and otherness are provided by the themes of the text. The major themes in all texts are: Equality and prejudice(racism). Meditation 17 explains that we are all one as mankind, therefore no prejudice should arise. Mankind is no Island explains that otherness plays a big part in our world today and that if we stop to listen to others stories and open our eyes, empathy will take over and conquer all hate/indifference. The Island features xenophobia and lack of human rights, this is a form of prejudice and otherness. The people from the island keep the stranger far away because he is not one of them and therefore has no part in their life. In the end, their fear and lack of humanity get the better of them. Whilst the first two texts show the cause, effect and solution, The Island only focuses on the cause and effect, therefore ending in a bad why causing a self taught lesson. The lesson is that you should speak up for what you believe in and treat everyone equally no matter beliefs, attitude or physical appearances.

Why do people make distinctions between "us" and "them"?

"Us" refers to people that are like-minded, whilst "them" refers to people that have different physical appearances, beliefs and attitudes. People make distinctions between "us" and "them" because it gives them a sense of security to knew that the people they surrounded themselves with are exactly like them. This is a boring life to live in many other peoples perspective. You should never judge a book by its cover and live life adventurously, by meeting new people and surrounding yourself with different cultures, beliefs, race and ages.

Images:

- inismagazine.ie

- cur3es.tumblr.com

The Beauty of Nature

Over the Winter Break Mr.Peavy gave my class a Long Term Project. This homework had two possible ways in which it could be completed. Task A: Visit a natural area and document your trip with a video and/or photos. Then, create an iMovie or PowerPoint documentary about your trip. You can focus on one or more of the following topics: The ecosystem and it's unique plants or animals, certain organisms and how they adapt to their environment, the impact of humans on the environment, relationships or interactions that you observe amongst the organisms in the ecosystem. Task B: Choose five appropriate and relevant tasks from this website and document how you complete them (i.e. photos, nature journal, PPT, Blog, iMovie etc.).

I decided on 'Task B'. The five tasks I chose were:

- In a garden flower, find the different parts

- Find the scientific name of a plant or animal

- Become a frogwatcher

- Find a streetlight or a backyard light and watch for insects who flutter into it

- Understand your local weather

Garden flower parts:

Parts of a sunflower

Scientific name of a plant:

Bougainvillea Spectabilis

(This is the scientific name of the Bougainvillea)

Become a frogwatcher:

I went to a local lake and sat down. I looked around and heard nothing. No wind. No bugs. No frogs. Suddenly movement. A frog jumps three feet in front of me. Almost like a shadow, another one appears. They both stare at a leaf in the pond and jump. They land elegantly. They turn to each other and croak. They continue this for 5 minutes. Finally they glance at me and then jump into the lake, and swim away.

Were they afraid of me? I hope not. I didn't move when observing them, because I wanted to make them feel comfortable. I have never really been a big fan of frogs, mainly because their way of communicating is hard to understand. Jane Goodall went into jungle and observed apes. It took her ages to understand their interpretation on life. I'm sure it will take me years to understand frogs point of view on life, whether I end up understanding or not, frogs are frogs and they will continue to interest me.... even if it means conquering a fear.

Insects around a light:

When observing a streetlight at night with insects around it, I noticed they all ran into the light. There are many theories as to why insects are attracted to light and occasionally run into the light.

A popular theory is that insects are attracted to light because of navigational purposes. Insects that fly during the night use the moon as a source of navigation. They keep the moons reflected light on a certain angle. This allows them to maintain a straight path and course. When artificial lights are turned on they interfere with the insects ability to keep constant track of the moon. When an insect flies close enough to an artificial light they attempt to navigate by using this light instead of the moonlight. Insects tend to run into the light because unlike the moon, the artificial light radiates in all directions. This makes it hard for insects to keep a straight path and lose direction at the last minute.

When sitting on the gravel observing this, I thought navigational purposes was a great theory as to why insects are attracted to the light and occasionally bump into it. For example, when people get lost in the jungle they attempt to find freedom by following the sun or keeping the sun on the right/left of their body. This is probably the same for insects. Since they are 'lost' in the darkness they use the moons light to guide them in the right direction.

Local weather:

Where I live the air is very humid. During the day, humidity is around 80%. The temperature is in the 30 degree range during the day and in the mid 20's at night. When the clouds cover the sun the sky looks beautiful, but the heat is still powerful. Fog is common during certain months. Thunder storms are present often after lunch or late in the evening. Monsoon season is from March-April. The drier months start from May and end in July.

Thank you Mr.Peavy.... for inspiring me

Credits:

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_030418-0058_Bougainvillea_spectabilis.jpg

- theknockerboys.blogspot.com

- freefishcaretips.com

- http://www.vplants.org/plants/glossary/asteraceae.html