A classic

What makes a novel "a classic"? Discuss

What makes a novel a classic is when it is studied throughout the world.  This would be because it shows a significant importance to a time period, theme etc.  It can also be considered a classic for its usage of detailed vocabulary.  For instance, Romeo and Juliet is considered a classic because of its plot along with Shakespeare's unique writing style.  Another thing that makes a novel a classic is that it must be universal.  When I say universal I mean that it must interest people all over the world.  For instance, a novel about some sport only played in China would not be considered a classic because most people wouldn't find it interesting.  Also, the novel for it to be considered "a classic" must have an influence on people because without an influence no one will be inspired to read it.

Comments to others on Wuthering Heights anticipation guide

Alexa's blog on adopted children: I totally agree with you on this issue, as you can see from what I wrote on my blog we have the same feelings. I like the connection you made with your friend, although I feel it is a little different than someone who is actually adopted, but the message is the same.  I also agree with you on the fact that being in a family has nothing to do with being related or not.  A family should love you unconditionally. 

Samir's blog on anticipation: I totally of your statement that children aren't responsible for their parents mistakes.  Just as you said as a young child you don't know what to do and your parent can't teach you everything, therefore you parents didn't make a mistake.  I also agree when you said the statement should read "parents are responsible for their child's mistakes."  This is so true because if parents don't teach a child not to steal, that child will steal and will get in trouble for it.

Yuma's blog on rich men: I think you are partially right on women choosing a man that is rich.  I feel that if two men had the same characteristics except one was poor and one was rich, they would obviously choose the rich one.  But if they had to choose between a poor man who was very nice or a rich man who was a jerk like you said that would be different.  I think in the back of their minds they always wonder if the man has money, but I don't think its that important.  I think women should rely on the man's other characteristics instead.

An adopted or foster child will never be accepted as a "real" member of a family?

I have thought of this statement before because two of my close friends are adopted.  Although have been born from a different mother than they have now, they are still accepted in their current family.  A family simply wouldn't adopt a child one of the most precious gifts in life, then not accept it.  For instance, my friend gets the same treatment as as I would.  This doesn't show a difference between us, even though I have my real mother and he has a foster parent. Also, another one of my friends tries to call his parents by their first names, because technically they aren't his parents, but as soon as they do he gets yelled at.  If he wasn't accepted by his family they wouldn't get mad of this.  Another thing is that both of my friends who are adopted treat their cousins and uncles as if they are.  For instance, a friend of mine is Asian and his parents are Caucasian, and even when he sees his relatives he treats himself as part of the family, obviously showing that he is accepted in his family.

My Comments to Others

John's Post 1: John I thought that political cartoon was very controversial.  At the time it was drawn I do not think that the monkey was supposed to representing Barack Obama.  Although this cartoon was accused of having a racial twist, what isn't today?  Most of the time you can't walk down the street without someone either making a racist comment either indirectly or directly, or someone accusing a sing/ad of being racist. I believe the author tried to combine the idea of the monkey hurting two police officers and the stimulus plan, but failed in doing so.  I don't think this needed all the attention, but at least it opened up the eyes of the nation to be more careful of its ads.

Yuma's Religion and Terror: I thought it was very funny how after reading chapter 17 you felt warm and funny inside.  I also agreed with you on your idea that Malcolm was able to accept Muslims with lighter skin than them.  I thought it was a great advancement for him.  I also think that I know that 9/11 was caused by radical Islamic extremists but we still shouldn't discriminate against them because most Muslims aren't like that.  I also am not a strong believer in religion, however my family is.  I don't understand the strong connection they have with it.

Josh's Malcolm X (4): While I was reading the book I thought it was strange that Muslims in the East prayed lower to the ground than Malcolm.  I thought maybe this had to do with traditions.  Because I am jewish also, I have noticed the difficulty of fasting for Yom Kippur, although I have not done it myself.  After Malcolm was in Mecca for a few days, however, he got used to bending down lower to pray, although I am sure it was not easy.  Overall I thought, the topic you picked was very interesting.

Samir's Malcolm X vs. Mahatma Ghandi: I thought it was interesting how you connected Ghandi to Malcolm  I believe they are similar in ways, but also very different.  I liked how you had a connection with him because you grew up where he did.  I thought it was interesting how both of them were imprisoned because they were sticking up against unfair treatment against them.  I think it is very cool how you are so influenced by Ghandi and his pacifism.  I also think it is awesome how you can trace Ghandi back through your family.

Crimes 5

Malcolm X was shocked and could not believe when Elijah Muhammad was accused of Adultery.  He was astonished he did not know what to do because he was mentored by Mr. Muhammad and for him to engage in an act of this magnitude.  Mr. Muhammad had always taught Malcolm what to do next in his life, and for him to be accused of this crime totally discredited him.  It was even worse because he was so important to the Nation of Islam.  He had the ability to gather crowds that were so big you would have thought a bomb had hit the city and everyone had to crowd together to stay alive.  He had the capacity to attract the attention of Muslims, Black Muslims, and Christians alike.  After Elijah Muhammad was convicted of this crime and was sentenced to 1-5 years in solitary confinement the whole religion of Islam was shocked.  He was one of the first promoters of Islam and for him to commit this sin was just ridiculous.  This personally reminds me of a few years ago when a scandal broke loose in the Catholic Church.  During this time, a large amount of Catholic Priests were accused of molesting little children in their church, mainly boys.  This was a shock to the whole Catholic religion.  People could not believe that the people in charge of their church served such a bad example to the community and their religion.  http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Catholic-priest-molested-children.4076385.jp is an example of one of the cases against a Priest.  It describes how from one accusation of abusing a child, came others.  It seems that both the cases of adultery against Elijah Muhammad and the Catholic Priests were both hidden for a while, without anyone finding out.  However, once the issues surfaced both of the religions declined.  Both of these incidents reminded me of one another because they both were to important people in the religions and caused the religions to suffer.

Drugs 4

Early in life, Malcolm started experimenting with drugs such as as marijuana, cocaine, and pills.  All of these, had a significant impact on his life.  As a result, he started to live his life high because if he was sober, he would have been afraid of his life.  I feel as though Malcolm was simply using drugs to escape the horrible world around him.  Because of the people in his environment, Malcolm became a hustler and started selling drugs. This connects to my everyday life because high school is laced with all kinds of hustling and drug usage.  As I have continued to mature and grow older, negative peer pressure has been introduced.  People have asked me if I want to do drugs, drink, etc.  I have denied all of these because I simply do not want to end up relying on them to complete my daily activities.  However, I know that doing these things just once won't necessarily ruin my academic, and social career but I have seen it ruin people's lives that I am close with.  http://www.teendrugabuse.us/drugsnschool.html is an excellent example of how drugs can ruin your life.  This article relates to Malcolm because just because just before he went to jail, Malcolm started to get in trouble.  For instance, he was almost killed by West Indian Archie who came after him with a gun for not paying him back.  This all started with Malcolm selling drugs which led into gambling.  The article above, describes the effects of drug use on teens, which ends up ruining their lives.  A few people I know have experimented with drugs, and I have seen first hand the negative affects of it.  Instead of socializing they would rather sit home on a Friday night and smoke.  They often use all the money they get to buy more drugs which only aids in ruining their lives.  They would rather go to school high, then study for an important test.  They would rather risk sneaking out at night to go smoke, than to watch a movie with their friends.  They would rather buy alcohol/drugs in school right in front of teachers than play a sport or participate in a club.  They would rather drink and show their stupidity to their friends, than excell in a particular interest of their choice.  They often get mad at you for planning your day around them because you do not want to get caught along with them or have them hurt themselves with simple tasks that you are able to do with ease.  This creates arguments and the break up of a good group of friends or just anyone you have a connection with.  Some of these people have not "found the light" and stopped using these illegal substances, but just as Malcolm did, they will eventually mature enough to stop using these horrible substances and have a brighter future.

Lending Money 3

In order for Malcolm to pay the expenses for his Hajj to Mecca he had to borrow the money from his sister Ella.  Ella was saving this money up for years to pay for her own Hajj to Mecca.  This was an extreme act of generosity.  Personally I was surprised when she did this because she spent so much time saving up money for this.  This reminded me when my friends mom, who has cancer, was very sick, and my mother made dinner for my family, but after hearing my friend complain about how he hasn't had a home cooked meal in a while, she gave him our dinner.  I distinctly remember that after slaving in the kitchen all day making her "world famous" sweet and sour meatballs with her unique organic rice, she easily gave it up to my friend and his family.  Although this act of kindness that my mother preformed wasn't nearly as dramatic as Ella's it was still important.  I can recall the thought racing through my mind when my mom drove to my friends house with the warm dinner wrapped in tin foil.  I simply did not understand why she would give away her hard work with that much ease.  A little, while after it occurred to me that by giving my friends family the dinner, she was making them much happier than it would have made my family.  She also felt that it was much more important for them to have it because my friends mom has suffered so much pain recently and this act of kindness would reflect my mom's generosity.  These same thought passed through my mind when Ella simply gave up her savings and gave it to Malcolm, her step-brother, so that he could complete the Hajj to Mecca instead of her.  Just as my mom felt, Ella thought that Malcolm would get much more out of the Hajj and that he could do more with the experience because he was already a prominent black Speaker and a Minister.  From these examples I have wanted to do something with things I have done.  I have not been given the opportunity to do anything like my mom or Malcolm but I know the experience will eventually occur and when it does I will empathize with those who have given up their hard work and labor in exchange for others happiness.

Hajj 2

In the Autibiography Malcolm describes his Hajj to Mecca, the holy city for Islam.  It is the Muslim obligation to make the Hajj to Mecca at least once in his life if he is capable of it.  Malcolm, is suffering economically, yet borrows money from his sister Ella to preform the religious action.  This is similar to my obligation in the Jewish religion.  At least once during my life I am required, just as in Islam, if I am healthy to make a trip to Israel.  The Jewish religion gives me a very special opportunity because it offers birthright.  http://www.birthrightisrael.com/site/PageServer?pagename=about_main is an article describing the birthright to Israel.   Birthright is used to connect Jews to their religion more than they would in their hometown.  For instance, there is nothing like learning the history of your religion first hand.  I feel that just as it was Malcolm's obligation to go to Mecca, I feel that Birthright, is providing me the same opportunity to go to the Holy cities of Israel.  My cousin has recently gone on birthright to Israel, and has said it was the best trip he has ever been on.  This reminds me of Malcolm's response to making the Hajj.  It has opened up both  my cousin and Malcolm's mind to other peoples culture and appearance within the same religion.  By going to Israel, my cousin was able to learn about how Israelis pray, just as Malcolm learned about the extreme posture Muslims in Mecca prayed in. 

Racial Profiling 1

When Malcolm makes the Hajj to Mecca he is held outside the city because he is an "American" Muslim.  In Mecca, the holy city for Muslims, you must be an original Muslim from somewhere in the Middle East I presume because of this description.  American Muslims are those who have converted to Islam in America.  Moreover, I personally felt that it was unfair for Malcolm to have to wait in an airport.  When I thought of this kind of treatment, it reminded me of frequent times on the news where airport security has stereotyped Arabs.  I just cannot understand this treatment.  Although a person may look like a certain radical group, they may not be a radicalist. For instance, http://www.slate.com/?id=116347 describes racial profiling in airports in America. After reading this article I totally agreed with the author.  In my mind I cannot comprehend how an airport security agent can simply perform an extra search of an Arab just because of his appearance.  I have no right to call people out because I am not trained for the job, but just as the article said, barely any of the Arabs that are strip-searched, etc. are terrorists.  After 9/11 I believe that America has gone over board.  Airport security has gotten so strict that I need to leave my house almost three hours before I am supposed to board my flight simply because it takes so long for you to go through security.  Nonetheless, I would rather be safe than sorry, but I simply believe that exculpating Arab-looking people to be terrorists is simply atrocious.