The last blog

I really did not expect to enjoy this class. I have always been much more interested in math and science. I took the class to get my literature requirement out of the way. But, this class was an amazing experience. I can’t say I enjoyed everything we read, but I learned something from every story and book. I really liked doing the blogging, and it was there that I learned to question beliefs, people and assumptions I had always taken for granted. Going to this class was fun. Like Dr. Sexson said, we were like a family. Like a family, this class was a place I felt safe expressing my opinions, but also like a family, this class encouraged to learn, achieve and question life. I definitely believe I developed more ability and confidence in my writing ability. I am no longer intimidated by the classics, and I am looking forward to reading novels I would not have considered picking up before I took this class. Thank you Professor Sexson for sharing your love of life and literature with us.

my paper

Molly Hughes

Mr. Sexton

21 April 2010

The Effect Quick Decisions Have on Our Lives

According to the Webster On-line Dictionary, the definition of a decision is the act of making your mind up about something. The definition of a reaction, according to the same source is a bodily reaction to a stimulus.

Whenever a person acts, they make a conscious choice or decision. What happens as a result of this decision is their responsibility. An easy way to explain this is when a person acts or makes a decision, they are like a puppeteer, when they react they are the puppet.

Sometimes we have to make decisions quickly, other times, our decisions are made after careful thought. Neither way is perfect all of the time. Many times, decisions that are made quickly have life altering consequences.

During this semester we have read many stories whose characters made quick decisions which dramatically affected their lives. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner, the grandmother’s spur of the moment idea to visit a plantation she remembered from her childhood gets the family lost, and ultimately murdered. Dmitry and Anna’s decision to have an affair in Joyce Carol Oates’ story, “The Lady with the Pet Dog” certainly changed the course of their lives. Lott’s wife absolutely made a bad decision when she looked back on Sodom, and was turned into a pillar of salt. Even as far back as 43 B.C., Icarus’ rash decision to ignore his father’s warning and fly to close to the sun cost him his life. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie’s decision to stay home from a barbeque, and talk to Arnold Friend through her screen door probably led to her murder. Anyone who made the foolish decision to have anything to do with Smitty in “The Pied Piper of Tucson,” by Don Moser probably lived, or died, regretting their decision. Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood both made decisions which had a huge, but much different, outcomes. One thing the characters in these stories all had in common is that their lives were affected in a major way by chance, or decisions they made.

Quick decisions have definitely affected my life. My birth, following my biological parents’ probable quick decision to have sex, was definitely a life altering decision for everyone concerned. I hope they gave careful thought to the decision to give me up for adoption. It was a great for me personally, but I think the decision would have been easier for them to live with if it had been well thought out.

A spur of the moment decision I made in high school changed how much I trust people. It was a warm spring evening several years ago, and I decided to go for a car ride with a guy I knew, but not well. The experience didn’t end well, and I am amazed at how that quick decision has affected my life and relationships since then.

Some of the most turbulent events in our history have happened by chance, or through a quick decision someone made. If Rosa Parks had not decided to stay in her seat in that Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955, the civil rights movement might not have happened, or at least not when, or the way it did. Her decision that day changed the world we live in. Martin Luther King Jr. might not have been as big a part of the civil rights movement as he was, if his chance to be involved had not presented itself that first evening of the boycott (Dove). President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction has changed our world and the lives of millions of people forever. Even Tiger Woods might now regret the quick decisions he made because they certainly have had a huge affect on his family, his finances, and seemingly, his ability to play golf.

Of all the talents we are born with, and those we can learn, I think the ability to make an informed and educated decision is the best way to give individuals the confidence and the ability to have control over their lives There will certainly be times when we need to make decisions from the gut, as well as times that even a well-thought out decision doesn’t work out. However, I would much rather live with a thought-out bad decision than make a foolish decision in haste.

Work Cited:

“decision.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. 8 Apr. 2010 http://www.merriam-webster.com.

Dove, Rita . "Rosa Parks Her simple act of protest galvanized America's civil rights revolution." Time 12 Jun 1999: n. page. Web. 15 Apr 2010.

“reaction.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. 8 Apr. 2010 http://www.merriam-webster.com.

Clark, M. B., and A. G. Clark. Retellngs A Thematic Literature Anthology. 1st Edition. New York, NY: McGrqw-Hill, 2004. Print.

thesis

Many of the stories I read in this class dealt with decisions people made in an instant. “Where Are You Going, Where have you Been?” by Joyce Carol, and “The Pied Piper of Tucson” by Don Moser are two stories that decisions made by characters impacted their lives in ways they could not have imagined. In my project, I plan to explore the impact of decisions made by the characters in these stories, relate some of my own experiences, and also explore how split second decisions have impacted the world we know today.

I had a really hard time finishing this book. At times I really disliked it and had a difficult time getting through it. I love reading books that I connect with, but I really couldn’t seem to identify with many of the issues examined in the book particularly the subject of atheism and religion. I guess it is my self-absorbed state or the fact that I don’t consider this issue relevant enough to me to wrestle with it. However, there were times when the story was enthralling, particularly in the first few sections of the book. Maybe I didn’t give the book a fair chance because the sheer size of it intimidated me. Just getting through it was a huge project. It took absolute concentration for me with no interruptions (which is somewhat difficult to find on campus) for me to get through the reading every night. The quantity of complicated issues, the language and the amount of characters Tolstoy took on in this book required my total and absolute concentration every time I sat down to read. If I had read the book when I didn’t have so many other demands on my time I think I would have gotten into it and enjoyed it a lot more. Listening to part of the book on tape really worked for me though. I did think Tolstoy’s character development was pretty amazing. Some of the characters I hated, some I really admired. FatherZosima was one character I loved. He was truly the kind of person everyone, believer or not, should strive to be like.

The last argument I remember hearing between a man and a woman was last weekend when I was at my aunt and uncle’s house. My uncle is 100% Italian with a hot temper, and my aunt is pure Irish with red hair and a disposition to match. My aunt was angry because my uncle was home all day watching sports and hadn’t even done his own dishes while she was out taking care of her ill parents. Their argument quickly escalated. My uncle couldn’t understand why my aunt was mad. She said if he loved her he should have wanted to do the dishes. He didn’t understand why he would ever want to do the dishes. He said he would do them right then, but that didn’t make the situation any better. My aunt brought up many other times when he had done other thoughtless things. It was like they were speaking a different language. He started laughing at her which really made her mad. She was pretty convinced that he didn’t love her, and he just thought she was acting crazy. She was still arguing with him as he left the house.

I have heard about the book, “Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus,” but I’ve never paid much attention before to how much difference there really is in men & women’s thought processes. During the argument I observed, my aunt was much more concerned about how my uncle was making her feel. My uncle was focused on the dishes themselves. They either were not listening to each other, or they really didn’t get what each other was saying. The more my uncle did not get what my aunt was saying, the more past events my aunt brought up. I have never been married or in a long-term relationship, but communication must be a real challenge.

If I could create a perfect world for everyone on the planet through the suffering of just one single child, I am not sure I would be strong enough to make decision that would be best for the majority of people in the world.. Every day millions of children suffer from everything from disease to abuse and starvation. I think that the right thing to do would be to reduce the suffering of millions of people’s at the expense of just one child. However, if I had to live everyday knowing that there was a child suffering to ensure my happiness, I don’t think I would be truly happy. It would be horribly difficult to be responsible for the suffering of even just one child.

Living in the world we do, I don’t think there is anyone who really knows what it would be like to live in a utopia. I would rather live in a world full of conflicts than thrive off of another’s life. If we lived in a world without any problems, how do people form any individuality? I believe we form our personality and develop strengths and weaknesses from the way we handle conflict and deal with problems. If no one had a bad day, was in a bad mood, or did something that they later regretted, wouldn’t everyone be the same? I just cannot imagine how happiness could exist in a society like that. I cannot even comprehend what a utopian society would be like, however I am sure I would not want to live in a society that thrives off the suffering of a child.

My Worst Day

I actually remember eagerly anticipating that the day I now remember as my worst day ever. I was planning on taking my drivers test, finally. I took drivers training at the normal age of fifteen. However, after completing the course and having my instructor tell me that he thought I needed a tremendous amount of supervised driving before I would be ready for the driving test, I let my let my learner’s permit lapse. I actually didn’t even apply for a license until the summer before I went to college. But, the day finally came when I was ready. I took the driving test and passed. I was finally ready for the rest of my life. Then, my Mom told me that my Grandad had unexpectedly died that morning. No one in my immediate family had ever died, and it was devastating. My Grandad was such a huge part of my childhood. He was a bigger than life person and I loved him a lot. At his funeral there were so many people there that they didn’t fit in the church. His death was a shock and really horrible, but what made it worse is that my Grandma died a little each day after until less than two months later, she joined my Grandad. I feel like I lost both of them on that day which was the worst day of my life.