Serving in Silence Movie Discussion

  Hello, dear reader. As a part of our Advanced English course we watched a movie called "Serving in Silence" and had to answer as a group a few questions about it. These will be answered below:

1. Describe these reactions: A. Military

When Margarethe Cammermeyer told the military about her sexuality, their reaction was to immediately discharge her, but as an “Honorable Discharge”.

B. Father

When she told her father, he somehow understood, but feared for her position in the army. Also, he believed that she should not tell everyone about it because it was an inside-of-the-house matter.
C. Children (in order from oldest to youngest):

Matt: He said he already knew and he understood completely.

David: He was understanding and decided to go to live with his mom after he had problems with his dad.

Andy: He asked her if she decided to become a lesbian, but accepted her anyways.

Tom: At first, he was avoiding her. But as the movie goes on we see that he accepts her mom in the end.

2. Margarethe's decision to tell: 
   A.  The military: Margarethe had never been asked before whether she was a homosexual or not, so she was never put in that position before. In the moment she was asked, she did not lie about her feelings and told the truth even though she was sure that would affect her in a bad way. The Army felt that it would have been better if she had kept that information to herself.
   B. Her children: As Margarethe told the military and was facing the problem, she decided to fight back and sue the Army. Of course, this will to fight would bring a lot of public attention to her and that would affect, not only her, but also the members of her family, including her children, and that was why she decided to tell them the truth.
   C. Her father: Margarethe was particularly afraid of telling her father, being the oldest and most conservative of her immediate family. When her father told her that he was coming to live with her, she decided to tell him before he found out by himself when he arrived.
3. What is your reaction to this true story? Do you believe that she should have kept her secret or told it to everyone? Explain your response why.
1. Angel Carrillo:
1. I am a little indifferent about the story, still, I guess this was bound to happen anyway.  I know that she just said it because she was asked, but it all escalated because she did not know about the new rule about sexual orientation.
2. Crystal O’Neill:
1. My reaction to this story is nothing out of this world. In my opinion this is a saturated topic in the society we live nowadays, although it is still sad that these things happen. Anyways, I do feel sympathy for Margarethe, since I know how hard it can be to be judged by everyone, even though you are not any less of a person than them and are not doing anything wrong. About the question of whether she should have told the truth about her sexuality or not, I believe she did the correct thing because she did what a loyal, true soldier would have done, and she followed her beliefs to the end, which is admirable.
3. Jeanette Marquez:
1. I think she did a good thing telling people and not lying, since she wasn't doing anything wrong.  I know that at this decade was a taboo, so she did make a statement by suing the military, because they had no reason to fire or discharge her.
4. Paula Delgado:
1. Being a daughter of a veteran attendant I know first hand what affects the discrimination against the LGBTT community in the military can cause.  I think that Margarethe was very bracy for being one of the first people to stand up for her rights as a homosexual in the military.  I liked that she told the truth about her sexual orientation to the world.  Not many people had the courage to do that and with that bravery, she opened the door to many other military personnel.
5. Hector Rodriguez:
1. It’s a sad story about inequality.  I believe that since it not a “life-death” situation, she should have kept it secret for the sake of her job.
6. Nicolas Torres:
1. I believe Margarethe did the right thing. By saying the truth, she created a wave of events that concluded in changing the code of the army concerning homosexuality.  I think that Margarethe’s pride led her to make the decision; because she honors the military code so well, she spoke the truth and wasn’t afraid of the consequences do to the fact that nothing had changed in her life when she said she was a homosexual.
4. How would Dr. Kinsey explain the Margarethe Cammermeyer’s sexuality?  She is a mother of 4 boys so how can she be lesbian? Is it her choice?
1. Dr. Kinsey might have said that Margarethe’s sexuality changed over time.  First she was married to a man and had four children.  According to Kinsey, it would be normal to love a man, and over time, love a woman.  Margarethe made her choice to marry and have children.  One might argue that she had been distracted from her homosexual identity for a time. Then she meets Diane.  For whatever reason, Margarethe had been able to discover, or re-discover, her identity as a woman who is attracted to other women.  In turn, it was her decision to act and live with Diane.  
5. What does Margareth believe about her sexaulity as it relates to her identity?

Margarethe tells her sons when she reveals her sexual orientation to them, that she has somehow always known that she was a homosexual. It is not something that she chose to be but something that defines her as a human being. She explained to her family, her superiors and the man that interviewed her for her security clearance, how her sexuality is characterized by her identifying and forming emotional bonds with women and that in turn is part of what makes her who she is.

So, how was it?

The blog concept was created so people could easily share their work, thoughts and creativity with others in an efficient, dynamic way. Having a blog means sharing it with the rest of the World Wide Web in the touch of a button and probably not be able to delete it completely if we ever intend to after it is published. Therefore, having a blog means taking responsibility with everything we write and being extremely careful about it. Yes, that seems a bit extreme and if everyone feared the things that might happen to them if they did not speak their minds the World would be a mediocre place. Anyways, for those few brave people, tools like the blog were created.

When our English professor asked us to create a blog for the class, my immediate reaction was: “Oh no, this is going to be hard. There goes my class grade…” To be honest, I fear a little technology. It is not that I think it can be harmful or anything, but the fact that I am not very good with it. Having to create a blog was next to my other nightmares such as having to touch a salamander (they terrify me) and having to drink cranberry juice (I just hate it).

Now that the blog is over, I can say a few things regarding how it went in general. After writing 15 posts, which most of them had an average word count between 300 and 500 words, and if we were going to ignore the fact that it took a lot of my time and energy, overall it was a good experience. Sitting in front of your computer being sure that you can say anything and be anyone on a piece of paper is a sort of liberating experience.

This blog was intended to be a learning experience for the students as writers and I must say that I learned some things with this blog. Not that it made a great, significant impact in my life, but it really made some small improvements. Since our classmates had to comment on the blogs and give productive feedback using the Peter Elbow’s rules (which I will go deeper in them soon), they gave me some ways to improve my posts and helped me be more careful with grammar and other parts with the posts I wrote later. Now, to go a little deeper into the Peter Elbow rules: Honestly I did not like having to comment on every single post my classmates wrote, although I admit it was nice to receive feedback from them (sounds selfish, I know). All of my group members commented in my posts and these techniques did help me somehow, as I said before, to improve the quality of my writing and to make my posts more interesting.

If I were to compare the blog assignment with the journal, there is something to be said: I prefer the journal a thousand times over the blog. The reason for this is because in the journal my vocabulary was more “normal”. With this I mean that I have been taught this rule that you should not write in the same way you speak, and in my journal, since it was a first thoughts writing, I was able to write in the same way that I talk, which I found to be amazing. On the other hand, this blog, being public and all makes me write in a more formal manner somehow and I am less free in that way.  Also, for the same reason that this blog is public, and as I said in the beginning of this reflection, one has to be very careful with what one posts on the internet, so first thoughts is not really the answer for it.

Also, knowing that other people know your thoughts without necessarily seeing your face is great. That last sentence applies better for introverts. I am much of an extrovert but I found it awesome sometimes that I could write anything without the fear of being judged (although most of my readers were my classmates, who know me).

In general, the blog experience was a good one, but for technological reasons (or inability with technology) I would avoid creating a blog just for the fun of it. Having said that, I encourage other people to create a blog and share their thoughts and experiences. See you next time!

My story with literature

          Look: I never liked books...

          Like many other kids, I was raised being obliged to read many boring school novels that never encouraged my love for books. As I kept growing up, so did my hate for books and I somehow swore to myself to never read, nor like any sort of books. This went on for a few years until I met my best friend. She considered herself a book worm and I could not really differ from her opinion: she REALLY was a bookworm. After about 5 months of friendship I was trying to get her to play soccer with me and she told me that she would if, and only if, I agreed to read a book. So, I said yes and a few days later she brought me the first book of a series, called “Dellirium”, written by Lauren Oliver. The book was about a dystopian society in which love was considered a disease. I read the book in about a week and even cried at the end (which almost never happens to me). Since then, I read the other two books of the trilogy and have read some series like Divergent, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Harry Potter, and many other books that are not series, like The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, etc. As you can see, dear reader, my love for books has grown exponentially since I decided to give them another chance.

          My theory is that people that say that they hate books say it because they have not yet found the one they like. For those people I just have this words: Keep trying. Once you find it you will always be happy that you gave yourself the opportunity.

Literary Contest Reflection

Are you telling me you entered a literary contest?

            A few weeks ago, for our Advanced English class, the professor asked us to enter a local literary contest in our university. We had to compete in one (or more) of three categories: essay, short story and poetry. As for myself, I chose to write poetry because it usually comes to me and is easier to write about. Anyways, in our classroom almost everyone belongs to an engineering major so we were not really expecting any winners because well, engineers are not best known for writing poems (or whatever). We submitted our works on time and practically forgot about the assignment. It was not until some weeks later that we received the news that three of our classmates won something in the literary contest and we had to go to the awards ceremony. The winners were Neythan, Luis and Angel, all three of them in the category of poetry, two of them engineering students.

            I have to admit, the awards ceremony was more than I expected. It even had a cool host, who received my most sincere applause. He did a wonderful job and actually made me laugh. Also, the ceremony was dedicated to Mark Weakander, a former colleague of some of the professors that hosted the contest and there we listened to some of the guy’s poems and, at least for what I saw and heard of him, I believe he was quite an extraordinary human being. Somehow, how they spoke of this person woke up the writer that lived inside me and made me like it a little more. Anyways, it was great to be able to see our classmates get their prizes and I definitely cannot argue about the food that we were given after the ceremony.

            Last, but not least, and going back to the poem, the fact that this poem was intended to be entered in a contest, made me work harder for it. Anyways, although I was being competitive, I still enjoyed writing my poem because I realized how beautiful it was when the muse came to me and how words flowed so easily. Obviously I cannot ignore the parts that I could spend a half hour writing nothing at all (no, I was not procrastinating), but at the end let’s say it was worth it. In conclusion, entering the literary contest was not that bad. Somehow, this is a new experience that can help us in our future lives and expands our knowledge so it can be a little more universal. After all, as Albert Einstein said: “Once you stop learning, you start dying”.

"The 60's": Mini-series Reflection

Part II

            Well dear reader, as I promised in the last entry, and now that you have a background on the story, I will be going deeper in the types of discrimination seen throughout the mini-series “The 60’s”.

            The first and most noticeable type of discrimination seen in the series is racial discrimination. The 60’s were a time of traumatic changes in the Civil Rights movement, starting when President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act into law in the year 1960. As we see in the series, the Taylor family was involved in this movement too and they were the organizers of many pacific protests that consisted in marches, sit-ins, etc. They, along with other people had to face the police many times and were attacked and injured most of them. In the end, the family father was murdered by the police and that is what led the son to eventually follow his steps and try to make a difference as his father tried to.

            Another type of discrimination seen in the mini-series is political/ ideological discrimination. Most Americans in the 60’s blindly believed in the government’s choices and supported the war because they believed that they were serving the country and fighting for freedom. One of these people that shared this thought was the head of the Herlihys family: the father. As William, the middle son of the Herlihys, joins political movements, his father rejects him for not following his way of thinking and expresses he is ashamed of him. This is another factor that brings separation to the family.

            Last, but not least, we see discrimination against women. In these series we are presented with three strong in their own way women: the Herlihys mom, Katie and Sarah. All of them did great things to defend their family and their beliefs. For example, it is truly admirable how Sarah spoke her mind in front of so many men at the protests and was able to bring a real message. Also, I love how we were able to see Katie’s development and how she worked so hard for her son and in the end she did a great job.

            These are only three types of discrimination seen in the mini-series. If we go deeper into the story we can get some other types, but these three are what I believe that are the major and most important seen. 

"The 60's": Mini-series reflection

Part I

The mini-series named “The 60’s” after the years the story takes place in, has a compilation of the stories of the members from two different families: the Herlihys and the Taylors. Each family belongs to a different world, even though they are part of the same country and the same era.

For example, the first family we are presented are the Herlihys. This is an European-American family, in which the father is a veteran and the mother is a housewife. The couple procreated three kids: Brian, William and Katie, who are raised according to the society standards but, as they grow up, each of them takes a different path in their lives: Brian becomes a Marine just like his dad, Katie gets pregnant at a young age and later on, because of the baby’s father, becomes a hippie, while William, the middle child becomes a political activist, which his father totally disapproves. This family lives the typical American life, and therefore, they do not suffer discrimination the way the other family in this story does.

The second family that we meet in the story are the Taylors. This is an African-American family, in which the father is a minister involved in the Civil Rights movement. In my opinion, this family is the one who suffers the most because the 1960’s is a traumatic time where a lot of changes were happening and there was a lot of hate against black people because of all the people that disapproved the fact that things were changing and soon, they would be considered as equals with all their rights. The family’s father is shot by the police and this happening is what gives a spin to the son’s life, who decides to join the Black Panthers to look for a change for African-American citizens.

This is just a brief summary of the series “The 60’s”; in the next entry I will be going deeper in the types of discrimination seen throughout the mini-series and how it affected the lives of the characters I mentioned before.

"Trifles" Reflection

To kill, or not to kill…

The first time I read “Trifles” I has in twelfth grade in high school and I really liked the story because I found it a little funny somehow. The fact is that even though Mrs. Wright was the one that killed her husband, each of the ladies in the story sort of blame themselves for what happened. Another thing I find interesting and ironic is the fact that the men in the story where saying that there was nothing useful their wives could do and that they worry about non important things, they were the ones that solved the case by themselves and at the end, decided to do nothing about it. Also, this is a story full of metaphors and I found that very interesting because it dares you to think a little when you are reading and that is always good in a story.

From this story, we can learn to never underestimate the power of women. I totally know that the women in the story were very annoying and even chauvinist until some point because of the society they were living in. They found the evidence by accident, but anyways, that is something that cannot be taken credit off because, after all, they did solved the case.

Before finishing this entry, I should say that I felt sorry for Mrs. Wright even though she killed her husband. She used to be a happy girl that sang at the choir and all but everything changed when she married John Wright. The loneliness made her the way she was and the fact that she did not have any kids. Her life was probably a prison and one day she just couldn’t take it anymore and did what she did. I do not excuse under any circumstance what she did, but I do understand her and, as I said, feel sorry for her. 

Our Discrimination Related Assignment

The skit…

          So, for our Advanced English class we had to do this small dramatizations in which we had to include and develop a type of discrimination in the theme of the play. My group and I decided to go with the most cliché of them: racial discrimination, but in a somewhat different way. Our story was set in the Dallas- Fort Worth airport at a TSA checkpoint. The protagonist was Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramírez and he was a Mexican guy going on a business travel. There at the TSA he confronts a racist officer and is later saved by a random stranger passing by. We got the idea for Esteban’s character from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody in which there is a Peruvian guy with the same name who works at the hotel where Zack and Cody live.

          Also, we had to include a related poem inside the lines of the play. We used the poem “I rise” by Maya Angelou. It was a great poem but in the beginning it gave us a hard time figuring out how to include it in a smooth way so it would fit perfectly with the play. At the end, and after a lot of work we were able to do this and it came out all right.

          In the beginning, this assignment was a pain and I cannot say that the experience was completely good, since we did not have that much time or motivation to do the play. In my opinion, if I were going to say something good about the assignment is that it helped me see better the situations of discrimination, since I was seeing them live in front of me, even more than if I only read about them in class. Anyways, at the end the work was not that bad, since it was a rewarding experience to see that the final product turned out all right. 

Just Another Poem...

Looking for Myself

The thought that I’m bad

Has got me thinking for days

But I’m sure it’s not that,

and that I’m good as I say.

As if my head could be persuaded,

but my heart wouldn’t change.

Though I can be brave

And hope I’ll not fail.

Sometimes my actions

Are not what I’ve been taught,

And as I get divided in fractions,

I no longer see who I’m not.

And if this finally ends,

And I get to know who I am

I’ll see myself as a friend,

Since I now understand.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7z19xLjNXs

Writing a Journal

I can compare my journal experience with going through a Puerto Rican road: sometimes good, others bumpy, most of them with a lot of holes and moments that you really want to kill someone. At first, I though the journal was a great idea because I could get out everything that was on my mind and it would probably help me cool down in situations. What I really didn’t think about was the fact that I am a pretty open person so, most of the time, I say whatever is on my mind.

I wrote 42 entries during the weeks we were supposed to write, and stopped as soon as the weeks were over because writing the journal took time that I needed, and, as I already said: I am a pretty open person, so I think I do not need it that much. That being said, it did help me with those things that always remain in one’s filter, that we avoid saying for our own sake or the sake of others and it made me realize I am probably a terrible human being.  Since the concept of this journal is writing first thoughts, it’s amusing how one can fear oneself after reading some journal entries, just as if another totally different person just got out and spoke its mind. I have to admit sometimes it was difficult just to write everything in my mind because there are some thoughts that one avoids even writing for fear of oneself becoming or thinking like a bad human being. Some of my entries showed a lot of pain and anger that is inside me and made me realize my inability to share that with other people.

Another good side of keeping a journal is the use it can have in the future. Throughout our lives, there are many small things that happen that are nice and that we wish to keep them in our memories. The problem is that we forget them and we lose those bits of life. With a journal one can write the small things so when you read it in the future you are like: “Oh right! That happened that day!” and be all amazed and happy that you remember.

Also, to be honest, I have not experienced any significant change in my writing after the journal. The only thing I can immediately think about is the fact that I am probably more fluid and creative with my thoughts, but that is pretty much it. As an example of this, if I were to talk about some specific entry, I should say that one of my favorites is one in which I talk about church people. Once I finished writing it and read it, I noticed it was very funny and had a good laugh about it. My favorite phrase on that entry would be: "I really hate how they think they are more holly than anyone else and they prance around nature with a halo and wings just like: Oh! Look at my halo! You would have one too if you weren't so evil!”. That entry was a good example of what in Spanish we say:"diantre, le salió del alma" because it really showed the way I feel about the subject. '

       Anyways, and to be done, for all the people wondering whether to have a journal (FOR FUN) or not, I just have these words for you: Keeping a journal is good, it helps you know yourself better. 

This right here is my journal.
I always thought that if there is something that
can describe me almost completely it would
be this journal's cover.

Does Your Room Have a View?

E. M. Forster's A Room With A View Analysis

At the beginning of the movie, when the viewer gets the first glimpse of the characters staying in the guesthouse at Florence, he/she may think that all of the characters belong to the same social class. Some facts that support that thinking would be that they dress and look pretty much the same and that they get along nicely, which, as one thinks, would not happen if they were from different social classes. What the viewer does not know is that his/her mind is about to change.

As we get deeper into the story, we can see that Lucy Honeychurch, our protagonist, belongs to an upper middle class, while her cousin Charlotte, who acts as her chaperone, belongs to the servant class. We are also introduced to the Emersons, who are a little more difficult to classify, since we know that they live well, maybe not as well as Lucy, but they certainly do not belong to the lower classes, which would be the servants and the laborers. Personally, I would classify them in the intellectual thinkers class because throughout the movie, we can learn the Mr. Emerson knows a lot of history and is quite liberal, which makes us think that he is probably an intellectual. Another character that truly calls the attention of the viewers would be Miss Lavish, who can be described as an eccentric writer that probably belongs to the intellectuals’ class also, and who thinks she knows the “true Italy”. This thought is the one that introduced us to the lower classes in the first place. One day Miss Lavish takes Lucy to what she claims to be the “real Italy” which ends up being in the poorer place of the city, where we can see some of the lifestyle of the lower classes.

Now dear reader, you are probably asking yourself: what about the upper class? Well, let me introduce you now to one of my favorite characters of the story. His name is Cecil Vyse and he is, at least for me, a very awkward character. Clearly, he belongs to the aristocracy. We can see that in the way he behaves around the people of Lucy’s town and how he often refers to people as if they were below him. The reason I like Cecil is because I find him a very funny being. The fact that he practically lives in a crystal bubble with a perfect world amuses me, and even though he can be seen as arrogant he is a character I cannot stay mad at, I do not know why.

Since you are probably bored by now with all of my talk about Cecil Vyse, the only thing left to say is that, as said in the beginning, social classes can look alike sometimes but it is the little things, even the way of thinking or behaving that help us tell one class from another and that, in my opinion, the whole idea of defining a person by their possessions is as dumb as saying one M&M is better than another one just because of the color. 

I see things Crystal clear

Note: Before continuing with this post I must say that yes, I will continue to use that pun (the one in the title)

            As a random human being with a lot in her mind, seeing through my eyes is a whole new experience. The thing is that I get so used to my thoughts that I often wonder how other people can live without them. That’s why today I want you to know what it feels like to think like me.

            Usually when I am walking down the university I am usually thinking about how no one notices anything. I’m a believer. I believe God created nature and everything so we could enjoy it and it is a shame that we are almost never able to do that. It is sad that I walk and all I see is indifference. The university has taught me some things and one among them is the fact that no one cares about anyone; no one gives a damn of what you do with your life. People are so submersed in their own lives that they fail to stop and recognize that we are all living together in this society and what happens to another person’s life can possibly affect us in a point of our lives.

            Anyways, back to what I was talking about. When I was reading “On looking”, something that caught my attention is the part when the author says that some people see things according to their professions or what they do. I can identify myself with that because it is something I usually do. I love chemistry and that I am studying at the university. When I see things as I walk I start thinking about how they are composed, how their molecules and particles move and how would it be possible to alter their composition. It also happens to me when I am watching The Flash series. I always try to physically explain every impossible thing that happens in the show. I must admit that thinking like that is pretty amazing.

            Sometimes, when I am really overwhelmed with work, projects and responsibilities I go outside and stare at the mountains. I live in a rural place and at the very end of the street there stands a big mountain, just as if it had been dropped from the sky and fell there. It brings me so much calmness and each time I look at it I think about how everyone has so much to do and life passes by and we are never able to enjoy the little and most simple things in life.

            The other time that I am not thinking the ways I mentioned before are my “what if” moments. I see a thing and I just imagine how it would be if it was made or if it looked any other way different than the actual way it is. Those are the moments I am able to use my imagination and well, it is good to use it because what is not used atrophies and I do not want that for my imagination. Anyways, so now dear reader you have an idea of the way I think. Now, go back to your world and I will go back to my wonderful chemical world.