Homework 10/27

I chose the scene from page 9-13. It is interesting and confusing, but I believe the author wants to convey some important thoughts in our life.

1.  Why does Estragon always want to die?
2. Why did Estragon mean that he will be dead although he is light, and the bough is not broken?
3. Why does Estragon mean that Vladimir will be alone although he is heavy, and the bough is broken?
4.  What does he mean when he says, “let’s wait till we know exactly how we stand?”
5.  Why has Vladimir been waiting for Godot even though he has nothing very definite to ask?
6.   Why did they think Godot will give them an offer?
7.  Why did they think Godot could not give them the answer right away?
8.  Why does they think Godot as a human to consult with his family before taking a decision?
9.  What does it mean when Estragon says, “Where do we come in?”
10.  Why did Estragon say that they have no right and lost their rights?
11. What does Estragon want to be tied with Godot?
12. Why does Vladimir think Godot will ride a horse?
13.  Is Godot a God or an ordinary human?
14. Why does he mean that he says, “I get used to the muck as I go along?”
15.  Does Vladimir think character could not change?

Character of the Boy

1.    What is your character like?  What is he not like?

The boy has a peaceful mind. He is polite and honest. He doesn't talk too much. He doesn't put feeling on things and person. He said that he doesn't know he is happy or unhappy.  He doesn't know if Godot is fond of him or not.  He doesn't live on material.

2.     Identify the objects your character interacts with?

No object.

3.     Describe HOW your character interacts with the other characters.  Use specific examples!!!

·         He is polite and tells the truth because he answered that he was not the one whom beat when Vladimir asked him “He doesn’t beat you?” (42)

·         He was scared when he saw the scenes between Pozzo and Lucky.

4.    How does your character change?  How does your character behave in act 1?  How does your character behave in act 2?

The boy in the Act 2 was a brother of Act 1. The boy in the Act 1 looks like more active compared to the boy in the Act 2 according to his tone.  

5.    How does your character make sense of his world?  What does he think?  How does he think?

He thinks happy and unhappy are not necessary. He thinks other people like him or not is not important. He does his job. He minds the goats and his brother minds the sheep. He has no thinking.

2) What do you think of Pozzo and Lucky? Why are they in the play? Choose some moments when you write about them.

I think Pozzo like money, and Lucky like us. We are the slave of money.

3) How is Didi different than Gogo?

Didi is a serious person, he likes thinking and observing, but he changed his mind easily. He remembers every single things. However, Gogo is forgetful, and he likes eating and sleeping. 

4) What are these two talking about, for what, for why?

They are waiting Godot and killing the time.  Meanwhile, they are talking about people are incapable of keeping silent. People are restfulness. Human’s mind can’t be tranquility. If we know how our mind works, then there may be much less misery.  

5) How is your life like Didi and Gogo's?

My life is like Didi, take things so serious and think too much. I like Gogo. He is open-minded and forgetful, but he is consciousness.   

6) If this play is not about God, claim 3 other things, ideas that the play is actually about? Point to parts of the play to support your claim.

This play is about life, habit, and friendship.

People are afraid of being lonely, so they always find something and someone to spend their life. In the play, Vladimir repeats saying that he feel lonely. Estragon said the same in act 2, “don’t touch me, don’t question me, and don’t speak to me! Stay with me!”

People believe that someone, like God, can give him a better life. People don’t do nothing and just waiting miracle to come.  It becomes kind of habit.  

Some people are easy to forget about things or events, like Estragon in the play. Some people do the same things in their all life for same result. Even they might know the result, but they forget their feeling of that moment after a period of time. So, they repeat it again and again. As in the play, Estragon and Vladimir knew that Godot will not come, but they do the same.

The play shows the friendship. Everyone is imperfect, like Estragon he has short memory. Vladimir has to remind him. Knowing imperfectness of another and completing and understanding is a meaningful thing of being human. In friendship, it shows kindness and doesn't give up each other.   

7) Is this play cynical? What makes us insecure? How much do people act out of their insecurity? What's the flip side of insecurity?

It’s a little cynical because Pozzo treats Lucky unfairly. Worries make us insecure. The insecurity makes people become dishonest and treat others unfairly.  Then, it creates unhealthy society, and this society has made us more insecure.  

1)   Write 10 or so sentences putting Godot in the context of the "Power of 10" video.

"Power of 10" shows that how small people are in this Universe and Galaxy. We have limited sight, limited knowledge. But I don't know how to link with the play. 

Climate Change is one of the most important issues facing society in the 21^st century.  People should not only rely on the scientific research which lead to the advanced technology to prevent global warming. Some advanced technologies are too expensive and could not effectively rectify to the damages that we have been done on our planet. People also realized that the culture is one of the root problems.  In an article of Impact of Climate Change on Cultural Heritage wrote that “There is a wealth of knowledge and understanding in the arts and humanities that is helping to broaden the debate on climate change by exploring cultural values, creative endeavors, ethics, aesthetic, critical reflection, and historical perspectives.”

Younger culture practices in the name of “free trade” and “modernization” are vulgar and destructive to the health of the human community. One of the problems with city-state structure is the excessive accumulation of wealth among the ruling or merchant classes. Daly suggests that when the difference between the wealth of the richest in a society and the poorest in a society exceed something between 10:1 and 20:1. By 1998, the top-earning 1 percent has as much income as the 100 million American with the lowest earnings.

            In American Creed written by Michael Lind, says “American exceptionalism presents an intellectual problem.” America continues to be qualitatively different from other advanced industrial nations. Lipset wirtes, “It’s the most religious, optimistic, patriotic, rights-oriented, and individualistic.” As the result, the highest crimes rates and many people are incarcerated. “It’s the leader in upward mobility into professional and other high-status and elite occupations, but the least egalitarian among developed nations with respect to income distribution and providing welfare benefits. The emphasis on achievement, on meritocracy, is also tied to higher levels of deviant behavior and less support for underprivileged.”

City-state cultures are hierarchically organized, so there is a concentration of power. In a younger culture, this results in a concentration of wealth and the existence of have-nots. As the result, there are more populations, damaging to the atmosphere, endangering water supply, lesser food and losing more species. However, the tribal peoples are less greedy and more respecting to other tribes and the nature. So, they get food from their renewable local sources, cooperation and gender equality.

USA Vs UK Political Structure

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/newsletters/26_1/impact.html

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/51853/michael-lind/the-american-creed-does-it-matter-should-it-change

Stance on my topic (but I could only find one source)

Climate Change is one of the most important issues facing society in the 21^st century.  People should not only rely on the scientific research which lead to the advanced technology to reduce the global warming. Some advanced technologies are too expensive and could not effectively rectify to the damages that we have been done on our planet. People also have to realize that the culture is one of the root problems.  In an article of   Impact of Climate Change on Cultural Heritage wrote that “There is a wealth of knowledge and understanding in the arts and humanities that is helping to broaden the debate on climate change by exploring cultural values, creative endeavors, ethics, aesthetic, critical reflection, and historical perspectives.”

In The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, Thom Hartmann compared culture of tribes and city-state.  City-state cultures are hierarchically organized, so there is a concentration of power. In a younger culture, this results in a concentration of wealth and the existence of have-nots. As the result, there are more populations, damaging to the atmosphere, endangering water supply, lesser food and losing more species. However, the tribal peoples are less greedy and more respecting to other tribes and the nature. So, they get food from their renewable local sources, cooperation and gender equality.

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/newsletters/26_1/impact.html

Three topics from "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight"

Trees for beef: slashing rainforests so Americans can have a 99-cent burger
"Overpopulation are the primary factors leading to the destruction of these forests,..we have less oxygen-releasing leaf surface, less circulation in the water cycles, and increased desertification, while at the same time the burning puts more carbon into the atmosphere." (p.46, 50)

Change the Story
"Culture is not about what is absolute, real, or true. It's about what a group of people agrees to believe. Culture can be healthy or toxic, nurturing or murderous. Culture is made of stories... In changing the stories of our culture, we may find a way to help solve some of the problems we've seen so far." (p.164)

The lives of Ancient People
" In their Older Culture, they value community. Most "modern" people find it difficult or impossible to imagine a world where community is more important then possessions, yet this is how about 1 percent of the world's population still lives, and how all of yours and my ancestors lived for 100,000 years." (p.188)