Week 3, Love in the Time of Cholera

The movie 'Love in the Time of Cholera,' is a captivating and haunting tale of an undying love that a man held for the woman of his dreams for over 50 years. The tale set in the late 1800's-1900's in the Caribbean during times of war and disease, paints an illusion of a love so pure that it could outlast adversity and prevail throughout time. A young telegraph boy, Florentino Ariza, falls in love at first sight with Fermina Daza on his way to deliver a telegram to her father. They send letters back and forth secretly through a messenger for two years, and after finally winning her approval to marry him, his love was whisked away by her angry father after learning of their love affair. Florentino vows to forever save his love for her. Florentino and Fermina continue to send letters back and forth to each other for the time that she is away. Upon her return though, Florentino finds and confronts her in the market, but it is at that moment that she realizes that she wishes to have nothing more to do with him, and declares their love affair as an illusion. Florentino is devastated and sick from Ferminas announcement, but his heart remained devoted to her. Fermina became sick and was feared to have cholera. A prominent doctor and figure in society (A cholera expert,) Juvenal Urbino declares her free of the disease, but finds her beauty captivating, and pursues her hand in marriage. Florentino soon learns that Fermina has married the prominent doctor and is expecting their first child. Even then, Ariza can't shake his sickness (His undying love for Fermina.) He vows that he will become an important figure in society to win her love back, and that he'd wait until her husband dies to re-claim his love for her. His mother sends her ailing son away to work, and to his surprise, he has a sexual encounter with a women on a train. He discovers that the pleasures of sex could help subdue the pain that he felt in his heart for Fermina. Ariza returned home after the encounter, and secured a job on his uncles river boat (Of which he later became president.) He continued to have sexual encounters with women throughout the years (Over 600 women,) recording information about each one in a book. Though these women proved to be an outlet for his romantic side, he never gave any of those women his love, because his love remained forever only for Fermina. After 50 years, Fermina's husband, Juvenal Urbino falls from a tree to his death. To her disgust, Florentino quickly courts Fermina at her home on the day of her husbands death. She angrily sends him away. He remains persistent and writes her letters, until she finally replies. After her grieving had passed, she realized that although she had felt happiness and stability in her marriage to Juvenal, she didn't know if she had experienced true love. She wondered if she would have been more happy, and felt more loved if she had married Florentino. Fermina began to spend many afternoons with Florentino, and eventually accompanied him for a trip on the riverboat; where they made love to each other for the first time. Upon their arrival to the last port of the boat trip, Fermina sees people she knows and fears a scandal, so Florentino orders the captain not to board anyone on to the ship. He told the captain to raise the yellow cholera flag, and the three of them sailed off into the sunset. Wow, now that's a crazy love story! In the beginning of my adventure of watching 'Love in the Time of Cholera,' I was captivated by the romance of the story, but as the story continued, I began to feel like the love that Florentino upheld for Fermina was a bit too fairytale like and a bit crazy. When comparing Florentino Ariza to Paulo Freire, one similarly between the character and Freire I see is the undying devotions to their causes and beliefs, even in the face of adversity. Freire's concepts were scrutinized by many, and he was even exiled from two countries and jailed, yet he never gave up on his passion for helping others through applying his theories. Similarly, even though Florentino's love was rejected by Fermina, and many of the town folk believed him to be gay, he never gave up his love for her. His love remained devoted to her all of his life just as Freire remained devoted to his work. Paulo Freire's quote of "Reading the world before reading the word," would be an important message in how this love story is a human story that transcends borders. Freire didn't believe in shaping his opinions about people, relationships, and the world by the words and belief's written by others. He believed in drawing his own conclusions about the world based on what he saw in the landscape around him, and based on his own experiences in life. If Florentino would have listened to the words of his mother and of Fermina herself, he would have never pursued his love for Fermina all of those years. Their love would have never come full circle in the end. Only the passion and devotion in Florentino's heart could determine the boundaries and borders of his love for Fermina. Only the passion and devotion is Freire's heart could determine the boundaries of his success in helping others. There are no written words or opinions of others that can determine a persons success. What a person accomplishes in life is up to themselves, and the amount of effort they are willing to put into their work.


Review of 10 classmates work from week 2:


1. Chris: Chris shares his appreciation of Freire's idea of learning through applying one's own life experiences rather than just adopting and adapting to concepts of other's-based on their experiences.

2. Aloma: Aloma talks about how Freire learned from his time teaching the poor, and how they had a different understanding of life than the middle class and rich. He learned that in order to better understand them, he'd have to put himself in their shoes. Interpersonal skills are important for us all to learn to better understand others in our environment.

3. Jason: Jason finds it amazing that Freire's concepts are still being practiced in some of our institutions today. When doing my own research on Freire, I came across the homepage for the Paulo Freire Institute of UCLA; one of our most prominent ivy league colleges.

4. Katherine: Katherine stated that Freire recognized that the wealthy & educated of Brazil held more power than the poor and oppressed. He believed that the country would be better if all people became educated, so that the power could be spread out more evenly among the people. In obama's speech to the Muslim community, he portrayed a similar belief-that the more people that become educated, the stronger the nation will be.

5. Tarissa: In her last paragraph, Tarissa brings to light that Freire's work was not accepted by everyone. There were many people that disagreed to his concepts, or believed that they were not original. Regardless though, Freire did dedicate much of his life trying to find creative ways to teach people that didn't benefit from the standard ways of learning.

6. Danelle: I like that Danelle explored the quote from the first video, "Reading the world before reading the word." There is so much more to reading the landscapes in our environments than relying on the words that define those elements that make up our landscapes. This is a good way to form our own opinions about what we see rather than rely on the words and opinions of others.

7. Mary Lou: Mary Lou touched on the fact that Freire devoted himself to helping people better themselves through education. If takes a lot of passion to put one's own selfish needs aside to devote themselves to help other people better their lives.

8. Nikki: Nikki spoke of Freire's "Masterpiece," a book called 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed.' She offered details about chapters 1-4. I'm impressed that Nikki made the time to go beyond general research to read deeper into Freire's theories.

9. Kimmie: Kimmie said in her last paragraph that she found it remarkable that Freire was able to draw from his own experience and knowledge, and put them together with his education to develop his theories. What better way to form a concept than to draw from your own life's experiences, and integrate them into your ideas.

10. Nicole: In Nicole's summary of Freire, she wrote that Freire worked closely with each student to develop methods of learning that worked best for each individual. I think it would be great if education could be tailored for everybody; to fit each person's personality and learning style.

Week 2 Part 2, Classmates Postings From Week 1

Mary Lou: In her summary of Obamas speech, I like how Mary Lou touches on the point that peace between our nations will not happen over night. We need to listen, learn, and respect each other as a nation. The same kind of principals that we as individuals would expect from any friendships or relationships of our own. We as individuals, and as a country can't easily move forward without patience, compassion, and with ignorance in our hearts.

Kimmie: Kimmie makes a good point in her summary of Oprah's speech, that we all as people posses the power within to promote change in others and in ourselves by "Giving back," and "Taking charge" in our lives and communities.

Hilary: In Hilary's summary of Obamas speech, I like how she highlights that Americans and Muslim's share mutual interests, but we cannot form ties, join forces, and heal the broken bonds and mistrust unless we come together. Responsibility cannot be taken by just one side alone.

Nikki: I particularly liked how organized Nikki's posting's are. They are very structured, clear, and well summarized. Nikki points out in her summary of Obamas speech that both the Israeli's and Palestinians each will have to give in to make the peace with each other that is needed to claim their own states. This is true in all types of relationships that are at odds. Progress can't be made unless one side or both is willing to give in and offer forgiveness.

Nicole: In her post on Oprah's speech, Nicole makes the observation of how tremendous of an impact Oprah has on American culture. When Oprah endorses products, albums, books, and the such, they become popular; they become big sellers. This concept is interesting, and I'd have to say very true. A while back when Oprah made a big deal about Dr. Oz, suddenly he began to appear everywhere in magazines and on the net. Ask Dr. Oz... Dr. Oz says...Very funny!

Kelsey: When Kelsey thinks of the U.S.A, she thinks "We are a free country." What a nice thought and feeling that is indeed!

Danelle: In her summary of Obamas speech, Danelle commented that she didn't know that 46 nations were involved in the war in the Middle East. I wasn't aware of this statistic either, but it seems inconceivable that so many nations can be at war with the Middle East. It makes us realize how big the world is!

Jason: Jason points to an important part of Obamas speech, that in order to improve the dialogue between the American and Muslim nations, educational scholarships and programs need to be in place to encourage and enrich learning. The more educated the Muslim nation becomes of America and other nations, the less hateful, and the more tolerant of a nation they would possibly become.

Aloma: It was refreshing to learn that Aloma is taking this course, not necessarily to complete a requirement, but because she was so inspired and so loved her previous class in a related study, that she wants to further her learning.

Katherine: Katherine stated that she feels Oprah's world view is "Self-focused." I appreciate that Katherine challenges what Oprah said to the graduating students of Duke university, that "You should trust your own gut and ignore the opinions of others." I believe that it's important to follow your gut at times, but like Katherine, I also think that you can learn a lot from the advice and opinions of others.

Week 2, Paulo Freire

Some may argue that Paulo Freire was "The most significant educational thinker of the twentieth century," but there are also others who oppose that belief such as John Dewey and Rich Gibson, who think that many of Freire's theories are contradictory, and that his work is heavily borrowed from other sources. Whether one chooses to believe in his theories or not, there is no doubt that Freire has made a great impact on the development and growth of the educational practice through his ideas.

One of the most interesting things that I learned about Freire from watching the videos and conducting research, was his passion for teaching secondary education to the impoverished. Having experienced a time of poverty himself during the Great Depression, Freire developed a concern for the poor, and was motivated to work to improve their prospects through education. Even though Freire had went to law school, passed the bar, and had become a lawyer, he chose to become a teacher in a secondary school working with the poor and illiterate. In the video interview of Freire by Alma Flor Ada, Freire tells her that "Secondary education is in a very bad situation." He explains to her that there is not enough money or materials, and there is a lack of quantity of schools for the people. Freire felt a great sense of responsibility to confront these deficiencies of the educational system; to make a difference in the quality of life for the less fortunate, and I find this to be inspiring. Freire's emphasis on dialogue is another important part of his work. He believed that dialogue involves respect; involves people working together to make a difference in the world. Freire also developed the theory of 'Pedology of the oppressed,' the idea of forming a consciousness that has the power to transform things; change things; to re-invent. This reminds me of the video's that we watched last week of Oprah and president Obama. Oprah told the graduating students of Duke University that "To reach true success in life, you must give back to others, and help others stand in their own shoes." Obama, in his speech to the Muslim community in Cairo, spoke of the need for our nations to work together to create peace, promote change, and build respect for one another.

Like Oprah and Obama, Freire was passionate about working to transform the world; about making the world a better place by giving back and helping others. He too beleived that we all have a responsiblility for taking action in our lives and the lives of others. Whether Freire's theories have been proven or not; whether one chooses to believe in them; or to follow them, his theories have inspired many, and have made a significant impact on the way many view the practice of education.

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-freir.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PemcNyIgxFs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3MnnYYgrNg

Week 1 Videos #2

In this video, Oprah Winfrey speaks to the graduates at Duke University during their 2009 comencement ceremony where her God-Son was one of the graduates. Throughout this speech, Oprah refers to several stories from her life and past television shows with the purpose of giving motivation to the grauduates. In each of her stories lies a moral that she thinks is important for the graduates to grasp before they go out into the world and choose their paths in life.

In the first story that Oprah portrays to the graduates, she speaks of a project where a group of prisoners are given 8 week old puppies to train to be service dogs for injured veterans that return home from Iraq. This project didn't only benefit the veterans, but also the inmates by providing a healing process for them. Her message to the students in this story is, "If you can find a way to give back to others just as these fellons are giving from behing bars, you will be a huge success."

The second story is about a woman who develops a fast spreading flesh eating disease in the hospital just hours after giving birth to her second child. The woman loses both of her arms and both of her legs. She had 37 operations in a two month period, but still maintained the determination to thrive in life for her children. The message that Oprah portrays in this story is, "What good are you graduates to anyone if you are miserable. You are in control of your happiness; you are responsible for the energy that you bring to the things you do in life."

She then tells the students that she loves doing make-overs for people in need on her show. She relays that her favorite part of the make-over's that she does, is not just the way that it transforms the way people look on the outside, but how they feel about themselves on the inside. She tells the students that "If you can see the possibility of change in your life; see what you can become and not just what you are, then you will become a huge success."

Oprah accounts for her time spent with Nelson Mandela and how he was able to emerge from many years of inprisonment with forgivesness and humbleness. She says to the students, "If you can proceed through life with just a portion of Nelson Mandela's humility, you will be a great success."

Another story that Oprah offers the students, is a memory from her childhood of a woman named Tish Hooker who came up to her after church one day and offered her words that made her feel pretty for the first time. In this story her message to the students is, "If you can be generous enough to say kind words to those who long to hear them, then you will be a huge success."

She speaks of a charity sale in which she is selling items that she no longer needs, and how a women that came to her sale bought a pair of size 10 1/2 black shoes from her when she clearly only had a size 7 shoe size. The woman told Oprah, that every time she went through a hard time or got depressed, she would stand in Oprahs shoes. It was a sense of inspiration that the woman used for herself, and she later went on to go back to college and earn her degree at age 50. Oprah tells the students that "Although it is very nice to live an elaborate lifestyle, you can't reach total success unless you can help someone else move forward and move to higher ground."
Lastly, Oprah tells a story of how she came to the decision to pull an episode of her show about Columbine from airing. She had a bad feeling in her gut that she had brought bad energy to the segment of the show, and she didn't want to be responsible for that. She expressed that everyday we face decisions that require us to decide who we are and what the right thing is to do. She said to the students, "Trust your gut to help you stand proudly in your own shoes; to help others to stand in theirs, and I know you'll be a huge success."

I was impressed by the speech that Oprah gave at her God-Sons commencement ceremony at Duke University, and I was suprised to learn that Oprah herself had received an honorary doctorate degree from Duke University. She speaks of her stories from the heart and with conviction to the students. Through these stories, she opened up doors of thought for them about different philosophies, and possiblities in life. Though I'm familiar with who Oprah is through the media, I've never watched one of her shows. I was pleasently suprised though with the messages of inspiration that she offered to the students through her speech.

Week 1 Videos #1

In Video 1, President Obama speaks to the Muslim world from Cairo. In his speech, Obama reflects on the history and nature of the relationship and tensions between the Islamic and American nations. He addresses seven important issues that he believes must be addressed in order to live in equality.Throughout his speech, Obama consistantly puts emphasis on the concepts of partnership, responsibility, respect, and peace, and the importance these factors play in the hope to heal the conflicts and tension between our nations in the future.

In light of recent events such as September 11th, fear and mistrust have become very real, and many Americans view Islam as a hostile country. Obama makes a point in his speech though, to emphasize that "Islam is a part of America." He points out that Muslims have fought in our wars, stood in our governments, fought for our civil rights, and taught at our universities. He reflects to the audience that in history, innovation in Islamic countries have paved the way for many adopted American practices such the creation of the order of algebra, our magnetic compas and tools of navigation, mastery of pens and printing, our understanding of how diseases spread and are healed. Obama believes that America provides opportunity for all that live within it's shores, including Muslims. He said, "Partnership must be based on what Islam is, not what Islam is not. We need to make an effort to listen, learn, and respect one another. We must seek common ground in order to move forward."

Obama addresses seven problems that we must work together to see improvement. The seven problems that he addresses are: the threat of extreamists to our nation; the on-going conflict between Israelites, Palistenians, and Arabs; rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons; democracy; religious freedom; women's rights; and globalization.

When speaking of extreamists, he states that human history has often been a record of nations, tribes, and religions. He says, "We must deal with our problems with partership, and our progress should be shared." He uses a quote by Thomas Jefferson, "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be." Obama believes that the recent events in Iraq have reminded America about the need to use diplomacy and build international concensous to resolve our problems when ever possible.

When addressing the long on-going tension between the Jewish, Palestinian, and Arab people, Obama recognizes that in spite of the resistance, they are all in search of a homeland, peace, and humanity. Obama makes it clear that violence is a dead-end. He says, " Moral authority is not claimed through violence, that is how it is surrendered."

Obama talks of the history of tension between the nations regarding nuclear weapons. He speaks of the history of defiance that Iran has shown the U. S. Though this subject has been an issue of tension between the nations, Obama says the U. S. is ready to move forward instead of live in the past. He says, "The question now is not what Iran is against, but what future it now wants to build.

Democracy is the fouth issue that Obama speaks about. He makes it known that though he believes that no country should have the right to tell another how to govern, the interest for Iraq is in the benifit of all of the people in need. He believes that all people have the right to speak their minds, have confidence in the rules of the law and equal administration of justice, a government that is transparent, and the freedom to live as you choose. "These are not just American ideas, they are humans right, and we will support them everywhere."

Obama then speaks of religious freedom. He stresses that people in every country should be free to choose and live their faith based apon the persuassian of the heart, mind, and soul. He believes we should all develop a tolerance to the many religions of the world, and respect one's right to practice their religion of choice. Obama states, "This tolerance is essential for religion to thrive. Faith should bring us together, not separate us."

On the issue of women's rights, Obama strongly says, "A women who is denied education is denied equality." He belives that countries whose women are well educated are countries that are more prosperous. He states, "Our daugters can contribute to society just as much as our sons." He stresses that both men and women should be free to equally reach their potential and live their dreams fully.

Lastly, Obama talks about globalization. Though he recognizes that change can bring with it fear of loss of control and identities, he stresses the importance of innovation. He believes that despite fears, progress can be made without losing ones beliefs and values. Obama states that education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century, and all progress must be done in partnership.

I learned a lot from watching Obama's speech. Though some issus between the Islam nations, and U.S. are talked about regularly in the news, I didn't realize the depth of the many different issues that cause tension and conflict between our nations. Obamas speech shed light on these issues, exposed myths, provided truths and history about them as well as possible solutions. I found the idea of coming together to resolve these separating issues through partnership and peace enlightning, although I'm glad that Obama makes it clear that he's prepared to do what is neccessary to protect the American people from violence. I think it's good that he addresses that we all have a responsiblitiy to work together in partnership to make the world a better place.

Week 1

1. What is you first name?

Hello everyone! My name is Rachel

2. Why are you taking this class and what do you hope to learn?

Completing a Humanities class is a requirement for me to transfer to Sonoma State. I chose this class (Humanities 7) partly because of convenience. I live about an hour away from the Junior College, so this online course will save me both time and money. Another reason why I chose this particular course is because I was interested in the course content after reading the class description. When I learned that we'd be taking a deeper look into California, the very state in which I live, my interest in the class grew. I hope to gain from this class a deeper appreciation for the environment around me, and for the state and country in which live in. I would like to have the opportunity to open my mind, and form different perspectives of what I see in the environment around me and beyond.

3. How far do you live from SRJC main campus?


According to google.com maps, I live exactly 55.0 miles Northeast of the SRJC main campus.


4. Briefly, what do you think of when you think: Santa Rosa? California? USA? North America? The World?


When I think of Santa Rosa, I think of SRJC, Kaiser hospital, Macy's, JC penny's, and Costco; I think of the places that I visit most often. When I think of California, I think of Marine World, Disneyland, and all of my favorite campgrounds and lakes; places that I've been and associate myself with California. When I think of the USA, I think of the Olympics, the military, and the president; I think of patriotism. When I think of North America, I think of exotic Latin countries and languages, tropical islands, and large bodies of water; I think of places I'd love to see. When I think of the World, I think about war. I think about places like China, India, Iraq, Europe, and Africa; places that seem so far away, and that are only brought to many though the news.

5. Have you created a blog or web page in the past?

Yes, I actually already have an active blog account with blogger.com that I created two semesters ago for my English 1A class. In that class I had to post responses to weekly readings in my blog.

6. Regarding computers, are you on a Mac or PC?

My computer runs from Windows XP. That must qualify as a PC, because I'm pretty sure it's not a Mac.