Reading Blog Entry (Chapter #5) Second Part

Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Chapter #5 (pg. 96-119)

As I continued reading chapter five they kept on describing the banquet that was offered to those just rescued by the English, among them Billy Pilgrim. He was searching for a phone to call his mother, and in the means of it his coat caught fire, an Englishmen then aware Billy of what was happening and helped him put it off. Following this the Englishmen began watching Billy and described him as “This isn’t a man. It’s a broken kite.” (pg. 97) therefore we can imagine the atrocious state in which Pilgrim must have been when he was rescued. The Englishmen then began interrogating Billy about his outfit, his boots and finally made a remark about his coat, “Jerry gave it to you?” (pg. 97) Off course that after such a comment, Billy had no idea what they were talking about, it was later which the Englishmen repeated “The Germans gave it to you?” (pg. 98) From this statement we can derive that they called the Germans, Jerry as ridicule and a form to tease them.

The banquet continued and the upcoming event was a play based on Cinderella, the most known story, but it had a twist, “The women in the play were really men, of course.” (pg. 98) After reading this I was a little confused, how could it be so obvious that the women roles would be played by men? Was it something based on the time period in which the story took place? Then I realized this was all occurring in the middle of war, therefore no women were present since they didn’t contribute and fight, therefore I imagine that is the reason why men played the female role. They then described the play, Billy was laughing hysterically, and when the clock stroke midnight Cinderella said: “Goodness me, the clock has struck- Alackday, and fuck my luck.” (pg. 98) I was appalled at how such a lovely and romantic story made for children could be modified into something so obscene and rude. Off course I can understand that it was created to entertain soldiers that enjoyed adult humor instead of a princess fairytale, but it came into shock the way in which they amused themselves.

While the play took place “Billy found the couplet so comical that he not only laughed-he shrieked.” (pg. 98) Consequently he was taken out of the room and moved out into a hospital where he was injected morphine and left to be watched by another person. “This volunteer was Edgar Derby, the high school teacher who would be shot to death in Dresden. So it goes.” (pg. 98-99) When I read this I couldn’t imagine how you could deal with knowing somebody would die, and that you couldn’t do anything about it, just lie useless while he took care of you and embrace it as an event that is destined to be and thus will happen.

Soon the morphine became effective and Billy fell into a deep sleep in which he dreamed about giraffes in a garden. “The giraffes were following gravel paths, were pausing to munch sugar pears from treetops. Billy was a giraffe too. He ate a pear. It was a hard one. It fought back against his grinding teeth. It snapped in juicy protest.” (pg. 99) The dream then continued telling us how the other giraffes embraced him and came up to kiss him, both of them being female giraffes. What can this dream mean? Clearly it shows symbolism, but what’s its point? How does it relate to Billy’s life?

While the dream continued Billy traveled in time to a veteran hospital where he laid, his head covered by a blanket, it was three years after the war. In the hospital they believed he was going crazy, not because of the war but due to the fact that “…his father had thrown him into the deep end of the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool when he was a little boy, and had then taken him to the rim of the Grand Canyon.” (pg. 100) I immediately related this to a theory in which I have always believed in, it consist that every little thing you go through, or event that happens to you somehow will affect your future. For instance, for the fact that my parents divorced when I was young may somehow affect my future relationships.

I later came upon a statement that has been constantly repeated through the novel and that has called my attention, this time it was applied to an inanimate object, contrary to before. As I have mentioned the narrator notes down “So it goes.” Every time he mentions the death of somebody, what is bizarre is that this time he mentions it when something dies: “There was a still life on Billy’s bedside table- two pills, an ashtray with three lipstick stained cigarettes in it, one cigarette still burning, and a glass of water. The water was dead. So it goes.” (pg. 101) I found it weird that he stated his common phrase even when the point that was dying was an inanimate object. I also noticed how the author used personification (giving human characteristics to an inanimate object) both to the water, air and then to the bubbles as he affirms “Air was trying to get out of that dead water. Bubbles were clinging to the walls of the glass, too weak to climb out.” (pg. 101)

Billy then continues traveling in time between the veteran hospital where he lies next to Eliot Rosewater (becomes favorite writer), to the Germany hospital, and to his wife Valencia until he time travels to the Tralfamdores were they discuss war, the universe, different sexes and life in general. The Tralfamdores mention “That’s one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones.” (pg. 117) This statement called my attention because I surely agree with the statement, but as it said its something the human race isn’t capable off. We often think of our mistakes and about the negative aspects of our life and tend to leave forgotten what is really important which are the positive pieces.

After listening to Kurt Vonnegut’s interview I had a completely different perspective to the novel that I had before hand. What I first related was based on religion; Kurt mentions that being atheist had run in his family for generations and that though he respects the bible and considers it literally outstanding he is completely against gods laws. I right away thought about the past chapters in which Adam and Eve were mentioned and how the author constantly mocked Christianity, for instance “…conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposes.” (pg. 75)

In the interview he also talked about his books being banned and the sexual content they contained, but as he said “you could learn more about sex talking to a fourteen year old boy about sex for 5 minutes than by reading all my books” (Kurt Vonnegut) I completely agree, even though he talks about sexual positions, extraterrestrial apparitions and war, his books have very mild content. The interview also made me realize that Kurt Vonnegut was a German-American that was a prisoner of war, thus his person relates greatly with the character of Slaughterhouse- Five meaning that everything he writes about related to war was something he really went through.

First Draft Persuasive Essay

Through out the past couple of years Colombia has been struggling with a decision of whether accepting or denying the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, most commonly known as “El Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC).” There have been various parties with opposition to it and several others in agreement, but in order to take a side we must first understand what it really consist of. The TLC is an agreement between two or more countries through which norms are created to facilitate the commerce among them in such a way that their products and services can be exchanged with greater freedom. By signing the treaty, Colombia will be able to sell its products and services outside the country in better conditions, due to the fact that they will not have to pay taxes (protectionist customs taxes) nor been put under other types of barriers. Besides, since the national market is not sufficient to prompt the growth of the country therefore we must look for larger markets in other countries. As we export more, the national economy will grow; new jobs will be created and will improve the income average of all the inhabitants, this will then generate a greater demand and therefore become a vicious circle which will cause the economy to rise. The consumers will also be benefited from the agreements of free commerce because they will have a greater variety of products and services for the satisfaction of their needs and will be able to buy them at better prices.

Colombia is presently engaged in free commerce with Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Mexico. Thanks to these treaties, today Colombian products enter all the countries mentioned above in advantageous conditions of competitiveness, without paying taxes or paying very few of them, which increments the amount of sale. As well as being linked to this countries Colombia is in the process of negotiation with the European Union, and in the future plans to link itself with the 148 other countries which are part of the World-Wide Organization of Commerce. Doesn’t it mean something that 148 countries are linked to this free commerce? Why would that amount of countries participate in the organization if it were to have a negative effect on the people?

Off course that within change comes also negative effects that will implicate a whole bunch of restrictions and burdens put upon the national industries, but on the long run it will create a sense of competition, forcing them to improve their services and merchandises, leading to an improvement in both the services that we consume as well as the amount of demand for them causing the countries economy to develop.

If the TLC were to be accepted, it would generate opportunities for all Colombians, without exception and the improvement of the national economy. Initially it would benefit the exporting sectors because they would be able to sell their products and services, in very favorable conditions, in the immense American market. Afterwards the treaty would also benefit all other national producers because when increasing the exports the employments increase, therefore the average people’s income would as well, as a result people will have a bigger amount of money to spend and consequently consume what is imported into Colombia and what is produced inside.

Reading Blog Entry (Chapter # 4-5)

Slaughter House-Five

Kurt Vonnegut

Chapter #4-5 ( pg. 72-96)

While continuing to read the novel we still come upon various strange behaviors and events Billy approaches. More questions arise, and the time schemes shown in the narrative confuse and convert what Billy is going through into something even more complicated. The first weird thing I came upon was the repetitive mention of stripes in the first page: “The wedding had taken place that afternoon in a gaily striped tent in Billy’s backyard. The stripes were orange and black.” (pg. 72) Is this relevant in any way? Do the black and orange colors on a wedding celebration (uncommon) mean something? The narrator then again mentions stripes, “The hallway was zebra-stripped with darkness and moonlight.” (pg. 72) Can the continuous mention of stripes mean something, or is it just a distraction? When reading this passage I also thought about the timeless times I have had trouble falling asleep and spent hours turning in bed and walking through the house, just as it happened to Billy.

At the bottom of this page there was a phrase which called my attention: “Billy now shuffled down his upstairs hallway, knowing he was about to be kidnapped by a flying saucer.” (pg. 72) How come he new they were coming to get him? Why didn’t he do anything about it? Was he looking forward to being taken way? This certainly seemed so since he stood in the kitchen and even knew how much time had to pass by before he would be taken, and finally when the saucer arrived he took hold of the ladder to be pulled up. After reading about alien and human interaction I somehow remembered the movie ET in which at first after seeing the alien, the kids are freaking out, but after accustoming to it, they even help him find his way back home.

While waiting for the Tralfamadores to arrive Billy enters his daughter’s room and the phone rings, when he hangs up the narrator mentions, “There was a drunk on the other end. Billy could almost smell his breath –mustard gas and roses.” (pg.13) I immediately made a connection to the beginning of the chapter in which the narrator talks about himself and about spending nights on the phone calling all friends after having a couple of drinks and sending his wife to bed because of the gas mustered gas and roses breath. Then after being picked up by the aliens he becomes unstuck on time and remembers about seeing a war movie but backwards and then again forward, they refer to how bullets came out of planes, how planes were built and far back how the soldiers were only kids. Does seeing the movie backwards have a specific meaning? Are they trying to represent how mistakes can be fixed by experience? When talking about the movie the narrator mentions Adam and Eve again: “…conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposes.” (pg. 75) This is the second time around in which they have mentioned them; must they have a significant importance to Billy’s story?

A very interesting characteristic that appears further on in the story is how they tell us the aliens stole: “They carried into to a cabin where he was trapped to a yellow Barca-Lounger which they had stolen from a Sears Roebuck warehouse. The hold of the saucer was crammed with other stolen merchandise…” (pg.77). This makes me wonder why a specie that appears to be so developed and to be able to understand the universe to extents which the human race doesn’t, has to steal from Sears.
As I mentioned before, every time I person died the narrator added “So it goes” For instance “There was a death on the ninth day in the car ahead of Billy’s too. Roland Weary died-of gangrene that had started in his mangled feet. So it goes.” (pg 79) or another appearance is “The Americans were wheedled and teased over to those three stacks, which weren’t hay after all. They were overcoats taken from prisoners who were dead. So it goes.” (pg. 81) Ounce again in this chapter the narrator describes several deaths and ends his statement with the same ending. I still don’t understand what it means or if in deed it has a meaning.

After reading the past four chapters I still have millions of questions whirling around my mind, but I’m starting to have a feeling that Billy is actually mad, he is somewhat trying to avoid reality and what his going through his life, so every time he reaches a frightening or uncomfortable moment , he switches of into a different time scenario.

I continued reading a couple of pages of the fifth chapter and as I just started to read I came upon a paragraph that inspired my curiosity: “Billy Pilgrim says that the universe does not look like a lot of bright little dots to the creature from Tralfamadore. The creatures can see where each star has been and were it is going, so that the heavens are filled with rarefied, luminous spaghetti.” (pg. 87) This immediately caught my attention since the universe has been a subject of my interest always. I have always wondered about it, how it looks and were it finishes, and when such a beautiful phrase was stated I was able to create a mental picture of what the universe was to the Tralfamadore.

As I read through the page I found a small description of human beings which really amused me. “And Tralfamadores don’t see human beings as two-legged creatures, either. They see them as great millipedes-with babies’ legs at one end and old people’s legs at the other…” (pg.87). That description of the human body was complete nonsense, but as I thought of it, what we imagine as that aliens look like and how we would describe them, could also be complete nonsense to them. Later on Billy ask for a book to read while traveling in the saucer, but he got tired of it and asked for a new book, but instead he was handed a Tralfamadore book. This book contained symbols and brief clumps that “…Tralfamadorians read them all at ounce, not one after the other. There isn’t any particular relationship between al the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at ounce, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep. There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no cause, no effect.” (pg. 88) I found this to be so interesting how in the books they could see many moments at ounce, just by watching a bunch of symbols and scribbles.

When I though most answer were being to be answered and that Billy was actually insane and just wanting to escape reality, most of the events that took place in this chapter made me reconsider and believe that maybe there’s a meaning behind all this, maybe in deed it is suppose to be happening. Will Billy discover why it’s happening to him?

Reading Blog Entry (Chapter # 3)

Slaughter House-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Chapter 3 (pg. 52-71)

When I first began reading the third chapter I came upon a couple of phrases that reminded me of a trait which we constantly approximate, being it how appearances deceive. On the novel it is first said that Billy and Ronald are surrounded by a group of Germans with their police dogs which tend to be very aggressive and ferocious, but as they advance closer to them, both characters realize it was just a female German shepherd. “She was shivering. Her tail was between her legs. She had been borrowed that morning from a farmer. She had never been to war before. She had no idea what game was being played. Her name was Princess.” (pg. 52) This just comes to show how misleading appearances can be, causing us to believe one thing, when the reality can be the complete opposite, something that constantly happens in every day life, when believing to know someone, judging them by how they look like, and when actually getting to know them having complete contrary results of what that person is really like, to what you believed he/she was.

As I continued reading there was a specific wording that caught my eye: “...Billy stared into the patina of the corporal’s boot, saw Adam and Eve in the golden depths. They were naked. They were so innocent, so vulnerable, so eager to behave decently.” (pg. 53) This was so ironic and unexpected, how was it possible that they were referring to something so pure and respectful and relating it to the boots of a war commander, boots that had been taken from a dead Hungarian. It also surprised me when Billy referred to a German fifteen year old boy as “a blond angel”, “as beautiful as Eve” and as “the heavenly androgyne.”(pg. 53) Can this mean something? Is there a specific meaning to it?

I proceeded with my lecture and read about how Billy and Ronald were searched and how their belongings were taken from them. “Then he made Weary sit down in the snow and take off his combat boots, which he gave to the beautiful boy.” (pg. 55) “The corporal reached into Wearys gaping bosom as though he meant to tear out his pounding heart, but he brought out Wearys bulletproof Bible instead.” (pg. 54) In this moment I felt an extreme invasion of privacy, neither Billy nor Ronald were being respected. Their possessions were being taken away, and inclusively they were being made fun off and taken advantaged off. They were left with nothing, but a long journey to walk through “without decent military footwear.” (pg. 55) Constantly this happens in ordinary live when we come across manipulative and inconsiderate people that step over others and use others in order to get what benefits them and only them.

Through out chapter three I came upon various experiences that Billy went through, that after interpreting them, I could relate to things that happen to me or that I see reflected in other people. Among them the ounce mentioned above and several others including his lack of interest in life. “Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going, even though he was unenthusiastic about living.” (pg.60) he didn’t live life to its fullest, and awaited for things to happen to him, taking no action in what he truly believed, for instance when the president of the Lions Club talks about bombing Vietnam, even though he already had seen all the suffering it had created, he didn’t speak up about it. The narrator also constantly demonstrates the lack of interest when constantly ending his stories with a simple “So it goes,” for instance “They were irregulars, armed and clothed fragmentarily with junk taken from real soldiers who were newly dead. So it goes.” (pg. 52) He does not finish what he was saying, he just cuts us off.

The whole chapter reminded me of a very curious thing that rarely happens to some of us: Déjà vu, this is when you’re living a moment and somehow remember it as it already happened. When thinking about this I questioned Billy’s theory that moments are always happening, in no specific chronological order, and no determined time. How is it possible that we feel like we have already lived a moment we are presently living. Will Billy be able to change his future, by interfering in his present life? (As in the movie Paycheck) Or will he waste away this characteristic he possesses and dedicate his life to letting moments pass by and doing nothing about them?

Reading Blog Entry (Chapter # 2)

Slaughter House-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Chapter 2 (pg. 23- 51)

Through out the first chapter we get to perceive how the narrative will develope, since this initial chapter is a sort of introduction. It does not blend with the rest of the novel, but is Vonneguts way of familiarizing us with the content of the story, as well as describing the role of the narrator, which intended to write about World War II, specifically in Dresden. As we continue reading, we reach chapter two in which the structure of the narrative completely changes when being introduced to new characters, one of them being Billy. Uniquely what really calls our attention is the distinct way in which he is initially described: "Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." (pg. 23) At first, we dont quite understand what they mean, by that phrase, but when we advance in the reading we get to see, that its a state in which Billy lives, "He is in a constant stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act next." (pg. 23) Meaning Billy travels through his life, in no determined order, and with no control over it. I sometimes wish live could be like thta, passing through moments and not being stuck in a determined place, specially when they are bad. As the novel continuous we learn more about Billy Pilgrim,and his childhood. He was born in 1922 in New York and graduated from Ilium High School as the third of his class, he later was to serve for the military in the World War II, until returning and continuing his studies, this time as an optometrist. While in the Ilium School Billy meets his future wife with whom years later he has two kids:Barbara and Robert. After reading this we can see that Billy grew up as a normal child, going to school such as we do, serving in the military like most boys have to and returning home specializing in a career and starting a family like most of us intend to do.

We then begin to notice some changes in the novel, since it becomes more dramatic and thrilling. We are told that Billy is the only survivor of a plane crash and that his wife has past away, this is when he abruptly decides to go to New York City and get a radio program devoted to talk were he talks about how he was abducted by aliens in 1967 and taken to the planet of Tralfamadore, a month later he writes a letter to the newspaper about aliens, and the cretures found on this planet. I began to wonder why such an akward subject was being brought ou. Being abducted by aliens? Will that mean something important further on in the story? Barbara, his daughter, afraid that his father has lost his sanity brings him home, but soon her father was writing a second letter about his expirience with aliens. Billy then tells us about the first time he became "unstuck." It was during World War II while he was a chaplains assitance in South Carolina, after the Battle of the Bulge in which a copule of soldiers were left behind, among them Billy, two scouts and Roland Weary. Roland was an insecure man , which dreamed about being a hero an was naive when believing he could be one easily, but most peopel were disgusted by Roland thus he is described as, "...been unpopular becausehe was stupidand fat and mean, and smelled like bacon no matter how much he washed." (pg. 35) What was so peculiar about Ronald was the way he reacted when being ditched.

Billy then again has several time shifts, he travels to when he was a small boy being thrown in a swimming pool by his father, he then journeys to his mother nursuring home, to his son banquet, to a party were he cheats on his wife, and so on, until he returns to the battle were he has been left behind, soon the two scouts decide to ditch them too so Billy and Ronald are left behind. alone. Briefly Billy time travles to the speech of the newly elected president until he elaps back to the war were Ronalds terrifying personality begins to show. Ronald begins to beat up Billy, he was accusing him of breaking the bond between him and the scouts, he begins to torture him drastically, "Billy was down on all fours on the ice and Weary kicked him in the ribs..." (pg.51) Suddenly Ronald realizes that they are surrounded by German soldiers and police dogs, they have been captured!!!

reading the second chapter thousands of questions came running to my mind. I wonder why the author uses such random subjects for his time travel such as aliens, planets and him cheating among other. Perhaps they have a specific purpose. I also wondere. d, why Vonnegut gave such distinct traits to his characters, must they mean something? I also observed a specific trait that made me curious. This interesting characteristic that drew my attention was how he repeatedly wrote: “So it goes” after someone had diseased, for instance, “The plane had crashed on top of Sugarbush Mountain, in Vermont. Everybody was killed but Billy. So it goes.” (pg.25) As well as, “While Billy was recuperating in a hospital in Vermont, his wife died accidently of carbon-monoxide poisoning. So it goes.” (pg.25) I hope that as we continue reading the novel, the meanings for several of my questions begin to be answered.

What is a blog questions

Questions
A. What is the difference between a blog and a book?
B. How have blogs changes recently?
C. Why might you read a blog?
D. Is there reason to doubt the objectivity of a blog? Why? Why not?
E. If you kept your own blog, what would you title it?

Answers

A. There are many differences that we can fing among books and blogs. Besides the fact that blogs are found only online while books are printed, both of this sources possess unique characteristics that differientate them from each other. For instance books contain complete narratives wich flow and usually are written from a single author, they also use correct grammar and vocaulary as well as focusing on a single subject. On the other hand blogs are made up of entries and comments that are posted online. They can either talk about politics, science, society, gossip, sex or news for naming a few, but what is so peculiar about blogs is that people have the opportunity of learning from different perspectives since users have the possibility of discussing, commenting and stating their personal opinion, in other word blogs are interactive. Apart from being able to write about a wide range of subject, blogs allow post to be disorganized, badly punctuated, use emoticons and abbreviations. Additionally blogs may contain graphics, sidebars, pictures or videos. Thus we can conclude that there are various differences between books and blogs.

B. Way back in the early 1980s newspapers, diaries and magazines began to be published on line, thus giving a begining to what we now call a blog. It wasnt until 1998 that it began gaining popularity when being used as a place to record links, were instead of placing commentary, "Blood notes" were used to give a fraction of information on the site. It was in 1999 when the system developed, more tools and settings for its use, therefore it caused an increase in its recognition and popularity. As the number of blog users increased, it began to be used as an interactive site in which discussions were held about various topics, in which videos, photos and grphics could be added. It was later on that the name Weblog was addapted to We Blog and finally addapting its current name: blog. Blogs have gained so much accepatance that it is estimated that there are more than 100 million blogs world wide. Therfore we can clearly see that the use of blogs have evolved drastically over time, both refering to the way it is used, its purposes and how it is called.

C. I personally would use a blog in order to learn about various topics and about a variaty of opinions on different subjects. I would also like to interact in discussions as well as begin my personal entries that focused on my entries and observe how people would react to them

D. Blogs are entries in which people have the opportunity to discuss and share there opinion with out having to back it up. They can place any information they desire to and can omit anything they want. Therfore most of the information or opinions placed on blogs arent necesarily true. As a result you should always judge the objectivity of a blog.

E. If I kept my own blog I would title it according to the subject I would focus on. For instance if the blog would talk about a specific movie, I would name it after it, like on this blog whichs subject is assignments for Pre-AP English, it is called Pre-AP English.

Camila Loboguerrero Pre-AP English