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Ten Forces that made me who I am today. The first force which has morphed me into who I am today is, which is probably going to be on a lot of other peoples pages, is the divorce of my parents. It was tough at the time, but it definitely was for the better, and it taught me a lot about life and about how to plan my future. Another force that taught me life lessons was having my part-time job. Although I quit, it taught me a lot of people skills and about responsibility and the importance of being punctual. A third force that changed me is television. While this may seem ridiculous, a lot of my comedy comes from shows that I watch, and my own sense of humor is a pretty important aspect of my life. A force also which impacts me is my family. They give me advice that I would not normally have thought of on my own, and they push me to be a better person. A similar, yet very different force is my friends. I wouldn't say they provide the same functions as my family in the ways of shaping who I am, but they allow for different kinds of interactions than I can have with my family. A force that has shaped my future more has been school. It has made me more open to learning on my own and furthering my education. A force that is mostly driving my future is my recent discovery for an interest in accounting. This is driving me to go to college and get my major in accounting, and eventually become a CPA. Another, more untraditional force driving me to who I am today is my love for the city of Pittsburgh. I would love after college to be able to find a well paying entry-level position at an accounting firm in Pittsburgh. Just sort of wipe the slate clean and start all over with a city of unknown people. Yet another driving force is my fathers profession of a State Police trooper. While I looked to follow in his footsteps for a short while, I eventually decided on a different route. Even still, his commitment to serving his country has motivated me in several ways. A final driving force would probably be my sister. Throughout her years, people have told her she can't, can't, can't, and eventually she just did. Her courage is one that I would like to find in myself one day.

Caleb Gerberick- I like what you said about Pittsburgh and kind of wiping your slate clean. I think that would be pretty cool. Also, the job was definitely a force for me too as far as responsibilty.

Lauren Poland: Alex, I really liked what you said about your relationships with your family and your friends. Especialy the line about how they give you advice that you wouldnt have thought of on your own. Tis true, and they'll be there for you no matter what.


 * Wiki Post #1 due 12.5.13**

The book I chose to read for my individual leisure is //Gulliver's Travels// by Jonathan Swift. Swift is a writer out of Dublin, living from 1667-1745. Many of his pieces are satirical, picking apart social and political issues he notices in his home country and portraying them in published work. //Gulliver's Travels// was, and still is, read by children as a fairy tale and by adults as a piece mocking society, crudely but truly. The book consists of 4 parts, each broken down into chapters. For the sake of easy division, I read the first two chapters for this post and am saving the last two for the second post. Book 1 is titled //A Voyage to Lilliput//, the second being called //A Voyage to Brobdingnag.//


 * Book 1 Summary**

//A Voyage to Lilliput// begins with telling of Lemuel Gulliver's (henceforth referred to as "Gulliver") beginnings in Nottinghamshire, England. He studies and becomes a surgeon, later joining a voyagers expedition, serving as their doctor. After returning home, an opportunity presents itself to Gulliver to make one last expedition before settling down in home. As the ship approaches the East Indies, an awesome storm overcomes the ship, completely destroying it and desolating the crew. Gulliver, disoriented and forlorn, swims for the nearest shore he can see, climbs onto shore and passes out.

As he is aroused from slumber, he finds himself tightly bound in ligatures, unable to move and looking straight up into the sky. He feels a scuttle along his leg and looks down, utterly shocked to find a humanoid creature no bigger than six inches climbing on his person. The inhabitants then subdue Gulliver and take him back to their main city, where the leader is to decide his fate. The leader treats him with the utmost respect and clemency, eventually granting him his freedom on restrictions. He is accommodated wonderfully, and fed to his engorgement every morning. Gulliver soon then learns of two hostile forces facing Lilliput: a rebel group and a foreign empire. Due to his formidable size, Gulliver is asked to help in correcting these discrepancies, and he is glad to help. However, he learns that the emperor, who has been nothing but auspicious to Gulliver, has a sinister agenda for the people of Blefuscu. He plans to not only conquer their region, but to enslave them. This turns Gulliver off to the entire nation of Lilliput, and he flees to the nation of Blefuscu. He then takes an extremely large warship and makes his escape.


 * Book 2 Summary**

Gulliver is rescued by a merchant ship and brought back to the coast of England. However, for ungodly reasons Gulliver feels the need to set off on yet another expedition. His crew and he are sent to an island in search of clean water, where they encounter a nation filled with giants. Gulliver's crew escapes; he, however, was not so lucky. He is trapped by a giant, a farmer, and is brought back to his home where his father inspects him. He is treated with care, but also intense curiosity, as none so small have been seen before. He is then given to his daughter, who tends to Gulliver in a most acceptable manner. Soon after, the farmer sells Gulliver to the King of the nation. The two confer a while about Gulliver's countries norms and values. The king seems overly-shocked by the assumed greediness of Gulliver and his people. Gulliver is then on an overlook, gazing out to sea, when an eagle swoops by and picks him up. The eagle carries him for a bit before dropping him into the sea. Yet again, Gulliver is saved by a passing boat and taken back to England. From reading this half of the book, I can definitely tell that it lives up to its standard as satirical genius. It is an extremely exaggerate piece of literature that can be compared to everything from the prison system to political conquest. In part one where Gulliver is imprisoned, however he is not truly treated as he is actually in prison. He is still kept after extremely well, but not serving an actual purpose to further benefiting society, he is merely being kept alive. This could be reflective of contemporary taxes, in the sense that you are free, but the government in the end owns you. When Jonathan Swift was writing this book, he could most definitely have been relating the entire political policy to England, whom at the time was extremely possessive of their citizens and territories. The Church of England ruled with an iron fist, and any who opposed were prosecuted to the furthest extent. They were also meticulous with their conquest and colonization of other countries, Scotland and Ireland specifically. I really reflect on the part of the story where we realize that the emperor is just using Gulliver as a tool, and he does not have any empathy to him as a human being whatsoever. It really makes you look through your own life and be more introspective about why you're being nice to a certain person. While I believe it is innate disposition of humans to want to do whatever they can to get ahead in life, this is a most undesirable trait.
 * Analysis**
 * Application **

This section of the book is very applicable to the essential questions of the course pertaining to human nature spanning culture and time. //Gulliver's Travels//, while published in

the 17th century, share uncanny similarities with contemporary human interaction. For one, a very manipulative nature is seen in both time periods. People are not so swift to

candid about their intention, which results in deceit and trickery, normally to create an advantageous situation for one party. The characters use somewhat similar technology.

While quite obviously antiquated, much of the technology is still in use today. Technology such as pocket watches, guns, swords, handkerchiefs, bow and arrows, and ships.

Human roles did not vary vastly from what they are today. You have your upper class, middle class, and lower class. Upper class being the nobles and council members in

book. Middle being the merchants and those who lives in the metropolis itself. And then, the lower class, which would be those who served the upper two tiers by doing work

the others didn't necessarily want to do, such as farming, cleaning and construction. All the classes are necessary, as the one above it is built on the one below it, and

vice-versa. Human greed is the best exemplified human ideal that persists through culture. Well met in this piece, the emperor of Lilliput merely uses Gulliver for his size in

order to crush his enemies and make them his subordinates. He fails to take into account how his requests will affect other people, blinded by his own aspirations.

I'm not sure what happened here but the formatting made it quite a challenge to read.


 * Wiki post #2 due 1.8.14**

**Book 3 Summary**: Gulliver finds himself aboard a boat, once again traveling the seas. They are bound for Levant (current day Middle Eastern countries), when the boat is attacked by pirates. The pirates throw Gulliver in a single boat which then drifts him away into the sea while the boat is plundered. While floating through the sea, Gulliver happens upon the land of Laputa, which is floating in the sky. The inhabitants seem somewhat schizoid, as they tend to prefer the solitude company of themselves. They are a community that cherishes intellect above all else, especially in the fields of mathematics and music. Anyone who does not have a liking for both of these are shunned from society and deemed of a lower intellectual quality. Most all of the natives treat Gulliver in this manner, except for one other who is cast from society, who befriends Gulliver. Scientists of the country use mechanisms to maneuver the city in the sky to different points in the sky. Gulliver explores the islands below Laputa, and eventually finds himself in Japan. He hitches a ride from Japan, then to Amsterdam, and finally arriving back at England.

**Book 4 Summary**: While the captain of a merchant ship en route to Barbados, several of Gulliver’s peons fall ill and die. When they dock ship in Barbados, Gulliver hires a few men to replace those who died. When out on the open sea, the hired men reveal themselves as pirates. They convince the rest of Gulliver’s sailors to mutiny, and they ditch Gulliver on a presumed to be abandoned island. Of course, for the sake of preserving the very essence of this book, the island is not deserted. He is soon found by physically distorted and hairy humanoids, later revealed to be called “Yahoos.” The Yahoos beleaguer Gulliver by climbing atop trees and releasing their bowels on top of him. He is rescued by a stallion from the race of beings later revealed to be the Houyhnhnm. The horses were civilized and had an adapted native tongue. Gulliver discovers that the Houyhnhnm have the Yahoos locked in cages, kept as their own animals. Gulliver is kept as a sort of pet for close to two years. In this time, he learns the Houyhnhnm’s language and converses with his master about all the social happenings from Gulliver’s homeland. However, after some time, the Houyhnhnms become disgusted by Gulliver, as they see him as a Yahoo being allowed to live in their homes. He is asked to leave, and so he does. He builds a canoe, an hitches a few rides back to England. He, however, finds himself disgusted by his own family, and by the rest of society. He views them as the Houyhnhnm view the Yahoos. He therefore purchases two horses, and spends countless hours per day conversing with them for the rest of his life.

**Analysis**: There is an obvious acclivity in the depth of the story with these two books, the fourth book in particular. They really delve into social issues that are still around today, whereas the first two books have more or less been eradicated and are no longer present in our contemporary setting. The society of Laputa is a profound one indeed today. Those who are pretentious and view themselves as superior look down on those they deem insignificant. A society that is composed of predominantly one caste of people will inevitably shun out the ones who don’t fit in with the normal happenings. Book 4 was zealously my favorite of the book, as the social mirroring is impeccable. The book is such a shock because the very animals that we enslave are shown putting us in shackles. We are viewed as the dirty and disgusting creatures who wallow in our own filth, while the horses are the accomplished species. We think nothing of chaining up a horse in stables, but when it is shown occurring to our or kind, the thought it reproachable.

**Application**: Book 3 mirrors this courses essential question about what spans time and culture, I believe. The hubris of these beings is very off putting, and it does not seem like a well-functioning city. The inhabitants are absorbed in their endeavourous studies, and they believe themselves greater than all others. Any who don’t share their ideals or love for particular fields of knowledge are shunned from society. We see this sort of cultural hegemony in nearly every society in the world. Whether it be on a national scale or just a local community, there is always one predominant ideology, and any that differ from that are shunned or not widely accepted. This spans from what sort of clothing you dress yourself in to what religion you do or do not practice. This is a most undesirable, yet extremely profound quality that we as human beings have and always will possess. Book 4 is also a good example as we don’t think of how our actions affect the wellbeing of others. Either that we honestly don’t give it any thought, or that we don’t WANT to give it any thought. This could interweave with the current essential term “Knowledge is power, ignorance is bliss.” Those who are abundantly aware that their actions are causing dismay on a party could either exploit this to their own advantage, or they could speak out against it in the hopes of abolishing the wrong doing. Those who do not pay any attention to the matter will not be bothered, as they will sense no wrongdoing on either party.

Your understanding seems quite sophisticated. I am glad you were able to read so much understanding into the text. 24.5/25