Combines

Big Nurse's reign can be compared to a combine. She tries to emasculate the patients and "harvest" them under her rule and keep them at equal heights like grain in a field. McMurphy has not yet fallen under the spell of Big Nurse, but he stands out in the ward, like a tall grain that was missed by the combine, and can still be harvested. He is just a stubborn man who will not fall under Big Nurse's ways, but he will eventually have to give up. Big Nurse is relentless in having order, and she will continue to use her tactics as a combine to harvest all of the patients, even the stubborn outlier McMurphy.

I do not believe that every institution is a combine. Our school encourages creativity and individualism, which is not like a combine's harvest. We are like grains of a different height, some excel and some do not, and no one is cut down and harvested if they grow too much. However, correctional institutions are more like combines, as they need to keep order and unity for it to function properly. There are many cases that are similar to the Ward, but not all institutions fall into the same category as a combine.

Our school's like a pirson, I swear.

I feel that our school administration has some weird rules that seem unnecassary to the students, just how Big Nurse's rules seem to the patients at the ward. Both create rules and belittle the members of the establishment. One rule that the school implies is the late policy. This applies to both homeroom, and making it to class on time. i get a ride from my brother who is often late, and I do not like suffering consequences because of him. The more annoying one, is the late to class rule that some teachers stand by strictly. 4 minutes is not enough time to make it across this giant school of ours, and with traffic it makes it even worse. The worst part is, that they never accept any excuse, and humiliate us in front of the class and throw punishments at us despite us trying to get to class on time. This is similar to Big Nurse's emasculation of the ward members.

Another pointless rules is the no electronic policy. I understand that you can't text in class, as that disracts you from learning. i feel that you should be allowed to text your parents something about ride arrangements or whatever in the halls or during lunch. Not being allowed to text during lunch doesn't really make sense to me, as we aren't learning anything during this time. They assume that we are having conversations with students, but that is not always the case, and even if it were true they would catch the person texting in class. This would remove many problems that we have with the no cell phone policy if they let us text in the halls, bathroom, or cafeteria. This is another way of the administration belittleing us like the Big Nurse.

Aside from silly rules, just the way our school is set up is like a ward. We follow a strict routine just like them. When I read the book i often envision the hallways to look like one of ours. The routine is a way of keeping all of us in line. I am not saying that this aspect of school is bad, as it in necessary. I just find it interesting that our school and the ward hold so many similarities.  I just think the school should be a little more lenient on its policies, we are treated like small children or mental patients, where in most societies we would be considered adults. Our school is on top of its disciplinary system, and the computers can track down any kid skipping a class. That is why I feel that our school is similar to the ward in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

whatchu know about yo brain?

The human brain is a never ending mystery. The rest of the body has all of its functions recorded by scientists, but the control center, the brain, is far too complicated. This is why many mental illness cannot be cured, or even fully understood. Medicine can do very little to help the brain. symptoms may be treated, but cures are not found found for mental illness.

Scientists have the brain mapped out, and all of the chemicals that cause our thoughts, feelings and emotions. I have learned from health class and biology that the human brain is too delicate to mess with. drugs that were made for mental health issues become illegal, such as LSD and Ecstasy. This is because tampering with the brains chemicals can cause devastating side affects. We learned all about that after watching The Lobotomist, and learned about how lobotomies are dangerous.

Many strives have been made in brain medicine. Brain surgeons are extremeley adept and skilled due to the delacacy of the brain. The functions and areas of the brain are all understood but it is difficult to use them to our advantage. The brain is far more complex that the rest of the human body. I hope that people continue to work on and learn more about the brain to help mentally ill patients as well as other ailments to the brain.

movies...

I am not a huge movie fan, but i know a good movie when I see one. My top 10 favorite movies are as following: The Shawshank Redemption, It's a Wonderful Life, The Boondock Saints, Into the Wild, The Godfather,The Godfather part II, Shutter Island, Brave heart, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Anchorman. I prefer drama or action packed movies to comedies. I also like to watch anything that makes me think beyond what is shown in the picture.

I don't really enjoy watching movies, and I only do when I am extremely bored. I also hate watching movies with friends because all I want to do is criticize it and talk to them, and I think watching movies is an unsocial and boring thing to do with people. I feel that I just lack the focus to watch movies, and I get bored if the plot isn't interesting. I would much rather watch TV shows than movies, as they do not take as long.

I like watching movies with my little brother, because he has a similar personality with me and has a sarcastic view on things. he could talk throughout any movie and it wouldn't bother me at all, in fact I feel that it enhances my movie watching experience. This causes problems, as most people want silence when watching movies, so I would advise that you do not see a movie with me and him.

Themes

Things breaking in death of a salesman are examples of how Willy's life is falling apart. He cannot hold together his family and job, and is going mad. Willy's failing car represents his failing business, for as a salesman his car is his office. The porch shows how the family is being tattered, and it is just a broken remnant of what used to be a good thing. I am interested to see how this theme will carry on into the next acts.

Another theme in the play is Time. When Ben visits, he is in a hurry to leave. This shows the closing window for Willy to be successful, as his brother has little time to spend with him because of his work. Willy's lack of a clock keeps him living in the past, and is causing him to go crazy. Willy's struggle against time is a losing battle, as he cannot stay in the present and does not have a whole lot of time left in his life.

Nostalgia is the most occurring theme in my opinion. Willy i stuck thinking in the past because he had more hope and promise during that time. This was before his sons were failures, and had seemingly unlimited potential. He was still a young man, and he thought his business could only go up. This was a better time for Willy, as he was still on the path to success and thought it would continue. His view of the American Dream was not yet ruined by the harsh reality of life during his past, and that is why his thoughts stay in this time.

Death of a Salesman

1. Willy wants his sons to work hard to make it in life. He is a hard working sales man, and thinks that his sons can achieve success through hard work like he did. This is an important value to be teaching his sons, as they went through high school being very popular and having alot going for them, but now find themselves back at home without work. This concept is very worthwhile to teach young men. Hard work will prevent you from taking your success for granted, and make you work for all that you earn.

2. Willy lives a stressed overworked life. He is getting old, and is beginning to lose his sense. This causes him to have conflicting views, and he thinks too much about unimportant things. His wife Linda plays along with him and supports all that he says. I think that this has two effects, for in the short term it helps Willy and herself, as he won't snap at her and he won't get distressed. However, letting it continue can prevent him from ever stopping. I think she should continue doing what she is doing, as it is not completely harmful to anyone.

The Scarlet Letter movie

This week in class we watched the movie of the novel we've been reading. I found it quite funny, especially the scene with Dimmesdale going crazy and the appearance of the "A" in the sky. I also found the Chillingworth character to be very creepy and was not as I had envisioned him to be. Despite the low quality of the film, it captured the story perfectly and stayed true to the book. I like watching the movie, as it paints a better picture of what is happening in the story.
I found the writing in the book to be difficult to follow. This was because of the time it was written in, and it is more difficult to process the essence of what is happening without thinking twice about what you read. I also disliked the over done descriptions used by the author, as they made simple scenes confusing. This is why I like to read a book, and watch it's movie to get the full effect of it. I am not sure, however, if this is just due to my lack of creativity while reading.
I think I felt like this about the Scarlet Letter because I really didn't like the story. I thought the Crucible was much better, and had a far superior movie. When I read a book that I am truly interested in I do not need a movie to imagine the story in my head. I still find that movies will add to the effect of the book, even though it impossible for them to encompass the entire plot. This does not bother me, as I am not married to the text and both are just mere forms of entertainment in my view.