Description of Elephants

Sight
1. "The sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere, when I was a safe distance"
2. "He was an Indian, a black Dravidian coolie, almost naked, and he could not have been dead many minutes."

3. "I watched him beating his bunch of grass against his knees, with that preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have.

4. "His face was coated with mud, the eyes wide open, the teeth hared and grinning with an expression of unendurable agony."

Sound

5. "The insults hooted after me"
6. "Some more women followed, clicking their tongues and exclaiming"

Touch
7. "all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt."
8. "This was the rainy season and the ground was soft, and his face had scored a trench a foot deep and a couple of yards long."

9. "I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me foreword, irresistibly."

Smell
10. "The wretched creatures huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the gray, cowed faces of the long-term convicts"

Handling Opposition

I have always been non-confrontational. When faced with a difficult opposition, I have been known to back down and give up, like a dog lying belly-up to show the other dogs that he is no threat to them. As I grew older and matured I realized that I needed to stand up for myself and not let anyone take advantage of me. In “Psst: Human Capitalism” the author states that “There’s cultural capital: the habits, assumptions, emotional dispositions and linguistic capacities we unconsciously pick up from families, neighbors, and ethnic groups- usually by age three. In a classic study, James S. Coleman found that what happens in the family shapes a child’s educational achievement more than what happens in school.” I don’t think I had the kind of nurturing as a child to help me overcome conflicts. Usually my sister and I were ignored at home, our parents took little interest in what I did, and my parents were never impressed with my artwork. I think that is one of the reasons why I started drawing so much. I always wanted to draw well enough to impress my parents, yet they never cared. This was one of the oppositions that I was fighting against without even consciously knowing it. When it came to school, however, I avoided every conflict I could. Instead of trying to make friends I would avoid other children, probably from a fear of rejection. In that way, Katie reminds me of myself. In Handling Room 15, Katie spends time with a handicapped man. The nurse told Katie that “Daniel had established a bond with her that they had never seen before. The nurse said he might have fallen in love with her on some basic, incomprehensible level.” After that experience, she never went back to visit Daniel again, effectively avoiding the awkward and difficult situation. In all honesty, I cannot say that I would have reacted differently. I probably would have just avoided the situation all together and just stay away from opposition. Now, I will face opposition, but only if it cannot be avoided, normally I like to just stay away.

Porn Seating in Planes

I think that pornography can be allowed in airlines under strict circumstances. If a section of the plane was designated for pornography and had curtains installed to prevent other passengers from viewing the material then now one if harmed. A majority of frequent fliers sign up for their flights online. They fill out a form that allows them to pick if they seat in the isles or in the window. The airline company would only need to add a check for pornography friendly seating. The people in planes that want to watch pornography can do so, and the rest of the passengers need not be exposed. The seats could be in the back of the plane and have pull away curtains that they can close when they are viewing porn and open when they want drinks or refreshments. It might not be a bad idea for the rest of the plane to install these pull away curtains. It would allow passengers to take a nap and not be bothered by the light in the plane around them. The controversy of censorship can be avoided with a bit of common courtesy from the passengers of the plane. The internet need not be censored if this idea can be implemented and if it works properly.

Building Valuable Skills Together

Video Games can be Educational

Games have long been teaching skills to players without them necessarily realizing it. They teach problem solving, logical thinking, map reading skills, and improve hand eye coordination. Video games are already being implemented to help teach small children how to read and do math, but how can we increase the potential for knowledge in this new and exciting medium?

When I was a small child, I fondly remember my elementary school computer lab. It was my absolute favorite class. I loved booting up Oregon Trail or my super typing game that would shoot aliens out of the sky when I correctly spelled prompted words within the time limit. My fun would not stop when I left school. When I got home, I inserted my disk into my parents computer and loaded up a game where I traveled through the human body. I learned about organs, skeletal structures, and bacterial. I learned and had a blast while doing it.

Now that I am an adult, I see that the new trend in games is geared towards adults and teenagers. Most new games that release are glorious blood baths with 1080p resolution and little to no educational value with the plot of B movies. However, there are still gaming gems that promote new and creative ways of thinking, strategy, problem solving, and basic education.

The game Brain Age for the Nintendo DS was the herald for a new way to play and learn. You play this game by solving math problems, spacial puzzles, and wit. It teaches gamers while they have fun. Since the games release, Nintendo has been working harder to make games that have educational value. Professor Layton and the Curious Village is about solving a mystery by solving logic puzzles for various villagers. The plot does not move along until the player solves these puzzles. Legend of Zelda's dungeons are full of tricky puzzles and the player has to draw on and use their maps to save the day.