Reading Comprehension: The green mile

The green mile 

Summarize the text:

The Green Mile is the story of John Coffey, a convicted murderer and rapist, told through the standpoint of Paul Edgecombe, a prison guard on the “green mile,” their term for the cell block where those on death row reside.  Over the course of the story, Paul notices that Coffey exhibits odd qualities.  As if to prove this theory, once, agonized and confused by a urinary infection, he enters Coffey’s cell, violating prison regulations.  Coffey seizes his chance, and touches Paul where he hurts.  Although appalled at first by the inmate’s action, realizes before long that his infection has been cured. 

At a later point in the story, Percy, another guard and antagonist, steps on the pet mouse of prisoner Eduard Delacroix, nicknamed Mr. Jingles.  Delacroix, a convicted arson and murderer, screams at demise of his beloved rodent.  Coffey calmly looks up at Edgecombe, and demands that the mouse be handed to him.  Paul momentarily hesitates, then complied, hence Mr. Jingles is healed. 

Some time passes, and it is brought to Paul’s attention that the wife of the warden, whom he knows very well, is sick with brain cancer.   Paul decides that he has a chance to save Mrs. Moore’s life.  He convinces his fellow guards to aid him in smuggling Coffey out of the prison.  They do so, and soon arrive at the Warden Moore’s place of residence.  Amazingly, he does not prevent the inmate from going to his wife, and allows him to cure her of the disease.  She seems to awaken, as if from sleepwalking, and is unaware of the passed time since the cancer began to hurt her.
The guards return to the prison, and to an infuriated Percy.  Yet, he turns to leave, and goes buy John Coffey’s cell.  Coffey reaches through the bars, and grabs the guard.  He breathes the disease from his mouth into Percy’s, who instantly goes insane.  He pulls out his pistol, and shoots the inmate, William Wharton, in the cell behind him.  He presently becomes comatose, and is taken to a mental institution.  Percy Wetmore never utters another word again.

Analyze the text:

The Green Mile is a masterpiece among the variety of masterpieces that have been written by Stephen King.  It imbues an assortment of values, symbols, and other literary devices.  Coffey holds the archetypal status of wise fool, being unintelligent by the standards of the others surrounding him, yet holding the power of healing, that which no other can have.  He also personifies the never ending struggle between life and death.  While Coffey may hold all the power of healing, and therefore, life, inside himself, he is unable to prevent his inevitable demise at the electric chair.  Everything must come to an end.  The Warden Moore imbues the Archetype of Law in this story.  While it is clear to those that Coffey has effected that he has done nothing to warrant his punishment, the nature of law is unstoppable, and the sentence must be carried out.

Coffey is also the centerpiece for religious symbols in the story.  He symbolizes Jesus, and the archetype of the Hanged Man.  While innocent of the crimes of which he has been convicted, Coffey allows himself to be led to his death.  The reader may infer the possibility that Coffey may simply heal himself, therefore making himself essentially unkillable.  Yet is the nature of his role in the story that he cannot do so.  He is given the power to help, but only in an unselfish manner. 

Another religious symbol found is in the character of Percy Wetmore.  He displays the archetype of the Devil.  He is a source of negative powers, relentlessly aimed in the offense against the protagonists.  Fighting against the power of Percy and those who bend to his will give them the power to continue.

The Green Mile has a variety of conflicts that ensure the smooth running of the story.  Possibly the most prominent is that of Person versus Nature, found in Mrs. Moore’s struggle against her body’s cancerous invader.  The conflict is ended by the unbalancing of the sides, when John Coffey heals her, ridding her of her figurative opponent.  A secondary, yet still important conflict is the Person Versus Person struggle between Percy Wetmore, and the other prison guards on the green mile.  This conflict is resolved, again by John Coffey, when he passes Mrs. Moore’s disease unto him.

Dying for their beliefs: Christian Scientist parents on trial in girls death

BRAINSTORMING

• Religion decisions

• Religious principles

• Fanaticism

• Constitutional rights

HYPOTHESIS

• The most precious thing that everybody has is to be alive, not matter the religion or the beliefs that everyone choose for his life, but in this world we can find some things that we never imagined like the fanaticism.

OUTLINING

           1. Definition of religion.

           2. What is the fanaticism?
           3. What about Amy’s case..

               3.1 Different point of views
           4. Conclusion.

DRAFT

1. Definition of religion.

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.{1} Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.

2. What is the fanaticism?
Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particulary for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby. A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject, so this definition displays very strict standards and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. 
The behavior of a Fans with a lot of enthusiasm for a given subject is differentiated from the behavior or a fanatic by the fanatic's violation of prevailing social norms, the fan's behavior may be judged as eccentric, it does not violate such norms.
The religion  is  obviously  a human right, but  it shouldn't be the most important into the human life, because in the past  it would  make much pain, and has taken millions of lives, due to the negligence of fanatic religious people.

3. What about Amy’s case..

Amy was a little girl with blond hair and bubbly ways. Amy's parents are Christian Scientist, and unfortunately,  they decided to try to heal the child with prayer rather than seek a doctor's, this situation ending with the Amy's dead. They had better make another choose, but didn't. Now Amy's parents were scheduled to go on trial, on charges of third-degree murder and felony child abuse. They have maintained that prosecutors wanted to violate their constitutional right of religious freedom, and, that treated their daughter with proven method of healing.

3.1 Different point of views

• The Christian Scientist said that they would was doing any different thing than the medical treatment used to do.
• The Medical Examiner concluded that medical treatment up just hours before her death probably could have saved Amy.
• The legal community, said: " The children have a right to live healthily and be brought up to make their own religious decisions ".

4.Conclusion

Is important say that the personal decisions should make it like individual and social people, always trying to respect another lives and the different point of views.
And modestly I think I have always believed that any kind of truth imposed, even if done with tact, diplomacy and sensitivity, always corresponds to subtle forms of fanaticism. 

I think that the fanatic is someone who is convinced that just believing in God and living a moral life is simply not enough. They feel compelled to engage in behaviors that demonstrate his faith. They believe that the magnitude of those behaviors must be commensurate with the strength of his faith. The more they believe, the more they have to do to show it, as a result we can see cases like Amy where the faith won to the human logic.

 References

1. "Cultural system" (Clifford Geertz, Religion as a Cultural System, 1973.

My memories

When I was 15 years old I used to play guitar all day with my friends, but every night I used to do my homework of the high school until 11 pm. I remember that I used to play guitar in a punk band, the name of my band was Antitodo , We used to play every Saturday at night in the best pub in this City! ,But they didn’t use to pay us, but in these times it didn’t matter.

We used to smoke and drink always before the concert because we felt a little scare to play for all those people, but at the end always we rock!!! After the concert we used to celebrate with all our friends, and we used to get every night a new girlfriend. In the last concert I knew the most beautiful girl in the world, so I found the girl of my dreams, she was very nice and we used to do everything together until 3 years ago, she left me because she won a scholarship in Argentina.

Shopping

Dear Sr. Smith

The last week I bought a XBOX , but unfortunately, the product does work as intended.  It turns itself off after just five or ten minutes of operation. I am disappointed because I have paid for a XBOX that is clearly not in working order. Each time it shuts itself down, I have to stop what I am doing and restart it. It is the third one I've had to return this month.

I bought it from ABC stores at Niquia, I was careful to follow the instructions for use, honestly.

Please resolve this problem by a full refund. I paid cash for the XBOX, and I prefer cash in return. I have enclosed a copy of the receipt.

Please let me know at your earliest convenience when I may come for the money.

I'm looking forward to your reply and the resolution of this matter. I will wait two weeks before turning to a consumer protection agency. Please contact me at the above street address or email, or by phone at 342349938.

I really appreciate your help.

Sincerely,

Julian Vargas D

Final Project

CULTURAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES

INTRODUCTION

It is always interesting to study other cultures and it is extremely important to do just that if you are going to have interactions with them, because you don't want to insult someone or embarrass yourself and your own culture. China is one of those interesting cultures, normally we know about this country, through movies or the local Chinese restaurant, but all the things that we have learned is a little bit useless. Only a sincere study of a culture is the way to truly appreciate the differences.

These differences do not make either culture better or worse than the other one. It just shows their differences which has been created through centuries of history and development. China has their traditions and customs for thousands or year. America is still a young nation, it has had very few traditions because there are a mix of cultures so there is almost no specific American culture, this makes both cultures unique and worthy of study and respect.

CHINA vs THE UNITED STATES

Social Structure:  In china the social structure is more formal an hierarchical than USA. You know where you fit in the structure and you tolerate by rules there. There is no crossing into others areas.

In America, it is more informal than China. It is not uncommon to see those of various social levels socializing and knowing each other. There are very few lines that socially are not allowed to be crossed.

Collective/Individualism: The Chinese looks more at the group collective than at individualism. America has become known for it is push of individualism which has been a source of conflict with other cultures that look collectively. A person from China is more prone to look at how theirs acts affect the whole instead of how it affects them personally. They are more willing to give up and sacrifice for the greater good.

America's individualism has been its backbone and the reason for it is success as a world power.

Reputation: Reputation of the individual is very important in China. If an action will humiliate someone or ruin a reputation , it is avoided. When shame occurs, the person sacrifices their job or whatever it is that will heal the shame.
In America, reputations come and go overnight and in the end usually does not matter. The end result is more of the focus. A person is more likely to overlook a reputation to get the job done.

Morals: Chinese society places high values on the morals of their people. Marriage is not encouraged until the late twenties. In fact, dating is discouraged early in a young adult's life and proprieties are expected to be held up.
The American culture is more relaxed.

Recognition of the Dead: One of the time honored traditions of the Chinese is the recognition of the dead. Once a year, all members of a family visit the gravesites of each ancestor and pay their respects. Honoring ancestors is very important in Chinese culture.
This is in direct contrast to most Americans who rarely know where the majority of their ancestors are laid to rest. This might be due to the fact that most Americans are immigrants who either have lost the information on grave locations or the locations are in foreign countries. China's culture is much older and the percentage of immigration is far less.

Humility: Humility is a revered virtue in Chinese culture. The success of one's business or personal life is downplayed while in America the successes are lauded. Most Americans in the fast business world consider humility a sign of weakness. This can be an issue that hurts inter cultural relations.

Time Sensitivity: Crossing cultures for business can be frustrating when it interferes with getting the job  done. Most Americans are very time sensitive when it comes to meeting and deadlines. If the meeting was to commence at 2:00, then all parties are to be present at that time. The Chinese don not view time as an absolute but more as a suggestion. Concern is not expressed for a meeting starting late or ending at a different time. The same can be applied to deadlines. If a report is due on Friday, an American would be waiting for that report to be received before end of business day. The Chinese would not worry if it showed up several days later.

Respect: Being sensitive to another person's needs is very important in Chinese culture. It is expected that you will respect the other person and treat them well. Their needs are met at each encounter. This is a characteristic has fallen on the wayside in most American circles.

CONCLUSIONS

Different countries have different societal structures, business norms and ways of forming relationships. Analyzing cultural norms is not a means to determine a model way of life, but it is a way of understanding how countries and individuals interact on a local, national and international scale. China and the United States are leading global super powers, and yet they have different cultural practices.

Elementary Podcasts

Fell Running

Fell running, also known as mountain running and hill running, is the sport of running and racing, of road, over upland country where teh gradient climbed is a significant componet of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport on the fells of northern Britain, especially  those in the lake Distric.

Fell running is a sport that you run in the countryside, so you can see beautiful scenery, and can run by different way. Before people did the fell running for have fun o for competition, but now the people run for money and people gamble.

He said that there are two different kinds of people that are doing this sport: the professional people but they need to pay and the amateurs they don’t need to pay. He didn’t pay because he enjoys it and loves running. 

A few time ago he moved to the lake district and he said that the scenery is so beautiful, also he said something the fell running become so hard and difficult because the weather for example in winter you can become freeze, but he said that fell running is very nice because you can run whatever you want and you feel really free.

Quiz test: 

Topic:Holidays

• Passport: The document that you need to travel to another country.
• Sunbathing: On beach, reading a book and trying to get some sun
• Sightseeing: you travel around visiting the interesting places that tourists usually visit.  
• To pack : you do before you go on holidays, you put all your clothes and the things on suitcase.   
• Sunglasses: something that you wear to keep the sun out your eyes .
• Guidebook: if you go outside you have a book to tell you, where you must go the different place to visit like a restaurant and interesting place in a city.

SUBWAY Stories: The red shoes

In this story we can see an altercation between an angry homeless man and the business woman who he manages to enrage by repeatedly running over her feet with his chair.

• The writer: He was writing everything that he saw, he is wearing a plaid t-shirt, he is polite and looks very quiet but suddenly he asked to the black woman about something that she said.

• The woman in red shoes: She is a business woman, she was reading carefully but suddenly a homeless guy in a wheelchair running over her expensive red shoes so became very angry, after that she took his cup with the money and sadly she did something horrible with the homeless guy and stole his money.

• The Homeless guy: He is very aggressive and talkative, he was asking money but he got a problem with a business women when running over her expensive red shoes, at the end he lost his money because the business women took it, so automatically he asked money again but a black woman said that it was a scam so nobody gave money to him.

• The black women: She is a liar because she was patiently and carefully listening to the homeless guy to asked money but suddenly she said to everyone don’t gave money to him because he and the woman in red shoes did a scam, but the black women was lying because she didn’t know the real true.