Looking Forward

It seems fitting, of course, that I have just finished my final paper at 2:30 in the morning (less than six hours before our final exam time is slated to begin). What a crazy semester.

I don't know exactly what to write on here, but I'll give it my best shot.

It's been a pleasure to work with each and every one of you. I enjoyed hearing different opinions on the wide array of topics we covered in class this year, and I also enjoyed chatting about random other things like who we were playing in hockey in the upcoming weekend, or complaining about all the homework we always seemed to get.

This class was unique to me because I feel like I actually learned something that will stay with me for quite some time. I have this mentality about classwork and education that I'm mostly there to take tests, pass tests, and move onto the next class and the next step of education. Taking time out to read and think about the Middle East and other pertinent topics in today's culture really was beneficial to me. I wish all classes would be more relevant.

If there's one recommendation I can make to all of you, it's to read The Kite Runner. It's fantastic. I just wrote my paper about it, and I'm really happy with it because I feel like I finally have something to write about that I truly believe in. Read the book, you'll love it.

Also, Diane and I went to see the video last week in the Fetzer center, and we both really enjoyed it. The RSO that hosted the event is called the Palestine and Israel Peace Initiative, and they meet Wednesdays at 8 in the Bernhard center. If anyone is interested in going starting next semester, seek me out, I think I'll be going on a weekly basis.

I hope all of you have a safe and wonderful Christmas break, and I hope I didn't annoy any of you too much. Thanks for a great semester guys.

This is Dan, signing out.
:)

The Kite Runner

"Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?"
"No, Baba jan," I said, desperately wishing I did. I didn't want to disappoint him again.
"When you kill a man, you steal a life," Baba said. "You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see? There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir..."

Taken from pages 17-18 of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.

I'm not sure quite where to start. This book is, so far, beyond fantastic, and is quickly becoming one of my favorite novels. I've read about 200 pages in the past two days, and I feel like I'm completely immersed in it. If I'm in another class, I'm thinking about this book - if I'm hanging out with my friends, I catch myself wondering what's going to happen next. I'm hooked.

On top of the immense amount of pleasure I'm getting from reading the book, it's a very deep read, as well. I find myself having to take breaks after each chapter to deliberate the intended meaning of certain passages, as well as taking a break emotionally because the story has the tendency to become quite heart-wrenching. What an amazing novel. I'm blessed to be finishing the class reading it.

Right now, as I stated earlier, I'm at about page 200. I'm only writing in this now so I can take a break and help myself get some thoughts on paper and then get immediately back to reading. I hope everyone has found a new love just like this for their final paper.

I may just write another passage tonight after I'm another 100 pages into it, but if not, I'll see you all tomorrow, completed book in hand. :)

-Dan

Final Exam

http://homepages.wmich.edu/~acareywe/engl1100fall2007middleeastfinal.html

Our Class Final Examination will be from 8-10 on Thursday, December 13th

3 pages are due of our rough draft for our final paper this Wednesday, December 5th.

Exam Schedule:

Monday - 10:15 - 12:15 PSCI 3200 American Judicial Policy
Tuesday - 2:45 - 4:45 HOL 1000 Intro to Holistic Health
Wednesday - 2:45 - 4:45 PSCI 3040 Intro to Public Policy
Thursday - 8:00 - 10:00 ENG 1100 Literary Interpretation

Iraq War - Me

Potential Iran War - Me

Representation of Race - Mitch

Family / Daily Life - Ryan

Israel – Frankie

Music - Brian

Have stuff written by Friday!!

Presentations and a tough paper.

The last class we just had was my very favorite of the entire year.

The presentations were wonderful. I walked in a little bit late on the presentation regarding Israel and Palestine, but what I caught of it seemed to be very informative. The speaker brought in material that was relevant to what our class had read earlier in the year, turned the material around and made us think about the opposite side of things, and did it eloquently and with a couple visual aids to make the whole thing set in a little further. It was a great presentation.

That being said, I thought the best presentation was the presentation made on behalf of our nation's armed forces. All three men who talked were great speakers, they all had different stories regarding the Middle East for the past decade and beyond, and they told it in a way that was perplexing to me.

I wish more people could hear what the soldiers said that day, I've been thinking about it all weekend.

The other thing I've been thinking about all weekend is this rough draft that's due. I can't get a good foothold on Mahfouz's works enough to write a paper on it. I've tried about three different angles on the matter, and every time I get a little over a page in, I'm dissatisfied with it, and I scrap it entirely. That's why I'm up at 7:15 in the morning - so I can try one last hurrah and try to get my paper completed. Arrrgh.

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and I can't wait to discuss the speakers in class today. See you all in a couple hours!

-Dan

Lions for Lambs

I went and saw Lions for Lambs on opening day, mostly because I was bored and had nothing else to do, but also because I thought the cast was pretty solid and it looked like it had pretty good potential for a movie. Also I thought it would make for a pretty neat blog topic :)

Lions for Lambs is a movie about the ongoing war on terror, focusing mostly on Afghanistan, but Iraq and Iran are involved as well. It's a three-pronged narrative, in that there are three stories going on at once. The first story is told from the perspective of two American soldiers in Afghanistan, the second story is told by a professor (Robert Redford) at the University of California who taught those two soldiers in undergrad, and the third is in a senator's office where the senator (Tom Cruise) is relaying/spinning a new plan for attack in Afghanistan to a reporter (Meryl Streep). The movie is about 90 minutes long.

Despite the awful reviews the movie got, I thought it was okay. Tom Cruise played the part of a super-conservative Senator, and I thought his acting was great. Meryl Streep was also very good, and Robert Redford was as well. Despite all of the good individual performances, the three-pronged narrative wasn't extremely effective, and the script itself was a bit lacking.

All of that being said, the movie was good for one thing -- If Americans haven't yet opened their eyes to what's going on and the fact that we're at war, then this is a GOOD movie for those particular people to see. It definitely had it's moments, and it may be worth three bucks at Kalamazoo 10 to see for anyone who's interested.

As for the reading for today, I'm beginning to delve into Mahfouz. I have four short novels by him to read, and I really have to start working on them soon or I'll never finish. I hope everyone's a little bit further along than I am.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! See you in class.

Dan

Edit: Class Schedule for the next couple weeks is as follows:

Wednesday November 14th - Two blogs on second book. Two people are coming into present.
Monday November 19th - Blog due on presentations made on Wednesday... 3rd paper - 3 pages rough draft due.
Wednesday November 21st - NO CLASS!!!
Monday November 26th - 3rd Paper Final Draft due.

The Day The Leader Was Killed, take one.

Cover picture for The Day The Leader Was Killed by Naguib Mahfous

Before starting my post, I'd like to establish that this was a tough read for me. For being such a short book, I feel like I didn't get the full importance and backstory of it, and I'll end up reading it again tonight before I go to bed. That being said, it was an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to anyone in the class.

The Day The Leader Was Killed is a short novel narrarated in alternating chapters by an Older man, his grandson, and his grandson's childhood sweetie. The novel revolves around the stories and perceptions of these three characters, but also goes in depth into problems in Egypt, and culiminates in plans to assassinate the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It turns out that the people of Egypt are not particularly pleased regarding Sadat's economic policy, and want to take him out.

I don't want to ruin the story for anyone who's going to read it next, but it's a good novel, and before I start really working on it. I'd like to read it again.

See you all in class :)
Dan

Vice President Dick Cheney giving a speech.

"If I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country... we come from israel, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"

-A quote from David Ben-Gurion, one of Israel's early leaders.

I have a lot to say about this article, but before I do, let me state that I feel this is only one side of the story. The content may seem outrageous and you may want to go riot in downtown Washignton D.C. right now, but keep in mind that there are always two sides to a story. That being said, this article continued the spree of eye-opening literature I've read in the class.

I'm a political science major before I'm an English major. I should be completely done with my poli sci major by the second semester of my junior year. I have a fascination for it, and that's why this article was of unparalleled interest to me in comparison to all of the things we've read this year.

Quoting for importance from the article we read: "Jewish Americans have set up an impressive aray of organisations to influence American foreign policy, of which AIPAC is the most powerful and best known. In 1997, Fortune magazine asked members of Congress and their staffs to list the most powerful lobbies in Washington. AIPAC was ranked second behind the AARP, but just ahead of the AFL-CIO and NRA. A National Journal study in March 2005 reached a similar conclusion..."

The power of interest groups and lobbies is unrivaled in politics, these days. The majority of Americans support a ban of assault rifles, not just a majority, but a super majority. In 2004, 71% Americans were proponents of an assault weapons ban. 71%! So why are assault weapons still legal and available?

The NRA. The National Rifle Association is a perpetual power in Washington, and as long as they are in our congressmen's pockets, this is something that will never change.

I have a lot to say regarding this article and it's contents, but I hope everyone found it as insightful and interesting as I did. I'm excited to hear what you all have to say.

See you soon,
Dan