Arts & Humanities - 29 December 2007

I am sceptical... Of course, I know that these people do exist and that their work is inspiring, but being a quarter of the way through the book, I have being having doubts for the following reasons:

1. The diaries start from the very first day Ms. Gruwell taught the class. In fact Diary 1 seems to be written as if they have not encountered the new teacher yet. 'She'll probably sit us in alphabetical order to try to stop any fights.' Perhaps the diaries are being written retrospectively, but shouldn't this be clarified?

2. In Ms. Gruwell's second entry of Freshman Year Spring 1995, she says 'They hate reading and getting them to write is out of the question.' Yet why have students been writing consistently since Fall 1994?

3. Also in reference to Gruwell’s statement that her pupils hate writing, the standard of their writing so is out of place. In Spring 1995, one student writes 'The more I thought about this, the more the concept overwhelmed me. I began to analyze and reflect on my life, my many encounters with injustice and discrimination. It sounds strange, somewhat on the line between irony and absurdity, to think that people would rather label and judge something as significant as each other, but completely bypass a peanut.’ This writing is very advanced and not fitting for a fifteen year old who Ms. Gruwell describes as not being ‘conventionally smart.’

4. The pupils seem to gain enlightenment very quickly for people who are portrayed as being stubborn and set in ‘their gangster ways.’ One student writes at the beginning of an entry ‘This game is stupid; I’m not a peanut! And what the hell does world peace have to do with peanuts?’ At the end of the entry, this very same student writes ‘We won’t allow the colour of a man’s heart to be the colour of his skin, the premise of his beliefs and self-worth.’

I am not doubting the existence of the ‘Freedom Writers’, but I do wonder if the a large fraction of the diaries were written some time after the events, with the knowledge that they would be read world-wide and the aim of raising sympathy and money.

2007-12-29 01:47:20 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Books & Authors

for leaving a smooth surface that will be better for making a plaster cast from it. Previously I used Crisco, which worked fairly well, but would like something like decoupage paste (which I haven't ever used) that will make a smooth purpose and not damage the styrene foam.

2007-12-29 01:42:24 · 4 answers · asked by Mike1942f 7 in Sculpture

2007-12-29 01:39:17 · 14 answers · asked by Bradley D 2 in History

*****
I put my head upon the floor
Tied my foot up to the door
Grabbed a hold of unwired
Refrigerator

I put a loop around my waste
And some tape across my face
Then I wrapped the rope around
My scrawny neck

I’ll get it right this time
When, the ladder, up I climb
One of my ideas
Should do the trick

*****

2007-12-29 01:21:56 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Poetry

Does your happiness regarding your lies overshadow the happiness they would feel if you didn't lie. This is if you do?

2007-12-29 01:17:14 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Philosophy

To all of you out there who have had the luck of hearing your true calling...have you listened to it? Have you followed it? How did you know it was right for you and how? Where are you now after having followed it? :-)

2007-12-29 01:11:15 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Arts & Humanities

*****
We march along in echelons no longer photographable
From rank and file to the jumbled mass
In just a few short years
Did Atta and his cut-throats succeed?

*****

2007-12-29 01:11:00 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Poetry

2007-12-29 00:54:53 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Genealogy

I play two instruments, the piano and the violin.
I love the piano and I did grade 8 when I was 13 and I truly am passionate about it. After my exam I decided to start another instrument... namely the violin. I've been learning for 2 years and I hate the thing. I hate my teacher, I hate the instrument, I hate everything about it. I don't know how to tell my parents though because its costed them alot and I don't want it all to go to waste.... I practice but I dont think this is a "time" thing. I really really don't like it.. How do I tell my parents?!

ps. I have asian parents (the pushy naggy sort)

2007-12-29 00:50:03 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Performing Arts

I've heard it so many times how a photographer had to reprint a photograph 7 times to get it right, etc. Was this always so, or was this just the occasional few prints that ended up in picture frames mounted in some art gallery?

2007-12-29 00:47:07 · 12 answers · asked by Piano Man 4 in Photography

2007-12-29 00:38:19 · 28 answers · asked by Christopher F 6 in Philosophy

When i woke up this morning i noticed the blinds and the curtains.Where they met ,the light coming through the blinds seemed to cause indentations in the curtain.It got me thinking that where these two objects met there was an optical illusion because of the light and maybe this could be applied to the world in general.Is it possible that everything we see around us,even ourselves,is one big optical illusion.Is this world,or even this universe just the result of where two things meet - like the blinds and curtains.Anyway i'll leave you lot to add,expand,disprove etc. this theory.
Happy new year!!

2007-12-29 00:33:17 · 17 answers · asked by wolfmettle 3 in Philosophy

if mussolini hadnt poked his nose in by attacking greece and therefore delaying the invasion of the ussr

2007-12-29 00:32:16 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in History

Here's my most favorite one:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtJKFb3qjYc4IMoHSyIG_y7sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071228163718AALUGJS

2007-12-29 00:27:10 · 14 answers · asked by Dark Dickinsonian 4 in Poetry

During the Potato Famine, why EXACTLY didn't the English parliament help the Irish sooner. The potato famine was in 1845, and the parliament didn't act until 1847. Did they just not care? What prevented them to act sooner.

2007-12-29 00:15:27 · 15 answers · asked by latiti 2 in History

are harry potter books good????

2007-12-29 00:12:49 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Books & Authors

Which of them is more general than the other? I'm confused in understanding the difference between both idioms.

2007-12-29 00:04:54 · 5 answers · asked by profjassy 2 in History