Final Assessment: Mind Mapping

Life and Book

I think that it is very interesting that the life of Knut Hamsun, and the protagonist in "Hunger." The fact that Knut was not only sold to his uncle and then was physically beaten repeatedly, was very influential in his writing. Many of the reactions that the character in "Hunger" has reflects this experience, especially when the protagonist is talking to the old man and is lying. /I think that the experiences throughout his life effected his writing significantly. I think that some of his habits might also have been incorporated into his characters. In the article the author stated that he was often changing what he did from week to week, not being very concentrated. His feelings toward other authors also found its way into his novel, as seen when the protagontist talks about how he wishes to rip apart a specific authors claims. / I think that Knut Hamsuns relationship with religion through his abusive uncle and other experiences was also added to the protagonist in "Hunger."/It is also interesting that Knut also prefered to be poor, or underprivilaged.

Imitating Insanity

The room I sit in frustrates me. The dark, musty walls feel like they are closing in... They are going to fall any moment. As I sit here, I write as furiously as my hand can move, the words falling onto the paper, in hopes that the room will survive long enough to get this inspirational thought on to paper. There is a hole in the corner of the decrepit room; a rat scurries in and out. Does the landlord know about this inhabitant? The rat buries its head in the wall and yanks out a small bundle of rubbish he must have found around the building. This rat fascinated me, as is moved from one hole to the next, disappearing out of sight only to reappear in another area… traveling from one room to another without any trouble. Does the rat live well, is he content? But I must get back to my article for the newspaper.

Distractions

This article is very important, especially to students our age. We being expected to finish all our assigned work, study for SATs/ACTs (or any other test you can think of), do community service, sports and art, look at colleges, and on top of all that have time to relax. I think that at this point we have just become so overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we have to do all these distractions are what keep us going. Like in the article it says that “we’re waiting for our next ‘hit’,” this is very true, we are searching for a break that is not cause directly by ourselves.
However, I also believe that in some ways that this might be beneficial to our generation. If we are always looking for a distraction then that means that the latest news is often read (just so that you don’t have to begin writing your English blog) and students are more up to date with everything that is going on in the world and not only what is happening in their tiny little bubble. Though it is true that many people don’t read the news and facebook is probably the first choice of distractions the fact that due to all the work that has to be done and the distractions we find (or create) people nowadays don’t have down time is a problem. Saumya brought up a pertinent point in her blog(http://saumya22.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/quiet-room/), “as young adults we are still discovering who we are.” The amount of time we are just being has shrunk. Our time to figure out what we are or who we want to be has been reduced because of our never ending distractions.

Existentialism...

The existentialism lecture translated by Philip Mairet, was interesting and confusing. / It was interesting to see existentialism from not only the author’s point of view, but also from people who dislike it, or people who believe or "follow" existentialism who actually misinterpret the beliefs. What I found really intriguing was that not only were they attacked because they were "[dwelling] in quietism of despair" but also that they denied "the reality and seriousness of human affairs." / I also find this article on existentialism interesting from my point of view. Even though I don’t believe that there is a God, existentialism seems a little off to me. I think that this is because of how one would view life believing as the existentialist do. My view of this belief however is probably not very accurate because of my limited knowledge of the beliefs. / After reading this lecture I’m still a little confused about the existentialist belief towards essence and existence.