Candide, Chapter 1-6

Reading Candide, at first seems like a hard task, but when 'shown' how to do so it is an amazing book. Basically as a reader one can notice that Voltaire is trying to make a fool out of society and he accomplishes in a very 'decent' way if it can be called that. We learn that Candide is a young boy who lives at a Baron's estate and that he has been conceived by the Baron's sister and a peasent or servant of the Baron. This is really interesting because Voltaire uses certain words to describe this, when actually he's just trying to say that Candide is a bastard. The young boy falls in love with the Baron's daughter and is thrown out of the estate. We later on find out that Candide is recluted by the Bulgars and is sent into war against the Abar, who he later finds out 'killed' his loved one (Lady Cunégonde) or at least that is what Pangloss tells him. We later find out that Lady Cunégonde isn't really dead and reunites with Candide, her family is assasined, so in a way Candide is free to do whatever he wants with her. Reading this book is really interesting because you learn how laugh at what seems to be a common phrase, but when looked into closely has a double meaning so profound that it's impossible not be shocked. Candide is a book that really makes you look at each sentence and say "what is Voltaire actually trying to say?"

Making a connection to this book was really simple. The Simpsons could be used, but since we did that one in class i've decided to use Family Guy. This show uses satire amongst many other ways of comedy. In Family Guy you see how the writer of the scripts is always looking at movies or series and makes really harsh comments about them. For example, the other day they made a whole episode about Star Wars and the critique was really shocking. There is a part where Peter (Han Solo), Brian (Chewbaka) and Chris (Luke Skywalker) are saving Meg (Princess Leia) from Stewie's (Darth Vader) grasp and while doing so their ship falls under attack by the robots, everyone runs into the ship except for Peter and Brian who are stealing a couch and can't fit it in so Peter tells Brian to start the ship because they can't leave without the couch. There making critique to the movie here because Han Solo and Chewbaka who are heroes in the movie, are being called theifs by the directer or creater of Family Guy (who is the creator of The Simpsons). This is the connection I made, because underneath all those clips or phrases which make you laugh like an idiot there is a deep message which if not thought of correctly, it is simple not understood.

Hamlet Actors

Hamlet: Orlando Bloom

Ophelia: Kate Beckinsale

Queen: Monica Bellucci

Claudius: Christian Bale

Ghost: Jeremy Irons

Polonius: Martin Sheen

Laertes: Sean Patrick Flanery

Guildenstern: Matt Damon

Rosencratz: Mark Wahlberg

Horatio: Harold Perrineau

Act 3 (Scene 2, Lines 96-317): Words

Capon: A male chicken castrated when young to improve the quality of its flesh for food.

Epitaph: A commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument about the person buried at that site.

Confound: To throw into increased confusion or disorder.

Accurst: Under a curse; doomed; ill-fated.

Fain: Gladly; willingly.

Beguile: To influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude.

(All of the definitions were searched at www.dictionary.com)

Selfish Gene (pg. 245-266)

During this last chapter of the book, Richard Dawkin's talks about parasites and how they live off other organisms. Throughout this chapter, we learn about a wide variety of parasites and how some may be 'useful' fo the host or they can cause serious damage. During his explanations, the author uses beetles as one example of an organism which carries parasites and he also explains how instead of damaging or causing harm to the animal, it actually does some good. "It turns out that 'cooperate' is putting it mildly. The service they perform for the beetles could hardly be more intimate. These beetle happen to be haplodiploid, like bees and ants. If an egg is fertilized by a male, it always develops as a female. An unfertilized egg develops into a male. Males, in other words, have no father. The eggs that give rise to them develop spontaneously, without being penetrated by a sperm. But, unlike the eggs of bees and ants, ambrosia beetle eggs do need to be penetrated by something. This is where the bacteria come in. They prick the unfertilized eggs into action, provoking them to develop into male beetles. These bacteria are, of course, just the kind of parasites that, I argued, should cease to be parasitic and become mutualistic, precisely because they are transmitted in the eggs of the host, toghether with the host's 'own' genes. Ultimately, their 'own0 bodies are likely to disappear merging into the 'host' body completely. (The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkin, Ch. 12, pg. 244)" Basically what we learn throughout this chapter is that some parasites, should not be given this name, because instead of harm they do some good to certain living organisms. This is why Dawkin's tries to -in a way- 'defend' some organisms from being called parasites.

Selfish Gene (pg. 223-244)

During this passage of the book, Richard Dawkin's talks about the Prisoner's Dilemma and gives every day life examples to make the explanation easier, he also expresses how to identify a nonzero sum and zero sum conflict (which can affect a Prisoner's Dilemma game). "Spectator sports like football are normally zero sum games for a good reason. It is more exciting for crowds to watch players striving mightily against one another than to watch them conniving amicably. (The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkin, Ch. 12, pg. 224)" Later on, the reader learns about segregation distorter, which according to James Crown -quoted by Dawkin- is a 'gene that beats the system.' The author explains that this 'evil gene' can be destructive and that the biggest problem is it's ability to spread like a virus throughout the genes. "Nevertheless, most of them have at least some adverse consequences. (Almost all genetic side-effects are bad, and a new mutation will normally spread only if its bad effects are outweighed by its good effect. If both good and bad effects apply to the whole body, the net effect can still be good for the body. But if the bad effects are on the body, and the good effects are on the gene alone, from the body's point of view the effect is all bad). In spite of its deleterious side-effects, if a segregation distorter arises by mutation it will surely tend to spread through the population. Natural selection (which, after all, works at the genic level) favours the segregation distorter, even though its effects at the level of the individual organism are likely to be bad. (The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkin, Ch. 13, pg. 237)" The positive part of segregation distorter's is that they normally don't occur, it isn't a very common gene, so this could be considered as 'good news.'

There is a connection one can make and it has to do with the idea of the 'diabolical gene' (as Dawkin calls it). As we already know, this gene is very hard to find or it doesn't seem very common in an organism and it spreads it's 'evil' as much as possible. The connection I decided to make was to our -as human beings- ability to spread our hatred amongst ourselves. The main difference between this gene and our hatred is that the gene is not commonly seen, but our hate towards each other we experience everyday. The best example one can give to show our hate (and in a way our jealousy which leads us to Dawkin's theory of being selfish) is war. Why do we go to war if not for wealth, power and glory? Throughout history our greatest civilizations have fallen because of there hate for each other, for their insatiable desires, among others. Like the 'evil gene', human beings can also be called diabolic because all we do everyday that passes is spread our hatred amongst each other and not unify ourselves, some say it is because of our differences, I say it's because thinking that we have differences will never let us come together.

Passive Voice Exercise

Original
Children cannot open these bottles easily.
The government built a road right outside her front door.
Mr. Ross broke the antique vase as he walked through the store.
When she arrived, the changes amazed her.
The construction workers are making street repairs all month long.
The party will celebrate his retirement.
His professors were discussing his oral exam right in front of him.
My son ate all the homemade cookies.
Corrosion had damaged the hull of the ship.

Some children were visiting the old homestead while I was there.

Passive Voice

The bottles cannot be easily opened by the children.

A road was built right outside her front door by the government.

As he walked through the store Mr. Ross broke an antique vase.

The changes amazed her, when she arrived.

All month long repairs have been made on streets by construction workers.

His retirement will be celebrated with a party.

His oral exam was being discussed in front of him by his professors.

The homemade cookies were eaten by my son.

The hull of the ship was damaged by corrosion.

While I was there, the old homestead was visited by some children.