Journal 16 - Survival Choices

A thematic topic that appears in both Akutagawa's "Rashomon" and at the end of Kurosawa's film adaptation of "In a Grove" (for some reason title "Rashomon") is that of the conflict between survival and ethics. In these, as well as many other literary works (as well as in real life), individuals are forced to choose between doing what they know is right and dying. Describe how this struggle plays out in the text version of "Rashomon" and then compare it to the situation in the film version. Then describe situation in which you had to make a difficult decisions between what you knew to be right and what you were otherwise pressured to do (hopefully not under threat of death). What about in the world-at-large? Have you ever heard of a real-life situation in which someone had to choose between good and evil in order to survive? Describe the situation.

 In the text version of Rashōmon, the servant of the samurai was the protagonist. The samurai needed him no more and sent him away. Now that he had nothing to do or nowhere to go to, he approaches the gate of Rashōmon. in the Rashōmon, he chooses between survival and ethics. In the book version, the servant chose survival, basically abandoning his moral values. In the film version, the man chose survival over ethics or kindness. This was a bit very surprising because it combined two stories into one movie. I also did not expect that he would take things away from a child because the parents abandoned him. It showed that he has no ethics and that he is just for survival. The similarity in the book and the film are that both the men would do anything for survival. The different is in that the film's child is innocent and the woman plucking hair out might not be too innocent. I also had a difficult decision. It was in middle school. I didn't do my homework and I didn't study for any vocab. When I had a quiz that day in class, I am struggling so much, hoping not to die. When I looked beside me, there was Michael. Oh how his answers looked so beautiful. However, I have my ethics and said that it was too wrong to do this. But at last, I was young and it was too tempting. I copied my answers and I got caught. I guess I was really happy that I got caught. This way, I would remember to do work I'm supposed to do. The next time, I am pretty sure I am going to choose good instead of evil.

Journal 15 - Truth

In Akutagawa's stories, the truth is hidden until the end or is not even exposed at all. It can be impossible to find the absolute truth in some cases such as In a Grove. When the stories of all the people are contradictory, there is no absolute truth. However, there is still some truth in the stories of In a Grove. They are that the man died and that the woman did "it" with Tajomaru, although we do not know if it is with consent. The author might have told the story in this way so that the readers question what the real truth is. Is the real truth your perception or what comes into your senses? In the real world, it is possible to know the "real" truth. Although it can be very hard, it is possible. Let's just say you play the whisper game. What started out in the beginning and what ended is usually not the same. Different versions of what the people heard are present. The truth was twisted from one person to another until it comes out as one new and ridiculous thing. The "real" truth here could be noticed when you go back to the first person who told it. This happened to me with my game once. There were several news on the internet that the game I like is ending in the near future. When I visited this article, it showed evidence on to another article. On and on, I got to the final evidence, which was the official post from the creators themselves. The article here talked about the endgame, which is like the final stage you could achieve in the game. They were talking about how 13 levels is too little for a game with a big hit. This truth here was twisted so smoothly that it shocked so many fans across the world. I might have believed in two truths before. This is because of the hindsight bias that this happens. It seems like I already know that fact before so I agree to it. Moments later, I agree to another fact which is contradicting to the previous fact. There might be alternative facts depending on who what when where or why the fact was written. The less bias there is, the closer it is to the truth. Two contradictory things can be both true at the same time when one takes one part of the truth and the other takes the other part. If someone expanded on that, he or she could eventually end up with two contradicting facts. Therefore, the truth for me is not my perception but the actual thing that went on, without any bias or twist on the facts.

Journal 14 - In A Grove, Text v Film

In a Grove, the film and the book, both were similar and different to each other. When I started to watch the film, I was disappointed because I was expecting colors and all fancy props from reading the book. Well, honestly, I should have expected that because it was a fairly old film. I also didn't expect it to be as dramatic or as crazy as it is. The book was awesome, keeping its mysterious and sad tone throughout the story. The movie, not so much. A lot of the things were the same story-wise. It was following the patterns of In a Grove as well as the main points such as the main characters. What was strange was that some of the minor characters such as the woman's mother were cut out of the movie. They are also different in telling the "truth" of the story. The book was mysterious and sort of a cliffhanger while the movie was not. It combined Rashōmon and I did not expect it. The woman in the movie looked more creepy than sexy and this is kind of a problem for all of us as we reacted more to the woman's eyebrows than the story itself. The film director also put in a woman, a medium in which the dead samurai spoke from and it was more dramatic than needed. Akira Kurosawa decided to take out the minor characters out from the film and put in the truth because it was an old movie meaning that they might not have enough actors or that the people who watch it might be confused if it ended with the samurai. This might not be the ideal purpose of the films during this time period. Honestly, I liked the book better because you can imagine it freely and also because I don't like too much drama or the woman's eyebrows.

Journal 13 - The Meiji Era Summary

The Meiji Era was a change in intellect for the better. Many new ideas such as realism, first-person novel styles, the reformation of past ideas, and the discussion of politics came out. Writers who wrote about realism became a lot more popular. During the late 1800s, a new form of writing called the "I" novel developed and it focuses on the first-person style. There was a chain of movements from Romanticism to Naturalism to Humanism and neo-realism. Past ideas were rewritten and renewed by the new writers. New writers also started to write about harsh lives of people as well as the literature that opposed war.

Journal 12 - Rashomon and other stories

The story I read during my winter break is Yam Gruel. It's about an old samurai, named Goi, who is very spiritless. People would tease him, say bad things about him and also do practical jokes on him.  Goi would barely respond and the response would also be as sad and spiritless as he is. However, there is one thing he wanted in life, to satisfy himself with yam gruel. He only gets a tiny amount every year at a banquet. This year, he asked for more yam gruel and was joked on. However, Goi got a offer from Toshihito, the son of the finance minister to satisfy himself with yam gruel. He traveled with Toshihito to Tsuruga, where he was treated with yam gruel. After his wish was satisfied, he returned to the spiritless old man he is. The setting is in Japan and in old times. The main characters are just those pointed out above. There is also a fox, which could be one of the main characters as it delivers the message of Toshihito to Tsuruga. The author was trying to say things like, "Don't crave for something or you might get too much of it" and "it is hard to satisfy man." It was a good and informative story but the way it is written is confusing.

Journal 11 - Self Evaluation

Austen is a wonderful young man who excels in his academics in English class. Austen did well in his quarter test and scored almost a 100% every time in his vocabulary test. If he could check out the usage of the word thoroughly, he is guaranteed a 100% every time. He also did the reading which is a very good thing for discussion. To be accurate, he was one of the few students who read the books. He participated in the chapter discussions very actively. He does all of his journals and his writing. He also has perfect attendance. He received a hundred percent in his quarter test which includes a grammar section. This tells me that Austen at least has all the basics of grammar down. He excelled on his quiz on the parts of an essay and such as well.  Some of the problems I have with Austen does not concern with academics. He tends to speak in class without raising his hand. He also sits with his body tilted to on side which I don't really like. If he could change these, it would be awesome. All in all, Austen is a responsible sophomore and you don't need to worry about his academics.

Journal 10 - First Impression

It was so awkward when I first met him. He was to be our eighth grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. His name is Mr. David Svensen. It was the first time I met him. He was all serious with us students and he's trying to show a lot of power over us. I immediately thought he would be one of our worst English teachers. I thought that he was a serious person who does not have fun with the kids. We all thought he was a total jerk. He too thought that we weren't good kids and I know this because he told us about it when we got closer. After about as short as a few days, he became less serious and more friendly. We were good in his class and we had a lot of fun. We learned a lot of things as well. As we interacted as students and teacher, he toned down his seriousness. He soon became very friendly with us. He was one of the best teachers I have every had. He was the most understanding and easygoing out of all teachers. I learned that he could have fun as well. He had fun with us and was very friendly. Even after 8th grade ended, we went to his class for fun or for help. He was a very helpful and friendly teacher, different from what I thought at first. When he left, we were all sad because a good and helpful teacher left us. This taught me that I shouldn't make assumptions too quickly. Even though I learned this, I think that I would continue having first impressions of a stranger whenever I meet one.