Something about Tuesdays with Morrie hit me hard. I'm not sure what it is. I cant put my finger on it, and i don't know that I will ever be able to confine it to one single thought or idea. I believe it was the overall magnitude of the book that hit me. I could relate to it, but also learn from it. But i didn't have to learn from it, no message was being shoved down my throat, I could pick and choose exactly what i wanted to take from it. It is truly amazing when a book has a profound impact on you, an immediate impact. I don't think I have ever experienced anything like it. Tuesdays with Morrie made me want to improve myself. It made me want to be a better man, student, athlete, son, brother, boyfriend, person, learner, teacher, and overall being of nature. The way Mitch Albom rights is unlike anything I have ever read. It is the style of a common man. My favorite books are those that tackle tough subjects with common language. Why must a books language be difficult, the problems it expresses are difficult enough. The way Albom wrote this is perfect. It is like he just wanted to lay everything out. There is nothing underlying. Everything is out on the table. Take it or leave it. It doesn't require thought to understand, instead it plants seeds of thoughts that will be on my mind forever and I love it. You can feel, through this work, what kind of person Morrie is. It is truly amazing how through literature, you can feel like you've known someone your whole life. I felt this way. I felt as though Morrie taught me about life. However i think the biggest lesson that should be drawn from this story is that we can always improve. We can always be a better person, and we must strive every day to do so. It is not every day that words, compiled into sentences, organized into paragraphs, combined to make chapters, and place together can affect me this much. Words, simple characters, can cause the most complex being in the universe, to want to change his or her life, it is a truly incredible concept.

Blog 1 Quarter 2

The reason Shakespeare's works are remembered is because they play on ideas that transcend setting. The issues involved  are issues of people from all time periods and geographical locations. This proves to be true in Othello. Being in high school, I can relate to Othello. If you truly think about it makes sense. More than once, I have hurt someone i love because i have believed a third party. Surely, everyone can relate to this. Obviously we share the same feelings, embarrassment, betrayal, anger, etc. But what does it say about humans that we can all relate to this. Is it a matter of human nature or learned behavior? Why is it that we take the word of an outside source over the words of the one we love. Even if the outside source has circumstantial evidence, is that truly enough to outweigh the word of our closest confidant. Logic would tell us no, but time and time again we don't believe those we love, and we hurt them. I believe it is a bit of nature and a bit of nurture. Surely, the constant stream of scandals in our news cant help. When we here about people cheating all the time, we get so afraid that we will be another case that we believe any accusation made. We are conditioned to believe that things are "too good to be true." But there is also a human nature aspect of it. As humans, we have learned that we must be strong to survive. Survival of the fittest, right? But how does this show itself in our every day life. I believe there is a direct connection between natural selection and the idea that well believe anyone over the person we love. We want to be strong. We fear seeming weak so much, that we would rather risk a relationship with, or even the life of, a loved one. This may seem like rambling, and to an extent it is. But it is with thoughts like these that Shakespeare stays alive. When you delve into his works and get not one, not two, but 3, 4, 5, levels deep, that is when true thought happens. Shakespeare brings this out in every person when given the right amount of time and effort to take in. This is what makes Shakespeare immortal. This is what literature is all about, being able to connect with so many different people, from so many different time periods, on so many different levels. It truly is a beautiful thing.