Restaurant review -- I'l Pastaio

I'l Pastaio is hands down the best Italian cuisine i've had.  I find their dishes perfectly portioned, not too filling but just right.  What makes I'l Pastaio so unique?  Their lack to conform to the classic "Italian" menu.  To start, they don't serve pizza.  What kind of Italian restaurant doesn't serve pizza?  But once one delves into the menu, he will realize the plethora of choices that would come before a pizza, any day.

Creative blog #2

For my second blog, i want to write about the conformity associated with march madness.  I find it funny how people who never talk about sports, let alone basketball are suddenly "experts" on whose winning what matchup and whose bracket is better.  Truth of the matter is, though, I'm not the biggest expert when it comes to collegic sports either.  However, i'm going to a big 10 school, Michigan, who thrives on DI athletics.  From Michigan's football team under Denard, or the basketball team thriving under sophomore Darius Morris.  In short, i thought ide just blog abut how people are "conforming" to the March Madness hype and becoming experts on chartering unseen waters.  

creative blog #1

Something that stood out to me over the past few days, especially in reference to something we have studied this school year, was Buckley's production of Pride & Prejudice.  After waching P&P, somethings stood out to me.  First, despite the fact that i found the play hilarious (from Alex's facial expressions to Sara Super's "annoying" laugh to Olivia's characteristic smirk) i still couldnt help to nitice a lot of what was scripted was different from the play.  Of course, a book is much longer than the script of a play, however, there were still scenes missing.  All in all, i feel that Buckley's production of P&P strongly portrayed the themes central to the play and the important facts and details that make Pride & Prejudice special.

Intro paragraph to conformity essay: The Black Sheep

He who conforms is a sheep to society, and he who does remains independent is societies black sheep.  Conformity, behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards, has the ability to make life monotonous, or, when not abided by, the ability to create a stand-out individual.  Negatively speaking, conformity has the ability to turn an individual into a sheep, or a conformist who solely follows "order" and "rules".  However, conformity, to a certain extent, has the ability to instill determination in an individual.  In a class-room setting, for example, conformity has the ability to create a competitive nature among student who are all working for the same goal.  As seen in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, the conformity of Gregor Samsa may have helped him through his ailment.  While most almost anyone else who wakes as an insect would not worry about anything else other than trying to be normal, Gregor's conformity was so deep-rooted in his mind that he looked past his troubles and only focused on how he would get to or be able to work.  Next, Joseph Conrad employs the use of characters including Mr. Kurtz to exemplify the repercussions of a non-conformist.  Lastly, conformity is still prevalent today.  Therefore, in order to further expand the horizon on conformity in today's society, an interview about the troubles of conforming or not conforming from the perspective of Raphael Levy will further interpret both pro's and con's of conformity.  While conformity has the ability to turn humans into monotonous sheeps, there are also positive effects of conformity that suppress one's other issues, or create a beneficial competitive environment in which individuals achieve greatly.

Idea/ conformity

My idea for my essay is to examine the causes and consequences of conformity, and nonconformity alike.  I also would like to use personal family anecdote to complement my essay.  My first body paragraph will constitute of an examination of conformity through Gregor Samsa.  My next Body paragraph, will examine non conformity through Kurtz, and my last body paragraph will be based on the pressure to conform through the eyes of one of my family members.

Moreover, in terms of our classroom discussion, the main point i would have liked to convey is that conformity, to a certain degree is necessary.  However, i feel that younger generations should be brought up and taught how to think for themselves through a practice of freedom.  On the contrary, i find it crucial, for the purpose of learning, to have a slightly conformed feel in the class in which the teacher does most of the teaching, and in order to balance the classroom feel, often engage group discussions of leaderless discussions in which student participate; thus, promoting a practice of freedom.

2 Kafka questions

1.  I think the illustrations are beneficial in further comprehending the plot of the short story, and confirming what I already felt.  Of course, they are exaggerated, but, thats what cartoons are meant to be.  They are also frightening, but they serve the purpose they are supposed to.  They definitely confirm my interpretation of Metamorphosis and make the read more enjoyable once finished.  I think it was illustrated in black and white so that the real purpose of the cartoon was portrayed, and all the colored didn't de-rail the reader from the purpose of the cartoon.  It created a more intense and focused read.

2.  Kafka is the most sympathetic to Gregor.  First, he makes the reader almost feel sympathetic for Gregor by using certain words that portray a feeling of remorse for the bug.  However, it is important to also take into consideration that Gregor's family has treated him like an animal his whole life, so while there is no feeling of remorse for Gregor from his family, Kafka takes the initiative and shows the remorse.  But, while  sympathy for Gragor is shown from Kafka, the reader also feels the same way.

Group feedback

As we began a new method of class lecture today, i realized student-conducted group discussion is very beneficial in the advancement of the class.  First, something productive that i learned about what we did today was the fact that every student is enticed to contribute, and you hear from student of whom usually do not participate very much.  Moreover, i found that the content of the material discussed was more personal to each individual, and each student was more passionate in the discussion.  Thus, while of course it is important to the classroom setting to sit in traditional rows or a circle, i thought that the student-led discussion not only includes everyone, but also raised passionate and substantial information.