School Assignment

[Hadron]

I'm taking Freshman Seminar (AKA Marxism 101) at the Art Institute of Portland and it feels like a constant assault. I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be... but oy! Am I ready for this?


**controversial topics warning**
Here are the instructions for my writing assignment that is due next week.

 

[chilifrankplate]

you're in portland too eh?

 

[Hadron]

you're in portland too eh?

Yes. I know... one of the many lion's dens around the country. At least I'm not in Massachusetts anymore.

 

[mysparrow]

I'm taking Freshman Seminar (AKA Marxism 101) at the Art Institute of Portland and it feels like a constant assault. I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be... but oy! Am I ready for this?


**controversial topics warning**
Here are the instructions for my writing assignment that is due next week.

This may very well be a good witnessing tool for you, treat it as from God and adhere to the leading of the Holy Spirit in writing it , you will do fine .

Be encouraged , all things work together for good of them that love the Lord !

 

[Hadron]

This may very well be a good witnessing tool for you, treat it as from God and adhere to the leading of the Holy Spirit in writing it , you will do fine .

Be encouraged , all things work together for good of them that love the Lord !

Perhaps. I will think on it. I obviously just want to write something that doesn't bother me to write about.

The assignment I turned in last week, I wrote at the last minute and didn't meet the minimum requirements - I was even disappointed to look at the paper. Then I get it handed back with an "A" on it. I don't get it.

 

[chilifrankplate]

So how long have you been here in Portland then?

 

[Hadron]

So how long have you been here in Portland then?

It'll be a year next month.

 

[KleinerApfel]

Hi, have you decided yet which one to pick?

 

[Hadron]

Hi, have you decided yet which one to pick?

Probably the Jewish hate crime one or the paraplegic one. I dunno. I really don't feel like writing about being a sex offender or for that matter any of them.

 

[mysparrow]

yes i know what you mean, but if you are writing it from a christian viewpoint maybe you will add depth to a subject many look at carnally, and be able to witness through it , just a thought .

 

[Hadron]

yes i know what you mean, but if you are writing it from a christian viewpoint maybe you will add depth to a subject many look at carnally, and be able to witness through it , just a thought .

Yeah, during the class, the teacher made us watch a video on Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the wall of names). She made it a point to stop the video and point out "Mr. Mustache-Man," a Vietnam Veteran, who vehemently opposed construction of it and how he was generalizing about things and was full of hate. This man's testimony was that when he came home from Vietnam where he most likely saw lots of people die, including his buddies, the people at the airport spit on him and said all kinds of nasty things. He said that the last thing he wants to remember fellow soldiers by is a long black scar in the ground (referring to the memorial, which sits below ground level and is black stone).

The other students started chattering excitedly about it and I stopped the class to interject some reason. I said, "I'm actually shocked that everyone is commenting on this man's behavior when we see the same thing on TV elsewhere and think it is ok."

The teacher responded, "Ok, like what? Give some examples."

And I said, "Take the Katrina disaster, for instance. LOTS of people got on TV and were angry and made all kinds of generalizations."

Then a girl in the class says, "Well those people were desperate and needed food and water, it's ok to act like animals at that point."

I was almost dumbfounded by her double-standards. But then again, my pastor says, "I'm never surprised by what unbelievers do."

That class is a stronghold and the teacher is a leader...

 

[chrispykreme]

Whew...that's crazy

 

[Shalia]

Probably the Jewish hate crime one or the paraplegic one. I dunno. I really don't feel like writing about being a sex offender or for that matter any of them.

Does it have to be one of those? Maybe go from like a "Forrest Gump" perspective. Write from the perspective of a mentally handicapped young person seeing the world. They see the world in such different ways, in fresh ways. Things don't lose their joy.

Or go the sad, but not disgusting or disturbing route. Imagine being the 12 year old with Duschenne's muscular dystrophy, who knows that the "average" lifespan is 22. Imagine knowing you'll likely never have a family, or a wife, or kids. Try coming to terms with that knowledge, the internal struggle.

I don't see why you have to have a disgusting thing happen <like that page says> just that you have to go from a perspective that's not yours. Picking "coming to terms with a severe handicap" and dealing with the discrimination might be one that you can maintain your conscience and yet still satisfy the requirements of your course.

 

[merryheart]

So how long have you been here in Portland then?

It'll be a year next month.

Another Portlandite (assuming you are talking Oregon, not Maine...)

 

[9-iron]

I wouldn't last 5 seconds in that class!!!

 

[Hadron]

Another Portlandite (assuming you are talking Oregon, not Maine...)

Yep. Portland, Oregon. Nice sunny weather right now. I hear I'll be needing Vitamin D supplements here.

 

[Hadron]

I wouldn't last 5 seconds in that class!!!

I'm sure you'd do better than me. I'm still trying to get used to that whole patience thing...

 

[Hadron]

I don't see why you have to have a disgusting thing happen <like that page says> just that you have to go from a perspective that's not yours. Picking "coming to terms with a severe handicap" and dealing with the discrimination might be one that you can maintain your conscience and yet still satisfy the requirements of your course.

Unfortunately, she was adamant about us not deviating from the list. I think it's just an exercise in developing a bleeding heart. You know, there is compassion, and yeah, maybe I need to work on that, but becoming a bleeding heart so-and-so is not my cup of tea.

I'll whip up something and I'm sure it will get the job done.

 

[Shalia]

Unfortunately, she was adamant about us not deviating from the list. I think it's just an exercise in developing a bleeding heart. You know, there is compassion, and yeah, maybe I need to work on that, but becoming a bleeding heart so-and-so is not my cup of tea.

I'll whip up something and I'm sure it will get the job done.

Well, that stinks that she won't let you deviate. After all, the suggestions I made are equally oppressed in society.

How about a young teenager who just found out she's pregnant who's being pressured to abort her child? That would be a struggle from the "other person's shoes", right?

Maybe you can talk to her about valid other ideas without bringing up how disgusting you think most of her suggestions are.

However, I must say, if it were me, I'd be dropping the class and finding myself a different teacher. *nods* Some things are not worth it.

<Of course, I get 1/4 of my semester as "yes, folks, we are all descended from pond scum and simians" so I guess I shouldn't talk. But you can't find a biology teacher that teaches otherwise. At least this one says he doesn't care if you actually BELIEVE it or not, just write the paper from that perspective and humor him and you'll get the grade.>

 

[Hadron]

However, I must say, if it were me, I'd be dropping the class and finding myself a different teacher. *nods* Some things are not worth it.

<Of course, I get 1/4 of my semester as "yes, folks, we are all descended from pond scum and simians" so I guess I shouldn't talk. But you can't find a biology teacher that teaches otherwise. At least this one says he doesn't care if you actually BELIEVE it or not, just write the paper from that perspective and humor him and you'll get the grade.>

Yeah, it's already past midterm (and no test! ), so dropping the class would get me a failure, I think.

Get this: she showed this documentary about this British man talking through this 72 foot Chinese scroll painting from the 16th century, depicting the emperor's travel down whatever river to visit the lands. It was summed up by how superior it was to Western artwork of the time even though Chinese artwork did not include the concept of the single point perspective, which infiltrated Chinese artwork a century later. This infiltration left things more lifeless, less real, somehow.
In a nutshell, it tried to evoke in the viewer a sense that Western influence destroyed the beauty and liveliness of Eastern culture. Westerners are SO ebil!