“Let a thousand flowers bloom”
When I first saw this expression, I thought that this was used for educational purposes. I speculated that this expression was used during times of educational reformation or even during the times of liberal reformation such as technology and etc. I felt like I have heard this specific expression in many cartoon animations for children as well. Another possibility that this expression may have been used for is another interpretation for beauty. I have heard many times flowers being associated with beauty; therefore, this expression may have been also used in context for beauty as well. The origin of this expression is from Chairman Mao Zedong of China during the summer of 1957 when “the Chinese intelligentsia were invited to criticize the political system then obtaining in communist China” (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/226950.html). “Let a thousand flowers bloom” is really the mistranslation used in the west; the original expression is “let a thousand flowers blossom,” in which it was used to make people who disagreed with Mao’s views show themselves so that they could be executed. When I put this expression in today’s context, I do not think that it differs significantly because we are still, in our nation, trying to find solutions to national policy issues such as education. I think that this expression caught on in vernacular setting because it suggests that it will “promote progress in the arts and the sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land” (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/226950.html).
“A wolf in sheep’s clothing”
I have heard this expression ever since I was young and it was commonly used in children’s stories that I have read as a child as well. I know that this expression means that there is a dangerous person who is pretending to be harmless. As a child growing up hearing this specific expression numerous times, I would say that this idiom would be used for children to watch out for strangers; used as a cautionary lesson for children when they are unsupervised. The specific meaning is “someone who hides malicious intent under the guise of kindliness” (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing.html). The origin of this expression can both be said to be from Aesop’s Fables and the Bible. However, it is thought that Aesop came up with this phrase because his tales date before any biblical text; “Aesop (620-560 BC) is credited with creating the fables that bear his name and, whether he was the author or not, they are certainly pre-Christian” (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing.html). However, the first time that this expression may have appeared in English form may be from in Wycliffe’s Bible (1382). If I were to put this in today’s context, it would not differ as all in my opinion. This phrase is still commonly used and also in the Bible, which is the most widely read text in the world. The lesson of this phrase as a caution to dangerous people is still in affect and I feel it will remain this way for decades. I personally think that this expression has not been through any evolution because I believe that in whatever time period or where one lives, there will always be dangerous people in the world because I do not believe that it is possible to create a haven (or if we do, it won’t last such as the story of “Adam and Eve”).
“물이 너무 맑으면 고기가 살수없다” (http://kin.naver.com/detail/detail.php?d1id=11&dir_id=110104&docid=9362622&qb=7Jqw66as64KY65287IaN64u0IOyekOyXsA==&enc=utf8&pid=fVCWOz331xGssc8%2BvJ4ssv--057177&sid=Sskr2UopyUoAAHJbGiI).
(if the water is clear, then no fish can survive)
This is a Korean expression that if translated it is “if the water is too clear, then no fish can survive.” Korea used Chinese characters and another form of writing before the invention of their own alphabet Han guel, therefore, I cannot really say specifically if this expression originated in China or ancient Korea. This expression is interpreted when if a person is too pure of heart, then they cannot fit in (survive) with others. Continuing my theory of how there will always be dangerous people in the world from the previous expression, this idiom restates that theory. In other words, because the world is full of greedy/immoral people, a person so pure of heart will never be able to survive in such an impure world. I think that if this expression is used in today’s context, this will also not be any different because the world is getting more complicated in my opinion. Therefore, I don’t think that the meaning of this expression evolved in any way and can still be used in today’s context.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Kristen Zelenka
World Changing Response #2
For my first response to World Changing, I read an article entitled “Leapfrogging” which focused on the use of cell phones. I found this article interesting because it made me think of the vastly different cultures people live in and the infrastructure they have. In our society, we completely take for granted what a cell phone enables us to do and the power it has. Almost everybody has a cell phone or at least access to one. This is not the case in developing countries, however, as technology develops, we might be able to start producing phones as cheap as $15, providing many people around the world to gain access to one. This process of skipping over outdated technology is called leapfrogging and many countries in Africa are benefitting from it.
Leapfrogging will help these nations develop faster and greatly raise the standard of living as more people can communicate about goods and services. A single person who has a phone in a village can offer the entire community a link to distant relatives, job opportunities, and prices on the market.
Reading this article made me question how much outdated technology we have, like the copper wires we have buried or strung all over our country, and how much that costs to maintain and fix each year. I know from watching “How Things Are Made” on the Discovery Channel that the United States spends more money repairing roads than it would cost to pave new ones. What could we do with all of that material if we were able to collect it and recycle it? As proven by the ingenuity of scientists and designers, it is possible to make a little material go a long way and have a huge impact on how people live.
World Changing Response #2
For my first response to World Changing, I read an article entitled “Leapfrogging” which focused on the use of cell phones. I found this article interesting because it made me think of the vastly different cultures people live in and the infrastructure they have. In our society, we completely take for granted what a cell phone enables us to do and the power it has. Almost everybody has a cell phone or at least access to one. This is not the case in developing countries, however, as technology develops, we might be able to start producing phones as cheap as $15, providing many people around the world to gain access to one. This process of skipping over outdated technology is called leapfrogging and many countries in Africa are benefitting from it.
Leapfrogging will help these nations develop faster and greatly raise the standard of living as more people can communicate about goods and services. A single person who has a phone in a village can offer the entire community a link to distant relatives, job opportunities, and prices on the market.
Reading this article made me question how much outdated technology we have, like the copper wires we have buried or strung all over our country, and how much that costs to maintain and fix each year. I know from watching “How Things Are Made” on the Discovery Channel that the United States spends more money repairing roads than it would cost to pave new ones. What could we do with all of that material if we were able to collect it and recycle it? As proven by the ingenuity of scientists and designers, it is possible to make a little material go a long way and have a huge impact on how people live.
World Changing Response #1
Kristen Zelenka
World Changing Response #1
For my first response to World Changing, I read an article entitled “The Future of Food.” I chose this article because it is relative to what we have been learning in class and I became a pescaterian four months ago and before that rarely eat meat, and mostly out of politeness at friends houses. I decided to fully go change my diet after my friend who is a vegan finally convinced me. She has been a vegan now for five years. She is the first one to start explaining to me the bad practices we have growing our crops and raising livestock and then this class has given me more concrete examples and a better understanding of where my food comes from.
In the article I read it discussed the differences between smart breeding crops and transgenic crops. I knew that different strain within a certain species of crops were breed together to produce a new strain of crop but I did not know that there were scientists who were working on combining a tomato’s DNA with the DNA from a salmon. I do not think that we should be doing that because of the possible aftermath of side effects that we do not know about yet. The nutritional value of the food also goes down. However, I do think that the research being done to create New Rice for Africa is very important to improving the standard of living for thousands of people in that region. I also believe that type of genetic modification makes more sense than some of the other mutations going on in laboratories.
I believe that more farmers should adapt practices like the One Straw Revolution. I know that the process to transfer from our current means of farming to one more natural will take time. The benefits though will surely outweigh the cost eventually. People need to become more aware of where their food comes from and governments need to respond to the damages they see in the environment and regulate the production of food in order to see results.
World Changing Response #1
For my first response to World Changing, I read an article entitled “The Future of Food.” I chose this article because it is relative to what we have been learning in class and I became a pescaterian four months ago and before that rarely eat meat, and mostly out of politeness at friends houses. I decided to fully go change my diet after my friend who is a vegan finally convinced me. She has been a vegan now for five years. She is the first one to start explaining to me the bad practices we have growing our crops and raising livestock and then this class has given me more concrete examples and a better understanding of where my food comes from.
In the article I read it discussed the differences between smart breeding crops and transgenic crops. I knew that different strain within a certain species of crops were breed together to produce a new strain of crop but I did not know that there were scientists who were working on combining a tomato’s DNA with the DNA from a salmon. I do not think that we should be doing that because of the possible aftermath of side effects that we do not know about yet. The nutritional value of the food also goes down. However, I do think that the research being done to create New Rice for Africa is very important to improving the standard of living for thousands of people in that region. I also believe that type of genetic modification makes more sense than some of the other mutations going on in laboratories.
I believe that more farmers should adapt practices like the One Straw Revolution. I know that the process to transfer from our current means of farming to one more natural will take time. The benefits though will surely outweigh the cost eventually. People need to become more aware of where their food comes from and governments need to respond to the damages they see in the environment and regulate the production of food in order to see results.
Friday, October 2, 2009
WR Prompt #4: Milk it, Baby!
Yes, yes I DO want you to get the most out of this class, out of college, out of life in general... BUT... That's not what this post is about.
This week's prompt is a little different. Consider the common expression "milk (something) for what it's worth"/ "She's milking this situation"/ "Go for it baby, milk it!"
Our contemporary speech is littered with verbal phrases/ metaphors/ parables etc. whose roots are agrarian and yet we use them in non-farm-related contexts.
Your assignment is:
1. Find 2 idiomatic expressions whose origin is in agriculture ("don't count your chickens til they're hatched") OR that has a relationship to the environment (to "turn over a new leaf"). My hope is that you will come upon these in your everyday life. You'll find that to find TWO is actually a piece of cake. The trick is in #2:
2. You are not allowed to repeat someone else's phrases. Check the blog before you post. I'll be making a list so that we can all "reap the benefits" of a concerted effort. This is both to see what you are able to come up with as well as an incentive not to procrastinate; the "early bird" will have it easy.
3. Once you have your two expressions, restate in your OWN WORDS what you think they meant when they came about (imagine in what context they were used- Ask yourself Who, What, When, Where, Why and How).
4. Do some research (wikapedia is fine) to verify your speculation (#3). You might be surprised at the origin of certain sayings. For ex."Come Hell or high water" comes from cattle ranching, in particular "the driving of cattle to railheads in the mid West in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In 1939 Paul Wellman published a book with the title Trampling Herd: the Story of the Cattle Range in America in which he wrote: “ ‘In spite of hell and high water’ is a legacy of the cattle trail when the cowboys drove their horn-spiked masses of longhorns through high water at every river and continuous hell between.” (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-com1.htm)
4. Put them in the context of today's use. Discuss how it differs (if at all) from its source. Give your reasons for why you think the expression caught on in vernacular setting and why/ how the meaning evolved.
These instructions may seem long, but the ultimate result will be fairly quick compared to other weeks. As you all have already started seeing differently (i.e. thinking about your role in relationship to global systems, noticing what you previously overlooked, etc.), now I'm asking you to listen carefully to what you and others say. Our cultural heritage is rich in remnants of our past and they are not only important to informing our future choices but in teaching us to pay attention to our roots.
ps. (as if this wasn't long enough) I just wanted to mention that I'll add bonus points to anyone who surpasses the minimum requirement of coming up with 2 idioms or who comes up with idiomatic expressions from other languages (with the corresponding translation and cultural explanation, of course) -Reed
This week's prompt is a little different. Consider the common expression "milk (something) for what it's worth"/ "She's milking this situation"/ "Go for it baby, milk it!"
Our contemporary speech is littered with verbal phrases/ metaphors/ parables etc. whose roots are agrarian and yet we use them in non-farm-related contexts.
Your assignment is:
1. Find 2 idiomatic expressions whose origin is in agriculture ("don't count your chickens til they're hatched") OR that has a relationship to the environment (to "turn over a new leaf"). My hope is that you will come upon these in your everyday life. You'll find that to find TWO is actually a piece of cake. The trick is in #2:
2. You are not allowed to repeat someone else's phrases. Check the blog before you post. I'll be making a list so that we can all "reap the benefits" of a concerted effort. This is both to see what you are able to come up with as well as an incentive not to procrastinate; the "early bird" will have it easy.
3. Once you have your two expressions, restate in your OWN WORDS what you think they meant when they came about (imagine in what context they were used- Ask yourself Who, What, When, Where, Why and How).
4. Do some research (wikapedia is fine) to verify your speculation (#3). You might be surprised at the origin of certain sayings. For ex."Come Hell or high water" comes from cattle ranching, in particular "the driving of cattle to railheads in the mid West in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In 1939 Paul Wellman published a book with the title Trampling Herd: the Story of the Cattle Range in America in which he wrote: “ ‘In spite of hell and high water’ is a legacy of the cattle trail when the cowboys drove their horn-spiked masses of longhorns through high water at every river and continuous hell between.” (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-com1.htm)
4. Put them in the context of today's use. Discuss how it differs (if at all) from its source. Give your reasons for why you think the expression caught on in vernacular setting and why/ how the meaning evolved.
These instructions may seem long, but the ultimate result will be fairly quick compared to other weeks. As you all have already started seeing differently (i.e. thinking about your role in relationship to global systems, noticing what you previously overlooked, etc.), now I'm asking you to listen carefully to what you and others say. Our cultural heritage is rich in remnants of our past and they are not only important to informing our future choices but in teaching us to pay attention to our roots.
ps. (as if this wasn't long enough) I just wanted to mention that I'll add bonus points to anyone who surpasses the minimum requirement of coming up with 2 idioms or who comes up with idiomatic expressions from other languages (with the corresponding translation and cultural explanation, of course) -Reed
Thursday, October 1, 2009
World Changing Post #3-Buying Better Food
Alyssa Olson
World Changing Post #3
Buying Better Food
I chose to read the article about buying better food because it coincides with what we have been discussing lately in lecture. I used to always go to whatever grocery store was closest and buy whatever was on sale. This is probably true for many college-aged students who don’t have much money to spend. I recently gave up my car and now depend on walking or using public transit to get everywhere. This ultimately made getting to the grocery store that much harder, but in the end was a great choice. I live in Kerrytown and now my options for buying food is either at Sparrow Market, which is locally owned and carries a lot of local products, the Farmers Market, or at Zingerman’s Deli which is also locally owned and carries a lot of Ann Arbor products. I tend to need to go grocery shopping more often but with these resources right around the corner it isn’t much of a hassle and I always have very fresh produce and cheeses at home.
The only down fall is that items tend to cost a little more than they would at the grocery store. In the article about buying better food they touched on this subject and stated that it is worth spending the few extra cents because you know exactly where the money is going and you also guarantee that that farmer or that local stores products will always taste better. It also instills a sense of community and value knowing that you are helping those around you. When you buy local everything tends to come full circle. As the article states the best way to buy better food is to grow it yourself. This is not always an option for those renting a home or living in an apartment but I know that in the Ann Arbor area you can rent plots of land in large gardens where you can grow whatever you want. It’s also very easy to grow chilies, tomatoes, and other vine plants in 5-gallon buckets on your front or back porch.
This article gave me a lot of other options to not only feed myself well but to also help my community. Living in Ann Arbor has exposed me to a lot of great ways to not only live green but eat green as well. As I was reading this article all I could think of was how Ann Arbor is pretty much the epitome of this concept.
World Changing Post #3-Buying Better Food
Alyssa Olson
World Changing Post #3
Buying Better Food
I chose to read the article about buying better food because it coincides with what we have been discussing lately in lecture. I used to always go to whatever grocery store was closest and buy whatever was on sale. This is probably true for many college-aged students who don’t have much money to spend. I recently gave up my car and now depend on walking or using public transit to get everywhere. This ultimately made getting to the grocery store that much harder, but in the end was a great choice. I live in Kerrytown and now my options for buying food is either at Sparrow Market, which is locally owned and carries a lot of local products, the Farmers Market, or at Zingerman’s Deli which is also locally owned and carries a lot of Ann Arbor products. I tend to need to go grocery shopping more often but with these resources right around the corner it isn’t much of a hassle and I always have very fresh produce and cheeses at home.
The only down fall is that items tend to cost a little more than they would at the grocery store. In the article about buying better food they touched on this subject and stated that it is worth spending the few extra cents because you know exactly where the money is going and you also guarantee that that farmer or that local stores products will always taste better. It also instills a sense of community and value knowing that you are helping those around you. When you buy local everything tends to come full circle. As the article states the best way to buy better food is to grow it yourself. This is not always an option for those renting a home or living in an apartment but I know that in the Ann Arbor area you can rent plots of land in large gardens where you can grow whatever you want. It’s also very easy to grow chilies, tomatoes, and other vine plants in 5-gallon buckets on your front or back porch.
This article gave me a lot of other options to not only feed myself well but to also help my community. Living in Ann Arbor has exposed me to a lot of great ways to not only live green but eat green as well. As I was reading this article all I could think of was how Ann Arbor is pretty much the epitome of this concept.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Response 1 re-posted
Derrick Jensen addresses the idea of hope in his article “Beyond Hope” in a negative manner. He claims, “Hope is what keeps us chained to the system...” For Jensen, hope is an inactive word; incapable of pushing the individual to protect the world they live in. The world is rapidly deteriorating. Jensen expresses frustration due to the passive behavior of today’s population.
He presses for optimism in the individual. To obtain that optimistic attitude, you must “die”. What he means by this is to shed hope. Essentially hope embraces a third person stance, a word spoken from someone who has backed away from the problem, someone relying on an external source to clean it up. Once the individual stops relying and putting faith into a higher authority, they must depend on themselves. They begin to fend for themselves; a necessary quality in the advance for change. Independence becomes the active push towards making progress.
As Jensen had explained, hope is bad because it inhibits us form taking a stance on important issues. This concept opened my eyes because I tend to be passive, especially with environmental issues. I find it hard to know where to begin to make a difference, but one way is to show it in my artwork. In ADP III, we discussed that the ability to send messages to a viewer through art is a powerful quality. It can affect many people. The graphs and charts used in lecture proved points that I was unaware of. The more I saw the statistics, the more I wanted to act. I believe that is an important response not only for the artist, but for the viewer as well. It causes them to want to become active in solving these issues.
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