Short Response 4: Chinua Achebe

The lives of the Ibo had a very distinct culture and were very different from today's society. Each man had several wives and there seemed not to be much of an emotional attachment. A man's power depends on his wealth; the wealthier; the more powerful. When another village commits what they consider to be a crime the village has to chose a war or an offering of a young man and a virgin. If the village decides to give up a young man, he is later killed. The culture is not allowed to hit their wives and when they do they are punished. In the book Okonkwa was punished by one she-goat, one hen, a length of cloth and a hundred cowries. They also have a week of peace; no one is allowed to talk badly about each other.

A practices that they believed strongly in was their culture believed they each had their own god called a chi. A sport that they all celebrating and enjoyed watching was wrestling. The men in this culture are to be very strong and masculine. A very surprising practice this culture had was if a women had twins they were to be killed; they were considered evil.

These customs and practices show how strong willed a man had to be in this culture. They believed in a lot of spirits and good luck and bad luck. They were very strong spirited and enforced the rules very harshly. Okonkwa's role in this tribe was a man who was trying to be a leader but his anger got in the way of that. Okonkwa seemed to break a lot of rules and always had to pay for it.

Short Response Three Socrates

I had a difficult time trying to figure out if I thought anyone could live and die like Socrates. I couldn't really think of anyone who could die like Socrates. People in today's world would more likely lie than to be okay with being put to death. An example that comes to mind is OJ Simpson. He clearly killed his wife but his lawyer thought of every way to get him out of it. He did something he wanted to do yet he was not honest about it because he wanted to live. He was not standing up for what he believe in; he was only lying to get out of it. Socrates was the opposite; he was happy to die for what he believed in because death did not scare him at all.



When it comes to living I guess I could say my father reminds me somewhat of Socrates. My father is very stubborn and always believes his ways of thinking are correct; although they are far from correct. My father has made a lot of enemies, like Socrates, because he tries to persuade people of his way of thinking and its usually not what people want to hear. My father is extremely stubborn because when he could simply apologize to make something better he chooses not to. He, just like Socrates, doesn't understand how far admitting you are wrong can benefit himself and others around him.



I guess its weird to think my father somewhat reminds me of Socrates; although, they are very different they are also somewhat the same.









My father and daughter.
September 08

Short Response Two "Culture and August Wilson" Prompt

Growing up I was never a part of a religion; my mother was never religious and my father never kept up with his religion. A lot of my other family was religious and sometimes I would go to church with my aunt, which belonged to a catholic church. I remember being very young and loved going to Church with her because it made me feel like I was closer to god and I felt like I was a part of a strong family. When I had my daughter when I was nineteen I had her at a catholic hospital. I remember when two women came in the room asking what religion I was and I told them I did not belong to a religion. The two woman looked at me differently; I remember feeling out of place and different in a bad way. I have always wanted to belong to a church and now that I am an adult I guess I could say I have just been to lazy to find one that is right for me. I do not think religion has shaped who I am, yet my beliefs are simple - I believe in God.

Race was very important to my father; I guess you could call him racist. I honestly hate admitting that but its just who he is. As a child I remember hearing very rude comments he made towards and to black people. It always made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I was never allowed to be friends with black people. To this day my father is that same way; he has not changed at all. I on the other hand am nothing like him. I am not racist at all. Oddly, through my father I saw how to not judge a person by their color because to me that is just their outer shell and has nothing to do with how we are inside.

As I look back I guess Culture has shaped who I am without me realizing it. My nationality is very important to me because I love this country so much. Without have a confirmed religion I still have my beliefs. Lastly, my race helped me see that its not about what color we are, everyone is different from the inside.

Short Response One Prompt

Writing has many different purposes but to me the most important is writing down feelings and events, not only to get them out but to remember different feelings and events later in life. Everyone goes through many different events in their lives ,and I find it nice to be able to write them down to one day be able to look back and see everything a person has been through and accomplished. I also think it is a great way for a person to express themselves and instead of keeping all their emotions and feelings inside it is a great way to get it out. I don't believe people take advantage of writing like they should.

One type of writing I do in my daily life is I write in a journal that I created online for others to view regarding my daughter. I started that in 2007 when my daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer. I found it a very great way for myself to get all of my feelings and emotions out when I was going through a very rough time. I also do this so people who became interested in my daughters condition can keep track of how she is doing. Now that my daughter is doing well, I look back at the journals I wrote a while ago and it allows me to see how far she has came and how much I went through as a person. Altogether writing in the journal helped me get through the toughest thing I have ever went through in my life.

Unit Zero Short Response Prompt

My name is Kelly Marie McMahon and I've never really disliked it. My first name means warrior/defender and is Celtic.I was named Kelly because I believe it was my mom's second choice for me. She was going to name me Ashley but my Aunt had a daughter a few months before I was born and named her Ashely. Therefore, my first name really does not have any special meaning to my family. As for my middle name, Marie, I believe my mom gave it to me because it was easy and she just liked it.

My last name gets a little more complicated. My Mother was married and divorced before I was born and she never changed her name back to her maiden name. She gave me her last name when I was born and not my fathers. My last name should be Chaillou which is my fathers last name and as far as I know it has never been changed at any point of my family's history. As far as my last name, McMahon, I do not believe it has ever been changed either. It is Irish and my mother's ex husbands family was from Ireland.

Even though the history of my name is confusing I still like it. It is who I am and what I was named.