Is This The War of The Black Gold or Clear Water???

This is a response to Ted and Lucas's presentation. First of all, Great job you guys for the great and informative presentation. It really opened my eyes and amazed me when you said in your power point presentation, " All this while, people thought Iraq invaded Iran for its oil but in reality, they just wanted to control all the drinking water and they used the kurds as an excuse" (Ted). Furthermore, at that point I was still in doubt because I find it hard to believe that water which can be found anywhere could be a bigger reason for a war than oil or as some people call it the " Black Gold". Yet when you supplied further proof in your blog that "Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader at the time claimed that the dispute over territorial borders of the Shatt Al-Arab which is a waterway between the two countries" ( Lucas), it really cleared my doubts. I guess in a desert-like country such as Iran an Iraq water is so scarce that it can even be more valuable than oil. Anyway, good job on all the stuff you have shown, it really shows you guys work hard and I hope I can see more of your work in the future. ( Even though we don't need to do work cited for pictures I really feel like plagerizing if I didn't give credit to Lucas for this picture.)

To Torture or not to Torture, That is the question.

This is a response to Rachmawi's presentation on torture. First of all, I would like to offer Rachmawi and his partner Melisa a round of applause because they truly did a good job. I have to agree with you that what happens in Guantanamo Bay is truly inhumane and that all humans deserve some human rights at some point. It is true that what our soon to be President Obama is doing the right thing trying to close Guantanamo Bay Detention center but on the other hand I find myself wondering the same thing as the reporters what should we do about future terrorist especially those who have been caught yet the targets that they plan to bomb are not saved yet? How can we get them to disclose the location of the bomb because terrorist are always ready to die for their cause and even if we just execute them it won't get them to talk. There is never an easy answer to situations like this but I hope for our future that President Obama is making the right decision.
In response to Melisa's presentation, Great job excellent pictures( even though it is gory, disgusting, and not excellent for the people in the pictures). It is truly devastating inhumane and I am using this terms really loosely. Words cannot describe the horror of their actions. Yet in a way, your presentation in a way can be a contradicting fact to Rachmawi's presentation.Let us say that a Japanese soldier about to kill its prisoners is the same situation as a terrorist about to bomb its target. In this situations, can you afford not to torture the Japanese soldier so as to get them to disclose where they keep their prisoners from ending up like those in the picture? Often times Japanese are so loyal that they are willing to die ( Harakiri) in order to protect their honor ( disloyalty is the most disgraceful thing you can do) so how can we save the prisoners from ending up like in the pictures if we don't inflict pain on them until they give up? So in conclusion, yes I feel strongly that detention centres like Guantanamo Bay needs to be shut down but I also feel Torture is needed for certain cases but only as a last resort.

The Art of Lying

Znep, I am sorry to break this devastating news to you but this will be my last masterpiece(T_T). Do you remember a situation like this in the picture? I am sure you have because this is a very typical situation in the lives of a child. Yes we do lie and we do it many2 times in our lives. But instead of punishing a child for lying immediately, have we ever tried to figure out why they do it anyway even though they may have been told not to do it because it is wrong? I believe that children lie because they feel they have to and if they don't that means they may get scolded or receive the short end of the stick on their buts. They do not want to get into trouble so they lie to get out of it. Take this picture for example, Marjie lied to the two guardians because she is afraid of getting in trouble and being detained or even worst which is why she lied to them and even cried to make her look more sincere about her story(Satrapi134). This does not mean I condone lying even though I have done it many times :P but I just feel in order to promote honesty, we should reprimand them and not punish them harshly for causing trouble and reward them if they are well behaved. Even if they did something bad but they showed sincerity in admitting their mistakes and be honest about it I feel its necessary to reward them so they wouldn't feel they need to lie to avoid punishment. So I believe that the main reason of lies is fear of getting in trouble and if we remove that fear, we will eliminate all the lies. So I guess this will be my last Masterpiece for now but please don't feel so sad because I may do this again in the future so just stay tuned and keep checking.

Acts of Immorality

Dear Zeynep,as promised, I have another masterpiece ready for your enjoyment. Today's entry is so immoral and irresponsible that I sometimes feel disgusted about being an Indonesian because these stuff happens in Indonesia all the time so I find myself able to relate to this really well. In the chaotic times of war, Marjie and her family still felt there is a need for party and they were enjoying the party and going against the government because they were having all sorts of things that were banned in those times. Suddenly, the wailing sounds of the siren became a party pooper and broke the party sending everyone into a panic frenzy. The next thing that happens is truly what boils my blood and I feel like she does not deserve the blessing of having a child. One of Marjie's Aunts actually has the nerve of being so immoral and irresponsible that she dumped her baby into Marjie's hands the moment the siren wailed and tried to flee for her pathetic life (Satrapi107). At least in Indonesia it was better eventhough it was immoral just the same they dumped their baby because most of the lower classes are so poor that they do not have the means to care for the baby. The second immoral act happened after the party when Marjie and her family was going home. On the way, they were stopped by soldier supposedly doing "inspections" for any violations they may have made and went so far as following them home. Yet as soon, Marjie's father gave the soldier some money, he was gone faster than a sandwich placed in my hand (Satrapi108-110). This is truly an immoral act that I find relates to Indonesia a lot because there you can literally bribe a policeman with money if they stop you and they will let you go. This truly makes me feel ashamed of my own people sometimes. So I hope my summary has been informative for you so that you may not have to own the book to know the story. See ya later and next time I'll have another masterpiece waiting for you.

response to Pedro and Me

I truly enjoyed the presentation we had today. I believe that the book entitled "Pedro and Me" that is indeed well related to Persepolis the book. I felt your presentations were eye opening and inspiring because we as humans should not look down or reject a person just because he/she is different or has been involved in an embarrassing past. We should love and care for these people as our fellow brothers and sisters because we are all the children of god and since we are created equal who are we to say otherwise. I also agree with Allison's words where she wrote in her blog : " Both Pedro and Marjane endure hardships and are struggling to win their own fights. And through all the negativity, they continue to present a positive attitude toward the situation."("Allison"). Thank you for the awesome presentation and keep up the good work.

Death of Anoosh

Hey Znep, I know that you have been craving for my masterpiece (LOL) so here is the next post of my blog. Sadly to say, today is a sad day in Marjane Satrapi's life. After reading this part, I found myself sharing Marjie's pain because in these few pages I've read, Marjie encounters his living breathing uncle which she was very proud of because she feels he is a hero for opposing the Shah unlike his dad and she finds herself attached to him and was very enthusiastic in hearing stories about what his uncle did. Sad to say though, that their relationship came to an abrupt stop after a few weeks because uncle Anoosh was hauled of to jail for the "stock" charges at that time which was being a communist as you probably have figured out from the picture. Marjie was devastated yet she kept a brave front even when her uncle requested a last encounter with her before he was finally unjustly executed the very next day at the charges of being a Russian Spy.By this moment, she was so beyond comfort that she screamed at god : "Shut Up You! Get Out of My Life!!! I never want to see you again!" ( Satrapi70). This story has truly moved me about how much suffering a child at her age had to endure during those times and it really make feel blessed that we live in a peaceful country. I have to stop here now and hopefully I can post another masterpiece soon so keep your fingers crossed XD .

The presentation of comics

Hey Znep, I am giving you a treat today. This is a topic that I presented today about times article on comic novels. In my presentation, I showed the class a contrast between the Persepolis and the comic novels listed in article. Basically, I believe that the comic novels in the article and Persepolis is indeed similar because they look like comics. Yet what sets them apart is how the drawings are portrayed, how it is drawn, and the presentation to the audience. The examples I gave was the difference comic little lulu and Persepolis. Notice how in the little lulu drawing, the drawing is soft, light, and has a childish appeal to it whereas in Persepolis, the drawing is deeper and serious which makes it obvious that even though Persepolis can be considered a comic, it is not meant for little kids. We can see from these videos that the Persepolis trailer: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PXHeKuBzPY) is in black and white and the animation is more rigid and unappealing whereas the little lulu video(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4QiD2-K5bs) is brightly colored and animations are more fluent which is meant to appeal to the children who watches it to prevent them from getting bored. So my conclusion, is that even though Persepolis looks like the comic novels in the article, they are definitely not the same because the Persepolis comic does not aim to be funny like the comic novels and I would probably link Persepolis to be something more similar to an Anime which is the Japanese style comic.

A visit to Hell

Hey Znep, I finally read the book so I can finally call this entry a masterpiece although this entry is so gory and cruel that I can't even accept someone who would do such a thing as human. At this moment, the reign of the Shah has ended and is replaced by a Muslim regime. Even though the people were happy that the Shah was gone, still all did not look good for Marjie and her family ( Marjane Satrapi was called Marjie back then). After the end of the Shah's rule, Prisoners who was thrown in jail for opposing the Shah was released and two in particular Siamak Jari and Mohsen Shakiba was friends with Marjie's family. In this picture,they recounted their horrible experience and all the inhumane treatment they had to go thorugh that I could not find their experience being described as less than a visit to hell. Mohsen's nail was pulled off, they were whipped most of the time to get them to betray their fellow friends who were in hiding, they were also sometimes tortured by having hot iron placed on their backs and worst of all, some of them were cut into pieces.(Satrapi 50-52) It is appalling what they did back then that I shed a tear for these people who were brutally tortured. I can understand why in the beginning of this section Marjie could actually say to her friend Laly: "don't you know that when they keep saying someone is on a trip it really means he/she is dead?"(Satrapi 48) with out considering Laly's feelings whom have been told her father was on a trip. Yet even after the Shah's reign was over and everybody was released including Laly's Father, the Muslim regime was no better. Few days after Mohsen shared his experience, The people who acted under the new government murdered him by drowning him in his bathtub. As for Siamak, fortunately he managed to avoid the same fate but at the price of his sister who was killed because at that time Siamak was not at home. Well, this is today's summary I hope that you won't be so disgusted that you stop reading this summaries and just stay tuned for another masterpiece in the near future.

The history of Marjane Satrapi

Hey Znep, today has not been a very good day. I was supposed to read a what surprisingly seems like a comic entitled "Persepolis" but did not manage to finish it because I was doing too many things in the weekend. That will teach me to procrastinate in the future T_T. So anyway, even though i only manage to leaf through the first few page, I find myself having an epiphany about Iran the country. All this time, I thought all middle east people like Iraq, Iran,etc are all evil because of all their problems and how they choose to solve it.(No offense I know you are from turkey which makes it kinda close). Yet, after reading Marjane Satrapi's introduction and reading the first few page of the book, I finally realize that Iran is actually victim to a common enemy : "stereotyping" just because of some bad seeds who seems to not value their lives, The whole of Iran takes the blame. Anyway, this is my first time and I know I suck at this LOL but I hope I'll do better next time.