Blog Portfolio Q2

Below are a number of posts representing my personal thoughts on certain topics. Some of these topics have been initiated through the HL English class, while others have been posted based on my own personal interests. I encourage you to read them, and post whatever comes to mind. Whatever your opinion, feel free to share it.

The majority of the posts in this portfolio involve various interpretations of poems from World War One. We’ve read Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises and a number of poems from Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves, and Siegfried Sassoon this quarter, both independently and during class. After reading through my classmates’ poetry interpretations, it has been interesting to see how varied they are and the detail in which one looks into a single poem. In particular, I remember analyzing each allusion in Escape by Robert Graves and connecting them to the poem’s central purpose.

“Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin they think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives.” Siegfried Sassoon

Coverage: These are the required blog entries for Blog Portfolio #2.

Sorley’s Analysis

Allusions in Ch. 11 & 12

Significant Passage

Ch. 15-17 Free Choice

Dear Abby

Top Ten List

Bulls and Steers

Boughs of Nonsense

Repression of War Experience

Greater Love

Trench Duty

Before the Mirror

Escape

Comparison of Two Poems (“Repression of War Experience & “Greater Love”)

Depth: These are the blog posts where I felt I went far and beyond. I thought about these topics and conducted outside research while talking about the issues at hand with my peers. (Some of the posts contain their reactions). I used a poetry website detailing Wilfred Owen for original research, which helped me formulate my ideas.

Before the Mirror & Greater Love

[Original Outside Research: http://www.wilfredowen.org.uk/poetry/greater-love]

Interaction: This post was created based on a discussion between Wesley and me regarding whether Siegfried Sassoon’s Trench Duty discusses the role of the absurd in World War One. I decided to post not only a rebuttal on my blog, but also an analysis of the situation.

Wesley: Debate regarding Trench Duty

Discussions: As expected, some of my posts incited a number of varied responses on certain issues. Debate ensued in some cases, and conclusions were made. It was rewarding to see comments on my blog; I felt that people were clear when presenting their opinions and ready to share and discuss their ideas.

TSAR Free Choice Ch. 15 – 17

Xenoblogging:I feel that one of my strengths as a blogger is my ability to post detailed responses and questions to peoples’ blog posts. I made sure to follow up on their responses, and contribute to the entire online class community.

-Comment Primo

[Rohit: http://rohit617.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/trench-duty/]

[Alice: http://airossignol.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/bulls-and-steers/]

[James: http://iyagovos.blogspot.com/2011/11/robert-graves-and-escape.html]

[Rahul: http://rahdigga27.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/steers-and-bulls/]

Wild Card: The wildcard was a highlight for me. I wrote about the NBA lockout and how it is having repercussions aside from economics on the entire international basketball fan base. As an avid fan of the NBA myself, I conveyed my personal feelings on the entire situation and provided insight about how I feel the NBA players are frankly, the greediest group of athletes in professional sports. Although my wildcard did not incite a lot of comments, that was not its objective. The wildcard was simply a post by me, for me.

The Downfall of the NBA

Wild Card: The Downfall of the NBA

The 2011-2012 NBA (National Basketball Association) season is up in the air. On June 30th 2011, Deputy Commissioner and CFO Adam Silver addressed the media and announced that the NBA’s lockout had begun. The 2011 NBA lockout is the fourth lockout in the history of the National Basketball Association. It’s extremely unfortunate that this has occurred; as an international fan of the sport of basketball, I think highly of the NBA, as it’s where basketball’s greatest players from across the world battle each other on the hardwood.

In recent years, basketball has truly been on an upward splurge, and the lockout certainly kills that momentum. As an international fan that has lived in Singapore, I understand how China’s interest in basketball has grown tremendously after Yao Ming established his presence in the NBA. However, I feel that the blend of his unexpected retirement this summer and the NBA lockout could threaten all of the NBA’s efforts to developing the game in the world’s most populated country.

One month after the NBA declared its lockout, the NFL (National Football League) lifted its longest lockout in history. Football was back, and basketball was out. However, we need to stop with the comparisons. The NFL and the NBA are two different monsters entirely. American Football is mainly played in North America, hence American Football. On the other hand, basketball has gradually developed into an international game, and players are not bound to the NBA if they wish to make money playing the game that they love. Deron Williams, two-time NBA All-Star, has already signed with a team in the Turkey. The basketball market overseas has become huge, and teams abroad are willing to pay a lot of cash to grab players.

The NBA is in serious danger of losing its stars to other leagues, and personally, I’m worried for the Association. Once American-born players begin pursuing their basketball careers abroad, it won’t stop. The NBA will lose its legitimacy as the world’s greatest basketball stage within a couple of months. If and when a new NBA team is crowned champions, they will no longer possess the credibility to declare themselves “world champions”, as NBA teams have done for the past half-century. If the NBA lockout isn’t lifted soon, players will leave to pursue their basketball interests abroad.

Thankfully, the NBA lockout was partially lifted on November 30th. However, I was correct in predicting that NBA players would pursue their interests abroad. One of my favorite teams, the Denver Nuggets, have several players in China with no opt-out contracts. This means that despite the NBA coming back and the recent lift of the lockout, they cannot return to the NBA until their Chinese contracts expire.

The whole debate between the players and owners which prolonged this lockout was primarily focused on a question of whether players should receive 51% or 52.5% of basketball related income (BRI). Frankly, for athletes that are already extremely well paid, an entire 4 month drought of basketball regarding a mere differential of 1.5% BRI is shameful. These are grown men, adults arguing over such a trivial argument in the large scheme of things. Meanwhile, local industries that thrive off the NBA, such as the restaurants and shops nearby stadiums, are suffering. Evidently, the NBA lockout did not only effect the players’ income; it has had repercussions for numerous stakeholders, and has potentially hurt the NBA fan base indefinitely.

Interaction: Trench Duty

Wesley argues in his blog post regarding Siegfried Sassoon’s poem Trench Duty that the central purpose is a commentary on the absurdity of the war. However, I feel that the central purpose of Sassoon’s poem is to illustrate the brevity of human life, which differs from an “absurd perspective” of the war which Wesley seems to suggest.

For example, Wesley said that the statement, “Five minutes ago I heard sniper fire: Why did he do it? …Starlight overhead – Blank stars. I’m wide-awake; and some chap’s dead,” indicates that the speaker questions life as seemingly pointless. However, I feel that this structure of the poem further supports my central purpose, which I believe is to illustrate the brevity of human life during WW1. After all, the diction such as “some chap’s dead” suggests that to the speaker, a soldier, death is a common occurrence and therefore they are used to the brevity of human life.

Wesley argues, “the speaker comments on the stars and how they’re blank. This could add to the pointless situation, as the stars have lost their beauty from the monotonous, day-to-day rut of the atmosphere the soldiers inhabit.” However, I feel that if Sassoon was simply pointing out the pointlessness of the soldier’s situation, then why is the eerie tone so strong? Moreover, “Blank stars. I’m wide-awake” supports the idea that the soldier can’t sleep due to the completion of his assault on the “Boche”. Therefore , rather than life being absurd, it is the soldier’s perception of the brevity of human existence that Sassoon wishes to portray. It is a haunting notion, one which prevents the speaker from falling back asleep. The everyday events that trench soldiers such as Sassoon experienced are conveyed strongly in the poem Trench Duty, and contribute to the central purpose I believe Sassoon intended to present.

Wesley concludes his argument with “the last sentence of the poem furthers this absurd notion, with the juxtaposition of the speaker’s alertness to the death of a soldier”. Still, I believe that his interpretation of the poem fails to take into account the light syntax and strong diction in “Trench Duty”, which impacts the atmosphere of the poem and thus the central purpose. From the onset of the poem, the reader is thrown into a hectic scene. “Five minutes ago I heard a sniper fire: Why did he do it?…Starlight overhead—“. The speaker questions why shots were fired, but then becomes distracted by the starlight. Rather than becoming confused by the absurdity of war as Wesley claims, the soldier cannot focus on these common aspects of war as he has instead learned to take it for granted.

[http://whamilton.hsblogs.aes.ac.in/2011/11/25/trench-duty/#comments]