FSE #5

This post relates back to the first one about when I was first introduced to human trafficking. Today, rather than discussing the nature of the world, I'd like to focus rather on the nature of the individual humans. Like the world, we have also turned our head to the evils lurking around our planet. I though really hard about why my aunt hadn't helped the boy and also why I hadn't helped the boy. It wasn't because I did not want to help the boy, I simply didn't know any better and left. This reminds me of Macbeth because he too only does things that are told to him and he doesn't know any better. Macbeth isn't a free thinker, he's encased by Lady Macbeth and the weird sisters' words that force him to do what he's done. He knew that killing Duncan was a negative thing to do just as I had known turning my back on that child was bad, but he still did it because he was told by someone with more power than him to do it. Even the things that Macbeth does after having killed Duncan isn't part of his free will. Killing Banquo was all due to the influences that the weird sisters had on Macbeth; without them, he would never had turned on his best friend or his king. We can also see Macbeth also has a noble character as he feels guilt towards the murder of his king and is deprived of sleep ever since.

Sometimes our emotions get the better of our judgement, like with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Their conscious should have told them that killing Duncan was a bad idea, yet their emotions craved the power that would come with being king and queen and overwhelmed them. Just as Lady Macbeth's outer appearance was the opposite of her true intent, her judgement was also the opposite of her emotional drive and this is why Macbeth and her both are unable to sleep after this incident. This differences between our emotions, our own judgements, and our actions are all examples of how fair is foul and foul is fair is found in the text  as well as the real world.

FSE #4

As time progressed, humans evolved. And as we evolved, so did our sense of aesthetics. From the roman sculptures of Jupiter to the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, we've always been about the details of our works of art. That, however has been changing with the introduction of new minimalistic art styles like pop art and abstract art. These new art styles are very controversial since they are so far from the norm of what we are used to seeing as art. Paintings such as the Campbell's Soup Cans (which consisted of solely printed pictures of Campbell's soup) by Andy Warhol and White on White (which was simply white paper placed on top of white paper) by Kazimir Malevich have had a huge effect on the way we perceive art. This style of art however has suffered a huge amount of backlash as it does not appear as artistic to some. To me, art is supposed to be visually appeal and able to be understood by the viewer. Abstract art is an art form that I find so aesthetically unappealing as well as hard to decipher. Abstract art is like The Red Wheelbarrow of the artistic world. It is enjoyed by many while also being frowned upon by many. These paintings have an unappealing outwards appearance but are crowned by many as being the forerunners of the new era. Some of paintings show little to no creative talent and yet they appear in museums worldwide.


These pieces of art are not what many would call pretty of even good, but they still provoke many feelings among people. They are a good example of fair is foul and foul is fair because they are very unattractive on the outside, yet they have a very large emotional impact on many. They are the exact opposite of Lady Macbeth as she had a kind exterior and a cruel interior while these artworks have a ugly exterior and a very well though out deeper meaning. Unfortunately, the artistic community is split on the perceptions of these pieces of art. Some see them as a creative new method of emotional transfer, while others believe they are garbage  and nothing more than child's play.

FSE #3

Gambling is based on a system in which the casino will always have an advantage over the player, no matter how good or lucky they might be. The fictitious world of television and movie gambling doesn't occur in real life. It is impossible to make a living off of gambling. The player rarely comes out of the casino with the same amount of money they started with, and the chances that they walk out with more money then what they started with is even rarer. There are different standards between the movies and real life. In the movies and television, the gamblers try to earn money, while in real life, they try to stay afloat. This is the reason why casinos are located in these extravagant locations in high-rise buildings. They can maintain these buildings because they are making money, which they get from people losing. Casinos are not fair, the coin slots are rigged to ensure that you never win more than you put in, roulette wheel payouts are designed so that the player loses more money than they can gain. Another version of the casino is the lottery, where great rewards are paraded, yet so very few people actually win. One of my favorite quotes from a television series of mine was "I like the lottery. It's sort of like an idiot tax." which was even better since the speaker was the devil.

To me, there's a sort of duality to gambling. On one side of the spectrum, there's these glamorous and pristine casinos that offer luxuries and just seems to radiate fun and excitement, while on the other end, we have people who struggle with gambling addictions that drive them into poverty. And this whole theme of fair is foul and foul is fair fits perfectly with this topic because gambling is very deceptive. Gambling is like the real world's Lady Macbeth, with a smile on their faces and their hands in your wallets. Casinos never talk about how they're going to take your money but rather they talk about how much fun it is to be with your friends in their gambling areas. It has that shiny exterior that lures people in, while also hiding its intent to swindle people out of money. Gambling is not about how much money you can win, but rather how long you can stop yourself from losing your money.

FSE #2

Now lets take a step away from all the problems within the world and examine our everyday life in which this theme comes up. You may or may not notice that many, if not all of the student body will complain about any work or notice of a test no matter how little or easy it may be. Even I complain when I've been handed what seems like a months worth of homework in a single day. Yet after all the complaining, the work that seems impossible still gets completed. Tests are still written when the students are prepared, FSEs are handed in on time, and presentations are still presented the day they were due. What we always assume as students is that all the teachers are unfair and miraculously plan to have chunks of work planned around the same week or so to crush us when it simply is not true. So what if you happen to have 2-3 test on the same day? If students paid attention in class then studying before a test should not take 2-3 hours of your night. It's gotten to the point where in some classes of mine, even mentioning a quiz has almost become taboo for the teacher due to negative and hateful response of the student body. This may just be what I think but homework isn't as hard as everyone makes it out to be. The teachers are trying to be fair in their distribution of work so that we don't have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. There is even a calendar that teachers use to plan tests and such. Even when students miss a test or an important event, they are usually allowed to do a make up test.

What we occasionally perceive as foul might not be what it seems. School, it seems, is seen by many students as the bane of their lives, yet it is essential for our success and the teachers try their hardest to help us out. The foulest things as perceive through teenage eyes are often not what it seems. High school might seem hell on earth to some until we grow up and realize how wrong we actually were. Anyways, I realize that this is only what I see happen around me. This situation might be entirely different for those who enjoy their school life and always have a light load of homework. In the end, there will still be plenty of teenagers who hate school with a passion, and there will be for decades to come. But everyone has to reach a point in their lives where they turn back and were glad that they had gone through school.

Theme -----> Real Life

For my FSE, I chose to relate a memorable theme from Macbeth, fair is foul and foul is fair, as it relates very well to a period of my life. When I was very young, my parents and I had decided to take a family vacation back to my homeland China. We had spend most of our time with our family and friends, visiting the city and seeing the sights, which were very basic tourist-like things to do. Then came one day when my parents and I had decided to go shopping in this large mall filled with expensive foreign jewelery held in these glass showcases. Many of the price tags had larger numbers than I could've counted to. We had done lots of shopping until it was time to return home for supper. As we were exiting the front door, I saw a young boy, about 7 to 8 years old, sitting on the floor outside this industrial marvel of a building, crying out with a cup in his hand. It had astounded me at the time to witness such a deplorable sight and so I asked my aunt: "What is he doing there?" My aunt responded by saying: "He's a beggar, and he is in need of money." This made me feel sad since I knew that I had been showered by money from all my relatives as a "make up" present for all of my forgotten birthdays. I knew that I had been fortunate enough to be raised in much better conditions so I asked my aunt another question: "Can I go and give him some of my money?" To which my aunt responded to me with a sad tone: "You shouldn't. Those children are used by human traffickers who make money off of forcing them to beg." The feeling of wanting to help the poor child stayed with me for a long time. A few minutes later, I walked away with my aunt, never to see the child again.

This memory helped me better understand the way things where in life. The world had put on a mask of wealth and happiness while the bugs of greed and hate flourished in the darkness hidden underneath. It's hard to believe, with all the luxuries that we can afford today, a large portion of the world can barely survive. Those fortunate enough to avoid being born into poverty are often unaware of how dire the situation actually is. We see these high rise buildings built from the concrete and steel girders, yet in some places of the world, people still live in huts. This magnificent world that we see everyday isn't as picture perfect as it seems. What we've grown accustomed to, such as the television, schooling, or even running water, isn't fairly distributed around the world. This is why i chose the theme that I did, because the world isn't what it seems. To me, the theme fair is foul and foul is fair represents far more than just how Macbeth acted after murdering Duncan; it represents my perception of the earth and all the juxtaposing contrasts in it.

Black Sheep - John

After having listened to Black Sheep on youtube for an astronomical amount of times, the lyrics start to remind me more and more of Billy Pilgrim. Plus, the guitar solo is pretty amazing too.



Black sheep, come on
Black sheep, come on
Black sheep, come on


Hello again, friend of a friend, I knew you when
Our common goal was waiting for the world to end
Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend
You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again

I'll send you my love on a wire
Lift you up, everytime, everyone, ooo, pulls away, ooo
From you

Got balls of steel, got an automobile, for a minimum wage
Got real estate, I'm buying it all up in outerspace
Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend
You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick, the past again

I'll send you my love on a wire
Lift you up, everytime, everyone, ooo, pulls a way, oo
Mechanical bull, the number one
You'll take a ride from anyone, everyone wants a ride, pulls away, oooh from you



A black sheep is commonly known as being a member of a group who is odd or disgraceful to the whole group. Billy himself is the black sheep as he is the only person that different from everyone else. He's the only one who lacks emotion and also he is able to travel through time. He can't feel normally like the other characters, such as his complete disregard for the death of his wife as well as the death of his father-in-law. Billy can also be seen as the disgrace of the group as depicted during his wartimes. Wearing his colorful clothes to the town of Dresden, he is made fun of by the doctor and many others. In a sense, all of the soldiers are the black sheep because as the soup lady says : "All the real soldiers are already dead." The ones who are left are the disgraces to the Americans because supposedly the only way to survive the war was by being cowardly.



The line : "Mechanical bull, the number one, You'll take a ride from anyone, everyone wants a ride" makes me think of how Billy is taken advantage of by everyone, having never made a friend, but rather being used to make others feel better. He is used by Valencia to make herself feel normal, since she is so obese that she couldn't possibly have a decent human relationship. With Billy around, it's basically a way for her to say to the world: "look, I can be one of you." But Valencia is not the only person who happens to be using Billy. Weary also uses Billy as a method of making himself feel superior to others. By comparison, Weary appears as a much more proficient and prepared soldier as opposed to Billy's weak and unarmed self. All the soldiers see Billy as the standard of the American troops and so use him to fuel their hate for America. Even their allies, the British troops frown upon seeing the American troops due to their weakness.

Things I'd change in Slaughterhouse five - John

To me, Slaughterhouse Five lacks the plot that would have made the book entertaining or simply bearable. Reading a book should be about experiencing a story that enthralls the reader while also relating a message. Though the messages are present within the text, the excitement needed to keep the readers engaged is severely lacking. To allow for a clear though to pass from the author to the reader, a strong plot is needed so that readers are interested in the text, and by extension the messages of the author. By adding suspense or even a climax, we could breath life back into this bland novel. An important part that i would add to the novel has to be an ending. Not a weak, unsatisfying and short ending, but a long and meaningful conclusion that makes you feel glad you've read the entire novel. It should have included something more substantial than just the end of the war, possibly something like what comes afterwards, like a short summary of what Billy plans to do, or even Vonnegut's final thoughts.

Another thing that I'd feel very inclined to change would be the order in which Billy's life events happen. Not anything substantial like rearranging everything into the right order, but just moving a few paragraphs so that Billy's stay in a single memory lasted longer and the readers could make sense of what was actually happening before being transported again to a different time. I know this might interfere with the theme of craziness, but it would be helpful for many readers to grasp the situation before Billy once again leaves for a different time.

Anyways, the novel is fine as it is now, all the changes that I would make would be small so that people will still perceive the novel in the same way.