Culture

Culture are the different things around you that shape the way you live your life. A person's culture could include where they live, what they eat, their country's background, and other things. I believe that culture is extrinsic because you aren't born knowing things like what to eat or what religion you believe in. Those are things that are taught to you by your parents or other adults. Once you are old enough to live like they do you can eventually become part of the culture. Also it's possible for you to become part of other cultures so you aren't born with just one culture implanted in you and that's it. You can get to know other people and maybe take on their culture as well.

Runaway

Facts:
1.The people are in a diner or restaurant
2. The man next to the little boy is a police officer
3. The man behind the counter is a smoker
Claims:
1. The little boy has run away
2. The policeman found the little boy after he ran away
3.The diner doesn't get much business

Analytical Claim
The setting is an almost empty diner because the painting is showing that no matter where the boy goes or how far he tries to run, there will always be someone there to find him. He will never be alone.

The Pearl Entry 2

Kino has been shown to be violent since the very beginning of this book when he squashed that scorpion to smithereens, but he has gone over the edge now. Killing 4 people in about 3 days is crazy, which is exactly what I think the pearl has made him. Lately I've noticed the book has been referring to Kino as an animal, which is a perfect comparison. Animals have no regard for other animals, no mercy. They do what they have to to protect and provide for themselves and their family, just like Kino. It also shows how far from a human he has become since he discovered the pearl.

Going along with the animal thing I noticed in the end when Coyotito was crying one of the trackers said that it sounded like the cry of a coyote pup. From my almost four years of Spanish, I know that "ito" usually means little, and "Coyot" sounds like and looks like coyote. So Coyotito could mean little coyote which could allude to the fact that he is the son of a so called animal. Speaking of Coyotito, I'm still kind of confused about the way he died. Did Kino accidentally shoot him or was it one of the trackers? And if he did accidentally get shot, how did that happen if he was in the cave? Maybe Juana put Coyotito in her shawl and went to go check on Kino when a shot was fired and Coyotito became a human shield. Its sad what greed can do to not only you but to your family

In the end I'm glad that Kino finally decided to get rid of the pearl like Juana had asked, it's just sad that the death of his son made him realized that that had to be done. In the beginning I remember that Juana had predicted that it would happen. She asked him to get rid of it because it was evil and that it would destroy everyone, even their son. Kino became really attached to the pearl though. At one time he even said it was his soul, which would explain some things. Like how towards the end when he looked into the pearl he saw the bad and evil things instead of the nice things he had seen in the beginning. His soul had become tainted and evil, causing the pearl to show that on it's surface. Once Coyotito died, his soul had become empty and that's the reason why when he threw the pearl into the ocean, it was gray and dull and why once it settled into the ocean it disappeared and the music stopped. Although his greed and paranoia ended up  disappearing along with the pearl, so did his family.

The Pearl Entry 1

The beginning of this book was quite interesting. It started by telling you the morning routine of Kino, the main character. I think this was done to set the scene, show where they are and/or who the are. It might have also been done so that you automatically feel like your in the book since you can kind of picture everything. From what I see he and his wife aren't as close as a normal couple is or should be. The don't talk and she was the last thing he looked at when he woke up, but they both seem to care immensely for their son Coyotito. They tried their best to save their son from the scorpion, Juana saying an "ancient magic" and Kino trying to get the scorpion away from his box. Which brings me to one thing I was wondering. Why did the baby sleep in a hanging box across the room? Wouldn't it be safer for him to be closer to them on the ground? Maybe it's just their culture, or maybe the environment they live in makes it less likely a dangerous animal would harm the baby. I'm not really sure.

I think the Pearl symbolizes something bad, like greed or selfishness. When Kino looked into the pearl he saw all these things he wanted, and they would all eventually be for him. Even when he said that Coyotito would go to school he then said, "he will know and through him we will know" saying that he will finally learn things if Coyotitio learned things. It surprised me that he didn't even think about a doctor for Coyotito. If I had just come across an opportunity for some big money, the first thing I would have thought about was my son's health.

One thing I'm wondering about is the "person" that Kino fought with outside. I honestly believe the pearl is just making Kino paranoid and the person wasn't actually real. I think that when Coyotito got sick again and Kino said "so the doctor knew" was another instance of his paranoia. He thinks everyone is out to get him and his pearl so he now has a hard time differentiating between whats real and what's in his head. 

Pygmalion Entry 2

I was very excited to find out that Eliza had finally become a lady. She worked so hard and went through a lot to get there. I'm still sort of confused as to how she won the bet for Mr. Higgins though. I think it was because he said he'd turn her into a duchess and her being mistaken for a royal meant that that is exactly what happened. But Mr Pickering said that she had won the bet "ten times over" so does that mean that people not believing that she was just a simple flower girl meant that she was just outstandingly lady-like? All I know for sure is that Mr. Higgins is more of a jerk than I thought at first. After the party he was just talking to Mr. Pickering about Eliza like she wasn't even there, saying things like, "Thank God it's over" and "The whole thing has been a bore." Basically he was just saying that if it hadn't had been for the bet, he wouldn't have cared about Eliza at all. To him she was just his assistant's helper, and to me, that's really messed up. This girl endured a lot to help you out and in the end you didn't even care.

By the end of the book it seemed like everyone turned against Mr. Higgins, including his own mother who let Eliza stay with her one night. Mrs. Pearce even let Eliza go because she herself never got to. In the end Eliza rebelled against Mr. Higgins and didn't do what he had planned for her. She ended up falling in love with a person who was below her, which I assume is what she wished would have happened to her when she was poor. She also ended up leaving Mr. Higgins home to be on her own, which I think is what he deserved. If you treat someone that badly then you can't expect to get what you want. Its the simple rules of Karma.

I find that this book being called Pygmalion is actually very ironic. The original story of  Pygmalion is about a king who falls in love with a beautiful statue who he eventually marries. In this story the creator is much less than what a king should be and his creation ends up resenting him and leaves him. I think if you know the original story, the irony adds a bit of humor to the book and gives you a better understanding of why the book is titled what it is.

Pygmalion Entry 1

Well first off, the way Eliza speaks just really annoys me. I had to read really slowly and sometimes read it multiple times in a British accent to see what she was meaning to say. One thing I don't understand about her though is why she sells flowers. Is that something poor people in London did at that time? Was it something people used often and just found it to be cheaper when they bought it from street venders? Either way it was very nice of Mr. Pickering to give her money for her flowers to help her out. He might have just given it to her to make her go away, but no matter what it was for it was a very nice thing to do, especially since most people with money don't really care about the people who are beneath them. He's much better than Mr. Higgins who doesn't seem like the nicest or most selfless of people. The only reason he helped Eliza in the first place was so that once she was a lady he could get bragging rights and be the one to say that it was him who changed her from a nottie to a hottie.


I noticed that Eliza is a very emotional once she gets to Mr. Higgins's house. She always seems to be crying or screaming and I don't understand why. Maybe it's because she didn't expect to be taken in and is overwhelmed by the fact that she has so much responsibility so fast. Or maybe it's because she came in thinking that being taught by such a smart, wealthy person would be a nice experience, meaning not being yelled at constantly, even for things you can't help. Or maybe she's just a sensitive person and her strong, "I can take care of myself" persona is thrown off when others are taking care of her.


One last thing I found interesting was that in the book, everyone else is referred to by their last name except Eliza and Freddy. Are only wealthy older people referred to by their last name? Or is it something that is earned? Maybe towards the end of the book I'll find out