Theresa's Literature Blog

Blog #4: Life

Life is pleasant, Life is miserable, Life is beautiful, Life is tragic, Life is wonderfully fortunate, Life is somberly pitiful. It is the cycle of rebirth, it is the cycle of demise.

Death cannot begin without Life and Life cannot begin without Death. It is the Yin to its Yang and it is the Yang to its Yin. Without Death, Life becomes insignificant. Without Life, Death becomes insignificant. Life is absolute, but the journey of it is relative. It is treasured and it is scorned. Life is immeasurable and yet so limited. It is fair in its unfairness, it is gorgeous in its ugliness. It is the initial bringer and it is the final judgment. It is the ripe fruit of a golden spring and it is the withering trees of a deadly winter. It is the glistening warmth of a child and the ghastly apathy of an inhuman human. It manages to become the messenger of heavenly happiness and the messenger of deepening despair.

With its blissful ignorance and humble innocence, Life delivers the worst of appalling brutality and demonizing immorality. Yet, with its cruelty, Life delivers immense felicity. Only through Life can justice be served, and only through Life can Life meet its fatal fate. It is darkness and light coexisting together in a seemingly never-ending cycle. The blessed curse bestowed upon Life, creating a graciously ominous future in hopes of the continuance of redemption and evil.

All living beings know they will die one day, but only when they understand the meaning of their own insignificant lives can they live forever.

The Oppressors and the Oppressed in Tale of Two Cities

It comes to mind that no matter the situation, no matter the rationalization, and no matter the intention, oppression will always forge a path that leads to the inevitable. It comes to mind that in the book, the oppressed become the oppressors. When a person has been deprived of their life, their humanity, and their freedom, they become nothing more than animals. In A Tale of Two Cities, we come upon Madame Defarge and her husband, who are patriots during the French Revolution and are the ones being oppressed by the tyranny of the French aristocrats. Each day, they long for the chance to free themselves and the poor from their suffering that is caused by the rich. Each day, their minds are consumed by their aching desire to live a life they have been stripped away from. When the destined day finally comes, they find pleasure in the destruction they have ultimately sowed. When they see the rolling heads of their oppressors, they think of the freedom that has been given to them one by one with every head under the guillotine. The guillotine in the book is a tool used by the poor as a means to denounce the French aristocrats of their right to life and liberty. It has become such a hailing symbol that the poor see it as a holy figure that has purified the land of France from the blight of the tyrants. The text shows, “The ministers of Sainte Guillotine are robed and ready. Crash!—A head is held up” (Dickens 370). The audiences of the public execution indulge themselves into the feeling of liberty, locking themselves away in a fool’s paradise at the expense of innocent lives as well.

With the former oppressors gone and the new oppressors coming to the light, more innocent lives are lost. The new oppressors ignore the law and create a land that supports, undeniably, guilty until proven innocent, instead of innocent until proven guilty. A young woman is accused of “Plots. Though the just Heaven knows I am innocent of any… Who would think of plotting with a poor little weak creature like me?” (Dickens 352). Anyone who is merely accused of is chained towards the fatal fate. Ironically, the ones who are once oppressed is strangely supportive with the notion of beheading people regardless of concrete evidence. It comes to say that those who are oppressed have become who they despised the most when they have become the most powerful and the most feared.

Earthquake in California/2nd Blog Post

Who knew a vacation could turn out unbearable so quickly? No one in my family would think of experiencing such a thing, especially on our vacation.

My family and I were excited to visit California, especially my sister. She and I wanted to try so many foods before going back to Colorado, most notably snail(lololol. We can stomach a lot of things). There was this Asian garden mall that we would always go to whenever we visited California. As expected, we went there again. My sister got an adorable bunny hat, and the ears could move! A certain amount of people would comment about the hat and ask where we got it haha. My family and I went to so many places there. San Diego was perfect to go around and eat food. There was this particular restaurant I was fond of, Bonchon. They served the most heavenly fried chicken I had ever tasted in my ENTIRE life. It was so delightful to eat! The crunchiness was so exquisite, I could not fathom how they were able to maintain that level of crispness and also preserve the flavor inside it as well. I would recommend that place to anyone who loves to eat chicken(side note: I finally found out that Colorado also has this restaurant! I’m so excited!)! The food was not the only thing that made that vacation memorable. Los Angeles was a city full of wonders. First off, the Huntington Library was just phenomenal. The gardens and inside there were so beautiful and so well-kept. Now, the library was full of artifacts that were worth more than my life. The paintings inside there… they were so alluring and so astonishing to look at. As for LACMA, I could not believe how creative people could be. There was an artist who used only cigarettes to create an entire tiger mat. My experience in both the library and LACMA were some of the best memorable memories during my trip. Speaking of memorable, no other memory was as memorable as the very day I experienced an earthquake.

It was unnerving. Before that day, there was another earthquake, but I could barely feel it. This time, it was more major. It was a 7.1 earthquake. It happened at around 8:10 PM. I was at the Asian garden mall again because there was a night market there. My family and I wanted to try some of the food there. There was delicious squid and banh khot(a Vietnamese dish). Everyone was rather calm at first. But then, someone kept on shouting to move. There were a lot of concerned murmurs around me. Then it hit me. For some reason, the surroundings around me seemed to look strange. I felt myself rock around, as if I was on a cruise ship. Many people were pointing at something. Then I looked up and witnessed what they saw. There were two very tall pillars by the entrance that was holding up a Chinese-styled roof, and it was swaying. I felt the earth rumble again, and everyone around me said to get out of the way. No one knew whether or not the the two pillars would give way and plummet, either towards the people outside, or towards the building right behind it. My family and I only stared at it while holding our ground, waiting to see what would happen next. Thankfully, the earthquake subsided and no one was hurt. I couldn’t believe it. Two earthquakes in a row and the aftershock of yesterday’s earthquake was even worse. I was scared. I didn’t know what would happen tomorrow. There could’ve been a third one. I was conflicted. I didn’t know if I would make it back to Colorado safely. I desperately wanted to go back because I knew that if something even more terrible would happen, I was not in control.

Well, my trip to California was definitely something to remember. I am just thankful that my family and I weren’t at the heart of the earthquake and we were safe. It was a lesson to remember. If I was to take away something from that day, I had to remember something. I had to remember that my life could be stripped away from me just as quickly as I was given it.

About Me/Introduction Post/1st Blog Post

Hello, my name is Theresa! I will be a senior at SkyView Academy this coming school year. I am excited to take AP Literature and to undergo many experiences with all of you! I hope we can work together in order to create a pleasant and understanding atmosphere in the classroom :). Some of you may not be completely familiar with me and that is why this I am writing this blog. I hope that by the end of this, you will be able to know more about me. Let’s get right in shall we? Like others, I have my own hobbies and interests. In my free time, I read books, do art, listen to music, and write my own stories. I have a particular taste in books and music. Personally, I give books so much more respect when they weave the themes the author intends for the audience into the story so brilliantly. So after I read the book, I feel more enlightened. Eh, I know, I am weird pfft. For me, I prefer listening to Kpop and orchestral songs. A particular artist I absolutely adore is BTS. Their musicality is so unique to their own. I cannot understand how they are able to sing and dance(their choreography is so difficult but so eye-catching) at the same time. As for art, I cater to watercolor a lot. I like experimenting with water. It’s an added challenge for me haha. As for my hobby with story-writing, I am spending a lot of time on this particular one. It’s called Wishes in the Sky. The title is supposed to be a play on the phrase, a castle in the air. Basically, the meaning of that phrase is, dreams that are almost impossible have little chances in coming true. Thus, the castle will fall down from the sky. I bet you can tell right now, but I have a passion for completing this story. I don’t know, I just really like writing it. It is a reminder for me to remember what the characters in my story have gone through. My main character goes through many obstacles that challenge her humanity. I guess I’m writing it so that I can remember to never renounce my humanity. Because without humanity, I am no longer me but an animal.