Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Practice

     In the advertisement above the woman is saying that she has the ability to become number 1 and all she needs to achieve that is opponents. Nothing can stop her.

     This is a video advertisement that is a good example for Pathos. It shows many neglected and hurt animals that pull on your heartstrings because they are so adorable. In the background there is sad music, which just adds to your sympathy for these animals. 

    Logos is shown in this commercial when they prove that the Colgate toothpaste made the bacteria in a woman's decrease. It was also shown when they said the toothpaste was clinically proven to help decrease various problems that could affect your mouth. (At the end there was also ethos when it said Colgate was the number one chosen brand by dentists.) 

Malala Yousafzai

     I had already heard about this 14-year-old girl from my mom before I read these articles. But the articles gave me more information on the subject. That Malala got shot because she was protesting her right to learn as a woman. She got shot in the head, because she wanted to go to school. 
     I feel like I haven't been very grateful. I get to go to school everyday. I learn something new everyday. I get to have homework to reinforce these new ideas and skills. With each day that passes I become closer to my goal of getting into college and pursuing the job of my dreams. 10 months out of the year I get to do this without a worry in my head. Meanwhile, in a country not very far away, there's a girl my same exact age who is troubled with the fact that the next day might be her last of getting an education. Because she worries she won't get the education she deserves, she protests. Because she protests she gets threatened. Although these threats may be frightening, she continues to protest, because she wants to send the message that going to school is a right everyone should have. Because she continues to protest, she gets shot. 
     I believe this connects with Persepolis, and how Marji wanted the world to know a country should not be judged by a few extremists. Malala was fighting against the extremists who said girls shouldn't go to school. Truthfully, if I was in her situation, I don't think I would have been brave enough to do what she did. I hope she recovers. And I hope that her story helps in the  advancements of women's rights all around the world. 

Persepolis Reading Response: The Passport

     Marji's uncle gets his third heart attack since his eldest son left for Holland. To fully recover from the attack he needs to go to England so doctors can perform an open heart procedure. The thing is, he needs a passport to get to England, which is virtually impossible. Luckily, Marji and her family discover an old friend who makes fake passports. For a certain price he guarantees he can have one ready in a few weeks.
 This old friend has also taken in a girl called Niloufar. She is hiding from those searching for because she is communist. 
     On page 125 there are 3 panels showing Niloufar. The panels read: "Two days later, Niloufar, the eighteen-year-old communist, was spotted. Arrested... and executed." 
The pictures from these panels remind me of Kite Runner, a movie I saw in 7th grade. Towards the end of the movie there's a scene of a woman about to get stoned with her eyes covered by a cloth just the way Niloufar has her's. The image is horrifying in both scenes. 
     The worst part is that Niloufar was so young. Earlier in the chapter Marji's uncle said: "The butcher told me he's seen kids executed in the street without even having been judged. The shame of it." It's terrible to hear that people of all ages were killed during the revolution because of their political positions, beliefs, and religious morals. 
     I truly wish it could be understood by everyone in the world that violence helps nothing, and never will.   

Persepolis Reading Response: The Dowry

     This was the last chapter of the graphic novel. Marji was doing bad in school because she was disrespectful to her teachers. Finally her parents decided to send her to Austria to study. Marji figured out that they were not going to come with her, or live with her ever again. They would only visit. She was scared to experience something so new to her. On the last page of the book it said: "I couldn't just go. I turned around to see them one last time." Showing an image of her mother in her fathers arms, the caption read: "It would have been better just to go." 
     This didn't make sense to me. Was her mother dead? Had her mother passed out? Was this image setting up the plot for the next book? Was it supposed to be unclear what happened to her mother? The fact that I don't understand what happened makes me want to read the second part, (Story of a Return) because it will have answers to the questions I wonder about the first book. 

Persepolis Reading Response: The Sheep

     "The Sheep" ends with Marji trapped in a state of despair. A "good part of her family" has left the country, and the boy she likes tells her that he is leaving for the United States.  Her family friends are being murdered, and to top it all off her beloved uncle gets executed. He was allowed one visitor before his death and he chose Marji. He called her the "star of his life" and tells her how much he loves her. The last panel of the chapter shows Marji's thoughts: "And so I was lost, without any bearings... what could be worse than that?" A speech bubble underneath these words read: "Marji, run to the basement! We're being bombed!" 
     Throughout this chapter I was reminded repeatedly of The Book Thief, a book that took place during World War 2. The main character, Liesl, lost all of her friends and family in a bombing. She survived the bombing because she was sitting in a basement that was just deep enough to keep her safe. After the bombing she ran outside to see if everyone was OK. The first face that met her eyes was the one of her best friend, who she secretly liked. The second was her mother, and the third her father, who she loved more than anything. Her father was very similar to Anoosh in Marji's story. They both always had calming words, never lost their temper, and loved their daughter/niece with all their heart. 
     The Book Thief and Persepolis both take place in times of war, and war always has tragic events. But I hope Persepolis has a more lighthearted and hopeful ending.   

Persepolis Reading Response: Persepolis

     In the chapter Persepolis, Marji tries to get answers from her grandmother about her grandfather. Her grandmother starts talking about the Shah and his history. This frustrates Marji because she only wants to know about her grandfather. After their talk they go to the kitchen to wait for her father for supper, but he doesn't come for a very long time. When he finally returns they all cry out in relief. He then tells a story of how the revolutionists mistook a dead old man for a martyr, and the widow of the man told them that they were mistaken. They then called the Shah a killer and the woman joined in with  the protesting. Marji's father, mother, and grandmother all laugh at this story but Marji doesn't understand. She laughs along to fit in. 
     I can sympathize with Marji. There have been so many times when I was younger that my parents or my brothers would be talking about something that I didn't understand. Sometimes when someone would tell a joke and everyone was laughing, I would laugh along just to look like everyone else, whether I understood it or not. 
     There is a panel on the last page of the chapter that says: "Something escaped me. Cadaver, cancer, death, murderer, laughter?" And then she laughs along with her family even though she doesn't understand. This describes exactly how I would feel, because I would catch a few words of what my family was saying but the words wouldn't fit together. Everyone thought it was funny or understood so I pretended I did too. 
     On the last panel of the chapter it said she "realized then I didn't understand anything. I read all the books I could." When someone would try to explain something to me when I was younger and I didn't understand I would ask other people questions about the subject to get more information. In these ways, me and Marji are similar. 

Persepolis Reading Response: The Veil

     Marji was a girl going to a co-ed, french, non-religious school in the 1970s. But in 1980 that changed. Women were told to wear veils to school. The schools could no longer be co-ed. People with different beliefs were always arguing with each other. 
     The chapter "The Veil" introduces the cultural revolution, and what kind of child Marji is like. She is very religious, and wants to be a prophet. During the night she has conversations with god. These conversations reminded me of another book I once read, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 
     In a panel in Persepolis, the dialogue says: "Every night I would have a big discussion with god." "God, give me more time, I'm not quite ready yet." 
This is very similar to Margaret's discussions with god. She would ask him questions, make requests, (as Marji did) and tell him about her issues. She was not as religious as Marji, but their conversations were both ways of getting comfort by talking to someone. 
 

Gilgamesh Tablet 10 Reading Response

     There were multiple topics I noticed in this tablet of Gilgamesh. The first was that Utnapishtim's story of becoming immortal was very similar to Noah's Arch. In the story of Noah's Arch, it is said that god was angry with the world because the people in it were being greedy and corrupt and untrustworthy. He decided to send down a flood to get rid of all of the bad people. But he told one man, a good man, to make a giant boat and fill it with 2 of every animal. So when the flood was over, 2 of every animal and Noah had survived. 
     The story of Utnapishtim was written: "...abandon your house, abandon what you posses, abandon your house and build a boat instead. Seek life instead of riches, save yourself. Take with you, on the boat, an instance of each living thing so that they may be safe from obliteration in the flood. Perform the construction of the boat in care." With the help of his town Utnapishtim build a humongous boat. This is what was written about the flood: "In the early hours of the next morning dawning there was the noise of Adad in the clouds that rose and filled the morning sky with balckness." "From time to time Annunaki blazed terrible light. Then the rain came down in floods." After the horrible flood Utnapishtim released birds to see if one of them could find a place to settle itself. When a raven finally found such a place, he released all the birds. 
     Don't these stories sounds similar? And it seems like the bible stories may not all be original, because the Epics of Gilgamesh were written before the bible. It also seems like the number seven is a very popular number. The epic says:  "Six days and nights the storm went on this way, the South Wind flooding over the mountains and valleys until the seventh day when the storm birth labor subsided at last, the storm subsided at last." Also: "...and then on the seventh day I freed a dove." And: "The first wafer is dry as dust, the second is only less so than the first, the third is soggy and rotten, the fourth wafer is white in the crust, there are spots and mold on the fifth, the sixth wafer looks almost as if it is fresh; and the seventh-but it is then that you awoke." 

     I think what I found out from this tablet is that the bible got its ideas not only from Jesus and God but also looked at other literature and adapted it to fit into the Christian religion.  

My Answer to Gilgamesh's Question: What Happens to Us When We Die?

     I believe that when we die we go to heaven. This picture shows the "stairway to heaven." My religion teaches me that if we are good people in our lifetime we will reach the pearly gates. For me being a good person is thinking of others, giving to others, helping those less fortunate than us, always being kind wether it is difficult or not, and spreading good messages. (world peace, go green, etc.) I don't know what Gilgamesh believes or wants to believe, but if he asked me: "What happens to us when we die?" This is the response I'd give him.  
     I'm guessing that during his quests throughout this book that at some point, he will find the answer he is looking for.

Gilgamesh Tablets 6-7 Reading Response

     In these 2 tablets, the goddess Ishtar sent a bull down to Earth because she was angry with Gilgamesh. Together Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeated the bull. The gods decided that one of the 2 had to die, so they chose Enkidu. 
     I still don't understand why they chose Enkidu. I think maybe because Gilgamesh was more powerful, or because they wanted to punish Gilgamesh so they decided to kill his friend. Or, if these stories do have some historical content, and there was a Gilgamesh and an Enkidu, the person or people who wrote this story wanted to explain why Enkidu died. To explain why he died they wrote down that the gods had decided to kill him. 

Gilgamesh Tablets 4-5 Reading Response

     Before I said that Gilgamesh reminded me of the Greek myth's. But these tablets reminded me of the bible. There was a lot of repetition, as there can be in the bible.  For example: "On the next day they traveled fifty leagues, and fifty leagues a day for two days more. Then Enkidu found water. They dug a well to quench their thirst and offer to the god, and Gilgamesh offered his offering of flour: 'May Shamash grant of fortune dream tonight.'" 
     This part of the story was repeated a couple of times, and each time Gilgamesh was granted a dream. 
     In bible stories people often also pray to god for help when they are going through a difficult task. An example of this in Gilgamesh is when he cries out: "Protect us as we pass through fearfulness." And the story says: "Then Shamash heard the prayer of Gilgamesh and raised up thirteen storms agaisnt Huwawa." 

These similarities of repetition and prayer reminded me of the bible while I was reading tablets 4-5.    

Gilgamesh Tablets 1-3 Reading Response

     So far, I would describe the Epics of Gilgamesh as "interesting." There was a wild man named Enkidu who was big and strong and lived with the animals. When Shamhat told him of Gilgamesh, the greatest of them all,  Enkidu decided to go to the city of Uruk and challenge Gilgamesh. When he got to Uruk he and Gilgamesh wrestled and in the end Gilgamesh won. Enkidu admitted Gilgamesh was the greatest and they became friends. Now they are off to try and defeat Huwawa the monster. 
     I find this story some what like the Greek myth's, because there is talk of defeating horrifying monsters and there is battles between men to see who is the greatest. For example, when Gilgamesh says: "It is Gilgamesh who will venture out into the Forest and cut the Cedar down and win the glory. The fame will be secure to all my sons." In the Greek myth's there were always people going off to fight monsters and trying to prove they were the most powerful. 
     I think there were similar stories in these early times because everyone was trying to explain things such as the gods, and there were tales that may have had some truth, but became exaggerated as people retold them.   

Picture Description

 

     I think the the photographer of this picture is showing that no matter our differences or where we're from we are all connected, and all equal. I also think he/she is showing that if we all realize that we are qual and connected in some way, there can be a more peacful world. My prior knowledge of this picture was that I looked up "world peace" on the internet. :)