The Dirt on Germs

As I read “The dirt on Germs” by Katherine Ashenburg, I kept thinking of all the OCD rituals that take place day to day in my life and the life’s of people around me. Washing hangs regularly, not touching door handles, and using anti-bacterial on everything. People are so paranoid that they now have new products like a U-shaped door pulls in restaurants to avoid touching handles that might have germs, and I thought I was crazy.
As scientists continue testing, they have seen bacteria and germs not as an enemy, but as some importance. They have seen the increase of asthma and other allergies over time, and they feel that it could be because people are so conscious of disinfecting and sanitizing. They tested children living in areas that were polluted and unsanitary, and found that those children were less likely to get asthma or allergies than children that were living in a non-polluted, clean environment. Imagine that. We think we are telling our children the right thing by having them wash their hands after everything they touch, and we are actually doing the opposite. Somehow it must be weakening their immune system by keeping them away from these natural germs that we were exposed to as children every day.

Word count: 211

Gatsby-Part Two

In part two, Nafisi decided after much thought to bring the novel The Great Gatsby into her readings. She took much risk bringing in this fictional, banned book into the class room. Although this book had no similarity to what was going on in the revolution at the time, Nafisi choose the novel because it was actually a good book. Also, allowing the students to see “a glimpse of that other world that was now receding from us, lost in a clamor of denunciations.” Pg. 108
Many students were baffled by the novel and questioned the idea of love in the story with so much hate going on around them. Some asking “what use is love in this world we live in?”
Pg. 110
Nafisi goes on to explain to us that while standing in her classroom talking about the American Dream as it pertains to Gatsby, she could hear the shouting outside the class room “Marg bar Amrika”-“Death to America!” Which I would think would be difficult as a teacher to have to bring the students in to the book, and imagine they are in this other world of love, while there is the complete opposite happening around them.

Word Count: 202

Part 1:Lolita

Nafisi, an ex teacher, forms a book club in the privacy of her home in Tehran to discuss literature with seven of her best students. As I read the first chapter of “Reading Lolita in Tehran”, I can’t help but put myself in the position that Nafisi and the other woman are in. What would I do not being about to dress how I want, or show my hair, my arms, my body. Not being able to distinguish myself from anyone else, draped in a black robe and head scarf.
Every Thursday these students would meet and discuss literature that was forbidden. Once these women stepped into the book club, all of a sudden they start to become individuals. No longer a blur of black veils and unhappy faces. In part 1, Nafisi takes the time to describe each student in detail from two photographs that she had taken. One where they are fully robbed. The second where they are all standing there with no robes, and all color. She shares all these different and distinctive personalities that they unveil once they de-veil. Also describing how much they differ in their appearance. Singling out one student in particular. Nassrin, who didn’t make it to the end, but apparently was a huge influence on the group.

Word count: 217

The Veil

Satrapi tells her story by using images and short descriptions in a comic book style, because it gives a little comic relief to the very serious situations that were occurring in Iran at the time. The drawings in the comic book look like she could have drawn them as a 10 year old child, allowing you to see her emotions and put yourself in her position. Especially with the drawings of her facial expressions. Even with words that are not too detailed you are able to follow what is happening with the help of the images.

Academic Blog

Blogging is fairly new to me, especially being introduced to our English class. To me, academic means the gathering of knowledge. Put that together with blogging, and it means to gather knowledge and share that with others by discussing those ideas. I like this style of expressing thoughts and ideas. It allows you to let your ideas flow without a strict outline.