Inertia

Sarah Cliff

Period 2

5/26/16

Inertia

What am I doing at 6:00 am?

I’ll tell you what is happening at 6:00 am.

I am dancing with unicorns and goblins

While devouring creamy vanilla créme brulee

I am staring at thousands (no, millions) of twinkling  

Stars in the night sky.

I fight demons

I save friends

I am surrounded by my wildest accomplishments!

Until-

What am I doing at 6:15 am?

I’ll tell YOU what is happening at 6:15 am.

My ears are writhing

From the undulous and horrendously loud

Battle cries of the enemy.

No wait.

That’s my alarm.

My soul screams as my eyelids unlatch

To open up shop for today,

letting the blinding

morning sunrise torture my mind.

I try to crawl out of my bed

And into the fire

Of today’s responsibilities.

You know what.

No.

I can’t

And I won’t.

10 more minutes.

What am I doing at 6:30 am?

I’ll TELL you what is going on at 6:30 am

I’m realizing that if I don’t get up now

My chem homework

That I had imprudently left off to do

On this horrible morning

Will remain incomplete...

Surely, I’ll be able to sacrifice 10 small minutes to finish-

No.

I can’t

And I won’t.

10 more minutes! Please!

What am I doing at 6:45 am?

I WILL tell you what I am doing at 6:45 am.

I’m stuffing soggy lumps of wheat into my face

Along with watered down butter,

(No wait, that’s milk)

As I ponder this punishment.

Yet would I want to go back to my cave?

For things to go back the way they were?

Maybe I’m a new person now.

Maybe I can live through today.

Who am I fooling, no I’m can’t!

I want my bed...

What am I doing at 7:00 am?

After staring at those purple bags under

What they call

my eyes.

I yearn for the comfort

Of sleep.

Do I succumb to these desires, you ask?

Or do I leave this room

This house?

Go to school?

Graduate?

Found a business?

Cure cancer?

End hunger?

Solve the world’s problems?

Well, we will just have to save that

 For a new chapter in our lives. 

Repression of Guilt and Memories

Repression of Guilt and Memory

The image of a rusted chain lock on a fence represents Amir’s emotional and psychological state. The chain link fence represents his old memories and experiences in Afghanistan and how he really only remembers the framework of his less important memories from his childhood. The spaces between the links, where the sky is exposed, represent the details he’s forgotten. The rusted chain represents the guilt from the incident with Hassan’s rape, and the ugly memories that resulted from that incident. It is more tightly made and has less spaces within its links, which implies that he has a more vivid memory of this event. The rust symbolizes how time has worn the memories down, but the chain itself will never quite disappear. However, the lock on the chain is unlocked, which symbolizes how the open-endedness of how he deals with guilt. He could either deal with the guilt like Baba, who acted with honor and nobility to try and redeem himself, or he could act in a cowardly fashion let his emotions leak out and wound his relationships with his close friends and family.

Deforestation; A Wound to the Earth

Deforestation; A Wound to the Earth

Between the years of 2004 and 2013, African elephant populations in the Congo Basin jungle plummeted by 60% due to deforestation, which destroys the elephants’ homes and exposes them to poachers (Congo).To put 60% into perspective, if the human race lost this percentage of its population, nearly five billion people would vanish from the Earth. Unfortunately, deforestation in the Congo jungle basin will cause worse problems than the extinction of African Elephants in the area. According to National Geographic, the Congo Basin jungle contains more than 30 percent of Africa’s forest and is home to nearly forty million people who all depend on the forest for their homes and resources (Deforestation). Recent statistics have shown that the rate of deforestation in the Congo has shrunk to nearly a third of what it used to be (Morelle), but with growing populations, the rate is expected to start increasing (Deforestation). After all more people will need more food, which will require more land to farm. While short term consequences of deforestation in the Congo Basin will only affect the plants, animals, and humans living in the region, the long term impact will ultimately transform the whole world by increasing the rate of global warming. However, deforestation will ultimately aid the Congolese economy by exposing new land for farming and mining.

The short term impact of massive deforestation in the Congo basin is the loss of homes for thousands of species of animals, including human beings. Although the Congo Basin has the lowest deforestation rate of any other tropical rain forest (Morelle), the area of forest lost each year is still immense. According to Alexandra Partel from BBC News, “The world's second largest rain-forest is losing 2,000 square km - an area 34 times the size of Manhattan - every year”(Morelle). Thirty four Manhattan Islands’ worth of plants and animals each year lose their homes! Contrary to popular belief, the natural world isn’t the only thing affected by deforestation. Forty million people will also find themselves without the adequate resources to survive. Most of  the human inhabitants living in the Congo basin area either live directly in the jungle or make a living from natural resources found in the forests (Congo). Destroying these peoples’ homes will only compel them to find work and shelter somewhere else.

Although the short terms effects of deforestation will mainly affect the native people and animals of the Congo, long term effects will ultimately bring consequences for the entire world. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, 8% of the world’s carbon storage in forests can be found in the Congo River Basin jungle (The Forests.) In other words, the jungle acts like a living carbon ‘sink’, absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in its massive trees. However, as deforestation eats away at the vast forests of Congo, the effect of the carbon sink will lessen, further increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Furthermore, one of the main industries responsible for deforestation is the fuel industry (Congo), which profits off of cutting down the massive jungle trees and turning them into charcoal. Unfortunately, this process will only release the massive amounts of carbon in the trees into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Boosted by the loss of Congo trees, global warming will ultimately find a way to ravage the lives of the people on earth.

However, clearing land as a result of deforestation has some benefits. Last year, the Democratic Republic of Congo (also known as the DRC) had to import 1 billion dollars worth of food in order to feed its growing population (Goering). Turning heavily forested areas into farmland will provide food and jobs for the Congolese people and in return, the Congolese government will be able to save money to spend on other concerns in the country. Also, many of the organizations that benefit from deforestation, such as the mining industry, play a significant part in the economy of Congo (Congo). Cracking down on deforestation with limiting laws may help the ecosystem of the Congo Basin, but it may also create massive social and economic problems within the DRC.

Deforestation has both its short and long term impacts. While today, it seems that only the plants and animals, as well as the 40 million people of the Congo, will lose their homes and sense of security as their forest home withers away, tomorrow will see the whole world suffer from devastation created by the release of greenhouse gasses. Yet cutting back on deforestation may potentially hinder the developing economy of the DRC because the jungle’s expansive nature limits agriculture and mining. As nations struggle to find a solution to the complex dilemma of the deforestation, only one thing will remain certain: after every year spent squabbling over limitation laws and agricultural trade, 34 more Manhattan-sized chunks will vanish forever along with endangered African elephants and millions of other plants and animals.

Works Cited

"Agriculture and Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Synthesis of the Current State of Knowledge | Center for International Forestry Research." Center for International Forestry Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"Congo Basin: The Green Heart of Africa." Congo Basin: The Green Heart of Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"Congo Logging Chaos Leaves People and Bonobos at the Sharp End." Greenpeace Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"The Congo Rainforest." Mongabay.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

"Deforestation Facts, Deforestation Information, Effects of Deforestation - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"Deforestation in Africa's Congo Basin Rainforest Slows - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa." Deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"Deforestation in the Congo Basin." Deforestation in the Congo Basin. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"Documents & Reports." Deforestation Trends in the Congo Basin : Agriculture (English). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa." The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa. World Wildlife Foundation, 2002. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Goering, Laurie. "After Errors, Congo Basin Forest Effort Restarts with New Scrutiny." After Errors, Congo Basin Forest Effort Restarts with New Scrutiny. Thomson Reuters Foundation News, 8 Dec. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Illegal Logging: Fuelling Conflict and Damaging Livelihoods." Greenpeace Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"Protecting Ancient Forests." Greenpeace Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

老人的肚子

老人的肚子

“Being so thin, he didn’t actually have a stomach at all, just wrinkled skin forming innumerable tiny folds on his abdomen. When he began to sing the wrinkles billowed out, forming little waves that rippled across his tanned and gleaming. The band of plaited straw that served as his belt began to undulate too. Every now and then, it disappeared into a roll of skin, but just as seemed lost forever in the tidal flow it re-emerged, dignified and pristine. A magical waistband.” (73)

“The old miller smiled too, and went on singing while the skin eddied across his stomach. Luo and I rolled over the ground in a paroxysm of hilarity.” (74)

Thesis: Sijie uses the symbol of the old miller’s stomach to emphasize the point that part of growing up includes letting go of vanity and other hardships. The old man is wrinkled, small, thin, and he sucks on pebbles and sings crude songs in his spare time, but he is one of the happiest people in the story. Therefore, he has fulfilled his life and made the most of it, which is part of growing up. One cannot truly be an adult until they are free from life’s hardships and desires, which is exactly what the stomach represents.

By Sarah, Izzy, Carissa, Lauren

The Old Oak

Sarah Cliff

Period 2

9/30/15

An withered Oak, surrounded by weeds,

sleeps under the midnight moon

down to the floor of a blanketed hill.

Hushed wind invokes whispers in the weeds.

“Why so so frail, old Oak?”

“Why so gnarly, old Oak?”

“You seem sad, old Oak.

Crickets chirp a rhythm

anticipating an answer.

The old Oak scans the shimmery blades

of green, so perfectly pointed.

The moon’s silver shine reflects off of

their young tender leaves.

They stand proud.

“Frail, you say? I am neither strong nor weak

Gnarly you say? I am neither glamorous nor repulsive

Sad, you say? I am far from it.”

“I am only enlightened”

The grass whisper violently in the wind

They spend the rest of the night

trying to make sense of the wise

oak’s teachings to no prevail.

When midsummer sun scorches the hilltops the next day,

the Old Oak lies peacefully

among fields of dead grass.

Changing Memories