I believe that there is a logical reason for every action that a person chooses to do. Whether this action is done to better oneself or one’s community, there is always the risk of something going wrong. Actions do not always go as planned and sometimes people end up making the situation worse when they thought that the action would be good for everyone. Therefore, I believe that even though the Taliban thought that their actions were going to make the country a better place to live, and that many Afghan people were for them, the lives of the women became so badly oppressed that is was almost like they did not exist.
The Taliban had a goal and that was to take over the country of Afghanistan. And they believed that the only way that they were going to be able to gain power over all of the Afghanistan people was to keep the people’s privileges to a minimum. For example, in the book My Forbidden Face, women were only allowed to leave their houses under two conditions which both had to be met, one was if they were accompanied by a man or mahram at all times and if they wore a chadri, a facial cloth that covered an Afghan women’s whole face. The rules that the Taliban came up with for the women were much harder than those for the men. Women would be beaten for being the slightest it out of line. Also, women were not allowed to wear make-up. In the book, some of the women get badly beaten for wearing white shoes because white is the color of the Taliban flag, and by wearing white shoes, it was as if they were stepping on the flag. Women were almost reduced to nothing under the Taliban, even if they were put in the situation of being raped; the women were either forced to marry their rapist or to kill themselves. Men had to be relied on as the main source for income because women were no longer allowed to work, shattering the dream jobs and future dreams for all women. Men were still allowed to work and walk the streets on their own. The future for women looked pretty dull, partly because the opportunity for education was one of the first to go under the Taliban regime.
However, by doing this, the Taliban thought that they were taking action and making rules that would benefit the country as a whole. They felt that they best way for this country, Afghanistan, to run was when they were in charge. Behind every action they took, their seemed to be a logical explanation. By not allowing education to the people of Afghanistan, there was no way that they could know what “freedom” was going on around the world in other countries. The Taliban knew that once the people started to find out how other countries were living and how different it was, everyone would want to leave for a chance at a better and more fulfilling lifestyle. That is why the Taliban had the rule of not being allowed any link to the media. No noise was allowed to be heard from outside the house after hours, this included the television and the radio. This gave the Taliban the opportunity to take rule over the people of Afghanistan and get them to do whatever they wanted. Because if any of these rules were ever broken the consequences were deadly. Failing to follow even the smallest detail resulted in a spanking or a beating. There were so many Taliban that kept an eye on every move that was being taken by the non-Taliban, especially when they were in their homes. They spied to make sure that no loud noises or bright lights could be heard or seen from anywhere around the homes.
I believe that the Taliban thought that by inputting these new rules, they would be able to rule and run the country of Afghanistan how they wanted to. The Taliban would be one hundred percent in total control of the Afghan people. However, instead of making Afghanistan a better place to live, the Taliban ended any sort of “normal” lifestyle. Women were not allowed to do anything, but stay in their homes unless they were with a man. These rule completely took away the independence of the women, families fully relied on the men and never on the women. This made women think that they were not worth anything which forced depression and sickness on the women as a result. The Taliban wanted a better life for the Afghan people; they were not just about themselves and what was best for them. However, the rules made the Afghan people feel so inferior to the Taliban that they anything and everything the Taliban wanted should be done.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Haiku-Spring
The cherry blossom
Falls softly in the cool breeze
Crushed beneath my foot
This is the Haiku that my friend and I wrote in our World Literature class. Our seasonal word is the "cherry blossom" and the season that we were writing about was spring, when the cherry blossoms are plentiful. We tried to stick with the standard length of a haiku, using the 5, 7, 5, syllable pattern in the three lines of our poem. Also, we wanted to end our poem with a little twist and the end, so we described the moment when one of the beautiful cherry blossoms gets crushed. This was a very fun project to work on.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Ancient Voices Paper
For my World Literature class our first paper was to make the ancient voices come alive. This is my story on making this voices come alive.
“Strong beginnings and strong finishes eventually lead to honor.”
In the little city of Anax, the summer was quickly approaching, and men were busy training for what would be only the second Olympic Games. The men of Anex as well as those from other countries had been waiting four long years for what could be a life changing experience for them; to win the Olympic Games, bring honor to their country, and receive the girl of their dreams. The games, held in Anex this year, were purely to honor the god Anaxagoras, whose name meant master, and who was believed to be the ultimate god. Tomorrow would be the first of five tense days of competition.
Looking around, there were no women to be seen anywhere on the grounds of the city of Anex. This was because there was a “no women allowed” rule that went into effect while the Olympic Games were in progress. Women were not allowed to compete or even to watch the men compete in the games. They were only allowed to watch the games if they owned one of the chariot horses for the race, and this was quite rare. However, in the city of Anex, there was a lonely beautiful housemaid who was to be given up, as one of the many gifts and honors, to the winner of the Olympic Games. For this reason, she was the only woman who was allowed to be present and watch the Olympic Games. Her name was Althaia, named for her ability to soothe.
There were two main competitors for the city of Anex, Andreas whose name meant warrior, and Nikias whose name meant victory. From the city of Anike, Anex’s rival city, came Eutychos whose name meant fortunate, and Aiolos whose name meant quick, who were playing for who they believed to be the ultimate god, Aniketos whose name meant unconquerable. The last Olympics, it boiled down to a head to head competition between an athlete from Anex and an athlete from Anike.
The first day of competition started off with a bang. There was a procession that went for 45 miles, that connected the countries of Anike and Anex. Olympic judges made up this procession dressed in purple robes, and were followed by the referees, heralds, athletes and their trainers. Everyone from both near and far were there to see the competition take place, soldiers, artists, philosophers, princes, historians, fishermen and farmers were among the many. The actual Olympic Game events would start on the second day.
Day two started with the chariot races. In these events, every man competed for himself; there were no relays or teams. A herald announced each horse and its owner one by one. Andreas would be riding the horse, Kyros named for his power. Nikias was to ride Adrastus named for his courage. Eutychos named his horse after his everlasting endurance. And Aiolos would ride Agathon named for his good nature. The herald motioned to the judges, and the race was off. The chariots were traveling at extremely high speeds and as they all were approaching and making the first turn, Nikias’ horse took a dive and his chariot crashed. This startled the other horses and Kyros threw Andreas from his back and he flew to the ground. However, Kyros just kept running and was the first horse to finish. For this event, 1st place went to Andreas of Anex, 2nd place went to Eutychos of Anike, 3rd place went to Nikias of Anex and with the 4th place ribbon was Aiolos of Anike. After the chariot races, there was a pentathlon that the athletes competed in. This was composed of five events which included: the discus throw, long jump, javelin throw, stade race and upright wrestling. For the long jump event, the athletes used stone of lead weights called haleres to increase their distance. Watching the pentathlon events were always a crowd favorite and was an important factor when determining who would eventually win the games. Eutychos of Anike came in 1st overall, placing 1st in the discus throw and upright wrestling, 2nd in the long jump and javelin throw, and 3rd in the stade race. While Andreas of Anex came in 2nd overall with 1st in the long jump and javelin throw, second in the stade race, and 3rd for the discus throw and upright wrestling. Nikias of Anex and Aiolos came in as a tie for 3rd place each having one 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and two 4th place victories.
Day three was all about getting rest for these athletes, who were in for another grueling day of events tomorrow. There was a sacrifice to Anexagoras, and the rest of the day was devoted to letting some of the younger boys who were spectators have a chance to experience what it was like to be a part of the Olympic Games. These boys would compete in events similar to the pentathlon.
Day four started off with the foot races. Aiolos of Anike knew that this event would give him a chance to get back into the scoring and have a chance move up the leader board because he was named for his quickness. Ever since he was a little boy, he would always beat his friends at foot races. There were three different foot races: a 2 ¼ mile run, a 600 foot sprint, and a 1200 foot race. As it turned out he was right, finishing 1st in this event. Although, only beating Nikias be a nose. Nikias and Andreas of Anex came in 2nd and 3rd place, and Eutychos of Anike finished 4th. After the foot races came the upright wrestling competition. Andreas, who was named for his tough warrior-like build, knew that this was going to be a fun event for him. He was used to lifting and pushing heavy loads back at his home in Anex and was able to take the other athletes out of the competition with ease. He had a 1st place finish. Followed by Nikias, Eutychos, and Aiolos. The final event of the Olympic Games was the race in armor, where the athletes ran a stade, about 75 feet, wearing heavy armor and carrying shields. The athletes did not carry any weapons like swords of daggers of any sort. Andreas came in 1st, then Aiolos, Nikias, and Eutychos.
On the fifth and final day of the Olympics, there were celebration festivals and no athletic events took place. The victories that the athletes had achieved were honored. The champion of the Olympic Games was determined by how strongly the athletes had performed in the events throughout the days. Andreas from Anax was crowned the champion, finishing 1st overall. He was consistently strong throughout the competition, from beginning to end, finishing 1st in three events, 2nd in one and 3rd in another. Nikias, also from Anax did not do as well throughout the competition, but managed to pull out a 2nd place overall victory. He finished 2nd in two events and 3rd in the three other events. The two athletes from Anike, did not seem to be on their game for most of the games and finished in a tie for 3rd place overall. Andreas was given a palm branch by the judges after they had announced that he was the winner of the Olympic Games. During the celebration Andreas exchanged the palm branch for a crown made of wild olive branches when he received the girls of his dreams, Althaia. Soon, the crowd would shower him with flowers and leaves as he would here and forever represent the city of Anex as a hero. Winning the Olympics got him and his city the honor he thought was deserved.
“Strong beginnings and strong finishes eventually lead to honor.”
In the little city of Anax, the summer was quickly approaching, and men were busy training for what would be only the second Olympic Games. The men of Anex as well as those from other countries had been waiting four long years for what could be a life changing experience for them; to win the Olympic Games, bring honor to their country, and receive the girl of their dreams. The games, held in Anex this year, were purely to honor the god Anaxagoras, whose name meant master, and who was believed to be the ultimate god. Tomorrow would be the first of five tense days of competition.
Looking around, there were no women to be seen anywhere on the grounds of the city of Anex. This was because there was a “no women allowed” rule that went into effect while the Olympic Games were in progress. Women were not allowed to compete or even to watch the men compete in the games. They were only allowed to watch the games if they owned one of the chariot horses for the race, and this was quite rare. However, in the city of Anex, there was a lonely beautiful housemaid who was to be given up, as one of the many gifts and honors, to the winner of the Olympic Games. For this reason, she was the only woman who was allowed to be present and watch the Olympic Games. Her name was Althaia, named for her ability to soothe.
There were two main competitors for the city of Anex, Andreas whose name meant warrior, and Nikias whose name meant victory. From the city of Anike, Anex’s rival city, came Eutychos whose name meant fortunate, and Aiolos whose name meant quick, who were playing for who they believed to be the ultimate god, Aniketos whose name meant unconquerable. The last Olympics, it boiled down to a head to head competition between an athlete from Anex and an athlete from Anike.
The first day of competition started off with a bang. There was a procession that went for 45 miles, that connected the countries of Anike and Anex. Olympic judges made up this procession dressed in purple robes, and were followed by the referees, heralds, athletes and their trainers. Everyone from both near and far were there to see the competition take place, soldiers, artists, philosophers, princes, historians, fishermen and farmers were among the many. The actual Olympic Game events would start on the second day.
Day two started with the chariot races. In these events, every man competed for himself; there were no relays or teams. A herald announced each horse and its owner one by one. Andreas would be riding the horse, Kyros named for his power. Nikias was to ride Adrastus named for his courage. Eutychos named his horse after his everlasting endurance. And Aiolos would ride Agathon named for his good nature. The herald motioned to the judges, and the race was off. The chariots were traveling at extremely high speeds and as they all were approaching and making the first turn, Nikias’ horse took a dive and his chariot crashed. This startled the other horses and Kyros threw Andreas from his back and he flew to the ground. However, Kyros just kept running and was the first horse to finish. For this event, 1st place went to Andreas of Anex, 2nd place went to Eutychos of Anike, 3rd place went to Nikias of Anex and with the 4th place ribbon was Aiolos of Anike. After the chariot races, there was a pentathlon that the athletes competed in. This was composed of five events which included: the discus throw, long jump, javelin throw, stade race and upright wrestling. For the long jump event, the athletes used stone of lead weights called haleres to increase their distance. Watching the pentathlon events were always a crowd favorite and was an important factor when determining who would eventually win the games. Eutychos of Anike came in 1st overall, placing 1st in the discus throw and upright wrestling, 2nd in the long jump and javelin throw, and 3rd in the stade race. While Andreas of Anex came in 2nd overall with 1st in the long jump and javelin throw, second in the stade race, and 3rd for the discus throw and upright wrestling. Nikias of Anex and Aiolos came in as a tie for 3rd place each having one 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and two 4th place victories.
Day three was all about getting rest for these athletes, who were in for another grueling day of events tomorrow. There was a sacrifice to Anexagoras, and the rest of the day was devoted to letting some of the younger boys who were spectators have a chance to experience what it was like to be a part of the Olympic Games. These boys would compete in events similar to the pentathlon.
Day four started off with the foot races. Aiolos of Anike knew that this event would give him a chance to get back into the scoring and have a chance move up the leader board because he was named for his quickness. Ever since he was a little boy, he would always beat his friends at foot races. There were three different foot races: a 2 ¼ mile run, a 600 foot sprint, and a 1200 foot race. As it turned out he was right, finishing 1st in this event. Although, only beating Nikias be a nose. Nikias and Andreas of Anex came in 2nd and 3rd place, and Eutychos of Anike finished 4th. After the foot races came the upright wrestling competition. Andreas, who was named for his tough warrior-like build, knew that this was going to be a fun event for him. He was used to lifting and pushing heavy loads back at his home in Anex and was able to take the other athletes out of the competition with ease. He had a 1st place finish. Followed by Nikias, Eutychos, and Aiolos. The final event of the Olympic Games was the race in armor, where the athletes ran a stade, about 75 feet, wearing heavy armor and carrying shields. The athletes did not carry any weapons like swords of daggers of any sort. Andreas came in 1st, then Aiolos, Nikias, and Eutychos.
On the fifth and final day of the Olympics, there were celebration festivals and no athletic events took place. The victories that the athletes had achieved were honored. The champion of the Olympic Games was determined by how strongly the athletes had performed in the events throughout the days. Andreas from Anax was crowned the champion, finishing 1st overall. He was consistently strong throughout the competition, from beginning to end, finishing 1st in three events, 2nd in one and 3rd in another. Nikias, also from Anax did not do as well throughout the competition, but managed to pull out a 2nd place overall victory. He finished 2nd in two events and 3rd in the three other events. The two athletes from Anike, did not seem to be on their game for most of the games and finished in a tie for 3rd place overall. Andreas was given a palm branch by the judges after they had announced that he was the winner of the Olympic Games. During the celebration Andreas exchanged the palm branch for a crown made of wild olive branches when he received the girls of his dreams, Althaia. Soon, the crowd would shower him with flowers and leaves as he would here and forever represent the city of Anex as a hero. Winning the Olympics got him and his city the honor he thought was deserved.
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