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October 10, 2011 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel Post #1

Summary: In the beginning of //Like Water for Chocolate//, the main character, 15 year old Tita de la Garza, is introduced. She has two sisters and a mother who live on a ranch with her during the Mexican Revolution. While her sisters are more respectful to their mother ideals, Tita is seen to be more rebellious and she often gets punished for her insubordination. In relationship to her birth in a kitchen, Tita has a love for cooking and she grew up learning from the family cook, Nacha. Tita also has a lover named Pedro who is her neighbor who wants to marry. Unfortunately because of the de la Garza tradition of the youngest daughter needing to be unmarried to take care of the family mother until death, Tita is unable to marry Pedro. The mother then suggests that Pedro should marry her second to last daughter, Rosaura, instead and he unwillingly accepts. It was not soon before long until a wedding was arranged where Tita was mourning because she still had great feeling for him. Ironically, she was in charge of baking the wedding cake with Nacha as she was trying to suppress her emotion to prevent herself from getting beating by her mother. Towards the end of the wedding, the cake would be eaten by the family that would suffer from vomit as a vomit-inducing ingredient was added to the cake. Because Tita did not add any other ingredients to the cake other then her few unintentional teardrops, she assumed that Nacha added the extra ingredient, but she would never know if it would be true because Nacha died that night. Ever since then, Tita has taken over the rule of the family cook.

Analysis: I like the beginning fifth of //Like Water for Chocolate.// The concept of Tita being practically predestined to have a love for cooking from birth was a creative endeavor from Esquirel as it is a well conceived description of how the environment reflect the personally of a person. I also like Tita's personality as it seems like she received the recessive trait of rebellion in contrast to her sisters. Also, the way that the novel is set up is creative too. The novel is set up like a monthly cookbook and the engraved recipes in the text is intriguing.

Application: This part of novel has an aspect that could answer the course essential question. According to what I've read so far, the inherent human characteristic of carrying traditions span time and culture. In the de la Garza family, like I said earlier, there is a tradition where the youngest daughter can not marry because she has to take care of the mother until her death. From inference, I believe that this agreed upon tradition kept the family together throughout the generations although Tita is not happy with the tradition personally. This tradition could be, in a way, very similar to the royal tradition of passing down the title of king from one generation to another to avoid confrontation over choosing a new leader. Like traditions in the royal family, the tradition that is in the de la Garza family keeps the family together overall.

October 19, 2011 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel Post #2

Summary: After the wedding incident with the vomit-inducing cake, Tita was physically punished severely by her mother, Mama Elena although she truly wasn't the person who made the cake nauseating. Since Nacha's death, Tita has taken over the position of being the family cook. One day Pedro came into the kitchen while Tita was cooking and he gave her a bouquet of roses. Afterwards to hide the fact that Pedro and herself were communication from Mama Elena, Tita prepared quail in rose petal sauce which used rose as an ingredient. When dinner time came, the family would eat this meal and the family did not enjoy it. Pedro liked the meal, but he suppressed from Mama Elena. For the rest of that day, the house would smell of rose petals. The scent would last on the eldest daughter, Getrudis as she went outside nude and attracted a soldier with the scent who took her away. Next, Mama Elena discovered that Getrudis left and she considered her no longer a member of the family. After that, in the chapter after, Pedro started developing real feeling for Rosaura as she became pregnant. One day Rosaura's water broke and Tita was the only person around to deliver the baby and she did successful. Afterwards, Rosaura becomes very ill with no hope of recovery in Mexico so her and Pedro have to move to San Antonio to get better medical attention. Ever since, Tita has been unhappy about their decision to move because she won't see Pedro for a while.

Analysis: I enjoy this part of //Like Water for Chocolate// because of the drastic changes that have been occurring since the wedding. This part of the story also shows how dynamic even Tita has become as she shows more responsibility. At first, she was just a teenage girl that helped the family cook around the kitchen, now she has taken responsibility as the family cook and when she needed to deliver the baby and breast feed him at certain times, she did it well. Also, I like how the plot has become more dramatic. In the first two chapter, //Like Water for Chocolate// was basically about Tita growing up in a kitchen and having a crush that was her neighbor whom she could not marry. Now, the story has been dramatized to be about Getrudis leaving the house with a rebel soldier, Rosaura having a boy and Tita potentially never seeing her love that she could not marry ever again. The rapid change and increased drama of this part still keeps me entertained and waiting for what will happen next.

Application: After reading this part of //Like Water for Chocolate//, another human characteristic that spans time and culture is developing the trait of responsibility. Earlier in this novel, Tita could be viewed as being less mature as she was punished often by Mama Elena. Beginning in chapter 4 when Rosaura had her baby, Tita proved to grown up a bit as she took the duty of delivering the child when the family doctor could not come in time alone and also taking care of the baby while Rosaura was sick. Without Tita's responsible acts in this part, there could have been delivery complications and the boy could have become malnourished. Without taking responsibility when needed, human civilization would not be what it is today. For example, without keeping records for citizens in a specific country, retrieving information that is exact and factual would be harder. This trait is a trait that has been passed down for generations and millenia as the Romans have been known to preserve texts for long amounts of times. Now, through this work, the Romans' responsible ways has had some kind of indirect influence on Tita.

January 3, 2012 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel Post #3 Summary: In this fifth of //Like Water for Chocolate//, Pedro, Rosaura and Roberto left for America for Rosaura's recovery. Right now it is only Tita, Mama Elena and Chencha at the ranch.Tita has a lot of duties at this time but she isn't doing them as she tends to a meager pidgeon whom she found. Also, there are federal troops who raid the ranch, stealing chicken from the coops. Mama Elena shoots the heads of all of the chicken that the men stool and threatens to shoot them if they don't leave. After that, the ranch received news that Roberto died due to a lack of food and Tita blames it on her mother who breaks her nose with a wooden spoon and tells her to go to the dovecote. Chencha and Dr. Brown then retrieves Tita, depressed and injured from the dovecote. Now Tita resides at Dr. Brown's house recovering from illness and injury. Their, she meets the ghost of Dr. Brown's grandmother. Tita was silent at the dawn of her residence at Dr. Brown's house but they grow a strong bond as Tita learns how to light matches by him. At this moment, Tita enjoys her freedom and she is okay with not returning to her mother's. Soon, Tita would become stable again as she is given ox-tail soup from Chencha, who was visiting, which causes Tita to reminisce about her times with Nacha before she died as a child. While Chencha was at Dr. Brown's, she gave Tita a letter and news of the ranch. Chencha then returns to the ranch and gets raped by bandits who thrash Mama Elena who was trying to defend her. Tita returns homes to cook for her mother so she can rejuvenate, but for a while Mama Elena refuses to eat her food until Chencha gets fired from cooking. At the end, Mama Elena dies from an ipecac overdose. Once again, Tita becomes mournful despite the past physical abuse. Then, Tita finds a set of keys that opened a box of love letters about Mama Elena's love life and how her first husband got murdered before their plan to runaway from their parents. At Mama Elena's funeral she promised to never renounce love and she accepts to have a companionship with Dr. John Brown.

Analysis: I like this part of //Like Water for Chocolate// because of how the plot takes a drastic turn. In this past, I did not expect mother Elena to die and her death was a surprise although now I think about it, it should have been something that I should have foreseen. Although Tita had a lot of resentment towards Mama Elena, this was really still a growing experience because she learn about why Mama Elena's personality was shaped the way it was from the love letters that she wrote in the past. I found this part interesting because parents often don't talk about their younger years because they're trying to set an example for the children. I also really enjoyed this part because the climax was finally hit and the climax for me is usually the most exciting part of the book and this book did not disappoint.

Application: After reading this section of //Like Water for Chocolate//, a human characteristic that spans time and culture is recovery. I believe this because of what Tita has been through this part and what she has to do, which is to move on. In this part of //Like Water for Chocolate//, she dealt with injury, illness, rejection and death of a loved one. This relates to a lot of people's personal lives very often. Throughout time, it has been impossible to avoid grief but it is important to recover from it. Although trials and tribulations happen to everyone, it is important to recover from them in the future. For example, in American economics, there has been a cycle of recessions and prosperity and what the recessions do is make us stronger for prosperity and the prosperity does not always last.

January 4, 2012 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel Post #4 Summary: In this part of //Like Water for Chocolate//, Tita was glad that she is free from her duties of serving her mother to her death and her niece was born who's she called Esperanza. Her name is really Josefita but Tita names her this, meaning hope, because she's the youngest daughter of Rosaura and she hopes to not follow the family tradition of taking care of the mother until death. Due to Rosaura's complication during giving birth, Tita was the one who was responsible for caring for her and she was raising her the same way she was raise by Nacha. Then because Rosaura is angry at the fact that Tita was spending so much time with her daughter so she decides to continue the family doctorine. Pedro always tries to persuade Tita not to marry John Brown and this enrages her as well Rosaura's plans. Out of anger, Tita decides to make champandongo for when she's asked for her hand in marriage. When John comes over, Pedro shows signs of jealousy arguing with him about politics. After the proposal and the dinner, Tita and Pedro have sex and Tita loses her virginity. Now Tita has a missed period, decided to cancel her marriage and is potentially pregnant. While these thoughts are in her head, she decides make King's day bread which causes nostalgia. Currently, Rosaura has a disease that is estranging her from Pedro and Dr. Brown has a prescribed a diet for her. Rosaura also asks for help from Tita to keep this relationship in shape and Tita agrees by helping with her illness with preparing food that would lessen the symptoms. After, Tita is scolded by her mother's ghost about what she did with Pedro which leaves her feeling sorry about what she did. Then Getrudis returns to the ranch at the festival of Three Kings after years of being missing and she is a now veteran of the Mexican Revolution and she the tell ranch about all of these stories. Analysis:I enjoyed this part of //Like Water for Chocolate// because of the suspense and the surprise. Although I was surprised, I honestly thought this could have been foreshadowed looking back.What I honestly liked about this part was that Tita got what she honestly wanted, which was to marry although it wasn't Pedro. Application: In this part, a human characteristic that spans time and culture is the sex. I believe this because of what happened between Tita and Pedro. Biologically, sex is a natural instinct that makes people have uncontrollable urges and that's what happened between Tita and Pedro. Also, going along with that, a sub-characteristic could be following you're instinct because although they were not married, Pedro and Tita followed their instinct and did what they loved and although the aftermath was not acceptable, their drive caused it to happen.

January 5, 2012 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel Post #5 Summary: In this part of //Like Water for Chocolate//, Getrudis and her army become guests at the ranch. During this time, Tita tells Getrudis and Pedro about her pregnancy. Pedro wants to run away with Tita but he has a family to support. Later the ghost of Mama Elena reprimands Pedro and Tita and tells Tita to leave the house and Tita responds by telling her to leave her alone and that she can live her anyway she wants to. After the ghost of Mama Elena withers away, Tita had a period and a fireball hit an oil lamp that exploded which was near drunken Pedro who was set on fire. Luckily, Pedro survives and both Rosaura and Tita come to his side but Rosaura felt embarrassed that Pedro only wanted care from Tita and she locks herself in her room for a week. Afterwards, Getrudis and her unit left the ranch and Dr. Brown returns from America. She is nervous around John after his return because he has to tell him that she is no longer a virgin. Rosaura, who is becoming healthier and has lost 65 pound, then confronts Tita about last week and Tita replied by saying that she was angry because of Rosaura marrying Pedro in the first place. From there, a fight emerges and Tita is now not a lot to be in the presence of Esperanza. Afterwards, Tita starts cooking when a frenzy of chicken start fighting each other and blood splatter onto the baby's diapers and a force of wind is created. Tita tried to save as many diapers as she could. Then Tita resumed back to cooking reminiscing about memories with Nacha and she was about to make Tamales then she remembered that Tamales can't be cook when an argument happens. Then she reminisce about memories with Pedro, when the Tamales could be cooked. Later, she finally told John about the fact that she had sex with Pedro but John is still willing to marry her. At the end, John and Tita married and it is the future where Tita's family and Rosaura's family had a silent pact until Tita's son and Rosaura's daughter wanted to marry. Rosaura's still wanted to follow the family doctorine although Pedro and Tita respected Esperanza's wishes. Rosaura's finally dies from her illness during these times thus leaving Esperanza free to marry. A wedding occurs and after it, Tita and Pedro are left alone and they make love again. At the peak of Tita's joy, Pedro dies. Tita joins Pedro by eating a lit candle that burns down the ranch after Alex and Esperanza return from their honeymoon. Analysis: I have to honestly say that this part is my favorite part because of the strong symbolism and the unexpected happy ending. The way that the book was falling in action, I did not expect an ending so beautiful and deep. I also liked the overall moral of the story of following your heart and you'll be happy as it happened for Tita like that at the end. What Tita life ended up being is what I hope happens with me and now there is a part of Tita in me. Application: The overall characteristic in this book that spans time and culture is battle. Although the Mexican Revolution was occurring, there was no true physical battle in this book other than Tita's punishment from. The real battle was between Tita and her mother, who contradicted her views. Throughout history and literature, people have battled to get what they want and throughout this piece, Tita has battled to overcome unhappiness, family traditions and her mother's ethics. In the end, everything worked out for her.  February 22, 2012 Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson Post #1 Summary: This book begins as Mortenson and his crew attempted to climb K2 in Pakistan, which is one of the high mountains in the world. Mortenson was unsuccessful as he decided to help out one of his crew members who became ill. Mortenson ended up struggling from leaving the K2 mountain and a Baltistani man rescued him. To repay for the help of the man, Mortenson decided to build a school for the people of his village. He starts out by trying to get supporters and money, but his success was slow but eventually he was able to get all the tools he needed to start building the school. Currently, he is working on the school with the villagers named Abdul and Mohammad as they started constructing the school and are also bonding through Islam. Analysis: Although I like the books concept, the plot is a little slow. The beginning was entertaining to me then around the middle of the book seemed kind of boring too me. Although I think the book is slow I like the rising action where Mortenson worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make this work out. Application: The characteristic in this portion of the book that spanned time and culture is persistence. I say this because throughout chapters 2 to 5, Greg made so many sacrifices to start building this school. For about a year or so, he was just living in his jeep with a sparing diet spending so much time trying to get donations to help with his plans. In the end of that, he ended up flying back to Baltistan and started building the school. Persistence is shown in other media as there are always conflicts to be solved and they aren't easy conflicts.  March 20, 2012 Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson Post #2 Summary: Greg continues working on the school when he discovers that he has to build a bridge in Korphe so that the students will have transportation to get to the school. Aware of the cost, Greg returns to America to try to earn more money build the bridge and he gets financial aid while he is there. Then, he returns to Korphe where he completes the bridge. Afterwords, he returns to America once again when he is given more support and where he also finds his wife, Tara Hoerni. They get married and eventually Tara gets pregnant. Greg goes back and forth to America and Pakistan because of his personal life and his determination to finsh the school. Greg also sets up the CAI with Tara's father, Jean, who gets cancer. During this part, the school would be complete and the people involved would celebrate. Afterwards, the beginning of 3 new operations began.  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Analysis: This part started out slow and interesting but I feel as the plot advance more, the story becomes more interesting. One thing that I really don't like about this book is the amount of detail. I feel like the book is overly detailed and in some parts they need to simmer down the detail. Personally, I felt that the detail about the process of building the school was boring. On a positive note, the moment that the school was finally finished was a good part of the book because in the past I read about his struggles and hardships and I am happy about reading that and seeing that the sacrifices and hard work paid off. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Application: One characteristic that was very noticeable in this portion of Three Cups of Tea that has spanned time and culture is keeping promises. In this portion, I read about how Greg faced so many trials and tribulations and it seemed like he was about to quit but he did not because he made a promise to those people to build that school. In the past so many people have done so much just to live up to a promise. A classical example of a scenario like this is Gilgamesh's friendship with Enkidu. Enkidu promised to help out Gilgamesh in his journey and to be his companion. Unfortunately, Enkidu ended up dying and his death, symbolizes the strength of the promise he made. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">April 15, 2012 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Post #3  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Summary: This part of Three Cups of Tea begins as Mortenson got a letter from the highest Shiite religious council saying that they are interested in supporting Mortenson's plans. Mortenson also builds a school in Hushe where a local girl named Shakeela's academic ambitions inspired her village to be more open of female education. From there, Mortenson's organization, the CAI, does more to make female education more viable and they also did things like set up water systems for five villages, hire teachers to teach at a northern Pakistan refugee camp and get an American eye surgeon to replace the local surgeon who was sent to Nepal for training. Next, Mortenson goes to Skardu hearing of a story froma girl named Fatima whose family was displaced from her home because of The Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan. Because the Pakistan relief agencies aren't helping, the CAI provides fresh water for the family and builds a new school in Skardu. Also, the India and Pakistan conflict is further explained. Next, Mortenson tries to raise money for the CAI by creating presentations where he gains $20000 from one person. When he returned, Mortenson went through a phase disorganization and frustration so he hires an assistant and sees a therapist. After, Mortenson goes to Bangladesh where he continues to spread his message of educating woman. After, his second child is born. By September 2001, when Mortenson made another visit to Skardu when he sees religious schools being built for boys. His next mission is in the village of Zuudkhan and on the way there, he learns about someone's death from the Taliban. Soon it would be September 11, 2001 when the CAI is building schools in the village and Mortenson learns about the attacks later on. Later, he traveled the Korphe and learned that Haji died. Mortenson returns to Pakistan again in Febuary 2002 when the U.S. actions has ended the Taliban's representation in Afghanistan. He travels to Kabul, where the CAI give supplies to a school there that is financially troubled. When back in America, Mortenson then continues to speaks out about the situation in Pakistan. After that, Kevin Fedarko and Mortenson have a meaning which is interupted by Haji's daughter as she wanted tuition for her medical school that Mortenson gives to her. Impressed, Fedarko pursuades Parade magazine to do a cover story which was released months after the beginning of the war. Because of that story, people started making more donations to the CAI which is used to build more schools. After, he learns a school of the CAI got destroyed. After a girl named Jahan who went to CAI tells Mortenson that she believes that she can be a great woman. In the chapter, the attention in Afghanistan and Pakistan is turned away as the War was now occuring in Iraq and the story ends as Mortenson continues to fulfill promises and build school regardless of the current situation. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Analysis: Although the monotony of building schools in Pakistan still occurs in the story, I prefer this part to be the best part of the entire book. I believe in this because the book steadily reached to events of the War on Terrorism and 9/11 attacks which would change the direction of the book. Also I favor this part the most because it inspires as Mortenson probably had now believe that his plan to build one school for an impoverished village in Baltistan would go so far. In connection, I also liked the fact that Mortenson persevered through his emotional roller coaster and at the end, the CAI was very successful. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Application: The overall human characteristic that spans time and culture, as expressed in this autobiography, is philanthropy. Through this entire work, Mortenson life changed forever just because of a nearly impossible goal of trying to help impoverished villages in Pakistan. He began as a mountain climber climbing K2 and failing to having a known organization that builds goals for impoverished villages in the middle east. His journey and his aspiration to complete this goal just showed how far human being are willing to go just to help other people. Before, he had goals of climbing to the peak of K2 and climbing mountains higher, he had a job and he had many comforts. In an effort to make a change, he went so far to make it by taking risks such as living in his car and eating very cheap just to get the operation started. In the past, there have been other examples of people going so far and doing so much just to better other human beings. Examples of people that Mortenson was similar too were people such as Martin Luther King, Ghandi and Nelson Mandela. Finally, what made this characteristic that is based on achieving a goal stronger than achieving a personal, self-beneficial goal is that fact that philanthropy isn't only a self serving goal, it is also a goal that helps the human race as whole.