blubelle's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=blubelle2008-02-20T20:23:19ZThe House On Mango Street (review)http://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle/writeups/The+House+On+Mango+Streetblubellehttp://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle2008-02-20T20:23:19Z2008-02-20T20:23:19Z<p>This book is now considered to be part of the <a href="/title/Chicana">Chicana</a>/o literary <a href="/title/canon">canon</a>. <a href="/title/Sandra+Cisneros">Sandra Cisneros</a> creates a fictional neighborhood centered around Esperanza, a little girl. Through her eyes, we read about gender issues, domestic violence, the politics of identity, and poverty. </p>
<p>The book, a collection of vignettes or sketches, was originally published in 1984 by <a href="/title/Arte+P%25C3%25BAblico+Press">Arte Público Press</a>, a U.S. Latino/Hispanic press out of Houston, TX. It was then re-published in 1991 by Vintage Contemporaries. It is often read in high schools as the "token" Chicana/o text, alongside <a href="/title/Bless+Me%252C+Ultima">Bless Me, Ultima</a>, another coming-of-age novel.</p>
<p>Literary scholars often focus on the metaliterary context: We are reading about a young writer, and it is important to have an example of a young Chicana who is not only literate, but who also produces her own writing. Also, it is often linked to <a href="/title/Virgina+Woolf">Virgina Woolf</a>'s <a href="/title/A+Room+of+One%2527s+Own">A Room of One's Own</a>, because Esperanza wants her own safe space to write and live. In "More Room of Her Own," Jacqueline<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Ismaili (person)http://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle/writeups/Ismailiblubellehttp://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle2005-01-16T09:22:34Z2005-01-16T09:22:34Z<br><p align="center"><em>Ismailis have become the world’s most prosperous Islamic community outside the oil regions;<br> it is a community, moreover, whose prosperity has been achieved as a result of its own efforts<br> under a succession of astute and capable living Imams.<br>
-Malise Ruthven</em></p>
<p align="left"><strong>Origin</strong><br><br>
It is difficult to find reliable sources on early Ismaili history, due to the bias of many writers (<a href="/title/The+Book+of+the+Highest+Initiation">The Book of the Highest Initiation</a>: anti-Ismaili authors pretending to record the 9 stages of belief, with the highest degree of initiation being absolute atheism). Also, their history is a bit obscure, as many of their authentic texts were destroyed. Basically, they are a sect within <a href="/title/Shi%25E2%2580%2599ah+Muslims">Shi’ah Muslims</a>. They split from the <a href="/title/Twelver+Shiites">Twelver Shiites</a> back in the mid-ninth century, and then they internally split
several times. Their current leader, the <a href="/title/IV+Aga+Kahn">IV Aga Kahn</a>, traces his lineage back to the <a href="/title/Fatimid+dynasty">Fatimid dynasty</a> through to <a href="/title/Nizariyah">Nizariyah</a>, through to Ali, the<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Race, Class, and Gender in American Media and Sports (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle/writeups/Race%252C+Class%252C+and+Gender+in+American+Media+and+Sportsblubellehttp://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle2005-01-16T01:34:03Z2005-01-16T01:34:03Z<p align="left">In today’s North American culture, to be the ‘other’ is to be non-white, <a href="/title/poverty">working-class</a>, and non-male. Subtle, built-in preferences for the familiar <a href="/title/status+quo">status quo</a> are nearly invisible to the very people who benefit from them, thereby fueling the cycle of racial, gender, and class discrimination under a veneer of <a href="/title/Politically+Correct">blissful ignorance</a>. One of the most pervasive institutions in American culture is the media, which plays a large role in reflecting and molding popular culture and stereotypes. Whether it is race, gender or class, the media acts as an <a href="/title/aggregation">aggregating</a> agent by creating simplistic categorizations combined with the tendency to ignore certain groups. Another sphere of influence in U.S. culture that overlaps with the media is the institution of sports. While the sports industry as an institution specifically highlights the masculine ideal, race and class differences are also highlighted and manipulated, often with the help of the media.</p>
…Samaritan's Purse (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle/writeups/Samaritan%2527s+Purseblubellehttp://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle2004-12-28T09:18:03Z2004-12-28T09:18:03Z<br><br><big>
<!-- close inline tag into block --></big><p align="left"><big><!-- reopen inline tag after block -->Samaritan's Purse was founded by Dr. Bob Pierce in 1907 with the mission of meeting <em>"emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches."</em> He is also credited with writing in his <a href="/title/Bible">Bible</a> </big><blockquote>
<em><big>Let my heart be broken with the things<br>that break the heart of God.</big></em></blockquote>
After Pierce passed away from <a href="/title/leukemia">leukemia</a> in 1978, <a href="/title/Franklin+Graham">Franklin Graham</a>, (son of evangelist <a href="/title/Billy+Graham">Billy Graham</a>) took over the organization as President and Chairman of the Board. The organization continues to grow, with offices in the USA, <a href="/title/Canada">Canada</a>, the <a href="/title/Netherlands">Netherlands</a>, the <a href="/title/United+Kingdom">U.K.</a>, <a href="/title/Australia">Australia</a>, <a href="/title/Germany">Germany</a>, and <a href="/title/Ireland">Ireland</a>. It is an unapologetically evangelical Christian organization that strives to help those in need by addressing both their physical and spiritual needs. <br><br>
Current projects include supporting grassroots HIV/AIDS ministries, flying in children to the USA for heart-related surgeries,<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Nicaragua (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle/writeups/Nicaraguablubellehttp://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle2004-12-15T21:18:52Z2004-12-15T21:18:52Z<p align="center"><strong>Nicaragua: The perception of Children and Contraception</strong><br>
...and how Nicaraguan women are transforming their status in society</p><br><br>
<p align="left"><em>In the morning they wake up to cook breakfast for their family. Then after washing the dishes and saying goodbye to husbands and children, they wash clothes- by hand, of course. Then the house must be cleaned, lunch prepared, and any children who did not go to school tended to. Then dinner must be made, and the children must be bathed. As the number of children increases, so too does the amount of work- more clothes must be washed, more food prepared, and more money made to feed them and send them to school.</em><br><br>
In Nicaragua, who does all of this work? The women. Mothers, older daughters and sisters perform much of the day-to-day housework while husbands and brothers and little sisters go to work and school. In the rural areas, none of the children go to school, either because there is no school or<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…joy (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle/writeups/joyblubellehttp://m.everything2.com/user/blubelle2004-12-14T10:28:31Z2004-12-14T10:28:31Z<p align="center">Joy in <a href="/title/Saint+Paul">Paul's</a> <a href="/title/Epistle">Teaching</a></p><br>
<p align="left">
To preface this essay, it is important to familiarize oneself with the story of <a href="/title/Saul">Saul</a>, the zealous persecutor of Christians and his transformation into the Apostle <a href="/title/Saint+Paul">Paul</a> (see <a href="/title/Acts+9">Acts 9</a>), as this is a large part of his reason for feeling such joy: "one of the main consequences of his <a href="/title/reconciliation">reconciliation</a> with God was his ability to 'rejoice in God through our Lord <a href="/title/Jesus+Christ">Jesus Christ</a>' (<a href="/title/Romans+5">Rom. 5:11</a>) in spite of the afflictions, hardships and trials that came his way" (DPHL 511). According to W.G. Morrice, 131 of the 326 uses of the word for joy in the <a href="/title/New+Testament">New Testament</a> are ascribed to Paul. He also calls Paul the "theologian of joy as he undoubtedly was... of <a href="/title/grace">grace</a>" and notes that both <a href="/title/grace"><em>charis</em></a> and <a href="/title/joy"><em>chara</em></a> in Greek are derived from the same root: <em>char-</em><br><br>
Paul's joy as a Christ-follower can be seen throughout his epistles, and this will focus on <a href="/title/Philippians">Philippians</a>, joy as a<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…