Log 4B hotspots

In “Stereotyping of Arabs by the U.S. Ensures Years of Turmoil” by Edward Said, he described how the United States' involvement in the Middle East is similar to Britain's involvement in India during the time of the British Empire. Te first hotspot for me was when Mr. Said said “At least since World War II, American strategic interests in the Middle East have been, first, to ensure supplies of oil and, second, to guarantee at enormous cost the strength and domination of Israel over its neighbors.” (Said 200). This passage interested me because I feel it accurately describes Americas policy in regard to the Middle East. I feel that America's greed and thirst for oil is what drives us to stay involved in the Middle East, and we pay no attention to the status of the citizens living there. Most of the Arab countries dislike our activity there, and only feign there belief in our principles. As Mr. Said puts it “Americans are sufficiently blind that when a Middle Eastern leader emerges whom our leaders like – the shah of Iran or Anwar Sadat – it is assumed that he is a visionary who does things our way not because he understands the political game (which is to survive by humoring the regent authority) but because he is moved by principles that we share.” (Said 201). The second hotspot for me was when Mr. Said pointed out the ignorance of the American people, which is likely due to people like Bernard Lewis who do everything they can to slander Arabs to make us think that Arabs all all like the extremists. Mr. Said ends by saying that we are in for more years of turmoil in the Middle East if we don't do something about our own ignorance.

I was never really good at analyzing poetry, so I had a lot of difficulty understanding “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats. The poem was pretty short in comparison to other poems that I have read, so I actually managed to finish it unlike some of my other experiences. This doesn't mean I knew what was trying to be said, however I began to get a better idea after reading it a second time. The first hotspot for me was the title for me, as I know what it traditionally refers to in christian culture. I figured that it would not have the same meaning in the poem, and only got confused by reading the poem. What I gathered was that the poem was describing the second coming, only instead of the Savior returning it was some sort of terrible beast. This was strange because I know the second coming as Jesus returning, but this was about something terrible instead. The second hotspot was on line 12 when Mr. Yeats said Spiritus Mundi, I was curious as to what that phrase meant, so I looked it up. I learned that the phrase means the spirit of the world. This refers to the belief that every human mind is linked to form a single greater intelligence. I don't really see how this fits in with the rest of the poem, but after looking into it, I learned that Yeats believed this greater intelligence could cause universal symbols to appear in the minds of individuals. I'm not sure Yeats actually believed in this single intelligence, but if he did then it could be the cause of the vision he describes in this poem. I personally believe that Yeats was only doing good writing, and never saw any sort of vision. I am still unsure of the full meaning of the poem, but perhaps it is better that way.