Journal 9/22

3. What is the purpose of omens in The Alchemist? Use examples from the text as evidence for your claims.

The purpose of omens in The Alchemist is to guide Santiago and other characters in the book towards their goals. Santiago basically picks what events he should consider good omens, such as when he meets the king. Omens come in the form of situations he is thrust into, whether a result of his own or others' choices. There aren't really rules governing what makes something an omen, and rather it is up to Santiago to decide. The Alchemist illustrates this when he says "And you'll get better and better at understanding omens, because the desert is the best teacher there is" (pg. 123). I'm not sure why this is a talent of any degree- wouldn't it be wise to assume that any action or situation you take part in that is morally right and lawfully acceptable be considered a good omen? Oh, wait... this is The Alchemist. Having a world with cryptic, confusing and ungoverned rules is kinda its thing. Complaints aside, omens are a way for Santiago to take meaning out of random events and use them to help achieve his Personal Legend. 

Journal 9/15

WOn page 24, the king of Salem tells Santiago, "When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it." Do you believe that this is true? Why or why not?

Somewhat. I say somewhat because the rules of this book's world make no sense at all. The king is a magical dispenser of justice pertaining to one's personal legend. When he thinks someone deserves something and it's following their personal legend, he gives it to them- or so we've seen so far. Take, for example, the story about the emeralds. We're presented with a miner who has had no luck with finding emeralds, who is about to give up and pursue something else. He really wanted to be successful, and had worked for five years sacrificing everything to try to get these minerals. He's about to give up when, lo and behold, the king swoops in and rewards the man with a huge emerald that he turned himself into. Not only can the king do that, but he also comes in the form of good ideas and solutions. But what if what someone wants very badly conflicts with following their personal legends? Those two aren't the same, as Santiago really wanted to settle down with the merchant's daughter near the start of the book but this was ruled out as straying from the correct path. The king is basically contradicting himself in saying his little spiel about the universe, and at the same time the entire personal legend concept is proven to not be the only way to go. The universe did not conspire to get Santiago hitched to that girl, even though he wanted to. Oh, but Santiago losing all his money and having to work for an entire year to get it back when he could've just gone straight to Egypt with no hassle? Pshh, that's part of his personal legend and is totally valid (sarcasm). The book makes silly excuses like that and its rules aren't grounded at all- good things and bad things blur the line between following/straying from one's personal legend, which makes no sense and just bothers me. What the king said about the universe is only sometimes true, and can apparently be overridden by the personal legend's priorities.

Journal 9/8

3. What is a Personal Legend, and why do you think this will be important in the rest of the book?

A Personal Legend is one's path that they need to follow in order to have a satisfactory life. Everyone knows at a young age what their Personal Legend is, but as they get older it is overshadowed by more likable or "realistic" expectations set upon them by others. For example, when Santiago is talking to the king he says, "Bakers have homes, while shepherds sleep out in the open. Parents would rather see their children marry bakers than shepherds" (pg. 24). The king also asks why he tends sheep instead of seeking less mobile jobs and settling down. Santiago responds that he is a shepherd because he likes to travel, prompting the king to point at the baker standing in a shop and say: "When he was a child, that man wanted to travel, too. But he decided first to buy his bakery and put some money aside. When he's an old man, he's going to spend a month in Africa. He never realized that people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of" (also pg. 24). Santiago seems to be facing a two-way path at this point in the book- he could either try his hand at winning the merchant's daughter or follow the gypsy's advice to go to Egypt and adhere to his Personal Legend. I seriously doubt that he'll do the former because that wouldn't provide for very good reading material, but it'll be interesting to see how he interprets the advice he's been given. The Personal Legend is very important in this book, and Santiago's choices thus far seem to effect how he follows it. This makes me more conscious of every important decision he makes for the rest of the book, for each one could be either straying from the path of his Personal Legend or following it. 

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What do you hope to get out of English Language Arts this year?

I want to improve my writing and note-taking skills over this year. I still need to get better at formatting my papers in MLA, especially when it comes to citations. I also want to get better at writing for film (creating half decent stories and characters, among other things).