Monday, December 5, 2011

Brave New World Response 3

Brave New World Questions:
1. How did Huxley portray Bernars'a and Helmholtz's attitudes towards their exiles?
2. Does Huxley have a fear that a dystopian society may form?

Brave New World and 1984 Question:
3. How do Huxley and Orwell show the solidity of the dystopias in their respective books?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Brave New World Response 2

1. How does John feel about the "new world"?
When John first meets Bernard, he is amazed by what he tells him about London and wants to learn more about the "brave new world" (Huxley Chapter 8). When Bernard asks him to go back to London with him, John's face lights up, and he says, "Do you really mean it?...To think it should be coming true-what I've dreamt of all my life," (Huxley Chapter 8). This shows his appeal to London and his wonders about it. When he finally goes, I believe that he still likes it, but questions alot of things about it. For example when the boys and girls are watching videos about savages (like John is at home), John asks, "But why do they laugh?" (Huxley Chapter 11). He says this in pain almost, and at this point I think his view turns from good to bad.

2. How does Bernard view John?
I believe that Bernard views John as a tool to lead him to popularity in his society. When Bernard brings John to London, it gets him out of being sent to Iceland AND gets him friends and girls. When Bernard talks to Helmholtz, he says, "And I had six girls last week," he confided to Helmholtz Watson. "One on Monday, two on Tuesday, two more on Friday, and one on Saturday. And if I'd had the time or the inclination, there were at least a dozen more who were only too anxious …" (Huxley Chapter 11) These girls came to him as a result of being able to see the savage, which is John. Later, when John refuses to come to the party, Bernard starts begging.
"'Just to please me,' Bernard bellowingly wheedled. "Won't you come to please me?"
           'No.'


'Do you seriously mean it?'
           'Yes.'


Despairingly, 'But what shall I do?' Bernard wailed." (Huxley Chapter 12)
At this point, Bernard is pleading with John, and we can see how Bernard NEEDS John.

3. How does Lenina feel about Bernard after her date with John?
Lenina isn't too happy in my opinion about Bernard after the date with John. She might be angry with Bernard for bringing John over. If John hadn't been brought over, then her heart may have not been broken.
"It was at this moment that Bernard had made his announcement; the Savage wasn't coming to the party. Lenina suddenly felt all the sensations normally experienced at the beginning of a Violent Passion Surrogate treatment–a sense of dreadful emptiness, a breathless apprehension, a nausea. Her heart seemed to stop beating." (Huxley Chapter 12). In this scene, we can see how Lenina reacts when Bernard says that John isn't going to be at the party. I believe that she is trying to find someone to put her grief, and could possibly be planning for it to be Bernard.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Brave New World Response 1

Equality and conformity are created by the World State making everybody equal in their castes without choice; it is done at birth. The author writes, "'The lower the caste,' said Mr. Foster, "the shorter the oxygen [given to the fetus] (28)." This shows how it is not up to the person what their life, it is up to the World State. By making a uniform set of "unwritten" rules, everyone is the same. Since people are deadlocked into the present, as "History is bunk" Huxley writes (47), they go with what is known then, leading to no individualism. The above reasons show the society was a dystopia.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

East v. West

1. The West views the east as sinful and barbaric almost, in a sense.They don't live hight quality lives; they live horrible lives and don't even notice it. However, the West also views the East as exotic, mystical, and seductive.
2. It means that nobody thinks or themselves; they do what everyone else does without any input for what they think.
3. Their actions are determined by instinctive emotions and racial considerations rather than individual status or concious choices.
4. It makes the West look angelic almost, who are pure and holy in everything they do. Creating a comon enemy benefits a group of people because it makes them seem better.
5. I don't think that this view still exists because we have made better amends with Africs (even though not so much the Middle East).

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

1984 Response 3

I do believe that Big Brother has won, because at the end of book it says, "He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother (245)". This shows how Winston wasn't a traitor against Big Brother anymore, and he loved him because of it.
A way how the One State can be brought down is by an entire revolt by the people. If there was a revolt by ALL the people, then they could outnumber and overrun the members of the Party who were "leaders" of the society, especially if the proles led the revolt. The book mentions that "If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there, in those swarming disregarded masses, eighty-five per cent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within (60)". This shows how the only plan that could work would be a mass outside revolt.
At the end of the novel, I believe that Winston has finally fully succumbed to the Party, without even realizing how bad that was. I think that he believes that he finally found the light, and it was in Big Brother. In one of his dreams, author George Orwell writes that "He was back in the Ministry of Love, with everything forgiven, his soul white as snow (244)" This shows how he had changed, and for the better in his mind, as his soul wasn't darkened by his previous thoughts against Big Brother and the Party.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

1984 Response 2

In my opinion, Winston is having a difficult time because he is not even sure if Big Brother is real, or if what the State is saying is really true. This is supported with, in the previous chapter, the fact that Big Brother is actually never really seen. Winston has doubts about his reality. I believe that his small acts of defiance are a form of protest, because in this dystopia, it is "illegal" to question, and I believe that he was trying to test authority. This can be compared to Anti-War Protests, because these Protests were controversial, as was Winston's questioning and small rebellions. Not everyone joins because of the consequences-public persecution, legal issues, etc.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Islam, Globalization, and Gender

1. The conflict is globalization and how it is one sided. It is an external conflict.
2. Globalization creates conflict because it only flows in one direction. By this, she means that "we look up to them, but it doesn't go the other way around", "we" being the Muslim people of her culture.
3. The benefit is that role models are created.
4. One source is the Qur'an, and the other is the American Constitution.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

1984 Response 1

The society of 1984 has created comformity for everyone in having them all be equal and the same. Conflict has been reduced by having everyone follow the rulings of "Big Brother", who is to be basically worshipped. People can only get married for the purpose of having babies, as marriages are only approved by the government. The gov. will not allow a couple to get married if it is for any reason other than "work for the Party".
The society is a dystopia, because it is not a very happy place, according to Winston. People are lied to everyday about the past, ax the government changes the stories of past happenings so that it conforms to what they want it to be. Also, if a person rebels against the Party (even with a facial gesture-"facecrime"- or a certain thought-"thoughtcrime") they can be killed, or  "vaporized", meaning they just vanish off the face of the earth, without trial.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

My Utopia

1. A utopia is a fantasy world that one would want to be in all the time. It is a feeling of personal happiness.
2. My ideal world is a world with many colors, elegant palaces and houses, and happy people who don't judge anyone for any reason.
3. I would have soft, mellow music at times, and pop/R&B/hip-hop at others.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

"Young Life" by Bo Bartlett

Bo Bartlett's "Young Life" depicts the child protecting himself from the adult. There are facts thats support this depiction. One is that the child is positioned away from the adults, and not by them. His back is also to them. Another fact is the way the child is holding onto the stick; he looks as if he is scared.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Reading Critically Response

Before reading the actual essay, one should go through "the preliminaries", including analyzing the tile, the author, where the work was published, and when it was published. Next, one should read the essay/writing, annotating it with underlines, circles, highlights, and explanations in the margins. The reader should have a pencil with them the whole time. Afterwards, there should be summarizing, including two final products, the first being a recap of the paragraphs, and the second being a shortened version of the first one. Then, one will go through analysis, inference, and synthesis (which all become just analysis as one, because they are all so similar). There are many things that the reader can analyze, like the language of the writing. These steps can help readers like us become better writers for the future, and be able to comprehend and think critically.

Monday, September 26, 2011

"Shame"

1. The subject is shame in a failed relaitonship.
    The tone is sorrowful and regretful, but determined.
2. Three Words:
    Promise: His previous relationship failed, and the singer wants a second chance to change things. By using "promise" he assures his significant other that he will change and not make the same mistakes. This goes with the determined tone.
    Overwhelming: "Overwhelming" describes all that the singer has to bear from the relationship. He has to deal with everything that he did to lose his lover, leaving him with regret. This goes with the regretful tone.
    Cold: His heart is cold now that there is nothing there to warm it up. His heart is now basically a piece of ice. This goes with the sorrowful tone.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out SOAPSTone

The subject of Dave Barry’s “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out” is the interpretation of men’s and women’s attitudes towards different aspects, like cleaning or sports, and how they compare. This interpretation is illustrated by Barry’s examples of sensitiveness of women and men. He says that women are sensitive to things like cleanliness, while men are sensitive to things like sports.  This supports his interpretation.
            “Batting” was written in 1988 in his Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits. The essay’s time of creation is displayed when Barry talks about the importance of the World Series, which is a popular modern sport, but was even more popular back in the 80’s. The probable place of the essay’s creation is America, because of the World Series game that he is talking about.
            Dave Barry’s specific audience is for “Batting” is men or women who want a laugh, and who want to be able to learn about the opposite gender’s point of view. The author’s target audience is exhibited by how men and women act in opposite ways in situations.
            Dave Barry’s purpose in “Batting” is to inform readers about the peculiar habits of men and women. This informing is revealed by how he gives out his points; he does this by not making either gender look like the “bad guy”, but instead, giving out equal information about both.
            Dave Barry, who is a humorist and has established himself as prize winning journalist, is the speaker of the essay (from a male’s perspective). He is speaking about how he thinks it interesting how men and women have different attitudes to certain situations in life.
            Barry shows a humorous tone about gender specific attitudes in “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out. This tone is expressed by his light-hearted jokes about Pompeii and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, and his word choice. Some of these word choices include: “important project on the Etch-a-Sketch”, “she gives me this look that she has perfected” and “they could crush my skull like a dead grape”. These help make up his humorous and light-hearted tone.

Monday, September 19, 2011

American Tongues and Voice

1. Voice is how someone sounds in a piece of writing or audily.
2. Something that I say would be "oookay" when I think that something somebody has said was weird.
3. Whenever I am talking or writing something that might lead to someone getting mad, I beat around the bush to make the "impact" lighter.
4. Voice is important in nonfiction because it helps us to identify with the author. Every writer has their own specific voice which is unique to them. It helps us understand what the writer is trying to say.
5. The more we write, the more our voice develops. It also adapts to the tone of the essay; for example, a darker toned paper would have a different voice from a lighter toned paper.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Pain v. Beatles v. Dubstep- "Eleanor Rigby"

1. I liked the dubstep version better because the remix sounds nice to me with the voices mixed in. Also, it slows down the song whe it comes to the chorus, making it sound cooler. (However, the Beatles version was a close second!)
2. The Beatles version is more pleasing to listen to because the melody is sweeter and more mellow sounding when compared to the Pain version. It is more classic sounding when compared to the Dubstep version as well.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Kandinsky v. Pollock

1. I liked Kandinsky's better because of the colors and the shapes. They are bright and busy. I also like the fact that it is not uniform in any way.
2. The Pollock is more pleasing because the colors are more neutralm and there is more uniformity. While I personally like the Kandinsky better, it is very busy, and upon looking at it for awhile, one can get a headache.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sign Language Short Film

1. Single Effect: Enjoy all the little things in life, and go for what you want.
2a. The music: It is smooth and simple, and keeps the mood light.
  b. Background: The busy street allows him to explain to explain the "little beautiful things"
  c. Dialogue: It is funny, and also keeps the mood light and optimistic
3. I would change the facial expressions, because the men sign holders around him look like they're not friends with him, They make him look like he was pretending that they were friends, until the very end. The faces would change to at least being more friendly-looking, with them perhaps waving to the main character as well.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

"Shooting an Elephant" SOAPSTone

The subject of George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is the journey of a man’s killing of an elephant for him to somewhat “fit in” with the rest of the Burma natives. This journey is illustrated by when he is contemplating whether or not to kill the elephant. He says that they watched him excitedly as they expected him to shoot the elephant, and that moment would be the only one he would get to prove himself and not be a standout.
             “Shooting an Elephant” was written during the 1930’s. The essay’s time of creation is displayed when he talks about the importance of the elephant, comparing its shooting to “destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery”. The probable place of the essay’s creation is Moulmein, in Lower Burma. I know this because Orwell says this right at the beginning of the essay.
            George Orwell’s specific audience for “Shooting an Elephant” is those who feel left out or discriminated against within a group that they interact with daily. The author’s target audience is exhibited by how he is jeered at and made fun of in Burma, and then, by shooting the elephant, attempted to be accepted better.
            Orwell’s purpose in “Shooting an Elephant” is to narrate his story of the killing of this important elephant. This narration is revealed by how he is telling his feelings during the ordeal, and how it is in a story-like format.
            George Orwell, who sailed to Burma in 1922 as a young man, is the speaker of this essay. He is speaking about how fitting in with the natives is very important to him.
            Orwell shows a pitiful and aggressive attitude about fitting in in “Shooting an Elephant”. These attitudes are expressed by how the author claims that nobody in Burma likes him, backed by his examples of the jeering at him, and how he graphically “kills” the elephant. This represents his pitiful tone because it causes the audience to feel sorry for him in his situations. The second example represents the aggressive tone because it shows how he desperately wanted the elephant to die (to put out of its misery). These tones serve the purpose in the essay of adding feeling to the essay for the audience to stay engaged.

Harry Nilsson "Good Old Desk"

1. S-a reliable source, his desk (literally), God (figuratively)
    O-in the 70's
    A-to anyone without something reliable or dependable
    P-to explain the perfect parter
    S-Nilsson, one who has had unreliable partners in the past
    T-happy, comforting, affectionate, friendly
2. He is talking about how amongst all the un-trustworthy people in his life, he has a rock to comfort him, the being a desk, his writing, or God.
3. Three Lines in the song with reference to God
       -My old desk doesn't need a rest
       -To keep my hopes alive
       -We never say a word, but its perfectly alright with me
   

Sunday, September 4, 2011

"The Runaway" by Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell was a painter who existed during the 1950's. One of his major paintings, "The Runaway", was created in 1958, and depicts a young boy-presumably the runaway-consulting with a policeman in a diner. There are many different interpretations of the painting's meaning, but there is one that can be mainly interpreted. The 1950's was a time of a rising rift in America that was important to many. This can be taken back to the painting, but not how one would think. Rockwell's "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950's-an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how they are.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

"Across the Universe" by The Beatles

1. Three images in the song are rain in a paper cup, light dancing around, and millions of suns.
2. The suns symbolize love, whether it is from a significant other or friends and family. The rain and cup symbolize pressure, which would most likely be the pressures of life.
3. One symbol that I know is the color white, which symbolizes purity. This is more than an image because throughout basically my whole life I have learned about the being pure and how white represents it.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

"Inspiration Information" by Shuggie Otis (1974)

1. The feeling is one of calmness and serenity. It is smooth.
2. The keyboard and guitar put off this vibe because their sounds are mellow. The singing is nice and low, and there is a slower tempo.
3. The musician had the choice to make the beat fast or slow; he also had the choice of what instruments to use, AND how to use them. His choices worked; for example, if the beat were faster, the song wouldnt be as calm. Also the noise levels worked too, as the singing and drums were softer than the keyboard and guitar, which were louder, focusing on the instrumentation and not so much the lyrics.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

"Semeadores" by Diego Rivera Response

SOAPSTone:
S-People working too hard for their money, which most likely isnt that much
O-A time when there were economic hardships, or in the 1950's-60's during the communist movement
A-People in the same situation, or anyone who hasn't been, so they can understand his pain
P-To show the grief and hardships they endured
S-Someone who knows what is happening first hand
T-Passive or sympathetic

I think the big idea is how hard and gruesome it is for those out there who don't have the same priveleges as you or me. This can be supported by the position of the shoveling man. He is hunched over with his head tucked in, showing his tiredness. The organic lines that make up his body give him a weak look, and his feet seem as if they are trapped in the ground, as if he cannot leave his situation.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Approach to Writing Blog

1. They all get together, get an idea of what they want/like, then they "destroy" it and re-create to make it better than the first time.

2/3. First, I try to think of a general idea. Next, I make an outline/prewriting that incorporates this idea with more detail. When I do this, I seperate my idea into sections, and then those sections into paragraphs. Thrn, I start writing the paper using this outline. Afterwards, I go over the paper I just wrote, changing whatever I don't like.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Old Times Response Blog

1. Nostalgia is the thinking of the past, and how good it was, not necessarily how bad it was.

2. When I hear this music, I think of bright colors, jukeboxes, and older people dancing around together. They are dancing faster in the first song, and slower in the second song. They are happy.

3. When I think of my childhood I think opf sunny skies and my old house. I think of me running around outside, playing with my brothers and friends. I also think of when I was in gymnastics and competing.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Pinch of Poverty Blog Response

1. Some of the major contributing factors to poverty are lack of food, education, and oppurtunity, size of family, natural disasters, substance abuse, work ethic, and laziness.

2. I believe that the artist portrays poverty in a negative light, because the children look somewhat sad and the mother looks disaoppointed, like she is about to give up on trying to get out of poverty.

3. The message is that poverty can affect anyone, and is a sad and horrible thing.

4. Two elements of art that enhance the message are color and perspective.
     Most of the colors used in the painting are dreary neutrals, as the family's clothes and background are a gloomy color. The only brght colors are the yellow of the flowers the girl is holdng and the red head shawl on the baby. This shows the sad life they have to endure.
     Those two brght color spots also most likely make up the focal point of the painting. Eyes are drawn to the middle focal pont, and one can see all that is surrounding that point. Ths brightness shows some hope in the family coming out of poverty, but it has still affected the family in a horrible way, shown in the mother's, son's, and baby's faces.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Divakaruni v. Singer Reading Blog

In the two articles about the forced child labor, there alot of differences between the two authors. Chitra Divakaruni's opinion is that while "child labor is a terrible thing, especially those... who... have no way to protect themselves from the abuse", it would also be a terrible thing to for America to pass the bill to try and stop child labor, as the kids would be without "food or clothing or shelter" when living free. Peter Singer's opinion is that Americans should do everything they can to help those unfortunate kids, saying that it is "very wrong [to not] send money to one of the organizations" of UNICEF or Oxfam America. I don't really have a reader bias, as I have never really thought about these children's situations that much.

I ultimately agree more with Divakaruni's argument about how freeing the children would leave them in even worse conditions, like how they might "turn to the streets, to [survive] through thievery and violence and begging and prostitution". I can relate to this opinion better because it is a much more realistic argument, as opposed to Singer's. In his argument, he basically is trying to persuade the audience into donating money to help the children. When thought about from my perspective, it is just unrealistic to send a large amount of money to children that I have never even met. I am not even guaranteed that money is actually sent to the right fund. While he does add in good examples of what people can easily do to give money, I feel that he is just trying to persuade, and from the looks of it, unaffectively to certain people, as not everyone has the same beliefs as him. So, Divakaruni's argument was much more effective to me than Singer's.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti- "Round and Round"

Some of the musical facts that I had discovered is that the song has drums, guitar, and keyboard/synth in it. My opinion was that I liked the song because of the instrumentation and how the song is sung. My musical facts influence my opinion because of the instruments used to make the song. Some songs, like this one, are most likely meant for the music itself to be heard, and not so much the lyrics, as heard by how the instruments are somewhat louder than the lyrics being sung. This shows the correlation between the facts I picked out snd my opinion. I don't really have a bias, because I am pretty much open-minded to alot of music, and I give it a chance before deciding if I actually don't like the song.