Brave New World Blog #3

1) Why did John feel that he needed to kill himself rather than just return to where he came from?

2) Did John's actions or questioning of society have any impact in the end?

3) What stance are Orwell and Huxley both taking on where our society is headed?

Brave New World Blog #2

1) What would happen if the World State's supply of Soma ran out?
If the World State's supply of Soma ran out, society would go into chaos. Soma is the driving force of the society and is what allows the World State to control society. If Soma ran out, people would begin to realize the issues in society and overpower the World State. The loss of Soma would be the end of the World State, yet would be good for the people in its society. It would be hard for the people at first though because Soma is extremely addictive and they would all suffer from withdrawal.
2) Why is John the only person to pick up on the issues of society in the World State?
John is the only person to realize all of the problems in the World State because everyone else is brainwashed by both the Soma and how they were programmed. John attempts to explain to people the problems in their society but they are too brainwashed to understand. My only point is that you would think at least one other person besides John would be thinking clear enough to realize the drastic issues. You would think that there are some people that surpassed the system and were never brainwashed, but it seems that the World State brainwashed most everyone that they could.
3) Why do people in the World State not understand Shakespeare?
People in the World State don't understand the meaning of Shakespeare because they were programmed that way. The people in this society were programmed to not feel love or compassion, but only lust. Because of this reason, the people don't understand how people could take such drastic measures in the persuit of love, since they don't know what love is. All of the people laugh at Shakespeare and view it as a joke rather than compassionate love stories. This shows how shallow the society of the World State is.

Brave New World Blog #1

In Brave New World, the government creates equality by programming all humans to practically be the same in the lab where nhumans are created. The government has reduced conflict by programming everyone to not only be equal but to think similarly in such a way that conflict is avoided. The government has forced happiness by not allowing anyone to know anything different from the way they live. Not only do the humans not know anything different, but they are programmed so that they don't want to know anything different and so that they view the ideas of outsiders as ridiculous. This society is a dystopia because though the people are happy, they can't control being happy and the government forces things upon the people such as the addiction to Soma. In the book it says "everyone works for everyone else. We can't do without anyone." This quote shows that all humans work together as one unit rather than individuals.

1984 Blog #3

I think that Big Brother has won in the end. In the last sentence of the book when it says " [Winston] loved Big Brother." This quote directly contrasts with earlier in the book when Winston constantly talks bad about Big Brother and how much he dislikes it. This shows that the One State was able to brainwash Winston enough to completely change his views. The One State could be brought down if more people supported Winston and were all able to overpower the system. Also if people stuck with their ideas and didn't give into the One State it could be overpowered. I think that Winston goes on to never question the One State again and live as if nothing ever had happened to him.

1984 Blog #2

I think that Winston is having a hard time buying into what Big Brother and the State are offering because he realizes that there is more to life, and that the World State is holding everyone back from knowing the truth along with any potential that anyone might have. Winston voices his concerns when he makes small rebellions such as writing in his journal without the Thought Police knowing. I don't consider his small acts of rebellion to be protest because he is not voicing his opinions or allowing anyone else to know how he feels about the government. Without telling other people, change cannot be made, therefore excluding the point of protest in the first place. Compared to current protests such as Occupy Wallstreet, Winston's rebellion is nothing. Winston is not doing anything to change society, but pondering over his thoughts of rebellion, unlike Occupy Wallstreet where protest is actually occurring and making a difference.

Military Recruitment

A positive effect of promising working class youths a free education for enlisting in the military is that it draws many more people to enlist. The reason that so many more people enlist because of this is that many people don't care about defending their country but rather reaping the benefits of being in the military. According to Gibbs and Stengel, Jessica Lynch says that it "would be cool if [she] could have a job plus go to school at the same time" (1). This quote is an example of how many soldiers feel when enlisting. The option of free education for enlisting is also a great option for those who cannot financially go to college.

A positive effect of promising working class youths free world travel for enlisting in the military is that it will attract people who nwant adventure in life but cannot neccessarily afford it. This yet again attracts more people to join the military. Without incentives such as these, much less people would want to join the military and our military forces would be much less powerful and affective.

"Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out" SOAPSTone

Subject: The subject of this article is the main diiferences between men and women. More specifically how women are extremely sensitive to dirt and cleanliness, and how men are extremely sensitive to sports. Barry goes on to explain the different views of men and women about these subjects.

Occasion: This article was written in Dave Barry's Greatest Hits which was published in 1997 and was most likely written in the United States. I assume this to be written in the United States because Barry presents circumstances and issues which would be most typical for an American man.

Audience: This article is most likely written to typical American men such as the author himself. I presume this because Barry entertains with stories that might be appealing to men that are in similar circumstances as himself.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to entertain the readers with comical stories that many can relate to. Entertainment is the only purpose of this article and much of the information is exaggerated in order to make it more comical.

Speaker: Dave Barry is the speaker, whom is a columnist and article writer of comical stories. Dave Barry is also a comedian who has written countless other comical stories such as this one.

Tone: The tone of this article is sarcastic and comical. Though the tone is comical, the author is also critical of the opinions of women though in a funny way.

Reading Critically Summary

The article Reading Critically presents the reader with useful tips on reading and writing. As the article mentions, different styles of reading and writing are appropriate under different circumstances. For example,reading a friend's email would be much different than reading the Iliad, as you could get the basic message of a friends email by skimming it, the Iliad on the other hand takes close attention while reading. Though I have only spoken of reading, the article also gives helpful tips on writing. The article gives advice on multiple aspects of writing such as summarizing and synthesizing. If one were to apply all of these aspects to their reading and writing, they would be a very literate individual.

Sign Language- A Short Film

What single affect do you get from this short film? Always notice the small details in life
Give three specific examples that led you to this single effect: Three things that led me to this single effect are that the speaker refers to how many people in London overlook the small things, the speaker doesn's even notice his own love for the girl he works near, and the speaker's friends have to help him realize what he is overlooking.

Harry Nilsson " Good Old Desk"

- SOAPSTone this song: Subject: the writer's desk
Occasion: 1960s America
Audience: Pop fans of the 1960s
Purpose: To get across the authors relationship with god
Speaker: Harry Nilsson
Tone: Cheerful

- What is he talking about? Nilsson is actually reffering to his relationship with God

"Across the Universe" by the Beatles

- Identify three images in this song: Images of broken light that appear like a thousand eyes, limitless undying love shining around a man, words falling into a paper cup and slithering around.
- Are any of these images symbols in context? I think that the words falling into a paper cup symbolize all of the random and nonsensical things that people say.
- Explain one symbol in your life that you know to be a symbol. What makes it more than an image? One symbol in my life is the cross. This is more than an image because it stands for Jesus dying for everyone as a sacrifice to god.

SOAPStone for "Shooting an Elephant"

Subject

            The subject of Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is the growing pressures in Burma between the British and the natives. The building conflict between these two peoples is illustrated with the narrators hate for both the British and the Burmese, and also his own job as a police officer. This supports the subject because the narrator is a firsthand account of the hate and growing pressure between Britain and Burma in the time of this story.

Occasion

            “Shooting an Elephant” was written during Great Britain’s control over Burma in 1936. The essay’s time of creation is illustrated by the fact that Britain is ruling over Burma which ended in 1948, while Orwell repeatedly refers to Britain’s cruel rule over Burma. The probable place of the essay’s creation is in Burma because there are a lot of details about Burma such as how he talks about the hundreds of Buddhists that lived there and how harsh they were. In order to know details such as this, the author must have lived in Burma for at least a small amount of time.

            The time and place of the essays creation influence the essay because it is a good time period to show how social pressures and hate affected people’s decisions. In the essay, Orwell talks about how the Burmese natives felt imprisoned by the laws and unfair treatment of their British rulers. This illustrates the influence by showing how the Burmese people truly felt about their imprisoning situation.

Audience

Orwell’s specific audience for “Shooting an Elephant” is people that are high up in government in Britain. The author’s general audience is shown by how Orwell feels towards the British government such as when he says that their actions are wrong and that they should be stopped. I view these statements as a sort of call-to-action to the British government to make a change in how they treat the Burmese natives.

Orwell’s general audience for “Shooting an Elephant” is people around the world that were unknowing of the events that were occurring in Burma. The author’s target audience is revealed by Orwell’s attitudes towards Britain’s treatment of the Burmese natives. This reveals the target audience because in one way or another, Orwell is asking people to watch what is going on in Burma and make an opinion and/or take action.

Purpose

            Orwell’s purpose in “Shooting an Elephant” is to get government officials in Britain and other people around the world to understand what is going on in Burma. Orwell’s attempt to enlighten people is illustrated by the way that he describes what bad shape Burma is in. This proves this purpose because he is attempting to enlighten people on how oppressing Britain is over Burma.

Speaker

            Orwell, who also wrote “Animal Farm,” believes that authoritarian government is oppressive. This value is illustrated by Orwell’s recurring theme in his stories of the fall of authoritarian governments. This illustrates this value because Orwell is attempting to show that totalitarian governments are doomed to fall. This influences the author’s purpose because it is a recurring theme in his stories that Orwell always uses.

Tone

            Orwell exhibits a harsh and conflicted attitude about the growing pressures in Burma between the British and the Natives “Shooting an Elephant.” These attitudes are expressed with the way that Orwell refers to the British government and the natives of Burma.

"Inspiration Information" by Shuggie Otis (1974)

- What is the overall feel of this song? This song puts the words groovy and disco into my mind
- What musical elements put off that vibe? I think that the instruments used mainly put off the vibe that I felt. The instruments used in the song included a synthesizer, and a guitar which was accompanied by many sound effects.
- Identify the choices that the musician had to make to get this feel and why they worked: The musician chose to use these instruments that give the song a retro song, but also chose to slur his words along with the music to give it more of this feel.

"Semadores" by Diego Rivera

Subject: hard labor/ Toil
Occasion: Mexico in the early 1900s
Audience: People affected by or know about communism in Mexico
Purpose: to show how many workers were considered property and part of the land
Tone:Accepting of the hard work and labor in the past

What is the meaning/ theme/ big idea the artist wanted you to think about? At one point in Mexico, the poorer Mexicans were looked down upon and did much work in the fields.

Wilco and Creative Processes

-Summarize Wilco's approach to creating a song: They start with a general idea, then break it down and take other approaches to the idea.
-What is your creative process for writing? I usually write out a graphic organizer or layout for the essay or writing piece that I am about to write.
-Explain in detail the steps you go through: I first mentally check off what I need to include in the piece. I then create a layout to organize where I will put each part of the information.I add the thesis and other details to my layout and go on to write the final draft.

American Graffiti

- What is Nastalgia? The longing for something in the past
- What images come to mind when you here this music? I think of a school dance, or concert in the fifties or sixties. I can see an amatuer band playing this in a similar atmosphere to the dance at the end of the movie, " Back to the Future."
- What images pop into your head when you think of your childhood? What smells, sounds, and feelings are associated? I think of Thanksgiving when I was younger, all of my family coming in to town, it was the same every year until about five years ago. When I think of these early thanksgivings I can smell the turkey cooking in the oven and hear my grandma's cheerful yet soft greetings as a knew family member walkes through the door.

The Pinch of Poverty

- What are the major contributing factors to poverty? Job layoffs, lack of education, inflation, and multiple family members to provide for.
- How does the artist portray poverty (positive/negative light)? I think that the artist portrays poverty in a negative sense, as all of the figures have sad expressions on their faces, along with the fact that the background is very gloomy.
- What is the artist's message about poverty? Poverty is imprisoning and difficult to escape, yet those who keep hope and work hard may indeed escape.
-Identify and explain two elements of art that enhance the message: One element of art that enhances the message is the positioning of the flower in the little boy's hand. The flower in the boy's hand is pointed downward, in contrast to the little girl, as if he has lost all hope and has no chance of escaping poverty. Another element of art that enhances the message is the colors that are used in the painting. The colors are the reason that the audience gets the gloomy and sad feeling while looking at the painting, this affects the audiences view of poverty as being hopeless.

Poverty Articles Response

The authors of both of these articles have very different views about the same subject concerning poverty. I began reading Live Free and Starve, and within the first few sentences I developed an unentintional bias against the point of views of the author. When the author stated that "[her] liberal friends applauded the bill," it suggested that she herself had conservative views with which I would disagree. I try not to have this view towards people but though I tried to understand her point of view, I remained in disagreement of her article. Though the author's point of view does somewhat make sense, I believe that her example of occurrences in India have no value in this discussion as The United States of America is much wealthier, and contains less poverty than India. In conclusion, the author of Live Free and Starve, does not have a valid argument that the discussed bill has errors. After reading The Singer Solution to World Poverty, I realized that I do very much agree with the author's opinion and point supporting it. I have never really thought about the fact that blowing off a charity to save kids live can be just as inhumane as making the decision to kill the child yourself. If everyone would consider Singer's views, the world would be a much better place with wealthy people around the world constantly donating to charities such as the aforementioned.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: "Round and Round"

- What is your opinion of this song? I would definately listen to this song on my free time, mainly because it reminds me of a pop song from the 80's, similar to many one hit wonders that came out during that time.
- State 2 facts about this song: This song uses reverb. This song uses a synthesizer.
-How do your musical facts influence your opinion? What is the correlation between what you picked out and your opinion? Do you have bias? If so, explain: The fact that I used that this song uses a lot of reverb which does lead to a positive opinion for me as I do enjoy bands such as My Morning Jacket. One negative thing about the reverb is that it does slur a lot of the lyrics together making them hard to understand, I believe this is negative because lyrics are a big part of a song. The fact that this song has a synthesizer automatically gives my a negative opinion of the song as it reminds me of songs from the seventies and eighties. I do have bias, one point to back this statement up is that imediatly when I heard the synthesizer, I disliked the song.