Final Brave New World Blog

1. Does the One State really view getting rid of art, science, and religion as a "sacrifice"?

2. Can a breed like the savage survive the scrutiny of the One State?

3. Is the One State more willing to acknowledge weakness and sacrifice more than Oceania?

Brave New World Entry #2

1.       Do the high ranking officials really fear new ways of thinking as a threat to civilization?

Answer: The officials don’t exactly fear new thinking as a major end threat to civilization yet. First of all, they don’t really make anyone who doesn’t conform disappear as seen in 1984. Rather, they simply try to defend the public from radical views without going overboard. For example, the Director tries to isolate Bernard from the rest of civilization by proclaiming “In Iceland he will have small opportunity to lead others astray by his unfordly example” (Huxley 149). This shows that rather than completely taking the minority idea off the face of the earth, the government simply tries to keep it from reaching the public. Therefore, the officials cannot view the radical ideas as a major threat to their civilization.

2.       Could the “Ford State” survive without soma?

Answer: It would be nearly impossible for the Ford State to survive without their precious soma tablets. In Brave New World, soma basically takes the place of nicotine in the modern world. The citizens have developed a psychological need or addiction for soma. “Oh, I wish I had my soma,” said Lenina when the encountered the repulsive savage reservation (Huxley 116). The need for soma tends to come from being in an unpleasant situation. In a world with so many unpleasant aspects, taking away soma would be devastating to the population. The Ford State would be unable to function. People would not have the physical capacity to perform daily actions. It would be the end of the Ford State as they knew it.

3.        Could Bernard start a possible philosophical rebellion against standard Ford principles?

Answer: Yes, but it would have to be with the lower castes. The bottom line is that Bernard does not have the required presence to influence high ranking Alphas and Betas.  Huxley describes Bernard as a “creature with a Gamma-Minus physique” (173). If that’s the case, then shouldn’t he be better equipped to lead people such as the Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons? Until becoming good friends with the Savage (John), Bernard was looked down upon by his colleagues. Almost all of them were taller and better looking than him. That said, they certainly aren’t going to want to take orders from him. It makes sense that he would have better success leading a thought rebellion with lower classes as opposed to talking up to more popular authority.

Brave New World Entry #1

The Ford State has created equality and conformity through misleading equality through social castes. These castes determine what jobs they will hold, their personal preferences, and their influence in society. This, however, is not 100% equal from the outside. Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, for example, are considered the lower class in this society. They take all of the factory-like jobs. The Alphas and Betas, on the other hand, take the leadership roles in society. They have the more sophisticated jobs, such as those in the conditioning centre. There is clearly a gap in lifestyles between the Epsilons and Alphas. "But in Epsilons, we don't need intelligence" Mr. Foster says (Huxley 15). The groups are staggered in order to fill all positions needed for the society to thrive. However, these groups are actually conditioned to be content with who they are. "I'm so glad I'm a Beta," says the Director (Huxley 27). In a typical social caste system, one would likely aspire to be of Alpha status. But in this system, the groups are made to have negative reactions to the other castes. For example, the Betas argue that the Alphas "work much harder than we do" ( Huxley 27). This system allows for greater conformity and minimal rebellion from the lower class.

The Ford State has reduced conflict by establishing both a national religion and a lack of exclusivity. First of all, everyone in the society worships "Ford", a godlike being from which the state is named after. In many instances, the phrase Ford has taken the place of where the word God would normally be. For example, phrases like "Our Ford", "Thank Ford", and "Oh, for Ford's sake" are very common in the society (Huxley 90, 92, 94). Worshipping any other religion is highly frowned upon and nearly impossible, since the only people who practice "Chrisianity and totenism and ancestor worship" are savages (Huxley 103).  Secondly, the exclusive nature in which today's monogamous couples live in is completely impossible in Ford society. "Everyone works for everyone else" is the perfect way to describe the lack of privacy in relationships (Huxley 91). There are no marriages and no couples. Anyone can be with anyone at any given time. Faithfulness and love go out the window, thus making the citizens less unfaithful to the government.

The Ford State has created happiness by creating specific points of view for each social caste. Each group has reasons why they are glad to be what they are. For the most part, it's because they have only experienced life in one social caste (their own). Epsilons, for example, "don't know what it's like being anything else" (Huxley 74). Each group has different preferences as identified in their conditioning. Therefore, they don't think any lifestyle is better than the one they are living now.

The Ford society is definitely a utopia because of the lack of government intervention required to keep the society running. In 1984, the government basically had to silence (kill) anyone who tried to talk bad about the government. However, the Ford society hits that problem at the source. Instead of allowing people to generate their own thoughts in their mind, they pre-condition them to think and act the way they want to. Every physical, mental, and social aspect is controlled from the beginning of the creation process. The government is free to do what they want because there isn't any possibility for revolt. Those who are born don't have any objections to what the government does because they don't know any better. For example, the government can say that "Making ninety-six human beings where only one grew before" is "Progress" without taking any heat from the public. There is a lack of wrongdoing in the society. Therefore, the Ford Society must be indentified as a Utopia.

Final 1984 Blog

Big Brother has won over Winston simply because Winston no longer has the fighting spirit and hatred he once had toward Big Brother. He didn't have that same desire to hate the government any more.  Even though it said "He had won victory over himself" on page 245, he was actually being controlled by Big Brother. He had submitted to their demands, and they were able to destroy his will to rise against the system. He didn't want to go against them now. The mental and physical toll had done enough damage on Winston. Therefore, Big Brother won over Winston.

One way the One State can be destroyed was if the Party was to completely block off their territory from the proles. They would grow in number and become a bigger threat. Eventually, someone would organize a rebellion while the major nations were at fierce war with each other. Then, the proles would attack from the inside out, slowly pushing the Party back to their borders. Eventually, something would have to give. They would have to either let the proles rule over them or submit to their Eurasia and Eastasia.

Even though Orwell describes that "The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain" at the end of the novel, I think he was describing the death of Winston's rebellious spirit inside of him. He no longer showed resenment towards Big Brother. He was tired of fighting for what was right and not getting anywhere by doing so. The metaphorical bullet entering his brain completes he re-birth into the society. As the last line of the novel reads, "He loved Big Brother." Eventually, I think he is killed by the party, but that is not what Orwell was describing.

10-28-11 "This land is your land" by Woodie Guthrie

Guthrie's message is collectivist because he doesn't solely emphasize himself. He uses the phrase "this land was made for you and me" selflessly to show that he's not the only focus in the world.

This song is anit-government because Guthrie doesn't want the government to take his rights away. He doesn't think anyone can ever stop him. He doesn't care what the government thinks.

Journal- Aristotle's quote

"It is the mark of an eductaed mind to be able to entertain a thought withot accepting it."-Aristotle

I agree with this quote because having an open mind allows you to see multiple viewpoints on one particular subject. Those who are sternly opinionated tend not to consider other possibilities. Therefore, they lack the certain level of mental development that Aristotle describes.

Journal 10-26-11

Americans can sometimes be viewed as selfish and overly competitive. They can sometimess be hostile or superficial to members of other cultures. This may give off the impression that American friendships are not sincere. Capitalism has a major impact on that. In our money-driven society, friendship takes the back seat to success. Before you can worry about making friends, you have to make sure you put food on the table. This connects to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, where physiological needs take precedence before social needs.

Video Journal 10-25-11: Individual and Collectivist Cultures

1. Personality Traits:
Individual- hardworking, competitive, selfish
Collectivist- selfless, caring, social

2. I do think opinions for highly published PhD's are less likely to be challenged in both societies. However, the status given is very different. Individualist would see them both as leaders ans as competition, whereas collectivists would see them more as role models and colleagues.

3. A new teacher may find that she is no longer able to collaborate with other teachers on new assignments. Therefore, she would haveto come up with her own assignments in order to compete with the other teachers. This would cause her to be more private and selfish in her work.

4. A fellow colleague that shares the same career, interests, or beliefs. It has a negative connotation because instead of them being friends, they are merely colleagues in the same field.

1984 Book 2 Response

First of all, Winston is having difficult time accepting the words of Big Brother and The Party because he knows that they are full of lies. In fact, his profession is to replace the past truth with lies. He has bought into the system his entire life and now he is finally starting to realize that the government is lying to him. On the sixth day of hate week, for example, "at this moment it had been announced that Oceania was not after all at war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Eurasia was an ally". Obviously, Winston knows that this is a flat out lie by the government he works for. Just minutes earlier it was an established fact that Oceania had been at war with Eurasia. This is yet another attempt by the government to rewrite the past by substituting truth with lies.

Secondly, Winston's acts of mental questioning are not just acts of protests, they are by definition "thoughtcrime". Winston is generating thoughts that are detrimental to The Party's ideals. However, this is not only thoughtcrime. This is also "doublethink". For example, on page 176, Goldstein's book reads," Doublethink menas the power of holding teo contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. By generating contradictory thoughts while at the same time working for the Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith is comitting doublethink. While his protests might seem small to him, The Party views them as a major threat to their empire.

Lastly, Winston's rebellion and Occupy Wall Street, even with completely different motives, still share some of the basic principles of a "little guy" movement. Basically, both parties are fighting for equality.Winston and the 99% both claim to be under control by the bigger party. However, the adversity they both encounter is much different. Occupy Wall Street is simply over the fact that the rich are getting paid and the poor are missing out. Regardless of a lack of motive or reasoning, what the protestors really want is for the slope of income and tax breaks to be leveled so that they can make more money simply by standing with carboard signs in New York City. Winston Smith, on the other hand, is in danger of losing his grasp on what is real and what is a lie. The government keeps feeding him and everyone else rewritten past and flat out lies. However, Winston has no way of proving it. As far as everyone else knows, the new truth has always been the truth. Winston has finally had enough of it. He has come to the point that he would rather die than continue to be part of such a corrupt governmental system.

Listening Journal 10-21-11: "2+2=5" by Radiohead

This song is talking about how the narrator's world is full of lies and without truth. In his world, things aren't the way they should be. For example, "January has April's Showers" is a generally false statement made in the song. In reality, January is more of a snow and ice season than a rain season. This is also apparent in the title: "2+2=5", which is actually a false math equation.

The solemn and dreary tone the music creates helps push the message by showing that a life without truth is dark and lonely.

The 2+2=5 allusion goes back to 1984 when Winston said that if the government wanted to make 2+2=5, they could. This shows that the government has no regard for truth whatsoever.

Video Journal 10-19-11: Globalization

Conflict: The main conflict identified in the video is that Western Globalization is starting to overshadow indigenous cultures such as the culture of Muslim women. The reason this is a conflict is because the western culture does not agree with some of the customs women from Muslim parts of the world have. For example, the speaker mentions that women who wear a scarf to cover their face are generally discriminated against in Western cultures. The speaker proceeds to mention that women can sometimes be denied opportunities such as health care and education simply because they are muslims. When the speaker said that globalization flows one way, she meant that indigenous people must either conform to Western society or suffer the consequences of missing out on valuable opportunities. However, the speaker says that in her home in Saudi Arabia, she actually likes wearing the traditional dress because she can weak whatever she wants underneath. She also says that Muslims/Westerners live by two texts: The Quran and the Constitution.

First 88 Pages of "1984": Governmental Structure

In Orwell's 1984, the government is very invasive into making sure everyone follows the rules and that the government is always right. For example, the use of telescreens that pick up video and sound in every building is a complete violation of privacy only in place to protect the government from rebellion against The Party. If this weren't enough, Big Brother even uses the Ministry of Truth to rewrite incorrect statements made by the government in order to keep a sense of artificial trust with the citizens. However, this causes the government to substitute the truth for lies. Winston is one of the few people left who can still even distinguish the truth from the lies.

Writing Journal 10-11-11

1. Utopia- a feeling of a perfect world with no issues whatsoever

2.My ideal world is one with no hunger, war, pollution, or terrorism. In my world, no one would die young. Everyone would be able to sleep easy at night without worrying about being robbed, losing their houis, or not having enough to eat. No one would ever be harmed by anyone or anything. Everyone would have the freedom to live peacefully without fear. The world would be ever expanding, with new adventures, discoveries, and experiences.

3. My main song in the soundtrack would be "Somewhere over the Rainbow"

Listening Journal 9-30-11: "You were right"

3 claims with facts:

1. Comparison is the main literary device in the song.
-"All we are is dust in the wind"
-"We are all just bricks in the wall"

2. The music in the song gives off a helpless tone.
-There is a high pitched guitar in the background.

3. The song was effectinve in giving off a negative tone.
-The song combines comparisons with a mix of loud and soft musical compositions.

Art Journal: "Young Life" by Bo Bartlett

3 Claims with supporting fact:s
1. The man is a hunter
-He is holding a hunting rifle
2. The boy does not aspire to be a hunter
-He is not in an attacking position
3. The painting is taken on the edge of a forest/mountain landscape.
-The reflection of the hupcaps shows a  bunch of shrub looking fixtures.

In "Young Life", the boy does not aspire to be a hunter. First of all, the man represents hunting because he has a rifle and hunter's clothing. Likewise, the boy is separated in the painting from the main with those items. Secondly, the boy is not holding a rifle or dangerous weapon. Lastly, the boy is in a defensive stance rather than an attacking position. These facts all help show that the boys is not interested in becoming a hunter.

Listening Journal 9-26-11: "Shame" by the Avett Brothers

Subject- Forgiveness
Tone- Helpless

3 words that help push the tone:
-lift
-float
-fade
These help emphasize the burden of shame and how the speaker is floating away from a relationship

"Reading Critically" Summary

The intro of the passage educates the reader on how to get the most out of the piece. It advises the readers to eliminate all distractions and read in a quiet place. The first part of "Reading an Essay" is to examine the preliminaries. These can be simple like Title and Author. However, they can also include where and when the work was published. The passage then guides readers to "The Broken Chain" by M.F.K. Fisher. Readers are advised not to start off examining the piece, but to read "what Fisher has to say". The essay itself dealed with the subject of punishment on children by their parents. Fisher recalls her childhood when she was spanked, and said she was never actually beaten, however. After the selection, the passage advises readers to write while reading and gives tips on summarizing. The passage then switiches to the topic of critical thinking methods. These included Analysis, Inference, Synthesis, and Evaluation. It goes on to talk about Meaning, Writing Strategy, Language, and Visual Images.The passage advises readers to: get the big picture, Analyze, Infer, Synthesize, and Evaluate when reading.

American Tongues 9-19-11

1. Voice- The way one expresses oneself in writing

2. "Y'know the ....." IT's just more convient than the phrase "Do you know....."

3. I tend to talk around religion and politics. They are generally very fragile topics among people.

4. a. Voice is important in non-fiction because it helps create professionalism.
    b. Casual Phrases, Vulgarity, Slang, etc.

5. Practice writing more non-fiction phrases.

SOAPSTone: Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out by Dave Barry

S- The subject of this essay is the roles/attractions of both the sexes. In the first part of the essay, Barry identifies that women are attracted to cleaning. He mentions the idea of women being able to see individual molecules of dirt. On the other hand, Barry points out that men are more attracted to sports. He particularly highlights a party in which all of the men ends up watching the World Series away from their wives in a separate room.

O- The occasion for the essay was the changing roles of men and women throughout history. The norm in historical precedents usually follows a constant system. Women run the house while the men are away. The men are the bread earners and do minimal cleaning. However, Barry mentions that the civilization in Pompeii actually had men as the house cleaners.

A- The audience is indeed members of both genders. However, it is more specific than that. The audience is people who think the opposing gender's way of life is primitive. For example, women typically don't have a high place in their heart for sports. Men, on the other hand, frown upon microscopic cleaning. Barry's audience is truly divided.

P- The purpose of the essay is simple. It is to show the opposite members of each sex that the other sex thinks their way of life is primitive, even though they think the same way towards them. Men think life revolves around sports and that cleaning is for the birds. Women don't usually care about sports, but take a sense of pride in having a clean living environment. There are two sides to every story.

S- The speaker is author Dave Barry. He has written multiple humorous essays. Many of them poke fun at certain aspects of life. These include the overuse of facts and American politics. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for "distinguished commentary".

Tone- Barry's tone has two parts. On one hand, Barry writes humorously about he and his other male acquaintances tried to get out of a group conversation with their wives so that they could see the World Series on TV. This act was both desparate and hilarious. On the other hand, Barry shows a feeling of sensibility in his essay. He pokes fun at himself by showcasing his lack of deatil in cleaning the bathroom and how he complains about doing it. However, he realizes the other side of the argument. Women take a sense of pride in cleaning, and that must be respected.

Listening Journal from 9-15-11: PAIN vs The Beatles vs Dubstep

My opinion: I liked the Dubstep version because I thought the music variety was good. I heard both an opera-like sound and a techno sounde in the piece.

Aesthetically Pleasing: The Beatles original version is the most aesthetically pleasing because of it's simplicity. The other two versions had to much going on. This took away from the talented vocals, thus making it less aesthetically pleasing.

Kandinsky vs Pollack: Art Journal 9-12-11

1. I liked the Kandinsky painting better because their is a greater variety of shapes and colors. I also prefer geometrical abstract art over freeform abstract because it is more finite.

2. The Kandinsky painting is also more pleasing to look at because of the feeling it generates in the mind. It is more positive than the barren feeling generated from the Pollack painting.

Film Journal 9-9-11

Single Effect: A sense of community

3 specific things:
-pleasant acoustics
-the messages on the signs
-relationship of the sign workers

One change: Having the facial expressions be more positive may have indicated a greater sense of community early on. Instead, the beginning of the film expressed some isolation that would later be wiped away at the end.

"The Importance of the Single Effect" by Edgar Allen Poe

Summary: Poe basically goes through the mental dynamics of poetry. He examines different kinds of poems such as epics and rhyming poems. He offers his opinions on the topics and compares them to each other.

What I noticed: Poe seems to care strongly about the nature of poetry. He is very in depth and tries to show his respect to the nature of poetry. This was something that I hadn't felt in Poe's work before reading this piece. Normally, he is very erratic mentally and gets paranoid easily in his poems. This was definitely something new to think about.

Listening Journal 9-6-11: "Good Old Desk" by Harry Nilsson

S- His Desk (God)
O- 1960's (time of religious uncertainty due to war)
A- Those who are not very religious
P- To show people the simple pleasures one can have with God
S- Harry Nilsson- somewhat popular singer in te 1960's and 1970's
Tone- Soft, Pleasant

He is basically talking about the simple joy he has with God on his side.

SOAPSTone: "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell

S- The subject of this essay is the author’s experience in Burma. He worked as a police officer in the British-controlled country. This essay deals with the personal conflicts the author has with his job, most particularly having to shoot and kill an elephant.  He is very troubled and feels both guilty and antagonistic towards the Burmese people. The author feels especially antagonistic, however, to the British Empire ruling Burma.

O- International conflict is the main occasion in the essay. The British Empire was at that time reigning over Burma. 1922, the year when George Orwell wrote this essay, was in the middle of the two World Wars (I and II). The world was in a transition phase. The balance of power was changing hands, and Britain at that time held control of Burma, a country in Southeast Asia.

A-The audience of Orwell’s essay is politically active readers. One of the issues that Orwell covers in his essay is the dilemma of Imperial governments. Specifically, he stated the pros and cons of the British Empire. Politically active readers are more likely to be interested in Orwell’s essay than those who aren’t as active politically. Plus, those who are involved in government agencies may also hold an interest in Orwell’s because of its relevance.

P-The purpose of Orwell’s essay is simple. He wants to persuade readers that the British Empire’s control of Burma was bad for everyone involved. First of all, the Burmese population was basically enslaved by another country. Having police officers watching your every move is definitely not the optimal lifestyle. On the other side of the coin, the British were dealing with a potentially rebellious group of people. They were faced with the difficult job of keeping some sort of order in Burma. Overall, it was definitely not an ideal situation.

S- The speaker is George Orwell, a British Journalist and political activist. He is against the political model of totalitarianism. Instead, Orwell supports democratic society. This is good potential for Orwell to have some potential bias in his essay, specifically where he attacks the British Empire.  His experiences in Burma (the subject of the essay) also have a great emotional influence on him. All of this is justification for Orwell’s opinions to the situation he encountered in Burma.

Tone- The tone I felt when the Orwell shot the elephant has depressing. It made me feel really sad.  I felt like there was nothing I could do to save the innocent (my opinion) elephant. It made feel negative towards the rowdy and rebellious Burmese people, who were apparently cheering Orwell on as he painfully shot the elephant. In addition, Orwell’s description of the elephant’s harsh and slow death was hard for me to take in. I really didn’t feel great after reading it. In a way, that helped drive his main point home about his antagonism towards the British Empire.

Art Journal 8-31-11: "The Runaway" by Norman Rockwell (1958)

Norman Rockwell's "The Runaway" isn't just simply a police officer and a child (runaway) sitting on stools at a diner counter. It was more about a change in the culture between generations. Sure, the painting may look as if the child and policeman are friends. However, this piece symbolizes something much different. This is the last time these cultures of youth and old would ever be this close. Through the countless wars and political controversy, the youthful generations became more and more rebellious and started to conflict with their elder counterparts. Rockwell’s “The Runaway” overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the late 1950s – an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America, but rather how they are.  

Listening Journal 8-30-11 "Across the Universe" by The Beatles

3 Images:
-dark waves washing against a barren shore
-clouds swirling in the dark skies
-millions of people staring at me

The dark waves and dark skies could be symbols because they represent the artist's world that is never going to change. Nothing positive or uplifting can change his world.

My personal symbol: Palm Trees
Whenever I see them, my mind always traces back to my home in California. They were so common there that whenever I see one now, I reflect on my hometown. The palm tree is part of my own little world, providing me the longed for comfort of home.

"Inspiration Information" by Shuggie Otis (1974)

Overall Feel: Soft, Smooth, Light (makes you feel good)

Musical Elements: The group's vocals were very light and the instrumentation was not very strong (especially the keyboard and guitar).

Choices:
1. High over low-pitched vocals
2. A slowly building instrumentational group over a full force instrumentation group from start to finish

The high-pitched vocals worked because they complimented the slowly building instrumentation and vice versa. Together, they brought a nice "feel good" atmosphere to the song.

Art Journal 8-25-11 "Semeadores" by Diego Rivera

S-Labor
O-1950's and 1960's increase in cheap strenuous labor
A- those involved in industries relying on cheap labor
P-to convince people that physical labor should not be so cheap
S-Diego Rivera, Nationality- Mexican (communist supporter)
Tone- Sad, Depressing

Main Point: Physical Labor should be more expensive due to the straining effect it has on the workers.

Artistic Elements:
1. Positioning- The person in the right of the piece is in bending forward position. The line of his back is made to look as if it were a twig about to snap.
2. Subject- The two workers seem to blend into the landscape and their work. They don't stand out as much.

Video Journal 8-22-11: Wilco

Wilco's approach to creating a song:
-Get all the instruments and musicians together
-Create a basic vision for the song
-Choose from an unlimited number of possible directions in which to guide the song.
-Add, Mold, and Destroy certain parts of the song

My creative writing process:
-Choose a topic and focus on one main idea
-Find 3-5 major points and utilize those as subjects for individual paragraphs
-Strengthen paragraphs by adding details, facts, scenarios, and data
-Use the concluding paragraph to connect all of the major points back to the maain idea
-Proofread for punctuation and sanity
-Edit to improve the paper's quality
-Proofread again for accidental punctuation errors during editing
-Turn in paper
-Further editing and revising
-Publish

Listening 8-18-11: Nostalgia

Nostalgia- the feeling one experiences when he or she encounters positive references of their childhood or past.
Images from the song- crowded dance halls, a swing/jazz band, a plain elegant white birthday cake, a record machine

Images of my childhood (with senses):

-childhood cartoons and tv shows (the sounds of weird cartoon characters)
- running towards the ice cream truck (the sound of the ice cream truck jingle and the smell/taste of chocolate ice cream)
-learning to ride my bike as a child in California (the feeling of my hands on the handlebars and the sounds of other children playing in the park)

When your birthday's on a school day...

Tomorrow is my birthday. Everyone keeps saying "Happy 16th Birthday!" when I'm only turning 15. Maybe it's because I'm 6' 2" and smarter than 95% (low-balling) of the entire student body, including all the seniors in my Pre-Cal class. Plus, tomorrow is a school day. If only it were one day later, then I could get my homework totally done and have a day of relaxing since we don't have school on Friday this week. I guess I don't have much to complain about since I get an extra day added to the weekend. Also, I'm going to Buffalo Wild Wings tomorrow with the family and get to have a fun night out instead of studying or, in this case, blogging until my fingers hurt.

Lastly, Mr. Behler, if you're reading this, I'd really appreciate it if you don't have any plans of giving some random pop quiz on my birthday. Please pass this along to Mr. Ratliff.

Art Journal for 8-17-11

Major factors contributing to poverty: income, environment, behavior, laziness, lack of opportunities, drug abuse, mental health issues.

Artist's portrayal of poverty: He shows poverty as a negative, gloomy, and say way to live life.

Artist's message: Poverty is a hard lifestyle to maintain physically, socially, mentally, and emotionally.

2 Artistic Elements:
Contrast in Color: The artist uses the bright colors of the flowers to show that they are one of the few ways this family can  make ends meet.
Perspective/Space: The rest of the public is far away from the impoverished family. This gives the piece a sense of social isolation and neglect.
these elements both emphasize once again that poverty is an extremely difficult way to live life.

Live Free and Starve vs The Singer Solution to World Poverty

In my Academy English 2 class, I was assigned to read two passages dealing with the subject of poverty: Live Free and Starve by Chitra Divakaruni and The Singer Solution to World Poverty by Peter Singer.



Compare/Contrast:

Live Free and Starve focused more on the aspect of need-based poverty abuse while The Singer Solution to World Poverty contained tales where people who wanted more were willing to take advantage of others with less.

Divakaruni highlights an instance where kids have been sold to factory owners by their parents, but don't pay off there indentures because they wouldn't be able to survive on their own in the outside world. So, because they aren't meeting their Physiological needs (Maslow's Hierarchy, also mentioned), they can't worry about what is right and wrong. Their number one priority is having food to eat and water to drink. Everything else hardly even matters.

On the other hand, Singer examines the other side of poverty abuse. This passage is more about ordinary (to some extent) people taking advantage of those in poverty for their own personal benefit. Whether it was upgrading or their TV or protecting their investment in an automobile, Singer is able to highlight the blemish in human sympathy. Believe it or not, folks, there are people in this world without a conscience that will kill others just for personal benefit. It's cruel, it's mean, but it's a part of our world.



Opinion: Although Divakaruni makes some interesting points, Singer's points on poverty abuse have the greater potential to be life threatening and are not decided upon by those in poverty, but by those slightly better off. That child in the train tracks is at the mercy of the Bugatti car owner. However, in the end, the car owner protects his car before a human being, an example of an unhuman lack of sacrifice. This was able to resonate stronger with me than Divakaruni's passage did.



Reader Bias: I definitely felt a bias about the whole aspect of killing/destroying/harming others to better yourself. From my point of view, never in any circumstance is that okay unless your life is on the same line as the other person. If it gets to that point, you gotta(intentional) do what you gotta do.

In the end, I feel my predisposed reader bias made it easier for me to connect with Singer's passage better because of it's complete inhumanity and contrast with my character and beliefs.

"Round + Round" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti

My personal opinion of this song was that it lacked a consistency in the vocals from start to finish. In the beginning, the voices are very weak and don't really appeal to me as much as other listener. Then, about midway into the song, the vocalists completely change up their tones and start increasing their volume tremendously in order to compensate for a lack of tempo and pace in the earlier part of the song. It really threw me off as a listener.

One fact from the song I found was that the drum was used as the main beat for the song in complementation with the guitar and keyboard. This didn't make a whole lot of sense for me when the song started out very weak and soft. I thought maybe a acoustic guitar or classic piano would have been a better choice. Also, the high tempo chorus was repeated multiple times as the song wound down, a huge contrast from the softer introduction.