American Friendships

Americans like to be independent, but still social. Americans just want  to figure out if they like someone or not. They are too busy to become extremely close to everyone. In Europe, people are definitely more relaxed than Americans. Europeans will, frequently, go and sit in a café and drink coffee with friends; a rarity in the American culture.

                      Technology create both distance and closeness. A phone could allow one to talk to a friend in another state whenever they want, bringing them closer. However, phones also create distance. Someone may not hang out with a friend often because they can simply text, or call, them instead.

Islam, Globalization and Gender

                      One conflict the woman mentions is the use of women. In our society “hot” women are used for advertisement. For example, a car dealership may place a “hot” woman in a little next to a car they are trying to sell in order to attract others to buy it. The external conflict of this is the external appearance; is it really right to use women like this just because they are “hot.” The internal apperence may be inside the “hot” girl. She may doubt herself. She may be doing these advertisements for money and really just doesn’t enjoy it. The internal conflict just depends on the woman.

                      Globalization flows in one direction. An example: role models. Eastern women respect our American role models, but Americans do not respect Eastern role models. Respect should flow each way.  Movies with our role models are shown all over the world. Some of the movies allow a stereotype to form of the American culture.  This could create conflict because two different cultures are forced to interact with stereotypes not created before.

Me vs. We

                      A collectivist culture would likely consider the following traits ideal: cooperative, enthusiastic, and flexible.  While an individualistic society would value these traits: courage, determined and self-confident. Elders and people with a more professional distinction would be individualistic, they want success for themselves. Elderly people may need help from other people, but they still want success for themselves.  A teacher would likely struggle switching between a collectivist and individualist group.  A group of collectivist students would be more likely to work better in a group than a group of individualistic students. The way in which the teacher teaches should depend on the type of students. An acquaintance is someone one are familiar with but do not really know. One may have talked to that person once or twice, but never really made an effort to really get to know that person. The word has a slightly negative connotation, because if one says that someone else is an acquaintance that person really hasn’t strived to learn more about his or her acquaintance.

1984 Reading blog book 2

In "Book Two," Winston Smith is torn between his personal guilt over commitment to his job and his traditional trust/belief in the One State, and his overwhelming curiosity which is fueled by other relationships and a yearning for something more/better. In  your opinion, why is Winston having a difficult time buying in to what Big Brother and the State are selling? Explain and support. Are his small acts of defiance (questioning) a form of protest? Why/Why not? Compare/contrast Winston's small rebellion to a more current act of rebellion within the United States (think Tea Party Movement, Occupy Wall Street, Anti-War Protests, etc.) in all facets - what they are fighting for, who they are rebelling against, the way their protests seen by the government, the way their protests are seen by the masses.  Ultimately, the purpose of this blog is to examine how Orwellian we have become.

            I believe Winston is having a difficult time “buying in to what “Big Brother” and the State are selling” because he knows that what they are selling isn’t the real deal. (Especially, since “Big Brother” does not exist. Instead, “he” is just a creation of the Party for control.) Winston knows that there is more to life (that life can be better) than “Big Brother” is saying it is. The marriage council will not marry two people if they have any form of physical attraction. The girl with the dark hair, Julia, hands Winston a note saying “I love you.” The note profusely confused him to the point that “he was too stunned even to throw the incriminating thing into the memory hole.” Instead, he reads the note over and over again. Winston could not focus throughout the rest of the day; the note was pressing on his mind too strongly. He does not dismiss the note, even after several days have passed. He thinks about Julia all the time. He notices that she is not in the lunch room. “His whole mind and body seemed to be afflicted with an unbearable sensitivity, a sort of transparency, which made every movement, every sound, every contact, every word that he had to speak or listen to, an agony.” He is definitely protesting the Party and “Big Brother when he has sex with Julia. “Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting minor operation, (Book One)” and that is not how it was looked on by Julia and Winston. These are two examples of how Smith is having a difficult time buying what “Big Brother” is selling. Winston knows that in the old days a couple in love would be able to see, and love each other whenever, and however, they want.  Basically, he is having difficulty not being naturally physically attracted to someone.  

            Yes, Winston’s small acts of defiance are forms of protest. Him becoming physically attracted to Julia is a form of natural protest against “Big Brother”. Naturally people will be attracted to other people unless they are truly dedicated to something. In 1984, people truly dedicated to “Big Brother” may not be physically attracted to anyone. Winston is rebelling from this regulation of no physical intimacy set by “Big Brother”. Reading Goldstein’s book is clearly a rebellious act. Goldstein is the Party’s main enemy.

            Winston’s rebellions are to “Big Brother’s” regulations, as war is to the Anti- war protests. Winston’s “rebellions” are natural; war and fighting is natural. War and fighting has almost always existed. Wars and fighting have occurred over invasions in ancient civilizations, or over who owns what land. Fighting, just like being physically attracted to someone, is natural. Winston and the Anti- war protesters are on opposite sides. Winston is protesting for natural occurrences, while the Anti- War protestors are fighting for unnatural beliefs. Both groups are, however, rebelling against the government. The majority of the rest of the population, in both situations, disagrees with what the protesters are protesting (whether right or wrong).  

Reading Blog post 1 (1984)

How have they created equality or conformity? How have they reduced conflict, specifically in regards to religion, relationships, and individual rights? How have they created or forced happiness/conformity? Make a claim about this society as either a utopia or a dystopia based the rest of your blog entry.

            The society in 1984, by George Orwell, is a dystopia “disguised” as a utopia. The people are lied to by the Party, ruling class. The Party edits history in order to make the people believe their life is better than the lives of people in the past. Equality does not actually completely exist, but conformity does, and the people are told that they are happier. The live of people in 1984 are actually worse than the lives of people fifty years before; however, the people don’t know it because they are lied to.

           Equality was not completely created in 1984, members of the Party were not supposed to “deal on the free market” (shop at ordinary shops). If everyone was equal, everyone would be able to shop where ever they wanted. The neighborhoods where the paroles live are in worse condition then the area where Winston, and other Party members, live. The parole’s neighborhoods there were “little two-storied houses with battered doorways which gave strait on the pavement and which were curiously suggestive of rat holes. There were puddles of filthy water here and there among the cobbles.” Winston’s lives in the Victory Mansions, “old flats, built in 1930 or thereabouts, [that] were falling to pieces. The plaster flaked constantly from ceilings and walls, the pipes burst in every hard frost, the roof leaked whenever there was snow, the heating system was usually running at half steam.” Both of these places are in bad condition, but the Victory mansions are at least seven stories high. Also, Party members seem better educated than the paroles. When Winston is walking around the paroles’ neighborhood he over hears people talking. “No, it 'as not! Back 'ome I got the 'ole lot of 'em for over two years wrote down on a piece of paper. I takes 'em down reg'lar as the clock. An' I tell you, no number ending in seven-.” This persons tone is not as educated as that of Party members. This also shows how equality was not completely reached. However, the people are equal in that Ingsoc applied to everyone. “The sacred principles of Ingsoc” is a system that demands complete submission; it forces the confession of crime. Committing a crime will result in death, no matter who the wrongdoer is.

            Conformity, on the other hand, is accomplished. Fear created conformity. Some homes, not those of the paroles, had telescreens which allow the people be watched whenever an official wants to. People feared committing activities that, if caught, would could lead to death (“nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws”) because they are always being watched. Conformity is created by Physical Jerks in the morning, and the Two Minute Hate. The Physical Jerks are a set of required exercises, led by an instructor (or instructress), every morning. “Never show dismay! Never show resentment!” The Two Minute Hate is where a picture of someone hated, normally Goldstein, by Big Brother show with a hideous, grinding speech. This is supposed to make everyone hate that person. However, “Winston's hatred was not turned against Goldstein at all, but, on the contrary, against Big Brother, the Party, and the Thought Police; and at such moments his heart went out to the lonely, derided heretic on the screen, sole guardian of truth and sanity in a world of lies.”

            The government mainly reduces conflict by changing history. If the government no longer wanted a religion, for example, to exist the government simply had to destroy was existed of it, and remove it from history. People, such as Winston, job is to change history. They will be assigned a topic, such as a person who was eliminated, and change it so that that topic, person, “never existed.” They control relationship conflicts by having a committee to decide if two people can marry. This committee never gave permission “if the couple concerned gave the impression of being physically attracted to one another.” By doing so, men and women couldn’t form loyalties which the Party might not be able to control. The Party easily controls individual right conflict. The Party could change history so it appears that the people have more rights than the people of the past. They have forced happiness by changing history, in the same way that they could prevent conflicts over individual rights. The Party could change history to make it say that the chocolate rations are higher now than they were three months ago.

             

         

Utopia

What is a utopia? What is your ideal world? Explain. What type of music would be the soundtrack for your Utopia?

            A utopia is a world where everything is perfect. My ideal world would be a world where there is no war, crime, or abuse of any living creature. Abuse is always a sad and depressing topic. A perfect world is however difficult, basically impossible, to create. You can’t change death, illness, and other natural events. If there was no death, or other natural events, the perfect world would become overcrowded and the utopia would be gone. If a utopia was possible, the music played would be happy, cheerful and uplifting. Some examples of this type of music include “Waving Flag” by K’naan, and music by Coldplay.

"You Were Right" by Built to Spill

Musical Selection: Built to Spill "You Were Right",  lyrics; make an inference (claim) about the lyrical content of this song and support it, write one analytical statement about a musical part of the song and explain it, and make an evaluative statement about the overall effectiveness of this song and explain it

            Inference: Someone told the singer that everything was going to be alright during a hard time, that person was wrong. “You were right when you said we’re still running against the wind,” displays a difficult time because it is difficult to run against the wind. One knows the singer believes who ever told him everything would be alright is wrong because he directly says so. The first two lines are “You were wrong when you said everything’s gonna be alright.”

            Analytical statement: The music starts off with fast and angry sounding, and the singer aggressively says that “You were wrong when you said everything's gonna be alright.” Then the instrumentation and vocals grow calmer as the singer says what someone said was right about.

            Evaluative statement: “You were right” is a good song. I like the changes of aggressive and calm tones in the song. The song was also effective in expressing anger.

"Young Life" by Bo Barlett

 "Young Life" by Bo Bartlett: Make three claims about this painting. Support each claim with one fact about the painting.

Claim: Hunting is important in the life of this group of people.

Supporting Fact: The deer is placed on the hood of the truck, above the heads of the people

Claim: The boy is trying to be tough like the man, however the boy is also shamed of the hunting.

Supporting Fact: The man and the boy are both holding an object that could be used as a weapon, however the boy is separated, and is better dressed, than the man.

Claim: The man and women are not married.

Supporting fact: The women is not wearing a wedding ring.

            Three characters appear in “Young Life” by Bo Bartlett: a man, a woman, and a boy. The boy does not want to be completely similar to the man. In order to look tough, like the man, the boy, facing away from the man and woman, is holding the stick as if it were a club. Also, similar impermeable expressions display on the faces of the two male figures. Beyond the impermeable expression and bearing of a weapon no other similarities appear. The child’s preppy upper class garb- collared shirt with a red pullover sweater- greatly contrasts the man’s blue collar garb- a gray t-shirt, oversized jacket, and a brightly orange baseball cap. The separation and clothing of the boy show how different he is to the man.

The Avett Brothers "Shame"

The Avett Brothers "Shame" ; Look at the lyrics of this song, and decide what the subject and tone of the song are. Then, I want you to choose three words whose connotation affects the tone of the piece and explain how.

·         Subject- A break-up

·         Tone- Begging (for forgiveness)

·         Three words that push the tone

o   Please allows the sense of begging because the singer is asking for forgiveness.  The line “Blame, Please life it off, Please take it off, please make it stop,” shows the author begging for someone to take blame off of him.

o   Help, also shows the sense of begging  because he is asking someone for a “helping hand,” most likely from through the difficult time after a break up.

o   When a relationship breaks up one of the members may admit that they were wrong, in order to gain forgiveness from the other member.