Entertainment Arguement

In today's society, everything has to be fast paced. We dread a slow Internet connection or sitting in rush hour traffic. As Americans, we have become accustomed to having everything we want, right at the moment we want it. So, when we come home from our demanding jobs, we want to relax and wind down. And what better way to settle down from a day of rushing around than to sit down and watch people on TV provide the entertainment that people 100 years ago provided for themselves?

One hundred years ago or more, people used to entertain themselves with what they had around them. If you didn't live in a tropical rain forest, you could only imagine what a parrot looked like. If you were lucky, you could make a trip to a rain forest yourself to experience it first hand, but these trips were only made once in a lifetime, if they were made at all. Today, we no longer have to wonder what a parrot in a tropical rain forest looks like---we have explorers on TV to make the trip for us. We have an unlimited supply of TV shows and channels that can show us a whole other side of the world. We have the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel to relay back to us "in stunning high-definition" every little detail of their location. Or in some cases, how the food of a certain culture tastes. I'm sure we have all heard of the show on the Travel channel broadcasting a fearless explorer who bravely tastes the strangest foods of the world. The viewer can ride on a cultural roller coaster as the host not only explains the foods, but also gives a nice tour of the area's geographical oddities. So if we, as Americans can simply turn on our TVs to visit an exotic rain forest, why spend the money, or effort, to go visit in person?

Although there are some people in the world who enjoy watching brave explorers eat revolting foods, most tune in to their favorite television show or movie for the action. There are those out there who love to watch boxing and wrestling, or see a secret agent blow up an enemy vehicle. But would these people actually do these things themselves? Because I don't see an average cubicle worker out boxing Muhammad Ali, I believe I can safely say no. Americans strive for ease and convenience when it comes to anything they can buy, which is why so much money is spent on Hi-def TV sets rather than extravagant vacations to the other half of the world. Although a poll by the New York Times says that people who spend their money on experiences rather than material items, we as Americans love the ease and painlessness of buying a TV set to watch someone else experience something exciting and dangerous rather than do it on their own.

The Great Gatsby Analysis

Fitzgerald's insightful yet hopeless tones reflect his woebegone view of the people of his time and his fascination with their inability to move into the future.

As "boats beating against the current," the people of the 1920s were, for the most part, reluctant to leave the comfort zone they knew so well behind them and move into the churning future before them. The 1920s were controversial times, mainly because of the young women of the time. Flappers, as they were called, flaunted their bodies and bare skin before the ravenous men begging for a glimpse of these improper women. The older generation refused to accept these inappropriate females. Similar to this apprehensive generation are the boats they are compared to. These older people are beating against the current of the younger generation,

3rd Quarter Reading List

I read 3 books, the equivalent of 7 books.

• Pride and Prejudice
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (336 pages)
• Deception Point (464 pages)

It was a dark, dreary night when Tom and Huck entered the graveyard. They entered with the intention of seeing some demons drag the newest buried body down to Hell, and left with the knowledge of a murder. Injun Joe, out of fury, killed another man, not knowing that Tom and Huck were hiding in the bushes. The two boys watch as Injun Joe lays the knife in his partner's hand, framing him for the murder. Tom and Huck make a pact (sealing it with blood, of course), and move on with their lives, adventuring as pirates and getting lost in caves. As the village awaits the trial of the "murderer", Tom and Huck must decide whether their lives are more important than the innocent "homicidal" person sitting in jail, awaiting his death for a murder he didn't commit. Tom reminded me of myself when I was younger. I used to look for trouble and go on "adventures" to lost places.

Consumption

"It is not necessity but abundance which produces greed."
-Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533–1592)

With an abundance of goods comes more opportunities to buy those goods, which leads to people buying much more than they actually need. Even back in the sixteenth century, before the mass production of goods brought on by the Industrial Revolution, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne understood human nature's worst dispositions, greed. Although he could clearly interpret abundance's effect on this terrible emotion, there was no way he could fathom the impact the Industrial Revolution would have on the world. The greed he was acquainted with in the 1500s was nothing compared to the malignant indulgence we experience everyday.

thINK #2

12 Sentence Short Story

First Amendment Rights?

As I was glancing over the day's news on MSNBC, one article definitely caught my attention. This article discussed the rising controversy surrounding Amazon's selling of a book called The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-lover's Code of Conduct. The controversy rests in the fact that legally, through the 1st Amendment, Amazon has the right to keep any book they want on their website and the author has the right to sell it. Morally, most people would agree that keeping this book readily available is absolutely wrong.

According to this article, Amazon defended its right to sell the book until they lost a large amount of customers. What I don't understand is how someone could defend a book teaching pedophiles how to deal with being criticized and targeted because of their "sexuality." The author of the book says that the protesters are "free to think whatever they want to think about the book." He justifies writing the book by stating "everytime you see (pedophiles) on television, they are either murderers, rapists, or kidnappers" and by letting you know, "that's just not an accurate representation of that particular sexuality." But when MSNBC purchased the book for reviewing purposes, they stated that the two sexually graphic stories "presented as an adult's recollection of his youthful experience" could be interpreted as thinly veiled examples of pedophilic-themed erotica.

Do we really want "pedophilic-themed erotica" in the hands of those twisted people obsessed with our children and little brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and grandchildren? I would say that we should definitely make sure these kinds of books are kept away from the rapists and kidnappers of the world. Amazon took the book off its website only when they realized they were losing many potential customers through protests and anti-Amazon Facebook groups. What kind of world do we live in where big business overpowers morality and a person's sense of right and wrong?

What am I Reading This Quarter?

One book I plan on reading this quarter is Deception Point. Dan Brown has quickly become one of my favorite authors and since I've read the Robert Langdon series, I figured I should check out some of his other books.

Same goes for Digital Fortress. Its another Dan Brown book that I figured I should give a look at since I enjoy his style of writing.

Another book I want to read is The Hunger Games. Many of my friends have recommended this book and said that the whole series was awesome, so I might as well give it a try! :)

2nd Quarter Annotated Reading List

Reading Reflection

Over the past nine weeks I have been introduced to many radical thoughts through the books I have read not only on my own time, but for class. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World opened my eyes to the fact that our society today is quickly spiraling downward into a valueless abyss much like that portayed in BNW. By pointing this truth out to me, Huxley's book has helped me to notice every instance of traditional values being stripped from the media. Dan Brown's Angels and Demons not only introduced me to many artworks and destinations previously unknown, but also thrilled me with the way it weaved historical significance into every twist and turn in the story.

Although I found "inking my thinking" difficult, I have to admit that I came to a better understanding of the underlying meanings of the stories I read by coming up with information and questions to write in my journal. I will definitely use the skills I learned by "inking my thinking" in the future.

In the future I plan to expand on my historical knowledge by reading other works by Dan Brown as well as having a good mixture of other reads by various authors.

Socratic Seminar Reflection

1st Quarter Annotated Reading List

Brown, Dan. Angels and Demons. London: Corgi, 2009. Print.

Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist, receives a mysterious phone call along with a fax picturing a gruesome murder of an important scientist, Leonardo Vetra. Upon agreeing to use his knowledge to assist in solving the murder, Langdon is flown to a scientific haven, CERN, in Switzerland. As Langdon examines a brand burned into Vetra's chest, he soon sees the ambigram of the ancient secret society, the Illuminati. After a trip to Vetra's lab accompanied by Vetra's daughter, Vittoria and CERN's director, Maximilian Kohler, Langdon learns that he's in for much more than a simple murder mystery. Vetra's work on antimatter, an extremely explosive nuclear power, has put Vatican City in extreme danger. When Robert and Vittoria arrive in Vatican City to retrieve the antimatter, they're suddenly sucked into a whirlwind of kidnapped Cardinals, broken traditions, and ancient secret societies coming back with a vengeance. (3 books)

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print

Huxley's Brave New World gives a thrilling sneak peek into the future of humanity in Huxley's own mind. With a society insistent on ubiquitous pleasure and a savage reservation based on a mixture of "old world" religions, Huxley's depiction of the inevitable future is grim and hopeless. However, there are rare individualistic souls in the society that intends to turn their unethical culture around. (2 books)

BNW articles on tab=1 book

Ad Analysis

The ad I chose is a Smart Water ad starring New England Patriots quaterback Tom Brady. By having Tom Brady endorse Smart Water, the company intends to persuade viewers, most likely those who find Tom Brady attractive or who idolize him as a great football player, to drink Smart Water. This ad utilizes the rhetorical tools of ethos, pathos and logos to persuade people to buy Smart Water.

At first glance, the viewer may not notice the scenery of the football field or may not even see the giant helicopter hovering in the background. The first thing noticed by most women is a well-dressed Tom Brady running with a briefcase in his hand. This is a play on the emotions of most women who find hunky quarterbacks attractive. The company who makes Smart Water knew that by putting someone as attractive to women as Tom Brady, the ad would attract the attention of the women and keep them interested in what Tom Brady wants them to buy. But the sexual appeal of the athlete is just the beginning of the effect of pathos in this ad.

Men who believe Tom Brady to be an excellent football player may feel envy and jealousy towards the athlete. The makers of Smart Water intended for the viewer to think, If Tom Brady is an amazing athlete and drinks Smart Water, that must mean that if I drink Smart Water I'll be a great athelte too! By choosing an active, famous athlete to endorse their water rather than some television star or supermodel, the company pushed for the viewers to think that Smart Water will keep you as healthy as an NFL quaterback rather than the water making you a good actor. Tom Brady's clothing is a hint toward the fact that he believes that the Smart Water helps him in everyday life as well as on the field. This appeals to the everyday person because not every person who views this ad is going to be an athlete, they're going to be everyday working-class people.

Pride and Prejudice...And Vampires?

From the very beginning, the similarities between Pride and Prejudice and Twilight are impossible to miss. Although they were written about two hundred years apart, the resemblances between the two are nearly impervious to overlook. In fact, Stephenie Meyer, the writer of the Twilight Saga,

Selfishness Comes With a Cost

As I read Guy de Maupassant's The Necklace, I couldn't help but notice how greedy Madame Loisel was being about her financial situation. Although she was not born into an overly wealthy family, she was not born into a dirt-poor family either. And despite her husband's efforts to make her happy, nothing was ever good enough for her. She was convinced that she deserved the finest of everything and that she was "born for every delicacy and luxury." Although her selfishness may have bought her a night of admiration, her rush to escape before being seen in the modest clothes of her everyday life proved to put a damper on her capability of acquiring the luxurious items she desired. I believe the lesson this story strives to teach is to be happy with the life you have, because it could always be worse.

Madame Loisel spent her days at home wallowing in self-pity. She was insulted and embarrassed by her poor house, her ugly curtains, worn chairs, and unsatisfactory furniture. Tortured by the displeasing features of her own home, Madame Loisel fantasizes about a fancier house. Having a richer friend, Madame Forestier, from her old school days, Madame Loisel knows how a proper home should look, but is too embarrassed to ever visit her dear friend.

When her husband brings home an invitation to a ball, Madame Loisel is not as pleased as her husband hoped she would be. "I haven't a dress and so I can't go to this party. Give your invitation to some friend of yours whose wife will be turned out better than I shall," Madame Loisel tells her husband. And when she finally gets an appropriate dress, her next dilemma is being "utterly miserable at not having any jewels, not a single stone, to wear." Given the idea to borrow some from Madame Forestier, Madame Loisel rushes to her friend and leaves with a beautiful diamond necklace.

In her rush to leave the ball before any of the rich men and women saw her in her everyday clothes, Madame Loisel loses the diamond necklace. After searching for days, Monsieur and Madame Loisel are forced to go into debt to buy Madame Forestier an exact look-alike necklace worth four thousand francs. Madame Loisel was forced to live the life of a poor woman rather than living the life of an average woman as she had before. She was made to give up many of the luxuries of her life before to be sure that she and her husband had enough money to pay back their debts.

After ten years, the debt is finally paid off and Madame Loisel decides to tell Madame Forestier of the hardships she had to endure just to make sure that she got the necklace back. I'm sure Madame Loisel was quite surprised to learn that the original borrowed necklace was only imitation and worth five hundred francs at the most.

The selfishness Madame Loisel showed throughout the story reminded me a lot of how many people today are. In the world today, most people make a living the best way they can, but are never fully happy with the results of their hard work. No matter how much money they make, no matter how nice the clothes or furniture they buy, there is always someone with nicer things than them. And so there is a never-ending cycle of people constantly trying to "keep up with the Joneses."

After reading the ending of the story, I decided that it's better to be happy with what you are blessed to have than to make yourself miserable by wanting a life you can never have. I'm sure Madame Loisel would much prefer to have her life of blandness and modesty over the life she had inevitably inherited because of her greedy and selfish ways.

Annotated Picture

This is real. This is me. Click to learn more.

Of Mice and Men

Analysis of Detail

Throughout his book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck foreshadows the events of the story in the little details he uses to describe qualities of the scenes he sets. Though they may appear to be simple descriptions of the surroundings of the men, his choice of words tell us many details of the storyline. The quote "the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green" is a perfect example of this. The words "deep" and "green" that he uses to describe the river can also be seen as a parallel to the two main characters of the story, George and Lennie. The word "deep" is commonly thought to mean strong and powerful. Though this could be seen as a parallel to Lennie because of his massive strength, it could also be seen as a parallel to George. George's thought process is much deeper than Lennie's, simply because he is more mature than Lennie. George tends to think deeply and his mind and the thought behind his actions seem to have much more meaning put into them than Lennie would have put into them. As a contrast to this, Steinbeck's choice of the word "green" is usually associated with thoughts of youth, freshness, and nature. In this way, Lennie is "green" also. Lennie is young at heart and George sees him as an equal to a child. His thought process is not as complex as a normal man of his age, and although he appears to be a grown man on the outside, his brain has the capacity and the maturity of a young child.

Another great example of Steinbeck's foreshadowing through descriptive words is in the quote "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down the highway." The key words in this quote are "beaten", "deep", and "wearily." The word "beaten" is usually associated with thoughts and feelings of being exhausted and worn down. This single word parallels to George and Lennie in the story. Because of Lennie's childlike behavior, he usually gets into trouble doing things that he sees as harmless. As a result, George and Lennie are constantly on the move from town to town looking for work. In this way, George and Lennie's hopes and spirits are "beaten" like the path spoken of at the beginning of the story. Again, the word "deep" can be thought to mean powerful, but it could also mean difficult to understand. Like the deep pool Steinbeck describes, Lennie is powerful but also difficult to understand. His childlike behavior makes him transparent yet intricate on many levels. The word "wearily" generally gives off a feeling of being exhausted or tired. Like the tramps who come "wearily" down the highway, George "wearily" moves from town to town with Lennie, knowing that work could be a hard thing to find. He is continually looking out for Lennie as well as himself and making sure that they always have what they need to survive.

Analysis of Point of View

The third person objective point of view aids in showing how Lennie is unable to make decisions for himself and looks to George for support, and how George is more than willing to give up what he has to make sure that Lennie can have what he needs.

On pages 21 and 22, the quotes "Lennie nodded to show that he understood...In a panic, Lennie looked to George for help," demonstrate how Lennie was unsure how to answer because he knew that George had told him not to say anything, and he nearly always follows George's orders. It also illustrates how childlike Lennie is because he is so unsure of how to answer to the boss when he is spoken directly to. Lennie is so accustomed to following George's lead that he cannot answer for himself when spoken to.

The quotations, "Listen, Small! What can you do?...He can do anything you tell him to do...Then why don't you let him answer?...Say what you selling'?...Why you think I'm selling' him out?", exhibits George's compelling need to protect Lennie and make sure that he keeps his job, even if it means losing the job himself. George acts as a father to Lennie and attempts to shield him from potentially bad situations to keep him out of trouble.

Analysis of Tone

Steinbeck uses contrasting tones of pleasure and joy and of melancholy and depressive to exaggerate the apparent contrast between George and Lennie. In one scene of the story, the quotes, "Lennie cried in triumph." " 'For the rabbits,' Lennie shouted." and "Lennie giggled with happiness." Each of these plainly show the sheer joy Lennie experiences in those brief moments and appear to almost radiate a cheerful tone. In contrast, Steinbeck also uses quotes like "George was quiet for a moment." "He said shakily..." "George shivered and looked at the gun..." "But George sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand that had thrown the gun away." "George's voice was almost a whisper." and "Yeah, a drink" in a serious and down tone. His unsteadiness and shakiness before shooting Lennie shows that he is unsure about the deed he was about to perform and also shows that he knew what he would feel after he shot Lennie, grief and sadness. After shooting Lennie, George is in shock at his own courage to do what he knew had to be done in order to save Lennie a lifetime of trouble and pain, or being shot by Curley. Distracted and fascinated by his feelings of anguish and sorrow, he is oblivious to everything going on around him and agrees subconsciously to a drink with Slim. The contrast between Lennie's cheerful personality and George's obvious worry is made painfully obvious in these last few pages of the book.

Analysis of Theme

Though Steinbeck embeds many themes and morals throughout Of Mice and Men, the theme of one being his "brother's keeper" is an obvious point justified in nearly every chapter of the story. George and Lennie share a bond and that makes George feel like he needs to look out for Lennie.

For example, when George and Lennie are attempting to get a job, George tries intently to make sure that Lennie is taken care of and gets a job, too. When George is asked why he does this for Lennie, he simply replies, "I told his old lady I'd take care of him." (p. 21) George feels compelled to take Lennie under his wing and be his "keeper." Although George would have been much better off if he had never taken Lennie in, because of Lennie constantly getting into accidental trouble, George cares enough about Lennie to make sure that he is going to be okay. In this way, George demonstrates the apparent theme throughout the book of being his brother's "keeper."

Another example of George and Lennie's strong, brother-like bond is voiced in the saying they had together, "But not us! And why? Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why." (p. 13-14) This shows how George and Lennie intended on staying together, getting a place of their own and looking after each other. When George says, "when his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just came along with me out working." (p. 40) he buries inside the words his pull to take care of Lennie because he has nobody else.

Great Depression Pictures

Upon looking at Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother photographs, many emotions and thoughts swarmed me all at once. First off, seeing the makeshift home they made out of sticks and cloth made me realize just how severe the Great Depression was. Sure, I had heard about it before and heard that it was a terrible time in American history, but, until looking at these pictures, I did not know just how terrible this time period was. The first picture, showing the mother staring off into the distance at an uncertain future, surfaced feelings of sorrow and pity in me. I know that I will never be able to relate to the fear of the future she feels for both herself and her children. The fact that she does not know whether everything will turn out okay for her family or not must be a difficult piece of knowledge to live with.

The last picture, showing the mother and her three children inside their bungalow, made me realize how lucky we are today. Not knowing her story, I cannot tell what the mother's life was like before the Great Depression, but if it's anything like what I've heard, losing everything must have come as a terrible surprise. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in a home and have everything going okay and then suddenly getting my home and everything I cared about taken away from me. Today, we are very blessed in knowing that we now have government programs to prevent that from ever happening again. May we never have to experience the terrible uncertainty this woman certainly felt.

Use of Animals in Animal Farm

In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Orwell uses animals rather than humans to tell a story that applies not only to post-revolution Russia, but serves as a warning to those who support communism. Using animals to represent some of the Soviet Union's leaders was not only a genius way to make sure that the book could circulate through the Soviet Union without being marked as treason, but also plays on the fact that animals cannot govern themselves. In comparing the communist Russians to animals Orwell shows his support for a non-communist government by showing the readers that the animals not only are unable to govern themselves, but that they also lie to and betray each other in order to put themselves in the perfect positions to run their supposed "equal" government.

The Giver Review

What would you be willing to give up for ease and contentment? Would you give up your freedom, your individuality, your choice to make your own decisions? In The Giver, the people of the Community weren't able to make this decision for themselves. Instead, their government made this decision for them many centuries before. They knew nothing of the freedoms of their ancestors, therefore they didn't know what their lives could be like. But, having lived like this their entire lives, they didn't want to know about the past. They were taught that only one person, The Receiver, was to know the secrets of the past. Every aspect of their lives were controlled. They made no decisions of their own. Their jobs and even their "family units" are decided for them. For Jonas, the job that he is assigned changes his way of life and makes him second guess everything he thought he knew.

Every year, the kids who are 12 years old are given their assigned jobs at the Ceremony of Twelve. At this time, the kids are told what field they are going into and then become apprentices. Most jobs are occupations such as Director of Recreation or Birthmother, jobs that benefit the Community in some way. But when the Chief Elder skipped Jonas's number, he knew something was wrong. At the end of the ceremony, when all the other Twelves had recieved their new Assignments, Jonas was called up and was assigned the prestigious, honorable job of becoming the new Receiver of Memory. Because he was given this job, he was set apart from the other children. He was not to tell anyone of his training, for it was written in the rules. What shocked him the most was that he did not have to follow the Community's very strict set of rules any longer. He was permitted to say "offending" things to other people and was not expected to apologize for it. His set of rules given to him at the Ceremony of Twelve were simple. There was no instruction manual telling him how to prepare for his job. He recieved a single sheet of paper with 8 little rules on it.

Upon meeting the current Receiver of Memory, Jonas learns what the ability of "seeing beyond" really is. Throughout the following days and weeks, he begins to aquire the knowledge of what the past was like. He starts to unearth many different qualities of life that have been lost to people of his time. He begins to see color, he feels emotions that he's never felt before. And just when he starts to feel all of these amazing feelings, the Giver starts transferring memories of pain, suffering, starvation, and war. Not only does he learn of the misery of the past, but he is shown that his own community is not as perfect as it seems. With the knowledge that he has acquired, Jonas must now make a crucial decision that could effect everyone around him. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a gripping story that keeps you interested throughout the entire thing, wondering what's going to happen on the next page.