Final BNW

1. In Brave New World why does the society live such a care-free life, and why do they have no aspirations?
2. In Brave New World we don't see near as much propaganda as in different Utopian/Distopia societies, how come?
3. Why does the government in 1984 use fright as their main motivator, and the World State use positive things as their main motivator instead?

Communist Utopia

1. The dark colors, and the broken walls. This [picture illustrates communism by having eyes everywhere showing that the government is always watching.
2. The artist seems to view communism as a black, dark, faceless thing. He illustrates this with the man who seems to be faceless and bland, and the miserable looking streets with trash everywhere.
3. The title is explained in a sarcastic, and the artist means to say that Communism is the opposite of Utopian society, and he contrasts Utopia with the droll, awful Communism.

Brave New World #2

Throughout reading chapters 1-11 in Brave New World I have created some questions that have provoked thought.

1. Why haven't others in the society, or the Reservation acknowledged the issues in society?
 2. Why does John quote Shakespeare in his daily life, and in conversations with others?
 3. Why is John afraid to have sex with  Lenina, when he obviously loves her?

These answers have not yet been proven, but I do have thoughts as for what the answers are.

 1. Other people can not realize the issues in the society because they have been brainwashed, and are engulfed in the happiness the World State provides for them. For example, Bernard notices these differences because he is more capable, and different then the others. When living on the Reservation he noted, and enjoyed watching the relationships between a mother and a baby. Things they did not get to see in their society normally because of the nursery. However, Lenina is the opposite, and she does not enjoy life on the reservation because it is different then the life she was taught happiness was in. She portrays her unhappiness when she says, "Queer, Very Queer. This was her ordinary word of condemnation, "I don't like it" (117). This shows how different they are, and why more people are not capable of noticing the issues in the society.

2. John quotes Shakespeare in his daily life because he grew up in a secluded environment. He was raised on an Indian Reservation where he did not learn much about how normal people acted. He was not allowed to participate in the Indian celebrations, so he was isolated even more on top of that. His only touch with society was when his mom's boy-toy brought home a Shakespeare book, and he became obsessed with it. He is able to describe all of his bottled up emotions through the writing of Shakespeare, and he is desperately looking for a sense of belonging with society, so he falls to his feelings and does not know any other way to portray them then quoting Shakespeare. He displays his obsession with Shakespeare when he says, "On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand...." (153). This quote again reiterates his inability to portray his emotions without the use of Shakespeare.

3. John does not want to have sex with Lenina because he wants to have a normal, true relationship with her. I suspect part of his desires for a consistent relationships lie with the failure he noticed his mother have throughout his childhood. Another part of it is that John recognizes the fact that Lenina will never live a life that he would expect of his wife, or girlfriend. She will also be carefree and ignorant. He knows the relationship with her will never work, but she can not understand this due to her brainwashing by the World State. John does not want to have sex with her because of these reasons, and he just wants a normal relationship.

Brave New World #1

In the novel Brave New World the society is one that is conformed. We know this because of the cloning process that has taken place, and it is not creating them to be equal. It is creating them to be what they want, but not necessarily equal. The World State further proves that it is not about equality, but rather conformity, when they display their slogan, "Community, Identity, Stability." We can also deduce that the society is conformed and not equal because they chemically alter the fetus's of the lower caste members. In the society they simply reduce conflict by eliminating religion, and we know this reduces conflict because it does not have altering views, that defy what these people believe. They also do not have conflict because they have brainwashed their citizens to believe their slogan as I quoted earlier. They have created conformity by conditioning the babies of lower castes to be irrationally afraid of certain things like books as to make them more productive of what their caste is viewed to be doing. Happiness is also forced through conditioning in the higher classes, and everyone in those castes ie the Beta and Alpha castes that they are happy because they are told to be happy, and because they are not part of one of the lower castes. This society is a Dystopia because it does not preserve humanity at all, and everyone is not equal at all. There are different castes that force people to be lesser than others.

Scarecrow song

1. The song is about the decline of farming in America.
2. The facts that farming is being replaced, and this guy does not know what to do with himself.
3. Mellencomp could not farm because of the changing in times, "Rain of the scarecrow Blood on the plow."
4. The word blood has a bad connotation, and that adds to the message.
5. He favors the farmers, and he shows his sympathy towards the farmers. He seems to be on the side of the farmers and he proves this when he says, "Rain on the Scarecrow, Blood on the plow."

This land is your land

1. This is an individualist because he does not refer to this as us, but rather you and me.
2. He is an anti-government believer. He wants the country to stay free, and as the song says, "Nobody can stop me, as I go walking that Freedom highway." It proves that he is an anti-government guy because he does not want to be restricted of his freedoms.

Friendship

Americans could be percieved as friendless people because of the way they are always thinking for themselves. They seem to not be able to grasp the concept that friendship is a two way street, and it is not all what can benefit them. In the article "American Friendship" the author states that, "Americans value independence," and this proves how Americans like to be self supported and not rely on their friends for anything.

1984 #3

At the end of the book the Party and Big Brother have gotten Winston to crack by betraying his beliefs and his lover. He was tortured and tortured, and when forced to face his biggest fear, rats he blew up and betrayed Julia. I would say Big Brother has one because they have proven they could force anyone to believe any concept. "Who controls the past controls the future, and who controls the present controls the past." This quote proves to the reader that the Big Brother has one because they have created a false sense of history, and alter the memories of the past to shape what is to happen in the future. I believe that there is no way to bring down Big Brother, they have too many loyal servants and too much knowledge into personal lives. I believe Winston dies lonely and hopeless. Big Brother has forced him to believe things he knew were fake, and as he says "When thinking of Julia even the thought of sex was repulsive." He has no hope and will die lonely.

1984 2

Winston is having doubts about what the Big Brother and the State are selling because he knows that what they are saying isn't right. He knows that they are suppressing people's free will, and something that is that constricting is not something that should be easily bought in to. Winston notices this, and that is why he doubts them, and Winston demonstrates his feelings when he expresses his thoughts in book one by saying, "In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy." Winston's doubts are not acts of rebellion because thinking should not be something that is illegal. It is completely different to think about treason then to actually commit treason. If Winston protest it shouldn't be illegal either, or rebellious. Protesters do what they do to convey a message, or prove a point. They don't protest because they think that it is fun, but they do because they think their message is one that needs to be brought to the public's attention. The American society is beginning to fit the stereotype Orwell portrays in his literature because they turn a blind eye when things are going down hill, but once that failure gets too late, and begins to affect them they become upset and protest. If they had stood up for what they believed in earlier, they would not be in the place they are now. The protesters trying to "occupy" wall street are a perfect example of this. 

2+2=5

This song is talking about if people became naive to what is going on, then the people in power will only take further advantage of the situation.
It describes the way the society that Winston is in, and how it got there.
The singer mumbles throughout the song, and that could show how people were suppressed.

Song Critique

The song makes us think that the writer is against freedom, but we know that this is true when he says, "this land was made for you and me."

1984, 1

In the story 1984 the society attempts to create conformity by monitoring their actions to make them act as if somebody is always watching. They sell add tremendous pressure on society by using propoganda, and making them all hate a common cause. They've made everybody equal by putting them in the same housing with the same monitoring for everybody. The society has taken away conflict by forcing everybody to hate a common cause, not have an individuality, banded religion, and strictly restricted any borderline books. The society has attempted to force happiness by putting the name fantastic gin or happy adjectives on poor quality objects. The people living in this society do not remember of a time when they could be individual, and were not always being monitored.

Art Critique

The artist makes you believe that the work is to prove a point, and she shows the truth of her culture through the lines of her drawing.
Her tone seemed to be informative, and that was good for the way she does things.

Chuck Baird

The artist uses bold colors that stand out to display his reliance on vision.
He is of the deaf community.
He needs to use his eyes to make up for the lack of hearing.

Bo Bartlett

Claim: The people like the taste of deer. They have killed a deer and because it is not mutilated and they are skinny we know they will eat it.
Claim: the man is a hard worker: He looks tired, and he has gone out for his family to kill a dear.
Claim: The child feels distant from the parents: The boy is walking with his back turned and a stick over his shoulder from the adults.

:"You were right"

The writer is talking about an "ex" and their breakup. The ex said that things would work out, and they never did. The writer responds to that with the line, "You were right when you said this is the end."

The vocals in the song were drowned out by the loud guitar, and drums. The guitar was loud and consistent throughout the song.

This song was bad because the instruments did not flow well with the vocals and lyrics.

Shame

subject and tone: He is talking about how he has changed and become unselfish. The tone is regretful.
Shame: Sounds like regret and they use that word because someones would only be shameful of an action they regret doing.
Blame: Blame sounds regretful, and it makes a him sound like he is unable to move on from his selfish actions.
Boatloads: It is a word that sounds like it has a higher quantity then "a lot" or a different word that could be used there. This word adds to the tone because it is an extreme word that means a large quantity of something, and in this case shame.

SOAPSTONE of Battling Clean-Up and Striking Out

Subject: The subject of Dave Berry's Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out is about getting humor out of the simple family life that he lives. He illustrated it through examples of his normal family life, and the things that people don't notice that they are going through as they do it. He is pointing out the obvious that others don't really notice, and this is humorous in the way he does it. His word choice, and casual tone make it an easy, fun read.

Occasion: Observing events that have occurred to the speaker regarding the differences of women and men, and the obviousness that people can't seem to observe. This was created probably on a Monday reflecting the weekends events in a time near the world series. He portrayed this to us by using his story about the world series game, and evening talk session. This proves that he was reflecting the events because he was speaking in past tense about the events that have recently occurred.

Audience: This article is for the specific audience of men who fail to recognize the obvious things that they will do on a daily basis in their family unit. He revealed his audience when he explained how he gets angry letters from female readers when he talks about their uncaring about sports. His general audience is adult people in a family unit that could use this to sympathize with their differences in observations and feelings over certain subjects. This is shown through his example of cleaning the bathroom, and the struggles every family goes through.

Purpose: His purpose is to explain the normal, obvious differences between men and women in a family setting. He wants the audience to be more tolerable of these differences, and he wants to give the reader a good laugh. He illustrates this through all of his examples specifically when he is describing the main differences between men and women in certain circumstances.

Speaker: The speaker is the author of the article, Dave Berry. In this article he is just a normal dad in a normal family going through the normal issues that are caused by the differences of men and women in a relationship. He believes that certain biological make up causes conflict and differences in some families, and takes a humorous spin on the situation. This is shown through his examples primarily of the cleaning the bathroom. Barry also believes that men care differently for certain things then women. Women view dirt as a bad thing, and don't care too much about sports, whilst men care loads about sports, but not about dirt all too much. This again is proved through the whole essay when he describes the dinner party/world series issue, and the cleaning the bathroom example as well.

Tone: Dave Berry shows and articulates a sarcastic, humorous tone towards this topic. He shows this through his word choices in his examples, and the organization of events when he is describing his predicaments. He uses casual word choice and because of this he comes across as quite funny.

Beatles Vs. Metal Beatles

I liked to Beatles version more because I could understand the lyrics better and make out what the song was intended to be about.
I thought the Beatles version was more pleasant to listen to because I am more accustomed to hearing that type of music and I enjoy the tone the singer uses.

Kandinsky vs. Pollack

I liked the Kandinsky more because it allows more room for imagination and thought of what it could be portraying.
I thought the Pollack was more pleasant to look at because it had a smoother, easier to follow picture.

Song critique

The composer's theme for the song was to sypathize with humanity. He let us know this when he repeated the same lines over and over again.

Short Video

The single effect I got was inspiring.
The song in the background, the colors the guy was wearing, and the signs at the end.
I would change the setting they were in, and if there were less people in the area it would change the feeling.

Good Old Desk

Subject: GOD
Occasion: arriving home after an event, or a trip.
Audience: Any person willing to listen
Purpose: The fact that people are happy when there is consistency in their life.
Speaker: A person who believes in God
Tone: Thankful
He is talking about how he enjoys stability and consistency in his life. It is always there for him to keep his hopes alive.
He has no place to go.
It never needs a rest.

"The Runaway"

America in the 1950's was full of prejudiced and inequality towards blacks. The black citizens were not allowed to eat, drink, go to school with the white citizens. The citizens in America at this time did not put blacks on the same level as whites because they came to America as slaves. Rockewell's "the Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950's- an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America, but rather how things are.

"Across the universe"

1. Endless rain into a paper cup
2. Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes.
3. Like a restless wind inside a letterbox

Endless rain into a paper cup, the fact that it is on going and will never stop.
It is more than an image because it means that it is eternal.
Words=ideas

SOAPSTONE of the article

Subject: An individual facing peer pressure.
Occasion: The late 1800's to early 1900's in India. The man was a cop who the Indian's hated because of his English being. The Indians were treated like dogs and felt it was not fair for them.
Audience: Any individual facing peer pressure, or a group of people forcing somebody to do something.
Purpose: To prove that it is not always the right thing to do what a crowd wants you to do. It is best to always trust your gut, and not do what others want you to do regardless of the repercussions.
Speaker: A man who was a cop in India during the English rule of the area.
Tone: Reminiscent.

"Inspirational Information"

It is  a jolly, feel good song, and it makes me want to jig.
The bass guitar makes the song have the jolly happy feeling.
The singer used a significant chorus to fill the spaces between his singing, and the evident base were the choices made by the artists in this song.

Painting evaluation

Subject: Two working men
Occasion: A Mexican Revolution
Audience: The working class
Speaker: A working man
Purpose: To she how hard people work, and will never move up the social ladder
Meaning: The working man will work long, hard hours for very little pay. This man will also have very little potential to move forward in the social world, or the working world. This is shown by the man being stretched out looking practically exhausted with the rolling of the painting making it look like it is going on forever.

The process of song making

1. They go for the approach where they just make the song; then go back through the song to dissect it and look for ways to change it.
2. My process for writing a paper is to brainstorm for 10-15 minutes about the topic, and then I write a few sentences. After writing I go through the paper and proofread for errors and decide where I can improve my paper.

Listening journal #2 and Art journal #1

Nostalgia: The desire for the good things in the past.

It makes me imagine an old ice cream parlor, with red and white walls, classic milkshakes, in the 1960's .

My childhood makes me remember doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. I felt free fro the most part, and I remember the smell of crisp spring air, listening to the birds, and the occasional car passing by.

The major contributing factor to poverty is the lack of business ideas, skills, and opportunities.

The art relays poverty in a negative tone because the people look pale and sad, also they have metal bars behind them making it appear as they were trapped in poverty.

The artist shows us that poverty is bad because they seem unhappy and trapped.

The bars behind the family shows us how they seem to be trapped and are negatively affected by it.

Response to article #1

The article written by Divakaruani argues to ban goods that are produced by child laborers. He believes this will solve more then one problem. I completely disagree with his argument. It will do more harm then good. Sure it will cause less child labor throughout the world, and that is a good thing. It is sort of like the American illegal immigrant circumstance, there is the fact that we need these people as a part of our economy but we do not want them in our country. We need the cheap labor for our goods, but we do not want to pay for children to work in horrible conditions. This causes a give or take relationship in which we are benefiting from. The USA does not have the financial means to produce their own goods, and it will hurt the world economies even further. Not to mention that it will cause the prices for these goods to go up substantially. His logic is poor behind all of his thinking, and banning goods produced by children would do more bad than good.

Listening Journal #1

Both of my facts influence my opinion because the both make it difficult to comprehend the lyrics, and the vocals sound sloppy. The main correlation is the difficulty to understand the singers. I have some bias towards this song because it is not the type of music I am accustom to, and it sounds foreign to my ears.