Representing America - American Literature AP - Blog

Tom Girl

    I can say that I construct gender everyday but I try my hardest not to let it limit me. I construct the stereotypical gender roles as a female everyday by the clothes I wear, putting on makeup, fixing my hair nice, and being worried about my image. This reflects the stereotypes of how women are appearance based and care too much of how they look and others perceive them. But I do not let this define who I am, it is merely an aspect of my image. I personally define myself as an athletic, strong, smart, and independent girl. I play basketball and run track and have never been afraid to challenge a boy to an one on one game or a push up contest. I also love the feeling when a boy who has never picked up a basketball challenges me to a game, and thinks he can win just because I am a girl, and they finally learn that I am able to beat them. I also define myself as smart and strong, and I am never submissive to a boy. I think that if I am right, which I usually am, I have the right to speak up and share my ideas, and even though they boys usually don't listen, at least I can get my ideas out there. I've watched and learned from all the shows where all the women are objectified, treated as less, and glorified because of their bodies. And I tried to live my life and break all these stereotypes. I never let a guy call me out of my name, and if they happen to, I let them know its not okay and I earn their respect as a woman. I would not necessarily call myself a Tom boy or masculine, but I think I define my femininity in a appropriate way that earns respect and equality from a guy. I wouldn't object if anyone ever called me a feminist, but I am not that hard core about it. I just believe that girls are equal to boys and should have all the oppurtunites they are given. So I will also continue to challenge the weak minds of the macho boys and defy their simple gender ideas, all while I wear my high heels, dresses and skirts.

TomBoy vs GirlyGirl

 

Growing up, every other weekend was spent at my dad's house in northern Illinois. It's a small town where the people talk with country accents, and everyone listens to country music. It's mostly alot of farms and forests, so for fun, me and all my older cousins (mostly boys) would go swim in the lake, climb trees, or race our three-wheelers. I used to really love this song, and would always sing along when it was on the radio in our truck. The video is really interesting because the beginning is basically what we'd do every Saturday. We'd come home really muddy after playing with the dogs or driving the three wheelers over the muddy hills in the forest trails behind our house. However, later in the video, Gretchen Wilson has shed her "tomboyish" look for a much more girly, made-up outfit for stage. It's interesting how she can pull off being both really well, because that's how my childhood was growing up between my dad's, and my mom's, here in Chicago.

Body Image

I was really intruiged by all the websites, especailly "F-Bomb" There were two very similiar articles I found Here and Here... 

They are both about women looking in the mirror and having some disturbing, and empowering thoughts. At first, they admit to having confidence, but when taking a closer look at thier bodies, found many things to complain about. They were confused about thier own opposing thoughts and came to the conclusion that neither of them is too sure how exactly they feel about thier physical appearances. 

This is sad. Women need to be just as confident in themselves as men. Women with low self esteem are easily put at risk by men who will abuse or take advantage of them. I personally think the media is partially responsible for the abuse rate because of how they make women feel about themselves. Appearance has become something so important to a women, that it can affect the rest of her daily life.I just feel that there are many other things that women could be doing with thier time than stressing out over their appearances.

Women Action and the media

Women and how their bodies were portrayed  in the media. This one blogger is upset and outraged about how women's bodies are portrayed in the media. So this blogger is outraged by this particular magazine called Sports Illustrated. In Sports Illustrated they the famous edition called the Swimsuit Edition. This part of the magazine shows women in little swimsuits showing there bodies from head to toe. Now this year the magazine really outraged females because in its famous Swimsuit Edition the model was posing nude in the middle of the winter. The model was white, had blond hair, had blue eyes, and a perfect female figure that everyone wants. 

Since this is a sports illustrated magazine then the target audience is obviously males because men watch a lot of sports and buy these types of magazines. So the editor decided to put in this swimsuit edition so that guys could look and enjoy women's bodies. Which depicts women as beautiful sex objects. On the flip side men are not the only target audience. When women see or view these magazines then the magazine sends out a message that women should look like the models in the magazine. Of course that is the image that women take from the magazine. The women who are the models in the magazine are terrorised by the media because they are putting a bad image in women's minds that they have to look like this models and when they can not look like these models then they are view in society as ugly. So society puts them at fault for these types of image.

I agree with this blogger because it was right on the money. She really explained her argument well and she was right about everything. The editor of this magazine put this swimsuit edition for men to view and idealize women and then on the other hand it puts the ideal in women's mind that they have to look like the models and if they do not then they are doomed by society.

Inspiring Body Image

These websites and blogs are so interesting to me. I just spent the last hour and a
half looking through the Rookie website and reading blogs and stories and
watching videos. I think this website is so amazing. To be able to have a place
to share your troubles and concerns with anyone without being judged and to
actually get a response or advice is just so awesome. I think the reason why I
like it so much is because I can relate to a lot of the things that are being
said. When the questions in the stories or blogs are getting responses, it not
only helps the person who posted it, but it also helps the people who don't
have the courage to ask questions. While I was surfing through the website, I
picked up some great advice about typical teenage situations.

The people who post on the site and tell their story, I think are really
courageous. Props to them for doing that. Addressing problems and asking for
advice for problems that everyone will face or has already faced isn't the
easiest thing to do. This website contributes so many positive images of young
adults.

One story I read was about a girl who was really insecure about her
weight. She was always concerned about it and had been trying to change it for
her whole life through diets and such. She eventually got very sick and things
weren't going very well for her. She started using a blog called
"Fatshonista", about fat fashion. She began to realize that her body
really isn't as bad as she thought and slowly started accepting herself for who
she was and what she looked like. The thing that strikes me the most about her
story was that she was able to build up her strength and courage and accept
what she looked like. Her ability to gradually cut herself off from the
negative impacts in her life has made a huge difference in how kind she is to
herself now. Her story is a true inspiration to people who feel insecure about
themselves and need advice on how to deal with it.

In her story, her main argument is that mainstream media plays a huge role in the
way we view ourselves. Her advice is to "limit their mainstream-media
intake and replace it with body-positive media." I agree with her
statement about the media being a huge factor in how we are view ourselves. The
media convinces us that we need to have the perfect body of being skinny. They
make skinny the only body type. In reality, skinny is only one of the hundreds
of body types there are in the world. The more you can accept your body image,
the happier in life you will be, and the better of in life you will be. If you
are happy with yourself you will be confident, and confidence, I believe, is
key to this cruel world.  

Slow and Steady

    Black doctors, lawyers, and company managers are a common and on the rise in America today. Although America has broken some barriers and made progress in the past 200 years, American popular culture has lagged behind and still illustrates the damaging stereotype of the inferior, poor, gangster African American.

    First of all, American popular culture shows whites superiority over blacks by confining them in a box of inferior identical roles. Since the founding of America, whites have thought blacks to be inferior and have always treated them as so. Even though we have come a long way of being slaves and discriminated against, blacks only get recognition by living in the past. For example, one of the best black actors in America is Denzel Washington. He is a dynamic actor, but most of his roles seem to be the same. As in his movie Meet the Titans where he was the head black coach of a foot ball team and had to overcome racial barriers in order to lead his team to success. Similarly, another Academy Award movie featuring a majority of black people is The Help. This movie is about black maids and they’re difficulty dealing with white masters. Like all the other dynamic movies featuring African Americans, it only gets recognition because of its dealings with race and slavery. As long as African Americans are stuck in these never ending racial roles, they will always be seen as inferior, and America will continue to lag behind.

    Moreover, blacks are continually portrayed as poor or the classic rags to riches in American popular culture. In American history, when slaves were first freed they all had no property or jobs and could not acquire money or wealth. Therefore they were all known to be poor and on the bottom of the totem pole. Black Americans have long surpassed this stereotype and there are many successful and wealthy blacks. But American popular culture enforces the damaging stereotype that all blacks are poor, less wealthy, and if they are rich, they started off poor. For instance, there is a show entitled Everybody Hates Chris. This show is about a black family trying to live in a white world, and they’re struggles with fitting in. The dad in the show has two jobs, and is portrayed as cheap because he counts every penny his family spends. This show imposes the stereotype that blacks cannot keep up with whites and are always poor. Likewise a popular song that is catching on in American popular culture is Started from the Bottom by Drake. This song is very popular in the black community because Drake is speaking of how he started poor and with nothing in life, but now he has finally made it to the top and reached success. This is the story with many other artists in American popular culture such as Nicki Minaj, and they only help to show that blacks can never just be wealthy, but they had to struggle to get to where they are.

    Finally, America continues to illustrate blacks in popular culture as the conventional criminal gangster type. It has known for years that if something went missing, or a crime occurred, the black person is usually always blamed first. And in the past cops have always been suspicious of black people, and that is where the term, “driving while being black” comes from. American pop culture does nothing but implement this image. Rappers such as Lil Wayne, Chief Keef, and T.I who only raps about all the gangs they are in, drugs they use, and guns they own add to this damaging image. These are the people young black boys look up to, and grow up to live this gangster stereotype. Chief Keef states in his song Love Sosa, “Fucking with them O-boys you gon’ get fucked over.” This means that if you mess with the people in his gang it will result in violence towards you, which usually involves guns and death. Also, in a movie I have yet to see, but is apparently every normal black persons favorite movie is entitled Friday. From what I heard this movie has a cast of a majority of blacks who all live in a bad neighborhood and are all “hustlers”. This movie being the choice of most black people causes them to live in the stereotype of black gangsters forever.

    In conclusion, while America has shown progress since the times of slavery, we are still lagging and are stuck in an American popular culture which implements damaging stereotypes into our lives on a daily basis. Black young kids look for people who look like them in popular culture and if the only role models they see are the stereotypes popular culture presents, then they will grow up to live and believe in these lies. Not only is this damaging to the future of black Americans, it is damaging to the character and identity of the black race. As long as these stereotypes are upheld in American popular culture, America will always continue to lag behind and live in a world of damaging stereotypes.

America Isn't Called the Melting Pot for Nothing

    Henrietta Berdanine, a professor of critical Race Theory at the Northern Jackson College, hypothesized that although American society and politics has become racially aware over the past century, our popular culture has not.  She argues that representation of other minority races are stuck with “damaging racial stereotypes”.  While there are occasional skits, songs, books, plays, ect that may play up racial stereotypes, over all I think our country has come a very long way from the minstrel era of the early twentieth century. 

            American popular culture has been known for hanging onto stereotypes like holding onto a grudge.  In this sense, Berdanine sees America’s popular culture as lagging behind the social and political progression of the country in regards to racial acceptance.  A perfect example would be the 2013 Oscars presentation with Seth McFarlane.  Throughout the award ceremony, various skits and monologues presented racially offensive jokes about Jewish people, African Americans, native Spanish speakers, as well as women.  Here in 2013, people still laugh at these horribly crude and antagonizing jabs at other racial groups.  This particular example had so much coverage from the media, with hundreds speaking out about the controversy over MacFarlane’s performance, no one even thought to pay attention to the second deadline for “the fiscal cliff” approaching in just a few days.  While looking just at this, Berdanine’s thesis appears true.  However, a double-edged blade challenges this idea that America is deeply rooted in past stereotypes from the minstrel era, for now new stereotypes may cause Berdanine to revise her thesis.  Popular comedy shows, such as the Chappelle Show, poke fun at racial groups not usually associated with racism in the media, and such jokes would not have been around fifty years ago.  Therefore, in the grand scheme of where our nation was over a century ago, our popular culture has improved greatly from the times of the incredibly damaging minstrel shows, as the nation has shifted to a more racially accepting society. 

    American popular culture often times moves at warp speed, mirroring, mocking, and responding to current social and political changes.  The media, with technology, is continually spewing out various opinions, interpretations, and messages to the public.  Since the time of minstrel shows, I believe American culture has improved greatly.  Just think about the hundreds of incredibly successful musicians, artists, and comedians who just a century ago would not be able to express themselves outside of a racially oppressive display.  Our music is now more than ever incredibly diversified, with different races and ethnicities cutting across previous racial barriers of genre and style.  Opportunities in movies and television shows no longer bind certain people to fulfilling degrading roles.  Flipping through newspapers and magazines, our media better represents the range of ethnicities our nation is filled with.  The time of minstrel show stereotypes have indeed changed with the acceptance of race in modern American politics and society.

    Overall, Berdanine’s thesis is very negative about the current standings of American popular culture. 
While recognizing how our political and social spheres have grown increasing aware and understanding about race, she believes the stereotypes of types of the minstrel era America still degrade certain people today.  However, I have more faith in our modernized culture.  American media and music, art and literature, has indeed grown with the other racially accepting constructions of our nation.  Looking at the stereotypes of the past, compared to the still present stereotypes today (because there are still barriers to overcome) America is no longer as widely and intensely degrading as it was one hundred years ago.  Otherwise, the term “Melting Pot” for the U.S. would not be so widely recognized today. 

Elephant Irony

The following story in this link perfectly fits the definition of Irony, it is just like the goldilocks example that Mr. Heidkamp used in class today. The story makes you think that its going to be a happy story with a happy ending, but all of the sudden it slaps you with the good old irony, check it out. pretty funny

READ THE STORY FIRST!!

Man and Elephant Irony story

 

 

Silver Me

One of my favorite poems that we've discussed so far is "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath. In fact, it inspired me to write my own poem about mirrors. What's ironic is that in Biology, we were discussing how we only see about 15% of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and then the conversation took a confusing turn and soon we were all asking questions like "What if we could see radio waves?" or "What color is a mirror?" and the whole room got very poetic and life-pondering. Anyway, I'd love it if you guys looked it over and gave me feedback!

 

Silver Me

What color is a mirror?

Is it the me I always see?

Is it another place that's inside out? Or upside down?

That silver, shiny piece of wall watches me sleep, eat, breathe, see.

So I begin to materialize in my mind

Who she's become. 

Another me, yet more predictable. A copy.

I see her smile. The noun and the verb. Forced and happy.

She's empty, like a dead vessel floating along without destination.

Most days she's a calm sea breeze on a warm sunny day. 

A happy dream.

But sometimes, sleep is uneasy.

She thunders in, anger bright as lightening. Pouring tears.

Dark streams fall from her cloudy sky of eyes.

A foreign place of a face. 

Her blue eyes pierce the glass, radiating hate.

She's a shaking storm of violence,

That girl I see.

I hate her.

That silver me.

 

Love Is Her Drug

 Almost as cliche as the title of this post is, so is Mac and Johns relationship. They have the classic marriage and "love" I have witnessed so many times not only on tv but in real life too. Johns clear intents are Mac's "goodies" and he cheats on her and doesn't treat her the way she should. And the word love has learned Mac into thinking its definiton is her relationship with John, but she has yet to learn the true definiton of it, if there is infact one. This cliche of love has been spread all over our modern world. For example, a couple that holds this would be Rihanna and Chris Brown. Just a couple years ago, as every one knows, Rihanna took a very bad beating from Chris Brown, and it was all over the media. But only a couple of months after this event they have been back together, and currently are back together at this moment. Chris Brown is also currently in a realtionship with another girl, who is not Rihanna, and she is aware of this, but she still continues her romantic relationship with him because she claims she loves him. If love means getting hurt over and over by the person who means the most to you and you trust the most and constantly getting cheated on and lied to I, for one, want absolutely nothing to do with it. As said in the poem Infedelity "sometimes you learn words by living them and sometimes words learn you by defining who you are", Mac, John, Rihanna, and Chris all have yet to learn this word and all of their relationships are a sick joke. But not the kind of joke you laugh at, but the kind of joke where someone ends up hurt in the end.

Fake Friends

    One song I would defend as poetry is the song, "Super Rich Kids" by Frank Ocean from his album Channel Orange. This song is from the first person point of view of a rich kid whose parents are not around and has fallen into bad habits. He has found fake love in his fake friends, money, and material things and is now "searching for a real love." The occasion is one day when he wakes up normally and starts his day on the roof, and by the end he is dead. 

    In the song Frank is trying to portray that the life of a "super rich kid" is not all it is cut out to be. The refrain of the song says,

Too many bottles of this wine we can’t pronounce
Too many bowls of that green, no Lucky Charms
The maids come around too much
Parents ain’t around enough
Too many joy rides in daddy’s Jaguar
Too many white lies and white lines
Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends
Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends

His diction helps get his point across that this life is overboard and too much. He repeats the word "too" severaly times which shows how its just superflous amounts of everything, and it is not good. Also in the song it seems as if Frank is not exactly happy with his life, but he is not complaining about all the riches and materials. In my favorite verse of the song it states, 

Sleeve rips off, I slip, I fall
The market's down like 60 stories
And some don’t end the way they should
My silver spoon has fed me good
A million one, a million cash
Close my eyes and feel the crash

This is the part when the super rich kid is dying and Frank states "my silver spoon has fed me good" and even though the whole song is complaing about how alot of money leads to kids doing bad things and parents not being around enough, the kid is still happy with their life and satisfied. And the very last lines of the song of him closing his eyes and feeling the crash it is as if he is just accepting his death. Also like he has accepted his lifeystle, there's nothing he can do about it so he just goes with the flow. 

    Finally, the third way he uses poetic language is when he is talking about searching for love. Frank writes,

Real love, ain't that something rare
I’m searching for a real love, talking bout real love

The rich kid has tried to find love in his absent parents, expensive items, in the drugs he does, and in his fake friends but he is aware that all these "loves" are false. The word searching also enhances the song because it makes you feel as if this rich kid is a good person trying to do the right thing, but he just doesn't know how or where to do it at so he is currently searching for it. 

This song is just overall amazing and a perfect example of poetry. This super rich kid is just in search of what is real in the world, but he was not able to complete the search. Although he was not completley unhappy with his life, he was just searching for someting better and something real.

"Ghost Town" By: First Aid Kit

Ghost Town Lyrics

The writer of this song is trying to portray the experience of leaving someone you care about to move away and keep on the road as a successful musician. She feels that it's her job to continue along traveling without a permanent home, and it's unfair to anyone she falls in love with. They'll move on once she's gone, and so it's best for her lover to forget the past, and just know that she'll come back to visit again. She attempts to reassure him that it's not really the end, even though she knows he'll just move on once she's gone.

A line that I really love is right in the beginning of the song, where she says, "blindsiding me to you"... To me, this is just a really creative way to say that basically all she can see is him, so she's like stuck to him, making it even more difficult to leave him behind, even though she feels like she has to. She explains this in the line "I found myself attached to this railroad track" When I first heard this line, I simply took it as she had to constantly be on the move as part of her career and lifestyle as a nomad. But after reading the lyrics as a poem, I thought of how in old western movies, the damsel in distress is always tied up on the railroad tracks, and the cowboy defeats the villian, and unties his bride just before the train hits her. So, maybe in a way, she's saying she knows that this time, he can't save her from the train (as in she'll get on it and leave him).

However, I must say my favorite line overall is "I'm lost somewhere in your mind"... This is just a very beautiful way of saying, "you'll forget me". I love how the writer uses such eloquent diction to paint a very sad picture in our minds when we read the words. What's even more interesting is tha the song itself is almost happy and dreamy sounding, not at all sad or depressing, as the lyrics are.

 

Great Gatsby

So far The Great Gatsby has been an interesting and mysterious book. It takes place along time ago, but I feel as if the book was written in this time of day because of all the parties, lies, and decit. I am a fan of Gatsby because he seems to be a nice person, but he is also very mysterious. I think Daisy should be with him and not Tom because Tom obviosly cheats on her. Gatsby would treat Daisy way better than Tom does and he evidently loves her more than Tom. I found it ironic how Gatsby threw all these parties in the hope of Daisy attending one, and finally when she attended one, she didn't even like it. I could tell by her personality that these parties are not her kind of scene because she is a very delicate, polite young lady. I also liked how we saw a different side of Gatsby. When he was going to meet Daisy the first time after five years he was so nervous and became a totally different person. This made me feel sympathy for him cause you could tell he really loved her. Then after they had talked for a while, he became the old Gatsby again.

Metaphoric Meteorology

Did anyone else seem to notice in chapter 5, when Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby are all at Nick's house having their awkward date, the day is rainy and crappy. I believe that this metaphorically illustrated Nick's house; not nice, crappy and gloomy. When the sun comes out, it get's fun, the mood changes and they decide to go to Gatsby's house. So the sun represented Gatsby's house and the rain represented Nick's.

The meaning of life is that there is no meaning of life.

Curious from our discussion in class, I went home and I googled the meaning of life. I stumbled upon a very interesting quote, “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” - Joseph Campbell. This quote made me think and was very intriguing to me. Many people spend thier whole entire lives and existence trying to find the meaning of life and happiness, most seem to fail. While they are looking for the meaning of life they are forgetting to live their own. They might be searching for happiness and their identity, but that is not something one can look for, but it is something that finds you. When you are to busy searching for these things, your life seems to be the opposite of what you want it to be. Rather than looking for the meaning of life you should create your own definiton they define it through the way you live. Everyone has different life experiences, thoughts, actions, and stories, so there is no one quote or one meaning that can define the 6,973,738,433, and counting, people on earth. Rather you should do what makes you happy and live your life true to yourself and therefore be living the meaning of life according to yourself.

Time To Pretend- MGMT

The song "Time To Pretend" by MGMT seems to really portray postmodernism well, and as I was listening to it, and reading the lyrics, I was shocked by how much it relates to both "Goon Squad" and the conversations we have in class. Look it up on YouTube if you can, I'll post the lyrics. It really captures the "What if all there is to do is pretend?" question posed by Mr. Heidkamp. 

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and f*** with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There's really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everything must run it's course.

We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

 

 

 

 

 

Skins

One greatxample of Post Modernism in TV is a show called skins. It has a UK version and a US version. The show is based on the life of several teenagers who are infatuated with the life of parties, drinking, smoking, and drugs. This is not like any regular show on TV and is reccommended for mature audiences only, but once you watch it you can never get enough. It reflects post modernism because it shows the daily lives of these teenagers, and unlike in usual tv shows, when you expcet an happy ending, there is only something worse to come.For example, one character named Syed was flunking school, and his parents were going through a divorce. His father was way to hard on him, and his girlfriend was cheating on him. He was possibly going through the roughest time in his life, and at the end of an episode when usual all the problems are resolved, he comes home to his dad dead on the couch. This shows how in reality therere is not always a resolution to every situation. Every episode reflects post modernism and I really reccomend this show because it is addicting.

Say What?

I love the stories so far in, "A Visit From The Goon Squad"... But I was feeling a bit uneasy as to what exactly we're learning about. What is Postmodernism? How does it affect me? Is this a real thing or is it just another school-related topic of discussion?

After googling a bit, I came to realize that it's definately way more than just another silly class term. It has meaning. It's such an insanely deep concept, no one can even grasp the entire understanding of it completely. Postmodernism has the potential to alter your world if you let it. If you need something to ponder over, just think about this: Every person in the world has their own views on everything, right? We all see the world as we know it, in different ways. We believe the people who see differently than us are wrong. We know the truth. We have the capability to separate fact from fiction, because we know what's real.

But... What if it isn't? What if there truly is no "real"? There is no fact from fiction. Quite possibly, there is nothing but blurred lines, and smudges of a past reality. What can we make of this? Why live in a world of damaged truths and maybe even, lies? 

I think the idea of Postmodernism is absolutely spectacular. It causes you to be more skeptical of what you think you know. So much so, that it will gradually open your mind, if you let it. I think it's an ingenious way to make others question thier morals, and have interest in others' views and opinions. I love that it causes you to think, and learn, and question. 

I feel like I now have a pretty good understanding of Postmodernism, and why it was created, and how we can use it .If you have any thoughts/feelings/questions on the topic, please feel free to add them, as goes along with the Postmodern beliefs of welcoming new ideas and wanting to know what others think. 

The Truth About Reality

In class today, we came up with an extremely provacative statement that I understood as, "There are three truths to every reality. What we portray to the world, what we keep in our minds, and what we hide from even ourselves." This opens up a world of questions. Who are we? What is "real" and what isn't? How do we define "real"?

This picture seems to sum up how this topic makes me feel about the world. It has shattered everything I once thought I knew, including who or what I am. How do we define ourselves? Who are we and what are we actually keeping from ourselves?

I also think there has to be a state of mind where you no longer hide things from yourself anymore. Perhaps it is what we consider insanity or genius. Perhaps it is already in all of us. What do you think we keep from ourselves? Can others see it? If so, who is capable of doing so?

Horses and Bayonets

The final debate before the election was held, and in my opinion Obama takes the win again. It seemed to me he was as aggressive as the second time and he knew how to get his facts and points across. On the other hand, it seemed to me as if Mitt Romney had not put in his best effort, and handed this one over to Obama. For example when Romney congradulated Obama in the killing of Osama Bin Laden he said you cannot however solve all the problems by killing people. He then contradicted himself my saying his plan was to find the bad people and kill them. Romney did not seem as aggressive, or his usual outspoken self. He even told Obama that the debate was not about attacking him. Although, as usual, he still based his arguments on attacking the president.

    Even thought the topic of this debate was foreign affairs, everything seemed to lead back to the problems of the economy. For example, Romney mentioned how since Obama has been president the amount of people on food stamps has increased. I think that the president and governor were trying to get their last words in, and win over the last undecided voters before theh election coming up. It is undeniably evident that both these canidates are well educated men. But I think Obama would make the better president because he knows where he stands and is true to his words. I feel as if Romney always changes his position on certain topics as Obama has called him out for. In the third debate, Romney even agreed with Obama on Iraq, and said Obama brought us back from the brink. Also, Romney is always to busy bashing Obama to tell his plans to make the country better. All in all, Obama was the clear winner for round three and Americas best choice as president.

The Obama America knows

   During the first round of debates Obama seemed a little held back, and Romney was a clear winner. After I watched it i thought what had happened to Obama. I also started questioning some of the beliefs I held before. However, after seeing this second round of debates my support for Obama has sky rocketed and I truly know I want him to continue to be our president. During this debate, Obama was more assertive and was very clear in getting his points across. While Romney was like that one bully everyone encounters who think that just because they talk over everyone their point would be heard. Obama succeeded in getting the facts across, and challenging his opponent without being rude. For example when Romney tried to call Obama out for the raise in gas prices, Obama kept his cool and explained how what he was doing was working rather than Romney’s plan. I also feel as if I can never truly understand Romney’s arguments because he is too busy bashing Obama. Obama answers the question in place, while also challenging the governor. All in All I think the clear winner in this debate was Obama and in this debate I saw the Obama America knows and loves.

The Face No One Can Resist

Recently, we have been talking about pathos, and how it is the appeal to emotions. When I am arguing with my parents, or trying to persuade a friend, the best way I can think of to get them on my side is the famous "puppy dog face". This pathos because it causes the audience to feel sad for you and it hurts their heart that you are hurting so they eventually are persuaded your way. Although he is not a puppy, Puss-in-Boots from Shreck is a master at this face. Everytime I watch Shrek and he makes this face, I never fail to say the words "awwww". It makes me just feel sad for him and want to give him anything this wants. I bet if Obama or Romney made this face at the end of a speech they would instantly recieve more voters.  

Emotional Teenage Girl

I have always watched the Allstate commercials on tv. They are all so funny and make an argument why people should have Allstate. After learning about logical fallacies, I know realize this logical fallacy is slippery slope. The authors of this commercial is saying that if you are a teenage driver, then you will automatically be emotional by driving, leading to a serious car crash or even death. This could also be classified as a hasty generaliziation. The author is assuming that all teenage girls are emotional drivers, and therefore will react in such ways while driving. The authors have no evidence to support their claims, but overall the commercials are still funny.  

Election Ethos

I found this political cartoon both creative, and humorous. It questions Obama's morals and beliefs as a future presidential candidate. It's saying he's a pushover, someone who is unfit to run our country. However, it shows he is willing to listen to the democrats of America, and do whatever it is they ask for/need, which is good thing as a president. 

I found it to be a very controversial picture... What do you guys think?

Assignment: Rhetoric and Campaign 2012

Over the next couple of weeks on the blog,  find an example of one of the presidential or vice-presidential candidates making a logical fallacy – in one of the debates, in an ad or in a speech.  Quote the candidate, articulate what they are trying to argue, explain the fault in their reasoning, and identify which fallacy is being represented. Include a link – or even better, embed a video – that shows the example in action.

Your other blog entry over the next couple of the weeks should discuss how one of the candidates uses a rhetorical appeal or technique effectively to enhance an argument he is making.

A New Form of Patriotism

Barbara Kingsolver, in her essay "And the Flag was Still There", talks about post 9/11, and how exercising your right to free speech had somehow become unpatriotic. How patriotism had somehow turned into the act of oppressing someone who was different from the majority of Americans in any way. I can't help but wonder if maybe they thought they were helping the war effort somehow by doing this. Maybe they thought the war would end sooner if they blindly followed their leader instead of questioning the actions that didn't make sense to them.

It reminds me of WWII. In the 40's Americans sacrificed a lot to help the war effort. People would collect scrap metal and buy war bonds. They would grow some of their own food in victory gardens. It was even considered unpatriotic to drink beer because the wheat could help feed the troups. Admitedly there were Japanese internment camps, but people mostly expressed their patriotism in positive ways. The women's sufferage movement campaigned for equal rights throughout the war.

In today's society it seems that we would rather give up the rights that we have fought war after war to preserve than any of the commercial goods we are so used to enjoying.

How I think Oskar Schell sees the world.

 

 

    The reason I chose this video is because it seems to me that this is how Oskar sees the world.  As a bunch of images and sounds that are thrown together.  This video makes me feel uncomfortable and makes me feel like images are too bright and sounds are too loud.  On page 42 Oskar tells his mother a list of many of the things that are wrong in his life, they include some bad things like fistfights and car accidents, and also some things that only seem ridiculous, like how his cat has no reason to live or duct tape.  If this is how he feels sometimes than it must be incredibly hard to be Oskar.  This video overstimulates me, just as how life does to Oskar.  The comparison is a it shaky, when this commercial comes on I cane change the channel or turn the television off.  Oskar doesn't have that option though, he can't decide to cut everything that makes him sad out of his life.  Especially when almost everything makes him sad.  Overstimulation is something that people only seem to mention when they are talking about babies or small children, but it seems to happen to me everyday.  It is considered rude to tell someone that you don't care about what they have to say but for me it's necassery, and I don't think Oskar would have a problem with it either.  

    So what I want to know is that, in a day and age when people talk about every single insignificant thought that they have ever had and tend to skirt around the edges of real problems, do you ever have the need to tell someone that you don't care or want to know?  This can include advertisments and commercials like I did.   

 

What the deuce?

Oskar Schell is a very curious, intelligent, and sometimes rude young boy. He kind of reminds me of Stewie Griffin from "Family Guy". Although Stewie is only one, he is beyond smart for his age, just like Oskar. Both characters are very curious, and could tell you everything about anything. Stewie’s famous catchphrase is “What the Deuce?” Almost similar to Oskar’s “What The…?!”

One thing they also have in common is the order they love their parents. Both view the dad as the best parent. Stewie even goes as far as trying to kill his mom every episode. Although Oskar still loves his mom, she comes third in his list of people he loves, with his dad being first.

They both are also very rude and blunt. Sometimes their jokes and comments can come off a bit as racist or offensive. Some of them may be unintentional, but a lot of them are slightly aware of the offensiveness, but they both still insist they are not racist. 

An Extremely Witty and Incredibly Intelligent Post ... Is What I Would Like You to Write

Some options for your post:

Focus on the text:
Ask and answer a DQ, a discussable question that has emerged from your reading of pp. 1-141 in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  Quote and cite (132) at least one passage from the novel as part of your answer.  Feel free to ask additional questions that grow out of your answer.

Or ask and answer a DQ about either the Kingsolver or Wallace essay that address the days after 9/11.

Connect history and life to the text
How do you feel America has changed -- or how has your life changed in America -- because of the events of 9/11 and the aftermath?  You might start by talking about the novel or essays and then get to your own life.

Connect contemporary culture to the text:
Do any TV shows, films, songs, or other parts of American culture that you know dealing with the same ideas and themes as the novel we are reading?  The connection might not be 9/11; it could be dealing with issues of grief and loss, presenting a child's perspective, etc.

To spice up your post, please add a title that "hooks" the reader into reading your post. Also, do not be afraid to add relevant links, images or video (ask if you need help with adding them).

To make sure your post looks inviting and professional (for writing that appears on the web), remember the following:

• do not indent paragraphs; instead, put a space between paragraphs to indicate the transition
• spellcheck -- both through the blogging program itself but also using your own internal ability to revise.
• double-check your punctuation and capitalization; make sure it is consistent, above all
• always give your post a category or two to make it easier to search.

Welcome!

Welcome to the weblog for our American Literature class. Here's the place we will be continuing conversations from class and starting new ones. We'll be discussing and debating books, ideas, and just about every other corner of American culture. We might even see a little poetry.

So, what's a blog?  And how will we be using it class?

For information on blogging and how to join and post to our blog, see "All About Blogging." 

To spice up your post, please add a title that "hooks" the reader into reading your post. Also, do not be afraid to add relevant links, images or video (ask if you need help with adding them).

To make sure your post looks inviting and professional (for writing that appears on the web), remember the following:

• do not indent paragraphs; instead, put a space between paragraphs to indicate the transition
• spellcheck -- both through the blogging program itself but also using your own internal ability to revise.
• double-check your punctuation and capitalization; make sure it is consistent, above all
• always give your post a category or two to make it easier to search.

We're looking forward to a great year.