Mockingbird: In-class 4/29

Early in morning she is

Not ecstatic but rather tired

Where’s coffee?


How will she survive?

A mockingbird quietly flies intently

Towards the window

Determined to fulfill destiny


Will it succeed?

What purpose compels flight?

Mockingbirds have no intentions

But to do morning awakenings

She still sleeps soundly


With anger said mockingbird,

Refuse failure continue mocking

Woman does not awaken

Spray with hose…retreat

Part B: "The Lakota People" Responses

In December of 2007 the Lakota Indians successfully succeeded from the United States, and went almost completely unnoticed within the realms of the United States. No U.S. press devoted their time or effort to reporting this cause, yet three different nations recognized the Lakota as independent from the U.S. They declared themselves to not be citizens of the U.S. and laid claims to the land which they owned in parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. They had been drafting this declaration stating their independence from the U.S. since 1974, and just now released it. This just shows how the media controls what the public hears.


Response 1: The Lakota people are completely justified in their actions. They were not satisfied with the actions of the United States government, and according Lockean philosophy, if a government is not protecting the rights of its constituency, then they have every right to rebel. In fact, he even claims that it is their duty to rebel in order to protect their rights. Now, in the United States Government, there are 2 checks that the people have on the government in order to assure that their individual rights are protected. These checks are: 1; the people are the ones who elect the officials into their offices. Thus the people can choose to not reelect an official if he or she fails to fully represent the voice of their constituency. 2: if the government fails to do their job properly, the people can rebel, and succeed from the nation. The rights of the Lakota people have been trampled on ever since the killing of Sitting Bull, and the Massacre at Wounded Knee. They have the obligation to ensure that their rights are protected, and if that means leaving the U.S. and creating their own country then so be it.

Response 2: The main purpose behind this notion, in relationship to our English 104 course is most obviously the power of the media expressed in this passage. This passage expresses that these Lakota Native American's have been drafting their succession from the United States for over 30 years and the press just gave word. This is a dangerous lesson for our citizen's because, if the media is able to keep things under wraps for that long a period of time, what else are we unaware of that is occuring in our country? or even, what else are we unaware of that's occuring overseas? The war in Iraq is one that has been held in a negative light from day one, but still, the media doesn't provide the citizens of this country with full information. Many people of this country are still unaware of what we are even "fighting" for, which provides us with the scary realization that there could be far more corrupt actions occuring that the media isn't educating us about.

Response 3: The Lakota Indians succeeding from the United States and being un-noticed by the media and general public shows two things; 1, the government must have not been taking care of its’ people must if the Indians were happy in the United States and how they were being treated then they would not have succeeded, and 2, either the media was told not to blow this story out of proportion because other Native Americans might follow suit, or they are not doing their job. The Lakota succeeding gives the feeling that the government has ignored them and has not treated them the way they wanted. The lack of Americans knowing of this succession shows how the news either reports on wars happening in far away lands or on local stories about a dog finding its owners. As Americans we need to know real news about what is happening within our country and the first way to do that is to tell the media what we want to hear.

Response 4: It is interesting how the Indians often get forgotten. Americans like to think of the United States as a virtuous country built on pure ideals, but no one ever remembers how we acquired this 'pure' land. Old treaties made, even if forgotten, still exist. If the Lakota community feels that the United States has not upheld their end of the contract, then they have every right to break away. Wouldn't it be strange if they did though? Can you imagine only 45 stars on the American flag? I think it is hard to imagine the US growing any more, and even harder to think of it getting smaller. I also wonder if there are similar treaties with other Indian tribes, and do those Native Americans also feel that the United States has not fulfilled its part of the agreement?

Racism: The war at home (Part A Due 4/25)

In the film American History X, Edward Norton plays Derek Vinyard, a former neo-nazi skinhead who is trying to prevent his younger brother from following the same dark path of hate. During the film, there are black and white flashbacks to times before Derek's reincarnation, as well as his time served in prison. A specific flashback that truly show's Derek's low point in the photo scene here. This photo shows Derek right before he is incarcerated for murdering a black gang member.  This image is a complete depiction of Derek at the time of his arrest, angry and ridden with hatred; completely lost from the humanity he once had. It's apparent through this photo that Derek is a confused man, a brain-washed soldier of hatred. This mentality is thus addressed in prison, where he received clarity, a soldier no more.

After Derek leaves jail, he is a new man. This picture is highly representative of that and is a stark contrast to the photo of his arrest. He has a full head of hair (unlike a skin-head) and is wearing a white shirt (suggestive of a light, angelic nature) which covers the swastika he proudly displayed before. He is surrounded by family, all smiling, which suggests support for his new, more open attitude. (Technically, they don't know about it, but that is still what the picture suggests.)

Homework: Part A & B

Part A: Electronically collaborate on a blog post with your partner. You can post the same thing to both of your blogs. The post does not have to relate to what you did in class today (but it can if you want.)

Due Friday 4/26

Part B: With your partner, electronically collaborate with another partner group to create a collective post. You can all post the same thing. It does not have to relate to Part A of the homework (but it can if you want).

Due Tuesday 4/29

(Group 6+7 work together for part B)

Response to Morgan's Post.

Hubris: It's easy to make mistakes when other people pay for them. This is the "motivational" slogan found in a photo that is accompanied by many soldier's caskets. At first glance, the photo can be found as solum and pretty un-motivational, but I find it's message to be quite the contrary. When looking at this photo, I see inspiration for a change in our way of handling something as homicidal as war. When troops are deployed to a given base, they are no longer seen as individual humans, but as thousands of machines battling for our country. They are suddenly viewed as a big batch of toy soldiers; if we lose a few hundred, or a thousand, it's fine! because there is still a full bucket of more toy soldiers waiting to go to battle.

Hubris is defined as "excessive pride of arrogance;" This thematic word found in this photo most definitely refers to our current administration and their war. It has become apparent through the 5 years at war in Iraq, that the war wasn't what it was meant to be, but that doesn't stop our Commander in Chief. George W. Bush has stood by this greatly disapproved war through and through, letting his arrogant reasoning for battle kill thousands of American soldiers. 

I find this photo very relevant because it makes you think. Usually when you see a poster like this, it gives you irrelevant self-motivation, but this photo provides so much more. It's message is self-motivation, that's for sure, but the self-motivation one finds could make a difference for many.

WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT (HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM JOHN & YOKO) 4/22

 I was quite excited for this week's assignment because it gives me a chance to explain the title of my blog for those whom may not be familiar with the popular anti-war propaganda. This "WAR IS OVER! (IF YOU WANT IT) Happy Christmas from John & Yoko" was a campaign which was started by the couple, and was seen in 11 cities, including NYC, across the world on Dec. 16th, 1969. These campaign billboards, which were personally rented out by John & Yoko, were in protest of the Vietnam war. It's no secret John Lennon was peace-monger, with ballads such as "All you need is love" and "Imagine," But what's truly touching about his antics is that he took his opinion beyond his art, he used his fame to inspire social revolution. Although the war wasn't really over for the United States for several years to come, Lennon's message reached out to the confused teens of '69, giving them inspiration to get out and change what was going on. I feel that this is so relevant to current times in America because it's clear that a change is in order, but too many young people don't think much of it. Who will be the new Lennonin regards to inspiring change? Noone, those are impossible shoes to fill; but imitation is better than silence.

Civil War Photo

In this photo, titled "The four condemned conspirators (Mrs. Surratt, Payne, Herold, Atzerodt) with officers and others on the scaffold- Washington, D.C., July 7, 1865," The content is what really made the photo stand out among the others. The photo is composed of the 4 individuals who conspired against Abraham Lincoln in regards to his assassination; the 4 conspirers are hanging to their death. The action in the photo is startling at first for the viewer because of the depiction of death, paired with the fact that the photo is a documentary piece of art.  Another thing that makes this photo eerie is the intention of the photo, the photo is made solely to depict the death of these individuals who were found to have helped in the assassination of Lincoln, not even the perpetrators. The visual compositional elements help to add to this photo's purpose; Even though the photo is black and white, it's apparent that this is no sunny day, adding to the tone. This photo shows that these people are being severely punished through the exploitation of their death; their deaths are being observed by many, as well as documented through film. In relation to this photo, Lincoln, the man who died because of these individuals, is being exploited to this day. The article "Lincoln's Cottage to Open to Public" (http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/travel/06COMlinc.html?scp=10&sq=lincoln+assassination&st=nyt) explains that this year, Lincoln's Cottage that he lived in up until his assassination is going to be opened for the public to gander through. This is a nice relation to the photo because it shows that both ends of the spectrum are exploited, the media doesn't discriminate against the good or the bad people in our world, everyone is fair game for exploitation.

Soviet Photo: Analysis

This photo, though semi-simplistic, provides the viewer with a family, and their story of survival. The focal point in this photo is clearly the people and their carts; it appears that their fleeing from Russia, in which the photo was taken. There is depth found within this photo as well, to the left of the family the viewer finds a long, empty pathway; this path gives the impression to the viewer that these people have a long, unfamiliar road ahead of them. The individual's faces in the photo are found to be shadowed, which contrasts with the brightness of the path. This is meant to illustrate the idea that these people are "every"people; this photo is to document the lives of specific individuals, but to illustrate the hardship the fleeing Russian's endured during the Soviet take over. Returning to the long, empty road; it seems that it is much brighter than the rest of the picture, specifically the people. This is to indicate that the road ahead is brighter than the turmoil they must leave behind.

In-Class photo analysis

In this photograph, the eye immediately notices that the two figures in front are much darker than the figure in the background who seems to be surrounded by an aurora of light. This range of value implies emphasis on the figure in the background which is a Sunni militia. The focal point centered on the Sunni soldier is referring to the suffering of Sunni militias who are now being targeted in assassinations and bomb attacks. The depth in the picture which makes the two figures seem much larger and far more intimidating seems to suggest the innocence and smallness of the Sunni soldier. The Sunni soldier’s face is the only one in picture you can actually make out which stresses the sympathy of the audience toward the one figure. The photographer could just as easily zoomed in on the Sunni soldier instead of darkening the American soldiers but this would lose the effect. Thus suggesting the two dark figures on either side play a prominent role in the picture and hold certain valuable characteristics. The two American soldiers appear as some form of statues on either side of the focal point. They appear to be protecting the figure in the middle, valuing his innocence and what significance he has. This photo’s natural eeriness seems to draw together the current American perspective of the Iraq War and suggests the present and future importance of these Iraqi soldiers.

Matt Rotando's 104 Blog

www.104aboutwar.blogspot.com

Addressing America about war (4/10: in-class assignment)

America-

In our day and age, war is a topic that isn't addressed as openly and truthfully as it needs to be. It's true that the media lets the truth trickle through from time to time, but that's simply not enough. We are in a war with close to 150,000 american men and women; a war that many Americans don't have one clue about. The dialogue regarding war, in our media and even in daily conversation with our peers, seems very reserved in comparison to what the actuality of the situation seems to be. This is a huge, multi-billion dollar endeavor that our country has committed to in Iraq and the news simply brushes on the fact that we are there. What should be provided in the media is a detailed, truthful reflection about the war that we are fighting, not a simple brush upon it. We could improve this mass-forum of communication (the news) in regards to addressing the current war in Iraq by simply being more honest about the condition of the war. Usually at war time, the media doesn't address the cold,hard facts of the situation because that would only provide the country with anti-patriotic thoughts, which isn't such a great approach. The war is something that is going to decide so much for our country, including our next commander-in-chief; Because of this, this country deserves the truth. It has been made obvious through other military-based media outlets (ie: films) that the war isn't as innocent as our media depicts it to be, which just another solid reason for the mass-media to be more upfront with us. As the wise Eli Wiesel said in his speech "The perils of indifference," ...To be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman;" Our ignorance to the war in Iraq, which is mostly feed by the media, needs to change because the indifference to our dying soldiers' condition is only showing our flee from morality/humanity. Without understanding and concern for our peers we've lost everything that it means to be human, and the media is preventing this concern.

Rhetorics in the news (4/8 Blog Assignment)

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880408041

In this article, "Petraeus recommends hault to troop reduction in Iraq," found in the Detroit Free Press,  The fact that the U.S general commanding the war in Iraq, Petraeus, has called for an open-ended halt to pulling troops out of Iraq. This plan allows Petraeus a more flexible handle on the still-violent country, despite the fact that the Democrats are pushing for a more rapid reduction in troops. Petraeus is putting a hault to the reduction of troops in Iraq because he feels it will jeapordize the progress made in the past year. The U.S. ambassador to Baghdad,Ryan Crocker, spoke in response to Petraeus saying that this isn't the only thing that Petraeus is correct in his recommendation, but it's really unlikely that keeping troops in Iraq will fully help with security; Crocker believes that there is much more that needs to be done. The democrats explained, in response to Petraeus, that his plan seems open-ended; Crocker responded to this by explaining that there is an agreement in the works between the U.S. and Iraq in regards to U.S. troops which he says "will not specify troop levels and will not tie down the hands of the next administration."

Analyzing this article in a rhetorical fashion, it becomes pretty apparent that the author of this article is in support of the democratic view, which is to pull troops out of Iraq more rapidly than Gen. Petraeus is proposing. The author could have made the decision to focus solely on Petraeus' argument, but they decided to add the Democrats' point of view.  The entire tone of the article is more focused towards undermining Petraeus' argument; an example of this is the author stating that Petraeus' plan was open-ended  and that he didn't define when his goal would be reached, calling out the flaws of his plan. The author continues to address the notion that, when Petraeus' plan was argued as erroneous by a Democratic representative , Petraeus "declined to be pinned down," only saying he would recommend further cuts when "the time was right." 

What I don't remember... hmmmmm.. I don't remember the last time I wanted to go home. Being at school has been such a great time that I think I could stay here forever. 

Full of times I definitely don't remember, this has been one of the most memorable years. I love University of Arizona and I really couldn't see myself anywhere else.

Hmmm. I specific good time at zona so far the I don't remember... well. I guess if could recall enough to write about the unremembered good time, it wouldn't be unremebered, which would defeat the purpose of this blog post.

I don't remember what it is like to live in the cold weather anymore, I dont remember what it's like to live under my parent's rules, I don't remember what it's like to RELAX, because i'm always so busy

I remember the last time I performed on stage and how much I miss it. This memory is fresh in my head because I was just talking about it with one of my high school friends on the way to class. My last time really performing on stage was in "Beauty and the Beast," my senior year of high school. The show was sold out, completely full house, and getting to perform to a group that huge is something i'll never forget, and wish I could do again. 

I remember eatting last night; I didn't have breakfast this morning... I'm pretty hungry.

Speaking of performing, I remember the last really good concert I went to. In high school I saw Paul McCartney perform at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. I sat 2nd row so I was pretty much in the middle of the action, but I could have been in the last row upper bowl, hearing that music live was what made my night, not necessarily my seat. He performed alot of his new music off his most recent album at the time "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard," as well as a lot of his solo music post-Beatles. But what really made the show, obviously, were the classics, The Beatles music. During the show he dedicated at least half of the show to Beatles tunes, all of which were his writing (he didn't perform any Lennon or Harrison songs,) except for when he performed "Something" in memory of the late George Harrison and another song (I forgot which one!) in memory of the late John Lennon. He also dedicated a song to his late wife Linda McCartney. The show was only about 2 hours, but those 2 hours are definitely ones that i'll remember for the rest of my life.

In-Class Homophonic Translation

Le Mal

Tan dis' keyless crack, hats regis deal mit ralley sniff lent trout lay your rawr infiniti do seal blue. K, car lattes ow verbs prez dude Roy, K, less ralley. Crow lint, balloons in mass, Dan, let flew.

Tan dis' queue uni foil, aye, prove ant able brody. Eat fair decent miller bears, see homies fun has for meant. Pow dress courts. Dan's lady, Dan's herb, Dan's a joy. Nature! O, toy kay fizz mess homies statement!

I'll west moon day,oo. K Write locks naps da ma sees dis ought tells a lesson, locks grand slices door. K, Dan's labor sement dis hose Anna's indoor.

Let's see, reveal queue and dis mirrors, rah! ma sees Dan's land goose, at blue rant soars lear vee-ex hat dark. Lay dorment un-gross so lie Dan's lear smoocher!