Snow Day :)

I am so happy that there was a snow day! I wasnt feeling well so I wasnt going to come to school today but this beautiful day off fixed all of those problems! It was nice to be able to work on homework for awhile and get ahead for once. I am having difficulty choicing a topic for my Op-Ed essay though because there are so many different ways that it can be taken. So, I guess I will have to keep thinking on that and figure something out fast!

'It's Like...[My] Golden Country..."

So today I was having a really hard time reading 1984. I just couldn't focus on it. So here's what I did. I put on lots of under armor, a light coat, and some big heavy boots. I put my 1984 in the pocket of my coat, and went running down my road.

When I reached the fork I "deviated" from the road and ignored the boy scout trail and ran some real cross country. I ran through huge drifts,over lots of bushes, and plowed my way through what seemed like endless patches of thorns and prickers. I fell on my face a few times, but got up and kept running.

I ran, and ran....and ran and ran andranandranandran. Until the weight of my boots over took me and the fire in my lungs was too much. Then I stopped. I walked until I found it.......The Golden Country.

Okay so it's not like the Golden Country in 1984, but it was for me. A trickling brook next to a large tree who's branches are forced into a low canopy by the weight of the sparkling white snow. The snow underneath the tree was thinner, a mere glistening of the powdery substance because the area was protected by the branches.

I took off my coat and laid it on the ground to sit. There leaning against that tree listening to the laughing of the creek beside me, I read 1984. It was very productive. I read until the bone chilling wind that cut through my clothes was too much.

And then I ran home :)

The Fear Factor

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. –Frank Herbert Dune

I love this quote about FEAR by Herbert.  A lot of authors reflect on the power and manipulation of fear in their works... read "Once Upon A Time" by Nadine Gordimer for a really chilling children's story.  Attached are two works on fear.  I will list reflection/analysis questions on those works below.

Work 1: Noam Chomsky "The Manipulation of Fear"

1. Read the first sentence and examine the use of the words/phrases: “systems of power”, “discipline the domestic population”, and “peril”… what tone and purpose do these words establish… how do they effect the impact of the warning Chomsky makes to the reader?
2. What is the purpose and effect of Chomsky starting his essay with German Jewish persecution, then moving to US bombing of Japan, and finishing with the Seminole War?  How does this ordering of examples make sense?  How is it unexpected?
3. What comparisons does Chomsky connect to Bush and Blair?  What can be inferred about his feelings concerning these modern political figures based on the text?

Work 2: Lee Wrights "The Manufacture and Manipulation of Fear"

1. What is the effect of Wrights beginning his piece using General MacArthur’s quote?
2. Discuss how the use of the second person point of view impacts Wrights’ voice and purpose.  How does the shift to first person at the end change the tone?
3. What does the use of capitalization suggest about Wrights’ beliefs and values?  How might if aid his purpose as an author?
4. Pick one line that speaks to you in this essay and respond to it.

In your groups answer these two sets of questions in comments to this post.

 

Ok I fell a little behind in reading so I kinda sorta made up for it by finishing the book and I gotta say that I enjoyed book 3 a lot more than the other two combined. It was just a lot more interesting but now I'm ready to start reading something else.

Creeper

Okay...so the Title is totally unrelated, well not totally...Garrett will know what it's about.

Anyways...

I think that the Government today is similar to Oceania but on a smaller scale. I mean, the Government can tap phone calls and see everything we do on the internet and they also hide things from us that they don't want us to know. For example, that video we watched at the beginning of College English class ( I don't remember what it was ) but the US made it seem like our soldiers were doing the right thing and that it wasn't a big deal...when it was seen by other people they made a huge deal out of what we were doing in Iraq? ( I don't know where it was either...I just remember the video. ) I just wanted to write on the blog and that's what came to mind..so yeah

I am an Unconscious Creeper!!! =(

Who will save me from Myself?!?!?

It's our fault...

So I have been thinking about 1984 an awfully lot, and I have come to a conclusion. I don't believe that the United States (rather the world) is falling straight into what 1984 is, but I do believe that we are giving the Gov. an awfully lot more control than we think. I think its all our fault. We let the government control certain things, and then freak out that they are becoming too powerful. But when times are hard, we are MORE THAN HAPPY to allow them to take care of things. But how are they supposed to give up power when they are freely given it until times get better, then we want it back? If we want to be 'grown ups' then we ought to learn how to take care of our problems even when times suck! Otherwise we are being... idiots... not involved in the government (by definition). So yeah... every time we complain about how the gov. is getting to powerful... maybe we should make sure that it wasn't us being whimpy and afraid to face the tough times.

just a thought.

Resume

So looking at all of Ms. Stariah's exampls, I'm starting to feel like my resume is not what she wanted?