Brave New World Chapters 14-18 Response

1. Did the author end the book without following up on Bernard and how he was doing after being exiled for a reason?
2. How could 1984 be ended differently without changing the book's direction or intent?
3. After reading both 1984 and Brave New World, how does both Orwell and Huxley's negative view on utopian societies differ, but still get the same point across?

Art Journal: December 1, 2011

The painting "Communist Utopia" by Thomas Hornung indicates communism by the dark colors and the sense of depression. The eyes on the wall show that the government is always watching, and controlling everything. The artist has a negative view on communism because the painting has a dark vibe and no one and nothing seems happy at all. The title, to me, seemed to be a bit of a slap in the face to communism. It seems to be saying here is the perfect communist world, no one is happy and nothing seems to be enjoyable.

Brave New World Chapters 7-13 Response

1. Has someone ever stayed on the reserve after visiting?
2. What would happen if the amount of soma someone could take was limited?
3. What would have happened if the rest of society didn't find John interesting?

I dont think anyone has ever stayed or even considered the idea of staying on the reserve after visiting. The people and the way of life on the reserve is the complete opposite of what Bernard has been brought up in. The reserve is barbaric in the visitor's eyes and it would be a huge mistake for anyone to want to stay on the reserve. Even when people come and visit the reserve, they cannot get back to everyone else fast enough. The reserve acts as what life can be and what is it was, so look at how great you have it now. It makes the visitors value how much "better" their life is.

I think that if the amount of soma someone could take in a week or even a month was limited, some people would be able to handle it, while others would have withdrawal. Some people who were conditioned or are just naturally dependent on the soma would have a difficult time with a limited supply, but others who used soma but not ever waking moment would be able to deal with the limitation. I think that the people who needed lots of soma and had to have it would find ways to get the soma they needed.

If no one else found John to be as interesting as Bernard did, he would have gone back to the reserve. Even though John's dad was the director and did not on the reserve, I think John still would have gone back. John has grown up on the reserve and his mom always told him how awful it was to live the way everyone else does. John is a "visitor" to everyone when Bernard brings him back, and I think he would go back to the reserve because it is where he is most comfortable.

Listening Journal: November 28, 2011

The subject matter of the song "Don't You Want Me," by the Human League is a guy can't understand why this girl broke up with him and left. The guy says that the girl wouldn't be who she is today with out him because he, "and turned you around. Turned you into someone new." The guy also says, "but don't forget it's me who put you where you are now." The girl says that "the five years we have had have been such good times." She also says that she still loves him, but she is ready to move on and live her own life. I sided with the girl because the guy is trying to make the situation out to be more that it really was.

Brave New World Chapters 1-6 Response

In the book Brave New World, equality is created by the Central London Hatching and Conditioning Centre, where the Bokanovsky and Podsnap Processes that allow the Hatchery to produce thousands of nearly identical human embryos. The embryos are shocked to split apart and form 96 identical embryos in the Bokanovsky process. The embryos travel in bottles along a conveyor belt, where they are conditioned to belong to one of five castes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon. Each caste has its own color, so everyone in the Delta caste wears khaki all that time. There is no drive for religion because all the tops of the crosses were chopped off to great T's. The citizens also are not allowed to think alone or even  have leisure time for pleasure, they essentially have no rights. Happiness has been forced on the citizens by being conditioned to be happy with the caste they are placed in and they are also conditioned to enjoy certain things and dislike other things to bring revenue in. This society is clearly a distopia because the citizens are conditioned to be like everyone else in the same caste, and they are not allowed to have individual thoughts. 

Reading Response: November 16, 2011

The benefits of EMIC perspectives is being able to understand why the people in a culture do certain things. It is also beneficial because you become completely submerge in the culture. The benefits of ETIC perspectives is observing people in their natural habitat. It is easier to just study the culture and compare it to other cultures this way.  Personally I believe EMIC perspective is better because you can understand why the people do certain things in the culture. It is important to acknowledge one's bias in one's research, because that person is used to doing things one way and the way other cultures do certain things can seem weird to outsiders. It is important to have an informant in a group because then it is easier to understand why things are the way they are in a culture. Its important to let the group know what you are studying and why so they don't think your a spy or intruder and try to kill you.

Listening Journal: November 14, 2011

The song, "Rain on the Scarecrow" by John Mellencamp is about how this man is having trouble caring for his farm and when he can make profit off the farm, it isn't enough. This song addresses the financial difficulties farmers are having to deal with. The song also deals with how the farmer cannot pass on the farm to his son to live on as a legacy. Mellencamp uses the idea of a farm going out of business to demonstrate the financial hardships people have been going through. In Mellencamp's song, farmers are having to battle to the death to save their farmers, as shown in Mellencamp's word choice. Mellencamp favors the working class by presenting them sympathetically. He believes that the working class should be more appreciated than they currently are, and they are the ones losing jobs.

Reading Response: November 9, 2011

The narrator's tone is dark in mysterious in the first three paragraphs. The word "barbarous" and the phrase "mysterious life" in the 1st paragraph displayed the tone along with the "grotesque masks" in the 2nd paragraph. In the 3rd paragraph the narrator described something as "deathlike" which also demonstrates the tone.
A country would manufacture the idea of the other because it makes that country seem superior. It also unifies a group by creating the idea of an enemy.

1984 Book 3

Big Brother has won because after Winston is brainwashed and tortured, he loves Big Brother. This was a big change from the beginning when Winston said "Down with Big Brother!" (19). The one state could possibly be brought down by the poorer, under supervised population. They aren't as intelligent, but it would be easier for them to break down the power because they aren't payed as much attention. I think that Winston is kept under close supervision, but will still continue on with his day to day life. He is basically a walking zombie now because he has been brainwashed, which doesn't give the Party a reason to kill him.

SOAPSTone: November 7, 2011

Subject

The subject of Dave Barry’s “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out,” is that men and women have vastly different outlooks and priorities in life. Men and women viewing the same dilemma differently is illustrated with the cleanliness of Robert’s bathroom. Barry is the typical man, if it looks clean and doesn’t have any obvious spills or piles of dirt then the room is clean. On the other hand the wife sees even a messy stack of papers as filth and clutter.

Occasion

“Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out,” was written during the 1980’s. The essay’s time of creation is illustrated by the source of the essay, Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits (1988). The essay would have had to have been written before 88 but not long before it. The probable place of the essay’s creation is America or Miami because Barry began writing as a humor columnist in Miami in the 80’s.

The time and place of the essay’s creation influence the essay in what stories he told from his life to support the points he was trying to prove. When Barry talks about the amount of housework men do compared to women he talks about how the man does very little, showing he is out of the time period when women were believed to do 100% of the cooking and cleaning.

Audience

Dave Barry’s specific audience for “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out,” is a father or a married man. The author’s target audience is exhibited by how Barry always talks about the way he does things and the way his wife reacts to them and never the other way around. By never giving how Barry reacts to things his wife does that he asks her to do shows that he is targeting this piece to married men.

The author’s general audience for the essay is men. The author’s general audience is shown by the constant explanation from the man perspective of everything.

Purpose

Dave Barry’s purpose in “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out,” is to express a man’s viewpoint vs. a woman’s viewpoint. Situations are viewed differently by men and that is illustrated with, “She is in there looking at the very walls I just Windexed, and she is seeing dirt! Everywhere!”(230). Barry thought that he had cleaned the walls; however, they were not up to the wife’s standard of being clean by any means. The purpose is further revealed by the statement, “Soon all four of us were in there, watching the Annual Fall Classis, while the women prattled away about human relationships or something,”(231). The men could have cared less what the women were talking about as long as they got to watch the baseball game.

Speaker

Dave Barry, receiver of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize, believes men view life differently than women. The value is illustrated by their wanted to watch a baseball game instead of socializing. Men value sports as a higher priority then being social.

Dave Barry, Haverford College graduate, also believes men have lower life standards than women do. When Barry cleaned his son’s bathroom, it was not to suit for his wife. Her level of clean is vastly greater than his.

Dave Barry’s use of word choice is evident in his description of his reasoning for things and the feel of the piece. When he is discussing the 600 action figures you can feel his frustration but also his light heartedness of the situation.

Dave Barry’s use of structure is evident when he discusses a point and then gives personal explanations of it. He talks about how men have a different view of what clean is and then he gives and example of his definition of cleaning the bathroom compared to his wife’s.

Tone

Dave Barry exhibits a humorist and serious attitude about men and women life viewpoints in “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out.” These attitudes are expressed with filthy, dirt, and social gaffe. He is putting emphasis on filthy and dirt to show how serious his wife took cleaning the bathroom, yet he is serious in some sense because he uses academic words, phrases, and tones every now and then.  

Listening Journal: October 30, 2011

Guthrie's message is collectivist because he is saying what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine. When he talks about the no trespassing sign and how the blank side is for you and me, he is saying that we have the right to everyone's property and belongings. I found this song to be anti-goverment because our government has one person is charge with all the power. The government also promotes individualism.

1984 Book 2

Winston cannot believe what Big Brother is saying because he is constantly changing the history in the Ministry of Truth. Winston's acts of defiance are acts of protesting because Winston is illegally questioning Big Brother and the State. It is arguable that Winston is not protesting because he isn't influencing others to believe with him, but he is silently protesting.  Winston's small rebellions and questioning of Big Brother can be compared with small company pickets or strikes. This are not large scale enough to draw any important focus to them, but they are still out there trying to make their point. We are not an Orwell society, because American's heavily believe in freedom, individualism, and creativity, non of which are allowed in the 1984 society. 

Reading Response: October 27, 2011

The father is a happy man before he gets married and then becomes distraught and upset when he gets married and owns his own chicken farm. The author doesn't understand the point of having chickens, because they are more work than their worth. The narrator said that he had trouble being happy because he was surrounded by sick or dead chickens all the time. We are supposed to see that the American dream doesn't really exist. The "grotesques" show that the father believes he can make a living and fortune off of them, when really people are just grossed out by them. The father decides he is going to be happy and entertain the people who come through, and he ends up being more unhappy because he doesn't succeed. The statement at the end of the story means that no matter how hard some people try they just aren't meant to be famous or rich people.

Reading Response: October 25, 2011

Americans are perceived this way because the we think of the young boy serving us coffee everyday at Starbucks our friend. This shows that Americans don't really value friendship and they sometimes don't take the time to really get to know someone. The article talked about sitting around a dinner table until midnight talking, and I know that when my family gets together we sit around the table and talk about an hour or two and then everyone goes his or her own way.

Video Response: October 24, 2011

Loyal, out going, and responsible are personality traits of a collectivist, while personality traits of an individualist are self-ish, self-centered, and self-reliant. I think people following the opinions or statements of someone higher up is an individualist society because it is one person's idea and it is empowering that person and that person only. If a collectivist teacher went to an individualist body of students and was holding a class discussion, not everyone would participate, only the ones that really cared about his or her grade. An acquaintance is someone you work with, but your not close with. This word has a positive connotation because it is not necessarily a bad thing that you work with people you don't really know.

Listening Journal: October 21, 2011

The lyrics to the song 2+2=5, by Radiohead, is talking about how people go by what others tell them to do. We aren't paying attention to what really matters. The people in control try to make the world right or perfect, but it ends up becoming out of control. In the song, everything starts out calm and together and then suddenly the song gets really fast, The getting fast so quickly is how a "perfect" society can fall apart so quickly. The connection between the song title and 1984 is that Big Brother can rewrite the history to where he is always right even if it makes no logical sense, like 2+2=5.

Video Response: October 19, 2011

The conflict in the video is against the head scarf and how it is viewed as a form of oppression in the Western world. This is an external conflict because she is being judged on her personality and beliefs because she wears a head scarf. Globalization creates conflict because there are different cultures with differing views that can go against what other cultures believe, and when people live in one area but believe something people somewhere else mainly believe in, the views create friction as to what to believe in and what not to believe in. She means that people view people one way but not in any other ways, and therefore it is the only way to view that person. The benefit of globalization is role models, such as Oprah. The two sources she mentions are the Constitution and the Qur'an.

1984 Book 1

The Party is the totalitarian dictatorship in Oceania, and is headed by Big Brother, who controls all aspects of life with fear and power. The people are under constant surveillance, and they have no free thought or the ability to speak the truth, if it differs from what The Party says. The Parties' power over the people is so strong, they will even believe falsified statements. To keep people from  becoming a threat to the government, the majority of the population is kept in poverty, and the rest is the top group, in which most of the people work for The Party, but the top group are not living richly. The majority of  The Party officials had low food rations and were also controlled in all aspects of life. Winston's job is to change history books to match what The Party wants the history to be, which is another way they control the people. The Party also kills people for denying what they say to be true, which puts everyone on the same belief standard, but doesn't really create equality because some people know the truth while others don't. The bottom is not as strongly regulated in how they think or act as the top group is. The top group is much more equal than the others are. The society is 1984 is a dystopia.

Writing Journal: October 11, 2011

A utopia is a perfect world where everyone is equal. My perfect world would be when dance is a widely accepted sport because it takes twice as much endurance and talent to dance than it does to run across a court and score a goal. There also wouldn't be any abuse victims because its so sad to hear about children and women being abused. The soundtrack to my utopia would be anything by the Vitamin String Quartet, basically an all string version of any song.

Art Journal: October 6, 2011

Chuck Baird's voice is realistic and detailed. He focuses on body parts, but puts a twist on them. He also adds detailed backgrounds like the photo strip on the on of the lips and the swirls on the one with the hand with different colored fingers. A culture I identified within these paintings in the deaf. The artist was deaf because he painted about the workings for an ear, sign language, or lips that someone could be reading.

Listening Journal: September 30, 2011

The lyrics suggest that the boy was in a relationship that ended and he is telling the girl all she did right and wrong. The breakup is supported by the lyric "This is the end" and "You were wrong when" and "You were right when" support the boy telling the girl all she did right and wrong. The musical content of the song is more heavy metal while still upbeat which can show the singer is upset yet happy at the same time. The song as a whole is and isn't effective because in the beginning it is effective at getting the overall feel and message across, but becomes a bit redundant towards the end.

Art Journal: September 28, 2011

Three claims and support for the painting "Young Life" by Bo Bartlett are:
1) The man and woman live on a farm.
  -The man drives a truck and is dressed in cloths comfortable to work in.
2) The artist wanted the painting to have a rustic feel.
  -The gun looks older and the truck looks like it has been passed down a few generations, but was well kept.
3) The little boy isn't blood related to the man and woman.
  -The little boy is dressed as if he grew up in a city, while the man and woman look like they live on a farm.

Listening Journal: September 26, 2011

The subject of the song "Shame" by the Avett Brothers is shame and the tone is guilt. Three words that push the tone are boatloads, blame, and overwhelming. The word boatloads if for how much shame the writer feels, and it also has a bigger, more powerful connotation than the word a lot does. With the word blame the writer is taking responsibility for his actions and knows he did wrong and feels guilt and shame and knows he is at fault. How much guild is being forced upon him because of all his shame is overwhelming, and it is too much for him to deal with and he is consumed in his shame.

Video Response: September 19, 2011

Voice in literature is a way for the author to express his/her personality or opinion with out bluntly saying what it is. The author expresses his/her voice through the tone and word choice. The way a person decides to talk about a subject and the stance he/she takes on it is the writer's voice. Creating voice can be both intentional and unintentional because people do not change how he/she form his/her sentences and the way in which the paper is written. No on writes the same which makes voice unintentional. Voice is intentional in the aspect of the opinions and word choice of a piece. People from Eastern Kentucky talk around the subject because they want to be nice and not directly ask for something. It is a form of southern hospitality.The reader can learn about the author's background and personality based on his/her voice. The reader can connect more with the writer and understand where he/she is coming from with his/her opinion, and the readers can also trust the author if he/she sounds more academic and grammatically correct.

Listening Journal: September 14, 2011

I liked the Beatles version of "Eleanor Rigby" better than the PAIN version because I am not a fan of heavy metal rock. In the cover, the singer was kinda screaming it at us, which was not what the Beatles were going for, in my opinion. The Beatles version was more pleasing to listen to because it was more calming, The PAIN version was more for an upbeat, ADD person, who is just off the wall.

Art Journal: September 12, 2011

I liked the Kandinsky painting better because it is more colorful. Kandinsky uses all different colors, shapes, and sizes, where Pollack uses browns and blacks in his painting. Pollack's painting is more pleasing to look at because it flows together easier. The colors are all within the same neutral palate. Pollack's splatter paint technique also meshed the colors together nicer than the shapes Kandinsky uses. Pollack's is more organic which makes it easier to look at than the sharp geometric shapes of the Kandinsky painting.

Video Response: September 9, 2011

The single effect I got after watching the video was happiness. Three specific things that led me to happiness were the look on his face after the signs were flipped, when all the other people turned their sign around and wished him goodbye, and when he started walking over to talk to the girl. If I could change anything about the video, I would bring the music back in sooner after his watch went off to end his shift. Bringing the music back in would get rid of the awkwardness of the moment, but the awkwardness fits the moment the director was going for. This wouldn't make the single effect jump out more because it would flow more. We would still be left with a happy feeling, it just wouldn't be as prominent.

SOAPSTone: September 6, 2011

Subject
The subject of George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is that we shouldn't allow society to influence our actions because we don't want to disappoint them. Giving in to societal pressure is illustrated with Orwell shooting the elephant because the people that had followed him to find the elephant expected him to even though he did not want to. Orwell did not feel the need to shoot the elephant because the elephant was no longer mad, it was keeping to itself, but all the people who had followed Orwell expected him to shoot the elephant. Orwell couldn't have turned around and walked away because of his position in the society.
Occasion
"Shooting an Elephant" was written during the 1930's. The essays' time of creation is conveyed by the fact that people were still having elephants as pets. Now a days people don't have elephants as pets because of laws against it. The probable place of the essay's creation is Lower Burma because that is where the essay takes place. The time and place of the essay's creation influence the essay by the way he described his job and the people around him and their attitudes toward him. When Orwell says "I was hated by large numbers of people," it shows that during that time period in that place, any form of law enforcement was not respected, which influenced the way the essay was written because instead of loving his life and job, Orwell was at a crossroads, just like he was with whether to shoot the elephant or not.
Audience
George Orwell's specific audience for "Shooting an Elephant" is people in a social crossroad. The author's target audience is exhibited by the fact that he doesn't agree with imperialism and is conflicted with his job. People who can identify with the way Orwell feels with benefit more from this piece than people who don't. The author's general audience for the essay is anyone who has been torn on what to do in a situation. The author's general audience is communicated by the society pressure to shoot the elephant. A wider group of people can identify with having the deal with societal pressure to do something we don't necessarily want to do.
Purpose
George Orwell's purpose in "Shooting an Elephant" is to show how societal pressure brings people to make bad choices that they know are bad. People give in to social pressure even when they know they are making the wrong choice is revealed by Orwell shooting the elephant even when he knows it is unnecessary to. Orwell knew the elephant was no longer mad, but he didn't want to face the group of people behind him so he shot the elephant. The purpose is further revealed by Orwell continually shooting the elephant to make it die and not have to die painfully. Orwell did not want the elephant to suffer while the villagers skinned it.
Speaker
George Orwell, born on June 25, 1903, believes imperialism is evil. This value is illustrated by Orwell talking about how he is against imperialism and how he agrees with everything imperialism is against. Orwell ultimately is in agreement with everything imperialism goes against. Orwell used imperialism in his purpose because he is in an imperialistic society and he doesn't agree with their views but he gets out numbered and gives in to them. George Orwell's use of imagery is evident in his description of him shooting the elephant. he describes how he felt when he was shooting the elephant which shows us how much he didn't want to shoot the elephant but did because he felt pressured into it. This enhanced the effectiveness of the purpose by further proving the pressure Orwell felt to shoot the elephant.
Tone
George Orwell shows a defeated and unwilling attitude about giving in to societal pressure in "Shooting an Elephant."These attitudes are expressed by the "devilish roar" when he shot the elephant. He was against the roar because he felt defeated because he had done something he didn't want to do. People are unwilling to give in to society pressure and generally feel defeated when they do give in to them.

Listening Journal: September 6, 2011

My original SOAPSTone for the song "Good Old Desk" by Harry Nilsson was his desk was the subject with an occasion of the 1970s and his audience was his listener base. The purpose was to show his love for his desk with a cheerful and happy tone. The speaker was an average worker. When I learned the subject was actually God, the occasion stayed the same along with the tone and audience, but I said the speaker was a guy who respects his God and has a purpose of showing his love for his God. I thought Nilsson was saying that the desk was a constant in his life. Things in the world are always changing, but his desk is always there. The desk represents God. He is always there for Nilsson. God doesn't talk back to us or leave us, we control our relationship with God. Three lines that made the point that Nilsson was talking about God was "its always there", "its the friend I've got", and "its the one thing I've got".

Introductory Paragraph: August 31, 2011

The 1950's was full of optimism and prosperity but great conflict. This little boy has taken his bag and has run away to a diner. He then has lunch with the diner owner and a local police officer. The painting overlooks all the conflict going on in the 1950's and focuses on the optimism of the little boy who has run away. Rockwell's "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950s- an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how they are.

Listening Journal: August 30, 2011

Three images in "Across the Universe," by The Beatles are: pools of sorrow and waves of joy are drifting through my open mind, sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing through my open ears, and thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box. None of the three images I selected are symbols because they do not represent anything other than their concrete meaning. They simply paint a picture and do not have a figurative meaning. The color red generally symbolizes fire or blood. An image because a symbol when it stands for something else in the context of the piece of literature or artwork it is in.

Listening Journal: August 28, 2011

In 1974, Shuggie Otis wrote "Inspiration Information," with an upbeat, feel good feeling to it. The tempo isn't slow, nor is it lightning speed, but it had a nice fast pace to it. There did not seem to be much to the lyrics, which made it easy to follow and roll with. The musician choose to have a mellow instrumentation because it is easier to listen to and fit the time period of the 70's. There wasn't much heavy metal or rock and roll in the 70's. There also was more substance in the musicality than there was in in the lyrics. Sometimes the instruments drowned out the actual lyrics.

Art Journal: August 25, 2011

Two farmers working in a field during the Mexican Revolution, was communist, Diego Rivera's subject in his painting "Semeadores." Rivera was trying to get across that the laborers and working class needed to stand up for themselves and not just blend in. In the painting the two workers flow with the ground and do not have any distinct traits that make them stand out or ever people because they are lacking faces. The only thing that makes the workers stand out from the ground is the difference in color. One worker is hunched over digging a hole, while the other has a bag and is standing up right. This painting is very pro laborers. They do all the work; therefor, should be the ones empowered.

Listening Journal: August 22, 2011

Wilco's approach to writing a song is to go directly for what he and the band think the song should sound like, and then take it apart. They deconstruct the song to see if there is a more exciting way to go about the song. They have the philosophy of, we can destroy the song since it is ours. My creative writing process generally is not much of a process. I mentally think about what I want to write about and what direction/ side I am going to take on a subject. I do not sit down and write down all my ideas and how they should all flow together. When I first start writing I focus all my attention to my thesis because I want it to be perfect and then I write my into around my thesis. I write/type my topic sentence for my body paragraphs and go from there. As ideas come to me I add, delete, and re-arrange things in my paper.

Listening Journal: August 18, 2011

Nostalgia can be defined as a longing or a sentimental feeling for the past. When I think of my childhood many images and memories pop into my head. I grew up at Ecton Park and Romany Road. I remember playing up at Ecton then going to Suggin's and Greators, and the occasional trips to Wheelers. I also think of my old house on Pepper hill, when I think about my childhood. At my old house, my bedroom was at the end of this very long hallway and I used to go running down the hallway. Sounds, smells, and often similar situations can be associated with many different memories. When I am passing through a neighborhood and I see a motorcycle drive by it reminds me of the time when a motorcyclist crashed into our mailbox and my brother and I sat in our doorway and watched the paramedics and cops arrive. When we listened to the song today, it made me think about a 1950's diner, at night, and it had turned into this massive dance party. All the tables and booths had been pushed off to the side and all the people where dancing in the middle. It also made me think about the movie Home Alone, when the little boy is throwing a fake party to make the robbers believe his family is home.

Art Journal: August 17, 2011

Poverty is everywhere because of a lack of jobs, educational options, opportunities, and necessities, along with the fact that poverty is extremely difficult to get out of once in the cycle of poverty. In the painting studied today the artist is portraying poverty in a negative light because the people in the painting looked gloomy. The artist does have their clothes looking a bit ragged but to where they seemed to have been washed. They also do not have any bags full of personal belongs because they either do not have any or have a place to stay. The little girl is selling flowers, showing she may be to main provided for her mother, brother, and baby sibling. The message about poverty the artist is trying to get across is that people can get trapped by poverty and then can only hold out hope for their children to succeed. The little girl is holding yellow flowers which makes the contrast of how dark their clothes are more distinct, and they are also huddled together in front of the bars.

Reading Response: August 16, 2011

Third world countries are thriving with poverty stricken families and individuals. The article "Live Free and Starve" by Chitra Divakaruni focuses on relieving poverty but offering programs to help keep children and families off the streets, getting them real jobs, and giving them a bright future to look forward to. There was a bill passed by the House of Representatives stating the United States would not be importing any goods from factories in countries with child labor laws. Most third world countries do have some sort of child labor laws or poor working conditions, that America may not agree with, but until America can make its own goods, either the citizens learn to live without them or learn to accept other countries have their standards for working conditions and we have ours. If the Senate and the President sign this bill almost a million children will be jobless, resulting in their families' already shaky finances to plummet even more. "[The children] aren't even allowed to stand up and stretch. Each time they go to the bathroom, they suffer a pay cut," (530). These children are working to help support their families and they know that if going to the bathroom means a pay cut, then they will make sure they do not go. The children are often not even feed enough or hydrated enough to even have the urge to go the the bathroom. These children are often sold at the age of 5 or 6 and are too young to fight back from abuse, and these children are then found begging on the streets for food, clothing, water, and shelter. When they become desperate to survive they steal crops that are not ready to be eaten, knowing they will be beaten if caught. They live in a very grown up world, thrown into a job and caring for themselves at an extremely young age. The next article, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" by Peter Singer focuses on people who spend large sums of money on a lavish lifestyles, when they could be donating to oversea relief programs to save children's lives. "Whatever money you're spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away," (539). Singer is advocating for people to stop spending money on lavish lifestyles and send it to agencies to help the starving children, but how can the people sending in the money be so sure it will make it to the children? Singer claims the money will get there, but if it does, will some cruel slave owner take the money and use it for his personal gain? There are a lot of gray areas when sending money overseas to help children. I am not advocating for people not to, it just makes it difficult to believe in a something when there are so many unanswered questions.
My heart does go out to child in need. ASPCA commercials make my cry, and it would be a lie if i did not say I have a soft spot or bias toward children in need. Both of these articles prove that Americans really do not know how great they have it. Children are starving, being beaten, and being sold for money. Singer does put all the blame on people who live lavish lifestyles but when one is not physically there to hand one's money over to a relief organization, one typically does not. One person can make a difference in a child's life, but will that difference even amount to something? The child may live another year or two but may never make it off the street. That is why I would have to stand in favor of Divakaruni's article. To prevent the current situations in third world countries, there needs to be programs to help people get on the right track. Educational options, shelters, and job security need to available to actually help these people.

Listening Journal: August 15, 2011

Today I had to opportunity to listen to Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti "Round and Round." When the song first began there were many thoughts going through my head. Will I enjoy this song? Will it go somewhere, musically? Yes it did. One interesting aspect of this particular song is the dynamic changes. Coming from the dance world a song has to either be artistically interesting, or musically intriguing, to grab my attention and keep hold of it. As the song went on I lost a little bit of an interest because there wasn't as many accents as I would have liked. They dynamics of the song influenced my opinion in the sense of I went from being bored in my chair to thinking this could work, the slow moments and then the quicker ones really mesh nicely. Also the end of the song the music faded as the singer or singers continued to sing and it had this breathless feel to it. The breathless feel influenced my opinion of the song slightly. It goes back to the dynamics, it flowed seamlessly. I do have a listening bias because at dance competitions you hear a lot of music. I am a huge accent person, the occasional unexpected crack or pop is defiantly something I look for in music. Naturally I am drawn to songs full of accents because it is easier to choreograph for, but there are always songs that surprise you.