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.