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Posted on January 31, 2015, in AP Language. Bookmark the permalink. 42 Comments.
Room 37 Online 
Rhetorical précis:
Ernest Hemingway, in his book The Old Man and the Sea connotes the idea that pride and an imperishable spirit overcome any physical encumbrance. In his novella, Hemingway tells the story of an old man who, burdened by age and bad luck, manages to battle and defeat the most noble of fish: a 18 feet long marlin. He uses motifs and themes to show that although the old man endured a grueling and laborious trip with all odds against him he still survived with his spirit undeterred. The purpose of this book is to show how a strong unyielding resolution and determination can accomplish the most arduous tasks without the person’s zest ever deteriorating. With The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway seeks to inspire and motivate people who are struggling with depression or have been through traumatic events.
Commentary:
While reading this I pitied the old man a lot. I thought his living conditions were really heart wrenching, and the empathy I felt for the old man made me really invested in his story. It actually reminded me a lot of Bill and his story from Mr. Simpson’s short film. Both were interesting stories that were very inspirational.
Rhetorical Précis:
The Coen brothers’ film, Fargo, implies the moral that “there is more to life than money,” as officer Marge Gunderson said to murderer, Gaear Grimsrud. The directors develop this thesis through a series of events, starting from when Jerry Lundegaard is desperate for money and decides to hire two criminals to kidnap his wife to ransom her to her wealthy father to when at the end, nothing goes as planned and Lundegaard ends up taking the lives of the people he loves as well as others who were innocent victims. The Coen brothers’ purpose with this film is to teach people that things like money is not all life is about and is definitely not worth putting anyone in danger for, that one should make the right decisions by thinking through the all of the possible consequences, and that one cannot be selfish. The intended audience of this piece of work is practically everyone because everyone should consider taking in the moral of this film into their own lives.
Personal Commentary:
I really liked this movie because I think the plot was great and since it is based on a true story, it opened up my eyes to so many things in the world that I didn’t know could happen. Because I was never the type of person to watch old films, I’m really impressed with how interesting they could be. Unfortunately, I feel like there are still a lot of underlying meanings in the movie that I don’t understand. Despite that, I still enjoyed the movie a lot and I took a lot out of it.
Good work. There are a lot of things written about this, if you’re still curious. Just look around.
Category: Opinion
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Learn-to-live-with-drought-eat-more-lentils-6036213.php
Rhetorical Precis
Liz Carlisle, the journalist, in her article “Learn to Live with Drought – Eat More Lentils” points out the fact that California has been in a drought for four years and suggest that consumers should eat more lentils due to their ability to be resilient against droughts and also is a cheap and healthy source of nutrients. She supports her suggestion by listing the benefits of lentils that they don’t require chemical fertilizers, and are able to put nutrients back in the soil when they grow; she uses the answers she received from farmers during an interview explaining why lentils is a good crop to grow during droughts. Her purpose is not only to try to try to restrict the use of water used, but also trying to get consumers to eat more lentils because the crop is not only very beneficial to the environment and is rich in nutrients, but also resilient to droughts. The intended audience she was directing to aim this towards was the public shops for their groceries and this might change their mind on the types of vegetables they buy at the supermarket.
Personal Commentary
This will help converse California’s water supply because most of the water used is for farming and irrigation. I think this is a good idea because not only does lentils replenish the nutrients back into the soil, but they’re resilient to drought. This is a smart idea because they’re cheap, rich in nutrients and fibers, and doesn’t require chemical fertilizer which ends up destroying ecosystems when washed away by rainwater.
On January 5, 2015 Denise Lavoie writes the article “Jury selection begins in Boston Marathon bombing trial” discussing current details on the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is the prime suspect for the bombing attacks at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Lavoie reports circulating statements and ideas by Bostonians, actions being taken by Tsarnaev’s defense team, and the desired profile and background of potential jurors in the trial. The purpose of this article is to inform the public of what is happening in this trial and how well it is advancing. Lavoie appears non-bias and non-opinioned throughout her article, making her statements target any person concerned with discovering accurate and true events associated with the trial’s progression.
This article intrigued me in several ways. I had somewhat forgotten about this event but once I recognized the topic of this article I became interested in the process of selecting jurors for a trial of a terrorist attack. Though I think the article’s title is slightly misleading, I still enjoyed being informed and it makes me happy to see that a tragedy like this still remains important and relevant in media.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/jury-selection-begins-in-boston-marathon-bombing-trial/2015/01/05/f58aaa0a-951d-11e4-927a-4fa2638cd1b0_story.html
Category: Opinion-Editorial
Rhetorical Precis:
In his recent article “Could drones be used against U.S.?”, Peter Bergen, the national security analyst for CNN, describes the recent developments in an incident where a drone crashed into the White House and implies that the United States is pioneering the world into international production of armed drones used for warfare. Bergen develops his claim by first informing his audience about the drone “attack” and then explaining the United States’s initial involvement with creating “experimental drones” before the 9/11 terrorist attack and how it evolved to actual existence when the CIA launched military drones in Yemen. Bergen also points out that militant and terrorist groups have already utilized drones to deploy bombs and that these drones resemble the American prototypes that have been already developed not to create controversy and hate toward terrorists but to show how America has paved the way for the use of drones by other countries especially China, Russia, and those in the Middle East. He appeals to an audience of CNN readers interested or perhaps worried about national security as well as those who believe in government conspiracies and the obsolescence of the government.
Commentary:
Peter Bergen actually appealed to me in this article. I am not exactly the person who believes in government conspiracies or the “Illuminati”, but I do frequently question the actions of political figures and the government. I am “obligated” to trust the government but I honestly hate politics. This article can open up readers’ eye about how the actions of the government may affect our national security. We learn that the U.S. pioneered the creation of drones and that the rest of the world wants to hop on the bandwagon to stay on the equal playing field. This may be tied to Social Darwinism. The fitest country will survive. In this case, the item(drone) thats makes us fit can actually hinder our survival. What is America doing?
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/26/opinion/bergen-drones-future/index.html
Love the commentary. Good work.
Movie#3: Fantasia
Walt Disney, famously known for his cartoons, suggests that music and visual image go hand in hand. Throughout the film you see images almost mimicking the music in the background as if the image on the screen and the symphony playing are one. Disney’s purpose of the film was not to only entertain, but was to show that people can control an audience through music and visuals. One section of the film literally has a sound image play music and show how that music would look in cartoon form. The intended audience is small children. The styling of the cartoon and the characters in the film seemed to made for children.
My Commentary: I enjoyed this film. It was the first film to feature Mickey Mouse. I loved the visuals and how the cartoonist made inanimate objects dance like humans. It was like an allusion but i assume that was part of the point.
“A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane
Rhetorical Précis: John Coltrane, the renowned saxophonist, in his album “A Love Supreme”, implies that deep love can help people overcome any obstacle. In movement 1, “Acknowledgement”, Coltrane relays the struggle of accepting your own problems, and this acceptance is described in movement 2, “Resolution”; movement 3, “Pursuance”, communicates the effort to solve the problem, and movement 4, “Psalm”, characterizes the joy and glory that come once the problem has been fully vanquished. Coltrane’s purpose is to tell the story of his fight to overcome a heroin addiction through his love for music and to let others know that they can use their love to triumph over their own problems. Coltrane exposes his inner self and listener feels very close to him, helping encourage the listener to follow in his footsteps.
Personal Commentary: The story of this album is really inspiring. I love the idea that love can be used to overcome challenges. Though this idea is a little cliché, Coltrane manages to use it in an extremely unique way. I know I’m not the only one who loved the message in “A Love Supreme”, because a whole religion has been crafted around John Coltrane. Followers hail him as a saint, and this is the album that caused that response. Though I don’t think I’d worship Coltrane, I really appreciate his message and his story.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYf62y6HIjo&list=PLd56fNeWVkFnxjXpJBIo2JNK_Mb30AIWx
Yes! Excellent analysis. Spot-on commentary.
Personal Precise
The movie Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs shows you should not trust everyone. In the movie, the witch transforms into an old lady that offers Snow White an apple. The apple is laced with poison that puts Snow White into deep sleep. This shows that because Snow White was pure and trusted the old lady’s apple, this lead her to be poisoned after she ate the offered apple. Thought she was later saved by a prince, it would have never happened if she listened to the dwarfs and did not eat the apple. Also, this story shows that every problem comes with a solution. Snow White was poisoned but from the magic kiss of a prince, she was awoken from her deep slumber. Though that is more of a fantasy solution, in reality that could also be seen as true. Every problem that we see, as long as we wait for the perfect timing and people, it will be solved and become a new challenge you finished.
Commentary:
I have always heard about Snow White and knew the movies plot, but i have never fully watched the entire movie. Watching this movie, i realized i did not enjoy as much i thought i would. The singing sound really fake and audio edited. Though I did keep in mind that this movie was made during the earlier stages of filming, but the entire film was pretty boring to me. It might be because I knew what would’ve happened but it was not entertaining to me.
Précis:
The Coens brothers in their neo-noir dark comedy film Fargo (1996) claims that greediness can only lead to trouble. The Coens brothers support their claim by showing the inevitable downfall and the bloody consequence of Jerry Lundegaard’s ill-motivated plan to have his wife kidnapped for ransom money. The purpose of Fargo is not only to show the fact that greed is morally bad but to illustrate the possible extreme repercussions of malevolent motives. The film Fargo can benefit anyone as nearly everyone can learn a lesson or two from it.
Commentary:
To be honest, this film thoroughly confused me. It was great and I loved it, but there are parts I still don’t quite comprehend. I watched Fargo with three friends (Allison, Haley, and Jamie) and after finishing the movie, we sat there thinking about the moral(s) of the story for a good hour. We Googled a few subplots (such as Mike Yamagita and Norm’s mallard paintings) hoping to gain a better understanding of the main plot line, but there were still pieces that we were sure we were missing. We came to the conclusion that there were several life lessons to be learned, the most simple one being: greediness is bad. Despite my lack of complete comprehension and the slightly confusing sublots, I very much enjoyed the movie. And though it was full of deaths and gore, the film wasn’t overly gruesome. This is my first time watching the movie but I’ve been meaning to watch it since I heard about the well-recieved spin-off TV show (also called Fargo).
Current Opinion
Rhetorical Précis
Topic: Smart Drugs
« Are Smart Drugs Driving Silicon Valley » by Laurie Segall and Erica Fink suggest that People like Dave Aprey are inducing themselves and influencing others to do the same with common prescription drugs. They first state on what sort of drugs Aprey uses, such as Piracetam, Aniracetam, CILTEP, Methly, and Cobalamin, stacking different combinations to produce certain heighten senses. The work shows the sorts of last resort that people are taking to inherit better skills sets and proceed to work better in such a stressed society. They portray Aprey’s place to be a “pharmacy” so to tell working people with tedious jobs that this is a method for them to focus, “stacking” drugs atop another to receive a certain pattern of focus, but it isn’t a great option considering health.
Personal statement:
It’s rather confusing getting around what they meant by “stacking drugs” because all I thought about was the side effects that could potentially kill this guy. In any case, it’s rather interesting to see how people actually go these lengths to “strengthen” their body by using these drugs, though it only makes me even more scared by the substances.
precis:At its most basic level, the Affordable Care Act was intended to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance. Measured against that goal, it has made considerable progress.A perfect measurement of the numbers of people affected by the law is still difficult, but a series of private sector surveys and a government report reach the same basic estimates: The number of Americans without health insurance has been reduced by about 25 percent this year — or eight million to 11 million people.
personal experince : in my perspective i do see the act really helping the people with no medical insurance , because before people couldn’t go to the hospital because they were sick they would only get to go to the hospital because of a medical emergency , plus if they went to the doctors they would be charged a lot of money and now with the act there are minimal charges toward the patient.
Rhetorical Precis
Author Sharon Walker a writer working at Memebridge ,wrote the article “History of Cell Phones” expressing the development and significance of the phone. The author, Shanon helps give the author an idea of how it was first developed and the improvement of phones through the years. This gives an idea to the reader’s mind on how long and difficult it took to become the phone it is today. The intended audience is all the curious people want to know about phone and its history.
Personal Commentary
The interest of history of things have always been my curiosity, I like to see the growth and improvements it has made to become better. It is amazing how we had phones as big as a brick and how now it could fit in your pocket and be many times more powerful and faster.
Article-http://www.historyof.net/history-of-cell-phones.html
-Ulysses Gonzalez Pd.4
Art – The Persistence of Memory – Salvador Dali
Source: http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79018
Rhetorical Précis:
Salvador Dali, a surrealist painter from Spain, in his painting, The Persistence of Memory, suggest that our normal concept of time is irrelevant when we are dreaming and only our memories persist after the dream. Dali supports his implications by painting melting clocks to symbolize time losing power and abstract figures to represent a dream state where random objects, people and places appear. Dali’s purpose is to show how when we are dreaming, we can not keep track of time and time is powerless, however, in our daily lives, we struggle to be on time and we are always keeping track of it. The painter establishes a formal relationship with people who are interested in abstract paintings and surrealism.
Personal Commentary:
This piece of artwork is very abstract and confusing. It was hard to figure out its meaning, however after analyzing it for a few minutes, I saw all of the symbolism and the various objects in the painting. The ants on the pocket watch symbolize time slowing decaying and I thought that was interesting. I can relate to the meaning for this painting because usually when I have a dream, I don’t realize how long the dreams are.
Guan Li
Opinion
Rhetorical Precis:
In the article “Hating Good Government” Paul Krugman an op-ed columnist at the New York Times implies that the public has built a dogmatic rage towards the government. Krugman supports his implication by providing examples of government failures such as, the Kansas experiment, health reform, monetary policy, and the control of infectious disease; for example the Kansas experiment was intended to result with a boom that would make up for the loss of revenue, but it left the Kansas economy in a fiscal crisis. His purpose of this article is to show how we currently live in a dogmatic society where evidence and facts don’t really matter but we shouldn’t stop looking for them. The intended audience for this article is an older crowd who has a dogmatic attitude towards the government and the things they have been doing.
Personal Commentary:
This article felt like it was all over the place but it tied everything together very well. I was impressed on the use of evidence and how each piece of evidence supported the next. The article was interesting, but it also felt kind of boring in a way that I didn’t enjoy it like an amusing video, nonetheless a good read.
Rhetorical Precis
Salvador Dali, a Spanish artist 1904 – 1989, on his painting, The Persistence of Memory, conveys a theme that is focused on time. To emphasize the theme as time, three watches are painted as if they are melting while one watch is in it’s original form with ants in the center, displaying it as if it is rotting. The creature appears to be a deformed face decaying after being washed ashore. His purpose is not only to showcase time and memory, but to gain confusion in order disconnect from reality. Dali morphs the watches with an alluring landscape to ignite a feeling of an alternate illusion of reality.
Personal Commentary
I’ve seen this painting before in my digital photo class during sophomore year but never gave it a second look. Now that I’ve took the time to think and question, I have a more in dept perspective of the painting. Before I just thought that it was simply defining time, now I see it as an illusion of reality.
Rhetorical Thesis
DAVID L. KIRP on the Academic life of African American and Latino teens, “Closing
the Math Gap for Boys”. David infers that these kids of poor, ethnically mixed back
grounds tend to perform the worst on every measure of academic achievement.’ The
average reading and math scores of eighth grade black boys are barely higher than
those of 4th grade white girls, and latino boys score only marginally better” Only
about 57 percent of african american boys graduate, and 62 percent of latino boys.
There’s been little success in bringing kids like these up, until now. The author
explains to us of an experiment going on in Chicago, known as Match. He goes on
and says explains that kids who’ve spent only a year in Chicago’s intensive tutoring
program have ended up two years ahead of students who did not take this program,
of a control group. This is meant to be an informational article, to give us some light on
how helpful certain tutoring programs can be, especially to those of poor backgrounds.
Commentary
This article peaked my interest because i saw that it had math in the title, i tend
to struggle a lot when dealing with math. I could relate to the struggles these kids
face when dealing with math. Reading this made me want to look into tutoring.
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/01/public_apathy_has_helped_criminal_justice_reform_republicans_and_democrats.html
Rhetoric Precis:
In his article, “Why Public Apathy Isn’t All Bad”, Jamelle Bouie discusses the sort of segregation between parties of politics and transitions on to public apathy as a related subject. Bouie supports his claim by using evidence of a new treatment for a prosecuted in Texas for a third option rather than jail or parole. His purpose is to inform the reader of when and where public apathy has occurred. He focuses his attention on the non-informed readers that didn’t have the privilege to view examples of public apathy.
Personal Commentary:
Bouie’s article was somewhat informative for me. However, his opinion as to that “these changes are long overdue” made me curious and a little confused because of how he later states such changes to criminal justice was impossible 15 years ago. In my head, this seems either contradicting or expecting too much of a country full of problems.
http://blog.sfgate.com/opinionshop/2015/01/15/why-we-need-a-2nd-transbay-bart-tube/
Spencer Whitney, opinion article, Why Bart needs a 2nd transbay tube, claims that Bart needs another tube aiming at the problems that have been caused to hold up the daily use of public transportation. Spencer Whitney supports this problem with the example of January 14th accident with the man jumping in front of a train, having to reroute many trains and causing many passengers to find an alternative route/transportation to get home. His purpose is to suggest a resolution to future problems in order to make it easier for many people to transport from their destination to work. He directs this towards people who take public transportation.
This article has not affected me as much as it would affect people that take public transportation. I hardly take public transportation to reach my destination. I’ve realized how this suggestion is necessary for people because one small situation affects many people.
Great choice. Very important topic.
RHETORICAL PRECIS: Fruitvale Station
Fruitvale Station is a drama film based on a true story written and directed by Ryan Coogler, produced by Nina Yang Bangiovi and Forest Whitaker, this film was not only made in memory of Oscar Julius Grant III but also to depict how police brutality occurs in Oakland, Ca, in an atrocious form. The form of which these points are shown in the movie comes in specifically in the beginning of the music, showing the actual video of Grant’s murder, and towards the mid-end where the whole scene was reenacted for the movie. Ryan Coogler’s purpose for this film was not only to aware the country of police brutality but to show the country how it actually went down, who Oscar Grant was, and how he lived up until his death, in order to make change throughout our country’s systems regarding police brutality, and the judicial system. This film was made mostly for those who are not as aware of police brutality as others living in less fortunate communities, such as Oakland, but also for the entire country itself to know the true story behind the police brutality, behind the death of Oscar Grant.
PERSONAL COMMENTARY:
First time I watched this movie, it hit me hard, I went with the Youth Together organization, people I’ve worked with a built a strong relationship with over the summer of 2013, in the movie theater the film itself hit me strongly, it angered me knowing incidents like this occur all over the city, all over the country but none is done to change it. In that theater, on that day I saw grown men sobbing, inside I felt numb, but at the same time cold because I was not crying my self. It amazed me how I just can not cry for a man I never knew, unless he was a close friend of mine, but yet here were grown men and women whom some I knew, some I did not sobbing for a man they didn’t even know, crazy huh? Maybe after years of seeing your friends drown in drugs, violence and death you just grow numb to the pain of people whom you do not know, to their death.
Excellent commentary. Thank you for your personal experience.
John Coltrane, a musical genius in his Jazz album Blue Train conveys hurt and suffering, majestic rage and frustration, and ultimately ecstasy and liberation. Coltrane jumps into a solo and then quickly moves toward the next song Birdland and uses stylistic uniqueness and spiritual depth. Coltranes purpose is to show his experience down the rivers of Africa and the Middle East, and the Black experience of the 1960s. The Intended audience specifically targets anyone suffering or experiencing hardship, however it is appealing to anyone who can hear it.
Commentary: I personally love this album and the majority of Coltrane’s work. I hadn’t heard this album in years and it was nice to revisit it. My two favorite songs within the album are Blue Train and Locomotion. I appreciate the fact that all of the compositions were written by Coltrane, and the personnel is very prestigious.
Great choice, and good analysis of an instrumental work.
Rhetorical Precis
The movie Fargo, directed by the Coen brothers, implies that ordinary people do matter and that a lot can happen in the middle of nowhere. The Coen brothers contrasts the ordinariness and unheroic nature of some of the characters and switches gender roles to show that even the most seemingly ordinary people can have a huge impact. Their purpose is to show that an “ordinary” person from one perspective can differ completely from who they actually are in order to defy stereotypes of people. The Coen brothers intended for everyone to be the audience of the movie by varying the types of genres mixed into one movie.
Personal Commentary
This movie had a lot of meanings behind it, about money, being ordinary, inverted gender roles, dark humor, and etc. I’m usually not drawn to movies before 2000s but I really enjoyed this movie because it really kept my attention with the plot and kept me waiting for the next scene.
In his article, “Leave Marshawn Lynch alone”, Spencer Whitney asserts that the media needs to respect Marshawn Lynch’s privacy and the NFL wrongly fining Lynch for trivial actions while there are are bigger issues at hand in the league that are not being dealt with. Whitney explains times when Lynch has respectfully explained why he dislikes engaging the media and why he still occasionally attends. Whitney’s purpose in this article is reflect that Lynch is a decent human being and his lack of interest in media attention shouldn’t be the cause of punishment from the NFL. The intended audience is the NFL, who force Lynch into press meetings, and the media, who hound Lynch regardless of his wishes.
I enjoyed this article because I think it reflects the lack of respect the NFL has towards its players. Marshawn Lynch should have the right to not talk to the press and keep his privacy if he pleases, and being fined by the NFL is not only unfair but reflects the lack of priority the NFL places on it’s internal issues. I also found it interesting because the subject surrounded a local person who has done great things for his community and his team.
http://blog.sfgate.com/opinionshop/2015/01/29/leave-marshawn-lynch-alone/
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/01/why_tom_brady_and_other_nfl_quarterbacks_should_be_able_to_do_whatever_they.html
Précis: In the article, “Let Them Deflate” Mike Pesca talks about the recent rumors of the New England Patriots deflating balls to 1lb less of pressure and how the NFL quarterbacks should be allowed to do what they want to the balls in order for the quarterbacks to a good performance. Mike starts off his article by talking about the situation and what the NFL did and compared it to other repercussions made to determine how much the NFL really cared about the deflation of the footballs and arguing that it was more of a comfort factor then a major penalty. Mike not only tried to show that it wasn’t much of a deal with the deflation of the footballs but to stop the “hate” that is going around about the deflate gate. Mike’s article is mainly attracting the sports fan in America.
Personal opinion: Deflate Gate to me is one of those situations that is spread through the media and made into this phenomenon for a situation that is less important to the improvement of the game. Instead of altering the integrity of the game it would improve the popularity of the game by making the performance of the athletes’ increases therefore attracting the fans to further support their team.
Love the commentary!
Precis: In his article “Heroes and Bystanders”, Nicholas Kristof asserts the way people should celebrate holidays and be thankful for those who were known as heroes. Kristof supports his claim by providing evidence from people who gave up their lives for the sake of helping others and how people should thank them not by with celebration but with action to change the world for the better. The author’s purpose is to inform us to take action and continue what others gave up their lives for and not just celebrate and do nothing. The intended audience would be government officials.
Commentary: I saw the title of this article and thought it would be interesting to read and before I read it, I started making assumptions like the article is going to be about distinguishing heroes and bystanders but as I started reading it I knew I was wrong. I enjoyed reading this article because it talked about taking action and not just be sitting here celebrating the lives of others when we can be doing something to help contribute to what they did. This article made me think about events that happened before like what happened to Oscar Grant and the shooting in Ferguson where people are taking action in what they think is right.
Rhetorical Precis:
An unknown author of San Francisco Gate mentions the probable crash of Air Asia 8501 in the article “Why We Can’t Stop Losing Planes” and discusses why our country cannot ensure the complete safety of our planes along with how it can be prevented, suggesting that the reason for the continuation of aircraft accidents is the fact that the United States’s search technologies for something as big as an airplane still has many flaws. The author states what cannot be used to improve the technology, why, and what can be considered to help make it more reliable if an accident were to occur. The author points out the imperfect technological system of our aircrafts in order to persuade the audience that the new technology, ADS-B, is to be considered to make our planes safer. The author establishes a trustworthy relationship with their audience by stating why potential suggestions for aircraft safety, other than ADS-B, is not possible and why we should not get our hopes up about ADS-B.
Commentary:
I feel as if this article does not go into enough detail about ADS-B. Also, i feel as if the article is a bit over-exaggerated when it compares iPhones being found with an app to planes. Of course it will be easier for phones to be found because it is unlikely that it will be over the ocean. This evoked an unreliable feeling towards the author until they went a bit deep into why certain things will not be possible for searching.
In the movie, Fargo, the Coen brothers claim that we refuse to see things that make us uncomfortable. This is shown in the way the Coen brothers crafted the plot as they aren’t meant to be understood the first time someone sees the film but rather after the second or third time as there is an underlying message present behind each event and character, and is often the most basic take on the character or situation. The purpose of this film is to emphasize the importance of taking a closer look at certain things, biased and unbiased, in order to fully understand the purpose of the subject at hand. The Coen brothers manipulate the perception of their viewers by making the viewers perceive the characters and events in the film a certain way and to have them interpret and strip down to the characters or events to fully understand the meaning behind their placement in the plot.
I very much enjoyed this movie and completely agree with the theme presented in the movie, “we refuse to see things that make us uncomfortable,” due to the fact that in real life, when I encounter something that I feel uncomfortable with, I often try to overlook or avoid the subject. I loved the movie because it kept me wondering what was going to happen next and it left me with so many questions at the end of the movie which is something that I look for in every movie because I think it is important to keep the viewer guessing and to keep thinking about the movie although it has ended. I was a bit hesitant about watching this movie in the beginning because of the era but soon came to realize that the era shouldn’t matter but rather the theme and plot of the movie itself.
The are great. Be sure to check out some of their other films, if you haven’t done so already. All are ok for this project.
Rhetorical Precis:
In Amy Winehouse’s R&B/Soul album, Back to Black, she has written a collection of songs that express a broken heart. In “He Can Only Hold Her”, Amy sings about a guy who is in love with a girl, but she is not making it easy for him. The lyrics throughout the whole song tell how this girl is broken from a previous relationship and the only this the guy can do is be there for her in hopes she will come back around. This song and all the other songs on this album can be seen as relatable to Amy’s fans because it’s honest and the stories being told are real things that people go through, which can be refreshing to listen to, especially when you realize that you are not the only one.
Personal Commentary:
I chose to listen to this album because I’ve listened to some of her popular songs, but I’ve never gave her music a chance it clearly deserves. Amy’s was a controversial and lived a lifestyle that not a lot of people agreed with, but her music and style were completely her own and I respect that. This album is really good and I wish I listened to it sooner.
Nicholas Kristof, author of the article Heroes and Bystanders, informs us on the unappreciated courage and valor of different men who experienced the hardships of Auschwitz, Armenia, and World War II. Kristof elaborates on these topics by describing the time men like Witold Pilecki and Jan Karski. Both have tried to campaign and seek help from world leaders but were both unsuccessful. The article was what I believe to be just the right length as well as provide adequate inormation. It was very engaging and kept me interested the whole read. The purpose for Kristof to write this article was to let world leaders know of the unsung heroes who could have made big differences in the world if only someone listened. The intended audience would be the world leaders who only listen among themselves rather than the people who have seen and felt the suffering causes by these catastrophes
Personal Commentary:
I actually really liked this article. It was very engaging because I’ve always been interested into America’s past wars and what was done wrong among all the other countries including us. If world leaders listened to the public faster less people could have been harmed/killed in the process of dealing with it.
Entry 3: 1/ 30/ 15
The Rhetorical precis:
Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes, more than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States, and again Congress reciprocated for more than two years into the conflict, America had finally joined World War II.
Personal Commentary:
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but Japan and the United States had been edging toward war for decades. The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward China. The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market. I feel like it sucks to know that many innocent and good people die during the bombings but they were just very unlucky to be there. The U.S did the right thing by going to war against Japan and winning them in WW2.
This receives a zero because it was plagiarized.
Vincent van Gogh, in his painting-Starry Night-exemplifies the hopes, dreams, and realities of the common man/woman. This paintings reality is expressed through the night sky and its beautiful stars. It shows something that everyone has seen and can relate to, no matter where they’re from. The paintings way of expressing peoples dreams and hopes was through the small, peaceful town that was painted on the lower end of the canvas. The town can be looked at as something like a fairy tale, which is quite impossible to replicate in this world, today.This painting can be looked upon in many different ways, one of which reality and fantasy is shown.
Personal Commentary:
Vincent van Gogh’s , Starry Night is a very beautiful painting which seems a bit like a fairy tale, including the stars and the night sky. This painting can be nothing more than just a painting that portrays peoples hopes and dreams because of the corrupt world, today.
-Zaire Alford
Jay-Z’s “rookie” album “Reasonable Doubt”(1996) is basically an album that initiates Jay-Z greatness I’ll explain why I say this. Even though this is Jay-Z’s “rookie” album on record all around New York he was know but with the release of “Reasonable Doubt” he became known to the country and those who didn’t know of him as smooth, soulful, and became to known to make head-bobbing music to where you just want to listen. With tracks like “Can’t Knock the Hustle”, “Brookyln’s Finest”, and “Coming of Age” shows how and why he is considered to be one of the best ever. Through these tracks he shows just pure talent and shows the kind of mind set he had coming into the rap game. Personal Thoughts: I personally think this is one of if not Jay-Z’s best album because of how he came in just being really confident and because of the confidence that he had with this album, I believe has lead to the success of his music and business career.
Rhetorical Precís
Category: Art
Andy Warhol, the eccentric renowned artist of pop art in the 1960’s, implies in his art work “32 Campbell’s Soup Cans”, that focusing your artwork on mass produced commercial goods and making a innovative design, can make small work- based imagery into famous artwork worldwide, in terms of artwork incorporated with everyday consumer products. Warhol uses a clever design for these small 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans making each one simultaneously hang from the wall like a painting and rested on a shelf like groceries in a store. His purpose was not only to display his artwork of the Campbell’s Soup cans, but to create a depth of visual symbolism, as if somebody can reach out and grab a Campbell’s Soup can from the canvas. Although Warhol did not have a vision of chronological order for these soup cans, when he first debuted them in 1962, his intended audience looked at his artwork and were so amazed, that this every day consumer good was debuted in an artwork that made it seem so real.This All-american design made mass-production of the soup, which it was later a big produced consumer worldwide.
Personal Commentary:
Andy warhol is my all time favorite artist because of his work and pop art. But now knowing that he made the design for the Campbells Soup cans amazes me even more! Now, I’m very fond of his artwork of mass consumer goods like the Coca-Cola cans, Perrier sparkling water, and Campbells. This is very surprising because when I had first looked at his work I thought that he was just the founder and creator of pop art and had famous photography, but knowing he did an innovative out-of- the-box exhibit in 1962 for the Campbell’s, ( I mean Campbell’s!), soup can just makes me even more mind blown! Wow.
Rhetorical Precis:
Category: Book
The book, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, is a book of short chapters that explain a woman named Celie experiences. Walker presents Celie’s thoughts in a dialect spoken way with bad grammar and spelling. Which tells us that Celie was not an educated woman. Celie’s letters also tend to touch upon topics briefly rather than being developed in long paragraphs. After Nettie and Celie reconnect, Celie’s letters gets longer and more detailed. She is happier in her life, and tends to express joy by writing more.The title connects to a moment when Shug asks Celie if she takes the time to notice what little things that God does to show them that he loves them. “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it,” Shug says. Then Celie is forced to admit that in fact she never observed those things, and it changes her life.
Personal Thoughts: This is a really good book because it tells about a woman that went through very very tough times but still kept faith, pride, and always looked at the brighter side of things.