Appendages

I was...

I was young.

I was weird.

I was really weird.

I was friendly and made friends.

I was made fun of sometimes by my friends.

I was making fun of my friends sometimes though.

(This is Aidan Wells)

I was made fun of for having a big nose.

(Credits to Ratatouille)

I was carefree about being made fun of because I have fantastic appendages on my hands.

I am truly thankful for these appendages that we call fingers. They have been with me for as long as I can remember and have allowed me to accomplish multitudes of tasks that I never thought was possible. They were with me when I ate my first slice of pizza, they were with me when first learned to dive into a pool, and they were with me when I first entered Millbrook High School. Some of the experiences I just listed were better than others, but nevertheless, my fingers were always there. As I come to a close of my high school career I have thought a lot about what I might miss when I pass through through the parking lot on my last ride home from high school ever. It is hard to determine the exact things that I will miss because everything seems so normal now. Falling into the routine of 7:20am to 2:20pm everyday was easy, but falling out of it might not be so. However, as I delve into the new routines of my future life I am almost certain that my appendages will be there with me every good and bad step along the way. While this may seem silly, I think it is an important message to realize. There are certain parts of you that knows the past memories created, which makes heading into the future a whole lot easier. As we go throughout life, we progress and we learn. This allows one to grow on a daily basis and take each day as a new adventure. Something I look forward to doing throughout the rest of my life.

Thank you Mrs. Genesky for creating the blog assignments and for being a great teacher! They were fun and my appendages wrote them all for me.  

Peace out.

Walter "Walt" Whitman

Walt Whitman's Notebook

I will be looking at two specific pages in Walt Whitman's 1860-1861 notebook. The original observations are seen on the left side of this blog post, separated by exclamation points from the right side, labelled as "What Whitman Actually Wrote." What Whitman Actually Wrote is derived from the Disunion's annotated notes of Whitman's pages. It is important to note that the civil war began on April of 1861.

        Original Observations                                   !        What Whitman Actually Wrote!!

pg. 8: -This page seems to be titled "Ship of            !pg. 8: -The title of this page is actually "Ship of 

Libertad," but libertad is the Spanish word for           !Libertad," so my original observation was

liberty, however, Walt Whitman did not actually        !correct, but "Libertad" is a cognate of Liberty, 

know the language of Spanish. So I think he is        !so Whitman must have recognized this.

referring to the English word of liberty on this          !

page. -Line two reads, "Blow mad winds!" I think    !-Sean Meehan actually points out that "Blow

he is now writing a short poem on this page,          !mad winds!" has striking similarities to 

sticking to the theme of a ship to represent liberty. !Shakespeare's King Lear. 

-Line three-four reads, "Rage, Love, vese, yawn.    !-My original observation of the word "vese" is

wide, yearly waves" As you can see, it was            !translated as "vex" instead, which holds the

difficult to make out some words, but I think these  !definition of "to make someone feel annoyed."

particular lines lend knowledge to how Whitman      !And, what I thought was "yearly" is actually

writes his poetry. First, his notebook pages are       !"yeastly," and I think the question mark above

written in pen, so he cannot use an eraser to fix his !this word is referring to Whitman's confusion of 

thoughts. Furthermore, there are very little marks    !whether or not "yeastly" is a word. I think he

where he scratches an idea out suggesting he         !wished "yeast" to represent yet another metaphor

foolproof like and is a perfectionist. However,          !as America was fermenting into something bad,

it appears as though he made one mistake in the    !similar to how yeast ferments into alcohol and

word "yearly", as there is a ? placed above the       !CO2.

word and light cross marks on top of the "ly."        !

Maybe this was a thought he intended to fix later.  !

-Line five reads, "crash away-" I think it is             !

important to note the structure of the poem at this  !

point. Whitman uses lots of commas in the             !

previous line, but now switches to hyphons. In       !

addition, there appears to be no rhyming scheme,  !

and the lines vary significantly in length. I think    !

Whitman has intention with this to show that he    !

does not follow the typical conventions of poetry   !

-Line six reads, "Tug at the planks-make them       !

groan-" -Line seven reads, "fall around, black        !-Whitman's prediction of what America will have

clouds-clouds of" -Line eight reads, "death"           !to pay is revealed as the clouds give way to death.

-This poem itself is a switch from Whitman's         !-As the Disunion's explanations point out,

normal happy and energetic poems to a much more!Whitman's poetry before the civil war uses water

cynical one. This is interesting as I believe he is    !to describe what America felt like at this point in

stressing the ideal of Liberty's rough ride it takes   !time. Libertad must represent America's core ideal

to survive in the modern world. Whitman uses the !of Liberty. Since the poem ends in "death," I am

metaphor of a ship to show the tough journey, as   !wondering if the civil war had actually begun by

well as analog and imagery to describe it. This      !the time he finished this poem.

reveals Whitman's thoughts as he was writing this !

journal write before the civil war.                           !

                                                                         !

pg. 11: -This page is a drawing of Whitman           !pg. 11: -As it turns out, Whitman did not actually 

himself. Whether or not he drew it is an                 !draw it! Instead, someone else must have been 

interesting thought, but for the sake of observation!hired to draw Whitman in his notebook or he

I will be assuming he did draw it. This reveals a    !simply got a friend to draw it of him. Disunion

lot about Whitman because drawings are a far       !states that it is very similar to a photograph taken

different form of art from his typical poems.          !of himself around the same time as the notebook 

Nonetheless, Whitman is a great artist! He draws  !was written. It is likely that one of his drinking 

himself in great detail with distinctive facial          !buddies drew it at their favorite bar, Pfaff's. 

features. His eyes appear to be looking off into the!Whitman liked to pass around his notebook to the 

distance, maybe showing confusion of who he is   !other drinkers at the bar. In another note by 

at this point in his lifetime, Possibly a mid-life      !Disunion, Whitman was actually going through a 

crisis, as he was about mid-way through his life in!a mid-life crisis, as he was transitioning from a 

1860-1861. The fact that he drew himself in this    !roughneck to a gentle old fellow, hence the 

manner brings light to knowledge that he was        !drinking at he bar.

definitely aware of himself and who he was.          !

However, the fact that he drew himself so              !

accurately is peculiar, and maybe this was a copy  !

of another artist's drawing or something similar.      !

Furthermore, it shows he is invested in himself,     !

possibly a little bit of arrogance as well.                 !

Old "Gentle Santa Claus" Walt Whitman

Young "Roughneck" Walt Whitman

$$The American Dream$$

The American Dream

The "American Dream," in my opinion, is described as the equal opportunity for all those living in America to the certain unalienable rights that George Washington and the founding fathers listed in the Declaration of Independence, "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." However, I believe that there is an additional patriotic feeling that gets tied into the "American Dream," which comes as a by-product of achieving those rights. It is all about hard-work by the individual for the country as a whole. The American Dream always consists of aspirations to be successful and wealthy and to hold a job that allows for one enjoy the consumer-goods, family, and property as a result. However, the "American Dream" is still changing and is most definitely not the same as it was in the 1920s. Now, the "American Dream" holds less of a focus on materialism, whereas previously, materialism was at the center of the American dream, as read in Gatsby. In my opinion, there is now more of an emphasis on attaining the rights previously listed by the Founding Fathers as a nation, but for the individual.

Although "Born in the USA" is actually questioning American Nationalism in that
it's primary purpose was to raise awareness of the common Vietnam soldier
returning to an extremely ungrateful America, it is still played as a patriotic
song due to it's powerful chorus which repeats a plethora of times. It pertains
to my definition of the American Dream through it's patriotic sense.
"BORN IN THE USA" 

    

Wealth, to me, is simply defined as a lot of money. Materialistic possessions can also be considered under the definition of wealth. However, when applied in context with other terms, wealth is not just limited to an economic term. It can potentially hold other meanings as well. For example, "moral wealth" can mean one's morals are rich, or extremely good. Furthermore, I just received a letter from my future university, saying "Mason is an exciting university with a wealth of opportunities..." So in this sense, the school is rich in opportunities.

American's attitudes towards wealth and poverty is very hard to determine due to the approximate 318.9 million residents in the United States of America. However, in a general sense and from what I have observed, America's attitudes towards wealth and poverty  follows along the lines of capitalism. Private entities and individuals are allowed to acquire their wealth while following the legal instructions set by the government. Americans believe that everyone is entitled to the opportunity to acquire wealth, however, wealth is not always the easiest thing to achieve for most Americans. This is where poverty plays a role in American's beliefs. Poverty, in a sense, is the failure of Americans to acquire significant wealth, however, blame is not placed on the individuals whom are deemed as failures by this statement because the economic backgrounds of many poverous individuals do not allow them to grow economically. Instead, Americans believe that the poverty should be eradicated and are working towards this goal.

My personal beliefs towards wealth and poverty follow very closely with the general Americans. The people that amass great wealth in our society are often the stars of America and the people who everyone idolizes. Whether they be powerful entertainers (Bruce Springsteen) or stock-market experts (Warren Buffet), nearly every individual dreams of what having their wealth would be like. While this is a very cool aspect of America, I believe that more focus should be put on those in poverty. I believe that everyone should be able to do as they wish with their money, but I also think that Americans in poverty should be presented opportunities in order to overcome this economical state. Unless one desires to be in this state of poverty, in which case they can do so because they have the freedom to do exactly that in this country.

  

"Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh is a perfect example of doing as
one desires with the wealth he earns. "I have a mansion forget the
price, ain't ever been there they tell me it's nice."

Freebie!

I am using my second semester freebie on this blog post

Covers

Similarities: For starters, all four of the images are similarities for the book Never Let Me Go, and they all explicitly say "Never Let Me Go" and "Kazuo Ishiguro." All four covers' backgrounds seem very vast and vague. All four also have a main focal point to each that serves as the center of the message behind each cover.
Differences: All four covers are different in the amount of words written on each. The 1st cover has a large quote by the New York Times mentioning praise, while the second has a quote from the Observer also discussing praise, while the third has a quote by Time in small font, and the very last one has no quote and is very simple. I think the last one might have no quote due to the possibility of it being the first cover ever used as this book was published meaning that no organization had read it yet in order to give it praise. 

1st Cover

I am choosing this cover to do one of my in-depth analysis on. 1) My first impression was the blonde girl in the center. My first thoughts on this were, why is she not looking at the camera? why is she sitting in grass? who is she? I am proud of these initial thoughts because they set up a farther analysis by my brain. 2) If I had not yet read the novel I would think that this girl is crazy for sitting in that tall grass because who knows what creatures could be crawling around in there?! I would probably think the book is about a girl stuck between several choices because her face looks full of confusion and depression. Now that I have read the novel I think this has a very strong connection to the forest at Hailsham which everyone was told not to go near. I think since the girl seems to be sitting near the forest she must be close to capturing the ideals of what the forest truly is and what is further beyond it. 3) Ruth definitely seems to be portrayed in this cover since Ruth was not the biggest rule-follower and the forest would be something that Ruth would potentially overcome. This is probably from the perspective of the author since Ruth never actually dared to go beyond the forest. 4) This image sparks little on the cultural construction of the book, except maybe that the girl pictured appears to be a stereotypical Londoner, where the story takes place.  5) The kinds of people who made/would/read this book are probably the people who like books and specifically, dystopian literature.

2nd cover

In this cover, the imagery displayed is a human, specifically a female in a glossy, fuzzy background. The background is vague suggesting that the purpose of this cover might be to give a extremely vague hint and at what the book is about.

3rd cover

In this cover, there is a small row boat on an empty harbor under a strange sky and vast lake. This cover could also be foreshadowing at a significant event in the novel and the overwhelmingly amount of depression that ends up coming out of that event. Provides interesting imagery to the novel since it would be the only visual picture to attached with the book.

4th Cover

I am choosing to do another in-depth analysis on the 4th cover. This cover is definitely my favorite of the four due to the incredible internal messages that were easily understood upon first glimpse. 1) However, what first attracted me to it was its similarity to that of a fish. Whether it be consuming, looking, or the sport of fishing, I really like fish! I am a true believer that first impressions make a huge impact, so that is probably why this one is my favorite.2) If I had not read the book this image would make me think that Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is about an individual who is trapped and contained by an outside barrier. This is due to the several vital organs that appear to be trapped by a t-shirt with barbed wire. Having read the book, I  realize that my original prediction would not have been too far off. Instead of an individual being trapped by a barrier, it is a entire society. The barrier which holds the society back is the process of cloning, which is obviously portrayed negatively by Ishiguro. 3) It seems to me that this cover is from the viewpoint of the character Kathy. I believe she also is being portrayed in this cover due to the unfortunate events that occurred to Kathy near the end of the novel. 4) Yes, this image sparks the idea that society is the t-shirt with barbed wire due to the entire process of cloning and organ donating which social construct of society in this novel enforces. 5) The kinds of people who made/would/read this book are probably the people who like books and specifically, dystopian literature.

Dave Isay: Everyone around you has a Story the World Needs to Hear

Dave Isay's Ted Talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_isay_everyone_around_you_has_a_story_the_world_needs_to_hear#t-496860)

Purpose: Dave Isay is arguing in his Ted Talk titled, "Everyone around you has a Story the World Needs to Hear," that interviews should not be limited only to those with what the media deems as a significant story, but rather open to everyone to try. He believes that the world's voices need to not only be heard, but archived forever. Isay argues the importance of an interview, no matter who the interviewer nor interviewee may be, is significant and can lend to knowledge and experience for everyone.

Dave Isay

Summary: Isay's most prominent point is his ideas on switching the traditional definition of an interview to an idea that is way more meaningful and personal. When founding his company, StoryCorps, he switched the typical interview's purpose from what everyone knows as a first person commentary on an event/experience for the means of education/entertainment to a question-guided conversation between two people. His interviews became a method of bringing individuals together and sharing and archiving the stories between them. He shares his interest in the amazing stories and how this served as his motivation for founding his company.

Another significant remark made by Isay came from his personal story that he opened up his talk with. He told the story of the great relationship he had with his father, who he found out was gay. This was a complete shock to him which began as devastation. However, around the same time of the shocking news, Isay found a calling to become a radio interviewer. Inspired by his Dad’s story, he interviewed as many people as he could find who were at the Stonewall Inn Gay Bar in 1969. Riots against police began at the bar and were what sparked the gay rights movement across America. He began interviewing each individual, listening and cherishing their important stories. The individuals, however, had always felt as though their story was not important whatsoever prior to their interviews with Dave Isay. They were floored to be able to be heard and have their experiences recorded. He moved from story to story interviewing thousands of people in the process for his radio business. He became astounded by his interviewee’s reactions when he showed them their stories. One man ran up and down a hallway chanting, “I exist!” The wonderful reactions shown by Isay's interviewees proved to support his argument that everyone needs to be heard through the process of an interview.

Stonewall Inn Gay Bar

More support for his argument in Isay's talk comes from the heart-warming examples of his booth at Grand Central Station in action. He plays a recording of a touching interview between a 10 year old child with Asperger’s Syndrome and his mother. It showed the importance of talking and listening to one another because you may never know what an individual’s treasured thoughts may be, or what an individual is experiencing, or how thankful they truly are for you as a person. Isay discusses the authentic traits of interviews and calls it “anti-reality TV.” He says emotion strikes amongst listeners of interviews due to the realness in a world full of illusion and misconception. He expanded his business, reaching 100,000 people in all 50 states. Titled StoryCorps, it has become the largest collection of human voices in the world. Isay shares a few more interviews between unlikely candidates who all fall under one theme: humans are good. The examples of interviews prove to be successful in his mission to redefine the use of interviewing.

StoryCorp Booth in NYC

Appeals: Dave Isay is able to get his point across while using a variety of effective appeals with his audience. He uses a plethora of examples of pathos throughout his argument. The use of pathos can be seen and heard primarily in the personal stories, as well as the examples from his StoryCorp booth in Grand Central Station. For example, a personal story in which Isay tells his audience about a man who was interviewed on the topic of the last flophouse hotel in Manhattan in 1988. Isay wrote a book on these cheap hotels with horrible living conditions, then brought it back to the flophouse and showed a man his page. Isay recalls the man's reaction to seeing his own story, "He stood there standing in silence, then he grabbed the book out of my hand and starting running down the long narrow hallway, holding it over his head shouting, 'I exist!'" The audience erupts in applause due to their emotional connection with the speaker and this particular story. The emotional connection is caused by the speaker's actions of working with this man who lives in very unfortunate conditions. And by showing that man that he has a voice in the world, something he probably never would have thought had it not been for Isay's interviews on the topic. Another example of obvious pathos occurs with the multitudes of examples from Isay's StoryCorp booth. By playing these recording, Dave Isay is using pathos to show support for his argument. He chooses some of the most heart-warming and strangest interviews to show how effective the interviews can bring two people together. This evokes an positive emotional response in the audience as an applause follows every interview example.

Isay is also able to use logos within his argument. One example of the appeal occurs after a tape recording of Sarah Littman and her son, Josh's interview is played. He uses logos to explain why a crying response is typical after hearing an interview from StoryCorp like Sarah and Josh's. He says, "I think it is because you are hearing something authentic and pure at this moment, when sometimes it's hard to tell what's real and what's an advertisement. It's kind of the anti-reality TV. It's an act of generosity and love." His logic is very understandable and easy to follow. This use of logos effectively supports his argument. However, Isay is very biased towards the topic especially since it is his company that he is supporting. He, more than likely, wants StoryCorp to sound the best that it possibly can. So, he uses logos in an effective but biased manner to persuade the audience that a crying response is evoked within the crowd due to the extreme realness that comes out of his company's interviews. This makes his company sound extremely appealing to the audience because he makes it seem like authentic conversations do not occur frequently.

The last appeal that Isay uses is ethos. He is very successful with his company StoryCorp, which lends knowledge to his audience that he is reputable. Isay says that, "he expanded his business, reaching 100,000 people in all 50 states." This is absolutely huge and definitely is an effective use of ethos. His company is very successful with these numbers that he provides, which means he must be credible due to this. While he does seem very knowledgeable as an entrepreneur in the field of these interviews, there are a few moments within his talk where he does not seem very reputable. He provides reasoning for his arguments, but he says phrases like "I think" which show doubt and leads the audience to believe he may not be as credible. One example of this is, "I think it is because you are hearing authentic and pure." While his reasoning seems undoubtedly true, the phrase "I think" expresses significant doubt, which does not support his credibility on the topic.

My Reasoning: I picked this particular Ted Talk because of the drastic change that my peers and I will be going through this year. I have suddenly realized the importance of the people who surround me on a daily basis. I am so extremely thankful for them; however, I know that it is likely I will never see many of them ever again. It’s a sad thought but truly shows the complexities of every individual and the stories that build their personalities and shape who they are. I am inspired by this Ted Talk to get to know my peers and hear their authentic stories before it becomes too late.

Walter Neff, Baby

For blog post #8, I will be responding to question #1:
1.In film noir, many of the male leads are weak, frustrated men. While you are watching Double       Indemnity, make a mental note of Walter Neff's characteristics. What kind of man is he? What is his relationship like with women?

Walter Neff is the lead male character in Billy Wilder's film noir movie, Double Indemnity. Fred Macmurray plays the successful insurance salesman of Walter Neff in the movie. The character himself is intriguing because it seems as though he is a classic example of appearance versus reality. At first glance, Walter Neff does not seem to fall under the typical characteristics of male leads in film noirs because he is neither weak nor frustrated, but rather strong and brilliant. His strength is displayed through confidence and success at his job. He appears to be well-off, thus resulting in confidence when talking to other characters. For example, his use of the hackneyed word "baby" is ridiculous but shows he holds confidence and is able to speak easily. Furthermore, Neff does not appear to fall under the typical characteristics of male leads in film noirs because he is brilliant. His brilliance is displayed through his extremely clever plan to murder to Phyllis' husband. This shows he is strong, not weak.

Although Walter Neff may appear to be strong, there exists an internal struggle which portrays him to be weak, therefore lending himself to the common characteristics of male roles in film noirs. The first and most obvious reason for his weakness is his murders, and the reasons behind them. Neff commits two murders: one of Phyllis' husband, and one of Phyllis herself. Murder, although requiring significant strength to complete, is a result of an underlying weakness. Neff;s first weakness is Phyllis Dietrichson, played by Barbara Stanwyck. When he first meets her, he absolutely falls head-over-heels for her. Neff gained the knowledge that Phyllis wanted to murder her husband when she asked him if she could take out an accident policy on her husband's life without him knowing. He originally says he does not wish to be a part of it, but later falls to his weakness and submits by devising an ingenious plan to murder her husband. Phyllis is an extremely strong weakness of his, which reoccurs later along with his jealousy. Walter Neff discovers that Phyllis has been seeing another man, and plots to kill Phyllis as a result. His jealousy is his weakness, and lends him to become frustrated, resulting in the murder of Phyllis. Now, we, as the audience begin to recognize Neff;s weaknesses as he turns into a typical male lead in film noir.

Along with the murders, Walter Neff is weak for several other reasons. First off, his absurd amount of trust in individuals which he has newly met shows he is weak. He relies on Phyllis with a murder which shows his significant trust, a trust he obviously should not have had. Neff is also weak for his actions seen with Lola, Phyllis' step-daughter. Neff feels extreme guilt and responsibility over Lola, further promoting his weakness and frustration as a character. Although Walter Neff is seemingly strong in appearance and actions seen throughout most of Double Indemnity, he is actually rather weak and frustrated, typical to the conventions of film noir. His internal weaknesses lead him to his ultimate downfall: murder.