lol, internet

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven’t written in a while. I still love you all.<33

xoxo,

ryan :-*

Well, semester one has come to a close. This year’s English class has been drastically different from last year’s. Part of what has made it so different is the open ended discussions during class. This time is very valuable, because it is time that isn’t dictated by the teacher, and valuable insights are tossed back and forth. I enjoyed all three novels we read this semester. All three were very different, yet similar in many ways. The adaptations made learning another “Shakespeare play” much easier. The whole blogging aspect of the course has added lots of functionality, and enabled out of class communication. This has been essential to discussions. The difference is night and day. The course has been incredible so far, and I really have enjoyed every part of it.

For next semester, I hope to continue using the blogs with more novels. Hopefully, we can dig into some new themes and ideas. Maybe we’ll encounter some more controversy, as that has proved itself so enjoyable with Huck Finn. =)

Peace out, first semester.

It’s official: I have no life. I know only three satire posts were required, but I came across an animation the other day that was a perfect example of satire. The film is called ‘The Child That Smelt Funny’ and it’s from a website called Fat-Pie. The site itself features many cartoons which are highly abstract, and often deal with the theme of mental illness, and surreal absurdity. Basically, the films are right out of an afternoon nap nightmare (with a slight headache). David Firth, the animator, claims that some of the films are acid-influenced. Whatever–point being, they’re offensive to some people.

Without further adieu, The Child That Smelt Funny. You will need Flash Player to view the cartoon. In a nutshell, it’s all about media censorship, and on some levels, the [ridiculous] desire to create a perfect, conflict-free society. After learning about satire from this unit, I’ve noticed that it’s all over the place. The first time I saw this cartoon was before we started the Huck Finn unit, and it wasn’t until after viewing it again that I really picked up on the satirical piece. Enjoy…

After reading the interview with Borat, I think it’s difficult to ‘label’ the movie. While on the one hand, I believe it’s a brilliant satirical production, I can also relate to the civilians of Kazakhstan who may be unable to overlook the ’satircal’ element because it’s their country that is being ‘joked’ about. I know that regardless of the message sent from the production, I’d still take some offense it was my country. I believe that if more civilians are educated with the movie’s true values, there would be less conflict. The cautious, boring side of me says that there are “less hurtful” ways to bring across the point, but what the hell, I pissed myself when I saw Borat.

The article:

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5861886&nav=4QcS 

The reaction/summary:

Basically, black employees at a New York manufacturing company filed a lawsuit after employers ‘turned the other cheek’ when racist remarks were made. The result of the lawsuit was $250,000 to be split among the abused employees. In addition, the company fired the people who made the racist remarks, stating ‘they won’t tolerate conduct that violates its policies against discrimination and harassment.’

I think it’s good that these men stood up for themselves, and it’s good that the company took action (eventually). It’s small things like this that often go unnoticed, but are crucial in the battle against racism.

I decided to take a look at several of the narratives.

From Isaac Mason:

After reading excerpts from Isaac Mason’s story, a few things struck me about him. He came off as genuinely kind and caring, even towards his masters. This one anecdote really stayed with me:

One Friday morning, after being there about four weeks, I well remember the day, I was busy at work on my hand-irons. My mistress came out and wanted to know what I had been doing all the morning. I turned round and looked at her, and saw that her face was awfully red; there was something wrong but I could not divine it. She hurriedly went out of the room where I was, into the back room, and got her cowhide; without the least ceremony she lit on me - the same as a hungry hawk on an innocent chicken. Her descent upon me was so sudden that I did not know what to do. I begged, I entreated her to stop; but she grew worse and worse. The blows came faster and faster, and every one brought the blood streaming from my head and back till I was covered from head to foot. Being a large, fleshy woman, she at last became fatigued and exhausted, and had to quit her inhuman chastisement. I was so unmercifully beaten that I was unfit for work that day.

I figured that the slaves, after merciless beating and horrific treatment, would not care enough to even consider addressing an observation such as the one above. It’s sick and plain cruel that he was beaten as terribly as he was.

My father, as I said before, was a free man and had the privilege of purchasing my mother and my sister, who was then about a year old, for $600. My mother at this time was in very ill health, and it was thought by many she could not live very long. My father not being able to pay the amount asked, had to find a sufficient security before he could obtain a bill of sale.

This quote especially surprised me. I knew that at this time, there were Africans who were free, but I did not think they could buy back their own friends and family so easily. I was under the impression that the selling of slaves was restricted to the “slave trade” between plantations.

Accordingly, when between five and six years of age, I was assigned to the duties of housework, to wait on my mistress and to run errands. When she went out driving I had to accompany her in the capacity of a page, to open the gates and to take down guard fences for her to drive through.

Knowledge wise, this was the last thing that I learned. I thought that until the age of eight, children had no obligations towards their masters. I would have a very hard time justifying running around and making a five year old do my errands, but that’s just me.

Overall, Isaac Mason’s story is a fascinating one, which ends with his freedom.

I thought Jon’s ‘reality’ check and connection with Huck Finn was a good one:

Louis was terribly lonely and had no one to confide in. Personally, I never would have been able to grow up into the person that I am today, without the care given to me by my parents and friends. Louis had neither. These first hand accounts show the feelings associated with slavery and give us some possible reasoning for the extreme actions that they sometimes took. I now have a better understanding of why Jim ran away, having been separated from his family and treated poorly. Also, reading this slave narrative helps me to appreciate Huck’s actions more and more because of how daring he was to actually help a slave escape and put his own life in danger.

We often take for granted things that most slaves were deprived of, such as family and friends. After reading Isaac’s narrative, I also realized how bad it really was to form an alliance with a slave over escaping.

Hoffsauce also had a solid observation:

But in a way, when the slaves sing, its there way of pushing through it all, a way to get their mind off of everything. Singing is the slaves escape from there lives. This article related minorly to Huck Finn, because it does talk about runaway slaves being captured and then sold to other plantations. This, unfortunatly, could be the fate of poor Jim if he were to be caught.

On the one hand, the slave songs can be viewed from Hoffsauce’s POV, but on the other hand, it can also be viewed from the point of the article we read a few weeks ago in class, which stated that instead of tears, the slaves used songs to express their remorse.

That’s all for now, folks.

<will add more quotes from other narratives>

I have not yet started reading the slave narratives, but I already know a fair amount about slavery itself. It occurred all over the world, but it was the most brutal in the United States. Africans were taken from their homes, and were forced into labor by the Americans. Maltreatment and a belief of superiority arose among the Americans, and the economy soon became dependant on it. Slaves were forced to live under very poor conditions, as slave owners spent as little as possible to “maintain” them. Many attempted to escape, and some were successful. Regardless of whether they ever achieved freedom, they still have remarkable stories to share. These narratives will get nice. Hookst!

Instead of finding a single article, I found an entire racist website, which can be found here. (Hope this is okay, Mr. Wasserman) If you are easily offended, please do NOT click that link, and furthermore, please don’t come whining to me about it. Initially, I was disgusted that such a website exists, but after toying with the idea for a while, I came to realize that I wasn’t very surprised at all. I decided to try to dig a little deeper into why I wasn’t very surprised. It was over 100 years ago that slavery came to an end in the United States. A big mistake people often make with this is the assumption that with the end of slavery did NOT come the end of racism. In fact, now that I think about it, racism is a huge part of America, whether anyone chooses to face it or not. From police profiling to economics and job oppurtunities–racism is prevalent in the United States to day. It happens every day; some instances more subtle and subconcious than others. It is something our country will never be able to rid itself of, unless major policies are changed. The actual site above is filled with current events, rewritten from [very different] perspectives than what most are used to. Perhaps this site is an example of satire, and the creators simply want to show Americans that racism is still around and active (probably not, though). We see racism every day, in many different forms. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t so surprised.

I’d like you all to take a look at this video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-921782153890090792&q=Colbert+Report

As mentioned in jwasserman’s original post on Satire, the Colbert Report is a wonderful example of Satire. In the particular clip mentioned above, Colbert goes after a domestic issue: marriage. I really enjoy the Colbert report; it is one of my favorite examples of Satire. Part of what makes it so funny is his ability to casually toss around extremely controversial issues. People use humor to criticize social problems because it’s a form of entertainment, and the general public seems to react well to entertainment. So, instead of writing a 50-page anaylsis filled with constructive cricism of America, people like Jon Stewart capture the attention of the public by using humor instead. It’s more enjoyable, and a more effective way of getting a point across.

Today’s essential question from class was this: Now that we have stirred conflict in Iraq, are we obligated to stay and help find a solution?

I believe we have a full obligation to stay and find a solution. We have radically changed their country, and introduced a new form of government to them, and the USA is currently the backbone of that government. If we pulled out now, the whole thing would collapse, and then there truly would have been no purpose what-so-ever for our involvment in Iraq. It would be unfair to Iraq and other countries involved to prematurely pull out. It would also make us look even worse than we already do, and we’d lose the respect and support of other countries. The mother hen analogy fits the situation perfectly–Iraq is not ready to be kicked out of the nest.