Melody

This semester started off with a bang with the evil unit. This was definitely my favorite unit and I loved reading all of the interviews and articles. I liked applying the evil to history and today. After that, the Macbeth unit. I have never really liked Shakespeare and I probably never will. To be brutally honest, I really dislike Shakespeare. There, I said it. I have never enjoyed reading Shakespeare, I find it the most boring piece of literature one could ever read. But that’s just my opinion. Watching and reading all the different versions really put Macbeth into context and showed that a play is so much more than a play. It’s sometimes interpreted by so many different people of different backgrounds, into different languages and environments. The amount of changes you can make to an original work and still keep the basic elements is amazing. Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), Macbeth was not my favorite book. After that was A Lesson Before Dying. I felt that we really breezed through that book. I could be wrong, but it seemed like we spent the least amount of time investigating this book. This also was not one of my favorites. It was a pretty depressing book, especially in the end. I felt as though Grant Wiggins had not really mad as huge of an impact as he could have. It was incredible to change one life, but he could have taken that one step further and encouraged education even a little more, somehow. Anyway, Huck Finn was a great read. I guess it’s hard for kids our age to read it and really understand it, but it is good for us to read it now and be able to compare what we got out of it if we read it later as adults. I am sure there will be a completely different view of the book if we read it when we’re older. I learned a lot this semester. English never fails to amaze me because of how in-depth you can get with every book and every theme. Now and then I always think “what if the guy just wrote this without meaning anything?” but I suppose in the long run it’s more valuable to recognize the book’s themes now than when we’re in college. This coming semester I hope to read more (and free-read more) and maybe do some creative writing, which we’ll get to do pretty soon. I’m really excited for this semester to start.

3:10 p.m. January 11, 2007

GREENWOOD, Miss. – A videotaped scuffle between a black teenager and a white police officer who twice pulled his gun in a crowded high school hall has prompted a $1 million lawsuit, accusations of racism and calls for the officer’s dismissal. The Dec. 6 school surveillance tapes that show the officer pointing his gun at the back of the unarmed teenager’s head were released Friday as part of discovery in student James Marshall’s lawsuit.

This article is proof that racism is still a very large part of today’s world. This article was posted only a few days ago. Racism is very much existent, especially in cities where racism has been a reoccurring theme. The fact that the police officer was white while the teenager was African American incites feelings of racism because the white person is the “bigger, stronger” individual, with a weapon, threatening the life of an African American. Sound familiar? Incidents like this are very common with policemen. It horrifies me that they think they can just pull a gun on anybody and nobody will think twice about it just because they are the ones “in charge.” Just because someone is a policeman does not mean they can threaten just anybody, especially in a crowded high school. News like this upsets me, but also intrigues me. How far can humans go before they realize what they are doing is so taboo it will make the news? How far will humans go anyway? Racism can definitely tie into our other theme of evil, where racism can blind someone, making them go into senseless rage and do things they wouldn’t normally do. People stop and stare, and wonder how someone can be so ridiculously twisted in their thinking, but sometimes the intense feeling of racism can do that to someone. I could never, ever imagine hating someone so much just because the color of their skin.

Well, it’s amazing how a British guy can pull of an amazing Kazakhstai accent. The personality that Cohen has created really blows my mind. Listening to him on NPR, a very well respected and prestigious radio station, changes my opinion of him. He is really a well versed person and can explain what he was trying to say in his movies without trying to promote a seemingly stupid, immature movie. He really seems to understand his work and why he does what he does. His passion really backs him up and makes him seem more respectable. He says that his movie can be considered one of the best comedy movies, and there were many standing ovations. He says it is effective because it is showing the really horrible delusions some people have, which is really the essence of satire. For example, he says that Borat claims that Jews planned the attack on 9/11. But he also believes that Jews can shift their shapes into cockroaches, which is clearly impossible. It’s amazing how much more effective satire is when it is performed or told by someone who understands what satire is all about. Clearly, Sacha Baron Cohen has stepped back to Square 1 to review what satire is all about, which not only makes a funny movie, but drives his opinions home even more emphatically.

In it, please address whether (and how) the narrative enhanced your understanding of slavery in America, how it might relate to Huck Finn and Twain, and any other connections you can make. In that second post, quoting from and linking to your narrative, as well as a post from another ENG213 student (plus, if you find any other resources, some of them) will make this much more effective.

The first few paragraphs of this narrative are pretty shocking. Annie L Burton writes:

The memory of my happy, care-free childhood days on the plantation, with my little white and black companions, is often with me…Our days were spent roaming about from plantation to plantation, not knowing or caring what things were going on in the great world outside our little realm. Planting time and harvest time were happy days for us.

It’s amazing to me because this is the first narrative I have ever read by a slave that describes her days a slave “happy and care-free.” This really opens my eyes to the varying degrees of slavery that was implemented in that time. Apparently, some slave owners were kinder than others:

I owe a great deal to Mis’ Mary for her good training of me, in honesty, uprightness and truthfulness. She told me that when I went out into the world all white folks would not treat me as she had, but that I must not feel bad about it, but just do what I was employed to do, and if I wasn’t satisfied, to go elsewhere; but always to carry an honest name.

This relates to Huck Finn in the idea that Jim’s owner, Miss Watson, was not particularly kind to Jim. Jim tells Huck, “Ole missus-dat’s Miss Watson-she pecks on me all de time, en treats me pooty rough…” Annie’s foster family was very nice to her, gave her an allowance, and taught her how to read, write , and cook.

Annie also writes that she “never knew what shoes were until I got big enough to earn them myself.” This little detail is in there, and she still seems to have enjoyed her youth on the plantation. It makes me wonder that if someone is raised a certain way, they have such low expectations that many things can satisfy them. For example, a child raised today in the USA would be upset without shoes, but in a third world country they might be grateful just to have clothes. Many parts of the blog is also described with little or no emotion, but I think this makes the narrative much more powerful. When Annie is describing her father, she says:

I will venture to say that I only saw my father a dozen times, when I was about four years old; and those times I saw him only from a distance, as he was driving by the great house of our plantation. Whenever my mistress saw him going by, she would take me by the hand and run out upon the piazza, and exclaim, ” Stop there, I say! Don’t you want to see and speak to and caress your darling child? She often speaks of you and wants to embrace her dear father. See what a bright and beautiful daughter she is, a perfect picture of yourself. Well, I declare, you are an affectionate father.” I well remember that whenever my mistress would speak thus and upbraid him, he would whip up his horse and get out of sight and hearing as quickly as possible…I never spoke to him, and cannot remember that he ever noticed me, or in any way acknowledged me to be his child.

This entire description is used with any emotion or feeling. However, this also lets the reader connect and form their own opinions without being influenced. Annie wrote a very long narrative that described her experiences before, during, and after slaves were freed. It is really interesting to read her life and see how different it was from mine, or anyone else’s today. The change from slavery to freedom must have been joyful and confusing at the same time.

I plan to read the slave narrative of Annie L. Burton. It is entitled Memories of Childhood’s Slavery Days. Just from the title, I can expect that I’m going to be reading some very disturbing material. I already know a ton of information about slavery, but there is always more to learn. The detail that strikes me the most is the story of the woman who stayed in between some boards in a wall for seven years just to escape slavery. She would watch her children get whipped through a peephole. It also said that the highest place in her alcove was about 4 feet high. From what I hear, slavery was awful, but I really do not know how bad it was since I don’t have a first hand account.

In this narrative I expect to hear slavery from a child’s point of view. I don’t expect anything mild or pleasant, because slavery is far from that. Most narratives I have read before contain vivid details. I like reading them because they make me thankful for my life and reveal how horrifying slavery was.

Racism. Such a powerful word. One of the most important things I always think about when I hear racism is that racism affects all races, not just African-Americans. In fact, if you were to look at everyone’s first racism post, you will see that the majority of them (including mine) are regarding African Americans. Racism against this certain race is such a prevalent theme in our history and our society that we often only focus on this race. I think this is a trend that has happened from white and blacks constantly creating friction through (most importantly) slavery, police brutality (involving race), the fact that there are very few African American leaders comapred to Caucasian leaders in this country. Also, I agree that racism is definitely more than just a mentality. Racism can also include actions and, like the article said, opression.

In this sketch, Colbert argues for the reinstation of the draft. He mentions Iraq and some statistics to influence his opinion. The “Word” shows some subtitles that can possibly communicate what Colbert is really trying to say. For the completely objective viewer, the subtitles are a helpful tool that explain Colbert’s true meaning. Unfortunately, some of these references were too outdated for me to understand. I’m sure they are funny. Colbert is being satirical because he makes fun of the draft making it seem like a completely understandable idea, while the rest of the subtitles convey ridiculous and blatant comments to take away from his argument. Anyway, Colbert really hits home with satire.

NEW YORK (CNN) — The Rev. Al Sharpton said Wednesday he refused to accept an apology from actor Michael Richards, who spouted a racist rant at a comedy club last week.

Everyone remembers Michael Richards’ rage on stage recently, where he said some horrendous things and seemed like he had totally lost it. The video of him doing this online can be seen here: [youtube]U7MqfmBEghM[/youtube]

Just to forewarn you, it’s not pretty. You can see why this has created such a controversy. Michael Richard’s said some things that frankly, I think cannot be apologized for, no matter how much you stress your regret. Even for people who generally do not hold grudges, it was just so unbelievably rude and almost inhuman. The Rev. Al Sharpton, although he did not accept Richards’ apology, he agreed to meet with Richards’ and try to address racism.

Richards’ apology can be found here: [youtube]17YpVKf1ro0[/youtube]

Racism can show who a person really is, and what level they will stoop to to show their hatred for someone else just because of the color of their skin. There are little kids more dignified than Richards that would still know simply not to say the things he said. Racism can come from many places, but it seems that the most common source of racism comes not from the pure hatred of another race, but from some internal problem of the person, whether they feel insecure or cornered or maybe even weak, that they need to lash out at another group to make themselves feel worthy or “powerful.” Unfortunately, this is definitely not a good method to solving your own issues, but racism is still a very prevalent topic in today’s society, because people turn to it to avoid facing the problems they have of their own.

The genre of writing known as “satire” encorporates elements of the human experience that verify human existencein a way that vindicates the vivacity of life as experienced through the senses. Readers or audience members, depending upon the medium through which the satire unfolds, often connect on a personal level, expressing through comedy the common man’s frustrations with society, politics, and human interactions, i.e. the status quo. Satire is one of the most popular forms of comedic entertainment because almost everybody can relate to it. Borat is considered satire because it reveals deep social problems in our world in a very candid and lucid way. It is funny because it examines situations that are either true or seem true. I enjoy satire because it ridicules common themes of life. Shows like Family Guy and South Park are hilarious because they make fun of themes in daily life. My personal favorite is Family Guy.

A while back, I was able to see The Tempest, performed by the GHS acting group. I was very impressed by the set design, scenery, costumes, and of course, the acting. I have always had trouble deciphering Shakespearean language, and this play was no different. I didn’t really understand the plot, but I was amazed at how many lines the actors had to memorize. I also recognized several elements in the play that Shakespeare likes to use. For instance, there were several humorous scenes and I know Shakespeare often made funny parts in his plays. There were some very dramatic scenes, and there needed to be comic relief. The Tempest is a very good balance of both serious and silly scenes. Another thing I noticed was there were a lot of mystical creatures and spirits, something Shakespeare was a fan of. There are always witches, goblins, fairies, or something of the sort that makes the play somewhat mythical. The Tempest was a good reflection of Shakespeare’s classic style (it was also his last play). I enjoyed watching the GHS students perform The Tempest in a modern, unique way.