Blog #14 (3/31/19)
Freebie:)
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Friday, March 15, 2019
Blog #13 (03/15/19)
When someone first mentions the idea of "The American Dream" I think of something from a movie. It has never been an idea that I thought of to be true or easy to accomplish or even an idea that is very much thought about anymore. It was definitely something that was much more prominent in the 1900s, primarily after the United States was brought out of the Great Depression. It was an ideal that focused on the concept of wealth and constant happiness throughout the lives of the American people. When I picture someone living the American Dream, I picture a man living in an obnoxiously large mansion, with a butler an who plays cricket and also has a kind wife and some children. I am not sure why but that is what I envision. It has never been an idea that I thought was still present in todays society nor was it one that was ever truly accomplished by the American people. If I was to define the term wealth, being a key part of the American Dream, I would define it as having more money than you really need or know what to do with. It would be the people that make a ridiculous amount of money, sometimes for doing big things, sometimes it is for doing absolutely nothing (like the Kardashians).
Often times, there are negative connotations around those who are considered to be wealthy/rich. They are seen as snobs and their children are often seen as spoiled. However, I have learned from personal experiences with those who have that title, that is frequently not the case. It is all dependent upon how those people are raised and what they choose to do with money. There are also negative connotations surrounding the term poor. If you are poor people well sometimes look at you with pity or like you need to be a charity case. There is also the idea that poor people can be found on the sides or streets begging for money. These connotations are also often times diminished once you meet people who live below the poverty line but still manage to make the most of their lives. I think that life would most definitely be better if you were wealthy rather than poor, and I want to be wealthy when I am older, but there is nothing against those who could be considered poor. There is nothing wrong with it and I still think you can live a happy life, it just takes more mental strength to maintain a positive attitude than it does when you have lots of money.
When I look at my life now, I am obviously living a pretty good life. I attend a good school and I have a roof over my head and plenty of food to eat but I want to have more when I live on my own and have my own family one day. I want to have enough money to start a savings fund for all of my children, to go on fun trips with my family, do things that my parents never had enough money to really do. I think that wealth is a good thing as long as you use your money in good ways and not having poor attitudes, such as acting superior. I think that this viewpoint is also somewhat similar to what can be found within The Great Gatsby. Nick is the narrator of the entire story and it comes to be very clear that he looks up to Gatsby and quite frequently admires him and his lifestyle. This is primarily due to the amount of money he has which allows him to live a great life and endorse the lives of others. This can be seen in chapter 3 of the novel when the reader is introduced to the fabulous parties that Gatsby throws every Friday. "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars." (3.1) I think this quote from the first paragraph of chapter 3 does a great job of depicting Gatsby's parties that he would throw. They were filled with people and drinks and a fun time. All of this was possible due to the excessive amounts of money that Gatsby has. He is able to throw these very fun parties and invite copious amounts of people over.
I think that Fitzgerald placed much emphasis on the idea of the American Dream that it almost became its own separate character within the story line. I think this was done due to the context surrounding the time when the novel was written. The Great Gatsby was published n 1925, 4 years before the start of the Great Depression, but the ending of World War I. This was a time when Americans were excited by the end of such a horrible war and the economy was finally starting to recover from repercussions of the war. The citizens realized this was now a time where they could make and get money, pushing them into a great level of prosperity. Of course much of this money was diminished by the start of the Great Depression but the idea of the American Dream still continued to prosper. The idea of one day living the American Dream was one that the American people were able to live by and push to achieve. It was the ultimate goal of the time period. By doing so, it was believed they would live a great life with little to no trouble.
When someone first mentions the idea of "The American Dream" I think of something from a movie. It has never been an idea that I thought of to be true or easy to accomplish or even an idea that is very much thought about anymore. It was definitely something that was much more prominent in the 1900s, primarily after the United States was brought out of the Great Depression. It was an ideal that focused on the concept of wealth and constant happiness throughout the lives of the American people. When I picture someone living the American Dream, I picture a man living in an obnoxiously large mansion, with a butler an who plays cricket and also has a kind wife and some children. I am not sure why but that is what I envision. It has never been an idea that I thought was still present in todays society nor was it one that was ever truly accomplished by the American people. If I was to define the term wealth, being a key part of the American Dream, I would define it as having more money than you really need or know what to do with. It would be the people that make a ridiculous amount of money, sometimes for doing big things, sometimes it is for doing absolutely nothing (like the Kardashians).
Often times, there are negative connotations around those who are considered to be wealthy/rich. They are seen as snobs and their children are often seen as spoiled. However, I have learned from personal experiences with those who have that title, that is frequently not the case. It is all dependent upon how those people are raised and what they choose to do with money. There are also negative connotations surrounding the term poor. If you are poor people well sometimes look at you with pity or like you need to be a charity case. There is also the idea that poor people can be found on the sides or streets begging for money. These connotations are also often times diminished once you meet people who live below the poverty line but still manage to make the most of their lives. I think that life would most definitely be better if you were wealthy rather than poor, and I want to be wealthy when I am older, but there is nothing against those who could be considered poor. There is nothing wrong with it and I still think you can live a happy life, it just takes more mental strength to maintain a positive attitude than it does when you have lots of money.
When I look at my life now, I am obviously living a pretty good life. I attend a good school and I have a roof over my head and plenty of food to eat but I want to have more when I live on my own and have my own family one day. I want to have enough money to start a savings fund for all of my children, to go on fun trips with my family, do things that my parents never had enough money to really do. I think that wealth is a good thing as long as you use your money in good ways and not having poor attitudes, such as acting superior. I think that this viewpoint is also somewhat similar to what can be found within The Great Gatsby. Nick is the narrator of the entire story and it comes to be very clear that he looks up to Gatsby and quite frequently admires him and his lifestyle. This is primarily due to the amount of money he has which allows him to live a great life and endorse the lives of others. This can be seen in chapter 3 of the novel when the reader is introduced to the fabulous parties that Gatsby throws every Friday. "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars." (3.1) I think this quote from the first paragraph of chapter 3 does a great job of depicting Gatsby's parties that he would throw. They were filled with people and drinks and a fun time. All of this was possible due to the excessive amounts of money that Gatsby has. He is able to throw these very fun parties and invite copious amounts of people over.
I think that Fitzgerald placed much emphasis on the idea of the American Dream that it almost became its own separate character within the story line. I think this was done due to the context surrounding the time when the novel was written. The Great Gatsby was published n 1925, 4 years before the start of the Great Depression, but the ending of World War I. This was a time when Americans were excited by the end of such a horrible war and the economy was finally starting to recover from repercussions of the war. The citizens realized this was now a time where they could make and get money, pushing them into a great level of prosperity. Of course much of this money was diminished by the start of the Great Depression but the idea of the American Dream still continued to prosper. The idea of one day living the American Dream was one that the American people were able to live by and push to achieve. It was the ultimate goal of the time period. By doing so, it was believed they would live a great life with little to no trouble.
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Blog #12 (3/3/19)
IOC Link: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0Tv6isPqAJL
WARNING!!! I AM EXTREMELY SICK AND SOUND LIKE A BOY AND ALSO HAD A LOT OF COUGHING ATTACKS DURING THIS! I AM SO SORRY!!!
Self Grading:
Criterion A-
I would probably give myself a 5 on this criterion. It honestly took a very long time to do this and plan it out because I really cannot remember anything about The Handmaids Tale or what it was even kind of about. I do that I included a good amount of references to what was happening though and I knew what the chapter was about but struggled to relate this particular section to the entire book.
Criterion B-
For this section, I would give myself a 4 or 5. I really struggled to find many literary features. It was a struggle and I really only touched on basic ones that probably everyone mentions. Usually I am able to find lots in a passage but could not find many in this one.
Criterion C-
My organization I thought was decent. I think maybe a 3 or 4. I jumped around between thoughts and ideas sometimes, but that was mostly because I would start coughing and completely lose my train of thought. There is definitely some work to be done on making sure that everything flows.
Criterion D-
For my own language I would give myself a 3. There was not a high level of vocabulary used and I was very hard to understand due to my sounding like a literal man. So hopefully that part will be better for the actual IOC.
Overall I think that there is so much I could do better and that reading the packets that we got in English would really help me next time.
IOC Link: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0Tv6isPqAJL
WARNING!!! I AM EXTREMELY SICK AND SOUND LIKE A BOY AND ALSO HAD A LOT OF COUGHING ATTACKS DURING THIS! I AM SO SORRY!!!
Self Grading:
Criterion A-
I would probably give myself a 5 on this criterion. It honestly took a very long time to do this and plan it out because I really cannot remember anything about The Handmaids Tale or what it was even kind of about. I do that I included a good amount of references to what was happening though and I knew what the chapter was about but struggled to relate this particular section to the entire book.
Criterion B-
For this section, I would give myself a 4 or 5. I really struggled to find many literary features. It was a struggle and I really only touched on basic ones that probably everyone mentions. Usually I am able to find lots in a passage but could not find many in this one.
Criterion C-
My organization I thought was decent. I think maybe a 3 or 4. I jumped around between thoughts and ideas sometimes, but that was mostly because I would start coughing and completely lose my train of thought. There is definitely some work to be done on making sure that everything flows.
Criterion D-
For my own language I would give myself a 3. There was not a high level of vocabulary used and I was very hard to understand due to my sounding like a literal man. So hopefully that part will be better for the actual IOC.
Overall I think that there is so much I could do better and that reading the packets that we got in English would really help me next time.
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