Month: September 2019

PASSION BLOG #4: Battle of the Bunnies

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Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most iconic figures in world history and specifically European history. He was a French military general, and later went on to became France’s first emperor. He is known as one of the world greatest military leaders, and was a force to be reckoned with in his peak. One day, Napoleon wanted to hunt rabbits with his friends. He had just signed a treaty to end a war with Russia, and needed to blow off some steam. The rabbit hunting session took place at Napoleon’s good friend, Baron Berthier’s house in the countryside. In order to prepare, Berthier released cages of captured rabbits into the field while him and his hunter friends lined up for the event. The only problem was that the horde of rabbits were not wild; instead, they were farm rabbits. This mix up caused them to run towards the group of men for food instead of scattering into the forest. The hungry rabbits specifically targeted Napoleon and began to jump on him and run up his legs as he danced around attempting to fling them off. The horde of rabbits almost knocked the smaller-than-average Napoleon down, and he was left with only one choice – to abandon the hunt. He ran to his royal carriage to escape the madness, although he could never escape the embarrassment of almost being taken down by the fuzzy creatures.

This just goes to show that even the most powerful humans on earth are no match for the wildness of the animal kingdom. Napoleon was the most influential figure on Earth during this time period and was feared by many leaders across Europe and even across the seas. What had started as an innocent and fun activity with friends had quickly turned into a terrifying experience. Although Napoleon had won many bloody and difficult battles against some of the strongest military countries in the world, the bunny horde was one striking opponent he never saw coming.

Works Referenced:

When Was Napoleon Attacked by a Horde of Rabbits?

RCL BLOG #4: Intro to Essay

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If you follow music in any capacity, you probably have heard of the breakthrough artist, Lizzo. She first came on to the mainstream radio with her hit single, Truth Hurts. Although this song promotes a lot of important themes, I want to analyze a different song and accompanying video from Lizzo. The song ‘Good as Hell” was released on October 7th , 2016; although, it did not become very mainstream until recently. Now, this song is one of Lizzo’s most listened to tracks. I want to look at the themes present within the lyrics and music video, how they work to produce ethos and pathos, and the Kairos of the timing of the release of the music video and why it became more popular two years after its initial release. Also, I will compare it with Childish Gambino’s “This is America” music video and analyze the audiences the songs targeted and how their objectives differed. Lizzo’s song “Good as Hell” serves as a civic artifact through its ethos, pathos and logos that are exemplified by the themes of body positivity, acceptance and diversity that are expressed in the lyrics and music video. 

RCL BLOG #3: Speech Outline

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  • Themes and Symbols

 

    1. Race/Racial Tensions

    2. Gun Violence

    3. America has become too distracted to deal with the real issues it faces

  2. Gambino’s Look

    1. Confederate pants

    2. Just pants and no shirt to keep the tone casual even though the music video is addressing very heavy and controversial themes

    3. Shows he is just a regular black man in America

      1. He does not try to show off his wealth, success, stardom, etc in the video through his physical appearance

 

  • Key Moments

 

    1. A man is strumming a guitar alone, when he is tied up with a head covering and then Childish Gambino shoots him in the head, after this moment, the song starts quickly

      1. Happy music → Gunshot → Rap style music begins with the line “This is America”

  2. The presence of school children throughout the video

    1. There were kids dancing with Gambino throughout the video, they were the focus, but in the background there was violence and police

      1. Conveys how in America, many black children’s innocence is stolen as they are subjected to the violence of the areas that they grow up in

  3. Shooting of the happy and singing choir mid video

    1. Mid-Video, a black choir is singing and the overall feeling is happy, and then Gambino grabs a gun (semi-automatic rifle) and shoots the entire choir

      1. This is alluding to the Dylann Roof shooting where 9 black people were killed in a church basement

        1. Referencing back to the main idea of gun violence and also racial tensions as Roof is a white supremacist

 

  • Logos in This is America

 

    1. Example of Roof shooting because it was a literal thing that happened and drives the point of gun violence and racial tensions to the forefront of the viewers mind

      1. Point out how he uses historical events to emphasize his point

    2. The Confederate pants Gambino wears

      1. Another historical nod

 

  • Pathos in This is America

 

    1. Most present in this music video and within lyrics

      1. Examples in Lyrics

        1. “You just a Black man in this world, You just a barcode, ayy”

          1. Evokes emotion from the watcher of the video in whether this is true in their experience or if they sympathize with it

            1. Racial tensions theme

        2. “Police be trippin’ now, Yeah, this is America , Guns in my area (word, my area), I got the strap, I gotta carry ’em”

          1. Expresses that because this is America, guns are everywhere and you have to have a gun to protect yourself because gun violence is so likely

          2. Critical of the police 

            1. Reference to police brutality within black communities

 

  • Ethos in This is America

 

    1. Gambino is able to convey and explain the struggles of growing up black in America because he did

      1. His credibility

        1. Grew up in a white suburb of Atlanta and was one of the only African American families in the area

        2. Parents were both Jehovah’s Witnesses

          1. Religious mentions in the video

 

  • Kairos in This is America

 

  1. Video was released May 5, 2018

    1. On this specific day, Joe Biden talked to the media about his visit with John McCain, who was battling brain cancer

      1. McCain said he was concerned for the state of the country and talked about the need for people to stand up and speak out

        1. Childish Gambino did exactly that in his music video

    2. Need more examples of what happened in May 2018*** Add for actual speech

PASSION BLOG #3: 300% Mortality Rate

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If you have ever had to undergo a surgical procedure, you were probably very happy for the anesthesia that knocked you out before the first cut. Unfortunately in the 1800s, patients did not have this luxury. Instead, they were forced to undergo long and painful surgeries while awake and while feeling everything. There were many doctors who wanted to solve this issue, but they did not know how to – until – Dr. Robert Liston. Liston was famous for performing surgery extremely fast, as to reduce the amount of time his patients had to endure the excruciating pain. He wrote about his methods in his 1837 book “Practical Surgeries”. Dr. Liston was very famous for his surgeries and was a well-respected surgeon within the medical field. In 1847, he encountered a patient who needed a leg amputation. Liston performed the surgery in 25 seconds, but his speed came with unforeseen consequences; he ended up cutting his assistant’s fingers off along with the patient’s leg. The room was filled with spectators, who were shocked at what they had seen. One man was so frazzled, that he dropped to the ground and died of shock and freight. The procedure proved to be wildly unsuccessful, as both the patient and Liston’s assistant died of sepsis. Thus, the surgery was left with a 300% mortality rate, and remains the only surgery in history to have reached that percent. Although this infamous procedure was a serious damper on Dr. Liston’s success rate; he still remained at the top of his field. His death rate was very low compared to other surgeons, and his tactic of performing extremely fast worked relatively well.

Even though something like this happening in today’s society would be insane, Liston’s procedures were a revolutionary force in the medical field at the time. This story just goes to show how far science and technology has evolved in recent years. Also, I think Dr. Liston would be shocked to learn that surgeons generally take between two and three hours for a leg amputation now.

 

Works Referenced:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/robert-liston

RCL BLOG #2: 9/11 Bullhorn Speech

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Yesterday was the eighteenth year anniversary of the terrorist attacks carried out against the innocent people in the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. There were 3,000 casualties in the attack, many of whom were brave first responders who ran into the crashing buildings to save others. After the attack, President George W. Bush had the difficult task of addressing the country. I believe his bullhorn speech at ground zero of the attacks is one of the most impactful presidential speeches to this day.

This particular speech was not given behind a camera in the Oval Office or while wearing a nice suit and it was not very long, but he did inspire many. Three days after the attacks, Bush visited ground zero with a bullhorn in hand and started his speech by saying

“Thank you all. I want you all to know — it can’t go any louder (referring to the bullhorn) — I want you all to know that America today is on bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. The nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens”.

After this, the crowd yelled that they could not hear him, to which he cleverly declared “I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon”. Bush directly addressed the crowd by saying that he heard them. It implied that he felt their pain, and that he understood. Although his immediate audience was those helping in search and rescue efforts at ground zero, his words spread and affected the families of those killed, the survivors, the country, the world, and even the terrorists who carried out this cruel attack. President Bush did give a speech on September 11th from the Oval Office, although I think that speech is often overshadowed by his Bullhorn speech which felt more personal and intimate. Bush delivered his short message at ground zero to a somewhat rowdy and certainly passionate group of people while he, himself had his arms wrapped around a firefighter who had been working around the clock after the attack. He was dressed in casual attire, as to not stand out and show that he was with the people. In his speech, Bush had to express his sadness at the loss the country had experienced, thank the volunteers for their time, and promise to exact revenge against the evil people who had harmed the United States in such a profound manner. I think it was necessary for the tragedy to be addressed in person at the time it was. The overall feeling in the country was pure disbelief and a sense of hopelessness. The people at ground zero, and the country in general needed to know that their president was feeling the same, and was going to be strong where they felt weak. President Bush made absolute sure to mention the terrorists in his speech and how they were going to feel the burning wrath of America. The United States is the most powerful country, and there was no way that anyone was going to get away with such an act of evil. In a concise follow-up speech given three days after the events of 9/11, Bush was able to make the important argument and bold statement that the country would get through it, that the nation was standing together and in solidarity for the lives taken on the tragic morning of September 11th, 2001 in New York City.

 

 

 

PASSION BLOG #2: Wrong City Dude!

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Once upon a time, there was a vicious Viking named Hastein. You know he was a cool dude because he only had a first name. (ex. Cher, Moses, etc). In the mid to late 800s CE, he traveled around Europe while raiding costal cities and taking whatever he wanted with his fellow Vikings. He eventually made his way to the Mediterranean, where he decided that he wanted conquer Rome. At this time, Rome was the most famous city in the world. This was sure to be a difficult task. And you know what made it even harder for Hastein? The fact that he did not know where the hell Rome was! He just kinda looked around the general area that he thought it would be, and eventually he stumbled across a city that contained a lot of marble. Well, surely this must be Rome he thought! He knew that he had to get in the walled city, by devising a plan, because he did not have enough men and weapons to pose a physical threat. Hastein had one of his men go into the town and tell the bishop that their king, Hastein had died. Oh no! They claimed that he had died after recently converting to Christianity and that his dying wish was to have a proper Christian burial. What was the bishop supposed to say? No? He had to say yes, so he invited the Vikings inside the walls and said that he would conduct the ceremony. Hastein’s men carried him beyond the walls inside a coffin, which he promptly leapt out of with a sword in hand. He killed the bishop first (rude!) and then began to pillage the city with his men. After the madness, he proudly declared himself the “Conquer of Rome”. Except, he had not actually conquered Rome. A townsperson let him know that he was not in Rome, he was actually in Luni… 250 miles away from Rome. Now, that’s just a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.Works Consulted:

When the Viking Hastein Tried to Invade Rome

PASSION BLOG #1: Brainstorming Passions

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There are many topics that fascinate me and that I could say that I am “passionate” about. Although, figuring out what I wanted to write about throughout the class proved to be a more difficult task than I originally thought it would be. I began to think about what I had done the previous weekend which was watching movies on Netflix. Therefore, I came up with the idea of centering my passion blog around Netflix movies and what message they are attempting to send. Netflix is a streaming app that is loved by many around the world, yet it is most appealing to the younger generations, who have grown up with it. I have found that many rely on Netflix only, as the trend of buying cable has decreased in recent years. I think that the most interesting part about Netflix is that they are not only a streaming app; they also have their own “Netflix Originals”, that have been massively popular in the past years. For my passion blog, I wanted to explore the different Netflix Originals that the company have been producing. In each post, I would chose a movie to watch and discuss what it was about and the message it was trying to convey. Netflix knows their app is primarily used by young people, so the content they are producing should match that. I want to see if the ideas and values being expressed in different movies are values that we want to be instilled in new generations who grow up with this influential app. Each week, I could dive into the meaning of each movie, whether it was good or bad and even create a rating system that would be unique to my blog. It would be a summary of the plot, a critique of the movie, and lastly, an analysis into the message of the film and whether or not I personally thought it was a good message to send to the young generations that often engage with these movies.

After brainstorming what I did in my free time, and how that could relate to my passion; I began to think about what fascinated me the most throughout high school and my education in general. I remembered that my favorite class in high school was my AP European History class that I took my senior year. I just thought all of the history was so interesting and I felt like I was learned so many new things every day. One of my favorite parts of the class was when my teacher would tell us these crazy, and sometimes even amusing stories from history. That is when I started to think about a passion blog idea that I could derive from that. My overall passion is learning about history, but I could center each blog post around different events or stories. They could be crazy stories, funny ones, maybe even a few sad or inspiring tales. I would love for someone to read something that I wrote and get the feeling that they learned something they had never knew before. I also thought this was a good idea for a passion blog because it would allow me to further explore what I love. I would enjoy the process of writing the blog each week because I would be able to research and learn about weird historical events right alongside my readers. For the overall layout of each post, I would want to contain a summary of what happened–which would be most of the post– and then a small section at the end where I would describe my reaction to the story. For my writing style, I would like to keep it lighthearted and funny because I think that a style such as that is much more appealing to younger people, who may not be as engaged with history as they could be and who often find it boring.

 

RCL BLOG #1: Civic Artifact

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A civic artifact is any object that can engage an audience within a specific time period. More times than not, these artifacts transcend the periods in which they were unveiled and can stir up civic engagement for years after. Civic artifacts can be expressed in many different ways; they may be a physical object, a message, an illustration, etc. I will be talking about the iconic Uncle Sam, “I want you for U.S. Army” poster that circulated heavily after the United States declared war against Germany in 1917. 

The poster depicts Uncle Sam –who is a civic artifact himself– pointing at the reader with an intense and meaningful look. The image quickly spread across the country and stirred up a feeling of obligation to participate. Men began to enlist in the army at a rapid rate. Eventually, the image began to fade from the public eye after the signing of the armistice in 1918. Although, this was not the end for Uncle Sam or the “I want you for U.S. Army” message. Only a mere 23 years later, in 1941; the United States got involved in a new war with the start of WWII. The illustration of Uncle Sam and the message that accompanied it again began to pop up all over the United States. This, of course, had the same effect and lead to an increase in enlistment in the army. The red, white and blue colors that are featured in the poster and as Uncle Sam’s clothing, Uncle Sam’s grimace and intentional pointed finger and the boldness of the word “YOU” in the poster all work together to persuade the audience. This image and message remains a historical civic artifact that will remind people of the sacrifices made for their country and the freedom that we enjoy everyday. Today, people all over the United States, and all over the world, know this poster and understand the meaning of it. They know the history behind the image and will always look back to it as a symbol of American values and traditions. 

Sources Referenced:

“I Want YOU!” – The Story Behind One of the Most Famous Wartime Posters in History