Satire

CGS, Norwalk, CT- In a statement released by Mrs. McCarthy, director of the Center for  Global Studies; there will be no holiday fun or celebrations in CGS in the month of December. She is quoted as saying “The holiday season is nothing but a distraction that has no place in school.” “Learning is the top priority here and takes precedence over everything else. CGS refuses to acknowledge the Christmas holiday because studies have shown that 90% of students use the excuse of holiday preparations for not being able to complete their work or for being distracted in class. Again, we feel that the best way to curb this problem is to eliminate any holiday references or associations in CGS this December and treat it like any normal month.” While these students may have visions of Sugar Plumb fairies dancing in their head and wait patiently for Christmas time, it will be business as usual at the Center for Global studies; essay writing and tests. On another note, statistics have shown that CGS has the highest number of essays written per student in the month of December out of any school in the state of Connecticut, particularly between the days of December 14^th through the 19^th.

Khomeini's Speech #16; Rhetorical Analysis Outline

           

Purpose- Inform the people of Iran that the Iranian government is harming them and to convince them to stop following the current government.

Audience- All people of Iran, especially Iranian government, Religious leaders, Americans/ American Government

Speaker- Khomeini

Context- This speech was given at the Imbd conference , during the start of more political unrest in Iran because of the Capitulation Bill and general westernization of the country.

What the speaker is saying- The Capitulation Bill is a terrible thing that now makes Iranians even lower than American dogs. It’s up to the religious leaders and others to stand up against the bill and make changes in Iranian society because things are going in the wrong direction.

Techniques Used:

Appeals to pathos- ex: “They have sold us, they have sold our independence, and they still light up the city and dance.”  This technique is persuasive in general because it tugs at the heart of the listeners and readers of the speech and can manipulate their emotions. This technique is persuasive for this particular audience because there were already some problems with the government at that time which people were angry about, so they were more susceptible to appeals of pathos at the time since emotions were running high.

Appeals to Logos- “ Iran took a 200 million dollar loan from the U.S.” This technique is persuasive in general because it convinces the reader that the speaker has knowledge about what they are talking about and that they can back up everything that they say.  This technique is persuasive for this particular audience because Iran was a dangerous political place at that time and

Anaphora- ex: “Gentleman, I warn you of danger! Iranian army, I warn you of danger! Iranian Politicians, I warn you of danger!” This technique is persuasive in general because it stresses a certain point because it’s repeated, making it more likely for the audience to register it. This technique is persuasive for this particular audience because the repetition acts as a battle cry and a quick way to rally them up.

Rhetorical Question-ex: “Are we to keep silent again and not say a word?” This technique is persuasive in general because it gets the reader/listener thinking about how the topic and how it relates to them, usually bringing them toward the speakers point of view. This technique is persuasive for this audience because many of the questions asked are ones the audience already had for themselves. The way Khomeini raises them creates a sense of anger and betrayal, further convincing the audience to side with him as opposed to the government.

Parallel Structure- ex: “This is the conduct of a true cleric; one feeble, aged cleric in the Parliament, a mere heap of bones” This technique is persuasive in general because it breaks up the text and builds a picture of  the points author wants to make. This is persuasive for this audience because it easily distinguishes the important points the author wants to make, making it easy to see where he stood on certain issues.

Claims

Claim- The capitulation bill has left Iranians on a lower level than American dogs.

Evidence- If an American cook hits the Shah with a car, the cook won’t be arrested but if Shah hits an American dog with his car he could be arrested.

Warrant-Iranians deserve better treatment, especially in their own country because they are worth more than dogs. They are just as important as or more important than Americans.

Claim – The Iranian government and country is going in the wrong direction

Evidence- The current government has signed the capitulation bill, which grants all Americans immunity in Iran, girls are being taught by men, boys are being taught by women (A general decline in religious values)

Warrant-This implies that the government before the Shah was filled with noble, great people that defended Iran. For example, Iran was able to defend them against Russia but now due to a weak government they have become dependent on America.

Claim- It’s up to the religious leaders to make changes in the society

Evidence- This broad category can also include religious teachers and students, they need to get angry about the co-ed education and see the clear danger in of what’s happening in the country.

Warrant- Religious leaders (includes religious educators, students, etc.)  hold some of the biggest influence in society since God controls all.

Conclusion- All in all, this was an extremely effective speech. That’s because the author uses so many different writing techniques. Those include anaphora, rhetorical questions, parallel structure, etc. The way Khomeini uses pathos and logos not only creates a an argument that rally’s up his audience but creates a sense of believability since he includes actual numbers to back up what he says about the capitulation bill and the current government.  That makes this speech not only appropriate for that time period but able to serve as an example for speeches in the future.

Womens' Speeches Compare/Contrast

Over the years women have been treated like second class citizens. Due to women like Sojourner Truth, Aung San Suu Kyi  Benazir Bhutto and other, changes in the lives of women have been made. Because of things like the appeals made, claims used, etc.  the speeches of  Benazir Bhutto, Sojourner Truth and   are different and similar in many different ways.

The speeches of Sojourner Truth, Benazir Bhutto and Aung Sang Suu Kyi are similar in a couple different aspects. First and foremost they all use religion as support for their arguments. For example, Suu Kyi says “The Buddhist PAVARANA ceremony at the end of the rainy season retreat was instituted by the Lord Buddha, who did not want human beings to live in silence ‘like dumb animals’." Bhutto in her speech “Equality and Partnership” says that “The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) himself married a working woman. And the first convert to Islam was a woman, Bibi Khadija.” Truth, in “Ain’t I a Woman exclaims “Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman!”  Also, Bhutto and Suu Kyi both claim that it’s up to women to change their situation. This can be seen when Suu Kyi states in “The Struggle for Life and Dignity”, “They made it possible for me to make a small contribution to this great celebration of the struggle of women to mould their own destiny and to influence the fate of our global village.” Bhttto echoes this idea when she says “Let us remember the words of the German writer, Goethe: ‘Freedom has to be re-made and re-earned in every generation.’ We must do much more than decry the past. We must change the future” in her speech. Finally, another similarity is that Suu Kyi and Bhutto mention conflict as a source of women’s’ problems. Two of the important conflicts mentioned are by Suu Kyi when she says “It is want that has driven so many of our young girls across our borders to a life of sexual slavery where they are subject to constant humiliation and ill-treatment” And Bhutto when she says “All over the world women are subjected to domestic violence.” These are some of the pieces that bind the speeches together.

Just as there are many similarities, there are also many differences in the three speeches. A very apparent one is the fact that Sojourner Truth says that men are responsible for women making changes while Bhuto and Suu Kyi say that women are the ones responsible for changing their status. This can be seen when Sojourner says (About women) “And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.” There is also a disparity in the qualities the women extol. For example, Truth extols the qualities of eating like a man, working like a man and being strong in general,      while Suu Kyi  in her speech extols the qualities of  being verbal, nurturing and teacher like, believing that women can use them to their advantage. These are some basic differences in the speeches.

Today women have a better place in this world. While speeches like Benazir Bhutto’s “Equality and Partnership”,  Aung San Suu Kyi’s  “ The Struggle for Life and Dignity” and Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” sometimes use different tactics in their speeches, they just as easily coincide and make the same point that women should, and can be free. That, at the end of the day makes all three women and their amazing speeches iconic.

Thoreau and Machiavelli; Compare and Contrast

Henry David Thoreau and Niccolo Machiavelli are two men who have influenced some of the most influential people in the world, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Guiliano De Medici. As the two were writing to different audiences, it's easy to see why their ideologies might clash or unite.

The ideologies of Machiavelli and Thoreau unite  because both believe that the ends justify the mean. This can be seen in The Morals of the Prince when Machiavelli says “In the actions of all men, and especially of Princes who are not subject to a court of appeal, we must always look to the end.” That means the Prince must always be concerned with what the result of his actions are, not with the actual actions. This is seconded by Thoreau who writes in Civil Disobedience “If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.”  Therefore if a law being abolished helps more than the process of it being abolished hurts its fine to be disobedient. That is one important similarity between the writers.

Machiavelli and Thoreau’s ideologies clash because Machiavelli believes that the government can thrive even if underhanded things are being done. On the other hand Thoreau believes that any unjust laws and government should be overthrown. For example, in Civil Disobedience, Thoreau says “Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine” Meaning that your life and everything you have should be used as an equal and opposing force to the unjust government.  This is the complete opposite of Machiavelli who says “To preserve the state, he often has to do things against his word, against charity, against humanity, against religion. To him, making sure the country stays together is dependent on the monarch tricking the people and going back on the things that people value the most. These are two obviously different points of view, both of which found the basis of the wrtiters works.

As shown, Thoreau and Machiavelli’s ideas are similar and different in many ways. Those include many of their fundamentals. Their bases are so strong its no wonder they have survived the test of time.

Stop Bullying: A argument of Proposal

Each year ¼ of   teens are bullied in the United States. Also according to Stomp Out Bullying (A National and Anti-Bullying and Cyber bullying Program for Kids and Teens) that means that a child is bullied every seven minutes in the U.S. Most likely, along the line a person you know or have come in contact with has been bullied. Not only is bullying a vicious cycle, but scar its victims. There are many stories that can prove this. For example, the story of acclaimed writer Rebecca Golden who says that not only was she called a “Fat Girl” , a “Moose” by bullies and a “Butterball” by her teacher, but was even stabbed with a ballpoint pen in her algebra class by a classmate. This left Golden considering suicide by the age of twelve. Even though she survived, these experiences left her to this day, slightly cynical about the world, still unable to get over the torment of her childhood.

            Although there are many stories like Golden’s that end on slightly less morbid note, there are many that don’t. With the onset on cyber bullying among other things, it is easy for bullies to follow their victim’s home, tormenting them to death. This can be seen in the tragic stories of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student who committed suicide after a sexual encounter between he and another male was broadcast and fourteen year old Jamey Rodemeyer who committed suicide after being bullied online. While it’s depressing to say, these victims never had a chance at life all due to excessive bullying.

            It can be easy to get caught up in the shuffle of everyday life, but bullying is not something that can be ignored. There are many things that a person can do to combat this bullying epidemic. This includes writing a letter to your local and state Representatives, pushing for stricter anti bullying laws similar to the one in New Jersey which states that schools must get anti bullying coordinators and gives specific instructions for reporting bullying incidents. On smaller scale it can just be stopping bullying when you see it and can safely intervene or reporting it to a teacher or any other official because as reported by Stomp Out Bullying, up to 85% of bullying incidents are not intervened in. The biggest proposal or idea I can give to prevent and fight bullying is for people to be introspective and see if they are being bullies and if so, why they are being bullies. This can help cut off the problem from its source because bullying in any way shape or form is a terrible thing. Nobody deserves to be degraded or to degrade others.  So hopefully this shines light on the issue and none of these proposals will have to be used because we will live in a society where love and acceptance prevail.

           

"The Bleakness of the Bullied" : Toulmin Analysis

There are many issues facing society today, one of the most pertinent being bullying. Bullying and its impact on the lives of its victims are some of the issues author Charles M. Blow focuses on in his article “The Bleakness of the Bullied” The author of the text, Charles M. Blow uses an inverted structure to get his point across. From the start of the passage, he uses a personal experience as a way to come to a general conclusion on the life of the bullied. Although it is slightly understated, Blow’s main claim is that life for those who are bullied is a bleak, sad existence that seems never-ending. He makes it apparent in his title “The Bleakness of the Bullied”  and his third to last paragraph. To back up his claim, Blow uses two main points.             Life for those who are bullied is a bleak, sad existence that seems never –ending. 1) I know that pain. I, too, was bullied as a child. And I, too, considered taking my life. I was 8 years old.   2) Bullying isn’t just a harmless game.It can be a deadly one, and we need to be reminded of that constantly. You never know how your words are affecting another person.   When shown in the text, the example of Blow’s almost suicide attempt at eight years old implies that suicide sometimes seems like the only solution to a depressing, lonely life. On the other hand, he subtly qualifies this by saying “And so there it was, not summoned and without warning, pushing its way through the crowd of questions, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand" one of my mother’s songs sang hard and true, out of her heart and into a steering wheel, coming to save me.” He establishes that whether it is a song or something else, there may be a way to save those being bullied from going over the edge.Blow backs away from wanting people to downplay the nature of bullying and its effects on the victims. If he did downplay it, that would mean accepting bullying as a natural part of life and society, which it isn’t. As a warrant, Blow relies on the basic principals that everyone is created equal and that everyone is guaranteed the rights to “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Having a depressing life due to bullying clearly violates these rights and its clearly American core values are hard to dispute.              Blow creates his ethos throughout the article by using a personal analogy about his experience with bullying and suicide as his argument. By making himself so vulnerable, Blow really creates a connection between himself and the reader. It also makes the reader believe that if he is willing to be so honest about himself, he will also be truthful about everything else he says in his writing. Having that trust and positive ethos is important in quality writng and in being  a good author.

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Occupy Wall Street:Rogerian Argument

Hello fellow people of the blogging world!

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the Occupy Wall Street protests and their effects. After a push from a small magazine named Adbusters  and others, the protests jump started and have taken on a life of their own. It has grown to thousands of the 99%  camping out everyday in Zuccotti Park in New York and over 1500 other cities , spreading worldwide. As with any large protests, there are going to be supporters and an opposition; making it even more relevant to politics today.

Even today, people are not created equal. That is why I support the Occupy Wall Street protests. The brave souls out there are only fighting for what they believe in, and taking back the power of the people. The general purpose , as the official website says is, “#OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. “ Even as they are protesting these people have mostly remained peaceful, and I believe that with a growing crowd, that is a hard thing to do. Still, it’s easy to see why the opposition is opposes Occupy Wall Street. Among other things, it appears as if this movement is uncoordinated since there is no leader, only individuals protesting. On the contrary, Occupy Wall Street is very coordinated one, with the protesters gathering in daily working groups. More so, it highlights two of the most important aspects of the American government- freedom of speech and the right to assemble. As Gene Policinski, the Senior Vice President/Executive Director of the First Amendment Center said, “As a nation, we too often forget that along with apple pie, protest is a uniquely American tradition. We also need to recall that too often we have trampled on that tradition in the name of order or safety or security.” By supporting Occupy Wall Street, I and others help support our civic rights and duties as citizens and America’s long history of people speaking up and standing out to make a change.

Although there may never be a consensus on this protest within the general population, my personal consensus is and always will be that Occupy Wall Street is a positive thing which I support. There is something good to come out of it for all. For the protesters and those who support it , they get a chance to have the world as their audience to listen to and act on solving their problems. For those who oppose it, not only is it a lesson in what humans are capable of when they put their heads together, but what happens to their corporation, businesses, etc. when the pressure is put on; they learn to adapt and survive. In the midst of this revolution of the working class, there is something for everyone to take away.

Child Stars/Entertainers: Too Much ( Take Two, Logos Argument)

Over the years, many Presidents have been focusing on fighting terrorism. With many people these days concerned about the “War in terrorism”, they have forgotten about the war going on in America; the war on fighting for the innocence of American youth.

            In the category of child performers/entertainers, there are over 250,000 children. That enormous number is just from children competing in beauty pageants and doesn’t include child actors, dancers, etc. Unfortunately, although they are living out their dreams, the things these children do while performing are age inappropriate. There are multiple polls and hard evidence to support this claim. For example, in a poll taken by The Student Room, a large social change blog, it was found that an astronomical 77.50% of people thought that child beauty pageants should be banned. Also, on the blog for popular media source page 6, it was discovered that 92.45% of people who answered the poll felt that child beauty pageants were “Not cool” when asked if the pageants were okay. After seeing facts like this, it could be said that these are just numbers and that they might not echo the real opinions of the people. There are also a multitude of quotes from the average American and top reporters. One quote came from the renowned magazine Psychology Today, where  author Martina M. Cartwright Ph.D, RD. wrote “Armed with spray bronzer, the moms dutifully "carved" abs into their daughter's bare midriffs just before the young girls performed a provocative dance that caused audible gasps from the audience.” This exemplifies how inappropriate the things these young children perform are. It’s painful to think about how a group of talented young girls poured their hearts out on stage while their talent was undermined by the clothing and dance moves they didn’t know they should object to. We can stop the degradation of young children in our society by following some simple advice from an everyday mom, Amy from Idaho who says “I think the prevalence of media in our society means that we need to be extremely vigilant and never miss a teachable moment. The best way to counteract the things we don't agree with is to talk to our children about them as they see them so our values get across.”  The youth of today need see our values and need us to win this war for innocence. That’s a fact

Child Stars/ Entertainers. Too age Inappropriate?

Stop: I want you to pause for a minute and take in your surroundings. Once they have been taken in, completely forget about them. Transport yourself to another place and imagine this: You are a young child entering your first beauty pageant. Soon enough your number is called and you start dancing just like your mother taught you. A lot of twirling, smiling and shaking your hips. The judges seem happy when you look at them, but a few frowns cross over the faces of those in the crowd. As soon as the song is over and you saunter off the stage, a hush falls; the crowd surprised at what you just did. You don’t know what just took place; you are only six.

Recently, there has been much controversy over shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and child beauty pageants in general because of their supposedly over sexualizing of young contestants. With that, the question is whether the clothes they wear and moves they perform are age appropriate. Sadly, the answer to that is no, some of the things that these child performers do and wear are age inappropriate. While that may not be the case for every child in beauty pageants or the like, it’s true for many. Take for example child beauty pageant star Eden Woods. While in New York modeling for clothing company Cicciabella, Eden wore a white “Cowgirl” outfit, which was practically  a bedazzled bikini when she ripped off her jacket during a provocative dance. As one woman attending the event said, “Whatever you want to call it, it made me uncomfortable.” This is only after two publicized cases of a three year old girl wearing the Julia Roberts “Prostitute” costume from Pretty Woman, and a woman giving her daughter a padded Dolly Parton costume to wear in a pageant. It shows that society and their parents have been failing these young children. That’s because with the media’s promotion of the “Sexier” the better, we have fallen into a trap. While there have always been problems with children in entertainment (A thirteen year old Drew Barrymore did go to rehab), the amount of media we have today only makes it more apparent. Luckily, this  inappropriateness can be stopped . It's up to us to say enough is enough and take back what every child needs; what the nostalgia of childhood reminds us of .  Innocence.

           

My Name

 Aaliyah- First Name

Jhaneil- Middle Name

Dillion- Last Name

To start off, my first name Aaliyah turned up some very interesting finds. They were namely web pages about the deceased singer Aaliyah, who was known for songs like One in a Million and Rock the Boat. In everyday life, that is the first connotation my name derives. I was also able to find that in the top 1000 names since 1880, the name Aaliyah ranked number 146 overall. Also, Aaliyah is actually an Arabic/ Hebrew word that generally means high, exalted or ascending one in both languages. In Arabic it is the feminine version of the name Ali and in Hebrew it goes back to the journey to the Promised Land. Well, all of this is fine by me. I mean being connected to a famous artist and being considered exalted is quite the compliment!  

My middle name, well it’s just that. It serves no other purpose than to separate my first name from my last. I would love to have an interesting story behind the name Jhaneil, but I am confident that my parents concocted the name out of “Thin Air”. But on a more positive note, while this name has been the bane of my existence for as long as I can remember, I have found that I am not alone. When searching the name Jhaneil, multiple twitter and facebook accounts popped up, proclaiming that I should “Friend” this person, or make sure to “Follow” that person. Although this name did not turn up any significant connections or shocking revelations, what I found attested to the prevalence of the internet in American culture. Because even though I dis not know any of my fellow Jhaneils, their whole lives were a click away. Whether that's a positive or negative thing is a story for another post.

                              

On the other hand, my last name was a bit more complicated than my other two. That’s because surprise surprise, my last name has no lineage. My father’s family name is Hemmings; I have no idea where the name Dillion came from. The first thing the computer produced when I typed in the word Hemmings was Deon Hemmings, the first Jamaican woman to ever win a gold medal in the Olympics ( 400 meter hurdles in 1996) and Lloyd Hemmings , who was in a band called the Awah band. I doubted any of these people had anything significant connection to me other than the same last name, so I backtracked and looked up the country of origin. I mean, where exactly did the word Hemmings come from? After a little digging I found that Hemmings was a Scottish family name, one specific family descending from Vikings. There was also a Brittish Captain named Samuel Hemmings who came to Jamaica and opened the first slave village in the 1670’s. Could it be a coincidence that my real family name is Scottish and there was a slave village owner by the same last name living in Jamaica? There are so many possibilities. I believe that until an official genealogy search can be done, the history of Hemmings will be shrouded in mystery. For now, that’s okay. As long as I know who I am, does a last name really matter? I think not. Whether a Dillion or a Hemmings, I am me.  Shakespeare had it right when he said “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”.  People define the name, not the other way around.