Friendship superficial?

I think American friendships can sometimes be perceived as superficial because sometimes if you look at an American, you see they have many friends, some close some not so close. Sometimes, American are perceived as greedy and selfish and use people when they need them. I don't think this is the case but some perceive Americans as over all "superficial."

In a collectivist culture, the personality traits family like, kind, open minded, and follower are considered ideal. In a individualism culture, independent, unique, and leader are ideal. An problem is an individualist teacher has her own lesson plan and goes to a collectivist culture where all the teachers have a collectivist lesson plan. The conflict is both internal and external. The individualist thinks her way is the way and the collectivist teachers think their way is the way. An acquaintance is someone you have met a couple times but do not have close relations with. I think it has a positive connotation because it doesn't sound negative and alot of people have people in their lives that they consider "acquaintances."

In my opinion, it seems as if Winston gets more unhappy every day with the rules of Big Brother he has to follow. He knows he isn't supposed to think about sex or have relations with others or else he will get in trouble with the thought police, yet he still does. He knows he is doing wrong, but it seems to me like he does to see what will happen, he is suspicious of the power of Big Brother and the State in my opinion. I think his small acts of defiance are a form of protest due to the fact he is suspicious. One of his small acts is having relations with Julia. He knows it is wrong. He knows he will get in a lot of trouble, yet he still does it. He is rebelling. A rebellion that is going on today is the want for same sex marriage. It is currently illegal in most states and is opposed by many, but many also want it to become legal. There have been numerous amount of protests. There was a protest back in July in New York City where people protested for it to become legal. This situation is somewhat similar to Winstons rebellion, because just like the protesters know that same sex marriage is illegal, Winston knows the having sexual thoughts and relations is not permitted, they still do it. They are both rebelling against the masses, in Winstons case, he is rebelling against Big Brother and the State. In the pro-same sex marriage protests, they are rebelling against the law in most states and what is considered "right." Winstons protests are only seen by him and Julia because if others saw, it would be very bad. While the protesters are seen by many because in order for them to change things, they must be heard.

2+2=5

The song lyrically is talking about being in a situation where everything you do is controlled by a higher power and being trapped. The repeat of two plus two always equals five pushes the message because it shows the fact that the singer is some how being controlled in a situation. We know two plus two doesn't equal five, but it shows the control of a dystopia. This song is an allusion to 1984 because in the book 1984, Big Brother can do anything and if he wants two plus two to equal five, he will.

Conflict

The conflict people tend to choose role models that are considered "sexually attractive" rather than those who are considered not. This is an external conflict that creates an internal conflict. Globalization creates conflict because there are so many different cultures and beliefs in the world and differences can cause conflict. The one direction that globalization is going in the author is speaking about is choosing role models that are sexually attractive. The benefit she mentions is that it creates a lot of role models for people, even though it separates people by being considered sexually attractive and not. The two texts she talks about are the Koran and the Constitution.

Winston lives in Oceania. Here, the ruling party constantly controls everything he does and watches his every move. He cant do anything against the rules. For example, thought of sex is illegal. He meets a dark haired girl and has sexual thoughts about her, he thinks he has committed a "thoughtcrime". I think Oceania is a dystopia. A dystopia is "a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control." Everyone is controlled by being watched, and it is obvious that Winston is unhappy since he secretly writes in a diary. They force people to all be the same.

A utopia is a perfect society where everyone lives together in harmony and they are happy. My ideal world would consist of very little conflict. I think conflict is the main contributor to an unhappy society. It would also be located on a beach because I connect the beach with peaceful. The soundtrack of my society would be a mix of Taylor Swift and John Mayer because those artists usually put me in a peaceful, happy mood.

You Were Right

Something went wrong because he kept saying how things weren't right and how he was wrong. He used the repetition of "you were right" to show he was wrong. The electric guitar left an angry and frustrated feeling because of the changes in loudness and tempo. The song was effective in showing that he was upset. It made me connect with his issues and think about what he could have done wrong.

Reading Critically

The author says that critical reading is "reading that looks beneath the surface of a work seeking to understand the creator's intentions, the strategies for achieving them, and their worthiness." He says to make sure you are reading in a quiet room with little distractions. Some titles may state the thesis or the tone. Knowing background information about the author will often help you guess something about the essay before you read a word of it. Knowing when and where the work appeared may give you another key to understanding it.

Young Life

One claim is they are hunting. A fact to support this claim is there is a dead deer and they have guns. Another claim is they are struggling to get by. A fact to support this claim is they have to hunt for food such as deer and they have sad expressions on their face. Another claim is the boy doesn't want to be like his father. A fact to support this claim is he is separated and he is dressed nicer.

The family is struggling to get by. You can see this the sad and down expressions on their face. None of them are smiling. They all look like they have gone through a lot. Since they aren't dressed very nicely and they are hunting, it shows they may have to hunt for their food.