Memoir Response

The memoir, “A Guarantee in Life”, overall fit every good quality of a memoir.  It develops the main character, Justin, in a way that you see his maturity despite his age.  His dialogue with his mother and separated father are quite realistic for how a 5-year-old would speak.  It definitely contains the realistic elements of what happens, and the plotline is interesting and easy to follow.  It contains both what happened in terms of the plotline, as well as the author’s feelings and thoughts during the events of that Friday night.  The storytelling was so compelling and realistically detailed I felt as if I were in the room with him feeling exactly what he was feeling at the time.  It is obvious from reading the memoir that this event has been clearly etched within his mind, giving him these vivid memories.  He remember where exactly he was when his father called and the excitement he felt as a result.  13 years later, he reflects on the event of learning how immature the dad was and why they separated.  He explains concisely and in detail how he learned and matured as a result of that experience.  It is also possible to infer he will try not to end up like his father; a drunk, irresponsible, and negligent father. 

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/readpoem.asp?id=28&genre=Memoir&Page=1&sortBy= 

Vietnam War Blog

After World War II, the United States was finished being allies with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  They supported another form of government where all are equal, known as communism.  Because this new form of government threatened Democracy, the form of government Americans hold dear and tend to take for granted, Senator Joseph McCarthy began accusing random people of supporting the communist regime and against the United States.  The mentality of the situation was: if you support communism, you are an enemy and a traitor.

In addition, because Communist China was aiding the spread of communism in Vietnam, the United States Army aided the civil war between both sides of Vietnam.  Vietnam was formerly a French colony, and the French were ousted from the country.  As a result, the army entered Vietnam to aid those fighting the communism.

However, this was not very well-received by the American people, and youth groups such as the Youth International Party, known more commonly as the Yippies, held public protests against the war.  Sometimes, however, the protests result in fighting and attacks by the police, similarly to the 1968 Democratic National convention protests in Chicago.  There were mixed opinions to which side was correct, but the strife of the war within Vietnam and outside of Vietnam were evident.

http://asianhistory.about.com/od/asianhistoryfaqs/f/whyvietnamfaq.htm

http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22778085

Rewritten Scene

When Tom came to visit, I was glad to see him and I also noticed his friend, Nick.  He seemed like a moderate gentleman, but of course, I was mostly interested in Tom.  As usual, I enjoyed gossiping with the McKee’s and the rest of them about how bad my current husband is and also about Gatsby.  Nobody knows very much about that new money foreigner, and because we are all curious about him, we all spread rumors about that freak.  He is completely insignificant to the rest of us just because he is new money.  Also, I heard he got rich by working with the guy who caused the Cincinnati Reds to win the 1919 World Series, which was a huge deal in the Midwest.  Otherwise, I really don’t know that much about that guy.  Anyway, we all got really drunk, and I noticed Nick passed out for an hour there.  Eventually, we were all so drunk the group got to the topic of Daisy, Tom’s wife whom he is cheating on with me.  Who cares?  I’m much better than her anyway.  And so what if what I was telling about her were lies, anyway?  She doesn’t know about it, so she can’t hurt me.  Eventually, I started repeating her name annoyingly to Tom to bother him uncontrollably.  It was a bad idea in the end, of course, but I wanted to bother him.  After all, I’m drunk anyway.  Nonetheless, Tom hit me square in the nose, and he broke it.  I was bleeding all over the place, yet I still loved Tom a ton.  However, he doesn’t seem to like anyone bringing up his current wife.  He does think men are superior to women anyway, but so does everyone today.  I still love him though, and I don’t care at all about my current husband.  I hate him.

American Dream and Gatsby

Gatsby, after being a janitor to pay his way through college, was an assistant to a rich man with a yacht, where he was inspired to become rich and realized the American Dream.  Gatsby's American Dream was to be wealthy, have a huge house, and all the fine things that money is physically able to buy, such as expensive clothing, cars, parties, and multiple homes.  In his mind, attaining all of this would help him get his true love, Daisy.  In many respects, Gatsby's vision of achieving the American Dream still rings true today for many Americans.  Unfortunately, the economic realities Americans are faced with today are making the American Dream less achievable for young people today.  In the article, "Great Recession Means a Diminished American Dream for Young Adults," the author describes that "the house, the 2.5 kids, the stable career path might not be possible for an entire generation of Americans".  Faced with high unemployment, many people in their 20s and 30s are still living at home, renting apartments instead of purchasing homes, and putting off marriage and children.  According to this article, people will be occupied with their financial problems, and will focus less on the American Dream, which could be a huge cultural change for American society.  The optimism and persistence Americans like Gatsby once had to achieve this dream is now potentially less important to young people.


http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/10/19/great-recession-means-a-diminished-american-dream-for-young-adults_print.html

Song review

The song "Aesthetics of Hate" by the heavy metal band, Machine Head, is a song responding to an article written about the late Dimebag Darrel, a guitar player who was shot on stage in 2004.  The article stated that Dimebag deserved to die and that the world is a much better place without him.  Upon reading the article, Machine Head frontman and primary songwriter, Rob Flynn, was infuriated and wrote a fast-paced and angry song condemning him for writing the article.

The song begins with a slow-paced clean guitar, following with three minutes of verses    and choruses.  A riff at the end of the chorus begins an interlude that progresses into many different parts leading into the main guitar solo section.  Vocals are reintroduced and the song builds up to a quiet and angry section where the lead singer is whispering in an infuriating manner into the microphone.  The song slowly break apart into guitar feedback, thus ending the song.

Overall, the song follows the phases of anger in humans, where the anger builds up, peaks and explodes and slowly dies down into a somber mood.  The song and the lyrics closely resemble each other, as the lyrics are meant to show rage and frustration and the music backs it up.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJQTbLHR-cX4&v=JQTbLHR-cX4&gl=US

Winter Poem

Winter
The coldest of all seasons
Dark, grey, dreary, depressing
Chills your soul
Keeps you locked inside your thoughts
Of solitude
Neverending days of despair
First snowfall
Sunshine, brightness, peace
White wonderland
Children playing, happiness
Warmth by the fireplace
Hope of Spring in the air

J.D. Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger seems like a very typical celebrity who was overwhelmed with the paparazzi and their numbers.  The escape from the loud and hectic life of a celebrity was as a result of the incredible fame of his novel, "The Catcher in the Rye."  However, he did not completely retreat from all society; he chose instead to live a quiet and peaceful rural life in a small town (1).  In addition, he liked to write books for his own enjoyment, not the enjoyment of fans, as he still loved to write (2).  "The Catcher in the Rye" was a very well received book initially (5), but unfortunately ended up on some banned lists for its very controversial topics about girls, sexuality, sex, drugs, and no rock 'n' roll (too early for Elvis, even).  In addition to it being well recieved, it also affected pop culture very adversely.  The killer of John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, was found with a copy of the book after shooting Lennon (4).  He had written in the cover, "This is my statement.-Holden Caulfield" and he "killed Lennon to gain prominence to promote the reading of The Catcher in the Rye," (3).  The world famous book had some positive consequences, but with those positives, the negatives also took place.

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/us/01salinger.html
2. http://www.zombieworldwide.com/2010/02/j-d-salingers-last-interview/
3. http://www.john-lennon.net/whoauthorizedtheassassinationofjohnlennon.htm
4. http://www.salon.com/2003/12/15/books_kill/
5. http://www.startribune.com/blogs/82988647.html