Tuesday, April 19, 2011

A women's worth


The first thing that caught my eye in this article was the big bold words that told the “lady” to “Take it Easy”. This advertisement is sexist because when I zoomed in on the advertisement it talked about how a woman’s day is filled with cleaning and cooking which can cause her to become stressed. This is why the giant slogan read, “Take it Easy”. The product, pork and beans, was meant to ease the woman’s day because it could be served as a quick meal for the family. By placing the image of a woman relaxing on the cover it insinuated that women didn’t have many responsibilities and could simple relax all day as soon as their housework was done. What irritated me about this advertisement was that it made it sound as though women are only good for housework, this is clearly not true, women can do much more than that. Women such as Clara Barton, Condoleezza Rice, and Marie Curie are just a few of the many women whose effects can still be seen in the world.


Source Cited: http://www.adclassix.com/a3/37vancampbeans.htm

Topic 10 Concept Guide

McCarthyism impact on society:
-House Committee of UnAmerican Activities is created
-Fear of Communism in the US rises drastically
-McCarthy charges Hollywood writers, directors, and producers with Communist propaganda in films: He also goes after the famous “Hollywood Ten”
-The Department of State is accused by McCarthy of harboring communists
-many people and leaders are falsely

Communist "witch hunt" and impact on those accused:
-Unnecessarily intruded on the lives of many innocent Americans
-supported by anti-Communist groups because they were scared of communists
-imprisoned hundreds of innocent people
- thousand of people lost their jobs as a result of speculation
-homosexuals were also targeted and falsely charged with communism

Space Race impact on government policies:
-Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1
-This means that USA is not the first country that goes into space. Russia beat them. This is unacceptable
-USA responds by putting more money into education
- In 1969 a man from USA lands on moon
- US created space programs to ensure that we continued to beat Russia
-This sparked tension and began the Cold War competition

Cold War mindset for the US government and public:
-Soviet Union beat US to space in space/technology race
-Soviet Union racing USA in technology
-US fears communism, afraid it will destroy their country
-Led to the Cold War

Relationship of suburbs, automobiles, and roads:
-Suburbs away from cities, quieter, easier to raise families
-Because there farther away this means more reliance on cars
-1956 Interstate Highway Act-

Baby Boom:
-Men came home from war to their wives, which got pregnant and had kids
-1946-1960
-caused by ending the 20 year Depression and Wartime
-removal of social and economic restraints that kept people from having families
-causing current social security issues

Urban-Suburban pattern:
-Business District
-Inner City = low income families
-Suburbs = middle income families
-Further suburbs = high income families

GI Bill:
-provides college or vocational education to returning veterans
-one year unemployment compensation for returning soldiers
-supported those who served
-gave loans so that returning soldiers could start businesses

Expansion of the middle class (why things were affordable):
-More consumers due to baby boom
-New families, caused by baby boom, moved to suburbs
-suburbs were less expensive than city living
-Levittown: 1949, houses only $8,000
-new form of money: credit cards increased spending

Media Influences Society

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/heroic-boy-tells-how-he-saved-sister

Media influences everything. It can be used in extremely negative ways, or it can be used in extremely positive ways. All of this depends on what type of ideas the media tells us and who listens to these ideas. Teens are usually the demographic that television stations attempt to reach because there are so many of them. At times teen’s actions are influenced by television. A teenage mind is like a blank open book, whatever and whoever can go in and write on it. This can be media, friends, television, music and many other things. The link above is to an article that talks about how a boy saved his little sister who had drowned in the pool by performing CPR, which indecently he had learned how to perform by watching tv. Television has done many things in society a few of which are informing teens about the world around them, caused childhood obesity, and provided entertainment. Not all of these effects of television are good things, but it cannot be denied that television has influenced today’s society.

Norman Rockwell Painting-Short Story

Upon waking Ashley, Sue, and Leslie leap out of bed and look out the window with exitement as they realize that not only is it the first snow fall of the winter, it is also Christmas morning. As the children rush down the stairs they make such a commotion that they wake up their mother, who was attempting to sleep in because she had stayed up all night putting up Christmas decorations and wrapping presents. Mother, now awake and aware of her children running down the stairs, sleepily gets out of bed and puts on her robe and slippers as she heads toward the living room. As she greets her children’s beaming faces she lovingly kisses each one good morning and wishes them a merry Christmas; all the while thoughts of loneliness prod at the back of her mind “Another Christmas without Thom. Oh how I wish this war was over.” she thought. After a quick morning prayer she ushers them over to the tree so they can all begin to open their presents. Sue finishes unwrapping her presents first and decides to take her new book over to the window seat to read and watch the snowfall. Midway through chapter two a movement outside in the snow catches the corner of her eye. When she looks up she sees a man walking through the snow toward their front door. Quickly she realizes that it’s no ordinary man, it’s her father. Overjoyed with glee she yells at the top of her lungs “Look! Daddy is back. He’s home, he is finally home!!!”. For a brief moment the whole family stops and tries to process this information. Within minutes the entire family is rushing over to the window seat beaming with joy as their father/husband returns home.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cassablanca Outline

I. Movie Title: Casablanca
A. Setting: Casablanca, Morocco
1. Time: 1940s, WWII
II. Introduction
A. Two German couriers are murdered: Ugarte gains possession of the letters of transit.
1. We meet the main character, Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart)
2. Rick owns a bar
3. Wants to go back to America
B. Laszlo, the Leader of the rebellion
1. German officers want Laszlo to stay in Casablanca because he is the leader of an anti-Nazi rebellion group
2. Germans are looking for the man who killed the couriers
C.Ilsa and husband, Victor Laszlo go to Rick's bar
1. Ilsa meets Rick again for the first time since she left him at Paris
2. We learn that Ilsa and Rick were dating when the Germans took France
3. Ilsa dated Rick because she thought that her husband Laszlo had died in a concentration camp
4. Ilsa and Rick were leaving Paris: Ilsa said she would meet Rick at the train station and never showed up
5. Rick ended up leaving Paris by himself and going to Casablanca
III. Nazi's start causing trouble
A. Rick has the letters of transit hidden in the piano of his bar. These letters are extremely important because if someone wanted to leave Casablanca then he or she would need these letters. These letters are hard to come by and incredibly expensive
1. Laszlo asks Rick for the letters of transit. he is willing to pay large sums of money for them. Laszlo is trying to get away from Casablanca and the Nazi's
2. While at the bar German officers begin to sing the German Anthem. This inspires Laszlo and he begins to sing the French anthem (Morocco was a French colony). Soon everyone in the entire bar is singing the French National Anthem. This display of out right patriotism outrages the Nazi officers, who then proceed to shut down the bar.
3. Nazi's want to take Laszlo into custody because he is leads the anti-Nazi rebellion.
4. Nazi's begin searching Casablanca for Laszlo and Ilsa
5. Rick refuses to give Laszlo the letters of transit because he holds a grudge against Ilsa for leaving him in Paris. Laszlo does not know that Rick and Ilsa had gotten together in Paris.
IV. Ilsa and Rick Talk
A. Ilsa goes to the bar and attempts to persuade Rick
1. Ilsa goes to see Rick while Laszlo is away at a anti-Nazi rebellion meeting
2. Ilsa begs Rick for the letters of transit
3. Ilsa grabs a gun off of Rick's desk and threatens to shoot him if he does not give her the letters of transit.
4. Ilsa does not shoot Rick, instead she confesses that she never stopped loving him.
5. Ilsa claims the reason she left him was because she found out that Laszlo was in fact alive and needed her to nurse him back to health
6. Ilsa confesses that she kept the marriage between her and Laszlo a secret because she didn't want the Nazi's to find her.
7. Laszlo goes to Rick's bar to meet Ilsa.
V. Fin (The End)
E. Germans are looking for Laszlo
1. Nazi's storm into Rick's bar looking for Laszlo
2. Laszlo is arrested
3. Rick and Ilsa agrees to use the letters of transport to get our of Casablanca and go to America together.
2. Rick sets up a trap to get Laszlo back
3. When Rick and Ilsa get to the airport Rick threatens to shoot Captain Renault
4. Captain Renault gives up Laszlo.
4. Ricks speaks to Ilsa and convinces her to take the letters of transit and go to America with Laszlo.
5. A Nazi officer goes to arrest Laszlo, but is shot by Rick. This allows Laszlo and Ilsa to get on the plane and flee Casablanca
6. Rick and Captain Renault watch the plane take off from the runway
7. Rick walks away from the airport with Captain Renault (Louis) who is talking about how he can get Rick out of Casablanca
8. The film ends just as Rick (Humphrey Bogart) delivers one of the most iconic lines in film history, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"

Concept Guide- Chapter 9- WWII

Role Of Women in WWII:
During WWII women had to fill in and do all of the work that was left behind by the men because the men were off in Europe fighting the war. This was significant because before this women had always stayed at home and been house wives. Taking on these "manly" jobs empowered women because before the war they had been thought of as simple minded house wives that were meant only to cook and clean.

Cause and Effect of Use of the Atomic Bomb:
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, the US became involved in WWII. As a retaliation toward the Japanese the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945; three days later on August 8, 1945 the US dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. The retaliation from the US was intended to show the Japanese that they had not shaken or weaken the American nation and that we would fight back with a vengeance. Effects of dropping the atomic bomb included the death of thousands of Japanese people, radiation poisoning for the people who managed to survive the explosion and complete annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Finally its biggest effect was that it caused Japan to leave the US alone.

US Foreign Policy Before, During, and After the War:
Before we were neutral isolationist who had neutrality acts and had no intentions of entering WWII. We became concerned when Japan began stockpiling boats and the Germans began to rebuild their military.

During the war FDR swore to help any country that came under attack and doubled the size of the US navy. One of the ways he did this was by trading battleships with Britain; in exchange the British were given land in the Caribbean (Lend- Lease Act). After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US declared war and became fully involved in supporting the Allies until the end of the war.

After the war ended the US was considered to be the "dominant" nation and a strong world power. Because we were considered the strongest nation we began to get involved in the affairs of other countries that were having government related and/or economic problems.

Effects of War on Europe:
Major decline in European population, especially the Jewish population because of the Holocaust. A great deal of damage had been done to all of the countries; especially German cities as a result of the air raids. The German economy plummeted because they had to pay war Damage to all countries.

Effects of Pearl Harbor Attack:
This was the catalyst that led the US to become involved in WWII. Without the bombing of Pearl Harbor the US would not have entered the war and would not have dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japanese Internment:
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the US government forced all Japanese Americnas into prison camps. The government did this by using a loophole in the Constitution which states that a persons Constitutional rights can be stripped if they are considered a "clear and present danger". This was done because the government had to assure that none of the Japanese Americans were spies or informants for the Japanese enemy. One of the most notable events that dealt with the Japanese being forced to go into labor camps was the Korematsu vs. US. Korematsu sued the US because they had stripped him of his Constitutional rights; in the end the US won because they felt that the Japanese were a "clear and present danger".

Neutrality Acts:
The Neutrality Acts were began in 1935 and ended in 1937 and were passed in order to show that they kept an isolationist attitude toward the war. In the Neutrality Acts it stated that US battleships could not be armed, Americans could not travel on ships that belonged to countries who were involved in the war, and it placed an embargo on arms sales.

Purpose of Propaganda:
The main purpose of propaganda is to persuade. The US wanted all Americans to support the war and inspire a spirit of patriotism and unity. It also was used to gain support for troops over seas and to coax men into enlisting. Propaganda empowered women to take up mens jobs and fill and made sure that all Americans did all they could to help with the war effort. It was also used when the US flew planes over Germany and dropped anti-Nazi flyers.
Hitler used a great deal of propaganda in Germany and all of Europe to instill his views that the aryan race was supreme. He also used it implement the idea that Jews and any non-aryans were bad and that the cause of WWI was their fault.

Rationing:
Food rationing was implemented so that there would be enough food to feed the troops. Other rations such as the rationing of tires and gasoline was set in place because we needed the supplies to make tanks, missiles, and other war related objects. Every thing that could be spared was spared and used in order to support the war effort.

Results of WWII:
There was a severe decrease in the European population, especially the Jewish population. Millions of Americans were killed during the war which led to many families alone and without a second source of income. All of the jobs that were established during the war got America out of the Great Depression. When the men came back from the war it caused the "baby boom" which simply meant that there was a huge population increase in the US.
Germany was put into a large amount of debt which caused them to go into an economic depression. The Marshall Plan was established in order to help rebuild European countries and their economies.
Germany needed to pay war debts to the allies, so the US lent them money and the other Allies lowered the amount of money they wanted.
In Japan the land of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was completely destroyed and polluted with radiation. All of the excess radiation transmitted from the blast gave many people radiation poisoning whose effects can still be seen today.

Friday, March 11, 2011

WHY?!

After watching a clip of George Gottlieb and Ellis Lewin speaking about their arrival to the concentration camps my mind and my emotions cannot even comprehend what they had to go through. It was a very emotional moment for me because all I kept thinking is "WHY?!" Why did this happen? All of the pain that was caused those innocent people was so unnecessary and completely malicious. I know there are some questions that can never be answered , and this is one of them, but the immorality it takes to do such an act of genocide simply make me irate. Lewin said something that really depicted what he saw that day, he said that as soon as the doors of the box car opened "it looked like some kind of inferno". No one should ever have to walk into inferno.