Media manipulation can be a real futhermucker

Salutations my keen following of fellow bloggers, I am back with a penchant for writing more insightful posts that explore and delve into the intricacies of Language and literature.

But before jumping the gun (Much like America did in the 2000s), it’s time for the WOW word of this post. Courtesy of the American people’s new president, the word demagogue is one that beautifully encapsulates the person of, and campaigning strategy of Donald Trump.  Defined as an individual who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational arguments. Even though my stance on the outcome of this election is neutral, I feel this word fitting of the new presidential elect in what I believe was the most disgraceful election of all time. An apt use of this word would be “By his demeanor and campaign strategy, Trump was seen as being unabashedly a demagogue.” 

Now getting to the point of this post, the statement, “Deception is just as bad as telling an outright lie,” is one that I STRONGLY disagree with. In my opinion it is far worse than telling an outright lie. When first presented with this question, my viewpoint was more ambivalent however after watching the Al Jazeera documentary, Control Room, which gives insight into the war on Iraq from a non-American perspective, my thoughts in regards to this changed from intellectual hesitation to visceral certainness. In war that plagued the Middle East for the last 10 years and has had repercussions that will have continue to have effect for generations to come, the media was almost entirely responsible for how the rest of the world viewed the war. The western broadcasts, from the very onset, portrayed this war as a war for freedom. A war of attrition against the supposed dictatorship of that time, the US were portrayed as the heroes of this war, going in with the selfless aim of liberating a people begging for their help. In actuality however this was not the case. Innocent men, women and children were killed; Iraqi citizens wanted nothing to do with their American “liberators” and instead wanted them gone. This was a blatant example of deception. Worse than the outright lie of telling people they were there to help, the entire world was led to believe that the Iraqi Government was sent from hell with the American intervention being nothing short of heaven sent. The entire world was turned against and put in favor of the US, only seeing one side of the story. The greatest deception of this all, was the fact that false situations were created in which inhumane acts were committed, an example of these being the writings of Jill Patterson. This is conjunction with the bombings of news stations that were not pro American, serve to further show deception as being worse than a lie. Once the truth is revealed, what is left is a visceral hate towards the American Government and the deceit they spread worldwide. In conclusion that is why deception is worse than telling an outright lie.

Fox News writing the Truth?

Original Article: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/06/29/what-americans-should-know-about-ramadan.html

What Muslims should know about Americans?

This year, Ramadan starts on June 29. Over 1.5 billion Muslims, despite their sectarian differences, will be united to reinvigorate their faith.

In a country where Muslims are tasked with having cagey Americans neighbors and ignorant employers, prejudiced towards their noble beliefs , this poses a problem. Because in July 2014, folks may notice a change in the behavior of their American neighbors and coworkers.

If your neighbor's pry into why you are up at 3:30 am, rest assured, they are being curious and not ignorant bigots. Ramadan means we eat before the first ray of sunrise and then refrain from eating and drinking till sunset. Though their brains may not be able to accept the absurdity of religious devotion, don’t be startled as in a country where Islam is third most prominent religion, people can still be shockingly unlearned.

Despite having differences in beliefs, the religiosity of American Muslims is comparable to Christians. According to the Pew Research Center for 72% of U.S. Muslims religion is "very important," as compared to 60% of U.S. Christians who told Pew they feel the same way.

Sadly, in a post-9/11 United States, Americans journalists, neighbors and employers seem bizarrely nervous towards us - similar humans.

I urge you, during this Ramadan, be gracious to these introverted race of people. We will laugh; we will play. We'll serve you food, any time of the day.

IOCoriolanus

Coriolanus IOC Outline:

Intro:

• ·      Takes place after Coriolanus goes to seek an alliance with his arch nemesis Aufidius
• ·      Following his shameful banishment from Rome, Aufidius and his lieutenant discuss the reliability of Coriolanus as an ally.
• ·      The passage uses keen imagery to further characterize the respectful yet adversarial relationship between Coriolanus and Aufidius.
• ·      It also foreshadows the end of the play by using Dramatic irony in expressing Aufidus’s true plan to use Coriolanus as pawn and then finally kill him.
• ·      In order to analyze the passage, it must be approached thematically, looking at Shakespeare’s use of animal imagery and the motif of food in addition to the theme of betrayal.

Animal Imagery and Food:

• ·      In the very first section of dialogue Coriolanus is described as a dragon by Aufidius, whom he believes is strong enough to defeat Rome on is own.
• ·      This imagery serves to substantiate Coriolanus’s failure to abide in a Government, as depicted through the body motif and brought into human terms, Coriolanus is portrayed as being anything but human.
• ·       Describing him as an osprey to the fish that is Rome, Coriolanus can be seen as hunter, to which no task is too big.
• ·      A king in situations of conflict, Coriolanus is seen as primarily suited towards the barbaric
• ·      The concept of food is used to characterizing his revenge as being all consuming and permanent

Betrayal:   Shakespeare characterizes the by products of success being the obvious throne or even death, with two being almost as probable as the other

•  He also reminds the audience of their conflict which is still present
•   Foreshadows the end as once Aufidius has Rome, the poorest of all shall be Coriolanus, having been betrayed by his home country and then by his supposed allies.
• This shows that no matter what he was not in a situation in which winning was a possibility

Conclusion:

• ·      Shakespeare uses these all effectively in conveying the various elements of Government, exposing the implications of change and various people within these positions
• ·      The use of imagery is intentional as it paints indirect images that allow the reader to further and fully grasp the direct points being made in dialogue and descriptions.

Practice IOC Outline

Intro:

• Moons of Jupiter story
• Situated near the beginning of the story when Janet first talks to her father in his hospital room
• First reveal and development of the relationship between Janet and her father
• The story that incited her success this story unlike those before it aimed to include the complexities of a regular novel in spite of its condensed format
• The stylistic choices in which it was written, tracking back and forth from the future, to the present to the past.

• Munro manipulates time in order to juxtapose stereotypical short story structure and also express human complexity in the way that people typically don’t think linearly while also characterizing the relationship between Janet and her father through implicit communications.

Chunk 1 (1-7):

• First section focuses implicitly on the flourishing of relationship between the main characters
• Can be seen through the writing and beeping of heart monitor expressing life as a bunch of jagged lines (fluctuations like a rollercoaster) and a ticking timebomb (waiting for life to end)
• Perhaps defines life as a few jagged lines as opposed to one flat line
• Physical display of the room shows that her father’s most intimate and vulnerable sides are literally exposed, similar to his exposure of emotions in this tough time
• “I tried to ignore it” shows Janet’s ignorance to the situation and foreshadows the complexities of their relationship in her composure (where perhaps she should’ve showed more care)

Chunk 2 (8-30):

• Munro employs periphrasis at the very beginning of this section, tracing back to the events from the previous day, as starting in the middle of the story she is now beginning to build context for the reader
• Through her intentional way of retelling of previou events, the reader can infer that the narrator has seen her father in a similar state before, in addition to the father and her having a special, not very effusive relationship
• Munro then returns back to the present day to characterize the daughter and the father as being proactive, wanting to hear a selection of alternatives before reaching decisions (In tying with Munro’s style of capturing the essence of human life)
• Adds tension to the plot by stating that without the operation the father would only have 3 months to live, and that to in a bedridden state.
• Develops this theme of emotional intelligence as in spite of his situation Janet is trying to put a positive spin on an otherwise negative situation.

Chunk 3 (31-40):

• From advancing plot, Munro traces back to characterize and build context.
• She uses personal language to allow the reader to feel exactly Janet would be feeling at that time
• She then goes on to describe the relationship between Janet and her father as being not effusive and of too much approval but instead of tacit affection.

Conclusion:

Munro defies the typical conventions of short stories by employing periphrasis from the very onset of the story to build plot and context simultaneously - in a seamless fashion. This is effective in creating a story that is both centered and continually moving forward.