homework assignment sept 15 2010

Considering the numerous assessments that you will participate in for English A2 this year
what are your goals?
how will you achieve these goals?



i have many goals pertaining to the english subject of my senior year. first of all, i would enjoy expanding the use of different vocabulary to add it to my day to day conversations. i would also like to improve the format of my essay-writing. what would also please me is if my grades improve due to over-comprehension of the material we will be taking, reading, analyzing, and studying.

i will complete this goals in various ways. i will first take the vocabulary we begin to learn and apply it into the essays that we will be writing, in both english class and out. from this basis i will expect my vocabulary words to slowly find themselves in my conversations.

to improve the format of my essays, i will make extra drafts and be sure that they are sticking to the directions given.

to improve my understanding of the texts that we will be receiving, i will read them thoroughly, and perhaps summarize every chapter so i have something to look back to. this will definitely help my understanding as this will lead to further development of thoughts surrounding the text.

muse- resistance

The song “the resistance” by Muse has many indications and analytical interpretations that relate to the novel “1984” by George Orwell. They share many themes, such as the theme of stealth. The song states, “ is your secret safe tonight? And are we out of sight”. This portrays the importance of hiding in 1984. It shows the necessity of hiding and this is confirmed when the song continues, “ or will our world come tumbling down”. This also shows how important it was for the characters of 1984 to hide themselves from the eyes of the party, which were everywhere in the form and shape of technology. The next theme present is fear. Winston and Julia were afraid of being uncovered and caught. This is also shown in the song with the lines, “ will they find our hiding place? Is this our last embrace? Or will the walls start caving in”. Winston, Julia, and the rest of the resistance share this same fear. They recognize the punishments they may face, but once a rebel, the person can never go back. They are not able to forget what they have learned. The third theme is the theme of hopelessness and suppression. This is uncovered with the lines, “the night as reached its end - - we cant pretend - -we must run - -we must run - - its time to run”. This reveals the theme of hopelessness because it portrays the idea that this is the only possible option left for their survival. In other words, they must run, or else they will be stuck in a suppressed and thoughtless world and risk being caught and killed for simple thinking.

In your own words, please explain how “war is peace”

According to the theories of Big Brother and The Party, they believe that as long they are at war with a strong outside force, the people will be able to unite under one common cause to fight the “common enemy”. As long as this enemy is there, the people will stand under one roof, and they will prosper and procure under the belief that they must be united and strong as a nation to achieve this high quality of life which is only there acting as a façade to the truth behind their quality of life. Since there is a common enemy, the Party is able to have a higher level of control leading to the vulnerability of the people. When they are at war, they will not be tempted to revolt according to their bad treatment; in fact, they may not even realize that such bad treatment exists. Being at war awards the feeling that they must be united to stay and fight strong against the evil that is pushing inwardly. Also, in this situation, citizens are empowering the government by allowing them to make larger decisions without their consent. This can be very dangerous, because the more powerful a government gets, the more selfish it can become. The government may destroy all rights of the citizens, turning them into slaves or zombies. They will be viewed as pawns, and this is a very valid example that pertains to the novel 1984.

media entry # 7 (the radio)

in kuwait, the most popular english radio station is 99.7. personally i believe 99.7 is famous because there are no other all english radio stations in kuwait, so it is a monopolistic feature that it has. i believe that 99.7 can help many, but also annoy many. Linda from 99.7 attempts to advertise the brands she is supposed to, yet she also guides the public into making smart choices, such as driving safely and taking care of the other surrounding drivers as well. She also complains about the stupid decisions many drivers make which lead to serious accidents. linda inspires us to act safely on the road, and to think about our loved ones which leads us to make smarter decisions. however, many forget that linda is paid to advertise cars that are supposedly "safer" like the nissan ultima. She can be very misleading since she has created the image that she actually cares about the kuwaiti public, so we take her word for things. this is the modern form of propaganda. this is where money can change opinions and change decisions that people make, and it is the essence that funds media.

media entry # 6 (use of computers)

Computers are found in every Kuwaiti household in multiple amounts, yet the most people that are affected by computers are the high school students and younger. this is because they have the option and choice to stay connected with their friends whilst doing something else. this "something else" could be homework and this could affect the final product of the homework leading to a drop in sufficient work done for each homework assignment. since most young adults use computers, the internet has become a great advertising device. i see advertisements for all kinds of things everyday, and almost on every website! since this is so, us teens have learned to block out pop ups and advertisements due to it being everywhere, therefore transforming it into an ineffective advertising method. the fact that most of the advertisements are completely pointless does not aid this situation for advertising agencies. in Kuwait, it is rare to find people who purchase products online, since it is hard to find certain sites that ship and send to Kuwait, or simply recognize Kuwait as a country! Also, people here and everywhere have learned to question the credibility of the advertisements since most of them try to make a complete mockery out of its "clickers".

media entry # 5 (blackberries and "bbm" in Kuwait)

the blackberry "frenzy" is often misunderstood by many who have not decided to join it, but all residents in Kuwait can see for themselves that this blackberry stuff is crazy! 9 out of 10 Kuwaitis have a blackerry, and 8 out of 10 residents here have blackberries. i can safely assume that most of the population that live in kuwait own blackberries. I own a blackberry myself, and it turns into a point of ridiculousness when i realize how many bbms i get everyday and every hour. it is quite disturbing and annoying, and many students struggle to stay on task in class and at home when their blackberries are in that same room. blackberries have demolished the option of keeping a phone in the room of study, unless strong will is evident.

However bbms do have a bright side. with bbms, us blackberry users receive broadcast messages of funny jokes that can put smiles on many faces, or the newest headline. the benefit of this is that we don't have to go search for the newest coverage, because we know that if its big, its gonna be broadcasted by many. however many times people were mistaken and mislead and decided to broadcast gossip that people took seriously. this is where news from bbm truly fails. about once or twice a month, rumors are sent as facts. last month, there was a rumor that Johnny Depp had died. this all started from one mislead person who decided to broadcast and spread is depression on bbm. when he realized he was wrong, it was too late. it was already on every blackberry in kuwait!

media entry # 4 (dependency on media)

As every day passes, we manage to pull ourselves even closer to media than our predecessors. we use it, think about it, create it, and also spread it. think about the items or gadgets we use in a daily basis. how do they change or affect the natural flow of our lives? some may consider these shortcuts as gifts, and some may consider them as curses. this is because many realize the effect that technology is having on our everyday lives and it inspires laziness, and creates a dependency for it. yet many look at the bright side and say that things can be done much quicker because of these technological advancements. now most of us share cupidity towards newly invented technology as we are all waiting to be blown away by the "new blackberry" or "new Iphone". we have become so dependent and so affected by technology that we trust it way too much. we trust it with our personal information. we trust it with our bank's information. we also trust it with our families. this leads to multiple branches of problems. one of the branches is identity theft. we risk identity theft every time we purchase something off the internet. we risk being robbed of our money through the credit card information we have given. when it comes to news, we risk receiving the wrong information and this can lead to various different circumstances, such as preparing for a hurricane that will not hit the area that you are staying in. we are guided by the media, and sometimes, we are mislead onto the wrong path. we should stray away from the dependency upon forms of media that we all share.