Due to the fact that this month of September is the month that marks 9/11 - a day that will forever mark history - President Obama’s speech on the death of Osama bin Laden is more than fitting for this particular writing. Much like President Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg Address,” these two speeches are for similar purposes, and have detailed messages for the citizens of America. These speeches bring America together in unity and liberty under the devotion of God by boosting the general morale of the American citizens. Even though Obama’s speech is much later than the effects that led to the war in Iraq, it allows the public to feel safe knowing a terrorist has been laid to rest. While, Lincoln’s speech is pre-war and states that a nation should not give up equal rights and freedom which “our fathers” fought to establish. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the preposition that all men are created equal.”
The year of 1863 was a powerful turning point for America’s future. Abraham Lincoln ended slavery and led the union army in the Civil War against the South’s secession. “The Gettysburg Address” speaks about how when our nation first sailed over here, we fought for everyone’s equality. Today, we are still fighting for that purpose. Much of the inequality we live in today comes from people who are judged for their beliefs, their race, or economical status. Maybe if we had another leader like Abraham Lincoln, we would all be treated equal.
Obama’s speech is twice as long as Lincoln’s speech, but has a similar message which states that we are a nation that stands together and helps our neighbors when they are in need. Metaphorically speaking, he is saying that America is stronger as a unit, and “the citizens will not take a punch sitting down.” Obama does not say this exactly, but does refer to Former-President Bush’s actions “I've made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims.”
Much of the literary works that Obama applies in his speech help make it easier to follow. The way that he sets it up reminds people of the events that took place 9/11 and why we went to war in the first place. He then gives recognition to the soldiers fighting over the last 10 years and to the ones who died bravely serving their country; by doing this he gains the emotion and attention of the American public. At this point he explains how the operation was performed, “shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against Al Qaeda.” He also makes it clear that killing bin Laden could not have been done with out the alliance of Pakistan, who had pointed out where bin Laden was hiding. Obama concludes his speech with sorrow he has for all the families who have lost a loved one along the way and he states that although this war was for the right reasons, he does not agree with all of the hardships that come with it.
Because Obama’s speech was long and continuous, Lincoln's "The Gettysburg Address" was set up in a different manor all together. Just by looking at it, one would note ranges in size for each paragraph. As the speech progresses, each paragraph gets longer. Whether this was the intent or not it draws the reader in. Lincoln states that this land is where our fore fathers fought and now we are fighting on it again but for much too similar of reasons - to defend freedom, liberty, and equality. One of the most renowned parts of “The Gettysburg Address” is the very first line that reads “Four score and seven years ago.” A score is 20 years, so Lincoln is referring to 87 years before his time during the American Revolution. So why doesn’t he just say 87 years ago, instead of saying four score and seven years ago? This is probably what made his speech so spectacular because it drew in an audience to listen with tentative ears. Another thing to note is how he frequently uses the word dedicate, this is probably to give the emotion of pure devotion and commitment to defend this nation against any threat against freedom. He also uses the word consecrate which can also be defined as dedication which strengthens the speech that much more.
When Obama gave his speech upon bin Laden’s death, the nation rang out with joy. In his ending remarks he states “Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.” Much like these ending remarks, Lincoln uses a similar approach by mentioning God in the ending to his speech. “This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom --- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” The reason that both Presidents used the depiction of God was merely to sympathize with the rest of America because a lot of the nation was built upon Christianity. This also shows that the nation is all connected as one through the devotion of God. God stands more many as a sign of hope and faith; which America needs time and time again during times of war.
So as you can see, each of the dually noted speeches have detailed messages relating to the citizens of America through uniting words. They provide sense of urgency with a sense of meaning to uplift the audiences spirits when they have been kicked around through tragedy, despair, and warfare. These speeches are similar in that they give new hope to Americans and unite the nation under God and through liberty. While at the same time each speech appears to be different through the length and also the language that is used within each of the two speeches. This is mainly do to the fact there is well over a century between the two. But they forever more hold their value and recognition for everyone wanting freedom and liberty.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Win OR Lose, it's Grammar I Use.
Wow what an exciting, YET disappointing football game we had this weekend. ALTHOUGH we lost the game (by one freaking point) I can still say I learned something this week, AND that is FANBOYS my friends. This is an acronym that Barbara has shown us during Thursday’s class. The letters represent words that can be used to combine sentences and make what we call compound sentences. FANBOYS: FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR, YET, SO. BEFORE we can go any further, I must say that I have never heard of FANBOYS throughout my entire educational career. I am so thankful to have learned this valid lesson for grammar.
AS of now I feel like I am really getting the hang of the material we have covered in and outside of class. SINCE we have been watching some “School House Rock” at the end of our sessions, I have gone home and told my roommate all about it. All he did was laugh though because he finds it to be childish, BUT I told him it’s a classic and enjoyable learning tool.
FOR the second acronym we had learned is AAAWWUBBIS, which we were told not to confuse our students NOR ourselves with this abbreviation. This acronym represents subordinating words and phrases, which connects a subordinate clause to a main clause. SO a couple examples of this may be:
1) The Cougars had a huge lead until the Buffaloes stole it from them.
2) It’s better to finish home work before class rather than during class.
3) Even though he text more than he talks on his phone, his bill was through the roof.
On Tuesday we had the opportunity to pick out new partners for a fun activity, which I had learned a lot from. My partner, and friend, Stephanie and I had a choice between “Pick-up Lines” OR “Rock-n’-Roll,” but we went with “Rock-n’-Roll.” The object of the activity was to help us build our skills with S-V-O, S-Vi, and S-LV-SC sentences. This was not only helpful, but at the same time amusing because of all the creative sentences that our class thought up.
AS A TRANSFER STUDENT, I WAS UNSURE OF MY SURROUNDINGS AND KEPT MYSELF SHELTERED AWAY FROM OTHERS WITH SHYNESS; AS A SENIOR, I AM MAKING MORE FRIENDS AND BECOMING A BETTER STUDENT.
AS of now I feel like I am really getting the hang of the material we have covered in and outside of class. SINCE we have been watching some “School House Rock” at the end of our sessions, I have gone home and told my roommate all about it. All he did was laugh though because he finds it to be childish, BUT I told him it’s a classic and enjoyable learning tool.
FOR the second acronym we had learned is AAAWWUBBIS, which we were told not to confuse our students NOR ourselves with this abbreviation. This acronym represents subordinating words and phrases, which connects a subordinate clause to a main clause. SO a couple examples of this may be:
1) The Cougars had a huge lead until the Buffaloes stole it from them.
2) It’s better to finish home work before class rather than during class.
3) Even though he text more than he talks on his phone, his bill was through the roof.
On Tuesday we had the opportunity to pick out new partners for a fun activity, which I had learned a lot from. My partner, and friend, Stephanie and I had a choice between “Pick-up Lines” OR “Rock-n’-Roll,” but we went with “Rock-n’-Roll.” The object of the activity was to help us build our skills with S-V-O, S-Vi, and S-LV-SC sentences. This was not only helpful, but at the same time amusing because of all the creative sentences that our class thought up.
AS A TRANSFER STUDENT, I WAS UNSURE OF MY SURROUNDINGS AND KEPT MYSELF SHELTERED AWAY FROM OTHERS WITH SHYNESS; AS A SENIOR, I AM MAKING MORE FRIENDS AND BECOMING A BETTER STUDENT.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Blog # 3 With a Twist
Once upon a time, there was a lad from the small but very renowned town of Enumclaw. He grew up in a quiet little place just on the outskirts of town with his mother, his father, his brother and his sister. This lad that went by the name of Evan was no where near perfect but always aspired to be the best at whatever he was doing. From the time he was a wee little tyke to these present and harsh times he would never leave a task unfinished. He knew that he wanted to be writer lived up to the expectations of his teachers and was frequently complimented on his writing abilities. With this newly found power he would wield it to defeat any monstrous paper, becoming hero of all the land.
Though our conquering hero Evan has defeated many papers on expeditions, this story belongs to a quest that requires our hero to find one’s self and acquire new skills. Evan entered into what appeared to be an intimidating class the first day; but he soon found English 326 to be quite enjoyable. With the help of his fellow guild members and the elder mage (Barbara) he knew he could finish this quest with all the colors of the rainbow.
During the first week of classes Evan would make the journey by foot over mountains, through massive heat waves, and into the fiery pits known as “Campus“. The distance BETWEEN EVAN’S CASTLE AND CAMPUS was a long and treacherous one but he made his way each and every day. He had surprised HIMSELF with the time it took him on his voyage, for it was not as long as one would have expected.
Within English 326 Evan has been learning a lot about grammar, such as using punctuations in correct places. With the help of reading the scriptures of “Dora Learns to Write and in the Process Encounters Punctuation” he has increased his knowledge of proper punctuation. By the time the fourth week of classes rolled around Evan was beginning to get the hang of how grammar works; but with the introduction to nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and particles, could truly put Evan’s heroic abilities to the test.
These skills are finding their way to being quite useful as our hero of this story learns how to use them in battle against his literary paper in English 301. His paper is a comparison BETWEEN A SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. He is beginning to understand the concepts more and more which will help him achieve his life long goal of becoming a great writer. What more lies ahead of our adventurer?
Until we meet again
Last weeks pattern: AS A TEACHER, I WORKED AND WROTE WITH CHILDREN IN GRADES ONE THROUGH SIX; WHILE AS A RESEARCHER, I OBSERVED THE WRITING PRACTICE AND PRODUCT OF THREE CLASSES.
Though our conquering hero Evan has defeated many papers on expeditions, this story belongs to a quest that requires our hero to find one’s self and acquire new skills. Evan entered into what appeared to be an intimidating class the first day; but he soon found English 326 to be quite enjoyable. With the help of his fellow guild members and the elder mage (Barbara) he knew he could finish this quest with all the colors of the rainbow.
During the first week of classes Evan would make the journey by foot over mountains, through massive heat waves, and into the fiery pits known as “Campus“. The distance BETWEEN EVAN’S CASTLE AND CAMPUS was a long and treacherous one but he made his way each and every day. He had surprised HIMSELF with the time it took him on his voyage, for it was not as long as one would have expected.
Within English 326 Evan has been learning a lot about grammar, such as using punctuations in correct places. With the help of reading the scriptures of “Dora Learns to Write and in the Process Encounters Punctuation” he has increased his knowledge of proper punctuation. By the time the fourth week of classes rolled around Evan was beginning to get the hang of how grammar works; but with the introduction to nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and particles, could truly put Evan’s heroic abilities to the test.
These skills are finding their way to being quite useful as our hero of this story learns how to use them in battle against his literary paper in English 301. His paper is a comparison BETWEEN A SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. He is beginning to understand the concepts more and more which will help him achieve his life long goal of becoming a great writer. What more lies ahead of our adventurer?
Until we meet again
Last weeks pattern: AS A TEACHER, I WORKED AND WROTE WITH CHILDREN IN GRADES ONE THROUGH SIX; WHILE AS A RESEARCHER, I OBSERVED THE WRITING PRACTICE AND PRODUCT OF THREE CLASSES.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Learning is Power
Maybe it is just me and I’m a big complainer but this question for this week’s blog all seems a bit…premature. But I guess I will take a whack at it as the English would say. During the first week of classes we went over the syllabus and discussed what we would be learning over the course of the semester. Then we required to create a blog page for this class; which I found superbly interesting. The reason that having my own blog is so interesting to me is because I have never owned one in the past.
Moving on to round two (second week) of the learning process. We began learning how to properly place apostrophes with words for singularity, ownership and plurality. I have learned that if it is ownership then the apostrophe goes after the word followed by an ‘s’. I also learned that an apostrophe can be used to abbreviate or combine words, such as it is becomes it’s or do not becomes don’t. We also worked in groups to find punctuation uses within print articles to help us know how to find different forms of punctuation.
Last week we read an article by Pat Cordeiro, WHOSE story discussed how students learned to write through trial and error. ITS author I felt didn’t know what she was talking about because she made elementary students less knowledgeable than what they really are. It may be my biased opinion but when I grew up my mom ran a daycare and as a chore I would help them with THEIR homework and they all seemed intelligent for their age compared to how Cordeiro described them as.
Cherrio
Moving on to round two (second week) of the learning process. We began learning how to properly place apostrophes with words for singularity, ownership and plurality. I have learned that if it is ownership then the apostrophe goes after the word followed by an ‘s’. I also learned that an apostrophe can be used to abbreviate or combine words, such as it is becomes it’s or do not becomes don’t. We also worked in groups to find punctuation uses within print articles to help us know how to find different forms of punctuation.
Last week we read an article by Pat Cordeiro, WHOSE story discussed how students learned to write through trial and error. ITS author I felt didn’t know what she was talking about because she made elementary students less knowledgeable than what they really are. It may be my biased opinion but when I grew up my mom ran a daycare and as a chore I would help them with THEIR homework and they all seemed intelligent for their age compared to how Cordeiro described them as.
Cherrio
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