The Naked Emperor

This article talks about how the Communist Party manipulates its people through the use of propaganda in the cyber world. It entirely relies on the background information of China as a communist country, otherwise, it would be considered ambiguous. Because this article is written by a third person point of view, it writes about how the Party illustrates itself to the public as well as how society perceives the Party's messages. A leader in the Party posted on Sina Weibo that she "wept five times" during the President's opening speech, the common people ridicules or take this saying as a joke by mentioning he "wept five times" after he ate the spicy noodles for instance. The public backfired the leader's posting shows that they are not conceived or manipulated by the Party's praiseworthy sayings that sets them in a decent standing. 

Not only that, Mr. Zhu even wrote, “Ordinary people like us all know the emperor is not wearing any clothes. The emperor himself knows that he is naked. He also knows that we know. And yet he still walked out like this.” Mr. Zhu comments that the public knows that the Party is trying to depict themselves as the hero or the star of China even if it is wrong and immoral, yet they are continuing to draw themselves as the 'good guys'. 

I think that the intention behind this article is to humiliate the Party of how they try to manipulate their people but fails because the public knows what the Party is up to. I feel that this is very shameful and humiliating that the Party knows what they are doing and they are still doing it. Moreover, I also think that the public are working towards becoming a free country or at least warn the Party that they are not that dimwitted to be influenced by such propagandas. 

1984, Ch. 6&7 Analysis

Chapter 6

Critical Position: Feminist

Chapter 6 talks about how Winston desires for sexual encounter with someone from not having for a long period of time after he divorced with his wife, Katherine. Winston broke up with his wife because she is not interested in any sexual acts unless the purpose is for producing children to the Party. Consequently, Winston had a sexual affair with an "old and ugly" prostitute but he did it anyways. From a feminist's position, I think that Orwell's writing is unrealistic and over-exaggerating of how the Party controls its people. I think that both females and males in general cannot keep themselves away from the 'desire' of having sexual intercourse for pleasure. I feel that mankind value 'emotions' over 'righteous' and therefore, the ideal of being chaste is very hard to achieve. On the other hand, I think that females should not find a living by selling love. I feel this way because the culture I live in is emphasizes prostitutes as disgraceful and shameful. 

Critical Position: Moral 

The morals I got from this chapter focuses on being a caring person. For example, Winston divorced with Katherine because she does not perceive or enjoy the relationship  the same way Winston does. From clues in the chapter, Winston respects his wife's decision and does not force her to do things she does not want to. Not only that he also finds out that their relationship is based on the Party's needs for more children, not originally based on love. Therefore, Winston chooses to divorce for the happiness of both him and his wife. However, I dislike the fact that the old woman makes a living by being a prostitute. It is a dishonor to find money by selling one's own body. I feel that she has the ability to find money other ways. 

Chapter 7 

Critical Position: Psychoanalytic

Chapter 7 narrates about how the Party teach their people to believe the facts that are feuded but not from their eyes and ears. For example, the Party feeds in "2 and 2 gets 5" deceiving the people's sense of determining what's right and what's not. I feel that this topic is very bizarre and inhumane. Personally, I feel that the people who thinks of repressing people this way is mentally ill. However, this text still interests me because the idea presented is very abnormal and I find it a mystery to think about. 

Critical Position: Moral 

I feel that the Party should not repress its people by feeding in information rather than teaching them how to think for themselves. This limits people's freedom of thought and therefore, it is no difference from turning humans into robots. The Party should think about the better for everyone and not just themselves who gets to control and overpower the public. 

Questions

1.) Why did you initially choose the theory you did to break down your chapter(s).

I chose to write from a feminist's perspective for chapter 6 because it narrates about how Winston encounters with two different woman in his life. The two women is portrayed differently in this text so I wanted to reflect on how I think and feel about each person. On the other hand, I chose to write from the psychoanalytic position for chapter 7. This is because I feel that the message present in this chapter shows to be very inhumane and mentally disordered. Therefore, I want to write and find out the deeper meanings from a psychoanalytic scope for this chapter. However, I chose to write from the moral position for chapter 6 and 7 because I feel that I can reflect the teaching lessons I got from both chapters. 

2.) How did viewing the chapter(s) through this scope (and the scope or your partner) change your interpretation of your reading?

I feel that this activity made me read between the lines and understand both chapters in depth. It made me analyze why events in the novel happen for a reason, not just reading like I always normally do. Not only that, I think that viewing the chapter from a critical position made me understand about the a particular perspective portrayed in the chapter better because it focuses on one topic but in a great detail. 

Late October Cartoon Analysis

• Cartoon date: fall of 1939
• This cartoon is satirizing the relationship between Hitler and Stalin after they agreed on a non-aggression pact (1939) that Germany and Russia will not invade each other
• The sarcasm of the writing, "wonder how long the honeymoon will last?" implies that they are going to break up just like a marriage when there are ups and downs
• I believe that the color of this cartoon is in black and white because it is drawn back in 1939
• Hitler is the groom (has Nazi symbol on his suit) / Stalin is the bride
• Personally, I think that the artist made the bride (Stalin) looking very happy and trusted to depict how naive and gullible Stalin is compared to Hitler--> Hitler invaded Russia only after 2 years he signed the pact with Stalin

Metacognitive

The cartoon above is illustrating a marriage between Germany's leader, Hitler, and Russia's leader, Stalin. The drawing portrays Stalin's facial expression to be very cheerful but it is rather implying that Stalin will be tricked and backstabbed later on. This impression positions Stalin as a 'clown' who is dimwitted and easily manipulated. Although the drawing does not write or include any clues about the event the artist satirizes, he assumes that the viewers would know the occurrence in 1939 where Hitler failed to follow the terms in the non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia.

Furthermore, I believe that this cartoon represents the artist's view towards non-aggression pact between Stalin and Hitler. The sarcastic tone through the writing, "Wonder how long the honeymoon will last" shows that he disbelieves the non-aggression pact will work since the cartoon is drawn prior to the failure of the agreement. Not only that, I feel that the artist drew this picture to persuade people in his decade that the agreement between their leaders is just a fraud. On the other hand, because the artist is anonymous, we can also interpret that the artist might be a witness from another country in World War II but not Germany and Russia. The way the message is portrayed shows that the artist treats the agreement between this two leader as a joke. Therefore, it can be inferred that he/she ridicules the non-aggression pact as a senseless agreement. 

I feel that this cartoon is very enjoyable and creative on the ideas of satirizing these two leaders. The use of humor and sarcasm plays a role in making the viewers reminded of the failure of the nonaggression pact.

Columbus Day

The Columbus Day I know is about celebrating Christopher Columbus' finding of the "new world" which is known as the Bahamas or the Americas. Columbus is popular for his contributions of finding the new land and not of the derogating sides to his findings. Although Columbus Day appears to be a celebration, it is rather a day that people should be mourning for the Arawaks, the Native Americans on the new land who had been manipulated and tortured till death under Columbus' authority. 

Personally, I find it very frightful of how Columbus made use of these Arawaks who had no harm, thus, had great hospitality towards Columbus and his crews. Howard Zinn's writing about Columbus made me realize that Columbus is very self-centered and greedy. He was on a conquest for gold and the Arawaks did not hoard them away from Columbus but helped him search for it. The Arawaks shared food, shelter, and everything they had with the shipmen. Nonetheless, Columbus cruelly shipped the Arawaks back to his place and sold them as 'slaves'. They were nothing different from cows and buffalos that humans use. 

It is very appalling to hear that such great hero society admires and praises today is very inhumane. Despite Columbus’ successful findings, his actions led to the mass extermination of the Arawaks. The media should not publicize only the favorable things Columbus contributed but should also publicize the absence of his self-righteousness towards the Arawaks. I strongly feel that it is undeserved for those Native Americans who died without receiving the world's acknowledgements. 

Chapter 5 of 1984

The world Winston lives in consists of a very paranoid government. Systems involved in the governance of Oceania is very paranoia including the new character introduced, Syme, who is accounted for cutting down words to the bone, erasing words that existed, and rewriting the Newspeak dictionary. The government is afraid that the existence of words like "independent" "freedom" and "rebellious" makes people seek to achieve it. Therefore, if they erase those words then people would not be able to feel that way and they will be under the government's control for eternity.

In modern society, I believe that there is no such ideas that appears to be as paranoid as the one presented in the novel. The government in that time is deeply concerned about the power and authorities they hold until the point that they are paranoid. This fear can be considered as a mental disorder and results in a paranoid governance. I personally think this way because the governance in the society I live in promotes democracy and the public has freedom and rights. However, if I live in North Korea, then my viewpoints towards this paranoia would be different, I would probably think that the paranoia presented in the novel is common and usual. Not only that, the way I perceive things might also be influenced by my young age. Since I am still young in experience and work, I still have no idea of how reality is of governing people. For example, some adults own a private business and this involves governing massive number of employees. These adults would have a better idea of how it is and therefore, the hardships they faced is legit to lead them to be paranoid like the governance of Oceania.

On the other hand, I do not think that gender influences how I view the paranoia in this chapter. This might be because I consider that both genders are equal in status and is both capable of making decisions. Therefore, it would be the same as it is now if the government of Oceania is of women.

The Scarlatti Tilt

Response to ORIGINAL 

The original wording, “It's very hard to live in a studio apartment in San Jose with a man who's learning to play the violin. That's what she told the police when she handed them the empty revolver" seems to be vague. The author foreshadowed the reader the events that is going to happen or has happened in the story.

Response to DIFFERENT VARIATIONS 

I feel that the variations of this text conjures different feelings in a certain way. For example:

Variation #1:
The change of noun from "man" to a "white man" makes me think that the woman who handed the police the empty revolver is the bad person. However, my friend has another viewpoint. She thinks that the white man is the bad person because he has been racist towards the woman all along until the point that the woman cannot stand his actions so she killed him.

Variation #2:
The change of noun from "man" to "black man" makes me think that the woman is not the bad guy as she was with the white man's case. In this case, the woman is not wrong because my initial feeling of black people is that they are always wrong and usually the "bad guy". I think that this feeling is very surprising of how I judge people from their race. On the other hand, my friend thinks that the woman is wrong because she is racist towards the black man. Therefore, she is always annoyed of what the black man does and this leads her to murder him.

Variation #3:
The change of noun from "man" to "woman" for the violin player and the change of "woman" to "man" for the killer makes me think that the man who killed the woman is wrong. This is because I feel that contemporary men should have sympathy towards women (weaker sex), and therefore should treat women in a passionate way.

Variation #4:
The change of noun from "man" to "children" for the violin player automatically makes the killer the corrupted and wrong. I believe that children are never wrong because they are still young and naive while adults are old enough to handle their emotions and feelings.

Variation #5:
The change of noun from "man" to "baby" have the same effect as variation #4. It is normal for babies to cry and I would rather view that the killer is very ill-tempered or even mentally ill to the point that he killed the baby.

Variation #6:
The change of the killer from "man" to "woman" have the same effect as variation #5. Anyone who killed a baby because of their cry is mentally ill.

Variation #7:
This variation makes me feel that the woman who killed the man that watches football all the time is biased because she does not like Manchester United while the man might like the team. I feel that this is very common in society but I still think that the woman is the immoral person. She should not let her feelings overcome the idea of self-righteous.

Isaac Asimov's Critique on 1984

Isaac Asimov wrote a review on 1984 by George Orwell to represent contemporary reader's interpretation of the text. Although much of this critique talks about how Asimov analyzes Orwell's 1984, Asimov also includes the reasons behind why Orwell wrote the story. This critique shows to be representing both side ideas but leaning towards reader's perspective, or in this case, Asimov’s perspective. Asimov’s intention is to “set people straight”. Not only that, because this text is in the form of a critique and not a text itself, Asimov assumes that readers have a basic background understanding of the novel 1984. 

Asimov focuses on three aspects of the satirical novel, which are the science fiction, the government, and the international relations presented in the content. This organized format of the text makes it easy for the readers to follow along. The language used is formal and contains descriptive dictions. Furthermore, because this text is based on analyzing Orwell's novel, this text does not show bias towards communists or capitalists. Asimov comments only on why the author writes his story in this way and how he does it. Therefore, readers of Asimov's critique would not be persuaded towards either side but will be given various ideas of why the text written in that way. It is important for Asimov to be unbiased in his critique because the text Asimov chooses to review on contains cultural diversity. Therefore, prejudice comments can be offensive to either side easily and this can make people of different culture furious upon his writings. 

Personally, I think that there are many different meanings that can be constructed from this text. Since this writing is based upon Orwell’s novel, 1984, that contains many biased ideas, the critiques would then be based upon those biased ideas. Therefore, readers can misinterpret Asimov’s critique as siding with Orwell’s writing. 

Budweiser Advertisement

The purpose of this ad is to attract male drinkers. The technique behind this advertisement is through manipulating their target audience by using a sexy lady posing in the way that arouses men emotionally and erotically. Although society thinks that this ad will only lure men, it strangely attracts women as since the content on the advertisement stands out and is noticeable. Not only that, the use of red also portrays the tone of extremity. Red is a bright color, it also depicts increased enthusiasm, interest and desire. We think that the illustrator is trying to deceive people to drink Budweiser through convincing them emotionally.

The illustrator assumes that all males are attracted to sexy woman. However, the assumption that is for granted is that some male drinkers might not like this type of woman, they might like conservative woman. Therefore, this ad would not persuade those types of men to their product, Budweiser beer. 

Dao, Prim

Scarcity of Organ Donors

My First Love

Life is unfair. Some are born with 11 fingers, some are born with 2 heads, and some are born without arms. These people have different and abnormal physiques; I am different too but in another way. I was born with a dysfunctional liver. I came to know the truth when I was fifteen because it has gotten worse. I knew that my parents had been keeping this away from me because they wanted me to live happily just like every other ordinary girl.

My life changed now that I know the truth. The daily routines that I do changes and life is not as easy as it was before. I knew that I was not going to live on for so long. I feel weak and useless, knowing that death is nearby.

I can see each day getting worse. One day, I found myself in the hospital without knowing how I came here or who brought me here. It feels as if my life stopped for a moment. I was really confused as a team of doctors and nurses rushed by me, doing all sorts of thing with my body. The situations I witnessed seem so serious as they asked me all sorts of questions that I wasn’t even sure of what to answer. It appears as if I was dreaming, dreaming of a world I never imagined to live in before. As I gained my conscience back, the doctor slowly explained everything to me. He said I wasn’t going to live on for so long because they could not do a liver transplant for me since there weren’t enough livers donated. I was on the 1598^th on the waiting list and I knew that it wouldn’t reach me any time soon.

Life in the hospital wasn’t exciting. The Big Nurse treated me as if I was a kid or otherwise an old lady that couldn’t help herself. They checked on me every hour until I was really annoyed. I was waiting for the moment for the Big Nurse to come in again and I was prepared to shout and throw stuff at her. I was waiting there on my bed silently, listening for the Big Nurse’s loud footsteps. I didn’t wait for so long and I could hear her coming towards the door… I counted… 3…2…1… looking at the door ferociously. *Squeak* the door opened, and I was about to bawl but my eye got caught staring for a moment until I realized it wasn’t her.

He was muscular, tall, and tanned. He was wearing a green shirt that fitted him perfectly. He has dark eyebrows, tall nose, blue eyes, dirty blonde medium length hair, and scrumptious-looking lip. As he looked up at me, I caught myself scrutinizing his face.  I was lost in thought for a moment. I didn’t know where to go from then on, the feeling of hatred and anger disappeared into nerves instead. I glanced at him from the tip of my eyes because I was scared to look at him directly. I don’t know why I feel so awkward looking at him even though he is just an ordinary male nurse. I felt strange because I never experience something like this before. Never had I ever been so sure that he is the right one for me even if I don’t know him or have seen him before. But I could feel in my heart that was beating so hard as if it was going to jump out of my body. Never have I believed in love at first sight until today.

I would wait for him everyday to check on me every hour. The thing I once hated most has become what I have been waiting for eagerly every hour. Before meeting him, I didn’t know what to live for because in the end I would be waking up with the feeling of emptiness knowing that I have to die sooner or later. Now, things have changed. I feel that I have someone to admire even just by looking at him from a far distant makes my heart full and complete. I wish nothing more than just looking at him 24 times a day until my life lives no more.

I just don’t understand why life is unfair. I don’t know what to call it, I would rather say that it is a mixed feeling of half pain and half joy. I admit that it was really painful to know that I am going to die but it was more than words that I could say of experiencing “love” for the first time. I regret how life is unfair but at least, I won’t cry because it is going to be over, but smile in peace because it happened.

My first love and my last love…

Reflection

Personally, I chose to write about the Lack of Organ Donors because I am deeply passionate about the importance of everyone’s life. Although there are some who donate their organs to the people in need, it is only the few percentages. I feel that this issue has not been properly addressed in society that I live in. Therefore, the purpose of this writing is to promote the donation of organs.

The intention of writing a short story is to raise the awareness of “Scarcity of Organ Donors” by manipulating the readers emotionally. The message of this short story is not directly told to the readers but instead indirectly informing the issue and expanding on how the character is affected by this problem. It is expected that the readers will feel the pain and sorrow from the main character in this story, and this builds sympathy towards the people in need of organ donation like this character. Therefore, the condolences towards the main character in this story will persuade or at least raise awareness for contemporary readers of all age groups to donate their organs for those in need.

Metacognitive 5- "A Modest Proposal"

Jonathan Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal" to satirize the Irish politicians' ineptitude and also the hypocrisy of the wealthy class in the country. Swift proposes a solution to the problem Ireland is facing of having overpopulated children that are impoverished. He suggests a solution that would benefit the public socially, politically, and economically which is to make parents sell their children in the meat market to be seasoned and served for the wealthy class and receiving "Shillings" in return. This meat market regulates the economy, helps the government solve problems of these poor children from being a "burden" to their parents as well as being beneficial to the commonwealth.

From the perspective of a modern reader, Swift's proposal seems to be very inhumane and sadistic. He relies on the fact that his readers know about the political issues in Ireland. He excessively uses sarcasm throughout this text to mock the government representing a view of the public who lived under its control. Swift intends to build hatred against or look down on the Irish politicians. Although Swift does not talk badly upon the politicians directly, he deceives the readers through the use self-righteous. As a contemporary reader, this text appears to be a little hard to understand because of its language. It repetitively uses capitalization throughout the sentence and also dictions that have different meanings from today's. Despite its use of language that can confuse modern readers, Swift's writing is still an excellent piece of satire.

Metacognitive Journal 4- 1984

"1984" was written to illustrate how the idea of communism/totalitarianism and democracy co-existed in society. George Orwell writes in an omniscient perspective where he portrays views from both sides, however. He narrates this novel through Winston, the main character of this novel who appears to be a democrat. With reference to Orwell's work, he wrote "Animal Farm", satirizing communist leaders as corrupted pig leaders that deceive fellow animals in the farm. Although Orwell did not attack those Communist Leaders in his time directly, he humiliates these manipulative leaders by making them animal caricatures in his novel. He compares the Communist parties in Russia that overthrew the monarchy to the animals in the story that overthrew the Jones or the owner governing the farm. Animal Farm is an effective piece of writing that inspires the readers to hold on to a bias view of the political world as well as entertains the readers.

In this case, I think that "1984" is also another piece of work that Orwell intends to persuade contemporary readers to believe in democracy. He depicts a society with no freedom where there is a telescreen that capture people's actions and voices all the time. Orwell represents Winston's perspective where he does not like how the government invades his privacy by using the telescreen but he omits about how other people in society feels about it. However, Orwell did point out the fact  points out the fact that the public was okay with Big Brother doing the Two Minutes Hate and that the public roared and growled supporting the Party's side. 

Orwell wrote this novel during the time period when society was much influenced by Communist ideas.  However it has shift over centuries and communist ideas have been reduced. Although democracy appears to dominate the world today, Communism still exist in countries such as North Korea. If I could choose between being communism and democracy, I would choose democracy just like Winston. I feel that being governed under democracy allows people freedom. I believe that people will benefit when they have the rights to make choices for themselves and shape their own lives. Not only that, the economy will also grow when people are governed under capitalism and not collective farms. 

Metacognitive 3 on 1984

The first chapter of this novel introduces the main character, Winston. He lives in an environment that is controlled by a Party overlooked by Big Brother who based his beliefs on totalitarianism. The novel starts with a striking phrase "Big Brother is Watching You" portraying the sense of no privacy.  People in the novel is being watched and listened 24/7 by the telescreen. Furthermore, there are four main ministries, including the Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, and Ministry of Plenty. Each ministry overlooked and dealt with the misbehaviors of the residences in Oceania. 

Not only that, people in Oceania were also to attend the Two Minutes Hate, a gathering that condemns the idea of freedom of rights, freedom of thoughts, freedom of press, etc. It was said that the Two Minutes Hate always mentioned Emmanuel Goldstein, who was once a leader in the Party but now became a revolutionist to Big Brother and the Party. The purpose of people watching this speech is to build hatred inside people against Goldstein and his ideas. 

The mottos in this novel appear to be peculiar and odd to contemporary readers. Orwell writes,

WAR IS PEACE 

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

which these censures the idea of peace, freedom, and promoting ignorance. It appears as 'unusual' today because people today are striving for peace and freedom, and contrastingly avoids ignorance. It can be deduced that today's society is different from the majoring totalitarianism in 1984. People view things differently from different perspectives.  

Freedom

Personally, the Two Minutes Hate and Big Brother’s idea of totalitarianism wouldn’t manipulate me. I was raised in a society with freedom and I wouldn't appreciate if freedoms that have been granted are taken away. For example, my parents take away my freedom of choice when it comes to doing homework. They always force me to finish my academic-related work before wandering off in the internet, playing Facebook and Skype. In my opinion, I do not like it at all even though their reasons of taking away this freedom is for my own benefit. 

On the other hand, viewing it from a bigger scope, there are also some problems that society is faced with the government intruding upon a their privacy. In this case, it would apply to the Transportation Security Administration. For example, people are forced to go through a "backscanner" and this device captures the individual's naked picture. For this reason, I strongly feel that it is inappropriate and over the top even if it is for security and the government enforces this administration. It makes me feel insecure and violated. 

Love

Love Bird

No one is worth our tears, and the one who is, will never make us cry.