Final Brave New World Blog

1. Though the societies are very similar, what are some of the differences between the two that define them both to be independent societies? If these differences were altered, how would the societies be affected? (BNW & 1984)

2. Provided that John had not committed suicide, how would he have affected the society? Would the effects of the rest of his life have become global or stayed local? Would he have had a drastic effect on society and potentially changed it forever, or would he have been just another blip on the radar? (BNW)

3. After reading Brave New World we can sense that Huxley is afraid of this potential society and that he is not writing just to prove a point. What characterizes his fears of the ideology behind a utopia, and how does he embody it in Brave New World? (BNW)

Brave New World #2

Questions-
What will happen if the World State runs out of soma (specifically to Lenina)?
Why doesn't John want to be with Lenina?
What is the point of having orgy-porgys instead of privatized sex?


Aswers-


1. Lenina is extremely dependent on soma to get her through her days, as the reader can see when she exclaims repeatedly "Oh, how I wish I had my soma!" (125). She will never face a problem; instead, she will just drown it out with soma. Her addiction to the drug could prove costly if the World State were to ever run out of ingredients or plainly stop making soma. I believe that if this happens Lenina will enter withdrawal, problems will build up on her and she won't be able to handle the pressure. Because of these consequences Lenina's mind won't even be able to consider what is past conditioning anymore; thus, John will stop to love her and their relationship will end. 


2. John refuses to have Lenina because of the lack of intellectual ability she posses. Although she sometimes shows moments of being able to push past conditioning it is apparent to John and the reader that she will never be able to live the way John wants to live with someone whom he loves. 


3. Even love represents a threat to stability founded on uniformity. Because of this the dystopian society has created shameless orgies, "orgy-porgies." These allow for people to have their satisfaction without becoming emotionally attached to any one of their lovers. Through this, no emotions are conjured about or between the people. Because of the acts shamelessness and false anonymity, the participants only feel satisfaction which is exactly what they are supposed to achieve. This is reminded to the reader as Lenina reminds Bernard that "when the individual feels, the community reels," (94).

Brave New World #1

In Brave New World, there is no actual equality. Instead people have just been tricked into thinking they are equal with people in their class. However, they have created conformity because they have made all of the different classes wear their own color. The society also has this idea of "stability" which is forced upon the people by abolishing their differences with the caste system being the only exception. For example, it gets rid of  difference in religion. Individual rights are primarily based on what caste you exist in. Because of the characteristics I would describe this society as a dystopia; however, it is not as menacing as the one in 1984.

Love Language

1. That she is ignoring him and being rude. Also, I assumed she couldn't speak English.
2.Yes, the conflict comes between people who are deaf and people who aren't deaf. The conflict is difference in and speaking ability of language.
3.The external conflict is between the man and the woman. Their conflict is communication.
4. The internal conflict is that the woman is embarrassed about being deaf.
5.I was resolved by the mans willingness to go on with her because genuinely liked her.

"This Land is Your Land"

1. Guthrie's message is collectivist because he emphasizes "for you and me," which implies multiple persons or a group.
2. This song is pro-government because its message flows with that of collectivism.

1984 in-class blog

1. George Orwell, for one thing, is not a communist and whole heartedly disagrees with everything that communism stands for.
2. One thing that George Orwell probably fears, based on my reading, would be a society that has a supreme ruler and no other forms of authority besides military authority.

East vs. West

1. The West thinks that the East is made up of anonymous masses and that everyone in the East acts out of instinct and not rationalized decision.
2. It means that Westerners don't see them as being similar to themselves in the sense of cognitive function.
3. According to Westerners, the actions of people in the East are determined by emotion not by rationale. They also believe that the emotions which they act on are caused by instinct.
4. It unifies Westerners as being part of the ingroup. A common enemy benefits Westerners because it unifies them.
5.Yes, this view of the East still exists. For well educated people like you and I, the view is not as prominent, but many Americans consumed in their own culture do not understand how they can function in a different one.

Ethnography

1. The benefit of being on the outside looking in is that you are unbiased. The benefit, however, of examining your own culture is that you biases will balance out and you can understand what is wrong with your culture and try to fix it. Between the two the former perspective is best because you have no predispositions.

2.These rules exist because an ethnography couldn't exist without them. An ethnography without these rules would be like a utopian society; it cannot exist because the laws and rules that allow society, or in this case an ethnography, to function are have been broken and ignored.

1984 #3

I think that Big Brother has won. Until Winston willingly forced himself to believe that his memories of his mother and sister were false I didn't believe it. However, after reading that passage it became clear that Big Brother had defiantly won. After seeing how the Party demolished Winston's movement I don't think that there would be a way to bring down the One State. The reason being is that they One State has an ear and an eye on everything and everyone, so if someone, like Winston, even got the notion that the Party was bad then they could shut it down before that person could convince others. At the end of the novel I think that Winston realizes that he has been beaten and because of this realization he understands that nothing he does will matter, so now he has no reason to fight what is being given to him.

The Egg

1. Before he married he was kind and cheery. Afterwards he became incommunicable and dull. This change was caused by mothers ambition and his unwillingness toward leaving being a farmhand.

2. The narrator hates chickens and eggs because of the dysfunctional childhood they caused him.The grotesques symbolize unwanted change; while, the commonly occurring deaths symbolize lack of joy and generally hard times.

3. They are his most prized possessions and symbolize his changing, complex, and irregular personality. Joe Kane decided that father was "mildly insane but harmless," (8) because of his obsession with these birds.

4. This means the egg has beaten him. It has disruptively changed him for the worse because they so drastically ruined his childhood.

1984 #2

Winston is having a hard time buying in to what the State and Big Brother are selling because of the curiosity and yearning for something better that he feels. Even though he wouldn't know any better he can sense that there is something better out there, and he comes to the conclusion that the State and Big Brother are holding something back.
I would say that his small acts of defiance are protests yet, but they are the seeds for protests. I say this because they are only ideas and setup for protesting.
I compare Winston's "rebellion" to the Occupy movement. I recognize that they are different in size and magnitude, but I do believe they are very similar in the sense that they are not yet fully organized. Also, neither situation has details or set reasons, Winston is mostly speculation while Occupy protesters occassionally know the basics of what their protest is for. On another note, the government is not as effected by or involved in the Occupy movement as Big Brother and the State are in Winston's rebellion. This is because Winston is protesting directly against the government; while, the Occupy protesters are opposed to banks.

Aristotle Quote

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a though without accepting it." -Aristotle

I agree with this statement because after haveing socratic seminar, harkness discussions, and debates in 8th grade I know that in order to ever be able to persuade someone you must have a two sided argument. The ability to push a two sided argument is what Aristotle is talking about here.

Collectivism vs. Individalism

1. Collectivists believe in loyalty and honesty. Individualists belive in ambition and creativity.

2. Both schools of thought rely on status, but they define status differently. Collectivists think of status as how one can help the group while individualists think of status as being a measure of how one can improve their own life.

3. The teacher will be beaten down to the bottom of the totem pole because she isn't used to the competition of an individualist society. This happened because she wants to make the whole school better while all of the individualist teachers surrounding her only care about helping students that apply to them.

4. An aquaintance is a person you know ibut wouldn't apporach or hang out with unless required to do so.

2+2=5

1. This song is about how people in society are too caught up dreaming about themselves to pay attention and question why things are the way they are.

2. The music starts out soft and allows you to clearly hear each lyric and gives you time to think about what they mean. Then the music becoumes louder and faster and it pounds the messasge down into your head.

3. "2+2=5" symbolizes that people are blind enough to believe anything they hear even when the truth has obviously been bent.

1984 Reading Ch 1

The society in 1984 is a dystopia even though to the people inside it, it seems like a utopia. The reason why it is a dystopia is because of the constraints the government has put on the individual rights of the people. The main example of this from chapter one is that keeping a diary is an act punishable by death.This obviously to the reader is recognized as absurd but to the people within the society it is a completely normal understanding. This unanimous understanding that I'm talking about is also being used by the government to avoid conflict in religion and relationships as well because nobody knows any better. Then, the people who do find a head of their own are targeted by Big Brother who is a concept of the government being able to watch every action and hear every thought of each person in the society. Thus, because nobody knows what is good for them, they are also happy.

"Shame" Listening Journal

This song is about the shame that the speaker feels because of something he did.
The tone of this song is regretful and remorseful.

1.Please- the use of the word please make him almost sound desperate and it shows that he knows he messed up.
2.boatloads- shows he is in way over his head
3.strutted- shows that he was probably overconfident and arrogant and that he took what he had for granted.

"Young Life" by Bo Bartlett

Claim/Fact
1. They are struggling to get by./ They are driving a beat up old, rugged pickup that wouldn't be driven unless no other car could be afforded.
2.The child is neglected and is being poorly raised./ He is far away from his parents and he is using the stick as a crutch to raise himself up.
3. The father dislikes the boy and the mother is the glue of the family./ The father is a hunter while the boy is dressed nicely and isn't dirty at all while the father is rugged and dirty.

The family depicted in "Young Life," a 1996 painting by Bo Bartlett, is inexperienced and poor, the family's lack of sophistication and money makes it difficult for them to maintain a high quality of life. There are multiple factors that contribute to the ideology that it is hard for the family to get by. One factor is the rugged pickup truck that sits behind the family. This car is beat up and old; it is the type of car that is only driven when it absolutely has to be. The fact that they drive it shows that the family is poor and cannot afford a nicer vehicle. Also, the deer on top of the car symbolizes that they family cannot rely on their income alone to provide a healthy lifestyle for themselves.

"You Were Right" by Built to Spill

1. The song is about a breakup between the speaker and someone he loved very much. I think this because the tone of the song is sad.
2. The tempo of the music flowed well with the mood of the song.
3. The song conveyed the message it intended well. The words were figurative but the metaphors were clear and easy to understand.

SOAPSTone of “Batting Clean-up and Striking Out”

The subject of Dave Barry’s “Batting Clean-up and Striking Out” is the difference in attention to detail and sports as a priority between men and women. This comparison is illustrated through the use of the world series game and the clean bathroom example. These examples are clear indicators of the differences between men and women in these categories.

            “Batting Clean-up and Striking Out” was written during 1996. The essay’s time of creation is displayed in the description at the beginning of the essay. There is no disputing fact, but more specifically I believe it was written in winter because it is after the world series which is in the fall. The probable place of this essay’s creation is in Dave Barry’s home. I think this because he had no mention of being anywhere else in the world.

            The time and place of the essay’s creation influence the essay in that it was written after several events had occurred which led him to realize his message. We know that it was written after these events because he used them as examples.

            Dave Barry’s specific audience for “Batting Clean-up and Striking Out” is men who are in some sort of relationship with a woman. The author’s target audience is revealed when Barry explains how he dealt with the bathroom situation. He is making an example of what all men should do when that kind of situation arises; he knows he cannot win and that is what he does instead.

            The author’s general audience for the essay is all men. The author’s general audience is expressed when he singles out that women send him letters. If his audience was also women then he wouldn’t have made that distinction.

            Dave Barry’s purpose in “Batting Clean-up and Striking Out” is to contrast men in women in certain aspects of life. After reading his essay he wants his audience to understand the differences and why they occur. The contrast is illustrated by recognizing that “men generally don’t notice [dirt] until if forms clumps large enough to support agriculture.” In the sentence prior to this one he explained how women can see dirt that is microscopic; thus, the clear difference between a man’s and a woman’s attention to detail.

            Dave Barry, a humorist, believes that women pay more attention to detail than men. This value is illustrated by his use of the dirty bathroom example. He was asked to clean the bathroom, and he cleaned it even though he thought it was already clean. Then when his wife looked at it she thought it was still dirty. This attention to detail that women have is half of his purpose.

            Dave Barry, once called the funniest man in America, also believes that women in general do not have a love for sports even close to the average mans. He demonstrates this with the social gaffe example of his friend Maddy. The women didn’t care at all about one of the biggest sporting events in the world. This lack of concern clearly displays and is the second half of the purpose.

            Dave Barry’s use of sarcasm is evident when he describes the toy soldiers his son has next to his bathtub. The sarcasm he uses make the purpose feel less serious, yet it still makes it meaningful.

            Dave Barry’s use of imagery is evident when he speaks of the bathroom at the bar he used to hang out at. This amount of dirtiness shows when men become aware of filth and why women pay more attention to detail.

            Dave Barry exhibits a sarcastic and humorous attitude about the comparison between men and women when it comes to attention to detail and love for sports in “Batting Clean-up and Striking Out.” These attitudes are expressed with phrases like “God forbid he ever” and when describing how babies feel about eating dirt. The author’s tone makes the purpose less credible because it is clear he is not serious about this essay.

Voice Journal

1. Voice in literature is the tone and attitude that is understood about the message of a piece of literature. To create voice a person could use word choice, syntax, or irony.

2. "I am a soccer player; I am the next Messi. I score like two goals every season!" My voice here is sarcastic because scoring just two goals in a season, as a forward, is not very good. I used irony to convey my sarcasm.

3. I would talk around failing a test if my parents asked me about it. I would do this because I wouldn't want a bad light to be shined on me.

4. It is important in non-fiction because it demonstrates the way an author feels about the subject. We want to avoid bias in our academic essays.

5. Using the same devices and developing a specific style would make your writing unique and identifiable.

Kandisky vs. Pollack

Personally, I like Kandisky's painting better because it makes me feel happy and cheerful.

The Kandisky painting is also more pleasing to look at because it is lighter, more colorful, and not as strange as the splatter that Pollack uses.

Sign Language - a short film

The single effect is that nothing in front of you can be taken for granted and that you have to make things happen instead of hoping that they just will.

1) Ben and Anya both have rainbow gloves which symbolizes that they are meant to be together.
2) Ben and Anya both look happier than the other sign holders, we can see that they always have smiles and are very enthusiastic.
3) There was constant music that flowed with and developed the tone of the film.

I think that if there was no music then the same tone wouldn't have been conveyed. If the tone wasn't quite the same then the single effect wouldn't have been as powerful.

"Shooting an Elephant" SOAPSTone

The subject of George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is that he shot and killed a majestic animal that didn't morally deserve to die, in order for him not to look a fool. His murdering of the elephant is illustrated with exact details based on his experience of killing the elephant. The details that he uses of his own thought processes illustrate why he shot the elephant.

"Shooting an Elephant" was written after George Orwell was a Burmese police officer in 1936. The essay's time of creation is displayed in the bottom right corner of the work where it is clearly dated "1936." Unless he was referring to the year in which this event took place, which is extremely unlikely, the date of 1936 is correct. The probable place of this essay's creation is in England where he retired to after working in Burma; I have inferred this based on the knowledge that the first sentence states that he "was hated" in "Moulmein, in Lower Burma."

The rime and place of the essay's creation influence the essay in the choice of language that Orwell uses; for example, he describes the Burmese people as "yellow" which is unacceptable in modern society even dating back to around 1950. When preparing to shoot the gun he explains that he could feel "two thousand yellow faces urging him on." Calling eastern peoples yellow was acceptable from white people up until about 1950; since this piece was written fourteen years before that the use of the term "yellow" was not just acceptable but expected and therefore he used "yellow."

The author's specific audience for the essay is people who would work later in Burma and people who worked there then. The author's target audience is expressed by the fact that Orwell's writing is more of a teaching than it is a story, it is a teaching of morals of how one should behave and why it is so difficult. Nobody, but people who are or will be working there would want to know this so why would Orwell write about it if they weren't his audience.

George Orwell's general audience for "Shooting an Elephant" is all the white people of higher society than the Burmese people. The author's general audience is identified by Orwell's explanations about life there and how the white man was thought of by Burmese people. He would not have included these details if his audience were people who knew about Burmese society.

George Orwell's purpose in "Shooting an Elephant" is to describe the relationship between the natives and the white man and what actions and reactions it causes. Orwell also wants his audience to recognize that something terrible like killing an elephant should not be done in order to save ones own skin, especially, to keep yourself from looking dumb. The rationalization of the relationship  between white people and the Burmese is illustrated by the Buddhist monks, "there were several thousands of them in the town and none of them seemed to have anything to do except stand on street corners and jeer at Europeans." This detail rather clearly explains the relationships that white people have with the native people. The purpose is further articulated by the fact that these are monks of Buddhism, these monks of peace feel so strongly as to jeer Europeans for no reason surely displays the negative relationship held between the two parties.


George Orwell, author of Animal Farm, believes that the Burmese do not show proper respect to white people, especially people with authority like police officers. This value is illustrated by the disgust he expresses about everyday behaviors of Burmese people toward white people. If he agreed with their behavior he wouldn't write about it, but since he disagrees with their behavior we have to infer that it is because he believes that they fail to show respect where it is needed. This value that  Orwell has influences his essay by the tone that it causes him to take up because for part of it he seems irritated, especially when describing the relationship.


George Orwell, actually Eric Arthur Blair, believes that he was wrong in killing the elephant. This value is illustrated by his remorse for the dying beast and his guilt when he realizes why he killed it. If Orwell didn't think that his actions were wrong then he would not feel guilty. This value influences his essay at the end when he admits that the only reason he killed it was to keep himself from looking a fool, when in reality it made him a fool to himself. It also affects the purpose of the essay because it is the subject of the essay.


George Orwell's use of imagery is evident when he explains the two thousand "yellow" faces behind him as he is about to shoot the elephant. This rhetoric influences the essay's purpose because it emphasizes the pressure that he was under not to look like a fool. This rhetoric does increase the purpose's effectiveness.


George Orwell's use of imagery is evident when he demonstrates the elephants suffering at death. This influences the purpose of the essay because it makes the subject stronger and more powerful. This also increases the purpose's effectiveness.


George Orwell exhibits an irritated and sorrowful attitude about how he killed an elephant just so he could keep from looking a fool in "Shooting an Elephant." These attitudes are expressed by words like agony, solely, and furious. These show that he put an elephant in pain only to avoid looking like a fool in front of lots of people and now he is angry with himself. The tone of the essay contributes to the purpose by making it serious and also to show that this is a one time thing, but the concept is the main point of his writing. Obviously, Orwell does not mean to say that if you come across this situation do not do what I did, he means to say that do what is right, not what makes you look best.

"Across the Universe" by the Beatles

1. overflowing cup of water
2. broken light looking like 1000 eyes
3. outer space

"Broken light looking like 1000 eyes," is not only an image but also a symbol. It is a symbol because it represents something metaphorically instead of just having what is shows be what it represents.

The "Broken light looking like 1000 eyes," to me is like a shattered mirror in a dark bathroom that has been scattered about the floor. In this image I also see someone looking into the largest chunk of glass on the floor, wit h the jagged, harsh edges of the cracked mirror. To me, the shattered, distorted face that they see represents problems, failures, and disappointments. These in turn display this persons crumbling life.

"The Runaway" by Norman Rockwell

The simpler times that the 50s are often thought of as imply a carefree world in which adults wouldn't worry about what appears to be a child running away, yet in today's society we would be unnerved by this image because the police officer isn't taking any action to stop the boy. Rockwell displays, with this image, that older people are entranced in the idea that America is perfect; when, in fact, America has very many problems. Because the boy is young he is only familiar with the problems of America and hasn't been exposed to "classic America" like the policeman has. This lack of significant exposure to either side allows him not to be biased is able to recognize with his own judgement that America is not the same as it used to be. His realization of this causes him to want out of the bad situation. Rockwell's "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950s - an emerging counter-culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how things are.

Grammar Portfolio

Sentence I missed: I know that I became interested in fishing when I saw a 50 or so inch salmon jump high out of the water and I saw that purple shimmer that comes off of its scales.
Problem: Compound sentences joined by a conjunction must also have a comma in front of the conjunction.
Explanation & Interpretations: There should be a comma in front of "and" because it is separating two independent things that I did which were seeing the scales and seeing it jump.
Correction: insert a comma before "and " to distinguish the compound sentence.

"Inspiration Information" Shuggie Otis (1974)

This song is upbeat but to me it feels corny. It reminds me of old 70's and 80's movies that I have watched with my parents which for some reason makes me feel very corny.

In most of the movies that I am talking about they use songs like this as background music and do not use the lyrics. Because of this the singing was a little off-putting to me even though there seemed to be nothing wrong with it.

The song was relatively fast which made it more exciting than a slower song. The lyrics were loud, fast, and clear. This opposes a sad song that has slow, dull, mumbled lyrics. Together, the tempo of the song and the qualities of the lyrics accomplished the task of creating an upbeat, happy song that is easy to listen to.

SOAPSTone of Diego Rivera's "Semmeadores"

(soapstone is based on my original inferences)
Subject= Two men are working in a field collecting wheat.
Occasion= This must have been painted after Rivera had just finished a long period in which he had labored very hard.
Audience= The working class is the audience.
Purpose= The purpose of this painting is to display how hard these people are working.
Speaker= Rivera painted lots of murals, all with different themes. This may be another mural with the theme of working.
Tone= This painting gives off a calm and warm feeling because of its soft curves and goldish brown background.

Rivera wanted us to recognize the hard work of the working class in order for the upper class to have luxuries. The warm colors and curbes give the painting a soft, accepting feeling which makes me think that he doesn't like the toil of the working class people. Especially when it is just so the upper class can have more riches. Rivera's communist beliefs further emphasize this message. Other factors contributing to his message is that the workers faces cannot be seen and that the curve of their backs blends in with the curves of the field implying that they are invisible and unnoticeable. This is what he believes capitalism does to the lower class laborers, and he is therefore refuting capitalism with this painting.

Wilco's process and my process

Wilco takes inspiration from other songs and some of their previous songs and deconstructs them into lots of ideas for their new songs. From that they fit their ideas together to come up with a base for their new songs. After, they revise and edit several times so that they get it perfectly the way they want it. Even after they publish it they are always tweiking it so that it gets better and better.

I do not have much of a creative writing process. After determining what the teacher wants for the assignment I write pretty much whatever comes to mind as long as it fits inside the prompt and makes sense. If in the middle of my writing my train of thought stagnates I will take a break and do something completely unrelated to school for a while only to come back to it later. Then, I will revise it at least twice and depending on the importance of the paper I will edit it several times or edit it only once.

Rock Around the Clock -- Bill Haley and the Comets

Nostalgia is the feeling you get when something makes your reminisce about a previous time in your life.

I remember being in my mom's old suburban and listening to this on a cd with my brother, sister, and me dancing in the backseat. I also remember the first time I heard "Rock Around the Clock." My family was in Syracuse, NY at a pizza parlor on our way to Saratoga. There was a legitimate jukebox and someone played "Rock Around the Clock," and all of us Phillips children fell in love with it.

I do not remember many specific sensations like smell, texture, or taste from my youth, but I can recall lots of moments when I learned life lessons. Whether I was finally understanding something my parents had told me or realizing something on my own or even when an interest that I maintain today was discovered. For example, I know that I became interested in fishing when I saw a 50 or so inch salmon jump high out of the water and I saw that purple shimmer that comes off of its scales. From that point on fishing has been my favorite outdoor activity.

The Pinch of Poverty

I would say that the main contributing factor to poverty is a lack of intelligence which prohibits people from getting well paying jobs or jobs at all. Intelligence is especially difficult to get when one is born into poverty and does not have the money to obtain their education. This is why the poor tend to remain poor.

The artist uses pale, dark, shadowy colors to display poverty in a negative light.

Thomas Benjamin Kennington, the artist of "The Pinch of Poverty," is showing in this painting that poverty is rough, unforgiving, and stressful. Two ways he shows this is that the subjects are sitting in a rain shower, which we can tell from the reflection on the street, and the clothes that the subjects are wearing are dark and bland, they give the audience a sense that there is something left to be desired by the subjects.

In the painting the brightest things are the flowers the girl and boy are holding which symbolizes that the best part of their lives does not even come from themselves. Also, the faces and skin of the subjects are pale and emotionless compared to the average person; this exhibits their lack of happiness.

Poverty- the struggle for a solution

Chitra Divakaruni's 1997 essay about the hardships of child labor and about the U.S.'s then recent bill that doesn't allow American businesses to import from factories that have child labor. Knowing that not importing from these factories will get almost one million children laid off, she believes that they would rather work in the harsh conditions that have leisure time. With work comes money and with money the children can buy food, shelter, or clothing; however, if they had no work then their incomes would be lost and food would no longer find its way into their stomach. After analyzing this ideology, the question of whether the rest of the developed world and specifically the U.S. should support child labor by importing from factories that have it.

Opposing this essay is an article by Peter Singer written in 1999 that emphasizes his belief that each adult in the world can, together, completely defeat poverty. He elaborates on this idea by explaining that "[a]n American household with an income of $50,000 a year, spends around $30,000 annually." From that he says that instead of spending the extra $20,00 on  luxuries that it should all be donated to organizations to help poverty stricken children around the world. However, this seems fairly extreme to me and I would like to know what Singer donates to these organizations every year because it seems to me that he is most likely exaggerating on the donations that he believes should be made. What he doesn't account for is that people do more with their money than just spend it. Almost everybody saves their money and many people turn it around into more money with investments as well. To say that people should donate all of their unspent income is absurd; while I don't disagree that donations are an excellent thing, $1,000 per year is plenty of a donation.

I think that one of the reasons why I reacted to Singer's article so strongly is because I am conservative and on top of the essay coming from a liberal viewpoint he also said something similar to, "my liberal friends responded well to my theory.' There is no need for this separation of liberals and conservatives. Why objectify conservatives as greedy snobs who won't donate anything. It is absolutely not true and unnecessary. Because of my conservative views I was offended by Singer's hasty remarks which implied the lack of cooperation from conservative people.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti, "Round and Round"

This song, to say in short, was not my type of song. While I can understand why a person could like it, I myself cared very little for it. The intensity and volume of the instruments raised and lowered many times, making it hard to follow. It also frustrated me that I could not understand the lead singer's muffled lyrics. To me they were a musical blur which detracted from the decent instrumental sounds in the song. These threw me for a loop, especially the first thing, thus developing my bias to this song in its early stages. The change that it created I did not like, yet I know that the change is not the only reason for my disliking of "Round and Round," I strongly believe that I just do not enjoy that genre of music. When the song ended, I was relieved to get away from it because of how annoying and inartistic I found it to be. Most likely, because of my experience with this song I will be subconsciously biased towards not just this particular song but also the genre that it is.