Satire Videos

In LA class last week, our class presented the satirical videos each student picked. Out of the 16 videos presented, there is a videos that really appealed to me.
The video, John Oliver and Gun Control, was brilliantly satirizing Americans who oppose gun control without certain reason. John Oliver interviews an American anti-gun control supporting Virginian Philip Van Cleave and a government official from Australia and contrast their opinions. When Oliver asks Cleave if background checks for gun control is logical to him, Cleave answers no and suggests that the first amendment doesn't require background checks. This is a use of verbal irony since the first amendment is very different from the second amendment so they cannot be compared with each other. Also, when Oliver asks about one hour waiting period to get a gun Cleave also answers no saying he don't see any reasons. This shows how stubborn people can be and not change their minds.Moreover, Cleave claims gun control does not work so Oliver examples Australia's gun control after the mass shooting. However, Cleave insists Australia is another world and is not the United States but in reality, Australia, not only exists in the same planet as America, obviously there economy and culture is not so different from us. Oliver, then, interviews Australia's formal prime minister, John Howard. Howard says that after the gun control, the mass shooting stopped and never happened until today. When Oliver says this to Cleave, Cleaves says "mass shooting is rare anyhow" and yes, mass shooting is less than car accidents except while car accidents result in killing comparably small number of people, mass shooting can kill hundreds and thousands of people. Also although mass shooting is rare compare to other death causes, it still is visible in number. Howard claims there were thirty mass shootings in Australia only before the gun control. When Cleave hears this, he compares guns to drugs and basically end up saying like "there is no point of having laws unless we can complexly get rid of all the drugs." After that, with his logic confused, Cleave claims since there are more gun in USA, there will be more people killed, which is actually opposing his claim.
This video by using verbal irony and Homeric satire, perfectly satirizes people who doesn't have clear reason of opposing gun controls and still opposes it.

Johnathan Swift

Facts about Swift:

1. "He best remembered for his 1728 book Gulliver's Travels."
Citation: "Jonathan Swift Biography." Web log post. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. 
2. "Moreover, Swift was a sickly child. It was later discovered that he suffered from Meniere's Disease, a condition of the inner ear that leaves the afflicted nauseous and hard of hearing." 

Citation: "Jonathan Swift Biography." Web log post. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.

3. "...; at fourteen he entered pensioner at Trinity College, Dublin, where he seems to have neglected his opportunities."
Citation: Jokinen, Anniina, comp. "The Life of Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)." Encyclopedia Britannica. 11th ed. Vol. 26th. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Ed., Vol. XXVI. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910. 225-7., 16 Oct. 2006. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
4. In England, in 1689, he became secretary to Sir William Temple, a diplomat and man of letters, at Moor Park in Surrey. 
Citation: "Jonathan Swift: A Brief Biography"The Dancing Girl" by John Barlas." Web log post.Jonathan Swift: A Brief Biography"The Dancing Girl" by John Barlas. Victorian Web, July 2000. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. 
5. "..., is said to have remarked "Cousin Swift, you will never be a poet."
Citation: Citation: "Jonathan Swift: A Brief Biography"The Dancing Girl" by John Barlas." Web log post.Jonathan Swift: A Brief Biography"The Dancing Girl" by John Barlas. Victorian Web, July 2000. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. 


Quote from Swift

"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own" (Swift).
Citation: "Jonathan Swift." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2013. 7 October 2013. 

Quote about Swift: 

It's Your Fault

In the video, It's Your Fault, the female actresses in the video insists that women are the leading cause of rape. They say scientific studies show that women who wear skirts are leading cause of rape but the clothes that were shown are not only skirts or shorts but also includes traditional Indian clothes and even a space suit which sarcastically points out the fact that the cloth women wear isn't the real cause of rape. This is an example of Horatian satire, which in a playful and joyful tone directs wit, exaggeration, and humor.

Also in scene 1:00, the woman explains that even the men are the ones who rape females, since females give birth to the males it's all their fault, which the deeper meaning hidden under the verbal irony means that the men are raping females who do a great sacrifice by giving birth to them and the future generation.

Moreover, in scene 1:13, the actress quotes, "Indian culture provides a several progressive methods to counter rape." She mocks the real society where women cannot stop the rape by calling out word by actually stopping the rape by calling out "Paya Walla" literally rape cancel in English. She quotes "it works all the time" bur in reality it doesn't

Furthermore, in the scene 1:35, the actresses claims that women who work late are also the leading cause of rape and quotes, "women, why work at all?" The reality behind it is that in average Indian family, men either don't work or don't earn enough to afford the family. It's mocking the Indian culture blaming the women who had been raped while just trying to support her family. It's another example of a Horatian satire since it's in a playful tone.

In scene 2:38, the woman says, "if you're tired of being humiliated by rape, you can always go to the cops and be humiliated by them instead." It blames the police officials in India who doesn't help the victims of rape but rather humiliate them even more. The cope in scene 2:41, the cop asks the victim if she was with boys. Obviously, if she was rape by a man or men, she was with one more boys. The cop asks unnecessary and apparent question to accuse the woman instead of helping him. The actress says, "It's my fault", and "Thank you officer", which in real world never happens.

The video overall is a satirical video that blames and mocks the Indian society that instead of punishing the criminals, assaults the victims of rape. It uses satirical techniques such as horatian satire and verbal irony. 

Pocahontas, the hero.

For the hero cycle project in Language Arts, Daisy, Allison, Natalie, Daria, and I selected Pocahontas as our hero. First, since some of us haven't watched the movie, we all watched the movie, Pocahontas 1, during the weekend. After we all watched the movie, we distributed the steps to each person. Some people got three steps and some got two. We mostly wrote the paragraphs ourselves, but since we made a Google document and shared it, we were able to read everyone else's writing and comment on it. For some pictures, we had hard time finding it but we helped each other and did a decent job. After completing the writing, we worked on the poster. We originally planned to use feathers and leaves brought by Allison but due to the amount we need, we made the leaves by hand. There's actually three kinds of different leaves that was designed by Natalie, Alison, and me.

After finishing the poster, our group presented the poster. Everyone did great on analyzing and speaking with confidence. We all went through the writings we did; the parts we read each was the on the steps we wrote about. Other groups, such as the group that presented Scooby Doo,Hercules, and Mulan did a great job. They did great because they presented with confidence and made lots of eye contact, and also did an amazing job on decorating the posters. The group with Back to the Future as their movie was recognizable on their understanding of the movie and analyzing it. The rest of the groups, who presented 42, Nemo, and Brave, did extraordinary job on decorating the posters.

the first photo is the poster our group made. The colors represent the nature and the colored leaves decorated the poster due to its significance in the movie.

the second photo is the movie cover of Pocahontas.

Sunday Goodness

This weekend, I’m going to volunteer in a Reading Buddy program in the Louisville public library. I volunteer in the library every Sundays for about two hours every week. The reading buddy for the first session is Prim. She is in first grade and she’s a bright girl. She likes Dr. Seuss series and other books too. She can read very challenging books that has half page full of 12 font words. I don’t think I was able to read such long books in first grade. All the books she picks are quite challenging and above her grade level. Sometimes she even teaches me how to pronounce some words like “disguise” which I always pronounce as dis-guise when it’s suppose to sound like dis’gaiz. (There are words I just cannot pronounce like “wood.” My middle school friends worked so hard for me to fix saying “woud” instead of “wʊdn.”) Since in the reading buddy program, the volunteers give the kids stickers which if the kids gather five of them, we give prizes, Prim is eager to collect those five stickers. Last week, she got a prize! Hurray!

I’m with a boy called Milan for the second session. He is in kindergarten and he’s not as bright as Prim but he is adorable. He can read words like “I”, “He, She”, and “The.” So usually I read most of the sentences but let him to read the words he now. He isn't as eager as Prim for getting the prizes or reading but I believe he’s just shy a little bit. In the last session, which was almost three weeks ago, we did a activity, a bingo game where you have to ask other kids questions that’s in the boxes, with other reading buddies too. First Milan was shy to ask anyone but later he was very enthusiastic and got along with everyone just fine.

Both Prim and Milan are wonderful kids. Assuming English is their second language, which I found it out in the form they filled out, they are both doing amazingly great! Hope to see Milan and Prim this Sunday too!

Is Napoleon a Leader? Or a Hero?

“...Napoleon was a leader. but he wasn't a hero in the sense that what he accomplished was grand for humanity’s sake. It was for France, the glory of France” (Moyers 127).

“Then he is a French hero, is he not? ...Is hero of a given state or people what we need today, when the whole planet should be our field of concern?” (Campbell 127).

When Moyers claims Napoleon a leader but not a hero, Campbell responds with a brilliant answer: “then he is a French hero, is he not?” (Campbell 127). Moreover he throws a curious question, “do heroes have to concern for the whole planet?” (Campbell 127). Heroes of stories appear as the savior of the perspective the story was written. For instance, Odysseus of the Odyssey was drawn as a war hero of Ithaca but he may be an enemy from the eyes of Troy. Campbell also quotes, “Whether you call someone a hero or a monster is all relative to where the focus of your consciousness may be” (Campbell 127). Even in history, some leaders were heroes of some perspective. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi , followed by numbers of Germans, proved his leadership and worshiped as a hero of new rising Germany. Although the concept of Hitler being a hero is non-sense and not acceptable today, Hitler still is a hero of remaining Nazi descendants.  

Hero of my life

The Hero of my life

The word “hero” means a lot to me. When I was about seven or eight, the only hero I could think of was spider man since he was the only superhero I’d ever seen. My brother and I were obsessed with spider man. We loved the way he shoots his spider web and how he changes from a Peter Parker to a world saving hero spider man. As I age, I began to realize that there’s no one in the world who can save the entire human race. Even Barack Obama couldn't help all the Americans. Gandhi, the spiritual leader of India, still influences numbers of people but it can’t help all the men in the world. My definition of “hero” now has changed from 7 year old. Although heroes cannot change or influence the entire human race, if they influenced you, so they are heroes.

Obama is a hero, Gandhi is a hero, and Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero to me because they influenced me through their speeches, words, and wisdom. However, over this three well known heroes, there is my seventh grade science teacher, Mrs. Jamison. Unlike Obama, Gandhi, or King, she is not very influential to the world. However, she is a wonderful teacher who I respect and learned from. For me hero doesn't have to save the entire planet; if a person is influencing me in a positive way, they are my hero.