Hills and Elephants

I found Hills Like White Elephants to be an awkward piece, and I think Hemmingway did a good job of painting the picture he wanted us to see. Let me explain what I mean when I say awkward. I believe there was an “awkward” tone in the righting on purpose, as if Hemmingway wanted the reader to notice something was wrong in the story. Right from the onset of the story it is clear that there is something hindering the relationship between the man and the girl. For starters, even though they are clearly a couple, Hemmingway never specifies this and he also never calls them anything other then “the man” and “the girl”. When “the girl” first brings up the White Elephants, instead of questioning her or trying to understand what she says, “the man” simply says, “I’ve never seen one”. Through just these two sentences it is clear that something is on his mind and he is not fully committing himself to the girl or to the conversation. The label “girl’ should also be noted. It is clear she wasn’t given this title by default, as she could have been called “woman”, just like the waitress. The name “the girl” was given to show her innocence, and this child-like innocence is displayed throughout the story in various points. Her ignorance to the taste of alcoholic drinks (comparing it to licorice) as well as her talking about the white elephants alludes to her childlike innocence. But the awkwardness of the story really lies in the conversation. Hemmingway did a great job of using conversation to set up the scene and mood. I see the man as brooding and thinking over an issue that has come up in the relationship. This is evident in the text when the couple talks about drinks and the conversation suddenly moves to “the man” talking about the operation (abortion) and how simple it would be. I sensed a tone of exasperation because it was really the only place he called her by name. The girl clearly had mixed feelings of the operation and the man kept pushing her to do it, even going as far as to claim that he didn’t want anyone but her. The couple was holding onto the notion that after the abortion everything would be well again, but clearly that would not be the case. There was also a sense that the abortion was pushing their relationship too fat into places they did not want to go. I believe this was verified with the train situation. “The man” was told that the train was coming in 5 minutes and rushed really quickly to move the bags over. When he didn’t see the train in sight and saw everyone else relaxing he realized that the train was nowhere in sight. The concept of rushing for a train that was not there could be applied to the relationship of the couple. Maybe they just needed to realize that there was no hurry at all and taking it slow was necessary.

Elections and Campaigning

The election websites that I really found interesting were the non-major ones. Of that group, the website I feel that did the best job was the constitutional website. First off, to me, the graphics were only second to the Republican site. Also, the symbolic value of the colors red, white and blue were used the right way. After reading some of the articles I sort of realized the demographic this website was reaching. They were obviously looking for socially conservative voters, but the more I read the more I realized that this party was taking a step back from the battle of the major parties, coming out of the fray, and representing an alternative. Conservative voters voting republican by default may be drawn to his party. Also, I feel this website did a good job of conveying their message and values.

Conversely, I feel the democrats did a bad job conveying their message. McCain’s face and name appears more on the website than either Barack’s or Biden’s. In fact, you have to scroll all the way down to the lower left hand corner to see a picture of the two. In my view, the democratic website shows what big name politics have degraded too. The website devoted much less space to it’s party’s values and ideals and much more to the ideals of the opposition. It’s obvious that at this point that the Republicans are the only real opposition for the Democrats but that does not change the fact that they are not visibly putting their stance out their on the website. What they are doing is urging voters to align themselves with their party because the other party and candidate are terrible choices. Again, winning votes by default. Furthermore, Democrats have this luxury because of the last 8 unsuccessful years spent under the Republican regime. They also have the luxury of critiquing the position our government is in right now and offering change. Those two points sort of justify the layout of the website.

Advertising

The first advertisement I will talk about today is the Aveda Spa and Salon. The tactics used in this advertisement are unbelievable. First off, the actual salon is barely mentioned or advertised, in fact a picture of the actual salon isn’t even in the advertisement. The only thing reminding us of this product is safely tucked away in the right hand corner. (the logo). And though I know the context of this advertisement, to me, it was poorly produced. By focusing on global warming the company was trying to present itself as a contributing member of the tree hugger group but I don’t buy it. For instance, Aveda promises that a portion of their profit will go to non-profit environmental groups but they fail to specify exactly the percentage. But of course they can’t take all the credit. YOU are the ones contribution to this plan therefore solidifying our mutual effort to protect the Earth. To top all of this poor advertising off, Aveda places four very earthy pictures of our beautiful planet to draw our attention. Notice how all of these pictures use very bright colors and capture nature in its full beauty. The ray of sunshine through the forest. The clear clean water splashing off what appears to be the hands of a child. The beautiful tall mountain landscape. All these pictures are meant to stir up nostalgic feelings of our beautiful planet, and then associate these feelings with Aveda. Not working.
I actually liked looking at the Breyers Light Advertisement. You see a woman who is clearly enjoying her FAT FREE yogurt in the comfort of her kitchen. From looking at this woman I can see that she is most likely a very hard working (possibly stay at home) mother who has very little time for herself. The kitchen alone suggests that she has a family based on the groceries on the counter. Even the clothes she is wearing scream MOM loud and clear. You can even tell that the woman has had a long day by the way her body language and the way she is positioned against the counter. You can see a satisfying look of gratification on her face as she takes that tiny moment out of her busy schedule for herself. It is clear that this advertisement is targeting middle age women who may not necessarily stay at home, but still are mothers that take care of their children and remain health conscious all the while.

NightHawks

In my high school teachers forced us to take notes in all of our readings. We would be given an assignment for a night, take notes in the actual text, then go over the reading in class with the teacher slyly eyeing our pages as we read to make sure they were sufficiently marked. My approach for analytical reading would be to first do a complete read through, stopping and taking note of words I did not understand with my dictionary. Then I would go back to search for symbolism and hidden meaning (especially in Shakespeare). Analyzing non- creative works and/or passages for classes like history was slightly more difficult for me. Instead of searching for hidden meanings or motifs, important facts would have to be noted and handpicked from the selection. Sometimes distinguishing what was of value and what was irrelevant was hard. What I eventually learned was the picking out relevant points became easier as I focused in on the main idea of the subject matter. I realized that in every persuasive essay, speech, informative paper and historical document there was a central thesis to start from. Once this central thesis was identified, moving on with my notes became much simpler.
After reading Benjamin Killip’s analysis of Night Hawks I have to say that I can’t find much to disagree with. The dark colors outside of the window do suggest a desolate world and the light inside of the restaurant undoubtably represents a safe haven. One thing I can say about Killip’s is that he assumes to much in the painting without evidence. It is fine to examine how shades of colors and lighting contribute to a painting, but to draw inferences about relationships from this amount of detail seems to be too much of a stretch for me. In fact, his assumption about the couple could actually be false because it appears that their hands are actually touching which suggests intimacy. Despite this slip up (in my opinion), Killips provides historical evidence for the rest of his paper, recalling the mindset of isolation plaguing many Americans throughout the Great Depression era. He also makes a connection between this painting and the Realism movement that artists during this time period were a part of.

Analytical Writing Part 1

In my high school teachers forced us to take notes in all of our readings. We would be given an assignment for a night, take notes in the actual text, then go over the reading in class with the teacher slyly eyeing our pages as we read to make sure they were sufficiently marked. My approach for analytical reading would be to first do a complete read through, stopping and taking note of words I did not understand with my dictionary. Then I would go back to search for symbolism and hidden meaning (especially in Shakespeare). Analyzing non- creative works and/or passages for classes like history was slightly more difficult for me. Instead of searching for hidden meanings or motifs, important facts would have to be noted and handpicked from the selection. Sometimes distinguishing what was of value and what was irrelevant was hard. What I eventually learned was the picking out relevant points became easier as I focused in on the main idea of the subject matter. I realized that in every persuasive essay, speech, informative paper and historical document there was a central thesis to start from. Once this central thesis was identified, moving on with my notes became much simpler.

Orwell and Didion

I see myself as an amateur writer who only writes because he has too. That doesn't mean that I hate writing, it just means that it is not my favorite thing to do. I'd much rather sit down to interpret and enjoy a great book than to write a decent essay. I enjoyed reading both Orwell and Didion's reasonings for why they write, and I have to say that I found Didion's to be much less interesting but more believable. Didion sort of explained o the reader that she was basically a writer by default. Because she could not think, she was forced to articulate and formulate her thoughts in words. Her reason for writing is much less spectacular than Orwell's glorified  call to political activism. What I found most interesting in Orwell's reasoning was his understanding of the way aggression played into writing. I do believe everyone has a voice they want others to hear and agree with.