HW 40: Response to Podcast “Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families”
This Podcast, entitled “Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families,” published on October 15th, 2007 was extremely moving. To watch and listen to what these Iraqi teens had to say about their daily lives and the fight that they struggle with every day, it made me realize how lucky I really am. I know that I am a lucky person and that I take things for granted every day, but every now and then I think everyone needs a reminder of how lucky they really are and this clip definitely did that for me. At the end of the film when the various Iraqi teenage boys stated their personal views on terrorism and how they think it should be stopped and prevented in any way possible, and that people should stop supporting terrorism, it brought me to tears. As I said, I was really moved and I think that more people should be exposed to videos like this so they know what is going on in the Middle East and what these people have to go through in their everyday lives. No one should ever have to go through what these people go through on a regular basis, and I think more people need to realize this so that more effective steps can be taken to help these people. The podcast can be viewed by visiting http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families/. Check it out, you’ll be glad you did.
HW35B: Responding to Riverbend
There was lots of new people, places and things introduced in this new section of Riverbend’s book. One name that was mentioned, that particularly stuck out for me was that of Al Capone, on page 52. “Popularly known as Scarface, Al Capone was an Italian American gangster who led a crime syndicate to the smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the era of the 1920’s and 1930’s” (Wikipedia.com). Riverbend mentioned his name on page 52 to associate what Capone took part in, in the 1920’s and 30’s, with what is going on in Baghdad at Riverbend’s home. “It’s like Chicago… during the 1920’s, when Al Capone was running it: gangs, militia, fighting, looting, vendettas, dubious business dealings, and shady figures in dark corners” (Riverbend). I think this association is a very good one and sounds very accurate. It paints a picture for you of what Riverbend is going through and helps to make you realize how hard it must be.
HW 35A: Open Letter to Riverbend
Dear Riverbend-
What you have written so far has been intriguing to read and your stories have made me want to learn about this subject more. You have really singled yourself out, in terms of how this conflict has affected you as a person and that makes what you are saying real and I, as a reader, am able to appreciate what you are saying. Though I have never been through something nearly as terrible as what you have written about, I am able to hear what you are saying, understand it and react to it in a way that I could not if your story had been told from an objective point of view. What you have written has truly touched me on an emotional level and I am really able to feel for you and your situation. I commend you for having the courage to write about all of this, for it is something that I think everyone should have knowledge of and you story relays what is occurring in such a way that people will be able to understand and relate on a personal level. Congratulations on your stupendous writing achievement. I commend you!Your fellow blogger, Hanna
HW 32: Responding to Riverbend
The Foreword and the introduction to “Baghdad Burning” were both very informative and helpful in giving background and insight to what the book is about and the history behind it. Personally, I have never been exceptionally informed about the war in Iraq. Granted I know what’s going on, the basics of why we invaded in the first place and why there is such controversy surrounding the whole situation. However, like I said, I have never known much about the whole situation other than just those basic ideas. In the Foreword, Ahdaf Soueif gives an opinion of the book and a small bit of background and insight as to what the book will be like. One way in which we see this done in the Foreword is in the first sentence when Soueif gives a quote from Riverbend: “I wish every person who emails me supporting the war, safe behind their computer, secure in their in their narrow mind and fixed views, could actually come and experience war live.” Moreover, in the introduction by Steve Ridgeway, there is an enormous amount information given on the history of Iraq and the United States that is very helpful. Personally, I only have vague recollections of when we first went into Iraq in 2003, so all the information provided in those two segments was incredibly beneficial to know.
HW 30: A Room of My Own
As Virginia Wolf says in Chapter 5, “rooms differ so completely; they are calm or thunderous; open on to the sea, or, on the contrary, give on to a prison yard; are hung with washing; or alive with opals and silks; are hard as horsehair or soft as feathers” (Wolf 87). It is true, rooms come in all shapes and sized, have all different scents and smells, feelings and airs and everyone has their own personal preference as to what type of room suites them best. For me, personally, I like a room that expresses my personality and feels like home. I need a room that is filled with my personal belongings, with bits and pieces of me that say who I am and where I’ve been. I need a place that can describe, in its own unique and upbeat way, why I am the way that I am and who has brought me here. I am very lucky to report that I do, in fact, have a place like this- better yet, I actually have two. I have my room at my house in Connecticut, where I’ve spent the majority of my time growing up and then I also have my dorm room here at Keene which I share with my amazing roommate and where I have been continuing my journey to find who I really am and become the best possible me. As Virginia Wolf asserts on the last page of her book, women of the sixteenth century and decades to follow may have not had the chance to be all they can be, but there will be a new age in which women will be born and be able to accomplish all that they can and all that they never could before. She states, “As for her coming without that preparation, without that effort on our part, without that determination that when she is born again she shall find it possible to live and write her poetry” (Wolf 114). For me, I feel like Wolf was correct in saying this because I feel like women were reborn in a sense and I know for me, especially, my room is a place where I can sit, think, feel and write so although women were reborn, Wolf’s idea that women need their own space to accomplish things of importance still holds true today, which is something that I find very intriguing.
HW 28: Responding as Virginia Wolf
With Apologies to Virginia Wolf…“That one would find any woman in that state of mind in the sixteenth century was obviously impossible” (Wolf 58). Furthermore, the state of mind of a woman in the 21st century is, peculiarly enough, not short of impossible to figure out either. Women now-a-days do all sorts of horrific things. Things that woman of the sixteenth century wouldn’t dare to dream of doing. Although, with these new freedoms also comes new and great responsibilities and if those responsibilities are not taken into consideration and abided by, I fear great chaos and danger will become these women. For example, in a fairly recent study, the University of Buffalo concluded that college freshman girls are being victimized when they go out to parties my men. These women are prime examples of how abusing your freedoms while simultaneously not taking responsibility for these freedoms will have a negative final result. Women of the sixteenth century would have never been able to drink anything that would cause intoxication. When men were drinking wine, women would drink water. Now, when women are allowed the privilege of drinking whatever they please, they abuse this privilege by drinking too much and then going off and getting themselves in trouble. These victimized women, in my eyes, have no one to blame but themselves, and they should be ashamed of what they’ve done.
HW 26: Response to Virginia Wolf Ch.2 “Patriarchy”
The United has undergone numerous amounts of changes since the time of Virginia Wolf’s book, especially in the way of civil rights and rights for women. Take this year’s presidential election, for example: it is the first time in the history of the United States that a woman is running for president and in addition, it looks as though she may have a very good chance of winning. As the New York Times points out in an editorial about Hillary Clinton, “the brilliant if at times harsh-sounding senator from New York,” “with her openness in explaining herself, and her powerful intellect, she is the best choice for the Democratic Party as it tries to regain the White House” (Primary Choices: Hilary Clinton, nytimes.com). I think this goes to show that the United States is definitely not, in this day and age, a patriarchy. However, not all that long ago, in the time of Virginia Wolf, the United States may have been just that. As Wolf recalls in Chapter 2 of her story (though she was referring to England in her story, the same types of things and ideas where prevalent in the United States as well) women were completely demoralized in a patriarchal society. Many times throughout the chapter, she references examples of how women were demoralized at this time, but asking rhetorical questions that clearly imply a statement. For example, on page 25, when she says “why did men drink wine and women water? Why was one sex so prosperous and the other so poor?” What she is really saying, is that men were more prosperous than women and that could be shown through the fact that women were not allowed to drink wine. Furthermore, she talks several times about how that when she visited the British museum there was nothing written by women, just things written by men about women (all of which were very negative and degrading.) Even the Pope himself said “most women have no character at all.” That statement in and of itself, proves that there were most definitely patriarchal societies at one point, and there are some that exist today. But in my opinion, it is safe to say, overall, that the United States today is no longer a patriarchal society in the least.
HW 24: Virginia Wolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” Ch.1 Response
Dear Sister, The first chapter of Virginia Wolf’s book “A Room of One’s Own” was definitely not an easy read and I can see why you might have trouble with it. Wolf spends much of the chapter describing in detail her thoughts and ideas. Her thoughts, “the thoughts of a woman,” she says, are very lucid and stung together not in a concrete way “like men’s thoughts” (6). But the problem is, every time she starts to get these detailed, vivid, complex thoughts, she is interrupted by something. In the beginning of the chapter, she specifically mentions three things that carry through, and prove to be the basis for what she is talking about throughout the rest of the chapter. Those three things are women, money and fiction. Wolf says that “a women must have money and a room of her own to write fiction” (4). What she means by this is first of all, that she is living in a man’s world, and the only way for a woman to break through and succeed in the fictional writing scene is if she has money. Furthermore, since women apparently have so many of these complex thoughts that can easily be interrupted, a woman also needs ‘a room of her own’, in which to do her writing. However, the problem is that it is hard to get money unless you were born into a family of wealth and inherit it some other way. So, the narrator is trying to make money, I think, by writing fiction- but then she can’t write fiction without money. So, it is a seemingly never ending cycle that we are left to believe (at the end this chapter) will be almost impossible to break out of. I can see why your teacher might think this is important, because it has a lot to do with women’s rights and how women were viewed at that time. It makes you think about everything that we take for granted now-a-days, and I think that might be something your teacher thinks is worth acknowledging for your course. Well, I hope that helps!Peace. Hanna
HW 23: Favorite Blog Post, Again.
I looked through several very interesting blog posts, but the one that caught my interest the most was once again the one entitled ‘College Party Girls Find Themselves in Perilous Positions.’ I found this article on jezebel.com and what this article comments on, is a study done at the University of Buffalo which has concluded that college freshman girls are being victimized when they go out to parties my men. The article says, though, that in the study, it is implied that it is the women’s fault for not protecting their ‘lady flower’ and it doesn’t blame the men who are the ones responsible for the sexual assaults. I agree with this article in that the study that was done was presented in a peculiar way and I agree that the women should receive some blame, because it is their own fault for becoming impaired to the point where you almost are unconsciously being raped. However, it is the next step (of actual physical assault,) conducted solely by the males- in this case-, which really causes controversy. It is my belief that no matter how impaired someone gets, male or female, that does not automatically make them a target for assault. Someone could just as easily take care of the impaired individual by taking them home, or possibly to a hospital, rather than taking advantage of them. This is the reason that I believe no matter how impaired someone is, they are not the ones actually conducting the physical assault, which is why they should not be completely at fault. I agree they should be slightly at fault for allowing themselves to reach that dangerous level of intoxication, but again, not at fault for the actual physical assault that took place.
HW22: Applying Graff Ch. 10 to Drezner & Farell’s “Web of Influence”
In this chapter in David Kline and Daniel Burnstein’s book, “Blog!,” written by Daniel W. Drenzer, assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago and Henry Farrell, assistant professor and international affairs at George Washington University, talks about several things in relation to blogging and politics. In the third paragraph down on page 84, after the text in italics, it talks of a 29-year-old Iraqi international blogger and how prejudices can be held with no real justification or reason for the prejudice in the first place. For example, it states that it was misconceived that U.S. Cruise missiles or possibly Baathist Party thugs were responsible for the three day Salam Pax black out. It was printed everywhere that these were the people responsible, when in fact, it turned out that months later, they found the real cause of this black out was simple technical difficulties. This all just goes to show that today we are all sometimes too quick to jump to conclusions, and we should all really just sit back and look at the facts before we assign prejudice and blame where it is not necessarily true.