The Golden Compass(12)

The Golden Compass is the first book in a series that was turned into a movie that was later released in December of 2007. Once the movie hit the box office, it received bad reviews. Many critics believe that the director attempts to attack the Christian faith. During his adolescence years, the author, Phillip Pullman, began questioning his faith. He was brought up an Anglican but never really believed in its teachings. He began writing his books because he said he "was never really convinced of the teachings of Christianity." Pullman said, "It began to seem impossible to reconcile the creation story with the scientific account. It became increasingly implausible that life continued after the body died. The claims of some religions – the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, the infallibility of the Pope – seemed to me such howling nonsense…" These are the very reasons that sparked Pullman's ideas that are mentioned in his books. The ideas of Dust and the Magisterium are some of the ideas that Pullman tries to portray as the "evil doings" of the Christian faith. In my opinion, this movie does not “attack” Christianity. However, it does make references of getting rid of Authority by the people of the Magisterium wanting to get rid of Dust (that was referred to being created by God). I wouldn’t have realized all of these points if they were not explain. Pullman's intention of his stories is for people to make their own opinion about them. He wrote this story with the sole purpose of entertaing its viewers. So what if he's an Athesis? That's his business and he has to deal with that on the final judgement day. If other brilliant authors such as himself can write amazing action filled stories such as The Golden Compass, including religious views, what is the difference? This movie is a fantasy. People should look at it as just that. Ignorance is bliss.





Work Cited
"Heat and Dust." ThirdWay. 2000. 21 May 2008 .

Summer 2008(11)

Basically it's summertime. There are many fun and exciting things to do during the summer. Swimming, vacations, freeze pops and snowballs are just a few of the many aspects of the summer. I pretty much have my summer planned out for me. I was recently employed at EHCC. Yes, a correctional center. And no, I will not be a security guard. My mom has been employed there for quite some time now and this summer I was given the opportunity to do the same. I will be doing filing and copying and all kinds of office work. The hours are good so I'm game! Also, I plan on getting a lot of sun. I want to swim everyday. My family and I are also taking two vacations this year. We are going to San Francisco, California to visit my aunt. We are going to rent a car and travel on highway one. I want to visit Laguna Beach and Rodeo Drive. Our second trip will be to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. All the vacations we have previously been on have always been to the beach. This will be a new experience. We plan to go hiking and go white water rafting. I can't wait!

Outfoxed(10)

Robert Greenwald, director of the documentary Outfoxed, attempts to expose the ways in which FOX News Station alters its coverage on many issues in society. This documentary was released in secret at a university in New York. However, a week after it was first shown, it began to air throughout the country in local screenings. After critics began to watch and discuss the film, information was released that Greenwald used information, such as interviews with former employees and footage from FOX memos, without permission. For six months, Greenwald set up many different video sources to record every session of FOX News. This allowed him access to all he needed. With the help of skilled team members, Robert Greenwald was able to take Outfoxed viewers into a world of FOX News that they have never thought about before (How).
When taking a position on this documentary, Robert Greenwald makes an incredible, but unfair point. FOX News Station, under the influence of Bill O’Reilly, has been around for many years, and has had great reviews on their accuracy and style on the way that they deliver issues in society to a knowledge-thirsty world. The information Greenwald has gathered about FOX makes viewers second guess their faithfulness to the news station that they have once depended on. In the documentary it portrays some of FOX’s biggest stars such as Sean Hannity, making him seem like a bully, and an even bigger star, Bill O’Reilly as a “consistently documented liar with an anger problem” (Outfoxed). Even though these accusations are a bit harsh, they are in fact true. Viewers often see these aspects of the news station and feel uncomfortable at the way O’Reilly attacks his guests, such a Jeremy Glick. FOX is also guilty of giving their own bias opinion about the issues that are addressed in today’s news. They are against the journalism techniques, however, Greenwald, in the documentary, demonstrates times where a story gets out and it is repeated frequently throughout the time the show is on air. Greenwald clearly proves that this news station does not think things through. They put fear in their viewers and are very aggressive towards people and their honest opinions.






Works Cited

Boynton, Robert S. "How to Make a Guerilla Documentary." RobertGreenwald.Org. 11 July 2204. 5 May 2008 .

Hazen, Don. ""OutFoxed": How Rupert Murdoch is Destroying American Journalism." Atler Net. 10 July 2004. 5 May 2008 .

School's [Almost] Out For Sumerrrr! (9)

With summer approaching, I know everyone is getting extremely excited and maybe just a little bit antsy. I cannot believe that another year has flown by so quickly. Basically we have 25 days left (give or take a few). Yet, teachers still seem to find the time and place in that little book filled with last minute lesson plans to pile us up with assignment after assignment! Bringing forth that last bit of effort gets me every time. Hanging in there is the hardest part for me. I sit in my desk class after class, day after day, waiting until that 2:40 dismissal bell rings, just so I can mark off another countdown day in my agenda. I can already smell summer. Well, with the hot sun and the snowball stands opening up, it’s right at my fingers tips, I can almost grab it! I think it’s just a little more exciting for me, especially since the next year I walk through the front doors of East Ascension High School on that very first day, I will be entering as a SENIOR! The sooner these last few weeks past by, the sooner summertime rolls around and the sooner the class of 2009 can get in and get out. So patiently I remain sitting through every boring lecture, through every boring test, and through every other boring aspect about the classroom sitting, waiting for that last dismissal bell to ring and for the start of sweet summertime!

Corporal Punishment(8)

Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain and suffering intended to change a person’s behavior or to punish them. It is a common way of disciplining children; however its use has declined significantly since the 1950s. Corporal punishment is wrong because it causes physical harm to a child and produces a negative outcome. (“Is Corporal”)

When physical punishment is used, it causes harm and may cause retaliation and rebellion. Not only does it physically affect the child, it also has a major effect on their social well being. The more children are spanked, the more anger they develop as adults, the more likely they are to spank their own children, the more likely they are to approve hitting a spouse, and the more conflict they will experience as adults. Spanking has been associated with higher rates of physical aggression, more substance abuse, and increased risk of crime and violence when used with older children, mostly teenagers. In countries such as Africa, Asia, and South Korea, in their school systems, they discipline their students by using methods such as paddling. Studies show that more than fifty- fiver percent of the students who are paddled continue their unacceptable behavior after the punishment. It has also been stated that corporal punishment trains children to use hostile behaviors without wanting too or not even realizing that they are acting irrationally. (“Is Corporal”)

It is wrong to use corporal punishment on children. Usually when corporal punishment is enforced in a home, the punishments have to maintain their effectiveness. Thus, it has an addictive effect; the more one spanks, the more one feels a need to spank, possibly getting worse until the situation is out of control. In Canada, The Canadian Pediatrics Society policy on corporal punishment states “The Psychosocial Pediatrics Committee of the Canadian Pediatric Society has carefully reviewed the available research in the controversial area of disciplinary spanking (7-15)…The research that is available supports the position that spanking and other forms of physical punishment are associated with negative child outcomes. The Canadian Pediatric Society, therefore, recommends that physicians strongly discourage disciplinary spanking and all other forms of physical punishment.” It is believed that it is both impractical to seek acceptable forms of corporal punishment of children. Such actions are unjust. Hitting children is a lesson in bad behavior, and that is never appropriate to hit or beat a child. When disciplined through corporal punishment, it is a clear violation of the most important human right and goes against the moral beliefs of The United States Constitution. ("Is Corporal")

Many people argue that corporal punishment is a form of violence, and any form of violence is defined as abuse. There is a law in the United States against child abuse that keeps children out of harm in their home or any other place where they may reside. If physical punishment would be banned throughout the nation, it would reduce the violence and other criminal issues in the future.




Work Cited
“Is Corporal Punishment an Effective Means of Discipline?” Media Information. 22
June 2002. 6 April 2008http://www.apa.org/releases/spanking.html.

"Inaudible Melodies"(7)

"Inaudible Melodies", an oxymoron in itself, is a song written by Jack Johnson with the sole purpose to remind it's listeners about looking into things more, about not believing everything you see. It's about slowing down and taking things in, and not getting caught up in the rush of everything. His tone in this song is mellow. He is trying to prove a point, but he takes a very melodious way in the way he describes everything. In the first stanza, Johnson writes," well shortcuts can slow you down." He is saying that sometimes when you try to take the easy way out, you come up short because you aren't thinking about what you are doing which sometimes causes you to mess up. In the line, "to rebound off of we" he uses anastrophe. What he means we are bound to rebound off of what we have done in time. Before Jack Johnson was a song writer, he was a film maker. I think he used his knowledge of film making to describe a deeper meaning of the pace of life. Johnson says, "silent films are full of sound…. inaudibly free", which basically is saying that silent films have life and meaning to them even though they are free from sound. During the entire song he speaks of images in relation to movies,” pretty pictures of things we ate," "frames can't catch you when you're moving like that," "visual relevancy," frame-lines tell me what to see." All of these lines are personification because he is giving objects like frames and pictures, human like abilities. In the fourth stanza, Johnson describes the “inaudible melodies” saying, “serve narrational strategies..unobtrusive tones…help to notice nothing but the zone..of visual relevancy..frame-lines tell me what to see…chopping like an axe and maybe Eisenstein should just relax.” He mentions all these things to portray the meaning of how fast things really move in a lifetime, and how people aren’t focused on what’s going on around them. In the last stanza, he says, “well Plato’s cave is full of freaks..demanding refunds for the things they’ve seen..in all the things that never made the screen.” What this is being referred to is the men trapped in the cave, in Plato’s Allegory, they were conditioned to believe the lies that they'd been told their whole lives, and when they were confronted with the truth, they were closed minded and not willing to accept the possibility that things were different than they'd appeared. When you look at the rest of the song from this reference point, it seems clear that this song is about the TV/media serving the same purpose today as the cave served for Plato. Lastly Johnson repeats what he says throughout the entire song, “ and just slow down everyone..you’re moving too fast…frames cant catch you when you’re moving like that.” When growing up, stop and enjoy life’s little pleasures.

"Jeremy"(6)

When violence became a predominant issue in the school systems, Pearl Jam wrote the song "Jeremy" to tell of a young boy's story on events that cause him to end his life. Pearl Jam writes to appeal to teenage bullies in schools today to show them how much bullying can really have an effect on a person's life. Creating a path up to ethos, the speaker has a remorseful tone tone when admitting to picking on Jeremy. Also, the writer states, "Daddy didn't give affection, no...", proving to the audience that Jeremy was not only teased in school, he was neglected at home by his parents. Jeremy is finally to a point of depression that he decides to take his own life. This purpose of this arguement is to teach a lesson to people who pick on others. Your words and actions can deeply affect a person and even cause them to commit an inhumanr act, such as Jeremy.