A not so happy holiday

In most facets of our culture war and soldiers are often portrayed as glamorous and respected by the country and people of the United States, however on closer exception of our actual society we see the opposite happen. The song Holiday by Green Day addresses the neglect and aggression of war that in recent years has become more apparent. One of the more memorable lines "Hear the sound of the falling rain, coming down like an Armageddon flame, The shame, those who died without a name" talks about how so much life is lost in war that the people could become nameless and forgotten among the bloodshed. The song is clearly also a critique of America's love it or leave it attitude during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the line "Pulverize the Eiffel tower who criticize your GOVERNMENT" since Americans for a while called the french cowards for not wanting to help us in Iraq.
    

Hillary Clinton: Can she make our children proud?

An ad for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was released titled, ¨Role Models.¨ This ad shows young children as they watch all of the controversial and unpopular things that presidential candidate Donald Trump has said throughout his campaign. It then shifts to young children watching Hillary give a speech on TV about how America needs to set a good example for the future generations and electing her would make the future generations proud of their families choices.

To persuade the people of the United States to vote for Clinton this ad appeals to ethos. It calls out Trumps character and presents him as loud, obnoxious, and ignorant. It sets him up as a leader who the future generation would be ashamed of and they would be embarrassed their families chose to elect him. It paints Hillary in a much different picture, as a leader who the children can be proud their families elected and even look up to her as a role model.

To back this argument the ad uses clever lighting to vilify Trump and make a hero out of Clinton. Whenever the children are shown watching Trump, the lighting is very cloudy and gloomy, almost as if to say if Trump is elected the bright days in America would be over. When the children are watching Hillary however, the lighting is much sunnier and the children are smiling, bringing a sense of a bright future for the United States if Hillary is elected.

With the United States getting closer and closer to the day that the next president is elected, this ad helps strengthen Hillary's campaign tremendously by making her out to be a president that would make the future generations proud, along with the many other great presidents the United States has seen.

Welcome!

Welcome to the weblog for our American Studies class. Here's the place we will be continuing conversations from class and starting new ones. We'll be discussing and debating current events, historical controversies, and literary conundrums. We might even see a little poetry.

So, what's a blog? And how will we be using it class? For information on blogging and how to join and post to our blog, see "All About Blogging."

We're looking forward to a great year.

Make sure you check your e-mail for your invitation to join the blog. Also – and this is very important – the first step you should take after you accept the invitation is to edit your user profile so that you control how your identity and your communication preferences.  Click on the pull-down menu next to your name in the upper right corner of the browser and click on “Blogger Profile.” Then click on “Edit Profile.”

You can fill out as much of it as you want, but the only requirement is -- under “Identity” -- make sure your “Display name” is your first name and last initial only -- so we provide some anonymity while still allowing your classmates and teacher to be able to identity who you are. For example, change “Bernie Heidkamp” to “Bernie H.”

Syrian Refugees: Second Holocaust?

I think the US needs to immediately address the problem in Syria because, hundreds are dying and the world doesn't need another holocaust. Make more jobs for the american population then give the Syrian refugees visas/green cards so they can escape the conflict. Elizabeth MacBride an author for CBNC and Janell Ross a Reporter for The Washington post argue for letting the Syrian refugees into the US. With Ross making points that contradicts trump’s opposition. And MacBride appealing to the ideal of humanitarian refugees the argument stands for letting the refugees into the US.







The Washinton Post





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CBNC