Tuesday, February 24, 2009

E Block: Student Choice Essays

Choose your strongest short essay from your writer's notebook. Edit and refine it; proofread and spellcheck it; post it here.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Katie K
Block E


Countless generations ago, men have undeniably searched for freedom and sought through many bloody wars to maintain that status, and to preserve it. All of mankind who has undoubtedly into fighting and suffering are heroes. George Orwell’s 1984 predict a nightmare vision of war, death and a “negative utopia” that interferes with the generation indicating the year 1949. To leave family to a whole other location known as “hell on earth”, takes courage and determination in fighting for one’s country.
In the words of Orwell, “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm”. Obstacles such as poor whether and hygiene conditions made it a lot more difficult to fight along beside one’s brother. Thus, freedom is not free.
Attaining freedom gives up one’s own security and safety in the pursuit of happiness for that country’s innocent bystanders and people in that nation. Regarding those men “who stand ready” for the innocent they are the ones who signed up for a battle of freedom. Both sides that thrive for victory will discover victory as well as death. They go hand in hand with the bloody deaths of their brothers.
In conclusion, individuals that sign up and stand up for our country are very brave and willing. But the US civilians who don’t fight don’t just “sleep safe in our beds”. Working, providing for ones family and keeping up with the economy to help pay those expenses of the war comes in great lengths and is not free. All in all we honor our great brothers and sisters who fight for our country and our freedom.

Anonymous said...

War is and has always been the conflict between two peoples. It is percieved as the most chaotic state of a country's being but it is in fact the most organized and regimented state of being for a country. War relies on the organization and direction objective is to pinpoint a certain person as the main target. George Orwell was once quoted as saying "Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac." This quote notices that there must be a collective goal to eliminate a single enemy in order to win a war.

The most successful wars are the ones with goals and set plans and enimies. World War 2 was won when we had a goal to force the three dictators to submit to us. The three leaders of those countries served as symbols of evil to destroy. Likewise the King of England served as a mascot to collectively hate and work to conquer in the Revolutionary War. Even though America never conquered the king, it helped organize and focus us on a set path to victory.

On the other hand, the most unsuccessful wars have had no key symbolic target. Vietnam was a tragic plunder for us as Americans. As a viciously unorganized and unfocused war, Vietnam's objectives were never reached and the war gave no solice for the ones who shed their lives there. The reason that we were not focused was because no goals were set to be achieved. There was no motion to go out and destroy a target, but instead to police South Vietnam and not allow the North Vietnamese to take over. There was no person to target while the Vietnamese had to target and fight against. That provided the mental advantage needed to win that war.

In conclusion, this quote can be applied today. Cureently there is a war going on to maintain peace and stability in the country of Iraq. This war is highly unpopular and is considered to be unsuccessful. One reason is the lack of a person that needs to be eliminated. There are too many sporadic objectives and not enough focus to achieve closure.

Seamus S.

Anonymous said...

Crystal S.
2/25/09
Short essay #1
A utopian society would have great public education, people would be respectful, and it would be clean. Also, they would have a great environment. This would help everyone in the community to focus on there work. Also, so the parents will know that there child or children will be fine.
Education will have everything they need to let the kids have fun but to make sure that they are learning. Education is very important so that you can know that you know what you need to know about the real world. People that don’t get education don’t know how to count money, and don’t know how to read or write.
The political ways of utopia are that they have employment, individualism, and democracy. Politically everyone would be affected because if employment was all at the same time it would be harder to make your money. Your money will always be important because you need money to survive. For example, you need money to have food, to be healthy, see the doctor, to see the dentist, and other very important things. You will always need money so work is one of the most important things so that you can raise your family.
Most people in the utopian society are respectful and they help each other. They are clean and don’t look like slops. They all have trust in one another. This is helpful so that if something was to ever to happen like someone working late or one getting hurt and needing to go to the hospital they know that there child or children will be with the neighbor. The child would be safe because everyone talks to each other and they are all friends. That is a great society, and also very safe and you can trust that the people are all nice. When you can trust neighbors it makes you feel like you finally did something right for you and your family.

Anonymous said...

Since the beginning of time men have been fighting constantly to maintain freedom. In order to keep such free, society requires that some individuals must have to fight or suffer for others. They fight for not only honor and respect, they fight to attain our freedom our country and society. They fight for you and me. They fight for there family, friends, and then those that they don’t even know and may never ever meet in their live time. For such freedom there has to be such sacrifices. An that is why they fight. George Orwell the writer of the novel 1984 once said “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” The majority of the people in our society agree with what George Orwell once said because it speaks the truth. Some examples that help defend this quote are 9/11, Iraq, and the Civil War.
9/11 is a great example for this quote even though it was a very deadly and horrifying attack on our country but it was also like a wake up call showing us how much freedom we have in our country and how we are hated be other countries for how much freedom we have. They are jealous and that is why they are upset and dislike us. It was a wake up call letting us know that others hate how much freedom we have but it also showed us that we had little protection to defend that freedom we have.
Another example that fits well with this quote is what is going on in Iraq right now. This shoes a couple of things that relate to the quote once said by George Orwell. It shows us and our society that we are willing to defend our freedom and keep everything we have. It also shows us that we are also willing to sacrifice to try and help others get freedoms like ours.
Also the Civil War helps back up this quote by George Orwell because the Civil War was a fight against our selves to free the slaves. The out come was the slaves were able to be free and that shows that our country wanted everyone to have the same freedom not just some people.
Those are three perfect examples that help defend and back up George Orwell’s once said quote “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

-Nick S.

Anonymous said...

Since the dawn of time war has been fought as self defense. All wars have been fought against a certain person or people because of acts that affected the other. Some examples of war that was fought for self defense are Hitler and the Jews and Mussolini against the U.S. During WWII an author named George Orwell wrote a book predicting the future. One of his famous quotes is “Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self defense against a homicidal maniac.
This quote is famous because in many ways it is true. Like the way we are in a war now. We are in a war because it is self defense against two powerful leaders, Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. They have done many things to threaten our country. So in self defense we went to war with them to try and stop them.
Other reasons why it is so famous is because at the time he wrote his book and quote there was a dictator who tried to kill the Jewish race. Adolf Hitler blamed them for losing WWI. So the U.S. wanted to help the Jews so we went to war with Adolf Hitler. His quote was derived from this action. Adolf Hitler was a homicidal maniac.
In conclusion George Orwell’s quote, “Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self defense against a homicidal maniac”, is so important and famous because it is proven. There is so much evidence for this quote. Some examples are the war in Iraq and the war against Hitler. War should be fought in self defense because if it is not it is like starting a fight for no reason. Then people would be killed for no reason.


Joe A.

Anonymous said...

Since the dawn of time war has been violent and all about the capture or defeat of one man. Orwell’s quote “Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac” represents this message. A few examples would be United States Independence from the British, World War II, War in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq.

An example of this would be during the late 1700’s when America was obtaining their independence from the Great Britain. The King of Britain was not giving equal rights to his people living in the in America as he was to those living in Britain. Anyone who complained on this matter was killed for treason. So, eventually they declared official war on the British to gain their independence from the King.

Another, example would be during World War II Hitler was having a genocide of all the Jewish people, and those who he did not have killed right away where sent to concentration camps, where still many died. He then proceeded to go through and take over various countries surrounding Germany. So, Orwell’s quote is correct, Hitler was a homicidal maniac that had to be defeated.

A third example would be the war against Osama Bin Laden. Osama Bin Laden is a mass murder who was behind the terrorist attacks on 9/11. He’s also been responsible behind various other terrorist attacks and attempts on the United States. So, the United States raged war on him for killing many innocent Americans.

A fourth Example would be the war in Iraq against Saddam Hussein. Hussein was in Iraq killing his own people and threatening to kill others. He’s also believed to also have been involved on the terrorist attacks of 9/11. On, account of these things war was brought upon him, till his capture trial, and his death.

In conclusion, Orwell’s quote “Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac” shows that war has always been violent and all about the capture or defeat of one man.

Sean H

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth E.

In the book 1984 by George Orwell, a dystopic society is represented. The country is in despair. They are brainwashed and stifled. A utopia is somewhere that has trustworthy politics, a free society, and clean and free public education.

A trustworthy government is important for a utopic society because to happy with your government you have to trust your government’s decisions. You have to be confident that they will make the most right and just decisions. If you do not trust the people who are in charge of politics, you can not have a free society. To have an actual utopic society you have to have a free society. People have to be able to express their individuality. They need to be able to be blithe and happy with the decisions they make with their own life. To be happy with what you want to do with your life, you need to be educated and have a good paying job doing what you love. This is why free public education is necessary. When people are able to be educated in what ever they have the most interest in, you in turn have the best quality works possible.

Imagine a world where every decision you could possibly make is made for you. Where everyone is the same and everyone has nothing. No one is really happy, they are just brainwashed to think that they are. Now picture our world and the freedoms we have here in America. We can make almost any decision we want to. We can be unhappy if we want to be and if we are. But also imagine a place where you would have little reason to be unhappy. You would be able to live with out care and to prosper with ease. A utopia is something that we all have wanted at some point or another but have we ever really thought of the extreme alternative and appreciated what we as Americans have right now?

Anonymous said...

Grover W.

People are motivated many ways, by each other, themselves, and fact. Usually people are motivated to change if they disagree with something. For example cigarettes, there prizes went up and that made many people want to quit smoking. This is a sacrifice of a bad habit that helps calm people down.
In Certain cases people stand up and actually change but some just don’t have enough motivation and give up. I believe motivation shows a lot about who a person is and there character. It’s something that just strikes you and makes you want to do something. If you have the energy and really want to change something or do something that is also motivation. A lot of people become motivated from challenges whether from others or a personally challenge like losing weight.
Motivation is seen in sports as well. In most cases the main goal is a championship and that is enough motivation; then there is personal stats which can carry if someone has better stats that you feel like your better than then that will usually want you to be better than them or prove that you already are which is motivation. Many times teams use motivation to pump up there team to do better and bring out the most of them.
If you mentally prepare yourself its motivation as well. If you do badly in a class you will want to do better and try harder. Someone who has a good grade is proberly already motivated compared to the average student. Many people with low self esteem also have low motivation because they don’t think they can change something or make it better. It has been proven the more effort you put in you get more out of it.
In conclusion, if you are motivated chances are you will be successful. Sometimes things just don’t work but for the most part if you are motivated you want to complete something which makes you try to do whatever to finish it. People that have low motivation usually don’t go far because they don’t push themselves to be the best they can be. Many times people are satisfied and don’t try very hard which can be a factor of someone’s life.

Anonymous said...

Since its inception the New World has been a land of freedom. The acquisition of this freedom comes at the price of brutal bloodshed. Men and women leave their citizen lives to risk it all in the name of liberty. As primitive as combat is it is necessary to maintain freedom. George Orwell once said “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm”. While we are at peace in a land of freedom, bold men suffer in an environment of turmoil and violence.
Freedom is not a default of mankind; it is something that must be sought-after. Much of the world is constantly trying to oppress liberty. It is the audacity of many people to put on combat equipment, pick up a gun, and risk life and limb for the survival of liberty. As one resides in their safe house, it is necessary to be thankful because that freedom is at the expense of others.
The United States was born as a result of war. It took ambitious colonists to leave their stable lives to challenge perhaps the most insuperable of all militias, Great Britain. Farmers in Massachusetts put down their pitchforks to grab a musket and fight for their beliefs. They could have just abided by their lifestyles instead they laid it on the line for freedom. It was the bravery of those individuals that engendered liberty in the United States. The American Revolution exemplifies the words of Orwell.
The peace and security of the United States has been threatened for hundreds of years. The anti-democratic forces such as the Axis-Powers and the Soviet Union have tried to the American ideals of freedom. It took countless lives to overcome these immense obstacles. Today our freedom would not exist if it wasn’t for those who gave their life for our security.
Freedom is not given; it must be fought for at the cost of innocent life. Today there are countless revered people who would gamble life to preserve liberty in the United States of American and other nations of the world. The freedom and security of America coexists with the brutality of war that is vital to the maintenance of freedom.

Anonymous said...

The good wife's guide provides rules of housewives during the 1950's. This entry described womens place in a relationship fifty years ago. But, the wifes role has changed dramatically these past fifty years. A major change in the wifes role is that most now work outside of the house, not only doing standard housework. The blithe life that this entry tried to make it seem that women lived did a three sixty turn around since the 1950's.

Women back then were standard housewives and did not take home any of the money which made the husbands feel that they had more power. Also back then if you were a male and had a family you would be concidered the one who runs the house and the decision-maker. Wives lived a reclused life compared to the husband because everyday they had the same rutine which was all based upon housework and taking care of the children if there were any. Just because the wives did not work outside of the house did not mean that they were not hard workers. All the stress in the house between the relationship of the married couple, their children and keeping the house intact was all on the wife. On top of all this the wife had to be pleasing her husband everytime he was around. Thats not something you would see everyday in a married couples relationship because the roles of the women have changed dramatically.

The role that the wives would have the play in my mind is crazy because now-a-days you dont usually see that situation. Im glad that wives are way more incipient in our current time because the way that they were frowned upon before should not be exceptable in any marriage.

-Cory W.

Anonymous said...

Throughout the evolution of man-kind, propaganda has become insuperable in our day to day lives. Propaganda is a method used to spread ideas and sometimes it makes apocryphal information believable. The immutable on going effects of propaganda are present in our media, radios, politics, and even religion. For example, our news casters engender interest in current events by over exaggerating the knowledge they are trying to share. This mainly happens due to a plethora of opinions. Each individual has the right to there own opinion, but you wonder how much of their opinion is actually theirs and how much of it is built on propaganda. A heedful topic in today’s society is the current violence and war. George Orwell once said, in his novel 1984, “All the war propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” Men, woman, and children alike all have developed a different view on the war then the brave soldiers actually defending our country, due to propaganda.
All of the things going on in our world today have an effect on people. Society learns about different world affairs mostly through our nations media. Learning, listening, and usually seeing creates opinions in peoples minds. Over exaggerating, twisting words, lies, and a lack of respect for privacy, has corrupted our media, which leads us to believing false information. We base the majority of our opinions on what we learn and the opinions of others. Unlike us the soldiers fighting have strongly different opinions than the people who get their information’s from a television. They have first hand experience to help them come up with ideas and ways to make situations better. They fully have an understanding of the situations as a whole. We on the other hand, only know what people tell us. This is creating a problem in our society.
Agreeing with Orwell’s statement, the emotions of hatred, discrimination, and power have coalesced into a serious issue. Our media is driven by these negative aspects. Falling into the trap of propaganda is the one of the leading dilemma among us. Propaganda is an influential way to replace the truth. As of now, propaganda has control of our media, our knowledge, the decisions we make, and more importantly our lives and the lives of others.


M.Kilburn

Anonymous said...

George Orwell’s 1984 show a utopian society that limits the people’s thoughts feelings and freedoms. A dystrophic society is a better representation of Orwell’s 1984. Most utopian societies have a tendency to fail due to outside sources and internal conflict.
A utopian society often is at the forefront of technology, education, and anything else they apply themselves to. The people are happy with their government and their lives. The government would literally be run by the people and for them. 1984 is a little darker then how most utopian societies are portrayed.
In 1984, society is pretty much regulated by the Party and people are discouraged to have any kinds of happy feelings. The Party manipulates history to make the Party sound like it was a goal since the beginning. The Party probably started out like a utopian society. Corruption is common in all government.
Utopian societies have existed well before 1984. The story of Atlantis is a prime example of how a utopian society can rise and fall. Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea because they had become too powerful and corrupt. Communism is another example of a utopian society that fell much like Atlantis. The government is to distribute everything to all, eliminating social classes. Utopian societies often are portrayed as being “perfect”. Human beings are not capable of being perfect and this is why they all fall.

Anonymous said...

Since the dawn of time, men have sought to maintain freedom. In order to attain such freedom, society requires that some individuals must fight or suffer. Our brothers have died over the years trying to keep everyone safe and out of the danger they are all entailed in. George Orwell, the author of 1984, stated “we sleep in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” The reasoning behind why myself and others are able to sleep safely at night is because our brave soldiers are willing to risk their lives to keep us safe. The beginning and ongoing war the United States of America has with Iraq are examples of how we are kept safe.
Ever since September 11, 2001 the U.S. has been at war with Iraq. Initially Bin Laden and his al Qaeda are the reasons why that day has been put into history forever; they decided to target the U.S. by killing thousands of people. Those men hijacked American planes and crashed them into the twin towers of New York City, causing tragedy throughout the nation. The army and our soldiers jumped right into action to protect the U.S. and its people by fighting back and trying to make some peace. The American soldiers have been causing collateral damage over In Iraq for the past eight years to keep the fighting out on American streets. Many of us have lost our brothers, sisters, fathers, etc. due to their bravery to keep everyone sleeping safely in their beds without fear, while they do not. Those men and women are our saviors, thanks to them we do not have fighting in our streets and are able to sleep safe and sound in our own homes.
Eight years down the road and America is still fighting with Iraq, this war seems like it is never going to end. Still our soldiers are overseas out of their comfort zones to keep their fellow Americans in theirs. George Orwell’s words were spoken sixty years ago; they applied then and still apply now. Since the beginning of time there has been men and women who have fought off violence to keep their loved ones and others out of danger; there has been World War I and II, The Gulf war, the Persian war, and now what can be considered World War III. Hopefully Orwell’s words, although very true and can apply to any era, won’t apply to the future, everyone hopes to eventually see peace in the future.

Anonymous said...

Since the inception of humanity, people have waged war with each other. As people evolved, some questioned the idea of constant violence and fighting. This group of people grew, and spread their ideas, causing petitions and anti-war demonstrations. Political leaders soon realized that they would need the support of at least a fraction of these people in order to go to war, and remain at peace within their own society. Thus, propaganda was born, and leaders used this to gain the approval of war amongst those previously opposed to it. Armies kill people, millions of them, and it is an accepted fact; but when a whole country’s killings are pinpointed on one man, feelings of disgust and hatred are felt for this man. People unite with each other, and suddenly push for war, for the termination of this one man. This is why, “Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac” such as stated by George Orwell. Throughout history several wars were started and viewed as self defense against a single man.

Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, these are possibly, the most hated people in America. The war in Iraq was started because we had to defend ourselves against Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction; and of course Osama Bin Laden killed many people on 9 11. Our government used propaganda to sway our opinion on the thought of going to war, and it worked. Most of this country was pushing strongly for war when word got out about Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. Whether or not the topics of propaganda were true or not doesn’t matter. The propaganda was used on the citizens of America and it worked and enabled our government to got to war with Iraq.

World War 2 is perhaps the best example of this. When anybody thinks of World War 2, they think of Hitler and the people that he killed. They think of the millions of people that, HE killed, even though it was Germany’s armies that killed them. Our leaders used propaganda to put the thought into people’s heads that Hitler was a “homicidal maniac”, and single handily, killed millions of people. This got people ready to fight and engage in war; then, Pearl Harbor. We were bombed and within 24 hours, went to war as an act of self-defense.

Throughout history several wars were started and viewed as self defense against a single man. “Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.” This quote can clearly be applied to today, and how we entered the Iraq war to defend ourselves against Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction.


-A. Rockwell

Anonymous said...

Propaganda is used to manipulate the readers’ or viewers’ reason and emotions; to persuade you to believe in something or someone to buy an item or vote in a certain way to further a cause whether it is politically, commercially, religiously or civilly. The good wife’s guide is an example of propaganda. It provides all the qualities that a wife should do in order to be a good wife, the ideal wife that every man wants in the 1950s. The magazine article “the good wife’s guide” by Housekeeping Monthly provides a guide that every housewife should follow to have all the ideal housewife qualities.
Over a period of fifty years, many things have changed. As said in the 1950s, by Housekeeping Monthly in “the good wife’s guide, it discusses things that a good housewife would do. This included the following things: planning ahead dinner for your husband when they come how. This is a way to let him know that you have been thinking about him all day and is concerned about his needs. Freshen yourself up before your husband comes how. The house should be clean and clutter free when he arrives home. Prepare the children; make sure that they are all tidy and clean. When your husband arrives you should listen to what he has to say and that what he has to say is more important than what you have to say. The issues that he is dealing with are more important than yours. The housewife should not worry if the husband happens to stay out all night. Overall, the housewife should anything and everything in their power to satisfy the husband. When the husband comes home, he does not have to worry about anything. Everything should be well done and prepared once the husband comes home.
Fifty years later, things are different. There are not many housewives. Mostly all of the women are now working. Before woman were not likely to be working but were known to be housewives. The husbands were supposed to be the ones that would be the working. The wife would be the one that took care of the family while the husband would be the one that provided for the family. Nowadays, most housewives would do things such as preparing dinner for the husband when he arrives home; clean the house before the husband arrives home. The quality of a housewife in the 1950s still comes in use today. Although many things have changed, some are still the same. The things that were in “the good wife’s guide” that are different from today are that “Listen to him. Let him talk first, his topics of conversation are more important than yours” and “don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment. You have no right to question him.”
“The good wife’s guide” by Housekeeping Monthly provides a guide of what a housewife should do in order to please their husband. Over a period of fifty years many things change and many things stay the same. Overall history repeats itself. A housewife should always care for their husbands but the world should not revolve around them because women are people too and men are not superior to women. Anything that a man can do, a woman can do also.

Anonymous said...

There are several key methods and approaches used to spread the ideas of propaganda that further a political, commercial, religious, or civil cause. There are two main types of propaganda that describe the article “The Good Wife’s Guide” written in the 1950’s. “Glittering Generalities” is one sort of propaganda. Another approach that assists this article in having some meaning of propaganda is the “Bandwagon” approach. This 1950’s article provides so many rules and standards that women should of obeyed by to be a great house wife. Over the last 50 years, this article reflects on how much our culture has changed.
Glittering Generalities is a technique that uses important-sounding “glad words” that have little or no real meaning. The title of this article is the main point of this technique. “The Good Wife’s Guide” is a label that cannot be proved or disproved. No one can confirm that if a wife does not use this guide, they will not establish themselves as a good wife. Following strict and ridiculous rules in order to maintain a stable household for your husband is preposterous. “Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as a minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.” A good wife no matter if it is in today’s world or in the 1950’s, would always be apprehensive to her husband’s whereabouts. Being a ‘good wife’ has a meaning of caring for your spouse and not caring to “arranging his pillow and offer to take off his shoes”. Those little rules should not confirm whether you are a good wife or not.
Generally the “bandwagon” approach encourages you to think that because everyone else is doing something, you should do it too, or you’ll be left out. The “Good Wife’s Guide” clearly establishes this type of propaganda. This article is aiming to build every wife into the same character. “A good wife always knows her place” quoted from the article, is demonstrating how if one steps out of line once, she is no longer a good wife to her spouse. Back in the 1950’s many wanted their families to be perfect. Although producing an article illustrating on how to make your wife better than what she is, is immoral. “Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.” If a wife does not feel that she is comfortable with her spouse’s decision she should be able to have a say in anything. To say that all wives should be the same and perform in the same manner would not make a difference in their families. If every wife proceeded to follow these guidelines, there would be no sense in getting married if everyone is the same. To reflect on the “bandwagon” approach, nobody should consider following a certain article to try and make their lives better, just because some other families are doing it.

Anonymous said...

Propaganda is used to manipulate the readers’ or viewers’ reason and emotions; to persuade you to believe in something or someone to buy an item or vote in a certain way to further a cause whether it is politically, commercially, religiously or civilly. The good wife’s guide is an example of propaganda. It provides all the qualities that a wife should do in order to be a good wife, the ideal wife that every man wants in the 1950s. The magazine article “the good wife’s guide” by Housekeeping Monthly provides a guide that every housewife should follow to have all the ideal housewife qualities.
Over a period of fifty years, many things have changed. As said in the 1950s, by Housekeeping Monthly in “the good wife’s guide, it discusses things that a good housewife would do. This included the following things: planning ahead dinner for your husband when they come how. This is a way to let him know that you have been thinking about him all day and is concerned about his needs. Freshen yourself up before your husband comes how. The house should be clean and clutter free when he arrives home. Prepare the children; make sure that they are all tidy and clean. When your husband arrives you should listen to what he has to say and that what he has to say is more important than what you have to say. The issues that he is dealing with are more important than yours. The housewife should not worry if the husband happens to stay out all night. Overall, the housewife should anything and everything in their power to satisfy the husband. When the husband comes home, he does not have to worry about anything. Everything should be well done and prepared once the husband comes home.
Fifty years later, things are different. There are not many housewives. Mostly all of the women are now working. Before woman were not likely to be working but were known to be housewives. The husbands were supposed to be the ones that would be the working. The wife would be the one that took care of the family while the husband would be the one that provided for the family. Nowadays, most housewives would do things such as preparing dinner for the husband when he arrives home; clean the house before the husband arrives home. The quality of a housewife in the 1950s still comes in use today. Although many things have changed, some are still the same. The things that were in “the good wife’s guide” that are different from today are that “Listen to him. Let him talk first, his topics of conversation are more important than yours” and “don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment. You have no right to question him.”
“The good wife’s guide” by Housekeeping Monthly provides a guide of what a housewife should do in order to please their husband. Over a period of fifty years many things change and many things stay the same. Overall history repeats itself. A housewife should always care for their husbands but the world should not revolve around them because women are people too and men are not superior to women. Anything that a man can do, a woman can do also.

Anonymous said...

Eric B
English: E
Short Response
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on these who do us harm.” Since the dawn of times, men have sought to maintain freedom. Which is expressed by George Orwell in 1984; which is clearly projected by that quote. I feel that the world would not have seen this day if it were not for our armed forces that give their lives for ours. Every night people go to sleep with calm nerves knowing were safe. But what if we didn’t have this security; what would the world be like. There would no laws, order, or society left for us to enjoy. As one goes on well see how our world stayed together as a nation.
What defines a law? It is something that we need to grasp and cope with. In our eyes everyone that is walking the street obeys by the law and the one’s who don’t are in jail. This makes us seem that the world is perfect and no flaws or crimes will happen without consequences. But this sense of being safe would not be there if our cops did not put their lives down on the line to make our world run well. They go into everyday of work knowing they are cleaning up the garbage that gives us an emotion called fear. This emotion is pushed into the back of our heads because these men fight off these bad thoughts. We should be appreciative every night we crawl into bed without those thoughts.
Order is the back bone to the word we call law. Laws agree just things that we are “suppose” to obey by but would not be put into place if there was no order. Order makes all the arrest and law breakers pay for their wrongful actions. There are a plethora of people who get tickets, arrested, and such everyday but are not fazed by it if no one enforces these penalties. Judges, lawyers, and prosecutors are just as important as a cop when an arrest is made. When cop’s arrest these wrong doers they give them their reason of fault and then went back on the street. Although they have been released for that period of time they won’t be after the judge issues them guilty. That is the order that put’s the word safe into our head every night we crawl into bed.
Society is a group of people built around each other to cope with one another to create everyday life. There are many differences and similarities between everyone’s thoughts. Some like to destroy our society by murdering, raping, blowing up icons, and much more. The normal thinking people fear these thoughts everyday and depend on security to calm these paranoids. When our towers got knocked down them though we would separate as a society; but that was the complete opposite. Our nation came together and fought to show each other’s loyalty to one another. Millions of people joined together to defend everyday society. It might not have happened in their city or town but that was erroneous to them. It is a nation that makes the world and it is a society that makes both of these. If our society crushes then we all crush along with it. So when we came together to fight as an army, marine, cop, or even just civilian it didn’t matter because we all make each other. The world came not run by just one individual; it takes a nation filled with honorable society.
As one reads they will realize that some are labeled as heroes. But all of us move as one; without each other our world would crumble. We are all soldiers, cops, and heroes the only difference is how your show it. All as one defending laws, order, and society makes not some heroes; but all of us heroes. The reason is because or world is still running to this day. “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on these who do us harm,” this quote from 1984 by George Orwell reminds us how great we defend one another.

Anonymous said...

Since the beginning of time, men have attempted to maintain freedom. In order to attain such freedom, society requires that some individuals must fight or suffer. These individuals are the ones who signed the line to join the military. In George Orwell's novel 1984 he said "we sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." Although this quote is accurate, not many people think this in their everyday life.

Almost nobody cares for these kids in the military as they guard us while we sleep. When people turn on the T.V. in the mourning and see another road side bomb kills 5 American soldiers, then people become concerned with us being in war with Iraq or Afghanistan. Also not too many people could say they lose sleep about the soldiers who protect us and the rest of our country unless they have a loved one involved with the mess of war. People in today’s society go through their motions of their day and life without even taking one single second to think about the people that are protecting us while we are hundreds and thousands of miles away from any danger. The soldiers who fight for our country are the ones who can barley sleep because they had to deal with shooting a young kid that day, or watch their one of their buddies who they have been with since boot camps get shot and end up dying.

Many people need to step back and look more into what happens to soldiers that are involved with warfare. Not saying that people should go pray every night, just take a look outside of the simple life that some have and realize how much goes on for the soldiers that guard us while we sleep.

Anonymous said...

Ashlee P.
Kefor, E
February 26, 2009
25 minute open response

Since the beginning, women have always been the less dominant sex. In Housekeeping Monthly’s May 13, 1955 issue, The Good Wife’s Guide, certain aspects go against modern day opinions on the roles of a good housewife. Propaganda, which is anything made to sway one’s opinion on something, is found throughout this entire segment. The progression of time through society has changed the way the roles of women are being looked at. Not only have women changed their look, but they have changed their behavior completely.

In 1955, and far before this time, the roles of women were to clean the house and tend to the children. In today’s world, there is nothing that a man can do, that a woman cannot do. Women’s rights have changed severely since the annunciation of the first woman presidential elect in 2007. It is an agreeable statement, that when your husband arrives home after a long day of work, you should make him feel comfortable in his own home. However, The Good Wife’s Guide states , “Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lay down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.” This particular statement is horrible. The woman has been busting her butt all day doing work around the house and just because he gets home, does not mean that they have to drop everything just to make him comfortable. He is in his own house and can get in his own chair or lay on his own bed, when or if he would like to all by himself. In Housekeeping Monthly it states, “Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a life and one of your duties is to provide that.” This statement is completely ridiculous. When a man and a woman get married, the proposal never states your happiness as a duty. If his day was boring, well – too bad. It is not necessarily the wife’s duty to make it any less boring. Although men were the working ones, women still have their share of talking. The good wife’s guide states, “Listen to him, you may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first- remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.” This quote is sickening because it is totally overlooking the fact that these two people are married. It does not matter who Is the working one, exciting things happen throughout the days and the first person you would like to share these things with is your significant other. Being faithful is a major part in a marriage. “Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.” This quote is a complete double standard, because we all know if one’s wife was out at all hours of the night, there are questions to be answered and asked. It is not nice behavior when a man stays out all night; anyone would be worried or scared about his well-being and faithfulness.

The roles of women today are unlike the roles of women back in the day. Many women hold respectable jobs and some are better than the jobs men are carrying. No one should be treated with such disrespect and especially by a husband. If a wife has something she would like to say, she should be able to say it without getting a consequence. They took vows; he did not pay for her to be his slave.

Ross P said...

Through the establishment of government, there have been many forms of corruption. It can be seen most commonly in the form of favoritism. As the band System Of A Down stated in their now popular, Grammy Award-winning song as well as the first single released from their fourth album Mezmerize entitled “Bring. Your. Own. Bombs.” “Why don’t presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?” Even though this is though to be a revolutionary concept, this is very relatable to Orwellian ideas. The statement by George Orwell, “All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and all lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” It is clear that, not only leaders themselves, but their children, family and friends can be exempted from these events.
While presiding in office, former President John F. Kennedy had chosen to make a call to arms when engaging in the Vietnamese War. Forty years later, when George W. Bush ran for the office of president, it became known that he was never deployed during his service time while his father was a senator. This caused a bit of an uproar because, while running for his second term, his opponent, John Kerry, had served and was favorable to a quicker end to the war in Iraq. This was controversial due to the belief that “if he has never served overseas, then how can he relate/understand what the soldiers are going through?” Thus causing feelings of ungratefulness towards him, although he was reelected.
Prince William has become a much respected member of the royal family by his British subjects. The people find him to be down to earth person and have a good personality. William has also shown mutual respect towards the people of his country. So much so, that he choose to enlist. Yet upon doing so, the government removed him from training camp and was not to return as a recruit. Yet, he continues to make frequent visits to the English troops that are currently stationed in Iraq.

Anonymous said...

Generally, hopes and fears seem to dictate people throughout the world. Thoughts of bad things make some angry or not want to think about certain things. The thought of anything going wrong frighten most people. George Orwell presents a vision of our future through his novel 1984. The vision he shows is from what the thinks will happen to the world from what he saw when he wrote the book in 1949. One of George Orwell’s quotes that represents this idea is “All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.”
In recent days there are plenty of things that are soon to happen that some people do not like to think of. One example of something might be getting ignored by many American citizens is the war in Iraq. The fact that people are dying there and how it’s been several years since the American Army has been home. Another thing that could be overlooked or ignored by American citizens is the economy and how it’s so bad and still worse as the days go on. Another thought that could be getting ignored in future thoughts is global warming. There are hundreds of millions of people dreading global warming and try to not let it affect them.
This quote is accurate in terms of how people think about things going on in the world that is not good. Most people think stubbornly about their futures in a way that makes them forget about anything and everything bad that can happen. A lot of times people will think of positive things to eliminate all the bad that could or will happen.
George Orwell’s quote shows how people avoid things that can makes their lives difficult or painful.

-Jay K.