Final Blog

In the definition paper about freedom and how wikileaks are not covered by freedom of speech I think the writer was cleaver to show the relationship of international relationships and high school. Also, in the freedom of speech paper the author made a strong emotional claim to the audience about Russia mobilizing their armed forces, because of one wrong piece of information. Another strong argument the author makes is that giving people the freedom of speech impedes our other rights like freedom of privacy and freedom to live in peace. In the paper about solitary confinement the author starts off by enticing the reader by describing what goes through the mind of an inmate in solitary confinement. In the solitary confinement paper the author uses her resources very well to get their point across and boost their ethos, for example the quote from national geographic that said that solitary confinement can be just as damaging as any of the other forms of torture mentioned before. The quote from the convict that was going to be released from prison helps bring the reader into the paper and gives it an emotional connection. By quoting John McCain the author boosts their ethos, because he is a well known politician after running for election.

In my paper I need to start with a more enticing opening scene to hook the reader before going into all the different points I want to make within the story. I need to make more of a connection between the word I am defining and the cultural element I want to argue. I need to do more research, so that I can incorporate more quotes into the paper in order to boost my ethos and make my arguments stronger. I need to make more emotional appeals to my audience, so that I connect with the reader more. Finally, I need to strengthen my conclusion by applying my point to a larger topic of discussion today.

Proposal

I am evaluating Lupe Fiasco as a good human rights activist given that he freely speaks out against government action in the middle east, his lyrics speak out against hate and racism, and Lupe Fiasco is not afraid of who he offends as long as he gets his point across. In order to establish that all rappers are not inciting violence among youths.

Research

            "Bill O'Reilly Interviews Rapper Lupe Fiasco - 6/20/11." Youtube.com. Web. 1 Aug 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYJ20INbM7Q

           

I will use this article to show how Lupe Fiasco is a rapper, but through his music he displays his strong opinions on government and politics. I will use the video to also show how many people in the United States disagree with his opinions, but he continues to voice it despite the people’s opinion of him.

"Lupe Fiasco Pays tribute to Malcolm X at OSU concert." Lupe Fiasco Toasts Malcolm X At OSU. Web. 2 Aug 2011. <http://idolator.com/5870482/lupe-fiasco-malcolm-x>.

I will use this video of Lupe Fiasco dedicating his song to Malcolm X, because it shows how Lupe Fiasco was inspired by Malcolm X and adopted his beliefs of human rights. I will compare Lupe Fiasco to Malcolm X; because they have the same beliefs only instead of being a public speaker Lupe Fiasco spreads his messages through his songs.

Lupe Fiasco Clarifies His Political Views On The Colbert Report. Web. 2 Aug 2011. <http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.15062/title.lupe-fiasco-clarifies-his-political-views-on-the-colbert-report>.

This video shows how Lupe Fiasco came about having his viewpoint, and how he feels about our government actions. It also displays a key point of his “you should always criticize those in power”.

Lady Gaga

They make the argument that Lady Gaga is the death of sex, because she draws so much attention although she dresses in flamboyant outfits that most people would not find attractive. They say that Lady Gaga became the way she is from having influences like Madonna growing up, rather than her Catholic background. Because of her influence from many other stars some people just call her a copy cat of some people like elton john and drag queens from the 1950's. They try to make the point that Lady Gaga is a trickster, because she uses both sides of the realm of the universe in her song. She shows the world and the underworld. Gaga brings up "God makes no mistakes" in her song to persuade those who believe that homosexuality is a choice that if God doesn't make mistakes then having gays must not be a mistake. The author mentions how it was not the Catholic background of Lady Gaga to show that even though she had strong family values the cultural corruption overcame her and she lost her way with God.

Cultural Object

Lupe Fiasco is a musician who sings about issues in our culture. I think this is important for our culture, because he raises up issues that most people don't like to talk about. He sings about war, violence, and power struggle in the world which are important topics. It shows that not everyone is afraid to voice their opinions about very controversial topics. It is interesting, because he makes great music by incorporating these issues into his songs. Many people listen to his music, which means that he is spreading his opinions through his music, because people are listening to it. Lupe Fiasco is a well known artist, so by telling others about these issues they become informed through the music. His music has had the most influence on teenagers who listen to music, because they make up most of his audience.

Cultural Object

A cultural object is Tosh.o. Daniel Tosh has a tv show on comedy central where he shows vulgar clips from the internet. This is bad for our culture. The show is pointless and only displays videos that are either disgusting or where people get injured. People are interested in his show, because they think it is funny. Most of the content is crude, for example he has one segment called "is it racist?" He shows a clip and the audience must decide whether they think the clip is racist or not. Most the time they are. People react to the show by creating their own videos doing stupid things trying to imitate the footage shown on the show. One video showed a person sitting on an airbag when it explodes and the man was shot up into the ceiling. This is negatively influencing children. I don't know how such content is allowed to be put on cable television.

Cultural Object

I think that the colbert report is good for our culture, because not only is it an entertaining comedy it also gives important news information too people that do not watch the news. I like to watch it because it helps me to learn about important topics without having to watch the news. On the colbert report Steven Colbert brings up major topics that are going on throughout the country. For example in one of his recent episodes he showed himself going to Washington D.C. to start a "Super Pac" to get donations for the upcoming national election. This allows people to donate money to the republican campaign, and during his show he has a ticker at the bottom of the screen of people that have donated to the Super Pac. When you see all the names that go by you can see the impact Steven Colbert has on the american public. Some people claim that it is just making fun of politics and should not be allowed to air such content on tv.