- How word choice, nuance, and structure make these pieces unique and effective as declarations of independence.
- What declarations of independence show about being an American.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Periods 1 and 4 Graded Declaration of Independence Discussion for those Absent
This is a place for comments from students who were absent either for the graded discussion on Monday or the preparation for it. You will have been told by this point if this is the case. The directions for the discussion are the same as in class. Post your name with your comment about the following:
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ReplyDeleteWhat do the three "declarations of independence" say about what it means to be an American? Respond below to this thread.
ReplyDeleteThe three declarations all include ideas and dreams of freedom and equality for all people. The United States of America are notorious for being a free country where people are all equal, but that is clearly untrue until immigration. Martin Luther King Jr., the author of the letter from Birmingham, was one of the most active non-violent protestors of what is just and equal. He fights for the American independence for all. The letter he writes shows his views and why he does what he does. In the letter, M.L.K. Jr. reminds the people that no time is too soon for justice, and waiting for it will not make it come any faster. He is absolutely an American legend. Langston Hughes’s poem spoke of the brotherhood of people and how we are all a part of each other, which emphasizes the saying that America is a “melting pot”. Furthermore, Steve Job's advertisment encouraged breaking free of bonds, and being independent. The ability to think and act upon choice is another example of American freedom. These informants show that American is freedom and powerful pride.
DeleteWhat about the word choice, structure, nuance (connotations to words, the way they invoke moods, multiple meanings, etc.) make these unique and effective as declarations?
ReplyDeleteAll three of the pieces were effective as declarations of independence. The word choice is all of the pieces were unique compared to each other which makes me feel that any person could see the concept of independence by viewing them. The english paper written by Langston Hughes is a good piece to see independence for everyone except small children. It using basic vocabulary and is fairly straight forward and is in a delightful tone which I feel is the best piece. The M.L.K letter however is very different. The tone is negative because he is talking about the struggles of blacks and racial equality. The vocabulary was pretty difficult for a high schooler like myself and is probably pretty difficult for an adult as well. The way everything was worded made me take a long time to finish reading it. The length of the letter didn't help either. This piece was definitely the hardest piece to get the message from. The last piece which was a video was very easy to comprehend. There was no reading involved so little children would be able to watch this and get the message from it. The message was very straight forward even more so than the first piece so I think that it is ideal for children.
DeleteI agree with you Derek. The word choice and style of these three pieces vary, making them each suitable for different age ranges. I agree that Langston Hughes' poem can be interpreted by a younger audience with its more basic word structure and vocabulary. In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" you are right by saying that it is more negative and sophisticated. This piece would definitely be for a more advanced audience. With the commercial I believe anyone can understand this. Having the commercial is important because it shows that independence is a concept interpreted and understood by most ages.
Delete-Matt Tomei
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ReplyDeleteThe three "declarations of independence" say that to be an American is that everyone is one, so we all deserve to be treated the same. This is not usually the case though and that should change. Being American means that you have your natural rights, or the rights you are born with. The three "declarations of independence" are saying that we deserve these natural rights, but yet we do not always have them. - Gianna Iannotti
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. In particular, the second piece, Letter from Brimingham Jail, was written to address the issue that Blacks were not given equal rights and treatment as whites. The author, Martin Luther King Jr., politely addresses his audience while at the same time provides powerful evidence of the difference in equality. He mentions that they were fighting for their "God-given rights" and have a "birthright to freedom", just as the authors of the American Declaration of Independence wrote about.
DeleteI agree entirely with what Gianna is saying. As it states in the Declaration of Indepence, all men are created equally. This is the way it should be, but unfortunately some people don't treat others the way they should be. No matter what your skin color, race, etc., is you should be treated just as fair as the person next to you. Unfortunately, that's not always the case.
DeleteThe one above was posted by Mike DeVito
DeleteThe three "declarations of independence" explained that, as Americans, even though we are all different, we are the same. We all have the right to do what we want or like what we want even if we are not the same race, ethnicity, religion, etc. Despite those who disagree with one another, we all unite to form one body. These three documents each have different word choice and structure, making them unique declarations to different types of people. The first document was written in a casual, artistic form. If you are one who enjoys poetry, this document would have been most effective to you. The second document was written in a more formal, informative way. If you enjoy reading for information, you would be most effected by this document. The third document was a video. If watching movies or video clips to process information is easiest for you, this document would be most effective. Overall, even though each "declaration" is not worded and structured exactly the same, they all reach the same overall meaning. That is, we are Americans and we deserve our freedom and liberty, even if we are different.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your claim that all people are different and Americans have a sense of freedom and pride that unite us. However, I did not consider the different sources being different types of informants in a way similar to reading styles. I find it interesting that one campaign for the same rights can be voiced so diffently and appealed to by different individuals.
DeleteThe three declarations of independence were not always exactly "declaring" loudly. The poem for example merely showed a lack of acceptance for the situation, a rebellious attitude. The second piece was similar, but with actual facts not just emotions and thoughts. The author was declaring that he would not accept the situation as it was so it had more straight out declaring. His audience was also not on his side, he was trying to explain his reasoning to critics. The last piece was intended for a completely different purpose and loudly stated it's separation. But it was meant as an advertisement, so needed to shout.
ReplyDeleteThese "declarations of independence" were very unique, yet they all showed the idea of independence. They represent that every American probably can think of a way to declare independence, but they may do so in a different way. Also, I think Americans can get a better sense of writing a declaration of independence because our founding fathers did when breaking free from Great Britain.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem by Langston Hughes, he was comparing himself to his teacher in a poem. He used words like me, you, and we, to show the differences and similarities. He did this very effectively, and he showed that although he was colored while his classmates were not, they all had similar goals and similar lifestyles. He wrote about his life, and he put it simply that his life was no different from others.
Martin Luther King Jr. approached the topic differently. He was in jail, and he was fighting for his independence. His letter was very formal, and he talked about how colored people had been fighting to be free for so long. He showed examples where other types of people were saved, like in Nazi Germany. Yet, black people had come a long way but it seemed like they had come to a halt in changing the way they are seen. King Jr brought up the Constitution in this letter, and he strongly exhibited how unfair it was for colored people. He tried to get the people in charge of the jail to understand that he was not trying to do wrong, rather they were doing wrong because of what had though to be right for so many years.
The Apple commercial was short, but it made its point. The lady was like the new computer because she was different from the rest of the people who were wearing the same clothes and being brainwashed by the screen. She was independent because she was one apart from many. When she threw the object at the screen and it crashed, she was breaking free from the influences around her.
Rosie and Samantha's responses were very accurate. I agree with Rosie that all the documents were very successful in declaring independence, no matter the structure. Samantha showed how the documents expressed independence in different ways. I don't know if Langston was being rebellious or more just trying to show it how it was for him. She compared and contrasted the documents very well, though.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteThe three "Declarations of Independence" say that no matter what, being American is something we all have in common. We come from different backgrounds and have different views but as a whole we are all American. Being American is something that ties us together and makes us one showing that we are all the same and should be treated as equals.
Question 2:
In the first text (Poem by Langston Hughes) his lack of flowery language made this text unique and effective. He was straight forward with his writing but yet in a way that made you question and think of the ideas he was presenting to you. He showed through his use of pronouns that although he was colored he was like the other students in the class. This shows that all people can have the same goals and relate in parts of their lives regardless of their complexion.Colored people are the same as whites and any other races.
The second text (Letter From Birmingham Jail) was written in a letter format and in a way was written to justify his actions and thoughts. Because it was a letter it was very personal and bias, You see this when Martin Luther King connects the actions hes discussing to events in the bible. This gives you a perspective of his morale and religious opinions and influences. It also gives you a different out look and understanding of the matter.
The third text (Apple Commercial) presents this idea of declaring independence in a very unique way. As a viewer you sense the idea of breaking free from the norm through the one woman in color who refuses to take part of the brainwashing. By her breaking the screen you can see what an impact separating from the norm causes. By presenting this idea through visual means rather than writing you are given more of a sense of cause and effect.
Stephanie Laugeni
I disagree with your statement that Langston's poem to be floweryon the grounds that he uses methaphores and alliteration that he uses throughout the poem
DeleteThese three declarations of independence are making efforts to show that as Americans we have the freedom to do as we please, and express our own opinions openly. In text 1 we see that Hughes questions weather he should be treated differently due to the pigmentation of his skin. He addresses the discrimination saying "I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like the same things other folks like who are other races". He being an African American not afraid to discuss his distaste with the racism that goes on. Text 2 expresses independence in fight for civil rights. As MLK Jr. writes he has a strong sense of confidence in the justice he is attempting to bring about. The third piece rather that being a text but an advertisement declares independence in a way that is much more black and white, literally the commercial has nearly no other colors.That is of course except for the running woman who is trying to stand out from the rest of the people listening to the monotonous voice. Her noticeably different appearance and standing out in itself has a strong sense of independence.
ReplyDelete1. Each of the three "declarations of independence" may focus on different ideas but they all share the common idea on what it means to be an American. They all say that Americans are all alike and should not categorized into different groups because of race or religion. Different ideas does not mean people are exactly opposite, they are given this freedom to express their own perspectives and views as long as it's not about others. The poem is about a black man who attends a university and wants to show that blacks and whites are not different because of their skin color or features. They must realize that knowledge can be gained from one another in order to help succeed in life and whether they like it or not both share the trait of being an American. In the second document, Martin Luther King Jr is writing about how black people are not given the rights that they deserve and need to make this aware to the American government to show that they are equal and deserve equal rights. In the Apple 1984 commercial, people are seen as the same and following one ruler with no one believing in something different because they are afraid of leaving the crowd. The girl though not wearing the same colors helps show the people that they can declare independence from what others believe in and choose based on their own opinion.
ReplyDelete2. What makes these documents more powerful than a regular declaration is they do not have to be written as a legal document following certain rules and guidelines so that it makes an impact on the people. This gives the documents a chance to express the same ideas of a declaration but in certain ways that it may better connect to the people so they can accept it. The first document makes a very strong impact with it's description of the man's life and how the wording is sometimes difficult to understand yet you kinda get the idea. The only part that rhymes in the poem seems to be the most important when the author mentions freedom of the white man which sums up the whole poem. The second document is a letter but can be seen as instructions and guidelines to gaining independence. This structure is very inspirational as Martin Luther King Jr gives examples of when freedom was taken away and how it impacted the people. For the video, although it did not use a whole lot of words, the images were very powerful in showing an everyday idea and exaggerating it so the people can see what's going on. Everyone is dark and grey, all similar characteristics and marching the same way. Then a lady comes in declaring independence from others and showing the people they can declare their own independence and make their own decisions.
These quotes even though they are all declaring independence from one another, are all vastly different. With Langston Hughes's short poem, Martin Luther King's long letter and Steve Job's first commercial already the three texts are no where near alike, but what really separates them are their styles of writing
ReplyDeleteI would argue, against what Stephanie Laugeni, that Langston has written his poem in a flowery way with metaphors and imagery scattered about. He also includes a lot of alliteration especially in the beginning of the second paragraph when he repeats the word hear. It makes the reader stop reading for a second amd try to understand what is happening. To me the reason for the repitition is as if he is questioning who he is and what and where he really is. With all this figurative language it makes this poem the most flowery.
Now instead with Martin Luther's letter in mind. I say that it spoke the loudest in terms of Independence. With phrases like "non-violent protest" he actually was trying to secure independence for African Americans. Also he includes the word "We" in almost every sentence. He wants the reader to know that they, as a kind have been through many struggles and hardships and not only a few. This letter may be the longest of the three but definitely the most impactful on the ideas of revolution
As the only contemporary piece in the entire lot Steve Job' ad was the most persuasive. Even though it contained only a handful or words, it still had a great story line and an obvious plot. The fact that Steve used the only female as the leader of the revolution is probably symbolic in itself when all other characters where the guards or lifeless motionless male soldiers. The sole fact that Steve created this piece without any dialogue lakes this piece very special and only helps persuade the viewers.
I totally agree with what Larry said about how Langston Hughes used repetition in his poem to show that he was almost confused with who he was and why he was like this. It was very confusing as to why they were treated so differently than the white people. I also agree with Nick how he said there are many different kinds of independence and that each article portrayed a different but important type of independence. I noticed that in the poem, Langston Hughes asks that are the words that he writes on the paper colored? This shows that even though he is writing his thoughts, do people take into account that it is a black man who wrote this. If the audience did not know that the author was black, the things that he mentioned he enjoyed is just like what a white man would enjoy. So what makes a black man different from a white man other than the color of their skin?
ReplyDelete