Honors-- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Mark Twain develops the theme of friendship with the use of descriptive imagery, narration, and tone in his novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. The importance of friendship comes up throughout the entire book as Tom faces his many experiences and challenges that he constantly stumbles upon. His friends including Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper were by his side and partook in the wild schemes and ideas that Tom always had to offer.

“It was the cool gray dawn, and there was a delicious sense of repose and peace in the deep pervading calm and silence of the woods. Not a leaf stirred; not a sound obtruded upon great Nature’s meditation. Beaded dewdrops stood upon the leaves and grasses. A white layer of ashes covered the fire, and a thin blue breath of smoke rose straight into the air. Joe and Huck still slept.” Page 106. This excerpt was taking from the chapter of when Tom and his friends ran away from home to Jackson’s Island to become pirates. They ventured off into the forest of the vacant island providing the food and shelter they needed to survive in the wilderness by using their natural resources. Mark Twain is able to capture the essence of the bonding they achieved through the experience by the detailed and descriptive imagery he uses.

“Tom stirred up the other pirates and they all clattered away with a short, and in a minute or two were stripped and chasing after and tumbling over each other in the shallow limpid water of the white sandbar.” Page 108. Mark Twain is the narrator and he views his story as an adult who sees the adult world critically and looks back on the pastimes of childhood in a somewhat idealized manner, with wit and the feeling of a loss. I find that to be very interesting because now the author can tell us what is going on through the mind of multiple characters, or not tell us at all. It gives me as the reader a deeper understanding of each character and how they all correspond together. In the expert I chose; Tom, Huck, and Joe are still on Jackson’s Island. The narrator shows us how they have that strong friendship of being together.

The tone of the novel is satirical and nostalgic. Satirical means the use of irony, sarcasm, or ridicule. It is a literary composition that includes a lot of scorn and mockery. Nostalgic means the feeling of loss, regret, or wanting something that was meant to be forgotten. Something that was in the past, that one aches to remember. In the tale of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain says that he based off the characters from his life. “Huck Finn is drawn from [his] life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual-- he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I [Mark Twain] knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.” Preface. Twain was able to incorporate the friendships from his past to create the story of Tom Sawyer. The reason the tone is satirical and nostalgic is because Twain wanted to reach out to the young readers so that they can appreciate the youth that they pertain, the friends they have, and the adventures they have yet to experience.

In conclusion, Mark Twain’s use of descriptive imagery, narration and tone, expresses Tom Sawyer’s value of friendship. The small details paints the vivid images of Tom and his friends, expressing the bond they have without dialogue. The narration tells us from a third person perspective of their connection while they continue on with adventures. The tone is tangled throughout the entire novel of the author’s fondness of his past, and his yearning for his childhood and companions. Friends are timeless and Twain’s story is the living proof.

ACORN and Voting Suppression Cheat us out of our True Government

The Real Issue Isn't Voter Fraud, It's Vote Suppression
U.S. Politics Today
By Joe Rothstein


ACORN stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which is now under investigation by state and federal authorities for its voter registration drives. ACORN have sent many fraud registration forms with either fake names such as “Mickey Mouse” or as people who had voted already to the government. The reason for that is because the ACORN association pays people to go into the streets and register voters as a job. The employees get paid by the hour, but they have to meet the requirements of registering no less then twenty people a day. When the employees simply can’t keep up with the limit they began admitting fake names to make the twenty registrated forms. ACORN does not have the right to throw away forms, even if they are very suspicious. But they do have the right to flag the forms down and let the government decide if its legit or not. The frauds led American voters to question the fairness and accuracy of their most fundamental right under the Constitution.

The “real issue isn’t voter fraud, it’s vote suppression,” states the U.S. Politics Today News Columnists article. Post-elections investigations turned up plenty of past accounts regarding how Democratic voters were either taken off the rolls or discouraged from voting due to various suppression techniques. Some states have been;

“illegally using Social Security information to verify voter registration, and dropping voters from the rolls within 90 days of the election---which also is against the law."

Voter suppression is when the government or other organizations try to discourage or stop people from voting, using techniques such targeting groups, like out-of-state-students by telling them they can’t vote if they are from out of state; even though thats completely illegal as well. Another effective vote suppression technique is called “vote caging”. That is when letters are mailed to registered voters asking them to verify their addresses. If they don’t reply they would either be taken off the rolls or have their votes challenged on election day. Those tactics are more common with low income groups such as students.

What ACORN and voter suppression have in common is that they are both tactics of cheating out the government voting system which is completely illegal. Either way they are trying to manipulate people or use their sources to try and change something that can impact the world.

“The right to vote is as sacred an American right as the right to free speech. When either of those rights is impeded by intimidation and harassment, we all suffer.”

FBI Investigating ACORN for Voter Fraud


Resources

Editorial: What is ACORN?
U.S. Politics Article
Editorial Roundup: Excerpts From Recent Editorials
Commentary: ACORN issue not vote fraud, but vote suppression
ACORN Fights Back
Youtube Video
Fact Check ACORN Article

Presidential Debates are nothing more then a Rerun

"McCain, Obama fight for title of 'most qualified'"
CCN.com


One hundred and fifty years ago, the small state of Illinois withheld the seven most incredible debates our country has seen at it’s time. Lincoln and Douglas debated over issues that included their countries society, politics, and economics. The debates in Freeport, Quincy and Alton received the most attention from the public because slavery was a monumental issue that was important to the citizens. “ I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law.” Said Lincoln when questioned at his second debate in Freeport Illinois. Though Lincoln in his heart was not for slavery, he has to say things to make the people happy. Which is why the debates were so contradictory with what he really believed in, and what the people wanted him to believe. Between morality and or a matter or public policy.

Eight years ago President George W. Bush had his first presidential debate against Al Gore. Issues that showed up during the debates regarded abortion, medicare, energy policy, and more, which also fall into the categories of society, politics, and economics. The candidates just tried to make their ideas sound so much better then their opponents.

"I have actually not questioned Governor Bush's experience. I have questioned his proposals," Gore said. "In this election, America has to make an important choice: Will we use our prosperity to enrich not just the few but all of our families? I believe we have to make the right and responsible choices."

Of course we have all heard about the famous vice presidential debate concerning Palin and Biden. In the debate Palin tried to portray Biden and Obama “obsessed with the failures of President Bush”, even though Palin was also guilty of bringing up Bush in a negative way. Biden on the other hand would avoid direct challenges to Palin and instead “worked to undermine McCain, who has sought throughout the campaign to distance himself from an unpopular president.” Issues they discussed were offshore drilling, global warming, tax plans, gay marriage, and the war in Iraq.



Now its time for a new president, and our two candidates are Obama and McCain. On their debates McCain Criticized Obama as a candidate who “doesn’t understand” the key issues that the country faces, and Obama “linked McCain to President Bush on several issues”. A lot of the issues related towards the war in Iraq, government spending, bailout proposal, economy and foreign policy. All issues that can be related back to once again; society, politics, and economics. The candidates have changed, the generation has changed, but never has the same problems that our country still holds differed. We can see the pattern clearly that tie all those debates together, which were the main issues, and to try and push yourself forward while pushing your candidate back.

I really do believe that the historical context never transformed into something new. The problems that our country has will continue along through even more future generations to come. Obama personally doesn’t approve of gay marriage, but he has to help abide the laws for it because its what the people want. The exact thing happened one hundred and fifty years ago with Lincoln. Its like a cycle that won’t stop repeating.

Resources

Lincoln and Douglas Debate
First Gore Bush Debate
Vice Presidential Debate
The first McCain Obama Debate Transcript

The Internet Takes Over Our Mind and Democracy

"Internet Banner ads gets more interesting"
By Bob Tedeschi
New York Times


Democracy is a form of government where the leader is chosen by popularity rather than the ability to run a country. The internet these days has one of the greatest affects towards the presidential campaign because its a place for advertisement and fan clubs. On the internet, many people like to express their views on McCain and Obama by using a multitude of creative ways to shout out their opinions. Sites such as the “Barack Obama Fan Club”, “McCain Fan Club”, or another popular site known as “YouTube”. People of todays generation tend to use the internet as their number one source for information, and people tend to want to vote for the most popular thing, or in this case, most popular candidate. Advertisement does have a huge impact on the mind of the voter because many are persuaded by the flashy signs and the outbursts of others.

Website advertisements have gotten more interesting to look at, so in another words, harder to ignore.

“Late last month, Chitika, an advertising company based in Marlborough, Mass., began testing eMiniMalls, a technology that scans a Web page, chooses a product the reader might be interested in, then displays banner ads that are miniature shopping comparison pages, with prices, product reviews and links to merchants.”

That quote was taken from the article I found on nytimes.com. The internet has the power to bring the attention of the viewer, because it catches their curiosity.

The internet and its effects fit into the historical context of technology and democracy in America because long ago, people felt more entitled to their own opinion. With the Lincoln and Douglas debates, people voted for the best of their country. They did not vote for who was “more popular” or “better looking” or “has cuter outfits”. Its as if our country’s notability is disappearing more and more with each coming generation.

Newpaper Self Evaluation Project

In my eleventh grade humanities class me and my group consisted of Paul Santillan and Rodrigo Arrieta. The purpose of our project was to make a newspaper regarding the second famous Lincoln and Douglas debate held in Freeport Illinois. The newspaper had to be made as if we wrote it back when the event was occurring in 1858.
What I feel was the most important thing I specifically contributed to my group was organization. The reason for that is because on the very first day we started working on our project I made sure that everyone knew the topic they were going to write about for their first rough draft. My partners and I kept in contact so I could help them with questions they would have, and they could help me with mine. I wrote the main article on the Lincoln Douglas debate so I had the better understanding on what events were occurring at the time because of all the extra research I had to do. Even though I never used InDesign, Paul was wonderful with it. However, I stayed with him contributing all the small ideas I had to incorporate into our newspaper. I also wrote the mini articles displayed at the bottom of the paper, with the help of my partners of course. I also helped critique my partners papers as they critiqued mine.
Something I wish I could have improved on would be my skills with InDesign. I have never used the program before so I could not do much besides assist Paul with whatever he needed me to do. I felt that if I had more experience with the program I could have been able to contribute a whole lot more and help in many different ways.
I found the process of completing the newspaper to be not that difficult. My group was very hardworking and we did use our time and resources very productively. We hardly ever got off task, and we completed what we said we were going to do. I was able to depend on my teammates and I like that feeling. Maybe a resource we could have gotten more out of could have been through the books Randy provided us. Instead we just found the internet to be a faster and easier source. Nevertheless it was a true team effort to get our project done.

Photography in Action

Rule of Thirds
By Adrienne



The picture is a perfect example of the rule of thirds because the picture is capable of being broken down into 9 squares where the focus point is not in the center of the photo.

Just like this;





Depth of Field
"Pool Balls"
By Nathan Watkins



This picture is an example of depth of field because it shows the main object in a close focus so that it catches our attention the most while the background is blurred out.

Eyes, Color, Fill the Frame
"Fill the Frame"
By Rick Sammon



This is an example of filling the frame because the purpose of the picture is to really get into what you want the focus of the picture to be of.

Interesting Use of Lighting
Nick Parks



I find this picture to be a really good example of interesting lighting because the light bounces around in the image a lot. There are also good shadows in it because of certain objects that blocked the sun's light.

Shooting at Eye Level
"Pacific Slope Eye Catcher"
By Amkhosla



Shooting at eye level means taking a picture of an object where you would have to position yourself and the camera down to their angle instead of the picture looking down or up to something.

Macro photography
"Radiance"
By Jim Goldstein



Macro photography means taking close up pictures of small things. That way you get to see every aesthetic detail that the photographer wants the world to notice.

Sexism and Racism Takes on Toll on Debates

Pelosi: Clinton Did Face Sexism
By Austin Bogues
New York Times
june 24, 2008



One of the largest controversies between Lincoln and Douglas regarded the issues on slavery.

“I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the right and duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the United Sates Territories.” Said Lincoln who was accused of being an extremist because he did not want the expansion of slavery to increase.

Douglas believed that slavery was a right that White people had. He wanted to expand it through multiple states, when Lincoln wanted to help put an end to it.

“I will vote for the admission of just such a State as by the form of their Constitution the people show they want; if they want slavery, they shall have it; if they prohibit slavery it shall be prohibited.” Said Douglas during the second famous debate in Freeport Illinois.

In 1858, Douglas was the most powerful politician in the Democratic Party for his great leadership and speaking skills. Lincoln on the other hand was a great leader and speaker but “he was the nominee of a new party, the Republicans, who lacked both visibility and cash.” But his passion for opposing the spread of slavery and his belief that “all men are created equal” helped him win.

With such a controversial generation everything is changing with our country and government. We had a women run for president which has never been so close to happening, we have an African American running for president, and we have a women running for vice president which has only happened once before. My first thoughts of the presidential and vice presidential debates were that they were going to be intense. The reason for that is because there still a lot of people in America who are still prejudiced and not looking forward to change. There were a lot of opinions, viewpoints, and judgments that clashed head on as the presidential and vice presidential debates raged on.

Those had to do a lot with racism or sexism regarding the candidates. Many still do not like the idea that we have a black male running for president, while others do not think its fit for a woman to try and run for either president or vice president.

When Mrs. Hilary Clinton tried to run for president sexism was a stumbling block.

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that she believed sexism against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was a factor in the 2008 Democratic primary fight, but added that the Democratic presidential candidate also benefited from being a woman.”

Just because people did not support her because she was a woman does not mean that she wasn’t qualified for the job. I personally believed that with her prior experience by having her husband being a president was going to help her excel more than any other. Now we won’t get the chance to see that unless she tries to run again next time.

“I think on the positive side Senator Clinton has advanced the cause of women in government and her candidacy has been a very positive tonic for the country and had a very wholesome effect on the political process.”

Resources

My Article
Lincoln and Douglas Debate

Multitude of Races take over America

New Demographic Racial Gap Emerges
By Sam Roberts
Published May 17, 2007
New York Times Article


With America being such a prospering country filled with promises, we naturally intend to attract immigrants from around the world. Thus, we are full with variety with all the mixed races and people that we hold. Now however, we have the reached 100 million of nonwhite Americans for the first time which demographers are now “identifying as an emerging racial generation gap.”

Our nation is split into the following categories of older, whiter electorate and younger overall population that is more Hispanic, Black, and Asian that “presses sometimes competing agendas and priorities.”

In the Census Bureau, it was estimated on July 1, 2005 up to July 1, 2006 that the nations population of teens and kids grew up to 100.7 million from 98.3 million, which is about one thirds of all Americans. Those facts also suggest that a lot of the states are becoming more diverse as the minorities disperse.

This also has an affect on the potential implications for national politics. For example in Nevada “the share of whites has declined to 59 percent from 66 percent since 2000, the voting-age population has soared 25 percent, with minorities accounting for 63 percent of that increase. Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee have recorded the greatest percentage gains in their Hispanic population since 2000, with the biggest numerical gains, predictably, registered by California, Texas and Florida.”

Which means that more adolescents are reaching the age of 18 where they can vote for presidential elections which does have a toll on the outcomes.

Unfortunately with the higher numbers of different races, prejudges are always close to follow. There are a lot of people who would vote for a president just because he is “black like they are” or “white like they are”. By making ignorant choices solely based off physical features and personal motives, the life of the country has to depend on it.

Those situations are personal things I have witnessed in my environment. I know and understand that, that would have to change if anyone wants a better future.


Resources

Fact Finder
Define Prejudice
The Article

Spain's Racist Asian Persuasion

A harmless joke or an attempt to hurt a country?


Racism, unfortunately, is something that every generation has had to endure. One would think that a civilization as advanced and as modern as the United States would be capable of putting something so terrible to an end. Racism in our world has its similarities to slavery as pointed out by David Ceballos. However, it's something that our civilization cant escape. People don't realize that the thoughts they think and the things they say affect more then just one person. It sets up boundaries, instills hatred, makes tension, and causes anger that builds up, and what started with a simple joke, starts to "snowball", rolling downhill until it crashes. Starting fights, causing murders, and eventually leading to terrorism.

Spain's Olympic basketball teams offended their Chinese hosts at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The men's and women's basketball teams managed to do this by pulling back the skin on the sides of their faces to make "slit-eyed gestures". Fully dressed in their uniforms, standing on a basketball court decorated with a picture of the Chinese Dragon on the floor. No one involved in the photo considered the picture racist, or offensive, but thats not the case for the many who viewed it. Heated debates world wide have risen about the situation whether this situation was racist or not.

"The typically sedate Chinese crowds vigorously booed the Spanish basketball team at times in Spain's overtime victory".

One issue that occurred during the Civil War was the racism between African Americans and Whites. Slavery ruled the land and Blacks worked for no pay under tyrannical masters. The southerners felt that owning slaves was their constitutional right. The Blacks wanted rights and freedoms. "As long as blacks were willing to accept their oppression, they remained victims of a psychological form of violence, one that stripped them of their dignity as human beings. Denied fundamental civil rights, decent housing, and an adequate education, generations of black Americans were broken in spirit by the silent violence of the racist system." - Nick Treanor. The white owners felt that they had the right to own slaves, they felt superior, and didn't want to give up the undeserved power.

"The only reason we have to get together is the color of our skins. They oppress us because we are black and we are going to use that blackness to get out of the trick bag they put us in. Don't be ashamed of your color." Excerpted from Stokely Carmichael's "Black Power Speech," June 29, 1966.

These two stories have racism in common. Racism is everywhere in our world regardless of time or location. The Spanish basketball team meant no harm through their actions, the Whites felt they had the right to rule over the African Americans. They did not see racial issues negatively affecting them, they didn't care if they were doing the right thing or not. However, in the end both situations back fired when the people that were being victimized decided to stand up for themselves.


Evidence

Mackley, Robert. "Spanish Ad Spurs Charges of Racism - 2008 Olympics – Sports and News from China – The New York Times." 12 Aug. 2008. 2 Oct. 2008.

Treanor, Nick. The Civil Rights Movement. Michigan: Greenhaven Press. 2003.

Excerpted from Stokely Carmichael's "Black Power Speech," June 29, 1966.