"This Land is Your Land" // Woody Guthrie

• I think that the message of the song included both collectivist and individualist overtones. He repeatedly mentions that the land was made for "you and me", and he often refers to his people. These details show a certain collectivist perspective. However, when he says "you and me", he is referring to his people as individuals not as "us". Furthermore, his verses describe the personal journey and adventures he makes in this land on his own. These details show that he sees us as a collective nation but as individual people with individual rights.
• The message of the song seems to be anti-government. This is revealed when he indicates that the people are hungry and that the government isn't providing for its people. He even questions at one point whether this land truly was made for you and me.

The Mark of an Educated Mind

I think that this idea rings very true. One who doesn't consider other thoughts and ideas before dismissing them is narrow-minded, but those who accept the ideas of others without any critical thinking of their own are also unwise. It is truly educated to be able to think for oneself without being too sure of one's own ideas.

American Friendships

Americans have a very different concept of a "friend" from other cultures. We see friends as people that we have casual relationships with but not people we reveal our personal or emotional details to. Americans also pride themselves on their independence and don't want to reveal their weaknesses to their friends. This independence causes an appearance of distance from one's friends even though it is simply a facet of our culture.

1984 (Part 2)

Winston is having a difficult time buying what Big Brother and the Party are selling because of his job in the Records Department of the "Department of Truth". His job requires that he go into previous records and change the information to satisfy the Party. This position gives him a clear view of the deception that the Party commits each day. Given time to think, Winston has realized that the Party has created a world in which the past no longer exists as it truly was; the only records display the perpetually changing truth that the Party decides is correct. Winston's questioning of the government may be discreet, but it is still a form of protest. Verbal objections to government actions and ideals are not the only things that constitute protest; objections in any form (including mental objections) are protest. Winston is protesting in the only way he feels remotely safe doing so; he is committing his own personal protest. Compared to modern protests such as the Occupy Wall Street movement, Winston's protests are on a very small scale. The Occupy Wall Street protesters are very open and insistent about what they are speaking out for. They have their expressive signs and their demonstrations in public, and this is how they protest. However, this isn't a practical option for Winston because he would be vaporized for such an act. Winston and the Occupy protesters are both protesting against a force that they see as oppressive in some way. However, the reception of protesting is very different in the two societies. In our society, protesting is allowed by our constitution - though that right has been infringed. The protests are viewed very differently by many parts of of our society; many people in the government are against it, but others agree with the protesters. Unfortunately, this isn't the same in Oceania. The government is completely against any form of protest, and there are no laws protecting anyone who protests. Though we may have many differences from Orwellian society, we are moving fearfully closer towards such a society.

"2 + 2 = 5" // Radiohead

• The lyrics seem to be describing a society in which the accepted truth isn't necessarily what is actually true. The speaker is very frustrated with this and wants the audience - or the rest of his society - to stop allowing this injustice; he wants them to "pay attention".
• The music sounds somewhat menacing and angry, and that helps to push the lyrical themes.
• This song is a reference to 1984 in that the citizens of Oceania are forced to believe whatever they are told by the authoritarian government even if they are told that "2 + 2 = 5". The government in 1984 decides the truth just as the speaker describes in the song.

Cultural Conflict

• The conflict is that globalization isn't well received in other cultures, and this is external.
• Globalization causes conflict by the way our western culture goes about it. We force our culture upon others without any regard for their culture. The speaker means that our western culture tries to assimilate other cultures without taking any influence from or having any respect for their cultures.
• The benefit of this globalization allows the Muslim women to have these strong female role-models from western culture to look up to, which can inspire hope.
• She mentions that Muslims are obligated to the Quran while westerners are obligated to the U.S. Constitution.

1984 (Part 1)

In George Orwell's 1984, the society of Oceania attempts to achieve the status of "utopia". To do so, the government must create equality, eliminate conflict, and force happiness.

To create equality, "The Party" institutes a series of restrictions that force a certain conformity upon the citizens. This conformity is used to create a sense of equality. The Party does so with the use of constant monitoring and the lingering threat of such a thing as the "Thought Police". The oft quoted poster that is featured everywhere in this world reads, "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU". All of these threats of "retribution" force the people of Oceania to think and act as the totalitarian government wants them to. This coerced conformity puts everyone on an even ground.

The elimination of conflict goes hand-in-hand with the forced equality. The constant threat of death and elimination of basic human rights keeps conflict to a minimum. The limiting of thought stops the citizens from delving into religious thought, and without any outside confirmation of religious beliefs, religion has been eliminated. Relationships are perceived as something far from what we perceive them as, and the people are heavily sexually repressed.

This conformity and lack of conflict create an environment that might lead people to believe that they are happy, but that happiness is only a fabrication of The Party. They are able to control what people think and believe, and with that kind of power, it is simple to contrive a universal "happiness". However, it is important to note that they haven't created true happiness.

This fact allows me to discern that this society of Oceania is in fact a dystopia. It may have the recipe for a utopian society, but the execution is malevolent and unfair. The Party may have initially had good intentions, but they have tightened their grip too far.

"You Were Right" // Built to Spill

• The lyrical content is trying to express a feeling of depression and hopelessness that the singer is feeling. The singer says "You were wrong when you said, 'Everything's gonna be alright'"; this shows that for him, everything is not alright.
• The guitar is loud and distorted in the chorus to express a certain anger that he feel after wrongly being told that everything will be alright.
• Built to Spill effectively communicates the anger and depression that the singer is feeling through the combination of the angry, loud instrumentation and the depressing lyrics.

"Young Life"

1. Claim: The family in the painting cut down the entire forest to kill the single deer.
   Facts: The man is holding a gun, there is a single dead deer on the roof of the truck, and there are no trees, only stumps.
2. Claim: The son has a deep desire to be like his father.
   Facts: He is holding a stick to imitate his father's gun, and he is standing apart from them to show that he is  independent.
3. Claim: This is a family of 1960s America.
   Facts: The truck is an American built model circa the 1950s, and they are dressed in a fashion that is characteristically 1960s.

In Bo Bartlett's "Young Life", Bartlett chose to place the subject's in a barren scene littered with tree stumps to imply that the subjects cut down the entire forest to kill a single deer. The fact that they have a deer on top of their truck and a gun shows that the people have been hunting. They are in a treeless area which is a very bad place to find deer. Deer live in places populated with trees such as a forest, so the tree stumps imply that there was once a forest here. I think the farcical nature of this scene has a deeper meaning possibly about the wasteful tendencies of 1950s and 1960s Americans.

"Shame" // The Avett Brothers

• The song is about ending a relationship.
• The song's tone is remorseful and ashamed.
• Words that helped the tone:
  1. lift - implies that the shame was a heavy burden
  2. untender - shows a contrast between how he was and what he wants to be
  3. overwhelming - shows the vast amounts of shame that he can't handle