My History Video

When making this video, I used video footage to bracket the pictures. I thought this would set up good structure. Both of the video clips I chose were used for specific reasons. The first video described how hard the great depression was on the citizens of America. Along with these facts it stated that the president (Hoover at the time), wasn't doing much to fix the situation at hand. After this video I played a portion of pictures that represent the struggle of the American citizens that the president was ignoring. While showing these pictures I used the song, "Save me," by The Rocket Summer. This song's lyrics for the part of this song I used are as follows,

"I'm stuck and alone in the traffic lines,
While couples in love in the H-O-V fly by,
I don't get it,
I'm not asking for much,
But everybody wants to just have something.

So I'll be picking me up,
Breaking me down,
I was lost, was i found?
I want to feel everything.
When everything feels wrong with me.
Take a look,
And brace myself,
Everybody wants to make it count.

Save me,
Because I can never float
Sinking.
Amaze me,
And I would be there holding on for life.

Sitting again,
Sitting inside this drab apartment,
The walls are blank,
Its like they're talking to me.
I put a picture on the wall.
I took a chance, I took a fall.
She took off fast and gracefully.
Yes I was blind and now I see."

I felt that these lyrics best described the situation of the American Citizens in the great depression. They wanted help. After these pictures are displayed, I play another short video clip. This clip is of the new president, Roosevelt. He is stating that since he as become president there is more work being done for the American people. This work helped them gain back money, jobs, and peace. I felt this clip was good to use at the end of my video because it can be compared to the first video clip. The first one described how Hoover handled the situation and the second clip shows what happened one another president took over, how Roosevelt handled the situation. At the end of the second clip with Roosevelt, he states "it isn't over." This I felt was a good ending because it leaves the situation open, there was need for more change. This can also be compared to today's economic situation. We still need help.

Today's reflection

Today in class we worked on our videos that we are making in lack of Ben's presence. I really wanted to make my own sort of video blog but finding out that I can't made me change my idea for this video. I am going to be using mostly old video and audio clips from the great depression. I won't be using as many pictures because I realize everyone else in the class will basically making a slide show of pictures with music. So far the pictures I enjoy are found online (http://www.english.illinois.edu/MAPS/depression/photoessay.htm)(http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html). I also found some interesting video footage on youtube. One picture I found the most interesting was the following.

Remembrance

Remembrance, "an act of recalling to mind; a memory of a person, thing, or event." All people remember different milestones in their lives. These can vary from birthdays, dinners, new encounters, or classes they take in school. No matter what the event may be, all individuals have their own ways of remembering these times.

In the years of 1918 to 1920, the first World War was occurring. With the act of participating in war, led to a result in many of our soldiers dying. The families of now dead soldiers wanted to have unique graves for their loved ones. This would be an ac of remembrance. Year after year these families could come visit their passed away soldiers and be able to recollect memories of him or her. However, the American government wanted their to be a solid unity for all the American people and therefore thought the best way to handle the dead soldiers was to create all the grave stones exactly the same. There would be no special head stones, instead there would be basic plaques at each head stone saying the name of the soldier. The government thought that this symmetrical grave set up would bring back unity and equality for the American public. Instead the American citizens became angry that they couldn't honor their dead in a personal way.

Today, people feel the same way about the remembrance of their loved ones. Families still feel the need to create a unique gravestone for their dead relatives. Other then graves, people have posting online postings that recall lives of the dead. One major site that is well known for these postings is "My Death Space." On this site people can post links to myspace pages of individuals who have passed away. Along with this people can post their feelings on the individuals and pay their respects. This is a modern day way of remembrance, instead of that of the ways to remember in the 1920's.

I find that the modern day and 1920's ways of remembrance both portray literature. This is because grave stones and memorials express a story. Whether you're looking at a name on a grave stone or a comment on a myspace page their is a memory and story behind it. A great example of this is the 'Unknown Soldier.' The unknown solider was a member of the military in World War I that stood for all the soldiers who had passed away that could not be identified. This unknown soldier is the best example of remembrance in literature. Many families could identify with this body and many stories were portrayed through this man. Literature, as mentioned before, is a way to express an story or events. This has occurred through the years with the event of death in loved ones.

Overall, remembrance is a natural act that happens over time and will never stop occurring. Remembrance can be compared to history, and literature. One way to look at remembrance is in the loss of a family member or loved one. There are many different ways to remember. Through gravestones, internet postings, and through individual's stories to one another to keep the memory alive and well. How do you remember?

1. Webster Dictionary. 2009. [online] (http://www.merriam-webster.com/)
2. My Death Space. [online] (http://mydeathspace.com/)

Review of Week Three

Within this week we, as a class, learned more about the view of women in the early stages of them earning rights. This knowledge was gained mostly through the literature readings. We read pieces on the "flapper era," which described a new view of women. The flappers brought out a new group of women creating a total of three groups. During a class discussion I helped lead, "Was there a sexual revolution in the 1920's?" allowed everyone to see and understand these three groups of women. The groups consisting of the traditional woman, the flapper, and the suffragist. I found it interesting that each woman was classified, even not caring about these woman's issues classified you.

Review on Week #2

Being in the second week of class, we have started deeper readings. We started our reading in "The Sun Also Rises," I found this book to be different then other books I've read. I enjoy the style of writing that Ernest Hemingway produces. In this book, the character Brett displays the different kind of out of the box women that come up out of this time era. These kind of women are ones that don't conform to the norm, such as stay at home moms and conservative, careful women. Along with this book, there are other readings that display the way women have reacted and stood out, going against the standard. Another example of this is in class this week we read, "Herland." This piece of work explains the life of a society filled with just women. I enjoyed this reading the most, it showed how life would be like if women had the primary role, unlike how men have this role today.

Week #1 review

This first week of school has been different than what I had expected. Knowing that I was going to be taking a literature and history class made me think I would be bored every time class began. However, I'm shocked, and pleased, to discover that I actually look forward to class. I am super excited to read the books Craig has picked out for us, they look really interesting. I got all my books in the mail and started to read a couple, but I didn't want to spoil anything so I put them down. For history, I am really finding the time era we're studying very interesting. I am actually learning things too, that's a first. In school, I usually pull out the whole "pretend to know this stuff so you can pass the tests" mind set. But not now, I am legitimately learning things that I like. I'm looking forward to learning more about our country's past, reading novels, and any other information I pick up in the weeks to come.