Lyric Analysis (SSTR #5)

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head and it just won't come out? There are some songs that fall under that category for me, and sometimes it gets annoying because you may not even like the song. But other times, a song I really like and feel passionate about gets stuck in my head and I can't stop thinking about it. I decided to look and analyze the song 'Say It Ain't So' by the band Weezer. I really love this band and this song relates to me on a very personal level. I think this song is about the separation of someone's parents, probably the songwriter's parents. The separation was probably due to his Father drinking and being an alcoholic. This song evokes a sad emotional response because the person notices beer in the house which is a connection to when his Father left. His Father abandoned him and his mother at a young age and started a new life. Seeing beer in the fridge is sad because the kid knows his Stepfather will soon do the same thing his Father did.

The message in this song that the songwriter was trying to convey was to be conscious of what's happening. If the song writer hadn't noticed the beer in the fridge, he wouldn't have known about his Stepfather's plans to leave the family so early on. Just like his Father, before he left there was beer in the fridge so the songwriter assumed his Stepfather was doing the same thing. Without being aware of his surroundings, I believe the songwriter's Stepfather leaving would have been a lot harder to deal with. There's only one poetic device in this song and it's a personification. The line "Your drug is a heart breaker" is a personification. This line of the song is a personification because it expresses how his Father's drug (alcohol) is breaking his heart. A drug cannot physically break someone's heart because that is a human characteristic. This is why the line is a personification.

The actual message of the song was to be aware of your surroundings. The songwriter was deserted by his Father and his Father believed he was having a better life without his son in it. The songwriter wants his Father to feel the pain he went through all the years he was gone, enjoying his new life. Alcoholism tore the family apart piece by piece. The songwriter was mindful of the situation with the fridge and because of that, he knew ahead of time what was going to happen with his Stepfather. I do believe the message of the song is relevant today in everyday life, like in your community. I think this because being aware or conscious of your surroundings can help you out a lot. For example, the songwriter was aware of the connection between alcohol and both his Stepfather and Father so he knew what was going to happen. The message of this song could be helpful in many ways and in this case, the songwriter was probably more emotionally stable than he would've been without knowing what he knew.

Lines in this song that I personally relate to are "I can't confront you", "I never could do", "That which might hurt you" because I feel like I can't confront my own family member about something so serious either. I also relate to the line "Your drug is a heart breaker" because my dad drinks a lot and his "drug" or alcohol, is a heart breaker because of how different he acts when he does drink and just how heart breaking the whole situation is. An alternate title for the song could be 'Not Again'. I believe this could be an alternate title for this song because this song is letting the songwriter express his feelings of how his Stepfather will soon do what his Father did. The title ‘Not Again’ would still express how the songwriter feels and I honestly think it is easier for others to understand the song with this title. 

http://www.metrolyrics.com/say-it-aint-so-lyrics-weezer.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENXvZ9YRjbo

Favorite Movie of All Time (Blog Post FC #1)

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/what-are-your-favorite-movies-ever/?_r=0#more-154222

In response to the link above, my favorite movies are "The Call", "The Fault in Our Stars", "She's The Man", and "21 Jump Street". My favorite movies are my favorite for a reason. I can watch these movies over and over again and never get tired of them. I particularly love the movie "The Call" because the plot is so intense. You don't know what is going to happen next and you're on the edge of your seat the whole time. I also love the fact that the main character in this movie was played by actress Halle Berry. She's one of my favorite actresses because she does an amazing job in every movie she's in. The best movies I've seen in the past year would probably be Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper", “The Maze Runner”, and “The Giver”. I think all of these movies were great, especially American Sniper because usually when movies are based on a true story and events, they over exaggerate what happened and what didn't happen. But in this movie, the director and actors get as close to the real story as possible and in my opinion, that’s what made it a great movie that I would definitely watch again and still be impressed with it each time. The way I view it, for a movie to be a good movie, it must be suspenseful. Not all genres of movies are suspenseful, but even romantic movies like "The Fault in Our Stars" can have suspense. I also look for humor. In the movie "21 Jump Street", I couldn't stop laughing. Movies with suspense and humor are the best movies because they leave you wanting more. The only movie I saw that was nominated for the Oscars was American Sniper. I think this movie deserved to be nominated because it was very inspirational. I think to win an Oscar; a person would have to go above and beyond in their movie, TV show, songs or whatever they thrive in.

 

Theme Through Meme CRR #4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICng-KRxXJ8



The theme of The Wave is that evil and corruption is something that is all around us. Fascism made all students in The Wave believe that everything said or done in the classroom was important. They loose all awareness and hurt others just to be accepted as a member of The Wave. This meme shows the theme because when evil and corruption are around us, you have to prepare for something like The Wave that will make some people feel as if it's the most important thing in the world and devote their life to it.

Do You Struggle With Homework? (Blog Post #3 SSTR)

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/how-much-do-your-parents-help-with-your-homework/#more-152452
In response to the article above, I agree with the ideas to get parents to help out more with their child's homework. My mom always tries to help me with my homework, but ends up saying how she "hasn't been in school for years" and to just ask a friend or watch videos on the internet about it. In the long run, I end up confused and with a late homework assignment. Even though my mom isn't much help when I’m confused with homework, she helps me stay organized and have a routine so as soon as I get home, I do the most challenging part of homework first then the less challenging part last so when I feel as if I can’t do much more because I’m exhausted, all I will have left is the easier part. Homework causes conflict with my family a lot because when even a friend or the internet can’t help me, I sit there alone and confused and there is no other solution for me. When I was younger it was so much easier for my mom to help me with my homework. I mean it was basically asking what 10+10 equaled. As I have gotten older and have learned more complex things, homework help hasn't really been a thing because of how complex it is. I guess that it isn't entirely my mom’s fault though because the homework is getting a lot harder and more confusing. I just think the way she addresses the problem could be done a better way. I think if parents continue to take control with commands or even doing the homework themselves, the kids won’t get anywhere in their education and parents would just be setting their children up for failure. The kids would be just as or even more confused than before. I also think if the students have a routine to follow, it would help them stay organized and maybe even help them understand their homework more, like the routine I have. Not only should the kids have to change what they have been doing, but the parents should too. Parents and children should work together and treat one another with respect while using kind words through the homework confusion, even if screaming would be an easier option.

                                         

Red Handled Machete and Promises (Blog Post #2 PB)

The Walking Dead is literally life. I'm really obsessed with the series. I have watched all of the seasons of this spectacular show on Netflix over the summer and waited impatiently for what seemed like years for October to come, when the excitement would begin again with the season premiere of the fifth season. I love all the characters so much, but Carl Grimes played by actor Chandler Riggs, would have to be my favorite. Not only is he you know, extremely attractive, but he's funny, sweet, brave, and brings out the best in others even though they're all going through a terrible time which just happens to be a zombie apocalypse. The way the show is set up, with there being a villain pretty much every season, honestly brings me closer to the show and wanting to know what will happen next. Will the villain get to the group? Will they take a group member? Will the group defeat the villain? Recently, there was a villain and his name was Gareth. Saying his name just makes me sick, ugh. Anyways, Rick and a few others (his group got split up because of a different villain known as the Governor, last season) started their journey to a place called Terminus which seemed to be a good place to go since signs to Terminus said "Sanctuary for all, community for all, those who arrive, survive." Well, that was a big mistake. They later found out the people at Terminus were cannibals. Yep, they were indeed cannibals. How sick are they?! Luring others for "sanctuary" but killing and eating them instead? And their excuse is "there's no food" and "we're starving." This is a lie because there are obviously still animals alive, and places nearby where they could have gotten food. Were they just too lazy? Or have they always had the cannibal personality running through their veins? Carol, one of the group members who got split from Rick's group, saw a herd of walkers going towards Terminus and before that, a lot of gun shots. She assumed her group members were the ones being shot at and rescued their lives by shooting a gas tank and sending fireworks to it, which lead to an epic explosion. Rick and a few others in his group were just about to get their heads bashed in and their neck's slit but then Gareth asked Rick why he hid a bag outside of Terminus and what it contained. Rick told him it contained weapons and started naming them while promising he'd use his red handled machete to kill Gareth. Gareth, just stood there and laughed, I mean come on, it's not like Rick can actually do that, he's tied up about to die. Just as someone else was going to die, Carol’s explosion hit the building they were all in. Gareth left, checking to see what happened and who it affected. That was just enough time for rick to escape, and kill the two sickos who were about to kill him. All of Rick's group reunited and along the way, found a pastor that led him to his church for real sanctuary. The group was very low on food, so Bob and a few others went on a run while the rest protected Judith, Rick's baby. On the run, Bob got attacked by a walker and said he was fine. Although by his face, I could tell he'd been bitten or scratched. After gathering supplies and arriving safely back at the church, Bob went outside in the darkness to cry. He knew he wouldn't have long to live, which made me die inside because he's one of my favorites. Just then, Bob got knocked upside the head by someone from the Terminus group, making him unconscious. As Bob awoke, Gareth stood by him saying how Bob "tasted so much better than he thought." This made me confused at first, because Bob appeared to be fine. But as Bob looked down, below his knee on his used to be left leg was gone. He looked around at the people-eaters noticing how they were all eating something. A look into the fire, he saw his leg. At first, he was crying. But that shortly turned into hysterical laughter and Bob screaming "I'm tainted meat! TAINTED MEAT!!" while showing the group his bite. The man-eaters started throwing up Bob, but Gareth was positive eating cooked flesh of an infected person was okay. Um excuse me, eating people is not okay! But little do those cannibals know everyone is infected.  Meanwhile at the church, Rick's group notices that Bob has disappeared and finally decide to leave half of the group to protect Judith, and half to go out looking to kill the cannibals. As soon as half of the group leaves the church, the sickos walk in saying if the ones hiding in the church surrender, they'd leave Judith alone. Just then, two of the cannibals were shot. Gareth turned around, to see a gun pointed at him by the one and only, Rick Grimes. In this moment, I was about to cry because 1, Rick is finally going to kill these terrible people which is amazing. And 2, he didn't keep his promise... I thought too soon though, because just as I was about to let my hopes up, Rick pulled out his red handled machete and I just knew he'd kept his promise. And he did, as he sliced Gareth into pieces. That had to have been one of the best scenes on the show ever. 

Bonus Blog #1

In response to the list of 54 books that are questioned to be banned or not, I think it's ridiculous. Kids in this generation and later generations need to read these books. Not only will they laugh at some of these books, but they will learn from them and remember them for a long time. I think reading makes your life so much better and it especially does with these books. For example, the Goosebumps series is totally fictional. Some things could happen in real life, but some things obviously won't happen. R.L. Stine is teaching his readers you can't be scared of the real world even though it may seem scary. He also is clearly writing spooky things just for laughs and scares. But do you really want to teach kids to be afraid of everything and not be able to enjoy the wide variety of children books that there are? Banning the Goosebumps series would pretty much be telling all children in these generations and ones later on, that it's okay to be afraid of the world and they should never try anything new. This honestly in my opinion is wrong. Books have such a big impact on all of us and sometimes, we don't realize that. Another great book series is Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey. First of all, I am completely in love with his books. Dav is such a great author and although I haven't read any of his books recently, I would still enjoy reading them. Children need to experience reading this series! They are really funny and once again, fictional. These books were what made me start enjoying books more and help expand my knowledge. Books just make you smarter and these series would definitely make kids happier, smarter, and enjoy reading more.

Selfie Girl Breanna Mitchell (CRR #1)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/24/auschwitz-selfie-girl-breanna-mitchell_n_5618225.html

Alabama teen Breanna Mitchell posted a picture of herself in front of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp on June 20th. Later, it had become viral with people stating how the picture was inappropriate and disrespectful. Breanna came back responding with “Honestly, I don’t think I would do anything differently because I didn’t mean any harm.” Even though Breanna is getting a lot of hate for the picture, some people are supporting her. Breanna defended herself again releasing the statement “The Holocaust and World War 2 is the only thing that’s ever interested me in history.” She also said it was her father’s favorite part of history. “Whenever I graduated, [my parents] said they’d take me out of the States to go wherever I wanted. [My dad] died one year prior to that photo.” I am torn between supporting her or not because, I see how Breanna didn’t mean any harm and how she has been interested in the Holocaust and wanted to go see the camp for a while. But, I also understand how people could think the picture is disrespectful because she is seen smiling where so many people were brutally killed. Either way, Breanna being cyber bullied is not okay. She has received many death threats which should hold up a red flag saying this whole situation has gone too far when really, it’s not that big of a deal. Yes, people’s lives were taken away at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp where she was smiling but, she was smiling in the picture out of being there because she had wanted to go and in my opinion, it was also a way of letting her father know she had made her dreams come true. I think it’s stupid how people waste their time being incredibly rude and hating on Breanna for such a harmless thing. I’ve received hate on social media before and it really hurts. Just like Breanna, I wouldn’t change anything I did. People are going to hide behind a keyboard and hate on others for sometimes no reason and that’s something we sadly, have to live with.