TOW #25 Alfred M. Green Speech

Reading Goals
-Pick something that will help me on the exam

Writing Goals
-Solid evidence (use quotes from the text)

      With the time before our exam winding down I decided that I would focus more on the type of texts that will be on the exam. Alfred M. Green's speech, which was on the 2003 exam, was said during the first months of the civil war when African-Americans were not allowed to enlist. Green purpose of the speech was to convince fellow African-Africans to work towards and prepare to be enlisted. It is not the easiest task to convince a group of people who are being oppressed to fight alongside their oppressors, by relating to religious affiliation. Green encourages the audience to "...take up the sword, trusting in God" the way it is phrased makes it seem that he wants the people to put God above all else. He is not requesting that the people take arms with faith that the white people will have their backs, but rather that they place their faith in God, thus the focus is shifted to making this situation into a religious one. Green also offers a counter argument, he brings up the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, which both ended in no better living situations for the blacks. Green knows that the audience will be thinking about how they shouldn't get involved in this war either, because it will end with the same result. Green says that they should not "cavil over past grievances" and ends with talking about how it will dishonor their ancestors, which ultimately ends gets rid of the notion of not going to fight because if past events.  It is always so amazing to look at documents such as this , because you can really see what the people back then were living for. I believe that the speech was effective in convincing African Americans to enlist. I think that by reading this speech I will be more prepared to handle the documents on the exam.



      

IRB Intro Post #4: How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

         When I was growing up there 9 planets, and whenever asked which was my favorite I would always say Pluto. It was the smallest planet in the solar system as well as the coldest, and to make it better it was blue. It was a sad day when I learned that my favorite planet was no longer considered a planet. To be honest astronomy is not one my interests I love looking at the stars and all, but I have never studied the details of space. For my last IRB I have decided to read the book How I Killed Pluto and Why It Deserved It by Mike Brown. Brown spent years of countless years researching space only to be bombarded by angry civilians, such as myself, for discovering the cold truth about Pluto. This book is his way to explain his journey in finding one of the most important solar system fact of the 21st century. Getting to hear the story of how my favorite planet was murdered by the man who discovered it should be interesting. I have no doubt that this book will be incredibly awesome and teach me things about space that I could have never known before hand.

TOW #24 FDR's "Day in Infamy" speech

 Reading Goal
        - A text with substance

Writing Goals
        - A solid thesis
        - Flow


         Telling a nation they're going to war is not a message one can send lightly. After the attack on Pearl Harbor it was the duty of the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt to address the people of The United States about the impeding situation. The famous "Day in Infamy" speech was given in order to lead Congress as well as the American people into war. When giving a speech as important as this one was it was necessary that words be chosen carefully, which is why repetition was used throughout the piece. The word deliberately shows up frequently, when explaining the United States was "deliberately" attacked, or that the Japanese "deliberately" planned its actions. Roosevelt also utilized a technique similar to repetition which is an anaphora by repeating the phrase "last night the Japanese attacked..." several times. The words he uses are leading the American people towards his conclusion at the end that he has declared war on the Japanese. He empathizes how the Japanese deliberately attacked not only the United States, but other locations as well, which overall makes his declaration seem warranted. The whole speech was quite short , but left an impact on the American people forever and results in one of the most famous lines of the 20th century "a day which will live in infamy" When FDR addressed Congress with these words he spoke both calm and collected, but with a strong tone, which assisted with giving people the trust that he knew what he was doing and that he was someone who could be trusted. Although FDR did have credibility coming into this situation, declaring war on another nation requires a new level of trust. We are learning about WWII in history right now, but we did not spend much time on this speech in particular. The speech in and of itself gives a clear insight into the war on the American front. While FDR did not specifically mention the war going on in Europe at the time it was almost assumed that he also meant that the United States would finally be entering into WWII. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor there was not much resistance about going to war, but this speech was needed in order to reassure Congress and the United States that The United States had to take the measures needed.