It's over!

The end of the GLIDES project is finally here, and there is a plethora of things we have learned from this experience. First of all we learned the importance of cooperation and team work. It was extremely necessary that we all worked together for this project to be successful. Another very important lesson learned was definitely that "patience is a virtue." Throughout the project there were sometimes when we got frustrated with each other, but instead of getting angry we had to cope with it and keep going. In the end, all went well and we have created an excellent project in our point of view, and hopefully after presenting everybody will agree. This has been a very positive experience that I believe prepares us for the real world. We learned how to work under pressure in a limited amount of time, this is very similar to what most of us will have to do when we have real jobs and have to make presentations. The GLIDES project is such a good project in my perspective and I think more teachers should give their students the opportunity to create one. At the beginning it was a bit overwhelming, but we slowly went through all the information and got it done. I hope our presentation turns out good!

BEST WAR EVER

Searching through different sources found through our delicious page and Google I came across a book. The title is quite ironic, it is called "The Best War Ever". I found a video comentary on the book and I thought it was quite humorous as I suppose it is intended, but also kind of scary. We have been lied to about the intentions of this war by our very own government. Watch this video and tell me what you think. I will post again after I read the book, which I plan on buying.

What is a hero?

We all have to agree on the fact that after 9/11 we were constantly asked "What is a hero?" in school more than ever. I know that year after year at one point during the school year I was asked this question as an assignment. Ironically enough many young kids did not answer with super heroes as many people would think, but many would answer with "firefighters" or "soldiers." Why is that? We were taught that these people were heroes after the terrorist attacks because they had saved lives as well as lost their own in attempt to save others. Websters dictionary defines a hero as "a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities," and this is the exact image the Army has built up through their commercials in which they show that exact definition of a hero. Though I cannot disagree that those qualities are heroic I do believe a hero is not only limited to that. A hero can also be someone who is promoting peace. Martin Luther King Jr. can be considered a hero, Rosa Parks is a great representation of a hero. These people did not make a war in order to be heroes, and therefore the image that the Army has created in our heads is not such a good one. These soldiers were manipulated unconsciously into joining this war. They were persuaded by using this archetype of a hero and making sure they knew they would be heroes when they came back. A hero is a very admirable person to be and I can see why people would want to be considered one, however there are more ways to become a hero than joining the Army. What is your definition of a hero?

Cartoons

 

Political cartoons are a very effective way of getting the point across about an idea.  They are very controversial and sometimes funny but they express opinion in a very unique way. What do you think of these?

Great research

Looking through all of our sources we are starting to see how different types of media as well as different people manipulate the public into viewing things in the same perspective as them. Commercials like the ones posted below give a positive outlook on the Army, it offers great benefits as well as self-actualization. Movies, like Fahrenheit 911 and World Trade Center, make the war seem more reasonable. This type of media is more appealing to most people and therefore it gives the message that the government wants most people to side with. These movies show police officers and innocent people who were killed in the terrorist attacks therefore making the war seem like it is something that needs to be done. It shows how people suffered because of the terrorists and it makes you feel as if these people don't deserve to live. Another source we found was a very popular song, Heaven by DJ Sammy. It is remixed and the voice of a young girl who lost her father due to the terrorist attacks is added into the song. This song is very, very pathos driven and it almost makes you angry at the terrorists for doing this to the little girl. It makes you think how many little kids lost their parents because of this and it makes the war acceptable. I highly reccomend you check out the song!

Persuasive commercials

I found three different commercials. One for the National Guard, one for the Marines, and one for the Army. However, I found that they were all using the same persuasion method. Getting their group to seem like an adventure with great benefits. They also used the pathos approach and put underprivileged kids being helped by these soldiers making us react emotionally. They make it seem as if you will be a hero by joining and make a great difference in the world and bettering yourself. Watch these 3 commercials. Which one was the most persuasive, why? Also, listen to the background music as well as the voices of the guys speaking. Do you think that affects the way the commercial works? Why?
This National Guard video has its strongest point at the end. It says "Country, Commitment, Family is what matters most to me. If it matters to you go to Nationalguard.com" That obviously makes a person feel guilty and question themselves. Those three things matter a lot to most people so that is why they use that, it makes people insecure and therefore they might look into the National Guard.

The kids! It makes you want to be able to help them, you want to make a difference in their lives. Definitely a pathos driven commercial.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, this commercial is very effective, especially in guys. Strength is very important to most people and here the Army is offering you a plethora of different strengths. What more could you want?

WOW.

I decided to look up some facts about the actual war in Iraq considering I didn't really know specific details. What I found was a plethora of facts that appalled me, I actually find it disgusting how unnecessary this war is and how life changing it has become for so many people. Here are some facts that astonished me.

- As of June 2008, there has been approximately $800 billion spent on the war.
-$12 billion per month.
-$5,000 per second!
-The cost of deploying one soldier for only one year is $390,000.
Not only are we spending a lot of money, we are wounding our fellow Americans physically and mentally.
-There has been 4,193 casualties within U.S troops.
-30,774 wounded troops, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries. (That statistic does NOT include psychological injuries.)
-30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 or 4 months of returning home.
What about civilians and innocent people?
-135 journalists have been killed. 91 by murder and 44 by war attacks.
-Iraqi police and soldiers killed is now up to 8,745.
- There has been 554 civilians killed as of June 2008.
-As of May 2007 there has been 2,255,000 innocent Iraqi people displaced by the war.
Apart from this, the war has damaged many of daily functions needed in a house like water and light. This is actually considered a war crime because we have basically caused offenses against humanity.
-Only 37% of Iraqi homes are connected to a sewer system.
-70% of Iraqis do not have access to water supplies.
-As of June 2008 the average daily hours that Iraqi homes have electricity is 1 to 2 hours.

How do you feel about the war after this?
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GLIDES

This project is very overwhelming, it seems as if we have so much information that we do not even know what to do with it. Our project is about how the Bush administration communicated the Iraq war to the public and used propaganda to basically sell it to Americans and make them believe it was necessary. One of the main ways that was used for this was telling the people that it was a nuclear war. Off course this made the war sound scarier and made people feel like we needed to go there to get rid of the weapons of mass destruction and protect the American people. However, from all the information I have read it seems as if this was all a hoax, and after reading some blogs from other people, most of them do not even know why we are at war. This project is making me aware of the truth behind this pointless war. Overall, the GLIDES project is a great experience, it is preparing us for the future and giving us an example of how the business world is going to be. We are going to put together presentations for big corporations and this is a good preparation for us. It is going to be tough, but we're going to get it done, and it is going to be very well done.