Visual Essay

So for my visual essay I decided to talk about depleting our resources and the effect we have on our environment. I got the inspiration from Disturbed's Song Another Way to Die. The song is about how the way we are treating the world is giving us "another way to die." We are losing what we need by over using and not conserving, and it is starting to affect the entire world.

When I started this project, I knew that I had to put at least part of the music video into my project. Originally, I had the entire music video starting off my project. That, with the part that I made, combined for a total of around five and a half minutes. Seeing as more of my project at that point was a video that I had no part in making, I decided to make a change. There were two ways I could affect the music video to what I made ratio. I could either take out part of the actual music video or I could add a lot more pictures and potentially end the song that I had as background for the images that I chose.

Adding enough pictures to balance the music video would have made my project overly long, so I decided to take out the part of the music video that was not as relevant. I also put the music video at the end of my project, starting off instead with what I made. That way it did not look like I was trying to get out of work by putting someone else's work in mine. I tried to pick not only a song that would go with the mood what I was talking about, I also tried to pick pictures that fit with the words of the song.

A repeating line of the song says "It comes to take away the ones you love." To go with this, I picked an image that had a mother holding what appeared to be her extremely malnourished child. It shows not only how running out resources is affecting people on a personal level, but it also fits in with the songs and ties it together. I put this picture to not only fit in, but also for shock value. When a picture comes up with a mother holding the body of what literally looks like a skeleton with skin, you can not help but to feel something. Some of these are pictures that you can not just ignore.

Another line says "It's a beautiful landscape. The sunset makes the coast look so clear." I put in pictures of landscape with absolutely no trees, a sunset that is behind a nuclear plant, and water that is basically a floating landfill for irony. "But no one has those problems here." For this line I put in a picture of African children, who are all skin and bones, reaching out. This is a picture for starvation. I put this picture with this line to show how starvation may not be as much of a problem here in America, but it is a huge deal in other parts of the world. "Out of site, out of mind" is not an acceptable excuse. I must admit that I am guilty of it, but when I see pictures like theses, I want to do something.

That is the impact I was going for in this video. After people see this, I want them to have the same feeling of urgency that I got. I ended the portion that I made with a drawing of the Earth surrounded by smog and pollution and coughing. The line of the song during this picture just says "Gone." I did this to show that if we do not stop what we are doing and try and go in a different direction, we will lose our world. The Earth will not disappear, but we will. We need to wake up and start fixing all of the numerous problems that we have been blindly causing for all of history.

Another Way to Die talks about how we are killing our planet, and how that in turn is killing us. It shows not only a possible future, but what led to it. In the music video, people can only drink small amounts when allowed to, and are not allowed to grow anything. The purpose of that is to "conserve water", but those in charge are incredibly hypocritical in that they are cleaning their boots in the already dirty water and throwing the filth back into the drinking water.

People try and fight back. One man grows a strawberry, a child steals bottles of water and a mug, and is chased by military men, and others protest as well. In the end, non are successful, especially the lady who never even got the water in the small vial like the other man.

In my project I not only tired to tie the pictures I chose with the song, I also made almost my own version of the music video to Another Way to Die. In the end, more of my project was the part that I made, but I still put in another published video about the same subject. I hope that those of you who decide to watch this enjoy it, and decide to conserve in your daily lives, even if it is just a little.

To see my video, go to http://youtube.com/user/enordstr1?feature=mhum

Works cited for pictures (not entirely in order)

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0703/S00273.htm

http://english.safe-democracy.org/2007/04/10/solutions-to-a-lack-of-water/

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/mar/08/dallas-water-utilities-fix-leak/

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1026-brazil.html

http://blog.libumn.edu/healy082/architecture/

http://www.plu.edu/~hoodbs/deforestation/home.html

http://conservativedailynews.com/2009/11/is-obama-pursuing-a-weak-dollar-policy/

http://newswires-americas.com/markettalk/?tag=gas-prices

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2010-11/17/content_11563850.htm

https://jspivey.wikispaces.com/Immigration+GC

http://www.sodahead.com/living/should-people-plow-up-part-of-their-lawns-and-plant-something-to-eat-instead-of-grass/question-1372895/?link=ibaf&imgurl=http://koreyking.com/images/starvation1.jpg&q=starvation

http://www.worldtravelertips.com/europe/german/Weimar-Republic-And-Starvation.html

http://topnews.com.sg/content/22498-air-pollution-can-be-dangerous

http://senthamizhvanan.blogspot.com/2010/11/air-pollution.html

http://tessieworden.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/about/greenpeace-gm-food-aid-and-zambia

http://climateprogress.org/category/peak-oil/

http://schema-root.org/people/starvation/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090118200636.htm

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-8998702/stock-photo-global-warming-the-tide-is-rising-on-a-power-plant-at-sunset.html

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/OF012892.html

#5. Modes of Writing

These are the modes of writing. They are in no particular order, but you should know that already if you are in Decker's class.

1. (Process Analysis) You wake up, you eat breakfast, and you go on your merry way. By the time you reach lunch, your body has used the energy that was created by breakfast and you are hungry again. This is when you typically eat lunch and refuel your body. Hunger comes about when your body uses up the energy created by the food you intake, and when your stomach becomes empty.

2. (Narration) My second block class is math. This is the class that I have right before lunch, so it is right about that time that I hit the wall. I am hungry, I have no energy, and I lose focus. Most of this is caused by me being hungry. If I can have something to eat, I wake up some and can focus more. Once I run out of the energy that my body gets from breakfast, I just sort of shut down. But after that class I have lunch. Once I eat lunch, I have energy, I am awake, and I can focus in class.

3. (Definition) Hunger is the feeling we get when we have digested the food we have eaten and our stomachs are empty. Our bodies require food to keep working, and so when we run out our bodies give us a notice to get us to eat. Once you eat, the feeling of hunger will go away, and will not come back until your body needs more food.

4. (Argument/Persuasion) Many people do not feel that hunger is a good thing. They associate it with people who do not have enough food, who are in poverty, and who struggle to survive. This is the connotation, however, not the denotation. Hunger is your body telling you to go and get some food so that you can get energy for the day to day activities that you need to do. Without hunger, how would we know when to refuel our bodies?

5. (Cause and effect) Why do we get hungry? Once we get up, we eat breakfast. This introduction of food to our systems kickstarts our bodies metabolism and gets us going for the day. It gives us energy, wakes us up, gets our minds working, and gets us ready for what all we need to accomplish. Part of this increased metabolism involves digesting your breakfast faster, which in turn will make you more hungry later. This just means that your body is using energy, and needs a little more.

6. (Description) The bell rings. You rush out the door into the hall, following the hoard of people to the cafeteria. As you descend the stairs, the smell of the lunchroom hits you all at once. Your stomach growls, and you realize just how hungry you really are. You wait in line, with the people surrounding you. After you get your food, you sit at the table and enjoy whatever food the school decided to provide. By the time lunch is over, hopefully your hunger has been abated and will not be a problem until it is time for a snack or dinner.

7. (Comparison/Contrast) Hunger is usually associated with lack of energy, but they are not the same thing. Both may lead to lack of focus, feeling out of it, and not wanting to do anything. But hunger is caused by your body having digested all of the food in your system, while lack of energy is caused by your using up of the available energy in your system. Hunger usually causes lack of energy, but they are not the same thing.

8. (Example) Hunger, in essence, is your body's way of telling you that it needs more food to provide energy for its daily processes. Growling stomachs, feeling of emptyness, lack of energy, lack of focus, all of these are symptoms of hunger. Hunger is your body trying to get you to give it more energy so that these things do not happen.

9. (Classification) Hunger is not like a switch, where you either are or are not. You can be a little hungry, or starving, and everything in between. When you are just a little hungry, you may have a feeling of hunger, maybe a growling stomach. But the more hungry you get, the more intense these feelings get until you can feel sick and not be able to do anything.

10. (Division of Analysis) Hunger is made up by feelings of an empty stomach, thoughts about food, a desire to eat, and a potential lack of energy. All of these parts come together to make you realize you are hungry, and can all be remedied by having something to eat.

# 3 (and #4). Taking a Wrong Turn

During the summer, not all that long after I got my license, I decided to drive myself and one of my friends to Shady Oak Beach in Hopkins. I did not have my own car yet, so I resorted to using my dad's Expedition, which always makes me feel like I'm driving a tank. I was already nervous, and my lack of directional skills did not make things any easier. I knew that I needed to take Highway 494 to Highway 7, and from there go to Shady Oak Road and follow that up to the beach. What I did not know, however, was which way to turn onto Highway 7. You see where I am going with this.

While driving, I saw the turn for Highway 7. I did not think about which way I was going, or which way the beach was, and I ended up making a wrong turn. I had never driven to that beach, and the last time I was even there was a few years ago, so how was I supposed to know which way to turn?

I knew that the turn off for Shady Oak road was soon, or at least it would have been if I was going the right way, so after a couple minutes on the road I started getting a nagging suspicion that something was wrong. As I saw it, there were three possibilities: One, I had made a wrong turn and was driving away from where I was trying to go. Two, the road and beach had disappeared from the face of the earth completely, or Three, I had not gotten there yet. I figured the first was the most likely, but I decided to keep going just in case it was farther than I thought it was. Besides, I had only had my license for two months by that time and driving on my own was still a novelty to me. As we went down the open road, we started seeing less buildings, malls, and other evidence of an urban setting and started seeing more farmland.

I was getting pretty sure that I was going the wrong way, but I wasn't ready to admit my error. Once we reached a sign for Victoria, I knew I had no choice besides pulling off the road into a driveway and breaking down and calling for directions.

As it turned out, I went west onto Highway 7 when I should have gone east. If I had gone east, I would have only had to go a mile before reaching Shady Oak road. Going west, I ended up 15 miles away in the wrong direction. While I was driving the wrong direction, besides making a memory that I would eventually write about in a blog, I also learned a lesson about driving: "Always make sure that you know where you are going and how to get there." Now, whenever I am going somewhere new, I make sure I have turn by turn directions there and back.

The Humor of the Unexpected

I find that the things that are unexpected in life are usually some of the funniest. Be it the Motivator on Wipeout sending a hesitant contestant into the water below, someone running and all of a sudden hitting something of falling, or just a random comment that no one saw coming, these never fail to amuse.
When I hang out with my friends, some of the most random and unexpected things happen. This is why I have so much fun with them. For example, just before the homecoming game, we were hanging out at my friend Emilie's house when Jon said something about "the ovens are going to eat us." Nothing led up to it, and nothing would have suggested that he was going to say anything like that. This is what made it so funny. Another example, and it pains me to say that I was the victim of this one, is when we were at McDonald's eating ice cream. We were sitting in our regular booth when Lily asked Madison to record something. I look over and Lily is counting down and then slams into me. Next thing I know, I am sliding off the booth bench and hitting the floor.
Even though it happened to me, I still found it really funny. It was just so unexpected and out of the blue, how can you not laugh?
I think the reason that I, along with a large portion of people my age, find random and unexpected things funny is because everything else around us is so structured. We wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, go to class, get homework, take tests, go home, do the homework, eat dinner, and go to sleep. The next day, it all starts again in what feels like an endless cycle with some weekends and breaks thrown in occasionally. We know for the most part what to expect, and when things are happening that when something comes along and is not like that we just have to laugh.
America's Funnies Home Videos is another thing that a lot of people my age enjoy. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that the funniest videos are where everything seems normal and the all of a sudden BAM, something comes out of nowhere and hits someone or trips them up, or scares them. These are the funniest for the same reason. When something random and unexpected happens, it disrupts the redundant cycle of our lives and at the least puts a smile on our faces.

#1 The Benefits of Writing

There are several benefits to regular writing. One of the first ones that comes to mind is that you can put your thoughts down on paper or on a screen. This can help you to gather your thoughts. When you look back at it later, seeing what you were thinking can help you gather and organize your thoughts. Writing also gives you a way to vent your thoughts and feelings on any given subject. Letting things out will make you feel better than just keeping it all bottled up inside. The more you write, the clearer you will think. If you think about what you are thinking about more often, then you will be more self aware.

Writing is like any other activity. The more you do it, the better you will be at it. If you never write, when you do finally write it will not be very good. Likewise, if you write often, then you will be better at it. Writing is not just putting words on paper or typing it onto a screen. It is about being able to make sense of what you are thinking enough to be able to put a coherent story together. It is about being creative, or learning to put information you find in your own words. Basically, it is about thinking. The more you write, the more you will think, and the smarter you will be.

Banned Book

One of my favorite books is The Da Vinci Code. However, this book was banned in Lebanon after it was said to be offensive to Christian leaders. I think this book was a good read, not only because it was exciting, but made you think. It made you wonder. Most of all, it made me not believe everything I hear. One of the main reasons we go to school, apart from learning how to do math, learn about science, study history, and take grammar, is to learn to think critically. This book helps you do just that.

When you ban a book, or anything for that matter, what are you really doing? You are telling others that they can not say what they want, cause it may make others feel bad. Some may say that this makes perfect sense, that we should edit our selves. But where do you draw the line? How long until we get to the point of not being able to say anything at all, for fear of offending someone? To be honest, one of the big problems is that people take things so seriously. Don't the Catholic leaders understand this is a FICTIONAL story? It isn't real! It never happened! The point of the book is to entertain, not to undermine the authority and leadership of the Catholic Church.

I think this book should not have been banned. It may have some controversial topics in it, but so do a lot of books. Banning it tells the people that controversial topics are bad, and should be gotten rid of. All controversial topics are things that people just don't agree on. Well, I hate to break it to you Catholic leaders, but people don't all agree on religion either. So if you were to ban this book, we have the right to ban you. Now, I'm not saying we should, far from it. But my point is that we have to learn to deal with things that we may not agree with. It is a part of life. If you go around and try to ban everything you don't agree with, you will not get anywhere.
But what do you think? Should a fictional book be banned because the topic might offend people? Or should those people just choose not to read it?