Monday Matters #3

Picture:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/09/24/gallery.joplin.tornado.rebuilding/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

This picture presents a great amount of visual rhetoric involved with its argument. It presents a scene in Joplin, Missouri just one month after a tornado came through that town, so its brightness and cheerfulness seem out of place and almost ironic in a devastating situation where so many people lost their lives. This adds to the overall argument, however, which is that behind each terrible situation there comes new opportunity and hope (almost the “as one door closes, a window opens” idea). The sign which states “The tornado killed this house. But not me!” adds to this sense of hope, however, the lack of people in this town is equally noticeable, which keeps the devastation in mind. The faint line of wires between the telephone poles in the background, along with the sidewalk line cutting along the bottom right corner, help to frame in the picture and together show that although great destruction came from this tornado, it was contained and did not affect everything. Also, the limited amount of plant life shows that the tornado left some survivors among the dust and rubble surrounding it.

Monday Matters #2

Among all the other holidays, where is the one for the U.S. Constitution? Shouldn't we celebrate it as much as we do with the 4th of July each year? We are the only country right now that has had a constitution that was written so many years ago that is still in practice today and is so fundamentally important to our nation every day. It is not as if we have had many different constitutions in our nation's history, like the French have had, and because of this, our nation and government should be celebrated together as one, because there has never been that element of separation. But we do not celebrate it like this, and although we appreciate the Constitution, we don't tend to look at it as "something special" everyday. Some colleges or universities have celebration days for it, but most people pass up the opportunity to recognize Constitution Day.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2011-09-15/constitution-day-anniversary/50417184/1

A Day of Remembrance (News You Can Use #1)

Today people gathered together for the memorial service at Ground Zero, remembering September 11, 2001. While some were there to remember the love ones they lost ten years ago on this day, and others were there to remember just how far we have come since then, everyone there joined together to hear speakers, sing songs, and be part of moments of silence. Both Barack Obama and George W. Bush were there to speak, and witness the patriotic chants and songs that began in the crowd. A more formal part of the memorial service included the reading of names of almost 3,000 men and women that passed ten years ago, one of the many events showing remembrance for both the families and friends involved as well as the rest of the world watching. No matter how far away from the actual memorial site the visitors were, all took part in the six moments of silence to remember and recognize the six distinct tragedies that took place that day (hitting Tower 1, Tower 2, the Pentagon, the plane crash in Pennsylvania, and the fall of both towers). As flowers were left by names on the memorial and so many different people came together, the patriotism of New York and America was shown through this respectful memorial service at Ground Zero as we all remember and "Never Forget". The strength and resiliency of ordinary people was evident throughout the day.

http://news.yahoo.com/families-take-back-ground-zero-amid-sunshine-shadows.html