National Wildlife Federation - Social Media

The National Wildlife Federation uses mostly all positive imagery to persuade people to follow their cause. They are a non-profit federation established to the conservation of wildlife.  Their Facebook site is full of images of animals in nature and without any humans or human structures. They try to show the reader how beautiful the wildlife is, and how much we need to keep it that way. They also have a few contests on the site for best wildlife picture, getting the reader involved more in wildlife and the Facebook page. The facebook page has 221,000 likes!  They also have an Instragram feed with head-shots of adorable animals, as well as a twitter feed. The twitter feed allows followers to join in on the conversation as well as post pics of animals and promote wildlife. Their Twitter has over 204,000 followers to date. Here is one pic a follower posted:

The fan is showing his young baby getting ahead start saving wildlife by "adopting" a bat to support the N.W.F. 

They also have a few images to emotionally grab the reader's attention. Such as this one: 

Three of the images show that a lion can actually be gentle and show kind emotions towards humans. The bottom right pictures shows a small cub trapped in a cage helpless. The image next to it also shows a helpless animal tied up and bloody. These images for most people would bring out a sense of empathy and possibly influence them to help the N.W.F.. 

Old vs. New

I'm not sure what year this ad came out, but it looks to be around the 1950's. The woman in the ad is wearing all black and has a very "slim" look to her. The black makes her look more sleek and classy. The lettering at the top of the page also appears to be more slim than standard print. The green vacuun almost seems to be leading her because her hand is only slightly touching the handle and stands out in the front of the page.  The image  in the top right shows a perfectly clean living room and the "slim" woman maintaining it. The image below with the baby show that the carpet is clean enough to have your child play on it, which would be the mother's duty at this time. The image on the bottom left shows that the vacuum is automatic and can clean upholstery too. The entire ad only features a woman and a child, possibly meaning the husband is at work while the wife is at home cleaning. Hoover also put their logo in the bottom right corner to familiarize the consumer with the brand logo.

This is a more recent Hoover advertisement, made in the last few years. The image is quite different than the older Hoover ad.  The vacuum is in the same place on the page as the older ad, but there isn't a person or people in the ad at all. There is no gender role assigned to this ad. The lettering is in bold as if to make the vacuum appear to be more "tough." They also kept the Hoover logo in the same spot as their older advertisement, making sure the consumer knows it is Hoover quality. 

Old Advertisement to New Advertisement

I'm not sure what year this ad came out, but it looks to be around the 1950's. The woman in the ad is wearing all black and has a very "slim" look to her. The black makes her look more sleek and classy. The lettering at the top of the page also appears to be more slim than standard print. The green vacuun almost seems to be leading her because her hand is only slightly touching the handle and stands out in the front of the page.  The image  in the top right shows a perfectly clean living room and the "slim" woman maintaining it. The image below with the baby show that the carpet is clean enough to have your child play on it, which would be the mother's duty at this time. The image on the bottom left shows that the vacuum is automatic and can clean upholstery too. The entire ad only features a woman and a child, possibly meaning the husband is at work while the wife is at home cleaning. Hoover also put their logo in the bottom right corner to familiarize the consumer with the brand logo.

This is a more recent Hoover advertisement, made in the last few years. The image is quite different than the older Hoover ad.  The vacuum is in the same place on the page as the older ad, but there isn't a person or people in the ad at all. There is no gender role assigned to this ad. The lettering is in bold as if to make the vacuum appear to be more "tough." They also kept the Hoover logo in the same spot as their older advertisement, making sure the consumer knows it is Hoover quality. 

Difficulty

While reading In Dubious Battle I came across much difficulty. The time that this novel took place was the main reason for my frustrations.  Steinbeck uses so much dialogue throughout the book that I found it hard at times to know what character was actually speaking. Some parts of the book I had to re-read a few times to truly understand what was going on. I tried to picture a movie scene in my head to understand how these conversations were actually taking place.

            In Dubious Battle also had a lot of words that I had no idea what the meanings were. For example, ‘handbills’, I had no idea what that meant. So I would look up words online whenever I found it important in the text. I found that it meant a text or notice of something.

            Since this book was based on something that happened so long ago, I found it hard to want to read it. There are book that you cannot put down, and there are book that you want to put down. This was definitely a book I wanted to down!  I tried to read 20 pages a night, but found myself putting the book down just after 5 or 6 pages. Finally I forced myself to read 200 pages in one day just to get it over with! I tried to get my mindset into liking this book, but it just did not happen. I couldn’t relate to any character in this book at all. I wish that I could’ve enjoyed it more…but I didn’t.

            One of the most difficult things about this book is how it ends. After forcing myself to read it, the ending was horrible!  Steinbeck must have been a depressed man to end this book like that. 

Gender Theory

      While reading In Dubious Battle a reader will rarely come across any mention of females. Only a few points during this read will a woman come into play. The first mention of a women was in the very beginning of the novel, Jim's landlady, Mrs. Meer. Her role was almost motherly towards Jim. She even offers him a place to stay if he were to ever come back.
       Dakins wife truly shows how women were separated from men. Jim and Mac came to Dakin's home wanting to ask him if he would come and join the strike. Now, even though his wife probably would not have told anyone their plans of strike, she was still ask to go aside when a conversation went on between the men. She also takes the children with her, something a women was expected to do at this time. John Steinbeck describes her as, "…a fine, big-bosomed woman with a full face, with little red spots of rouge on her cheeks…" (61). He describe her mainly by her "womanly" features, in a way that he never describes any of the men in this book. It's almost as if she is just used as an image in the novel and not as a source information or relevance to the meaning of the plot.

U.S. Farm Worker's Rights

I choose this image because it shows the faces of the farm workers. This image also has a variety of people and a variety of farming. The web address that is boldly stated below gives the picture more meaning and impact to the general public on just how hard farmers work.

I have always known that our farmer are crucial in society. They provide the public with food, something that no one can live without, yet they still are treated poorly. Cesar Chavez was and still is one of the most important figures in farming. He led the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). It wasn't long before Cesar Chavez joined NFWA with another organization and formed an even larger association, The United Farm Workers. He did this during the grape strikes in the 1960's. After he helped the grape farmers strike he moved on to other types of farming, continuing to help mistreated farmers all around the United States.

Rough Draft revision 2 (after peer review)

Hill, Amanda                                                                                                                                 Hill One

Ms. Knapp

October 20, 2011

English 1B

A Cause For Rebellion

            The graphic novel Persepolis is a story of extreme circumstances. The book’s main character, a young girl named Marji, grows up during a time of war and oppression. Marji went from believing in God and wanting to be a prophet, to rebelling against society and forming her own religious beliefs.  Through emotional graphics and short dialogue, the author, Marjane Satrapi tells the unique story of a young girl growing up in Iran and beautifully narrates incredible scenes.  I can relate to this young girl, Marji even though I grew up during a different time and place, through my own personal experiences.

            In the younger years of Marji’s life she seems to be unaware of the oppression that is surrounding her. At ten years of age, she is already being told she must wear a veil to school.  Marji, not truly realizing what is going on, thinks to herself, “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (3). Marji did not understand why she needed to wear the veil. She is however still questioning why, which shows the reader that even at a young age she has an opinion of her own. Not only did she have her own opinion, but she also admired her mother for protesting against the veil (5). In my family we had to sit at the table until all of our food was finished, even if it took an hour. I can vividly recall at time in which I had to eat a steak and it took me just about two hours! I couldn’t stand eating meat, it just seemed wrong to me. Why was I being  

                                                                                                        Hill Two

forced to eat this animal? I questioned why, but I still ate it because of my parents telling me to do so, just like Marji wore a veil because she was told to.

            In Marji’s society, social class separated people. For example, Marji’s maid, who was only a few years older than her, could not even eat with them at the table. Marji clearly states, “I wanted to be a prophet…because our maid could not eat with us” (6). She believed that becoming a prophet would make her maid able to eat with them, but as time went on she realized that was not the case. A prophet could not change the society she lived in.  Marji grew up in a family of a higher social class, and it bothered her. She realized this after educating herself by reading as many books on class separation as she could. Suddenly an epiphany came to her while in the car with her father, she thought to herself, “ I finally understand why I feel so ashamed to sit in my father’s Cadillac” (33).  This was a very important moment in her life. Satrapi shows the reader that Marji did not want to be treated better than someone else, and did not believe in social classes. I grew up around people that were in a higher social class than me, and I was almost embarrassed to have anyone see where or how I lived. I may not have been well off like Marji was, but I felt ashamed in the same sense. My surrounding did not represent who I was as a person, just as Marji’s surroundings did not represent her.

            Marji’s religious beliefs are first put to test when a fire breaks out at the cinema. Marji was deeply upset by her government not helping to save the people inside and decided she wanted to protest. Unfortunately for her, her parents would not allow her to do so. That same night Marji lays in bed and asks, “God, where are you”(17). This question informs the reader for the first time that Marji is questioning her God. Questioning her  

Hill Three

religion. It isn’t until later Marji cuts off her religion, her God, and her entire faith. As a child I was forced to go to church three times a week with my grandma (who was an extreme Christian). At first I didn’t think for myself and just believed everything they were telling me. It was not until my pet dog died that I started to wonder if God really existed? I started to think, “If people go to heaven, do dogs go to heaven? And if dogs go to heaven, do cats go to heaven?” This was the first time I really questioned my own faith, so I can definitely relate to Marji’s questioning of hers.

            The most important, and ultimately life changing event for Marji, was meeting her Uncle Anoosh. Meeting him would change her religious beliefs forever and influence her on a path of rebellion.  Uncle Anoosh enters Marji’s life at a point where she was desperately seeking a rebel or a hero in the family. When Anoosh shows up for the first time, Marji is infatuated with him. Strapi gives the reader an image of Uncle Anoosh with a ‘sun-like’ glow around him, symbolizing that Marji saw him as a light in the dark so to speak (54).  Instantly Marji became close to Anoosh, listening to all his stories and admiring his every word. Every child, when growing up, has a role model. I was no different. Like Marji, I looked up to a family relative, my aunt Arlene. She owned her own business, had a nice car, let me work at her store, and took me places that my parents would not. She made me want to become an entrepreneur. She also made me proud of my family, which was very important for me considering the social class surrounding me.

            Having something happen that is totally out of your control can be one of the most frustrating an anger-filled moments in life. Uncle Anoosh was so important to Marji that he became the reason she stopped believing in God. She finally had someone in her life to look  

Hill Four

up to. Finally had a family member she could be proud of and the government took him away from her, for good. There was nothing she or God could do about it.  He was blamed for being a Russian spy and was going to be executed. Marji goes to visit him in jail for the last time he would ever be alive. After the visit on the next page of the novel, Satrapi uses the page illustrations to mark a turning point in young Marji’s life; this is where Marji had last mentioned God. Marji is lying in her bed staring off into nothingness when God decides to show up. Marji madly looks at him and yells, “…Get out of my life!!! I never want to see you again” (70). In her eyes God was not there to help her uncle Anoosh, the most important person in her life, so what good was he for Marji after that? Having someone die in your family who you are really close to can quickly change your entire views on life. When my grandfather died it was something that I could do nothing about. Just like how Marji wanted to blame God for not saving her uncle, I wanted to blame the hospital for not doing a better job. Even to this day I refused to let anyone I know go into a Kaiser Hospital without knowing the way my grandfather was treated there.

One of the most similar situations to me, and the one I can relate to the most with was when Marji wanted to fit in with the older kids in school. When I was a freshman in high school I really looked up to the seniors at my school. They truly influenced me. Marji confesses to the reader, “I wanted to be friends with the fourteen year olds…” (111). She wanted to fit in; she didn’t want to be seen as the young twelve year old that she was. She wanted to be respected. Marji ended up ditching school with the fourteen-year-olds, making this her second mark of rebellion in the novel. When she came home her mother questioned her, “So how was school”, knowing that she missed class (113). Marji gets into  

Hill Five

an argument with her mother over this and rasies her finger and says,” Dictator…” (113). Marji, although in the wrong in my opinion, stood up for herself. Later on in the same chapter she smokes a cigarette in spite of her mother’s scolding. Marji explains to the reader,” …I sealed my act of rebellion against my mother’s dictatorship by smoking…” (117). She directly relates the cigarette to rebelling against her mother. When I was rebelling against my father for being a “dictator” to me during high school, I would go out and drink beer with my friends. My father telling me not to do something made me want to do it more. I believe it was the same case for Marji’s situation with her mother. Marji was just like a lot of teenager I knew growing up, not taking advice from their parents and trying to fit in.

            With so many things going on around Marji I could see why she turned into a rebel. It is not everyday that we are faced with as much oppression and war that Marji endured. Regardless of my up bringing and time and place of it, I can relate to Marji’s rebellion through my own personal experiences. For me, it is hard to think that someone growing up in a entirely different society can still think the same way I do.  Marji’s situations are extreme and unimaginable to put myself in, but as a reader I could still analyze and relate to myself in some way. Whether it be religion, government or social class Marji rebelled for the better, making decisions based from her own experiences. The author Satrapi does an incredible job relating the text so that the reader will understand the true emotion of this incredible novel.