composing america

all this information about the declaration of independence is very interesting. i find it amazing that we celebrate the printing of the declaration of independence instead of when it was made and signed. its amazing how there are actually 3 of them but only one of them is displayed to america. most people don't know that there are three of them. i think that they should have the printed one on display so that everyone could actually understand exactly what it is saying. but i understand why it is written so fancy. it is because the new Americans wanted to look serious about breaking away from the British monarchy. so i understand exactly why the almost impossible to read paper is on display but its just unfortunate that more americans wont understand what the declaration of independence is even saying.

Composing America

The reasons behind having two copies of the Declaration of Independence, one written and one printed, seem practical enough. The overall goal was to give the new nation legitimacy across a broad audience. Settlers across the 13 colonies needed to feel that this new nation belonged to them, not simply to a group of men in Pennsylvania. To fight to defend a nation you own provides much more motivation than fighting between one king and another. On the other hand, the monarchs of Europe would've seen a printed copy as a joke. Anyone could hire a printer to create documents; They were how lesser classes communicated. The government documents of England and other sovereign nations were all written, and so America's had to be also.

Gettysburg Address

Because I am an auditory learner, hearing the Gettysburg Address out loud by Johnny Cash made me want to listen to it more. And there's something funny and intriguing about Cash reciting the speech that makes me want to listen to it even more because of his trademark low voice and the fact that he was a celebrity.

The powerpoint kind of butchers the Gettysburg Address because, well, it does exactly that. It cut and organized the speech into sections. It sort of detracted from the whole feel of the speech. It created a more business-like feeling. Although, the thought to make it into a powerpoint was creative..I will give it that. Also, if you are crunched for time and just need to know the main points it is a good tool. Or if you aren't good at understanding the way they talked over two hundred years ago this powerpoint will be to your benefit.

I wonder if Lincoln knew the Gettysburg Address would be as famously remembered as it was/is and would be in our textbooks.

Composing America

I'm not really into history and I find it pretty boring honestly. I never really thought that the Declaration of Independence had a process. I always just figured it was written at one time by a bunch of people and that was that. After reading the "Composing America" reading I realized how dumb I was for thinking that. Its crazy to think that even back in the 1700's they were revising and editing drafts of their pieces they were writing. I see now how much work was actually put into both The Declaration of Independence and The Gettysburg Address.

I thought the power point presentation of the Gettysburg Address was somewhat cool. It was cool to see it modernized into how someone would present it today, rather than having it all written out onto the back of an envelope and reading it.

The Johnny Cash version of the Gettysburg Address is more effective to me. The music behind it gives it a more powerful and emotional feel. If it were just Johnny Cash reading it without music, I think it would be exactly the same as someone else reading it. The music just gives it a whole different feel. Even though its subtle, it has a powerful impact.

~Composing America~

Living in Today's American society, things such as the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence tend to get "overlooked" (I kno I do). Or if we take time to consider them we jus see them as being being offical national documents that govern certain rules over our land. It is not until I read the piece "Composing America" that I thought of these two documents as actual compositions. In the reading it says that we look at the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address (much like we view other public and published works) as being flawless or "perfect" in a sense. Many of us (including myself) have not thought about the actually writing process, all the editing, revising and proof reading, that took place in order to get to the official product. Viewing the three different edits of the Declaration of Independence was sort of amusing to look at. At one point the entire document was in a typed format. Even the signatures of hose involved. I wondered did it really make the document official if u type some ones signature? Another interesting thing the reading broke down were certain points n ideas we wouldn't normally think about. Such as the line "What we commemorate that day is the first complete assembly of the Declaration's words in type." Wouldn't it make more sense for us to celebrate the actual day the document was signed and nt the day it was printed? These ideas made me think about reading we use and view everyday in a totally different light.

As many other people have already said, this reading was probably the most difficult we've gotten so far, mostly because it was so long. It deals with parts of history that we've been taught since we were younger. One of the main things I thought about when reading was how much work was actually put into these documents and how many times the must have been changed to make them absolutely perfect. And to think of a document made so long ago still having great importance today is amazing. How much time, effort, and revision that is put into something can make or break it in my opinion. We’ve always been taught that revision is key but I guess it’s one of those things you don’t really think about too much just because it’s been repeating so many times. We write it off as something that’s not that important when in reality it could make something better. Even thinking about some of the papers I’ve written I realize how much better they could have been with a little revision. Making mistakes is only human, which is why when we strive to make something really great looking at it a second or third time can really help to show us problem areas or things that need to change. I might be getting a little off track here but the point is that these documents from our past are still around because of the work that was put into them. I know I could use that as something to strive for in my papers.

Declaration of Indepedence

I thought this week's reading was more difficult than the previous, but I'll give it a shot ! The beginning of Composing America talked about what it took to compose such a writing. I never really thought about how long it must have took to write the declaration of indepedence. But now that i thought deeper into it, I'm sure the people who wrote it had to revise it a million times to get it perfect. Then it made me think about the importance of revising your papers. The declaration of independence and all the other documents for the United States weren't perfect the first time they were drafted. It takes a lot of effort and revising to make something well enough crafted to "turn in" or in this case, make official. It went on to discuss Calligraphy vs. Typography. I believe they used calligraphy rather than typography because using calligraphy makes the document one of a kind. You can't print out multiple copies of something when the original is someone's personal hand writing. The declaration of indepedence should only have one copy, because it is so important and shouldn't be handled by just anyone.

Mr. Gary Busey

When I hear the word hero only one name comes to mind and that name is Gary Busey. Gary Busey might seem like an odd choice for a hero but if you really think about it he is a very obvious choice. Gary Busey embodies the word individual which is something that I think all hero's need to do. Gary Busey is an individual because he does what he wants to do and nobody is going to stop him. Gary Busey is also a hero because he does a lot to give back. One thing that Gary Busey does is donate money to poor children in third world country's I think that is something that is very heroic. Another thing that he does is give money to help children receive an education I think that is something very heroic as well. All in all I would say he is a real hero.

Hero-Jesus Christ

Well, who better to use that "surpasses the common person" than Jesus. With me being a Christian, he will always be my ultimate hero. Even if you don't have these same beliefs, you can clearly see why I chose Him and what he represents. You've probably heard the saying that he is a savior..hence he is a hero. He came to save us, and deliver us from sin. He did this while having all the temptations man faced, as well as being persecuted by people who all he ever did was love. He is perfection..hence the model of excellence and the surpassing of the common man.

He is my hero because, without him, our eternal lives are in jeopardy, and there is no point or meaning to life. Everyone in life will wrong you at some point because we are all imperfect. But he won't, he is rock solid. No matter how you wrap your head around it, he is always there to pick up the pieces and give us strength in our worldly lives. Accepting him into my life was the best thing I could ever do as crazy, weird, or cheesy as it may sound. Whether it be fact or just fiction to you, Jesus is a hero.

Heros

Usually people see heros as people that save the day and have awesome super powers. We obviously don't have that in reality, but we do have models to which we learn from. For me it isn't just one person, but a group of people that are my heros. Obviously my parents are on the top of the list of heros. I mean they took care of me for eighteen years, and made me the way i am today. I mean when i was eighteen years old, going into college. My parents told me "Life is what you make of it, now get out of the house." Ever since then i have always lived my life to accomplish something in life. All of my wonderful friends are all heros to me in their own way. I wouldn't be were I am today if it weren't for my friends. All of the valuable lessons i learned, from doing the right thing and doing the wrong. All of them are the heros of my life.

my hero

i think a hero is someone who holds sumperhhuman qualities, but isnt 'superhuman' themselves. i mean what good is a superhero thats made up or unreal. how do they help? in my own opinion my dad is a hero.he may not be built like an action figure, have a chiseled chin, and nice superman outfit on but what makes him a hero in my eyes is his super human strength and his will power to do anything. he has a high pain tolerance, just like the superheros you hear about in comic books or cartoons. me and my dad talk about a lot of things together and we share a special bond. i remeber the first time i looked at him as my hero was when he was able to show me his weak side. i seen one tear drop and then another. it almost killed me to see how much pain he was in since ive never seen a man cry or be in so much pain, and becasue it was my dad it hurt a lot more, but then it hit me, only real men, real 'strong' men...real superheros have a weakness, and being able to express that and deal with it not only showed that he was human but a real super hero. i dont know why that was such a big deal to me but seeing a tear fall from his eye was..i guess becasue people always say men arent supposed to cry, that it makes you weak, i feel in turn it does the opposite becasue it shows that one, your comfortable with who you are as a man, and two that your are human.
my dad is strong and courageous and never backs down. he keeps his word ans sees that everything he says will be done is. he provides me with love, support, honesty, trust, and friendship. superheros are there for you when the water gets deep and the trouble keeps coming, and my dad is that hero for me. whenever i need him to be there for me, he comes to save my day!

My older cousin

A person that i consider to play a hero role is my older cousin lavarris. the reason of this being is because this is the person ive looked up to throughout my whole life. since i was young he has always been a positive role model and always did the right thing. Also everything he has been through in his life, he has ovecame everything. He bow lives in Florida in a nice condo. He graduated from college and went on to become a doctor. i am so proud of him. Everyday he is being a hero for helping people when they need it thats the reason he is my hero. When was little many bad things were thrown in his way and he said no to it all and stayed on the right path. I feel like knowing what he has been through if he can make it to be really successful then i can to. I never followed anybody in my life. i always been a leader and did my own thing, but if i had to choose someone who i think was a leader and follow there foot steps then it would have to be my older cousin lavarris

My Heroic Ideal

Well, for me, a hero of mine I look at in aspects of the positives and negatives of heroic would be a character name Felldoh from the 'Redwall' series by Brian Jacques.

To give a quick background, basically he, along with countless others, including his father, were imprisoned, and slaved by a tyrant inside this castle. The tyrant is a power-guided one who wants more of it, and to create a strong force against those who oppose him.

Later on, he meets up with two others, who ended up thrown in the prison pit for being objective. They eventually escaped with the help of two outsiders. After escaping from this place, Felldoh saw this as an opportunity to claim what’s right. This changes him in his character. In real life, there are people who see him in a negative way, of how his personality changes, while others have a positive look upon it.

To me, I look at it in both ways, and try to absorb WHY he acted how he acted.

He wanted to free his father and all the slaves from the camp, destroy the tyrant (the ruler of the power), and end it once and for all, and live in peace.

How he approaches it throughout the story... the other characters saw it as a major change in his personality; he went from being an ordinary kid, to a dangerous-minded one. In the mist of events, he had a crush on a girl who he could have lived with, had a family, and lived a good life... but instead, he decided to do what he think was right, and place his life on the line… to end slavery, even if it meant by himself.

This cost his life.


So, why would I see this character as a heroic ideal, is... because that's how some people, like myself, act like today. We long ago had this one personality we had most of our lives that everyone loved… and then suddenly, everything's corrupted, changed.

It shows how no one's life is perfect; even the greatest people have their bad side at times. It shows that one can make decisions he would follow that would go in regard to others around him, and still wanting to do what he thought was right: in the heart.


That's how I see my heroic ideal as.

My Hero

In my culture and in our history I think a person that would be considered a hero would be Mohandas Gandhi. He preached peace and practiced non violent disobedience. Many of my favorite quotes are from Gandhi. "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." That's really one of the quotes that has inspired me to do something good in my life. To actually get a chance to help people! I want to become a physician and hopefully travel to third world countries and give aid and medical assistance to the people that really need it. Another one of my favorite quotes from Gandhi is "be the change you want to see in the world". That's also very inspiring. You can't just wait around for people to make a difference or make changes, if you want something done do it yourself! "God has no religion" is another one of my favorite quotes. Gandhi is pretty much saying God doesn't favor one religion over another. We are all God's children. This quote has shaped my mindset as well. When talking about religion I am very open to everyone's values. I don't like talking about specifics. I like finding common values between religions, and if you sit down and take the time to talk about different religions it's not that hard to find similarities. There are more similarities than differences. Gandhi was an inspirational figure. He inspired people like Martin Luther King Jr. That in itself is amazing. Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero himself, and his inspiration came from Gandhi.

BIG Z is my hero too. GO CAVS! :)

Heroic Ideal

In my eyes, some one who is a hero would be Angelina Jolie. I think she is such an amazing person and does so many good things for the world. She uses her celebrity status to help third world countries and bring awareness to things happening around the globe. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations and she has visited counrties like Haiti, Pakistan, Thailand, Iraq, and many others. For instance, take Haitit...she donated one million dollars to the "Doctors Without Borders" charity and has been visiting hospitals there talking to the kids and trying to get awareness out about whats going on there. She even has her own foundation (The Jolie-Pitt Foundation), which is dedicated to stopping extreme rural poverty, protecting natural resources and conserving wildlife.Her organization helps provide aid to over 60 countries who are struggling with violence, catastrophe, and poverty. She has done so much for so many people. She uses the fact that she is a well known movie star to bring awareness to causes that she cares about and that need attention around the world. Any one that does that and still manages to have a family and an amazing career is a hero in my eyes.

HERO!!

Well my hero is my mother and sister. They represent heroes to me because they have overcame many obstacles in life. My mother did her best at raising my siblings and I. She is a devoted and loving parent. She supports me in everything I do and her sweet kind words always cheer me up when I am having a rough day. I couldnt ask for a better parent. I thank God all the time for the blessing of having her as my mother. Her guidance has brought me to where I am today. If I didnt have her in my life, I don't know what I would do.

My sister is also my hero because quite naturally a little sister always looks up to the big sister. As a young child I use to always follow her around and believe everything she told me. Throughout school she was always an overachiever and I was seen as the lazy one. I admired her strong personality and dedication. She went away to college in Alabama, something I could have never done because I am too afraid to be that far away from home. Four years later, this May, she will be graduating with a degree in History. I am so proud of her because where we grew up, it isnt very common to graduate college in the four years. She went through a lot during these four years but she made it to graduation.

I am very thankful to be blessed with so much.

My hero

Honestly, I have never really had a hero so this is going to be fairly cliche. Since I have to pick some I suppose I'll pick Superman. He represents what I guess should be the common morals for all people. To uphold what the do's and don'ts are in society, some being, don't steal, don't kill and so on.

All kids wanted to be Superman when they grew up. They wanted to fly, have laser and x-ray vision, be super strong and be invulnerable to anything on the planet. What kid wouldn't want that? I wouldn't mind being able to fly at all.

However, the idea of Superman has faded drastically. Everything now is about money and having the best of everything no matter what the cost. We need to rewind time to when money wasn't as important and life was just about living it and enjoying it.

MJ

Michael Jackson is a hero to me. Michael always gave from the bottom of his heart to help those less fortunate than him. His giant heart and even bigger musical talents have led him to become a hero within my life. It makes me want to live my life and help those less fortunate despite how much i am actually able to help. I also strive to become the best person I can be within the world nowadays because Michael taught me that as long as you have a dream and a wish, if you do your best, try hard enough and work toward it it can happen. I grew up with Michael as a big influence in my life, and even some of my first words were "Michael". His loss was a devastating blow to me, but i knew for a fact that he had left a legacy that would forever remain within the hearts and minds of any and all who listened to him.

my hero; my mom

The person who has made an impact on my life and who is my hero is my mom. She is a model of excellence for me. I wouldn't be who i am without her becuase i wouldn't be here without her. She does everything for me and has made me a great person and who i am today. Her caring lifestyle has helped me grow up and made us become bestfriends. I love my mom and i love everything she does for me. She has grown up to be a great mother and a wife and i want to be nothing more than to be like her. Sometimes we fight but that happens a lot with everyone. i love her so much i have it TATTOO'D on my foot . She has shown me the right path to take and i appreciate everything she has done for me. She has created 3 beautiful daughters and also a great home.

"Wow,... You're my Hero!!"

The person that represents the heroic ideal to me is my mother. I pick my mother because she is a very Strong African American female who raised my brothers and sisters and I mostly on her own. She has always kept a good well paying job (which in today's society can be extremely hard) and never made excuses. My mom also has certain ideals in the culture in the case that more and more families do not have both parents living under the same roof. In my moms' case she managed to stay on her feet and even raise 5 boys (which is not an easy job for any female). My siblings and all have good morals and values and (those of us who are old enough) have gone off to continue our educations in the University/ college levels. Although I know it was tough my mom never showed us any signs of her struggle in any thing tht she did. Another value my mother has taught me is tht is it always hard to find equal and fair treatment in the work place for females, bt this is something tht I myself can overcome by doing my best. This is why I believe tht for me, my mother represents the heroic ideal in society today.

hero

when i think of a hero no one really comes to my mind immediately. most people have heroes but i never really had one. i believe there are not very many heroes within the world. doing good things does not really make you a hero i mean everyone does good things. the person i kind of see as a hero would be phillip defranco an youtuber i watch all his videos and he just seems like a great person. i do believe simply him making his videos does make the world a little better. he may inspire people. he always gets important information out with his videos. i get 100% of my news from watching his videos. but is he actually a hero? not with the standards of societies hero. but with me he is a role model to me and in my book i believe that makes him a hero.

Alex Haas, my hero

Alexander Haas is my hero. He has overcome so many obstacles in his life, and to me that is extremely heroic. For those of you who don't know Alex Haas has a lazy eye. This has made many things in his life extremely difficult. He was always picked last in dodge ball as a child because of his lazy eye. Every time he through the ball it always curved too much. This did a lot of damage to his ego. If you were to see him today you would barely recognize him as the same person. He is extremely egotistical and overwhelms you with his bubbly personality. Even as I'm typing this now I'm sure he's looking at himself in the mirror with confidence saying "damn, I'm awesome." And it's that kind of cocky attitude that got him where he is today, on top. To add a little side bar, he also skateboards, plays guitar, and takes advantage of people. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a hero to me.

Batman

I hate the cookie cutter hero's in fiction the ones who exemplify excellence and their only flaw is the super model girlfriend that they fall for or have some fake illness towards an unknown and obviously fake substance. To me a Hero should embody the core values of society as well as have the strength to carry other peoples weaknesses even though they themselves are just as flawed as the next person. To me Batman holds these values true to his heart in the DC/Marvel comic books as well as the recent reboot in the movie franchise batman is a deeply flawed individual who has emotional scarring and deep seeded connection issues, a lot of which many people in the regular world can identify with. His pain is the city of Gotham's salvation simply because he desires and wants people young and old, man or woman to live their day to day lives without the constant fear looming overhead of violent crime. I feel he uses his tortured past as a method to strengthen his resolve and help those who are weaker than himself, a truly self sacrificing individual.

My Mother

While reading the prompt on the board, I immediately thought of my mom. My mom has always been there for me no matter what. My mom and I have always been very very close. I count her as my best friend. No matter what situation I am in I can ask her for advice. She knows more about me than my best friend. I admire her most out of everyone I know because she always knows what to do or say to make me feel better. She gives the best advice and is always looking out for my best interest. There will never be a person in this world who knows me inside and out besides my mom. There will never be a person who loves me more, and knows me as well as she does. I give her outstanding credit for raising me the way she has. Without my mom being my mom I would not be the person I am today. She taught me to be independent and stand up for myself. She is a strong woman who wants me to succeed in life no matter what it takes. I love my mom so much and have no idea what I would do without her :]

Hero

A hero, to me, stands for someone I look up too and try to live my life the way they do. Someone I learn from and someone I respect. The only person that represents this to me is my father. My parents got divorced when I was young and so I lived with him all my life. I learned just about everything from him. He's always there for me and is always supportive of me. He taught me to do the right thing no matter what the cost is. The life I live is because of him.

To me, no one else deserves that title of hero other than your parents. I don't get how some people don't get along with their parents, or hate their parents. Without my father I'd probably be in jail, not in school, or involved with the wrong people and doing the wrong things.

Composing America

This piece in convergences was a little hard for me to read. Probably just because it was so long, but i did find it interesting. I thought it was interesting that the day we actually celebrate as the fourth of july was the day that the first complete assembly of the Declaration of independence was printed and not the day it was actually signed. I think that that was just because it was important to everyone for everything to be perfect on the Declaration of Independence and that we actually wanted to celebrate the Declaration being proclaimed from what is now the Old State House. I think that this reading was basically about telling us that revision is important with everything and even way back then they had to revise things like the Declaration of Independence more than once to make it how it should be...and that's what we should be doing with our papers too.

composing america

after reading the first few pages from the article i started thinking about the bible and wondering if the same things have been done to that as they were done to the other important documents in american history. i was always a firm believer in questioning things that are brought to you, especially if you werent there to witness it happen. as far as the original aritcles of the declaration of independence being changed i wondered why it wouldnt be possible to change such a thing as the bible. as it said in the text that we read the documents we see now are now in their original texts, but revised texts.
i also questioned as to why the caliigraphy was used instead of the typography or the orignal texts that were presented at the time because with the calligraphy texts, it was illegible and hard for the people (of common wealth, or ordinary citizens) to understand what it meant in the first place. the same thing was done with the bill of rights. i feel if there is a document that pertains to the people they should be able to at least read what they are, if anyone else were reading it to them, they could be told anything and thats not cool. besides taking the texts and changing them to calligraphy was an old tradition during monarchy times to make the papers look more legit and important, i feel like its only important or good if it served its use, and that was providing the people with adequate information about their rights and so forth.
to me changing things (at least in that fashion) reminds me a lot of the fact that the gov't tries to keep things from us and hide a lot of things that they do. its just like when you lok at CIA papers, some of the info is darkened out so you cannot read it, and they have these secret societies, and a lot of things that are done in code and symbol so that only the poel who made it knows what it means. that scares me. a democrarcy is a government for the people by the people and if things have to be censored and changed from their original context then its not meant for the 'people', but more so the ones in charge. get it?

Composing America

The reading in the book talks about the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Bill of Rights. All three of these documents share aspects of composition. They are composed of an argument or statement made by one person then revised by a committee. Then the reading goes on to say that the two most precious historical documents in American history are the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg address. It was interesting to learn that the Declaration we read in our history books is not the original version, it's the THIRD revised copy! Even the brilliant minds of our founding fathers made some errors. It's also interesting how we celebrate independence on the day of the printing of the Deceleration and not the day it was signed. I think we do that because after we print something out it's official, and you can't really make changes to it. That goes for kids turning in their final drafts to their professors too, after we print it out, we can't change it! It was interesting seeing the different corrections made to the document. It was also very cool to see Lincolns first draft to his most famous speech. Scholars believe that Lincoln created a second draft after the event. I personally liked the power point presentation better because it highlights the important parts, but that's just my opinion.

Decleration and Gettysburg

These two documents have a lot in common. They both focus alot on men are created equal. These 2 documents have stuck with us til this day including freedom and being created equal. i didnt really catch on with the slides to much they were just key points and kind of confusing. I believe that without these we wouldnt be the country we are today. i am not very smart in history but what from i have learned that is what i think. Not really much to say but i did like jonny cashs performance lol.. it was good and made it fun to listen. It also catches peoples attention rather than just reading it. All men are created equal is one of the best things that has happened to this country.

Declaration Of Independence / Gettysburg Address

From what I read, the articles talked about two of the most important documents in America history: The Declaration of Independence, and the Gettysburg Address.

To be honest, I didn't quite catch everything about this, because history's not my thing... usually. But in ways, I did pay attention, because of re-collections of learning about the Declaration in Middle School, and reading some for a project I did on the Civil War (learning about the Confederate General: Robert Lee).

Both these documents symbolize a type of freedom, of wanting men to be created equal. In ways today, thinking about George Carlin of how he discussed about it long as ten years ago (yeah, LONG ago, but still), the ways of how today people are like, doesn't show as much devotion to the documents like back centuries ago.



When I listened to the recording of Johnny Cash's interpretation of the Gettysburg Address, I was amused. The way he played the guitar half way through the piece, reminded me of one of those commercials on TV you would see, dealing with health care, or insurance. In ways, his piece, along with his reading, was quite interesting to hear in a mixture!

- As a side interest, it's kinda neat to hearing about how the writer emphasized the capitalization within the Declaration. They broke the 'rules' to writing, and only use it sparely, on parts that they wanted to emphasis to the reader much more.


That's all I can say about this topic really. I can probably get a better grasp in it in class personally, but it isn't to say I was COMPLETELY lost with what the topic was about.