My first job as a teenager was that of a paper girl. I remember waking up early in the morning before the sun came up, getting the papers ready for delivery, and reading the funny section of the paper before I would go out and deliver the newspaper out to my customers. It was a hard job and it did not last long, but it was at this point in my life that I fell in love with cartoons, and have been in love with them ever since. A few of my favorite cartoons are Garfield, Heathcliff, Marmaduke, Peanuts, Family Circus, and Ziggy. I would follow them religiously every morning and they always made me laugh.
Cartoons are one of the few simple joys in life. You can always count on a cartoon to enlighten you or your mood. They do more than just amuse us cartoons can be used as a communication medium by making light of social issues facing us today. Cartoons can be political in nature, editorial in nature, educational and just plain funny. Many times children can respond and learn better with cartoons because they are fun, hold the child’s interest and not threatening. Political cartoons can bring up issues regarding our government and politics in a fun unassuming way. They get us thinking about things. They can bring to the forefront many touchy issues that we may not want to deal with and get us thinking about them in a productive way. Reading a cartoon is a great way to release tension and have a good laugh while you are at it. You can find cartoons almost anywhere and they are accessible to just about anyone. They are in newspapers, comic books, the internet and on television.
Cartoons are entertaining; they hold our interest and are an American way of life. How many people have never read Peanuts? My guess is probably not many. How many people have never read a cartoon? I think it is safe to assume that there probably are not many people who have never read a cartoon either. I remember reading Peanuts and wondering what would Lucy do to poor Charlie Brown today? No matter how bad the new is in the paper, on television, or on the internet we can always turn to a cartoon to lift our spirits and have a laugh before we start our day. Cartoons are a medium that practically everyone can enjoy. I have never heard of anybody who hated cartoons although there might be some but not many. They are just too cute and funny not to love.
Cartoons have been around forever it seems and more and more of them are popping up every day. As long as there are newspapers, the internet, and politics, cartoons will thrive. They are also a part of our American culture whether we want to believe it or not. They are right up there with as baseball and apple pie. Just as long as we have freedom of the press, we will have cartoons that challenge it and get people thinking.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Freedom Of Speech
We are among the people lucky enough to be living in the United States of America. We are afforded many freedoms that most people living in other countries are not. Among these many freedoms is the freedom of speech. This freedom means we are lucky enough to be able to say exactly what we feel and think which is guaranteed according to the First Amendment. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech; or the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Our founding fathers wanted us to be free to express ourselves, worship, and write without government regulation or censorship. This is a luxury we have as Americans that we take for granted and most people from other countries are not afforded.
What exactly is censorship? If you look the word up in the Webster’s New World Dictionary it states that censorship means to subject to a censor’s examination. A censor is an official with the power to examine literature, mail, movies, etc. and remove or prohibit anything considered obscene or objectionable. In many countries such as Iran, anything coming into the country is censored books, music, and movies all must be scrutinized for content by a censor. Have you ever wondered how you would feel if suddenly you were no longer allowed to listen to the music, read the books, and enjoy the movies that you loved because they were considered objectionable by a censor? Or going to prison or being possibly executed for saying something that was considered offensive by the Government? This is something we all take for granted and have never had to think about, on the other hand, there are many people who go through this on a daily basis, this is reality for them.
We as Americans are very lucky to have the freedoms of expression, speech, and religion that we do. With these freedoms also comes great responsibility. We must be careful that while using our freedom of speech that we do not infringe on another person’s freedoms. Just because we can say and do what we want does not mean we should. Exactly where should we draw the line? It must be drawn somewhere in order to protect people from being bullied by hate speech we must have some limitations. If you think about it if we had total freedom without limitations, stalking, harassment, terrorist threats, and child pornography would be perfectly legal. In essence, we have freedom of speech, and of the press to a certain extent. We still must obey the laws of our society. We cannot go around doing and saying everything we think and feel. We must be responsible and prudent with our actions and be considerate of others. If we know that something we say could be offensive to another person it might be a good idea not to say it. Just because we are free does not mean we should go around acting like an idiot.
What exactly is censorship? If you look the word up in the Webster’s New World Dictionary it states that censorship means to subject to a censor’s examination. A censor is an official with the power to examine literature, mail, movies, etc. and remove or prohibit anything considered obscene or objectionable. In many countries such as Iran, anything coming into the country is censored books, music, and movies all must be scrutinized for content by a censor. Have you ever wondered how you would feel if suddenly you were no longer allowed to listen to the music, read the books, and enjoy the movies that you loved because they were considered objectionable by a censor? Or going to prison or being possibly executed for saying something that was considered offensive by the Government? This is something we all take for granted and have never had to think about, on the other hand, there are many people who go through this on a daily basis, this is reality for them.
We as Americans are very lucky to have the freedoms of expression, speech, and religion that we do. With these freedoms also comes great responsibility. We must be careful that while using our freedom of speech that we do not infringe on another person’s freedoms. Just because we can say and do what we want does not mean we should. Exactly where should we draw the line? It must be drawn somewhere in order to protect people from being bullied by hate speech we must have some limitations. If you think about it if we had total freedom without limitations, stalking, harassment, terrorist threats, and child pornography would be perfectly legal. In essence, we have freedom of speech, and of the press to a certain extent. We still must obey the laws of our society. We cannot go around doing and saying everything we think and feel. We must be responsible and prudent with our actions and be considerate of others. If we know that something we say could be offensive to another person it might be a good idea not to say it. Just because we are free does not mean we should go around acting like an idiot.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Reading Lolita in Tehran
“Reading Lolita In Tehran” is a beautifully written book based on a true story of a female Literature Professor, teaching English Literature during a time in Iran history where women were losing all of their basic freedoms and rights. This time period is set in the ‘80s and ‘90s, besides the problems that the women face with the Islamic Regime, Iran is involved in a war with Iraq and the professor and students must deal with years of bombs and missiles being dropped all over Tehran and many of their friends and family being killed in the process.
Professor Nafisi and her students endure many trials and tribulations throughout the story and the focal point is the struggle that women must go through during this time period.
Television, movies, books, and music are either banned or censored because they are deemed as being too westernized and decadent. This also affects Professor Nafisi as many of the literature books she teaches become banned and she can no longer teach them, or some of the male students find the books she assigns to read offensive and sinful. As a professor she must put up with many demonstrations and students skipping class in order to participate in them. During this time the Islamic Regime forces the women to wear chadors, scarves, and veils. Professor Nafisi and the students attend many demonstrations against the rules and regulations forced on the women of Iran, but in the end the Islamic Regime wins and the women must wear the regulatory garments. Professor Nafisi gets expelled from teaching at the University of Tehran because she refuses to wear the veil, but after a while she conforms and resumes her career as a teacher.
After a while Professor Nafisi resigns from her career as a professor and selects a few female students to participate in a class she teaches at her apartment every Thursday morning. In this class the professor teaches the books she was not allowed to teach at the university, such as “Lolita,” and “Invitation To A Beheading” by Vladimir Nabokov and many other banned books. Professor Nafisi and her students must risk everything to continue with their class. If they are found out by the Islamic Regime they may end up in prison for many years or even executed. The students and Professor Nafisi find their freedom and happiness in these Thursday morning meetings reading and discussing literature. They not only learn a great deal about the literature, but they form bonds and learn about each other which gives them hope in the future. The class goes on for many years and each person in the class including Professor Nafisi finds themselves. The class only ends when Professor Nafisi and her family decide to move to America to live.
I would recommend this book for anyone to read. We not only learn about the hardships women have to face in other countries, but we also gain a new found respect for the freedoms that we take for granted. Because of reading this book I have learned that I am quite interested in reading many of the books she talks about in the story. We must all rejoice in the fact that we are free to read, watch, and think what we want to without having to answer to our government.
Professor Nafisi and her students endure many trials and tribulations throughout the story and the focal point is the struggle that women must go through during this time period.
Television, movies, books, and music are either banned or censored because they are deemed as being too westernized and decadent. This also affects Professor Nafisi as many of the literature books she teaches become banned and she can no longer teach them, or some of the male students find the books she assigns to read offensive and sinful. As a professor she must put up with many demonstrations and students skipping class in order to participate in them. During this time the Islamic Regime forces the women to wear chadors, scarves, and veils. Professor Nafisi and the students attend many demonstrations against the rules and regulations forced on the women of Iran, but in the end the Islamic Regime wins and the women must wear the regulatory garments. Professor Nafisi gets expelled from teaching at the University of Tehran because she refuses to wear the veil, but after a while she conforms and resumes her career as a teacher.
After a while Professor Nafisi resigns from her career as a professor and selects a few female students to participate in a class she teaches at her apartment every Thursday morning. In this class the professor teaches the books she was not allowed to teach at the university, such as “Lolita,” and “Invitation To A Beheading” by Vladimir Nabokov and many other banned books. Professor Nafisi and her students must risk everything to continue with their class. If they are found out by the Islamic Regime they may end up in prison for many years or even executed. The students and Professor Nafisi find their freedom and happiness in these Thursday morning meetings reading and discussing literature. They not only learn a great deal about the literature, but they form bonds and learn about each other which gives them hope in the future. The class goes on for many years and each person in the class including Professor Nafisi finds themselves. The class only ends when Professor Nafisi and her family decide to move to America to live.
I would recommend this book for anyone to read. We not only learn about the hardships women have to face in other countries, but we also gain a new found respect for the freedoms that we take for granted. Because of reading this book I have learned that I am quite interested in reading many of the books she talks about in the story. We must all rejoice in the fact that we are free to read, watch, and think what we want to without having to answer to our government.
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