prop·a·gan·da Say it Right or Don't Say it at All

Propaganda what is propaganda?

WEBSTER SAYS: prop·a·gan·da

   [prop-uh-gan-duh] 

–noun

1.

information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely tohelp or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

There was propaganda way back when you grandmother was born, when your great grandmother was born, when your great great great great great great greatygreat grandmother was born.  There has always been propaganda.  Many time you here about people using propaganda to get what they want, so in wars and in advertisements. 

In history we are talking about the First Indian Rebellion or as Americans call it the Sepoy Mutiny. This rebellion was started with propaganda.  There was a rumor going around that the bullets the British were giving the Sepoy were greased in cow and pig fat.  This posed a problem because to Hindu people, cows are sacred and to Muslims pigs are taboo.  This caused the people to revolt against the British.

Another war related form of propaganda but more resent is the war in Iraq.  America invaded because the government was saying that they had weapons of mass destruction.  And even after multiple spies came back saying they found none with all the propaganda the government had enough people behind them to go to war. 

One last thing that uses propaganda is ads.  I will zero in on McDonalds because I am sure that everyone knows then and has seen a commercial from them.  In all their ads they say it is fresh and healthy for you but that is a lie.  Everyone knows that is clogs ones arteries and increases their chances of plank buildup thus heart attacks.  And that the ingredients are pretty far from being fresh.  But in an advertisement they are not going to say that to get people to get people to buy their food. 

Graffiti Where Is It?

Graffiti is a way to express oneself and show off ones work to the world.   In the movie Beat Street I totally agree with Ramon’s point of view with tagging.  He does great things that have true meaning behind it while there are some that want to write their name quickly and be done with it.  Though I don’t condone writing on people houses without permission I do believe that there are areas that should be brightened up.  In France whenever I take the highway the walls around are always covers in people’s art! I honestly would rather see people spray painting whatever they want in colorfulness, and seeing each person one after another blend their thoughts with other’s thoughts, than a plain gray wall.  I also think it is so cool when we drive under a bridge and you can see graffiti all along it.  It amazes me that people can get there, probably be in mid air and still do such intricate designs. I miss seeing that.  Now in Chicago all I see are little black scribbles in marker on the train chairs and windows.  Occasionally when I walk around I come across really cool things and wonder who did it.  I feel like they have just showed me a little bit of their soul.

Attention is What Richard Wants?

Well for starters I do not think that Wright is looking for attention but in tries to find some form of entertainment in his boredom.  In the first situation the reader comes across is Write secluded in a room with no toys and forced to be quiet.  Obviously a little kid is going to get himself in trouble if no one watches over him.  As all children he is fascinated by the fire so he decided to go ahead and through things in it.  Not being satisfied he lights the curtains on fire.

The second situation is when he is wandering the streets.  His mother is out working and leaves her two little children by themselves.  Richard is curious about the bars and what the adults do in there.  All he does in peep in until someone grabs him and takes him in.   It was not his fault for getting drunk, it was the adults that are terribly bad and force a little six year old to drink.

In these two situations I was not the young Wright’s fault it was the parent’s fault for not having someone watch over her kids while away.  I understand it was hard for the single mother but she could have asked a kind neighbor to check in sometimes.  You cannot blame the child for being a child.  Richard was trying to find something fun to do and let his curiosity take charge without truly thinking out his actions.