Anderson suggests that nationalism is an imagined concept. This photo of enemy soldiers sharing Christmas celebrations during wartime extends this claim by suggesting that nationalism is not a valid cause for warfare, because the foes were getting along in spite of their different nationalities and the war at hand.
For the human species, the need for belonging and identification with others has always been an unquestioned method of survival. A sense of community and security has been desired by all mankind for as long as they have existed on the earth. However, as of late (the 20th century to be exact), concepts such as nationalism and patriotism have stirred people to commit some of the most passionate acts in history. In the essay, Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson argues that communities are imagined and questions the intelligence behind giving your life for a made-up perception. In a depiction of the Christmas Truce of 1914 between England and Germany, one can see the folly inherent in believing too fiercely in the borders dividing nations.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Lens Essay-- topic and intro
In her essay "On Photography," Susan Sontag suggests that photographs are readily taken to be truthful reproductions of reality, although they can be deceptive, and that while photos are powerful in their ability to evoke emotions and deliver moral messages, they can only reinforce, not change, existing public opinions. During the Second Lebanon War, which took place in the summer of 2006, the controversial staged photographs that were run in the media -- especially the ones of children's toys among rubble -- supported both of Sontag's claims. While many American newspaper readers did accept the deceptive photographs as real, they did little to sway public opinion from supporting Israel to supporting Hezbollah.
During the Second Lebanon War, which took place in the summer of 2006, many emotionally provocative photos were run in major newspapers and magazines depicting the suffering of the Lebanese people as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Especially notable among these was a series of photos that showed children's toys laying about the rubble of a bombed-out building, which took advantage of the emotional power of the motif of the suffering of children. However, it was later proven that these photos -- which to newspaper editors must have seemed to good to be true -- had been staged by pro-Hezbollah photojournalists trying to elicit sympathy for their cause from the West. In her essay "On Photographs," American writer Susan Sontag argues that that photographs are readily taken to be truthful reproductions of reality, although they can be deceptive, and that while photos are powerful in their ability to evoke emotions and deliver moral messages, they can only reinforce, not change, existing public opinions. The staged photographs that came out of the Second Lebanon War offer support for her claim. While many American newspaper readers did accept the deceptive photographs as real, they did still little to sway public opinion from supporting Israel to supporting Hezbollah.
During the Second Lebanon War, which took place in the summer of 2006, many emotionally provocative photos were run in major newspapers and magazines depicting the suffering of the Lebanese people as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Especially notable among these was a series of photos that showed children's toys laying about the rubble of a bombed-out building, which took advantage of the emotional power of the motif of the suffering of children. However, it was later proven that these photos -- which to newspaper editors must have seemed to good to be true -- had been staged by pro-Hezbollah photojournalists trying to elicit sympathy for their cause from the West. In her essay "On Photographs," American writer Susan Sontag argues that that photographs are readily taken to be truthful reproductions of reality, although they can be deceptive, and that while photos are powerful in their ability to evoke emotions and deliver moral messages, they can only reinforce, not change, existing public opinions. The staged photographs that came out of the Second Lebanon War offer support for her claim. While many American newspaper readers did accept the deceptive photographs as real, they did still little to sway public opinion from supporting Israel to supporting Hezbollah.
Lens Essay Arguement & Intro
Structure of Argument:
Doniger suggest that masks allow one to self-impersonate: to become the very person that others see in us. While Doniger very thoroughly explores the act of donning masks, she falls short in addressing the act of shedding masks. Nabokov’s provocative novel Lolita brilliantly explores both the act of donning and shedding masks. In his novel, Lolita at first becomes the person Humbert Humbert projects. However, as years go by and their relationship becomes more stable, Lolita attempts to shed the mask that Humbert Humbert has unfairly and inappropriately projected unto this young girl. Nabokov’s Lolita extends Doniger’s intriguing argument about donning asks by arguing that the shedding of certain masks remains just as important in discovering one’s true self.
Introduction:
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins” (Nabokov, 9)
Nabokov’s Lolita is a brilliantly written novel about Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged man obsessivingly lusting after a 12-year old girl. Humbert Humbert, or H.H. as he familiarly refers to himself, meets Lolita through a woman he stays with during the summer. Due to the fact that Humbert narrates, it is sometimes difficult for the reader to gauge how mutual the interactions between Humbert and Lolita truly are. However, Nabokov eventually makes clear to the reader that Humbert has projected certain images upon Lolita: images that she initially seems to embody, yet eventually completely rejects. These ‘masks’ that Humbert forces upon this young girl bear striking resemblance to the masks essayist Wendy Doniger claims society can force upon its members. In her essay “Many masks, Many selves”, Doniger suggest that masks allow one to self-impersonate: to become the very person that others see in us. While she very thoroughly explores the act of donning masks, her essay falls short in addressing the act of shedding masks. Lolita brilliantly explores both the act of donning and shedding masks. In his novel, Dolores at first becomes the person Humbert Humbert projects. However, as years go by and their relationship becomes more stable, Lolita attempts to shed the mask that Humbert Humbert has unfairly and inappropriately projected unto this young girl. Nabokov’s Lolita extends Doniger’s intriguing argument about donning asks by arguing that the shedding of certain masks remains just as important in discovering one’s true self.
Doniger suggest that masks allow one to self-impersonate: to become the very person that others see in us. While Doniger very thoroughly explores the act of donning masks, she falls short in addressing the act of shedding masks. Nabokov’s provocative novel Lolita brilliantly explores both the act of donning and shedding masks. In his novel, Lolita at first becomes the person Humbert Humbert projects. However, as years go by and their relationship becomes more stable, Lolita attempts to shed the mask that Humbert Humbert has unfairly and inappropriately projected unto this young girl. Nabokov’s Lolita extends Doniger’s intriguing argument about donning asks by arguing that the shedding of certain masks remains just as important in discovering one’s true self.
Introduction:
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins” (Nabokov, 9)
Nabokov’s Lolita is a brilliantly written novel about Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged man obsessivingly lusting after a 12-year old girl. Humbert Humbert, or H.H. as he familiarly refers to himself, meets Lolita through a woman he stays with during the summer. Due to the fact that Humbert narrates, it is sometimes difficult for the reader to gauge how mutual the interactions between Humbert and Lolita truly are. However, Nabokov eventually makes clear to the reader that Humbert has projected certain images upon Lolita: images that she initially seems to embody, yet eventually completely rejects. These ‘masks’ that Humbert forces upon this young girl bear striking resemblance to the masks essayist Wendy Doniger claims society can force upon its members. In her essay “Many masks, Many selves”, Doniger suggest that masks allow one to self-impersonate: to become the very person that others see in us. While she very thoroughly explores the act of donning masks, her essay falls short in addressing the act of shedding masks. Lolita brilliantly explores both the act of donning and shedding masks. In his novel, Dolores at first becomes the person Humbert Humbert projects. However, as years go by and their relationship becomes more stable, Lolita attempts to shed the mask that Humbert Humbert has unfairly and inappropriately projected unto this young girl. Nabokov’s Lolita extends Doniger’s intriguing argument about donning asks by arguing that the shedding of certain masks remains just as important in discovering one’s true self.
Topic and Intro
Topic for Lens Essay:
In his essay “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism,” Benedict Anderson suggests that nationalism is born from a people’s sense of connection to an imagined community. Photographer Dang Ngo’s images of Chin Burmese refugees add another perspective to Anderson’s arguments by exploring how such grievous displacement makes these people unable to imagine belonging to any community at all. If nationalism is thus defined by the capacity to be psychologically created, it could be an impossible attainment for the Chin, who have become forced citizens of a “no man’s land” and who have lost either their ability or their will to imagine being a member of a worldly community.
http://www.dangngo.com/burma/
*Note- the selected image is the 11th one on the scroll (with the woman and child kneeling in the forest)
Introduction:
Refugees can be characterized as a nation’s lost generation; their coerced displacement strands them in precarious situations that frequently deny them their national identity. They become the orphans of the world, having lost their mother when they lose their country. The Chin Burmese find themselves under similarly low ceilings, for they are continually being evicted from Burma and forced into refugee lifestyles in Malaysia, India, and along the Thai border. In his essay “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism,” Benedict Anderson argues that nationalism is the psychological product of an individual’s imagined connection to a community. The Chin, however, exist in a constant state of limbo and are thereby unable to discern what country, if any, they belong to. As photographer Dang Ngo’s image suggests, these refugees are imprisoned in their own purgatory, destined neither to return to their former life nor to claim their place on higher ground. In short, this hopeless disorientation makes the Chin incapable of forging the imagined connection that Anderson describes, which may render them without a sense of nationalism entirely.
In his essay “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism,” Benedict Anderson suggests that nationalism is born from a people’s sense of connection to an imagined community. Photographer Dang Ngo’s images of Chin Burmese refugees add another perspective to Anderson’s arguments by exploring how such grievous displacement makes these people unable to imagine belonging to any community at all. If nationalism is thus defined by the capacity to be psychologically created, it could be an impossible attainment for the Chin, who have become forced citizens of a “no man’s land” and who have lost either their ability or their will to imagine being a member of a worldly community.
http://www.dangngo.com/burma/
*Note- the selected image is the 11th one on the scroll (with the woman and child kneeling in the forest)
Introduction:
Refugees can be characterized as a nation’s lost generation; their coerced displacement strands them in precarious situations that frequently deny them their national identity. They become the orphans of the world, having lost their mother when they lose their country. The Chin Burmese find themselves under similarly low ceilings, for they are continually being evicted from Burma and forced into refugee lifestyles in Malaysia, India, and along the Thai border. In his essay “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism,” Benedict Anderson argues that nationalism is the psychological product of an individual’s imagined connection to a community. The Chin, however, exist in a constant state of limbo and are thereby unable to discern what country, if any, they belong to. As photographer Dang Ngo’s image suggests, these refugees are imprisoned in their own purgatory, destined neither to return to their former life nor to claim their place on higher ground. In short, this hopeless disorientation makes the Chin incapable of forging the imagined connection that Anderson describes, which may render them without a sense of nationalism entirely.
Topic and Intro
Topic:
Essayist Wendy Doniger suggests in “Many masks, many selves” that people impersonate others, hoping to change themselves, but they ultimately fail and revert back to their normal self. Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai challenges this claim by suggesting that impersonators can change permanently through its portrayal of one of the main protagonists’ transformation.
Introduction:
In Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai, one of the main protagonists, a son of a farmer named Kikuchiyo pretends that he is from a noble class of samurai. Despite his humble origins, Kikuchiyo bears an oversized katana and an air of bravado to make others think that he is a samurai. The other six samurai hired to protect a village from bandits view him as nothing more than a wannabe. In fact, when one of the samurai, Heihachi, creates a war banner for the group, he draws six circles to represent the samurai, and a triangle for ‘Lord Kikuchiyo.’ Despite being the odd one out, Kikuchiyo manages to prove himself worthy of the title samurai by the end of the film. One of the main points of the movie is that we can choose who we want to be; external factors such as society and class shouldn’t rigidly confine us to a default persona. However, Wendy Doniger takes a different view in her essay “Many masks, many selves.” She believes that people impersonating others out of a desire to change themselves will ultimately fail. Seven Samurai rejects Doniger’s stance on change and declares that we are not hopelessly trapped inside our self.
Essayist Wendy Doniger suggests in “Many masks, many selves” that people impersonate others, hoping to change themselves, but they ultimately fail and revert back to their normal self. Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai challenges this claim by suggesting that impersonators can change permanently through its portrayal of one of the main protagonists’ transformation.
Introduction:
In Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai, one of the main protagonists, a son of a farmer named Kikuchiyo pretends that he is from a noble class of samurai. Despite his humble origins, Kikuchiyo bears an oversized katana and an air of bravado to make others think that he is a samurai. The other six samurai hired to protect a village from bandits view him as nothing more than a wannabe. In fact, when one of the samurai, Heihachi, creates a war banner for the group, he draws six circles to represent the samurai, and a triangle for ‘Lord Kikuchiyo.’ Despite being the odd one out, Kikuchiyo manages to prove himself worthy of the title samurai by the end of the film. One of the main points of the movie is that we can choose who we want to be; external factors such as society and class shouldn’t rigidly confine us to a default persona. However, Wendy Doniger takes a different view in her essay “Many masks, many selves.” She believes that people impersonating others out of a desire to change themselves will ultimately fail. Seven Samurai rejects Doniger’s stance on change and declares that we are not hopelessly trapped inside our self.
Anderson suggests that nationalism is a false sense of camaraderie. The Declaration of Independence extends to this claim by suggesting that there is a legal document that provides for this claim that the members of a nation can be brought together as one without meeting or having anything in common with one another other than the fact that they live on the same body of land.
Intro:
A nation is an organized group of people that are brought together and ruled by one form of government. Nationalism, the pride that one has for the advancement for his or her own country, brings together many of the the citizens in a single nation. Benedict Anderson, the author of "Imagined Communities," has a different definition for a nation; he believes that it is an "imagined political community - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign." He believes this because there is a feeling of connectivity between all of the citizens without having ever met or realizing that the differences between one another are large. The theory of the "imagined community" is viable for any nation, including the United States of America. Under the Declaration of Independence, the citizens of America are brought together by one line "all men are created equal." How is it possible for one line of one document to bring so many people together? It is possible because it creates the illusion of a community.
Sontag suggest that photographs are not statements about the world , but rather pieces of it. To photograph an object is to have an interest in the object as it is, and is a tactful way of encourage what is happening. The act of taking a photograph of a person is to violate them, to have knowledge of them , to turn them into an object. A photograph is an implement of power.
The act of paparazzi extends to this argument, a camera is a tool of power. To photograph the unsuspecting is to violate them, and take a piece of them with you.
To win 8 gold medals in a single Olympics is an impressive task. So impressive that only one person in world has ever done it, Micheal Phelps. Recently a photograph was released that portrayed Micheal Phelps smoking marijuana out of a bong. This single photograph has tainted his image to eyes of the public and will cost him thousands in endorsement money. This is the power of a single photograph.Sontag suggest that photographs are not statements about the world , but rather pieces of it. To photograph an object is to have an interest in the object as it is, and is a tactful way of encourage what is happening. The act of taking a photograph of a person is to violate them, to have knowledge of them , to turn them into an object. A photograph is an implement of power.The act of paparazzi extends to this argument, a camera is a tool of power. To photograph the unsuspecting is to violate them, and take a piece of them with you.
The act of paparazzi extends to this argument, a camera is a tool of power. To photograph the unsuspecting is to violate them, and take a piece of them with you.
To win 8 gold medals in a single Olympics is an impressive task. So impressive that only one person in world has ever done it, Micheal Phelps. Recently a photograph was released that portrayed Micheal Phelps smoking marijuana out of a bong. This single photograph has tainted his image to eyes of the public and will cost him thousands in endorsement money. This is the power of a single photograph.Sontag suggest that photographs are not statements about the world , but rather pieces of it. To photograph an object is to have an interest in the object as it is, and is a tactful way of encourage what is happening. The act of taking a photograph of a person is to violate them, to have knowledge of them , to turn them into an object. A photograph is an implement of power.The act of paparazzi extends to this argument, a camera is a tool of power. To photograph the unsuspecting is to violate them, and take a piece of them with you.
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