Bowling for Columbine Review

Humor, sorrow, and thrill are just a few words to describe Michael Moore’s documentary “Bowling for Columbine.” Although he is a lifelong member of the NRA he depicts the problems of owning a gun in America. Moore weaves through cartoons, interviews, including one with NRA president Charlton Heston, and heartfelt situations. Moore has bias views and believes the media is to blame for this problem for focusing on crime thus leading to a greater fear in the people, which prompts them to purchase guns. Although the documentary is primarily set in the state of Colorado and the shooting at Columbine High School, Moore travels to Canada where he realizes that the gun to family ratio in Canada is the same to the US but has a far fewer death rate. He also visits California where he asks an on duty Sergeant who he can arrest for the pollution because the Hollywood sign isn’t visible from where he is because of the smog. Moore’s appealing documentary has something interesting in it for every viewer.

Moore’s engaging film locks in viewers with its thought-provoking aspects. He visits two students who survived the Columbine shooting, one whom has a bullet between his aorta and spine and the other whom is now paralyzed from the bullet. The bullets the two students have inside them still were purchased at K-mart so both students and Moore travel to K-mart headquarters to ask them to stop selling bullets. They bring awareness to the public about how easy it is to purchase a gun and bullets because they’re available even at corner stores and there is no limit on how many one person can purchase.

Some may say that jumping from topic to topic will shorten an attention span but Moore integrates short clips throughout the documentary keeping it interesting and laying out views and historical facts not commonly known. They keep the documentary interesting throughout and help pick up speed when parts begin to get dull (although there are very few, every film has them). He uses clever techniques to get his point across although some are taken out of context.

Moore uses humor to transform gun violence, a very serious topic, into something relatable and amusing. He acts as if he is interested in the speaker’s point of view and side of the story, portraying a way of mock-seriousness. He depicts slimy techniques, tricking gun crazed NRA activists to talk to him. He then asks them simple questions, which they are unable to answer, but anyone else would supply a reasonable one. Extremists interviewed deny that it in fact was the gun law, which was the issue and denied that the gun law in the United States is outrageous. Michael Moore himself is hilarious, and has a quirky smile while snappy witty comments towards the unfortunate opposition.

I believe that the documentary was very well done. Moore wasn’t afraid to find out the truth and get “down and dirty”. He uses his journalism skills well and brings not only awareness but informs the issue of guns to viewers. I would highly recommend this documentary as the general public would greatly benefit from knowing more about guns and gun violence in the world around them. 

Article Post

 

In Emma Teitel’s article “The New Paparazzi” she expresses her opinion of the dangers of social media. CW Leadbeater once said “You are what you share” and this article agrees with this opinion. The article not only explores and informs readers about the dangers of social media but also the hazards of parties and how the paparazzi has been handed over from reporters to teens with camera phones  

In reality some of what the article argues comes off as exaggerated. It talks about not being able to “attend a social gathering without it ending up on Facebook” when really a person is able to go out and not get a picture taken. People take pictures of themselves or with their friends but not of random scenes of a party or an outing. The article also talks about using digital cameras at gatherings and how they have become “house gathering staples” when digital cameras are not present. The only cameras are the ones that appear on cell phones. Future employers may go to Facebook to look at accounts or twitter but if a photo is posted by a person with them in it generally it is cropped to make it more presentable if they are holding something inappropriate. If a person is tagged in a photo by a friend and they don’t believe they look acceptable or presentable they can simply untag themselves from the photo on Facebook. To this day the majority of the high school population has been to at least one party and it’s rare for someone not to have attended one. This generation is a social networking one. Employers don’t want someone who isn’t social or good with interacting with others. They like personable people who are confident and outgoing. Would someone who isn’t social make for a good employee?

Facebook creates a way for people to “anonymously invade the privacy of people [one] doesn’t really know” this aspect is very true. It allows people to “creep” or “stalk” others without them knowing. Anyone in the world could be looking at anyone else’s profile whether or not they are someone’s next door neighbor or are halfway around the world. This aspect can be very disturbing in the way Facebook gives everyone the capability to look through any one person’s photos if their privacy isn’t on the highest settings. It can be useful if someone has a friend has an album of something in which they were present at or they went on a holiday and posted pictures of it but when someone who doesn’t know a person is creeping then that can be disturbing although almost everyone does it. The fact that one will never know who has looked at their profile and the amount of times they have is alarming although and the article specifies that well. 

 The article vastly expresses the unlimited concerns about social media although some things don’t seem as legitimate as the article tries to make them come across as.  Cameras at parties are extremely rare but cell phones do have them and people do take pictures even though the vast majority of them are of themselves taking a “selfie” either by themselves or with their friends.  It is rare for someone to go out and snap a picture of someone else and post it on Facebook “without his or her permission”.  Most people when at parties know that it “is not appropriate behavior to take pictures of others without consent” and treat each other how they would want to be treated. The article clearly outlines many of the dangers of social media and is informative to those who are unaware and precautions them about the existing dangers of parties, social media, and cameras.    







 

     

Slam Poetry Article

What is slam poetry? Is it poetry that you slam or poetry that has been slammed? Well it is neither. Slam poetry is a type of poetry where the reader performs an original poem that expresses a personal struggle or story. Often it is shared through a poetry slam which is a competition often the performances are then judged on a numeric scale by previously selected members of the audience.

 

Shane Koyzcan is one of these slam poets. His poem "To This Day" describes the difficulties that children can have growing up. The theme of his poem is to show the world what bullying can do to children and how the effect that it can have on people even as they grown up. He uses an analogy to compare the pecking order of the children to those of a circus. The pecking order went "from acrobats to lion tamers from clowns to carnies" in high school and the circus. His objective in this poem is to show the effects that bullying can have on children and how what is said to them can stick with them forever and does so in a manner that is easily relatable.    

 

 Taylor Mali is another one of these poets. He depicts the struggles of school from the teacher’s perspective in his poem “What Teachers Make”. Mali is unhappy that teacher’s jobs are based on what their income is. The theme of the poem is that the outcome of younger generations is more important than the income of older generations and those younger generations need to be respectful and persevering individuals.  Throughout the poem Mali uses puns and figurative language. When his guest asks how much he makes instead of replying with his salary he says that he can "make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor" and "an A- feel like a slap in

 the face”. He also makes the comment “it’s also true what

 they say about lawyers" to his dinner guest whom is a lawyer.

Mali is passionate and takes pride in his work and believes, “teachers make a goddamn difference!”

 

Another one of these poets is Sarah Key. Her poem Poem: B she shares the way she would raise her daughter. She would protect and comfort her throughout her whole life. The theme is that no matter what happens to stay positive and find the good in things. Key uses good diction throughout her poem to help form imagery. She wants her daughter to be unique and different than other children. By “[painting] the solar system on the back of her hands so that she has to learn the entire universe”

her daughter is gaining knowledge. She also shows how she would bond with her daughter and teach her. Key also shows how protective she is when she tells her daughter “don’t keep your nose up in the air like that” because she may “follow the trail back to a burning house…to see if [she] can save…[the] boy who lost everything” because she doesn’t want her to have   a                   “heartbreak chocolate can’t fix”.

 

Slam poetry is an interesting way for individuals to express their opinions in a unique and entertaining way. Whether it is for a competition or just to justify a point slam poetry is an exceptional way for poets to express a personal struggle or to story. These three poets are extraordinary in their use of diction and terminology.

 

Descriptive Paragraph

Panicking voices of my classmates fills the common area as our shoes squeak on the freshly cleaned floor. We scramble into the gym like mice scurrying to scavenge crumbs.  The fans on the ceiling of the gym spin in their counterclockwise direction. They drown out the sound of my unprepared classmates. Me, I’m not like them. I studied. But this exam means passing the course or not so I guess it makes it a big deal. Mr. Grady starts to pick up the microphone and high pitched shriek vibrates off of it. I know that I have to take my seat. Slowly I scan the gym wall. Each class has their own row and the papers hanging have the class and teachers’ name. My eyes scan the gym for my row like a hawk does to its prey. I then spot my row and slowly I slink down the aisle towards a seat. I see my reflection in the freshly polished gym floor. I choose a desk but it is no good. It wobbles. When it moves it squeaks because it’s uneven. I stand up again avoiding my classmates, looking for a new desk. My pencils and erasers are clenched in one hand. I can feel the tip of my pencil digging into my palm as I nervously set my water bottle on my new desk. It sloshes back and forth from my shaking hand. I watch the water move around the inside of the bottle then slowly it settles as I release my pencils and eraser to freedom from my tight grasp and sit in my seat. I feel the coolness of the metal chair on my legs where my shorts don’t cover. I glance up and see all the teachers with smirks on their faces, and Mrs. Niedbala almost gave me a look of “you’re done, see you next year”. I quickly look away to the clock. The clock changes to 8:59 and I hear the shriek of the microphone again. This time it’s Mr. Robinson tightly griping it. He holds onto it stiffly as he reads out the rules and regulations we all know to well. His voice cracks and laughter erupts throughout the gym but stops as quickly as it started. He finishes his speech with “you may now begin” and the room goes entirely silent. I click my pink and black pencil and flip open my exam. It makes a whoosh sound as I flip it over and sends a cool breeze a little ways to the left of me. I set down my exam and am ready to pounce on the first question like a tiger does to its prey. My eye twitches from little sleep and over studying and I begin my exam.