This is a song that when I first heard I got hooked on.  It is silly, simply, and maybe not the deepest, best, narrative artifact, but there is a clear story.  Through that simplicity, it struck a fun, strange chord in me. It has been fun to analysis this and defines the song a little better in my mind.  This has helped me understand why it struck me at that time in my life. 

This narrative is set at the beginning of a journey.  The circumstances are not clearly defined.  The type of journey is not specifically important to the narrative.  The video implies an actual journey, though to me the lyrics speak of a metaphorical journey.  Regardless of the type, the fact that is it a journey makes the narrator a vagabond. This is important to the story.  The narrator lack of "home" makes him susceptible to change, advice and growth.  The Narrator is also the main character of the story.  As the story progresses, we meet two other men.   The first of these men is 2 feet tall. While the story it's self does not specify a specific temporal order or relationship, it is interpreted to have happened in the order presented.  The man is happy, self actualized and comfortable with whom he is, despite what the world may say about his statue.  As our narrator continues on his journey he meets a man on the opposite side of the spectrum in every way.  The man is 12 feet tall, seems to be of great esteem among the world and yet has dreaded the same words of wisdom the prior man had treasured and lived by.   

In the end of the song the narrator uses the same words of wisdom to reassure himself that who he is good enough. This would be the causal effect of the story, seeing the example of the two men help him be who he wants to be.  Not by becoming someone in the sight of the world, or mind of others, but by being content with himself as a roughly 6 foot tall individual. 

The audience would be those who may not feel good about themselves, or feel they have to meet some culturally driven standard.   With that in mind the theme is one of self actualization.  The purpose of the story would be to impart the advice to the audience. 

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012

Ripple
This song by the Grateful Dead is FULL of Metaphors and I will not attempt to analyze all of them for the purpose of this assignment.  Jerry Garcia never gave any type of explanation of this song.  On occasion he would even refuse to play it because he felt it was sacred and should be played in churches not at concerts.

One metaphor that I feel I may be able to pull out of this song is the title reference.  The Ripple on still water.  For me, much of the reference of this song refers to a loved one that has passed on to the other side.  The ripple on still water is the difference, or effect that person had on the hearts of those left here.  The still waters are in the corners of a morning heart.  There is no turmoil, or anger; it just is what it is.  The wind would be turmoil or frustration, a pebble would represent anger or a resentment towards the conditions surrounding a death.  But the waters are still, a calm reassurance that what is done is done, there is no going back, no way to fix what has happened only a calm acceptance of a sad situation.  YET, there are ripples,  a soft, calming image.  Ripples showing the life made an influence, and the passing of that life cannot be ignored.  I think of even soft ripples on water, they will drastically change the refection in the water, showing things you may have never seen other wise and may never see again. 

In this metaphor, the water, or more specifically, the ripples are the vehicle.  The tenor, at least in my mind, is the unseen, yet never forgot influence of a loved one.

There are parts of this song that confuse, yet sooth me.  Offering a strange, yet comforting feeling. The last verse is a great example of this.


You who choose, to lead must follow
But if you fall you fall alone,
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home.

  It seems to offer little or no comfort about what is next.  Starting out by saying, you have no control, you cannot chose when or how. Even if you do get to choose to go, once there you can only follow.  Then it says you will have no one to follow, no one there to guide your way or help you through what ever darkness lies ahead. In the third line it seems to say, no matter what you choose you will be left to figure it out on your own.  Stay or go, you will not be lead home.  But then in the forth line, in a tone and way only Jerry could, he says, I wish I could help you, and THAT is enough to give you strength to take the chance and see what lies ahead. 

 
For my Ideological Artifact I have chosen America First Credit Union's logo.

The logo it's self conveys volumes.  For some back ground, the credit union was established to service the federal employees stationed and working at Hill Airbase.  It's original audience was men and women in the service of their country.  Men and women that may say they put America first in their own life.  The symbol of freedom from tyranny and oppression, the eagle with its wings spread wide open crowns the logo.  As a financial institution this represents financial freedom from the fees, profit driven banks.
These symbols represent a much deeper more complex ideology.

Before I continue, I will say for my class mates benefit that there are some great advantages to Banks.  For some people they are the best option and provide a more appropriate set of services and products better designed for a consumer.  I will also say, the ideology of banks, a capitalistic system, is what our nation is founded on and I believe the best system for the majority of goods and services.  You won't hear any of that is an America First Credit Union Commercial.

The credit union ideology is based on a co-op system.  Simply put all involved in the credit union have a vested interest in the success and advancement of the entire financial institution.  As a "member" of the credit union you receive free or reduced rate services like checking, cashiers checks, low interest lines of credit. In addition, profits earned over and above the cost of running the credit union are split evenly among all members based the the level of investment, in the form of dividends.  The credit union's strategical plans are designed by a group of elected volunteers.  This board of directors set the course of the credit union and develop the business strategies of the company.  As volunteers you can rest assured they have the stability and interest of the members at heart.  They do not take unwarranted risks for the hope of big rewards for themselves.  The financial health of each of its members is the number one goal. 
As I searched for the correct "ism" to define to the credit union ideology I was reminded of the Bedford Falls savings and loan from "It's A wonderful Life".  The motto of the credit union is people helping people.  I would choose to describe the Credit Union as Democratic Socialism.

Artifact #1 Newsies

Artifact #1
Video 1
Video 2 

For my Neo-Aristotelian article I have chosen this speech given by Jack Kelly (with the help of Davey) in the Disney movie the Newsies. This speech is the beginnings of a revolution among a group of young working news boys.  This speech and the circumstances around it inspire these boys to organize and fight back against the proverbial man. 
The Rhetor - Jack is seen as somewhat of a leader among the news boys, many respect him and look up to him. Jack happily assumes the role of protector arguably because it best serves his interest and his ability to lead the group pays dividends for himself. 
The Situation - The context of this speech begins with a hike in the cost of the papers to the news boys.  This causes the anger, outrage, frustration, and panic.  The audience feels abused, and helpless.  This sets the stage perfectly for someone to come in and offer a solution. 

Canons
The invention of the speech is spontaneous and based on the immediate emotions of the group.  Jack (Davey) draws on a similar, relevant occurrences (the trolley workers strike) to frame his ideas.  The invention of the speech and ideas presented our impromptu. 
The Organization of the speech is created to harness the train of thought and emotions of the audience.  It is created to direct the emotions of the boys to an organized, action based group. 
The language used to create the rhetoric is very interesting to me in this artifact.  Jack takes Davey's ideas and using more bold language puts those ideas across to the audience.  Jack takes complicated ideas and says clearly to the boys the way they should act.  Jacks digest the ideas and presents it simply to the boys by using simple, excited, and appropriate language.

This speech and Jack's rhetoric continues for much of this movie.