In this project, our goal was to analyze the meaning of human existence, and our own standpoint on such a large topic. When it came to formulating an idea, we had just finished a film analysis of Into the Wild, and I felt like watching another film. Then I remembered one of the largest "Life" films: Forrest Gump. I chose to proceed with a film analysis of the movie as my centerpiece of the project, with the personal matters and essential questions being addressed on a separate paper. One of the things I really learned from this project was just how significant human existence is. Even though we may seem like a single individual out of 7 billion, we're connected with more people than we really think. Ever since birth, our lives are a spiderweb of those who know us, those who have heard of us, and even people whom we are now able to meet from across the world via social media. A "Small event" of life or death affects so many people, not just our own bubble that we often think incorrectly about being isolated. Now that this project is over, I feel more thankful to be here. It's just like my analysis of the "Life is like a box of chocolates" quote. There are good and bad experiences in life, and frankly this school year ended up as a pretty bad one due to my own poor choices. Yet, in the end, it ended up being good, due to a fast and committed recovery of my grades. I find satisfaction not only in writing out this reflection, but being able to sit here and acknowledge that I am a living, breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping... so on. What I'm trying to say is that I am a human, among 7 billion others like me, and I'm happy to be alive. However, it still makes me wonder... if I can feel this much meaning for myself, why shouldn't others? I've acknowledged that problems can be solved, and that bad experiences will pass... so why can't everyone?
Forrest Gump Analysis & Connection
Into the Wild Analysis
Rhetoric & Ideology Project
During this project, my focus was that of Hiroshima during the latter stages of WWII, and the atomic bombs that were dropped on it. Many people have seen it as a triumph, whereas I tried to portray it in light of a tragedy. This was done through my essay, and the accompanying art piece. I highlighted the statistics and related those to previous events throughout the war, appealing to an empathy standpoint of human existence. After looking at the two varying opinions (from a historical standpoint), it was surprising to learn some of the people who opposed this usage of the bombs. One of them was General Eisenhower, and another was the pilot of the Enola Gay (the plane that bombed Hiroshima). Most of those in favor of the bombs were simply the soldiers who had a burning hatred for the Japanese, in one way or another. It opened my eyes to how opposed people are just because of these ideological standards or quest for power, and made me rethink the ways we run our military. We've continued to test nuclear bombs ever since 1945, and the USA continued up until the end of the Cold War. However, that did not stop us from continuing to bolster military efforts, in the event that a war should break out. A major thing that I learned about the use of rhetoric was that it cannot ideally be done through one medium. Good rhetoric requires multiple forms of persuasion, forms that I scattered throughout my piece. For example, using the statistics and art piece appealed to Pathos, or feeling. By giving people this feeling of sadness or regret for this humanitarian crime, it makes us think about how we're all one in the same, regardless of who we're fighting for. Rogerian Rhetoric presents an important lesson that society could learn. While being able to present our own bias, it allows us to inspect the bias of other people, to gather where their views come from. By understanding not only ourselves, but also others, it removes these barriers that we build within our "single-track minds." In summary, by enabling ourselves to view another side, it gives us a greater wisdom for why we think in the ways we do.