Atlas Shrugged

The topic of my research paper is the similarity's between the government in the novel by Ayn Rand and our current government, and also how this book is effecting policy makers on both sides of the political isle as well how the american public view it. This book is unique in that it shows the effect on society that government can have if it pushes to far in to the private sector and how it can stifle creativity and growth if incentive to excel is removed. This is important today because the American Government has recently taken unprecedented control of private industry in america with their to big to fail thinking. In Atlas Shrugged this is essentially what happens. the government takes control of private industry and the great minds "go on a silent strike" and disappear from the free market.

Father and Author.

I did not care for the book much to begin and the chapters about Walt and Krakauer did not do anything to change my opinion of the book. The chapter on Krakauer, attempts to relate to Chris but does not display the same emotional instability that I believe to be present in Chris. I feel the book as a whole was used to romanticize Chris's misguided attempt to find "truth". In reality i believe every time someone got close to Chris he would flee, his journey was not about "truth" but more his ability to make and maintain interpersonal relationships.

Media types.

I believe that the most effective media type was the post secret, this is because your message had to be concise. The simple combination of a few words and a picture had to be enough to invoke a pathos, ethos, or logos response. Because of this I would not have chosen to do any other type of project. I feel that the post secret had the most direction to it as well, the other projects seemed far more broad. However i will make one concession, the video project may have been more fun.

One song that means something to me is the "Song Halcyon + on + on" while not even close to being my favorite artist, Orbital did in my eyes produce a smash hit with this song. It features a back-masked vocal sample by Kristy Hawkshaw, The vocal while for the most part cannot be understood does lend its self to the overall fell of the song. The song its self is by far my favorite song to relax to and is considered by some to be the quintessential "chill" song. This song has been featured in movies such as Mortal Combat, Hackers, CKY2K, and Mean Girls.

Going for a Ride

I believe that hitchhiking has dramatically changed over time. An example of this would be during the great depression, it was common for people to "hitch" rides with other family's that had cars, to go out west. Today it is much less common place because it seams that world has become a more violent place. Maybe it has become a more violent place or maybe the media just alters our perception of it that way, who knows? I do know that last year my roommate got stranded in Seattle when his friends left him over there and he had no way home and very little money. He did the only thing he could, he made a small sign that said Pullman and put his thumb up. He told me the story of the ride back, he rode with three different family's, with one even inviting him in to a big 20+ person family dinner, one of the kids introduced him as a long lost cousin. He said they were some of the nicest people he had ever meet in his life. Is it for everyone, probably not, however when left with little to no option it definitely beats walking hundreds of miles through all sorts of weather.

Saving Chris

Is it really Gallien's job to save Chris. As they were driving into the woods Gallien tried many times to give Chris things and even offered to take him to town and buy him supplies so that he would have been better outfitted for the job. Chris just didn't seem to grasp the serious nature of the situation he we walking into. Also would calling the cops have done anything? This seems like a legitimate question, he was in a public park and had the right to be there. Could they have arrested him? I don't think so, maybe detained him for 24 hours but he would have found a way back. He was determined to get into the wilderness and neither Gallien or the police would stop him. Furthermore, why should Gallien stop him, he has know the kid for a few hours, he has no emotional investment in Chris. I would bet that within the day he had forgotten about Chris and didn't remember him untill he found out that he had died months later.

Introduction

Hello group A, my name is Harrison Jewell, I am looking forward to doing this blog project with all of you. A little bit about me, I am from Edmonds, Wa. It is a smallish town about 30 mins north of Seattle. I am really enjoying my time here at Washington State, I live off campus with my dog Raynor, he is a Norwegian Elk hound. I am not a particularly great writer, however I do enjoy it, and with any luck this class will help me become a more well rounded writer. I really like going out to the sporting events on campus, you can find me at all the basketball home games, and here is to hoping that our football team turns around next year, GO COUGS. I am here at WSU to learn and become a more well rounded man, I love the college experience and everything that it has had to offer me so far.