"Why Obama Needs To Go" (Close Reading #3)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/19/niall-ferguson-on-why-barack-obama-needs-to-go.html

In this article in The Daily Beast (also in Newsweek) Niall Ferguson argued why he believed Romney to be a better candidate than Obama. He uses diction, details and syntax to convey this message, something I have found to be a recurring theme in the political articles I have read closely.

Ferguson uses diction and syntax to directly and indirectly characterize Obama from beginning to end of the article. He first quotes himself from 2008, reaffirming that Obama's election was "a cause for great rejoicing" and relating it to the assassination of MLK in terms of historical importance. He continues praise Obama, saying that his "remarkable qualities" include "soaring oratory" and "near faultless campaign organization." He begins the article by lavishing all of this praise on Obama, painting a picture of Obama as a great figure but not mentioning his qualities as a president or any of his actions. Through this good-spirited acknowledgement of some positive qualities of Obama, there is an attempt to draw readers in who agree that Obama's qualities as a candidate were good, but might not be convinced that he was the greatest president. This seems to be intended to target an audience of undecided voters and moderates who might be persuaded away from voting for Obama.

In a short third paragraph, however, there is a shift in tone with the use of the word "Yet" to begin it and ending with the claim that "[Obama] has not... delivered on his promises." This is a segue into the meat of the article, filled with endless claims and characterizations of Obama as an incompetent, incapable leader who has lied to the American people.

Through pointing out the promises of Obama that have been broken, especially those regarding the economy, Ferguson attempts to discredit Obama and his supporters' arguments on how he has succeeded. After assembling an "economics dream team" to advise him, Obama "'[didn't] know what he was deciding'" in regards to the economic disaster that he faced. This is an excellent example of the way Ferguson uses details to attack Obama, as he takes a negative view towards Obama but fails to take a great opportunity to emphasize the positives of the candidate that he supports, Mitt Romney, a veteran of the business world. In fact, near closing the article, Ferguson states that "by picking Ryan as his running mate, Romney has given the first sign that—unlike Obama—he is a courageous leader," hardly a convincing endorsement of the candidate.

Indeed, Ferguson seems to be attempting to discredit Obama on nearly all fronts, claiming that "a much more accurate term [for the Affordable Care Act] would be 'Pelosicare,'" attributing one of the biggest pieces of legislation that Obama supported to the former House majority leader. The reform of the financial sector didn't go far enough, as "10 too-big-to-fail financial institutions are responsible for three quarters of total financial assets" in the US, seemingly advocating banking reform immediately after he called the Democrats' banking reforms "a near-perfect example of excessive complexity in regulation." The inclusion of these details while not acknowledging the extremely limited control Obama has over legislation helps Ferguson to send the message that Obama is merely a poor candidate for the job of US President.

The ending of the article tops it all off in dramatic fashion; in the second to last sentence, readers are told they have "a choice between les États Unis and the Republic of the Battle Hymn," implying that Obama is a socialist (association of Obama with France and socialism) while Romney and Ryan are best represented by the symbolic American anthem. By placing this at the very end of the article, Ferguson leaves the reader with the impression that not only is Obama a poor leader, but that he is un-American and his competitors are easily beat him in that regard, using this organization of the article to influence the readers' impression of Obama even further without attempting to use the logic used throughout the rest of the piece.

By cleverly using details, diction, and syntax, Ferguson creates an argument that could influence many who share similar sentiments regarding Obama's tenure as president.

Power: Open Prompt #3

2005, Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.
_______________________________

Bernard Marx, a character of Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, is ultimately driven to destruction by his desire for power. Through his use of foils and symbols, Huxley sends the message that power is at odds with the ability to know the "truth."

In the vastly different society of Brave New World, based in the twenty-sixth century, Bernard struggles to fit into the social structure that is engineered by the government to create a "happier" society. He doesn't fit into the caste he was decanted (artificially born) into, and is a social outcast for much of his life in a world where solitude is dreaded and even regarded as immoral.

Huxley uses Helmholtz, another high-caste and intelligent man, as a foil to Bernard. Helmholtz is a very popular man who fits in extremely well but he grows discontented with all of the low pleasures that others in society value. He enjoys conversing with Bernard, or rather speaking to him without much response, and is everything that Bernard wishes he could be.

After going through the misery of not being accepted by the world and developing a relationship with Helmholtz, Bernard takes a trip into the Savage Reservation and finds a very peculiar young man who was born of a "civilized" mother, a character referred to as "the Savage" by almost all characters but someone who is well versed in Shakespeare. Upon returning to London society, Bernard gains status and power through the desire of everyone else to meet "the Savage," or John as Helmholtz properly calls him. Bernard uses this power to sleep with many women and to gain influential contacts and he lords his new-found power over Helmholtz's head, although Helmholtz seems entirely disinterested. This contrast is accentuated in the conclusion, in which both Helmholtz and Bernard are exiled to far away islands to live with like-minded people who have been similarly punished. When all of his dreams come crashing down, Bernard turns to drugs to try to regain happiness, while Helmholtz is delighted and accepts his exile excitedly. It is made clear that true happiness is only found through the pursuit of truth, while Bernard finds only despair in the pursuit of power.

Symbols are everywhere in Brave New World, from the replacement of "Lord" with "Ford" in all instances to the soma (drugs) with which everyone is so obsessed. The use of Shakespeare, banned in the future society, to represent everything that has been lost by civilization is hard to ignore, especially as it becomes a focal point for the entire second half of the novel in the discussions between John, Helmholtz and a World Controller named Mustapha Mond. All of these characters recognize the artistry of Shakespeare, but they all view it differently. John enters a state of rapture when reading it and loves it passionately, while Helmholtz finds it amusing due to the cultural differences he encounters in it. Mond also finds it to be incredibly great literature, but he long ago gave up the search for "truth" in order to try to preserve "happiness" for the rest of the society, persuaded by having been offered a position as one of the most powerful men in the world. In their common love of Shakespeare, these men agree that there are commonalities in the values between the old and new societies and Mond even acknowledges that the world might be better if seeking knowledge (the truth) is its focus. However, the power that he has gained changes his view on this all important issue. Huxley uses this contrast explained in arguments over Shakespeare to send the reader the message that power for its own sake is bad and corrupting.

In Brave New World, Huxley provides a critique of the power-hungry and mourns the value of happiness over knowledge. He sends these messages through the use of foils and satire involving the central characters of Bernard and John.

Course Response #3

Since the last reflection I posted, we have finished studying The American Dream and moved on to Death of A Salesman. While I feel this play covers many of the same topics as The American Dream, I haven't spent enough time with it yet to be able to say conclusively what I think its themes are. Since the title draws our attention towards the fact that Willy is a salesman, it is clear that this is a very important detail. The focus of the work seems to be on capitalism or the American Dream, but I can't really articulate exactly what it is. It also seems to me that the portrayal of women in Salesman could be important, but I don't know exactly what for.
The terms test retake on Friday was also still really hard, but I know I made some dumb mistakes that I shouldn't have. Hopefully going into the next quarter I'll be able to stay on top of the material and work ahead of schedule.