For Research: "Mandelstam After Arrest"

Osip Mandelstam was a prominent poet during Stalin's reign; known for Stalin's Epigram, in which Mandelstam openly criticized Stalin. The government did not like Mandelstam's works, resulting in the poets arrest on May 13, 1934. 


After his arrest, Mandelstam was exiled to Cherdyn, only allowed to return to Moscow in May of 1937. During the Great Purge, Mandelstam refused to adopt Social Realism, causing him to be attacked by the public. In addition to being attacked, he was accused of having anti-Soviet views, causing more conflict for the poet. 


After months of attack, Mandelstam was arrested in 1938 and charged with "counter-revolutionary activities". His sentence was to serve five years in correction camps. The poet was to transported to a Siberian transit camp to serve the duration of his sentence.

Mandelstam did not finish his sentence due to his death in a transit camp near Vladivostock on December 7, 1938. There are many supposed causes of death, including: heart failure, typhus, and insanity. 

Life in exile had its issues, including lack of food, work, and communication with friends and family. As for the correction camps in which the poet was imprisoned, the conditions are unclear but one can infer the brutal and inhumane conditions based onthe result of his stay. 

Sources:

Kipreyeva, Alyona. "Prominent Russians: Osip Mandelstam". <http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/literature/osip-mandelstam/>

<http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSmandelstam.htm>

For Research: "Ethical Guidelines for Journalists"

Journalists, although writing cutting-edge stories that are filled with drama and information, have certain guidelines that are to be followed, including:

• Seek Truth and Report It
• Test accuracy, identify sources, question sources' motives, avoid undercover ways of acquiring information, NEVER PLAGIARIZE, avoid stereotypes, support different views, give voice to the voiceless, and distinguish news from advertising.
• Minimize Harm
• Show compassion, be sensitive, recognize possible harm/discomfort, recognize privacy, show good taste, be cautious of the subject, and think of the criminal and his right to trial and accusation before being formally charged. 
• Act Independently
• Avoid conflict, avoid credibility harming situations, refuse anything that could compromise integrity, be vigilant, and avoid information for pay. 
• Be Accountable
• Clarify and explain, encourage public grievances, admit and correct mistakes, expose unethical practices, and abide by high standards.

Sources:

SPJ Code of Ethics. <http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp>

Blogging Notes: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

1. Personal liberation, in the book, can be seen as setting one's self free, rather allowing the staff to control them. The book isn't really anti-woman, it just shows them in a different light-the bossy ones, the religious ones, and the whores. The "good" female characters aren't mean and see the patients as people rather than mental patients and freaks that should be feared. This book has a woman in power for the most part, as in other books the men normally hold the power. 
2. "Ratched" alludes to the word "ratchet" which is a tool with teeth on it. The teeth on the tool symbolize Nurse Ratched's harsh ways and unrestrained power. 
3. In this era, American women were becoming more prominent, holding more power and leverage in society. 
4. I don't see the book as racist, but it has racist tendencies; especially when talking about the aides (the "black boys"). African-Americans were not as integrated in society at this time. 
5. McMurphy is almost a saint sent to the ward in the patients' eyes. The electroshock table is shaped like a cross and there is talk about a crown of thorns, alluding to Jesus and his crucifixion. Candy can be seen as a teasing substance to McMurphy, but I'm not sure how that goes along with any religious ties. 
6. As in America at the time, the introduction of a new character and way of life completely changes the course society takes. The nature of the revolt is brought on by one person causing the rest of the people to rebel; the domino effect. 
7. This shows that McMurphy has experience in nonconformity and defiance. Communists were a big topic during this time, resulting in paranoia in America. In the ward, Nurse Ratched is the communist, while the patients are America, as shown when Chief believes Nurse Ratched is changing the time on the clocks. 
8. Chief is a reliable narrator, until influenced by some kind of drug or anything along the lines of that. The fact that he is an Indian represents the struggle Indians have gone through in their lives and how Chief is struggling in the ward. Chief thinks the Combine is out to control every aspect of the ward and its patients. His liberation takes the form of going against the ward and eventually escaping. 
9. There are many instances in the book where Chief goes off from the story into his own little world where he recalls fragments of occurrences from his childhood and things like that. 
10. In the 1960s, drugs were everywhere. Hippies had weed, crack, meth, acid, etc. This book tells us about the use of drugs and the view of the use of drugs in society. 
11. The book expresses many of the same ideas and thoughts of the rebels of the 1960s.
12. This recalls the book Gulliver's Travels and its opinion and relationship with society and its actions. This period was a time of rebellion withing the country; the government was corrupt and the people were going crazy. In Kesey's eyes, modern America has become too concerned with conformity and does not know how to change what is going on in the world. 
13. The book seems cynical because of how Nurse Ratched runs the ward. She overrules the vote during the World Series debate because she wanted to win. 
14. This hows that the radicalists in the 1960s will end up in mental facilities due to their constant drug use and their ideas. 
15. McMurphy is a control freak; he is power hungry. With gambling, he knows how to work the cards to his benefit and outsmart his opponents. The authorities see him as a cheater due to the fact that he wins all the time, only for his benefit. 
16. Considering the constant machine references, Big Nurse could symbolize the government, which is a machine in a way. The government, at the time controlled everything, as does Nurse Ratched. 
17. The portrays liberation as personal freedom, mental and physical. Liberation, in a political sense, is the representation of the community by one person, not fully guaranteeing one's personal freedom or expression of ideas. 
18. When Chief has his dreams and flashbacks, it is apparent that Kesey was under the influence of some form of drug. Look at the word choice and description of what is going on. There are also instances where spelling and grammar just fly out the window, showing his influence. 
19. Laughter is a theme of the book because of the seriousness of society during the time. For Kesey, it serves as an escape from reality. 
20. The "loonies" see the world from a different perspective than the "normal" society, showing that they have their own thoughts, rather than society's thoughts. Insanity is the only sane response to an insane world. Crime can be seen as a matter of sanity, rather than a matter of motive. Social policy would be affected by this by the changing outlook of the citizens on the world, altering their decisions. 
21. Kesey wants society to lighten up and have some fun. The best way to reform society is to think to an extent, but not think too much. 
22. There is a great amount of imagery and similes in the novel, showing the true nature of Kesey as a person, as well as the characters in the novel. It gives readers and Kesey something to use to picture what is going on in the novel. 

For Research: "Sweatshops"

Sweatshops exist all over the world. The awful conditions provide for the hatred of the sweatshop practice. Conditions and abuses in sweatshops consist of: wages so low, the workers cannot meet the basic standards of living, dangerous and substandard working and living conditions, uncompensated overtime, and sexual harassment. 


Consumers buying products made in sweatshops range anywhere from people who buy Nikes to people who buy groceries from WalMart. Anyone buying any product can unknowingly buy products made in sweatshops. 


There have been, and are, many struggling efforts to change the use and conditions of sweatshops. There are countless websites and informational articles on the change of sweatshops for the better. 


Sources:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~nshah/fashioncrimes/Sweatshops.html

For Research: "Struggle for Women's Suffrage"

On the path to suffrage for women in the United States, the fighting women faced many hardships. Women's suffrage was first proposed in the Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention in July of 1848. Radical movements, such as picketing the White House, were tactics used in attempt to gain suffrage. In 1913, Alice Paul led a women's rights march around the White House on the day of President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. Paul did the same thing again on the day of Wilson's second inauguration.  

Women's rights advocates liked to use humor to make their point, as seen in Alice Duer Miller's "Why We Don't Want Men to Vote". This literary work uses humor in addressing the man's concern in politics, a man's place in society, and man's emotional status. 

Just like the abolitionists, women's rights activists simply wanted their specific focus of people to have equal rights as compared to the white men that controlled the country at the time. 

Sources:

Lewis, Jone Johnson. "August 26, 1920: The Day the Suffrage Battle Was Won". <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/suffrage1900/a/august_26_wed.htm>

For Research: "Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment"

Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not abolish slavery, as many people believe, but simply freed a select group of slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation, give on September 23, 1862, stated that all slaves currently in states that were rebelling against the Union were freed from slavery. 


The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, on the other hand, is the prohibition of slavery. This amendment stated that slavery is an illegal practice and will no longer be used as a form of labor by any means of the word. The Thirteenth Amendment set every slave free forever. 


Sources:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAS13.htm

For Research: "Cherokees After Removal"

After Jackson's removal of the Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee's hardships were not completely over with as of yet. After being forced from their homes, the Cherokee had to endure the eight hundred mile journey to Oklahoma, which was to be their new home. This long, painful journey was called by the Cherokee, the Trail of Tears. 


The Cherokee that were making the journey to Oklahoma faced many hardships on the Trail of Tears, including: famine, disease, exhaustion, and dehydration. Not all of those on the journey rode horses or wagons, many walked a great amount of the trail, causing many health concerns. Of the 15,000 Cherokees to begin the journey, over 4,000 died. 


Sources:
"The Trail of Tears". <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html>

For Research: "Rousseau's Influence on the French Revolution"

In relation to the French Revolution, Jean Jacques Rousseau was the inspiration behind the conservative, liberal, and socialist theory. Rousseau saw a divide between society and human nature, which was a major contribution to the Revolution. Rousseau spoke of man's state of nature as a time when man was naturally good, as compared to society in his present in which man was made to be good through the use of laws and rights. 

Rousseau's ideas of man's state of nature and civil state proved a catalyst to the French Revolution that occurred. French citizens began taking notice of Rousseau's words and thoughts and decided to take action against the government that was corrupting them, the people. The main source of Rousseau's influence is The Social Contract, which clearly shows and tells of the goodness of the human race in its natural state. 

Sources:

 syzygyastro. "The French Revolution, Locke and Rousseau. <http://syzygyastro.hubpages.com/hub/The-French-Revolution-Locke-and-Rousseau>

For Research: "Ancient Roman Slavery Citizenship"

In Ancient Rome, for a slave to become a free citizen, the slave had to meet certain conditions for citizenship. For a slave to become a free citizen, the slave must be over thirty years of age, he must be owned by his master with quiritary right, and must be set free by manumission (Gaius 17).

If the slave is under the age of thirty, other conditions must be met. A slave under thirty years of age can become a Roman citizen by manumission if he has been declared free in the will of a bankrupt master and appointed as his heir, provided that he is not excluded by another heir (Gaius 21). The slave must be declared an heir to gain Roman citizenship.  

Sources:

Gaius, The Institutes