It is a truth universally acknowledged...

Brad Paisley Controversy?

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:15:46 -0400

Alright, so anyone who follows country music at least a little bit should be aware of the flack that country music superstar Brad Paisley has found himself in as of late. For those who need an update, the release of Paisley’s new album Wheelhouse was overshadowed by a particular song on that CD entitled “Accidental Racist”, a duet with Paisley and LL Cool J. Paisley has defended his song and lyrics multiple times on late night TV shows, online arenas, etc. as wanting to examine the racial tensions still present in the South and have a dialogue about that, something that I think desperately needed to be done. Paisley stated that he believes music should be not only an artistic expression, but also one that can touch on real issues and ask the questions people would rather shove under the rug. Brad Paisley, I applaud you.

i have listened to this song multiple times, examined the lyrics and find nothing racist about it at all. It is what he explained: a dialogue about the relationship between white people and black people in the South. It is not offensive, but I can see how it would push a few buttons. Is Brad Paisley a racist? No. Not at all. And I think it is a shame that upon Google-ing his name, that assertion pops up. Anyone who denies that racism doesn’t exist is living under a rock, but at the same time, anyone who says that it is better not to talk about things related to it, isn’t helping anyone.

On a literary level, Paisley’s songwriting is beautiful. Utilizing both internal and end rhyme, the chorus of “Accidental Racist” really resonates with the listener. His use of parallelism emphasizes the continual evolution and internal progression of the racial relationship in the south, emphasizing it’s fragility. Who among us hasn’t been labeled based on where you are from? Or cast as a certain stereotype immediately?

“I’m proud of where I’m from, just not everything we’ve done.

And it ain’t like you and me can re-write history.

Our generation didn’t start this nation.

We’re still pickin’ up the pieces, walkin’ on egg shells, fightin’ over yesterday

And caught somewhere between southern pride and southern blame.”

I applaud Brad Paisley for stepping outside and box of country music and writing a song with a message that really resonates with political and racial culture today.

Here’s the song; have a listen and you decide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSurzeGvPrQ

Passage Close Read, Junior year of High School from The...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:13:57 -0400

Passage Close Read, Junior year of High School

from The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

"It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over."

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:49:40 -0400

“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over.”

- Edna St. Vincent Millay

Willoughby: A Very Disappointing Man.

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:48:42 -0400

In my English Studies class, we have been reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen- one of my favorite writers. I have read every Austen novel at least once, but the process of reading it for a class and for analysis so completely different from reading it for pleasure’s sake. The level of intricacy and absolute genius of Austen is quadrupled!

One of my favorite discussions we have had in class dealt with Mr. Willoughby- the scoundrel! The question my professor posed to us was this: ” What has he exactly done? Is a man not allowed to lose interest in a woman without it making him the worst person in the world?” Our answers came down to representation and the falsification of person. Willoughby presents himself as this dashing man, one who swoops in to rescue Marianne when she twisted her ankle and proceeds to breech all levels of decorum in his regard for her and the Dashwood family. With his sudden disappearance and eventual withdraw from their presence entirely, Willoughby “breaks faith” with the family and thus, ensures his downfall in their eyes. Is the downfall justified? Nowadays, if a guy goes on a few dates with a woman, he is in no way expected to make a marriage proposal, but Austen’s world was different. In all sense of the word, Willoughby and Marianne acted as though an agreement was worked out between the two, when in reality, no such engagement existed.

This is a case of a performative speech act vs. a performative act. Willoughby did not live up to the ideal created of him in society’s mind, and thus, society turns on him. I didn’t even mention the whole reveal of his seduction of Colonel Brandon’s ward….

Does Willoughby deserve our hatred? Personally, I dislike other characters in the novel much more than him, such as Lucy Steele. She just bugs me to no end.

I think the classification of “disappointing” is very fitting for Willoughby- he doesn’t end up being the champion we as readers desired him to be, but he may warrant more pity than hatred by the end of the novel.

Prologue

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:10:38 -0400

It seems odd to offer an introduction to something I have been doing all my life- reading, writing, and pursuing English in all ways. I am drawn to English studies, in particular Literature. Most people do not understand and recoil with an “Ohh yuck!” or even better an “I’m sorry” when I inform them of my major of choice. On the inside I recoil and desire to remove myself as quickly as possible from this person who displays such a lack of interest in a skill set that is universal- everyone, in every disciple, benefits from reading and writing well (which is very different than simply reading and writing). As English Majors, we are trained to carefully and critically examine minute details that most people overlook. Reading for the big picture becomes obsolete and the hunt for subtleties consumes us.

We, as people, make sense of the world through narrative, This is why most people are drawn to novels for enjoyment purposes. Because it is relate-able Nothing written, has not been written before, much like in life, our actions are never entirely new. Yet, English studies are constantly refreshed, remodeled and renovated, drawing me into the study- never tiring of a close reading assignment or a discussion on the irony of Austen.

Clifton Fadiman stated that “When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before.”

So I am working everyday to read myself to a better, smarter and more enriched me.