The First World War to the Present

The First World War to The Present on Dipity.

My hometown

Dear students in Louisiana,

I'm from a place called Høvik, just outside Oslo. I've lived here my whole life and I'm enjoying myself here:) Høvik is located in Bærum municipality. Nearest city is Sandvika, a rather small city, which is also where I go to school. Next to my school is Norway’s biggest shopping center where I usually go shopping if I don’t go shopping in Oslo.

If you like swimming, jumping off cliffs and so on there’s plenty of alternatives here for you. I personally LOVE the summer. Norwegian summer is not nearly among the warmest ones, about 25 degrees Celsius, but I think it’s a nice temperature. If you are more of a winter-lover then Norway is more than perfect for you! We get lots of snow during the winter and therefore we have several different ski slopes for you.

I also have a cottage further south in Norway, in Nissedal. This is a beautiful place. And for me –who loves the summer it’s perfect:D! It’s a very quiet and small place, so if you want to have an entire beach for yourself this is the place to be! The photo below is the view from our yard.

Barack Obama’s inauguration speech

Barack Obama has been sworn in as the 44th US president. On Tuesday 20th of January 2009 he held his inauguration speech where he for one thing spoke about the serious challenges America face today. The nation is at war and the economy is badly weakened. Homes have been lost, jobs shed and businesses shuttered. The healthcare is too costly and the schools fail too many.

“Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.”

Obama talks a lot about the economy. The situation America is up against calls for action to create new jobs and to lay a new foundation for growth. Among other factors they have to raise healthcare's quality and transform the schools, colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.

”Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

Obama also mentions that America is ready to lead. America is a country of diversity and the nation has to believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass.
Other topic Obama has is that he would like to make peace in Afghanistan, contribute to a change of climate and help the poor nations.

“…know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.”

Barack Obama is a great speaker. He has really been gifted with his oratory. I think that the problems he wants to solve will be difficult and hard, but it needs to be done to create a better America. The speech he held was long, but not too long. I believe that America should be grateful that Obama won the election. I personally think Obama will do a very good job concerning the war, the economy and the health problem. And probably even more.

Devolution UK

http://hoka.glogster.com/glog-302/

"Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

I have just barely started to read the book”Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer. Therefore I don’t have much to say about the book so far. I will thus write a little about the background for the book. But first, ”Into the Wild” is a bestselling non-fiction book about the adventures of Christopher McCandless. The predominant theme of Into the Wild is man’s role in nature. Chris McCandless believes that man’s ultimate joy can only be found in communion with nature.

After graduating in 1990, McCandless ceased communicating with his family, gave the entire balance of a $24,000 savings account to charity, abandoned his car and burned all the money he had in his wallet. In April 1992 Chris McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. From there he headed down the snow-covered trail to begin a new life for himself. Four month later his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.

Into the Wild - author's note, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild

Rupert Brooke and "The Soldier"

Rupert Brooke was born in England August 3rd 1887. He attended Rudby School and later King’s College University of Cambridge. Brooke had a troubled love life and fell heavily in love several times, in both women and men. Brooke left England to travel in France and Germany for several months before he returned to England again. In England he spent his time in both London and Cambridge. After experiencing a mental breakdown in 1913, Brooke traveled again, spending several months in America, Canada, and the South Seas. He returned to England at the outbreak of World War I and later died of blood poisoning from a mosquito bite in 1915.

Rupert Brooke’s poem “The Soldier” was written at the start of World War I. In this poem Brooke expresses his love for England and how he believes it is right to fight and die for his country. Brooke uses repetition of the word England in a very patriotic style, and he also uses personification to describe England as if it were a person, for example, “her sights and sounds, dreams happy as her day”. The poem deals with the two themes death and love which evoke feeling in people. The poem creates an image of a brave man who would do anything for his country. Before Brooke died in 1915 he got to fight in the war, therefore the poem has a very traditional viewpoint. The poem is also very idealistic. Brookes says in his forth line, "In that rich earth a richer dust concealed." This means that if he is to die in a country other than England that the soil would be made better because there would now be a piece of England within it. It also means that his country, England, is superior to any other country. His poem was used to inspire young men to enlist as well as to bring comfort to the families of the victims of war.

I believe that since this poem was written in the very early years of war, the poet has not experienced the truth of war and the extreme brutality that soldiers experience at the end of war, when they get tired and cannot bear to fight in the war any longer. Therefore I think he writes more than he can stand for. But I do believe that this is a very good poem.

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/181, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Brooke, http://www.ciao.co.uk/Poetry_Analysis__Review_5476922, http://www.azete.com/preview/52719, http://chawedrosin.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/rupert-brooke02.jpg

Crash

The title of the film I just saw is “Crash”, and the genre of the film is crime and drama. The film is made to point out a part of a society in America. The foreigners came to The US in order to comply with a wish for a better life. They wanted the American Dream. This dream has for its object that any citizen, regardless of family, wealth or background, can become the President of The United States. Since America is a nation of immigrants they made this film to show how all the nations can “crash” together in an American society.

Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of interconnected characters: A police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the white district attorney and his irritated and spoiled wife, a racist white veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more.

In the film we see prejudice – like when Jean (the spoiled wife) wants the locks changed again after Daniel (the locksmith) has been there. We see love, for instance between Cameron, the black Hollywood director, and his wife Christine. In the end also we see hope – like when John (the racist officer) rescues Christine from an explosion caused by a car-accident. We see hope again when the Iranian disposes of his gun, and when Anthony (one of the two black gangsters) sets free the working children. The main theme that we can perceive throughout the film is racism. Other themes we come upon are lack of confidence in others, misunderstanding, hate and fear.

I absolutely recommend this film. It makes you see what's really going on right outside your door. You see how each member live together in a society in the streets of Los Angeles. It's sad, but at the same time we distinguish that it is hope out there.


http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2005_Crash/2005_crash_009.jpg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_(2004_film), http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/