Deconstructing Our America Project
For this project we were required to do extensive research about the different viewpoints of a certain political issue. Then we had to form our own biased argument, clearly explaining our stance through the op-ed article. In addition we were requ As a young citizen of the United States, I felt it was important to take an international view in regards with the surveillance of the National Security Agency on our allies.
I have learned that there are multiple ways you can share your voice and rhetorical opinions on things. Not only are speeches full of rhetoric, but poems, songs, even raps will share different viewpoints or arguments, often times persuading you to agree. For this project I chose to create a spoken rap because it displayed my belief nicely. I was able to connect to my audience through my rap and felt as if I had them hooked from the beginning. After watching many different examples, I found that it is important to know who your audience is going to be before writing your speech, poem, or rap. With a clear idea of the people you want to listen and agree with you, it is important to become personal and use logs, pathos, and ethos in order to get them engaged.
Throughout this project I was most intrigued by the background and recent news on the NSA surveillance on our allies. There was information on CNN and in our local paper on the topic of my choice. I chose to learn more about this since I was unaware of what was happening and I was not sure what argument I believed. As much as I want our country to be safe, I do not agree that spying on our allies is the right thing to do. After reading many different Opinion Editorials and understanding different backgrounds and opinions, I came to a conclusion that the level of spying we have done on our allies is morally wrong. I learned a lot from this project. With the requirement of clearly stating your opinion in your Op-Ed, I was forced to learn a lot about the my topic and understand both sides in order to decide what I believed. I really enjoyed having the option to create a poem, video, speech, rap, or even a debate on our topic. This part of the project really inspired me. Once I came to the conclusion that I wanted to write a rap, I became really excited to shout out rhetoric to my audience.
The most challenging part of this project was creating the most effective way to transmit what I was trying to say in my Op-Ed. I went through multiple drafts in order to refine my work. After switching multiple paragraphs around, I finally came to a finished piece that I thought portrayed my belief in the most effective way. At first it was challenging to chose what I believed was right since there are so many different opinions on the topic. After reading many different articles on the topic, I finally could begin writing what I believed.
As a young American, it is important to question everything and seek for improvements with different perspectives. It is important that we are critically thinking through everything as a young American. This is the country we will grow in and possibly raise kids in the same place. It is important to advocate for what we believe and constantly have an active voice.
I have learned that there are multiple ways you can share your voice and rhetorical opinions on things. Not only are speeches full of rhetoric, but poems, songs, even raps will share different viewpoints or arguments, often times persuading you to agree. For this project I chose to create a spoken rap because it displayed my belief nicely. I was able to connect to my audience through my rap and felt as if I had them hooked from the beginning. After watching many different examples, I found that it is important to know who your audience is going to be before writing your speech, poem, or rap. With a clear idea of the people you want to listen and agree with you, it is important to become personal and use logs, pathos, and ethos in order to get them engaged.
Throughout this project I was most intrigued by the background and recent news on the NSA surveillance on our allies. There was information on CNN and in our local paper on the topic of my choice. I chose to learn more about this since I was unaware of what was happening and I was not sure what argument I believed. As much as I want our country to be safe, I do not agree that spying on our allies is the right thing to do. After reading many different Opinion Editorials and understanding different backgrounds and opinions, I came to a conclusion that the level of spying we have done on our allies is morally wrong. I learned a lot from this project. With the requirement of clearly stating your opinion in your Op-Ed, I was forced to learn a lot about the my topic and understand both sides in order to decide what I believed. I really enjoyed having the option to create a poem, video, speech, rap, or even a debate on our topic. This part of the project really inspired me. Once I came to the conclusion that I wanted to write a rap, I became really excited to shout out rhetoric to my audience.
The most challenging part of this project was creating the most effective way to transmit what I was trying to say in my Op-Ed. I went through multiple drafts in order to refine my work. After switching multiple paragraphs around, I finally came to a finished piece that I thought portrayed my belief in the most effective way. At first it was challenging to chose what I believed was right since there are so many different opinions on the topic. After reading many different articles on the topic, I finally could begin writing what I believed.
Although it was challenging, I really enjoyed the freedom we had during the project. We had the choice of choosing a topic that we had a personal connection. I was really passionate for my topic which helped me produce a piece of writing that produced a meaningful message that portrayed my argument.
As a young American, it is important to question everything and seek for improvements with different perspectives. It is important that we are critically thinking through everything as a young American. This is the country we will grow in and possibly raise kids in the same place. It is important to advocate for what we believe and constantly have an active voice.
Is Orwell’s ‘1984’ Becoming America’s New Reality?
The National Security Agency’s international surveillance program was big news worldwide this week as the vast scale of its surveillance activities was revealed. Americans were shocked at the extent of eavesdropping on foreign leaders, including heads of state of U.S. allies, and the agency’s practice of tapping directly into overseas servers of Google and Yahoo. Although surveillance is said to assure safety, the NSA spying on our allies has gotten out of control, and the moral implications endanger our personal freedoms.
The recent NSA controversy is not just about a spy agency run amok. It is about an political world where everyone, even the walls, phones, tablets, and laptops are always listening. “All big countries use espionage, and some of the countries that are complaining spy on the U.S,” said James Andrew Lewis, a former American diplomat now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This sort of spying doesn’t necessarily mean the countries involved are plotting against each other. They are simply trying to glean information about changes in policy or pertinent information about third-party countries.”
A British newspaper in 2009 stated that twenty countries were spying on Great Britain, including allies France and Germany. France’s former top intelligence official Bernard Squarcini said in an interview for ‘Le Figaro’, “The French intelligence services know full well that all countries, whether or not they are allies in the fight against terrorism, spy on each other all the time.” Former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France Info radio, “Let’s be honest - we eavesdrop too. Everyone is listening to everyone else.” Are we okay living in an Orwellian world where the government is constantly monitoring our every move?
The reality is that just because many international leaders behave under the assumption that it is the norm to spy in this manner, it doesn’t mean that it is morally right. America should be held to a higher standard. Even if it is true that spying is a necessary evil in the interest of national security, the NSA has taken spying on our allies to an extreme and unacceptable level. We desperately need new rules to monitor, control, and protect the privacy of citizens, given the advances in modern technology. Not only are we losing the trust and respect of our allies, but even American citizens are questioning the integrity of their own government.
It is evident that this practice of spying on allies is a reality and is happening world wide to some degree however, this extent of spying is damaging and it impacts the lives of the American citizens. They call it the “Snowden effect” in which American citizens are changing their privacy setting on wireless accounts from fear of being monitored. When American citizens lose confidence in the integrity of their government abroad, they are likely to lose confidence in the government’s integrity at home.
The French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ discovered and reported that the NSA monitored 70.3 million French phone records. These people are not terrorists or threats to America. General Keith Alexander of the NSA disputed these news reports and denied the NSA collection of phone data of citizens in France and Spain. Whether the allegations are true or not, the damage has been done in terms of destroying trust. Once trust is broken it is very difficult to restore both here and abroad.
Being sneaky and dishonest contradicts America’s value system, which emphasizes integrity and taking responsibility for our actions. As more information becomes available about the NSA data-monitoring program, growing numbers of political leaders, organizations, and individuals are expressing outrage. Intelligence Committee members were angry at being uninformed. “Why did we not know that heads of state were being eavesdropped on, spied on? We are the intelligence committee and we didn’t know that,” asked House Intelligence Committee member, Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-III. It is clear that the surveillance program lacked proper oversight.
It’s important that we have allies we can trust, but in order for that to happen we must be trustworthy as well. In order to preserve our relationships with our allies, there needs to be mutual respect. It is disrespectful to tap phones in our allies’ homes and record their conversations, personal plans, and private viewpoints, as the NSA has done by tapping the phone of German Chancellor Merkel for eleven years. Our betrayal of our allies’ trust has damaged America’s reputation around the world. Excuses are not acceptable.
Not only have the NSA’s spying tactics gone far beyond what most people would consider acceptable, but the NSA, a federal institution, is now under investigation for violating federal wiretap laws. The NSA stole data from Yahoo and Google. In documents Edward Snowden leaked, it became evident the NSA was secretly accessing Yahoo and Google data centers, monitoring emails, texts, audio, and videos of more that 180 million records in a recent thirty day period. The latest revelations were met with outrage from Google. As the opinion editor, Bill Roberts, of the ‘Durango Herald’ says, “Spying is a game of betrayal, and it should not be altogether surprising that the NSA has engaged in a fair amount of it. What is surprising and damaging is the extent of activity.”
There is a growing sentiment that the government is watching too closely. Is our government turning into ‘Big Brother’ from the book, ‘1984’ by George Orwell? Is this becoming America’s new reality? Putting myself into Merkel’s shoes, I would feel outraged and violated if any government recorded and watched my every move -- as I typed a personal letter to a friend, had a confidential conversation over the phone, or wrote a Op-Ed to send to my teacher through email.
The recent NSA controversy is not just about a spy agency run amok. It is about an political world where everyone, even the walls, phones, tablets, and laptops are always listening. “All big countries use espionage, and some of the countries that are complaining spy on the U.S,” said James Andrew Lewis, a former American diplomat now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This sort of spying doesn’t necessarily mean the countries involved are plotting against each other. They are simply trying to glean information about changes in policy or pertinent information about third-party countries.”
A British newspaper in 2009 stated that twenty countries were spying on Great Britain, including allies France and Germany. France’s former top intelligence official Bernard Squarcini said in an interview for ‘Le Figaro’, “The French intelligence services know full well that all countries, whether or not they are allies in the fight against terrorism, spy on each other all the time.” Former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France Info radio, “Let’s be honest - we eavesdrop too. Everyone is listening to everyone else.” Are we okay living in an Orwellian world where the government is constantly monitoring our every move?
The reality is that just because many international leaders behave under the assumption that it is the norm to spy in this manner, it doesn’t mean that it is morally right. America should be held to a higher standard. Even if it is true that spying is a necessary evil in the interest of national security, the NSA has taken spying on our allies to an extreme and unacceptable level. We desperately need new rules to monitor, control, and protect the privacy of citizens, given the advances in modern technology. Not only are we losing the trust and respect of our allies, but even American citizens are questioning the integrity of their own government.
It is evident that this practice of spying on allies is a reality and is happening world wide to some degree however, this extent of spying is damaging and it impacts the lives of the American citizens. They call it the “Snowden effect” in which American citizens are changing their privacy setting on wireless accounts from fear of being monitored. When American citizens lose confidence in the integrity of their government abroad, they are likely to lose confidence in the government’s integrity at home.
The French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ discovered and reported that the NSA monitored 70.3 million French phone records. These people are not terrorists or threats to America. General Keith Alexander of the NSA disputed these news reports and denied the NSA collection of phone data of citizens in France and Spain. Whether the allegations are true or not, the damage has been done in terms of destroying trust. Once trust is broken it is very difficult to restore both here and abroad.
Being sneaky and dishonest contradicts America’s value system, which emphasizes integrity and taking responsibility for our actions. As more information becomes available about the NSA data-monitoring program, growing numbers of political leaders, organizations, and individuals are expressing outrage. Intelligence Committee members were angry at being uninformed. “Why did we not know that heads of state were being eavesdropped on, spied on? We are the intelligence committee and we didn’t know that,” asked House Intelligence Committee member, Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-III. It is clear that the surveillance program lacked proper oversight.
It’s important that we have allies we can trust, but in order for that to happen we must be trustworthy as well. In order to preserve our relationships with our allies, there needs to be mutual respect. It is disrespectful to tap phones in our allies’ homes and record their conversations, personal plans, and private viewpoints, as the NSA has done by tapping the phone of German Chancellor Merkel for eleven years. Our betrayal of our allies’ trust has damaged America’s reputation around the world. Excuses are not acceptable.
Not only have the NSA’s spying tactics gone far beyond what most people would consider acceptable, but the NSA, a federal institution, is now under investigation for violating federal wiretap laws. The NSA stole data from Yahoo and Google. In documents Edward Snowden leaked, it became evident the NSA was secretly accessing Yahoo and Google data centers, monitoring emails, texts, audio, and videos of more that 180 million records in a recent thirty day period. The latest revelations were met with outrage from Google. As the opinion editor, Bill Roberts, of the ‘Durango Herald’ says, “Spying is a game of betrayal, and it should not be altogether surprising that the NSA has engaged in a fair amount of it. What is surprising and damaging is the extent of activity.”
There is a growing sentiment that the government is watching too closely. Is our government turning into ‘Big Brother’ from the book, ‘1984’ by George Orwell? Is this becoming America’s new reality? Putting myself into Merkel’s shoes, I would feel outraged and violated if any government recorded and watched my every move -- as I typed a personal letter to a friend, had a confidential conversation over the phone, or wrote a Op-Ed to send to my teacher through email.
Have you ever heard of the “Snowden Effect”? I recently wrote an Op-Ed on the spying practices of the National Security Agency on our allies.
I wrote a rap on this topic called:
Shout out to Snowden!
THe NSA is in the spotlight!
Here we are,
In such a fight.
Americans, we were shocked!
Ed- Snowdown, he showed us how to rock!
He said no waay!
That’s not cool!
This is life
Don’t be a fool!
He was disgusted
He knew it was wrong
He couldn’t live
without pushing on.
And so he ran
But before he did
He made sure he lifted the lid
To be sure
This was seen with eyes,
He leaked documents,
To the wise
200 thousand documents!
He sent out,
When he was done,
There was no doubt!
Now we know what we didn’t before,
All these lies,
Cant go on no more!
Is this where we end?
Not just spying on our enemies but also our friends!
And where do we go?
Show the damn people what's going on below!
For eleven years straight
Tapping the phone!
Poor merkel,
she wont leave us alone!
We have rights
both our friends and allies
They aren’t terrorists,
Don’t make them tell lies!
How would feel
After hearing the news that
Your best friend
Is Making you choose?
Mutual respect?
And honesty?
Or spying and cheating,
Is that where we agree?
They stole data!
E-mail and text!
Google and Yahoo,
They're so perplexed!
Do you have,
A facebook or twitter?
Be aware,
The government might stare.
Are we ever alone?
They got cameras and surveillance watching every home!
Will this ever change?
It's time for the government to finally rearrange!
So here we sit,
Is it right or wrong?
France and Spain,
Say its happened all along!
Whether its true or not,
The damage is done,
We lost their trust,
We have shot the gun!
Once trust is broken,
It cant be restored,
Both here and abroad,
This cant be ignored!
We need rules
To monitor and control,
Or is this becoming:
“Big Brother's” new role?
Big dark eyes,
watching over you,
Monitoring and controlling,
your every move!
What you say,
And what you do,
They listen and hear,
They creep over you!
Isn't this
supposed to be,
A Strong and vibrant,
Democracy?
Its gone on
Far too long,
But the funny thing is...
Ed’s still gone!
Ill say it to your face!
Your whole damn system is a disgrace!
Its too bad,
It’s a shame,
But the reality is:
Only we are to blame!!
Now is the time,
To stand up and say,
"Enough already,
We won’t play!!"
So bring him home,
And let him talk,
Hear his side,
I still think he rocks!!
The poor guy,
He is still alone,
He deserves more!
He picked a bone!
But we will stand,
By his side,
And we will support him,
with our pride.
So don’t give up hope,
We still care,
When you return Ed,
We will be there!!!
I wrote a rap on this topic called:
Shout out to Snowden!
THe NSA is in the spotlight!
Here we are,
In such a fight.
Americans, we were shocked!
Ed- Snowdown, he showed us how to rock!
He said no waay!
That’s not cool!
This is life
Don’t be a fool!
He was disgusted
He knew it was wrong
He couldn’t live
without pushing on.
And so he ran
But before he did
He made sure he lifted the lid
To be sure
This was seen with eyes,
He leaked documents,
To the wise
200 thousand documents!
He sent out,
When he was done,
There was no doubt!
Now we know what we didn’t before,
All these lies,
Cant go on no more!
Is this where we end?
Not just spying on our enemies but also our friends!
And where do we go?
Show the damn people what's going on below!
For eleven years straight
Tapping the phone!
Poor merkel,
she wont leave us alone!
We have rights
both our friends and allies
They aren’t terrorists,
Don’t make them tell lies!
How would feel
After hearing the news that
Your best friend
Is Making you choose?
Mutual respect?
And honesty?
Or spying and cheating,
Is that where we agree?
They stole data!
E-mail and text!
Google and Yahoo,
They're so perplexed!
Do you have,
A facebook or twitter?
Be aware,
The government might stare.
Are we ever alone?
They got cameras and surveillance watching every home!
Will this ever change?
It's time for the government to finally rearrange!
So here we sit,
Is it right or wrong?
France and Spain,
Say its happened all along!
Whether its true or not,
The damage is done,
We lost their trust,
We have shot the gun!
Once trust is broken,
It cant be restored,
Both here and abroad,
This cant be ignored!
We need rules
To monitor and control,
Or is this becoming:
“Big Brother's” new role?
Big dark eyes,
watching over you,
Monitoring and controlling,
your every move!
What you say,
And what you do,
They listen and hear,
They creep over you!
Isn't this
supposed to be,
A Strong and vibrant,
Democracy?
Its gone on
Far too long,
But the funny thing is...
Ed’s still gone!
Ill say it to your face!
Your whole damn system is a disgrace!
Its too bad,
It’s a shame,
But the reality is:
Only we are to blame!!
Now is the time,
To stand up and say,
"Enough already,
We won’t play!!"
So bring him home,
And let him talk,
Hear his side,
I still think he rocks!!
The poor guy,
He is still alone,
He deserves more!
He picked a bone!
But we will stand,
By his side,
And we will support him,
with our pride.
So don’t give up hope,
We still care,
When you return Ed,
We will be there!!!
Bibliography
Calamur, Krishnadev. "European Parliament Joins List Of Those Upset With The NSA." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/10/22/239642698/european-parliament-joins-list-of-those-upset-with-the-nsa>.
Carter, Chelsea J., Catherine Shoichet, Tom Watkins, and Mariano Castillo. "NSA Chief: Reports U.S. Collected Calls, E-mails from Allies 'completely False'" CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/politics/nsa-hearing/index.html>.
Cohen, Tom, Al Goodman Contributed Reporting to This Story from Madrid, Spain. Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, Evan Perez, David Simpson, and Jim Acosta Also Contributed to the Report Written by Tom Cohen in Washington. "Top Senator: Obama Didn't Know of U.S. Spying on Germany's Leader." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/28/politics/white-house-stopped-wiretaps/index.html>.
"Online-wsj-com-article-sb10001424127887323893004579055332692755074-html-mod-wsj-wsj-us-news-5-2013-09-05." - TextMirror. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://textmirror.net/mirror-online-wsj-com-article-sb10001424127887323893004579055332692755074-html-mod-wsj-wsj-us-news-5-2013-09-05>.
Shoichet, Catherine E., Tom Cohen, Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, Elise Labott, Brooke Baldwin, and Jim Acosta. "Obamacare and NSA Spying: What Did Obama Know, and When Did He Find Out?" CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/politics/obamacare-nsa/index.html?hpt=hp_t1>.
Carter, Chelsea J., Catherine Shoichet, Tom Watkins, and Mariano Castillo. "NSA Chief: Reports U.S. Collected Calls, E-mails from Allies 'completely False'" CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/politics/nsa-hearing/index.html>.
Cohen, Tom, Al Goodman Contributed Reporting to This Story from Madrid, Spain. Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, Evan Perez, David Simpson, and Jim Acosta Also Contributed to the Report Written by Tom Cohen in Washington. "Top Senator: Obama Didn't Know of U.S. Spying on Germany's Leader." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/28/politics/white-house-stopped-wiretaps/index.html>.
"Online-wsj-com-article-sb10001424127887323893004579055332692755074-html-mod-wsj-wsj-us-news-5-2013-09-05." - TextMirror. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://textmirror.net/mirror-online-wsj-com-article-sb10001424127887323893004579055332692755074-html-mod-wsj-wsj-us-news-5-2013-09-05>.
Shoichet, Catherine E., Tom Cohen, Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, Elise Labott, Brooke Baldwin, and Jim Acosta. "Obamacare and NSA Spying: What Did Obama Know, and When Did He Find Out?" CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/politics/obamacare-nsa/index.html?hpt=hp_t1>.