TRICK-OR-TREAT!

            TRICK-OR-TREAT! Every Halloween, mobs of children run from door to door and rob the good souls of candy. The princesses, superheroes, animals, devils, and vampires are alive, as they roam helpless neighborhoods and scream their rhymes, like ‘Trick-or-Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat’. But how did this all come about? As early as the 1750’s, American society retained a well-bred fear of witches, but now we devote an entire holiday to this celebration of beings which we once feared. This change in mentality, can be seen when modern parents attempt to forcefully dress up their child as a witch, devil, or animal. So how did this holiday take it’s prominence in American society?

            The auspicious practices of Halloween dates back 2,000 years ago, to the Celts. On October 31^st, they would celebrate the holiday of Samhain, when they paid their respects to the deceased. The Celts made large banquets to avoid undesirable spirits. Later generations then modified this practice, when people dressed up as undesirable spirits, such as ghosts and witches, in exchange for food. The Church later adopted this pagan practice by creating the Old Soul’s Day. On this date the dead were given their respects and children were made to start “souling”. No, souling isn’t when you sell your soul. This practice was when children went door-to-door in hopes of receiving gifts or alms for their departed relatives. But America’s grand introduction to Halloween, was a result of the potato famine and the increase in Irish immigration. In the 1920’s the “tricks” played on Halloween, caused great damage to metropolitan areas.  But by the start of the Second World War, sugar rationing decreased the popularity of the holiday. Once the war was over and the baby-boom started, the holiday of Halloween revived its popularity. Thus, the holiday has risen to the position of commercial importance, that we give it today.

            So, why have we changed this once religious holiday into a basis for commercialism? I believe the answer lies within our economy. Due to our drive for capitalism, America has lost sight on other respects of life. Halloween is not the only holiday, which has now been commercialized.  American holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are now more valued in American society due to their ability to create a profit. Holidays are supposed to celebrate the people’s morals. But if we solely focus on profit, have our morals diminished? 

Superheroes and Candy

My family is not organized. We do not keep the car keys in a specific cabinet, have certain days to do laundry, or even keep the family room floor tidy. Therefore, many pictures from my childhood cannot be easily accessed, including the Halloween photos. Therefore, I have selected a photo of my younger brother (the one farthest to the right) and his friends from last year. I believe he was supposed to be Thor.

Their costumes argued that these preschoolers were strong and hefty super heroes.  The extra padding on their costumes portrays these children as strong individuals. Although we are able to recognize that these barely-potty-trained-boys have not developed any muscles, their costumes make us believe that they have are mighty men.

Their costumes give an allusion that they are well-armored.  It argues that they are invincible as these little boys are protected. Each of them also wore masks that year, which gave their costume a sense of secrecy. Secrecy added to their personas and showed the onlookers that they will never truly know their full potential. Just like their identity, their full potential is a secret.

All in all, these children are declaring their love for the festival of Halloween. By smiling and being proud of their costumes, they show the onlookers the amazing nature of this holiday. I remember being in their shoes at one time. My friends and I scoured houses until we retrieved our gold (Twix, Skittles, Almond Joy, Fun Stix, Milky Way and much, much more). And now the day has come, when I will be stuck at the door handing out treats to princesses, super heroes, and the average teenager. How I wish I could be my brother’s age! 

Facebook and me

            It is 1:00am. I have been on Facebook for two whole hours and I am very tired. But I pry my eyes open in order to tap the keys on my laptop to message my friends. I don’t want to miss anything important. I mean what if someone needs advice at 1:03am or my dance group starts to decide our costume at 1:14am? And as I sit here and type away I wonder if technology is actually needed for a healthy social life.

            I have never been so “In the loop”. However, I have also never monitored Facebook at all times. But this has led to a slight obsession with Facebook and it is like déjá  vu. I used to rarely check my Facebook page. I barely updated my status (I still don’t update my status) and I rarely messaged my friends. But now I feel like I am pushed to actually use a Facebook account.  If I don’t check my messages I will not know when my next dance practice is, whose birthday it is (yeah I realize this sounds bad), or current events in my friend’s lives.  Other school activities, such as Link Crew and NHS, are also much simpler with these new methods of contact. So many facets of life have actually started to require having a facebook account.

            But we didn’t always have Facebook. I only created a Facebook page at my friend’s insistence in seventh grade. I recall the days when I called each of my friends and talked non-stop for an hour or two on end. With this method of communication, I would know if someone was jubilant, sarcastic, irritated, or upset. I could hear their voice inflections and infer their mood. In this way, their voices acted as automatic lie-detectors. My home phone has now become archaic. I never use this appliance since I would rather text or chat people. Thus, it has become uncomfortable to converse with the friends for a long time.

            When I grow old and reminisce about my youth, I want to remember the crazy adventures my friends and I had. Recalling the hours I wasted to stare at a blank screen is not how I envision . And when I get over my addiction to Facebook, that will happen.

Humor & Speeches

There are numerous important events in a president’s career. Most people believe the president’s inauguration is the most entertaining portion of a president’s career. But those people aren’t political junkies. Junkies (like me)  know that the White House Correspondent’s dinner is highly vital in a presidency. Some of you may be wondering what this “White House  Correspondent’s dinner” is. For your information, this is an annual event where the president is roasted by a professional comedian. No, these comedians don’t roast the president like marshmallows (otherwise the secret service would be mad). Instead, comedians poke fun at idiotic actions the president has taken and embarrass  various members of the audience.  This is very simple for amazing comedians like Stephen Colbert. It becomes especially simple when the gracious President George W. Bush gives you so much material to make fun of.  

Stephen Colbert’s purpose is to amuse the audience, while making several jokes about controversial matters in the Bush presidency. He is able to make that into humor by making side comments. For example, before he starts he states that “someone from NSA will be over with a cocktail” if the audience speaks to the table numbers. Instead of blatantly saying that one BIG mistake in the Bush administration was the NSA wiretaps, he has slyly incorporated this into his speech.  Because his audience is well versed in politics (it is a white house correspondent’s dinner), he uses politics for much of his material.

Logical fallacies also play a key part in Stephen Colbert’s speech.  His audience is an intellectual group. Thus, they are able to comprehend when he is using a logical fallacy, even if they can’t put a name on the fallacy. With this technique he sounds humorous. For instance, Colbert discusses his knowledge about the gut. He claims to know a certain fact about the gut. But then he acknowledges that is wrong, which increases his credibility. However, Colbert then states this fact is true because his gut has told him so.  By proving that his gut is right because his gut said so, is an appeal to a false authority.

Lastly, Colbert has made his speech humorous through the delivery of these comical attacks. Despite the fact that the audience knows Colbert is a liberal, he talks as though he is a conservative making his speech ironic and funny.  He is able to maintain eye contact and look at the whole room with a straight face.  Even though he clearly does not believe what he is saying, Colbert takes on the conservative persona and delivers a speech as real politicians do (his stance at the podium). By using meaningful hand gestures and exaggerating his tone inflections, he keeps the audience’s attention. Colbert also takes pauses after certain ideas in order for the audience to laugh and continue to focus on the next joke.  

With these techniques, Colbert is effectively able to roast Bush.