Part 1:
What struck me
as the most important event during the Tiananmen Square protests was the way
the armies went about clearing the square.
I could never imagine the US handling a situation like that in the same way. Starting
from around 10:30pm to 6:00am the next morning the armies were using APCs,
expanding bullets, and even setting things on fire to try and stop the
protesters; they were shooting at people on their apartment balcony’s, shooting
at students, even the protesters that were fleeing and trying to get away got
shot in the back. It boggles my mind how others can be treated, and learning that
there are other ways, brutal ways, of handling situations. It is a good
reminder to stay aware and mindful that not everyone has the same freedom and follows
the same set of rules as we follow here in the US.
Part 2:
Tiananmen Square: I think this picture is effective because
it goes to show that this protest was no joke, brutal, and that there were
casualties. No one really knows for sure exactly how many casualties there were
but some say a few hundred and others say a couple thousand. This picture shows
that people were there ready to lay down their life for what they believed
their country needed: a more democratic economy.
Hong Kong: I think this picture is very effective because it
makes a statement basically saying: yes
we know that you are capable of what happened at Tiananmen Square—WE KNOW—but
bring it on cause we’re not going anywhere. I think this picture shows the
hearts and feelings of the people towards their government. Looking at the
photo, I get the feeling that they are ready to try to create change, be united—have
a voice.
I used CNN and The New York Times. The story that I researched
is about women in Saudi Arabia. The two articles I focused on were about how in
Saudi Arabia it’s very gender segregated and for women to work there it isn’t a
social norm like it is here in America. The women in Saudi Arabia are very
intelligent. Approximately fifty percent
of the women there have a university degree. However, it isn’t part of their
culture for them to translate their degree into a career. I also learned
through the sources that women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia. This
story made me feel like I take our freedom for granted…sometimes I even
complain about having to drive. Trying to imagine what our country would be
like if women were banned from driving and not encouraged to work is just
unimaginable. If I went to college and earned a degree and didn’t get an opportunity
or the choice to work, that just wouldn’t be easy to understand or accept.
These articles along with the Tiananmen and Hong Kong research has really just
made me appreciate living in this country.
The CNN article focused it’s information primarily using one
girl as the subject matter expert, her name is Almuzel, she’s a mechanical
engineer and works for GE of Saudi Arabia. Almuzel shares with CNN that women
in her country don’t get very many opportunities to work. Almuzel shares her
thoughts on working with men in Saudi Arabia. This article also gives brief
information on upcoming plans for more workplace opportunities for women. The
NYT article gives a little more information on how women are getting jobs now,
specifically through this network called Glowork. The NYT article provides
slightly more detail by interviewing multiple Saudi Arabia women; all who share
their input on the subject of working. The
NYT article gives, in my opinion, equal insight and same view points on information
that the CNN article gives. The NYT article does emphasize more on how women
are now finding jobs. The CNN article uses a video with Almuzel, to summarize
everything in the article. The NYT article only used a single picture as means
of a visual. NYT used the women in the
workplace to grab the reader’s attention, but the take away and underlying
message from the article was slanted toward promoting the Glowork network.
CNN article- "A brave new era for Saudi Arabia's woman workers?"
NYT article- "Saudi Arabia Signals Openness to Women Seeking Work"
As i was reading your Exploration, your pictures caught my eye the most. The picture that interested me out of the gate was the Tiananmen Square one. I liked how you said,"people were there ready to lay down their life for what they believed their country needed: a more democratic economy." I thought that was really deep, and it really hit home. i enjoyed everything you wrote about.
ReplyDeleteI was also very upset with the fact that the government opened fire on helpless civilians. This is terrible and I am also very glad that something like this could never happen in America. I also used the same picture as you for the Hong Kong protests. My analysis of this picture is almost identical to yours which is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love the two pictures that you used from the Tiananmen Square and The Hong Kong protests because I used the exact same pictures form my writing as well. Just like you I felt these pictures showed how the people believed and really connected with one another in a huge way. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked both the pictures that you used. Like you said, it seems unimaginable for us to think of something like that happening here in the U.S. Its crazy that the Chinese army would be so careless about their people, to start shooting at everyone and to try and control what images people around the world saw.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first part of part 1. It's so hard to imagine the U.S handling a situation such as the one in China. It makes me feel blessed that we live in a country where we have a voice and have a democracy. I by no means believe that our politics are fair, but we are in a better state than other countries and that is something to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteI liked your articles you chose. It really made me think about my freedom. If was not given the option to drive or have a job, I'm not sure how I would feel. I feel as though I need to know how to do drive. Being so restricted would be boring, I think I truly take my freedom of being a woman for granted.
ReplyDelete