Final Presentation Outline

[Dong O]

Dong Chul Oh
Eng.101, Sec. #0495
December 20th, 2008
Final Presentation

What did I do?
In Cullen Murphy's book, "Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the
Fate of America," I choose chapter 4 - The Outsiders for my topic. The
chapter focuses on how the Roman views outside world, which is one
trait Americans inherited from Rome. It is one strong trait of any
empire seen in our history - from Rome to the British Empire, even
China as well, that the people and the governments of empires see
themselves highly of others and look down upon others. Rome lost
battle in Teutoburg Forest, due to their arrogance and near-sight that
hindered their keen, objective judgment on their enemy, and paid a
catastrophic result of losing four of its major legions. Since the
World War Ⅱ, seized by a mind of 'freeing' the world, the U.S. has
interfered in every corner of the world, from Korea to Africa.
However, such attempts have not been successful, as we witnessed from
the Vietnam War, and what is worse is that the U.S. keeps on making
the same mistake of putting its fork everywhere - hoping they can free
and save the world. (Or gain any share from the area - such as oil in
Iraq) Contrary to the U.S.'s belief, any change cannot be achieved
unless the change comes from the nation itself as any change that
attempted from outside influence will further increase the nation's
dependence on outsiders and provoke oppositions from the nation
itself. Also, Americans' attitudes are very much similar, as many of
Americans are arrogant and reluctant to learn and understand others'
cultures and norms. Such attitudes of Americans, added with the U.S.
government's offensive, unstoppable foreign policy, have aroused
angers from outside world. What the U.S. and its people should do is
to understand others from outside world more.

Why I did it?
As a foreigner to the U.S., I think America's arrogance and ignorance
on others are the most significant traits that have isolated the U.S.
from the rest of the world. From raping of a teenager girl by the U.S.
army personnel from Okinawa to two girls crushed to death by an
armored vehicle of the U.S. army in South Korea, the U.S. and its
people have committed many crimes throughout the world. Such incidents
made me to think what are Americans' attitude and thoughts,
particularly to the outside world of America. As I studied in the
U.S., I started to understand that America's views on others is very
arrogant and self-indulgence, with no attempt to try to learn or
understand others. When I studied in New York, 3 years later after
9/11, I talked many times with people in New York about the incident.
Most of them talked about what happed on the day, and how they felt
raged towards Muslim. What they never understood was 'why' it
happened. There, I understood that it is America's arrogance ignorance
that resulted in the catastrophic disaster which has drawn a dark
cloud of never ending conflict with Muslim. I thought when writing
this essay, that I should discuss the issue, as I believed they are
perhaps the most important mistakes and wrongdoings many Americans
have made.

What did I learn?
I looked into some crimes and incidents committed by the U.S. and its
people in outside world, from raping of a teenager girl by the U.S.
army personnel from Okinawa to two girls crushed to death by an
armored vehicle of the U.S. army in South Korea from the Internet, my
own personal experience, etc (I participated in a candle light
demonstration in South Korea to protest against the death of the two
girls) The reason why I looked into these cases were because many
Americans are not aware of those incidents or even care about. While
reading Murphy's book and writing this essay, I have come to
understood that what I thought about the U.S. was very much similar to
Murphy's ideas - the trait of arrogance and ignorance inherited from
Rome is a distinguishable, typical trait of the U.S. In order for the
U.S. to avoid the same path Rome took, the U.S. and Americans should
now turn their eyes to the outside world and try to understand others
and respect them in their own ways. Otherwise, the U.S. will not be
free from the rest of world's hatred and anger, which will further and
worsen isolation of the U.S.

What else could be done?
If I had more time and a budget of one million dollar, I would travel
around every corner of the U.S., the Middle East, and other parts of
the world the U.S. considers as enemies,(although the budget will not
be enough to travel around the world) interview many people and make a
documentary film - to show what many Americans are thinking and what
are wrong. Although there are self-critical documentaries films like
'Fahrenheit 911,' I think it is important for Americans to know what
foreigners think, since many Americans don't have a clue for it.

[Adrienne C]

Adrienne C
English 101- Section#0459
Instructor: O’Connell

What did you do?
I chose to present my paper on Chapter 4 of Cullen Murphy’s book
entitled The Outsiders. This chapter covers Rome and America’s self-
view and how it affects their judgment. My argument concludes that
Murphy is right in his estimation of Rome and America to be that of
arrogance and superiority.

Why I did what I did..
I chose this topic because it hadn’t occurred to me that the American
view of itself could be the cause of some of the problems we have with
other nations. The wrong viewpoint can invite seemingly unwarranted
attacks from other nations.

What did I learn?
I learned that we have a history of underestimating other nations. I
looked at the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and the
attack on 911. I also researched a bit about outsourcing and how it’s
taking away jobs from American workers and how this is affecting our
nation and the nations with whom we are outsourcing.

What else could be done?

Study and observe ourselves in relation to others. Educate ourselves
on our own culture and history, as well as that of other nations.

[o]

Shenell Williams
Fall 2008
Sat English 101
What I did: Compared, Anthony and Cleopatra, by William Shakespeare,
and the Roman Empire to Cullen Murphy’s 2007 Are We Rome, Chapter 5
the U.S and their Boarders. Murphy says that if we do not get control
of our borders then it will be a part of our down fall much like
Rome.
Why I chose this topic: I chose this topic because of all of the
recent boarder controversy in the U.S. , And since many people think
that one of the major things that Rome and the U.S have in common is
their lack of boarder control I thought that it would be a good
topic
What I learned: l looked at interviews from both sides of the
immigration border control situation. Some people argue that America
is a land of immigration and it was built by immigrants. I leaned
that
many people have very different opinions about the border situation
some say that all of the immigrants are taking our jobs and others
say
that they are only taking the jobs that people don’t really want
anyway.
What can be done to fix the problem: If I had a million dollars that
went towards this situation I would spend it finding a less
controversial way of allowing people to come into the U.S, and I
would
also set up a more efficient screening process. Since I am one of the
people that don’t think immigration is a major problem I don’t really
think anything needs to be fixed. The only suggestion I can make is
that the government enforce the current immigration Laws and create
some more sever consequences if they are broken.

[o]

Marsella G.
What did you do?
My final essay was based on the following items:
Borders and the communities that develope within culture or a
country.
Reasons people search outside their communities for better
opportunities.
Controlling entry into a country
Effects and benefits on the economy
Results may be related to the fall of Rome if government control is
lost
Why did you do what you did?
Am able to relate to immigration and border subject from family
history and living in San Diego
Am eager to learn of programs and awareness on immigration
What else could have been done?
Changes in Mexico need to be done to assist the people
jobs need to be created and less government corruption

[o]

Sharon Ko
12/19/08
PRESENTATION: ANCIENT ROME AND MODERN AMERICA
#1: What was done? What is the thesis? A thesis was developed that
considerable similarities exist between Ancient Rome and Modern
America that can provide valuable lessons for the United States,
especially in the conduct of foreign policy. Cullen Murphy’s 2007
book, Are We Rome?, is dedicated to discussing just such lessons and
similarities, and provided the fundamental explanation of the idea:
that despite the passage of thirteen centuries from the fall of Rome
to the founding of independent America, the remarkably striking
resemblance between them suggests that a study of Rome can offer
invaluable dos and don’ts for today’s U.S. In addition, a rather
unexpected technique was used: namely, the employment of a work of
fiction – specifically, George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra –
to support factual history. Recent commentaries and editorials also
were culled for support for the thesis, at least as far as they
describe and analyze recent policies that have been implemented by
the
U.S.
# 2: Why was it done? Why should anyone care about this? U.S.
conduct in world affairs, particularly since the start of the new
century, has met with devastating setbacks. Studying America’s
actions and their poor results brings into sharp relief two
significant elements of similarity to Rome’s conduct once it became a
true empire beginning in about 50 b.c.: first, although both nations
were or are deeply involved economically and politically with many
other countries across the world, both have shown remarkably narrow-
minded views and an utter lack of sensitivity toward their various
political and economic partners, especially in the areas of
sociocultural attitudes and customs; second, both have demonstrated a
notable over-reliance on the use of military force while neglecting
the importance of negotiation and diplomacy. Since these flaws
arguably played a considerable role in Rome’s eventual downfall, it
would seem vitally important for modern America to find ways to avoid
repeating them in order to escape a similar fate.
#3: What was learned? Explain the methodology, findings and
conclusions. Given the extremely limited time, space and resources,
this was a standard, though also very limited, review of the
available
literature on the topic. As noted in an earlier question, Murphy and
Shaw, which can be found in area bookstores or libraries, were the
most important sources, as called for in the assignment instructions.
Also per the instructions, recent editorials were researched and
located online through ProQuest. No firsthand, or primary, research
was conducted.
Nevertheless, reasonable support arguments were developed, largely
through Murphy’s examples, which show both nations sticking too
closely to foreign policies that relied primarily on the military
bullying of others. This combined with a consistent ignorance of
other customs and cultures that was maintained either through willful
stubbornness or careless neglect, especially as catalogued in Shaw’s
play about ancient Rome. This generally resulted in the need for
increasingly brutal imperial-style policies, which only fueled deep
resentments among each empire’s conquered or client states. These in
turn drove the need to keep up an enormously costly military presence
that clearly helped to ruin Rome and could be doing the same all over
again to modern America.
The recent editorials tend to embody the lessons of this project,
calling as they do for U.S. policies overseas that are based on
soundly developed ethical ideas. These concepts can be implemented
only through careful blending with other countries’ existing cultural
norms, primarily through the use of negotiation and diplomacy. If
these changes are not made – if the emphasis is not shifted from
brute
force to accommodation and understanding, the commentaries predict
that U.S. policies are doomed to fail, a notion that unfortunately
seems all too reasonable.
#4: What else could be done? Lots of time and money would plainly
open up broad opportunities for conducting considerable primary
research. This could involve investigation into original documents
regarding recent U.S. policies, as well as developing a wider
historical context for America’s slide into empire beginning with the
U.S. Naval fleet sailing into Tokyo Harbor in the 1850s and arguably
culminating with the country’s overwhelming victories in the Second
World War. Interviews of officials to discuss contemporary policies
should also be sought. In addition, visits to Rome and other
European
sites could shed new light and more insightful perspective on what
happened to that world more than 1,500 years ago. And of course
there
is a virtually endless list of works dealing with American history,
as
well as many books about ancient Rome that have been written and
published in English and are available in this country.

[o]

Minor T
Dec 19, 11:45 pm
What did you do?
I chose to focus on the concept of the border but not the
literal
translation of the border but more of the clashing of two cultures,
just like Antony and Cleopatra combined their forces. I focused
mainly
on Mexican-Americans because when people think of people crossing the
border they think of Mexicans, even Ii that is not the case. And the
main concept is that there is a culture clashing in the United States
that affects us in many ways and will continue to affect us, in both
positive and negative ways.

Why did you do what you did?

I not only chose to do this topic because I had all ready you
used the concept of the corruption of the government in my previous
essays but also because it was the other topic I knew less about. I
don’t want to say that everyone is not informed about the effect that
the culture clashing is having but I will say that many have not
really paid that much attention. As can be seen in my essay, there
are
things that greatly affect our society today and will ultimately
affect us in a much larger way.
What did you learn?
i basically went on Google and different search engines and
looked up any articles that could help me prove my point about he
culture clashing in the United States, such as how the ability to
speak Spanish is advantageous to our society, and in many regards
almost needed. By finding what i found i was able to prove,
hopefully,
that culture clashing in today's society is a something that many
people over look even though it is highly impacting us today.

What else could be done?

to follow up on my essay i would probably try to get more
accurate
numbers to support my claim as well as look more deeply into other
ethnicities that are also influencing us today , because the main
focus of the essay i wrote was just mexican-americans, and im very
interested in finding how much of an effect the other countries have
on the united states. people could simply just pay attention to what
is going on, because that is the main problem that our society is
facing today, the fact that they are unaware of the happenings
surrounding them.

[o]

Sonia E.
View profile
More options Dec 19, 9:19 pm
Topic:
- Borders: the biggest one would be the border between Mexico and
California.
- Border between immigrants and Californian People
Why did i choose the topic that i did? Well this topic become part
of who i am, I wasn't born in the U.S. so it affect who i am and
where
i come from. I have knowledge of how it is to be an outsider and
have
barriers put inbetween my self and other.
While researching i found thousands of article that had information
on
border and trade of good but there were a couple of articles that
really caught my eye. These articles contained info on the economy,
how it affects those living in the U.S and in Mexicon and other parts
of the world.
What else could be done? Well we are trying to figure out what else
could be done, we have people coming in that are looking for a better
life, are coming to make money to support their family back home. I
think that if we all work together we can come up with a plan that
will benefit everyone.

[o]

Yolanda Duke
Professor: O’connell
English 101 Sec 0459
December 17, 2008
Topic: The United States military and chapter 5 of Cullen Murphy’s,
“borders” and the affect cause by the control of trade.
What did you do?
Thesis: In Shakespeare Antony and Cleopatra the play is focused on
love, war. The invasion by the United States in Iraq for weapons of
mass destruction, and the war on terror, have similar affects plus
consequences on the U. S. economy
What did you do what you did?
The reason why I chose to talk about the military is because;
• The United States military has an advance and effective
military,
yet the America people need to know that it needs improvement on a
good medical health care for all veterans and casualties of war.
What did you learn?
• I learned that United States and Rome have quite a lot in
common,
with the challenges of war, their borders. The way the economy
affects
not only the United States but the world. In that affect the United
States should learn from Rome and not follow in the same footsteps.

What else could be done?

• I would donate the money for a better health care system for
the
veterans of war.

[o]

Joy.c
View profile
More options Dec 19, 8:08 am
WHAT DID I DO
I looked at the view of others and that of Rome as by the Romans and
also the Egyptians. I likened the Egyptians to that of the modern
day
middle easy and Rome to the United States. Cullen quoted “The
Roman’s
did see themselves as superior to non Roman peoples” and how they saw
the Egyptians as “Weak and degenerate”.
I did character studies of Caesar, the hereditary leader from a pack
of warriors, albeit the weakest one in a while as being somewhat like
George Bush, as their stature holds similarities, yet Caesar is a lot
more educated and does things for the right reason. He is very much
worried about everyone else’s power and keeping Rome on top of it’s
game.
I looked at Cleopatra as an ineffective leader who cares not for
official business, but fits superbly with Cullen’s degenerate wording
due to her excessive standard of living and her emphasis on social
grandeur as opposed to being a political leader.
Antony is a great representation of someone whom was a great leader,
and still is but is tied between Rome and Egypt as his heart and head
fail to separate. He is an example of leadership in a negative way,
which is also common with the “we’re better than you” attitude
because
he assumes things are not as important as they are.
My favorite character after Antony to look at is Enobarbus because of
the way his long-term allegiance to Antony gets broken and he fights
with Caesar as his lord. This is the Roman equivalent of desertion
more so than Stockholm Syndrome but both can be seen as consequences
from having the us versus them, we’re better than them train of
thought. People often snap and for Enobarbus, his change in stance
ultimately leads to his suicide of shame.
WHY DID I DO WHAT I DID
I find that in every job, friend, relative and place in life, when
someone begins to believe their own press and hype then usually their
downfall follows. It’s a common myth to believe in being unbeatable,
and the sheer arrogance of the US, UK is so highly linked to that of
Rome I often wonder how long before history repeats, or rather, as
Cullen asks, are we Rome? I find Cleopatra is viewed very much like
the Middle Eastern people. I hate when I read the news or watch the
news and they describe the Middle East as “Cave dwellers” and under
educated. If they were so dumbed down then would terrorist attacks
happen? There are some people out there who have nothing to lose as
their countries are so war ravished and we as the super powers
underestimate the sheer determination that they have. I also find it
fascinating to see how people in the forces can change views, such as
Enobarbus which makes me question the real reason behind how a lot of
new recruits get enrolled. I truly believe that if the so called
“super powers” started to listen more to the “others” instead of
putting them down, that things could be handled differently and we’d
come at strategies in a completely different way. Maybe I would end
up Stockholm Syndrome, where as I would start to emphasize too much
with those who have nothing, because I generally end up fighting for
the under dog, but I think looking at this topic makes perfect sense
in order to get into people’s heads. Instead of just throwing out,
we’re better, they hate us, those terrorist Nazis, there needs to be
more people looking into why do they hate us, where are they coming
from. Instead of just fluffing our own feathers as super powers,
look
at how the arrogance and miseducated attacks from our part have
helped
create suck a mess. This is why I looked at this topic.
WHAT DID I LEARN
I looked on line for a lot of my information with the major news
outlets both in the UK and US so see if any key words pulled anything
of interest. I also made lists of the characters and their
characteristics and who they would look like in today’s society.
I looked at HWR.org at a congressional article that is asking for the
ceasement of young soldiers being deployed. I also watched a
documentary from HBO titled Letters Home about the sad heartbreaking
letters home from soldiers who had died. I didn’t include it in my
final paper as it didn’t fit in the end but it was a eye opening
viewing into the fear a lot of soldiers feel.
I found a Washington Post article from April 17th 08 between
President
Bush and Prime Minister Brown emphasizing the views of us against
them
with the horrible stereotypes of the Middle East. The continuous
calling of “terrorists”, “Mass Destruction”, it’s so geared to
creating fear and making them the bad guys.
One of my favorite yet horrid research was that of the actual
treatment of them by us. I looked at Associated Press and also CNN
at
articles about soldiers doing mock executions and also soldiers
confessions to being made to murder unarmed Iraqi civilians. It’s
very sad to read and yet interesting as the government tries to hide
a
lot of this.
I did a interview with Cindy Alexander, a musician who has played at
Guatanamo Bay for the soldiers before but I choose to leave it out,
as
it was mostly her personal opinion as opposed to factual
documentation.
And when studying Enobarbus I looked in the NY Times at articles on
army deserters and the crack down on them.
The lessons I learned were that we are not as strong as we think and
there is a lot of misjudgment due to the view of others as being
lesser. It is somewhat unsettling to delve into and see the torture,
the prisons, the soldiers behavior and realize under the veil of
greatness is a corroded and decayed institution that puts us no
better
than anyone else.
WHAT ELSE CAN BE DONE
If I had a million dollars I would create an organization that
screens
the soldiers who are wanting to be deployed and I would also do
extensive background checks. A lot of soldiers do not want to be out
there and a lot of soldiers are mentally questionable and unstable.
It is the unstable ones with a history of violence in the families
that are more prone to be acting menacingly towards the captives, and
it is also a lot of soldiers who sign up for the wrong reason that
end
up deserting and going AWOL. If there were better screening maybe
some
of the psychologically damaged soldiers would be reassigned into
different positions or taken out of the forces altogether, and if
screened maybe the young kids who want to go to college and help pay
for their families would be detected and dissuaded from joining. The
million dollars could go towards better soldier mental health care
and
also small grant fundings could be allocated to those who see the
forces as a way of paying for university, for making sure their
family
don’t become homeless. Some would still fall through the net I am
sure but all in all it could really help just filter the army
soldiers
and possibly bring a level of class back.

[o]

axel .d
View profile
More options Dec 19, 1:44 am
E.3 Oral presentation Outline
Brief presentation of current event related to
topic.
- Leadership and success
- Topic selected: US and Roman Empire comparisons.
- Thesis and argument: US ability to manage military and
economic
power.
- Presentation of arguments: brief review of Roman Empire’s
decline.
- Procedures taken by US to manage complexity.
- Military and economic procedures taken by the US.
- Conclusion.
- Importance of this topic: The need for a good leader and the
cruel
reality.
- Research methodology: Internet, magazines and newspaper.
- Six-month project presentation: Intensive campaign promoting
leadership.
- Promoting been realistic and not idealistic in two hours.

[o]

changs...@hanmail.net
View profile
More options Dec 18, 10:00 pm
Outline for Presentation
Intro: Antony and Cleopatra, by William Shakespeare, parallels the
politics of today.
Body 1: Characters from the play are similar to today’s political
figures.
Body 2: The topic of President Bush was used in order to capture the
essence of Cullen
Murphy’s arguments and the characters of the triumvirs.
 Humans are inherently flawed by not unredeemable.
Body 3: In order to find information, I read news articles and
watched
CNN. This
allowed me to get a general sense of what to write.
Body 4: Nothing can be done about politics however; with resources it
is best to just
help as many individuals as possible.
Conclusion: Leaders will always be hampered by their human nature,
but
we should
strive to be better people anyway.

[o]

Lillian Casillas
What I wrote about: I wrote on military abuse. Murphy said we would
fail if we fallowed the same path Rome did, due to their overuse of
military.
Why I picked the topic and how I researched: I felt the same
frustration as many Americans do, having a family member in Iraq.
Fighting a war where few are returning home. I researched what many
soldiers said and felt about the war
What I learned: I learned that many soldiers have a different
perspective about the war but for the most part they felt they were
deceived and that for some that their presence is not going to make a
difference and are fighting a war that they should not be fighting.
What can be done to fix the situation: The soldiers and any military
involved with the war should have the option without being penalized.
That before declaring war the people of the United States should be
able to vote and have a say. The decision to declare war should not
be left to a group of people who claim to be experts and have the
right to play god and decide what the fate of military personnel are
going to have.

[o]

Anne Miranda
English 101 Essay 3 outline- Final Exam
What did you do?
-My topic for Essay 3 was chapter five of Cullen Murphy’s book, the
Borders. Both Egypt and Ancient Rome failed in their quest to rid
their countries from foreigners, and the most ideal solution would be
for the United States to combine the ideas and tactics of both
countries to make both the will and power of the nation stronger.
Why did you do what you did?
-The security of the nation’s borders is a vital issue in which its
lack of protection took a big part in the demise of both Egypt and
Rome. If this problem goes unheeded, the U.S is even more likely to
soon reach its weakest and most vulnerable point.
What did you learn?
-Using online resources, I found many articles, however many of them
did not provide detailed information of the subject. The articles
that
I used gave unknown, interesting, and important information that
presented what the problem was and ideal ways to solve it. I learned
that the people in the country care more about this issue than the
government does.

What else could be done?

-There are many ways to inform the American people about this issue,
including writing books and newspaper articles, along with using
money
to increase the number of guards patrolling border lines.

[o]

Lani Cajulis
English 101 Section 0459
O’Connell
Final Essay Outline
What I did?
For my final essay, my topic is “The Outsiders”, Chapter 4 of Cullen
Murphy’s “Are We Rome?” It is about Rome and America’s view of self
and how they both look at the rest of the world. I talked about how
the 3 superior Roman Legions suffered humiliating defeat against the
invading barbarians due to overconfidence and arrogance. I compared
it with William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra where Antony is
depicted as the formidable Roman General with fearless leadership
that
won great battles for his country but later on, lost his fame and
glory because he was defeated by his own passion for Cleopatra, an
Egyptian Queen and not of his country. I also compared this Chapter
with America’s view of self and, a vivid picture of it would be the
major financial dilemma of the Big Three Automakers particularly:
GM,
Chrysler, and Ford which were once the world’s dominant motor vehicle
producers and once a driving force to America’s economy that created
millions of jobs to its citizens.
Why I did it?
I chose the Big Three issue because of its climatic effect on the
worsening economic instability of this nation. I am deeply concerned
as millions of Americans are right now because the auto industry is
on
a brink of a catastrophic collapse that would put millions of people
out of job and would further drag the economy in a sink hole. The
lawmakers and the White House are still hopelessly finding the right
measures to rescue the industry but the price at stake is too
overwhelming for the taxpayers to shoulder the proposed bailout fund
of 14 billion with no clear guarantee of returns. Decisions are torn
between the responsibility of saving the industry and the
responsibility of protecting the taxpayers’ money. I think either
which way, America is on the losing end.
What did I learn?
That the trouble in the industry started in the 1970s when automakers
in Japan reflected on the smaller car versions. After World War II,
80% of auto demand was dominated by the US automakers followed by UK
with a very distant percentage, and Japan with a much smaller
percentage. By 1980s, the foreign manufacturers became more
competitive and the trend changed with the consumers who looked for
product quality and reasonable price. Then the oil price hike soon
followed which slowed down economic growth and cut down demands for
luxuries such as larger cars with higher cost of maintenance and
higher cost of parts. Consumers began to prefer smaller and
economical cars with fuel efficiency. I am appalled and dismayed by
the too much arrogance of the corporate heads of these automakers and
the government’s failure to establish stronger policies. How could
the CEOs have not perceived the trend that was going on for so many
years and restructured the business before it’s too late? And why
the
previous government leaders did not step in right away to stabilize
the industry? It is true that these automakers created millions of
jobs for generations of American families and ironically, they are
about to cause the deaths of these generations.

What else could be done?

One million dollar would be an austere fund these days to start on a
big project but, I would create a group of young economists and
strategists who would brainstorm to divert on new trades that can
provide jobs and can contribute to the economy. For the Big Three, I
think that the only solution is to have the corporations merge as
one,
downsize, and have a federal appointed heads take over its
management. The automakers’ financial crisis is beyond rescue and I
don’t think it is worth to risk a huge investment into a business no
longer profitable to the economy.

[o]

Gary T. King
December 20, 2008
English 101

Final – Essay Presentation

The thesis of my essay focuses on the correlation between misconduct
by military personnel while on assignment in foreign nations, and the
biased projections of media that conditions the military as well as
the general public to also have biased, one sided, negative opinions
of other nations and the occupants there of.

I raise the point that if American media would convey the truth
about these people and not continue for the purpose of viewership of
ratings to broadcast all of the negatives, such as bombings and
terrorist attacks, the American public and American born and raised
military personnel would understand that these people at their very
core and essence are exactly like us in America with the same family
and community values and basic moral standards. They have the same
sense of dignity and honor as we do.
My motive for writing about this subject is that as veteran
myself, it really disturbed me to hear about all of these heinous acts
about our American soldiers in Iraq. Some of the most shocking
misconduct included raping Iraqi women, the pillaging of private
households, unjustifiable homicides and inhumane interrogation
techniques. So I became motivated to find out why these things
happened and to find out what was the motivation of these U.S.
soldiers. After reading the play Antony and Cleopatra, it occurred to
that Antony; a great military man himself also displayed some very
similar unethical behavior by becoming distracted form his appointed
mission in the pursuit of his own lust and ambitions. Cullen Murphy
also touches on this in the chapter 4 of Are We Rome? The title of the
chapter is “The Outsiders” When People like Us Meet People like Them.
In my research I pulled articles depicting the details of these
criminal activities committed by American soldiers. I was shocked to
have found very graphic material including photos taken on a camera
phone of an actual rape in progress, and soldiers holding up the
spoils of a burglarized Iraqi household. I also did research on the
perceptions of people and how these perceptions are created and how
they can affect behavior. It was confirmed that it is the result of
perceptions that American soldiers are conditioned to have that plays
the biggest part in motivating them to act outside of the boundaries
of war ethics and basic military principles. These erroneous
perceptions of Iraqi people are a direct result of biased and unfair
depictions by media of Iraqi people and the war in Iraq.
In a six month project with a million dollar budget, I would
create a documentary film depicting the truth about Iraq. In the film
I’d do detailed and very personal coverage on the people of Iraq. I’d
document the lives of families, children, and show the world that
these people are very much like any other people. I’d show the
authentic friendships that many American soldiers have developed with
Iraqi people, including Iraqi families that have become surrogate
families to military men. Many American military men have married the
daughters of these Iraqi families.

[o]

Andrea Cole

English 101 Section 0459
O’Connell
Final Essay Outline

What I did?
For my final essay, my topic is “The Outsiders”, Chapter 4 of
Cullen

Murphy’s “Are We Rome?” This chapter is about Rome and

America’s view of self

and how they both look at the rest of the world. I discussed in my
paper
that I agreed with Murphy's position that an attitude of superiority
of
oneself
and an ignorant perspective of outsiders is dangerous for America and
proved
to be a factor in the demise of the late Roman Empire. I related this
concept to
Murphy's example of the defeat of the 3 legion Roman army at Tutenburg
and the current
event of the war in Iraq as evidence. I then compared and contrast the

perspective of America and Ancient Rome to the mentalities of two
characters Antony and Octavius
in the Shakespeare play Antony and Cleopatra.

Why I did it?
I chose the war to discuss because it is one of the hot topics of the
year besides the downward spiraling of the economy. Also with the
excitement of this year's presidential debate people's opinions and
perspective seemed to be in great abundance. I felt like even though
the
character Antony was a product of his vain culture I felt like he was
starting to break away from it in his own way. Though he's not quite
the
best example of how I feel Americas perspective of the world should,
which is open minded and tolerant, Antony perspective is by far
progressively better.

What did I learn?
I learned that perspective and attitude plays a big role in
relationships on all kinds of levels. I have to admit that I didn't
realize the negative reputation America has around the world. Not that
I
thought we were great but I guess I was wrapped up in how America
treats
its own citizens but that's a whole other complex situation. I also
learned that America's officials tend to step on a lot of toes in the
name of the Greater good. But this research as lead me to ask
questions
like whose greater good? and made me realize of political officials
are
a reflection of our nation and that we as a society should be more
active and involved in the policital process in general. Over all
researching for this paper has given me a better understanding of
American History especially how it relates to our forigen relations.

What else could be done?

If I had a million dollars to devote to this project I would probably
spend it! lol just kidding. Seriously I would have a team disbursed
around the world collecting data, and conducting interview with varius
people (emphasis on common folk) about their opinion and analysis of
America more so in areas where U.S presence is felt. Also the same
would
be done for individuals enlisting in the army, those who are serving,
those who have been deployed, and of course veterans of this country.
With the data and research I would try to create educational programs
targeted towards the youth to give them a more realistic and unbiases
source of information that in essence would clarify,inform, and build
upon prior knowledge and or education. Hopefully this program model
would inspire the youth to be more active in the political process and
maybe even help tailor some major future political officials in our
country.

[o]

Deborah M
View profile
More options Dec 20, 8:29 am
#1: What was done? What is the thesis? I selected Chapter 4 “view
of
self” of Cullen Murphy’s Are We Rome and selected two diametrically
opposed characters- Antony and Octavious Caesar of Shakespeare’s
Antony and Cleopatra- to represent the good and bad side of
“exceptionalism.” As proofs, I chose to use the United States and
sometimes our failure to understand cultures of countries with whom
we
engage. So here is a brief synopsis of what was done.
I used the example of Cesar and Lepidus breaking their truce with
Pompey. I cast Antony as the honorable person because he does not
approve and Cesar as the less honorable as he is the catalyst for
this
action. I compare this to US violations of international law in Iraq,
where the United States appeared united but in reality we were
divided. For example, Colin Powell could be regarded as an Antony
because, like Antony, he was furious at this blatant violation of
international law but had to maintain a unified face. A bill that
attempts to end the war in Iraq- the Fully Funded United States
Military Redeployment and Sovereignty Restoration Act- was also
provided as a proof.
Another example used is Cesar trying to convince Cleopatra to
surrender. Cleopatra is concerned with her public humiliation. This
is
similar to the public humiliation Saddam Hussein endured when he was
captured and video was shown of him. The Vatican said he was “treated
like a cow”
Also mentioned is the promise of fair treatment to Cleopatra gone
awry, similar to the “liberators” in Iraq mistreating the Iraqis.
Also mentioned is Antony’s uneasy alliance with Cesar, much like our
uneasy alliance with another so called ally- Russia. This was
recently
tested in the Georgian conflict, and with Bush’s so called “looking
into the eyes and seeing the soul” of Putin. Putin’s “soul” was
ultimately to crush the democracy of Georgia at the first
opportunity.
I close by saying I agree with Murphy about our “lack of awareness in
the world” and that our world view is still a mix of ignorance and
arrogance
# 2: Why was it done? Why should anyone care about this? To look at
past and current world politics. This assignment is a fascinating way
to juxtapose the past (Rome) and the present (various United States
engagements) and to analyze Murphy’s assessment. A friend of mine
once
said “you can’t understand anything unless you write it down” and
through this assignment our understanding has broadened in length and
depth.
#3: What was learned? “What did u learn?” I learned immensely about
the illegal invasion of Iraq, the intense politics associated before,
during and after the invasion, the resistance of the international
community, the resistance of our own community, and the similarities
between these events, Rome and Murphy. Although I was somewhat
familiar with our relationship with Russia, I learned far more about
our fragile relationship with Russia and how delicate our ties are
with that country, particularly with the Russian/Georgian conflict.
#4: What else could be done? Invest more time in learning about
other
cultures. The beauty of the internet is that- at the touch of a
button- it provides an opportunity for us to learn more about other
cultures. The more information we as Americans are armed with, the
better we will be perceive in foreign countries. The world is getting
smaller. The mighty United States- once the clear world Superpower-
is
now fending off threats to our supremacy from China and India. Much
like the British Empire, who once had its hand in places as far flung
as India, Hong Kong, Panama, etc., we must now realize that there is
no longer one world superpower and that we must learn more about the
cultures of different countries because we will forever be more
engaged as we redefine America’s role in a 21st century world.