Grapes of Wrath

So , i finally have got round to doing my blog on Steinbeck's work...!

The first thing to notice is that the novel is set in the great depression and thus instantly the reader can identify with character in the novel what with these harsh economic times at present!!

The novel is centered around a family of sharecroppers (The Joads) who are forced out of their homes in Oklahoma by a water drought and changes in the agriculture industry. They are in an extremely desperate situation and face an uphill struggle in their attempts to find jobs when they set out for Salinas Valley in California.

The novel at the time of its publishing was immediately banned and was extremely controversial.

Bryan Cordyack (author of 20th century american bestsellers) writes, "Steinbeck was attacked as a propagandist and a socialist from both the left and the right of the political spectrum. The most fervent of these attacks came from the Associated Farmers of California; they were displeased with the book's depiction of California farmers' attitudes and conduct toward the migrants. They denounced the book as a 'pack of lies' and labeled it 'communist propaganda'."

Steinbeck's emotion's are evident throughout the novel and i felt he connected well with the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, as if i'm totally honest i wasn't aware of the details of the great depression and have found watching the film and reading the novel a benefiting experience.

I now look forward to next term's studies..

Giggs Wins Sports Personality Of The Year

Well, that was a shock..... or was it?

Giggs becomes only the 5th footballer to have won the prestigious award, and to be fair those who have seen his performances in the last two seasons could hardly deny him the award.

At the age of 36, Giggs is the most successful premiership footballer holding 11 Premier League winners and countless domestic cup and champions league awards. Giggs also won the PFA Player of the year award this year for his constant high level performances and contribution to the sport!

Being a huge football fan I'm glad his contribution to the sport has been recognised and although there were other strong candidates for the prize, namely Jenson Button and Andrew Strauss, overall Giggs' obvious and outstanding devotion to the sport and high level performances swung the decision his way, for which he deserves huge congratulations!

Lets just hope John Terry gets it next year having lead England to glory over the summer, what? A guy can dream can't he? 

I Never Thought I'd Say This......

The title of this post says it all. Im embarassed to admit it , but, yes, i agree with Tony Blair.

Well at least regarding his latest comments on Saddam Hussain, saying he would have gone to war with Iraq even if he had known before whether they had nuclear weapons or not. The man was a tyrannical leader and a horrible human being.

Now don't get me wrong , Tony Blair is by no means and never will be a decent politician in my eyes as whilst his original poilicies that got him to power and made him so popular had decent theoretical ideas, he failed to deliver , however, he is spot on regarding Iraq.

I don't understand the criticism hes receiving, if he had sat back and done nothing we were at threat and he would have been criticised, he makes a move and hes criticised. Now im not saying the way the Iraq war has been handled is anything short of a disgrace however, it was a necessary move, and one which Blair cannot be blamed for!

WINOL - Week 6 Critical Reflection

Another week of WINOL down , and we definitely saved our best till last.

This weeks bulletin was absolutely brilliant, it looked extremely professional and was excellenty presented by both Cara and Tom, but also the content was very strong and this helped the bulletin immensely. There were no technical problems (the auto que!!) and the bulletin ran smoothly and went live at five on the website.

Myself and Grant managed to get some brilliant footage of the Winchester FC game that made for great viewing during the sports bulletin and the rest of the team also got some good interviews which aided the sports side of things.

The third years have done very well this semester running the news production and editing side of things and can be proud of what they have achieved and as they leave us to go and finish their degree's and FYP's we wish them well.

However, i think credit needs to be given to the 2nd years too , as the majority of the content within WINOL is found and captured by us and thats what makes WINOL what it is!!

Im thoroughly looking forward to meeting the new 1st years and working on WINOL next semester!