English Portfolio Project

[1] The Gettysburg Address given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg Pennsylvania was an astounding piece of writing and speech. Lincoln’s writing for his speech made it great material for oration for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is that Lincoln reminded his audience of the reason they are all there; their founding fathers established liberty and declared all men equal. The words of Lincoln in his speech were concise and to the point on purpose. Lincoln wanted his audience to remember those who established their nation and that those acts those individuals made were important and impactful. To add to the significance of this “remembrance”, Lincoln transitions his speech to talking about the present. In his transition he says, “Now we are in a great civil war, testing whether that nation,or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” This sentence is short, but holds a lot of context; in 1776, The United States of America was a new kind of country with a different political philosophy than the rest of the rest of the world at the time. The formation of this new country was also known as “The Great Experiment” because of the fact that this type of government was recently developed (at the time) and no one knew for sure if it could survive. 

[2] Lincoln relates the past when the country was founded to the present day because they were now in civil war and almost at the point of the south seceding from the north just like the United States from Great Britain. Here in the second paragraph of his speech, Lincoln made a significant connection of the events in the past to the events in the Present and what he is essentially saying is that history might just be about to repeat itself which shows his remarkable historical ability as an orator. Continuing on to the last and most important paragraph of Lincoln’s written speech, he acknowledges the importance of the cause of the union on the battlefield far exceeded what he or anyone at that memorial ceremony could say and that all of what he is saying is essentially just words. Instead of dedicating the cemetery ground, he proclaims that the grounds have already been “dedicated, hallowed, and consecrated” by the Union soldiers themselves through the bloodshed and death on the battlefield. So in place of what was expected to be a dedication of the battlefield grounds, it was a dedication of the people to the “unfinished work” of the so devoted Union soldiers. Lincoln says that he wants to dedicate the people to the work of preserving the Union and its ideals of liberty and equality. It was significant that Lincoln dedicated the people to continuing the unfinished work of the Union soldiers because if they did not resume the work, the deaths of the Union soldiers would be meaningless or in vain. Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was more of a rally to motivate the people to fight for the Union soldiers that died on that battlefield and to remind them of the importance of the Union cause. 

[3] We can relate Lincoln’s speech to one of Winston Churchill named “We shall fight on the beaches”. This speech relates to Lincoln’s speech through both speakers having the intention of rallying the people to unite with them in a certain cause. Also when comparing the two speeches you will see that The Gettysburg Address given by President Lincoln was a much earlier speech than the “We shall fight on the beaches” speech by Winston Churchill at a difference of about 77 years. The difference in time also shows the difference in each speaker’s situation and perception. When contrasting these two speeches based on the way they delivered their message you’ll notice that Lincoln uses his command of his language by referencing a past historical event to a historical event in the present. In Winston Churchill’s speech he uses his command of his language by assessing the dreadful situation, warning the house of commons of the difficulties that the British would face in the years to come, praising the armed forces, and stating his solution to fight to the bitter end. Now the biggest similarity between the two speeches given by Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill is that towards the end of both of their speeches they include the most important pieces that emphasized their main point. For Abraham Lincoln, his most important part he said, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us..”. What Lincoln is speaking of in this section of his speech is that what the Union soldiers did in the battle of Gettysburg was so incredibly paramount that those soldiers had already dedicated the battlefield through their courageous acts and it was their duty to continue their work or their death would mean nothing. 

[4] Now in Winston Churchill’s most important section of his written speech he says, “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..”. This part of Churchill’s speech was meant almost in the same way that Lincoln’s speech was but the delivery is where they differed. Churchill expressed great courage and purpose in his words and desire that the British might prevail. He wanted to rally the people and encourage them to not lose hope but to push forward. Similarly, Lincoln tried to rally the people but with a different tactic; his tactic was to remind the people that their cause was worth fighting for, and that it was important that they finish the work of those deceased Union soldiers. 

[5] Moving on to another historical figure, William Jennings Bryan gave a famous speech named the “Cross of Gold”. This speech was based around the return of Bimetallism in the 1896 democratic National Convention and holds a couple similarities and differences to Abraham Lincoln’s speech, “The Gettysburg Address”. In the “Cross of Gold” speech by William Jennings Bryan was written unlike Lincoln’s speech but in an Argumentative tone as he was vouching for the return of Bimetallism in the United States and against the causes of what the Republicans wanted at the time. To begin his speech, Bryan gives his regards for his colleagues and states that regardless of how they view the situation, they are still highly thought of by him. However, he then goes on to say that despite their qualities as great thinkers and eloquent speakers, it still does not affect the matter at hand which is the return of bimetallism. Byran frames it to be a cause or matter that is one of “righteousness” rather than expressiveness or intelligence. In contrast, Lincoln’s speech did not have the purpose of speaking against or stating what was wrong with the antagonist (which was the South) but rather why the Union should continue and not be discouraged, and that without their effort, they would not win the war. On the contrary, a major similarity between Lincoln’s and Bryan’s speech was where the conflict was occurring, which was within the United States. Despite the 33 year time difference, both speeches were given at a time when the nation wasn’t too old and still in the process of developing. The ideas and arguments that were brought up in these written speeches all show the problems and difficulties within the United States which shows its development as a country through the impactful changes as a result. 

[6] In Conclusion, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address written speech he gives inspiring and impactful words that eventually led him to his second term of Presidency. Despite our inability to hear Lincoln give the speech, it is still considered one of the greatest speeches because of its contents. The reason behind the speech and the symbolism it presents was very important  and based on historical evidence, inspired the people in the Union to continue their fight against the confederates. Lincoln’s speech was such an important speech in American history and also stood a dedication to the turning point in the Civil War. Other famous orators like William Jennings Bryan and Winston Churchill both wrote effective speeches but differed in their delivery of their message when compared to the Gettysburg Address given By Abraham Lincoln. His written speech made it such great writing for Oration because of its ability to be understood by even common people today who have a small knowledge of History and the message that Lincoln presented.

Frank Lloyd Wright was an astounding architect who took part in revolutionizing modern architecture to where it is today through his ability to design buildings using a concept called organic architecture. Looking back at his career; it spanned over 70 years and in that timeframe he designed over 500 buildings (residential, commercial, and for public use). In his buildings, he expressed multiple different styles of homes that are popularlized and modern today, but during his career, they were very different from the buildings that existed during early to mid 1900s. Within the architecture that he designed, Wright integrated unity of the building to its environment and by doing so, he expressed his belief set on uniformity which stemmed from his early religious beliefs in unitarianism. Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement named for its belief that the God in Christianity is one entity, as opposed to the Trinity which in most other branches of Christianity defines God as one being in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Beginning with his early life, Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin on June 8, 1867. Wright’s mother; Anna Lloyd Jones was born in 1838 and his father, William Russell Cary Wright was born in 1825. Both of Wright’s parents were from West Wales and moved to America in 1844 with the dream of gaining more freedoms. During their beginning years in America, the Wright family moved  constantly; from New York to Rhode Island, to Massachusetts, to Iowa, then finally settling down in Wisconsin. Starting from his early age, Frank had expressed his interest in buildings and architectural design and in his late teens to early 20’s, Wright got a job as a draftsman with the top architect in Chicago named Joseph Lyman. Here in Chicago, Frank was inspired by the tall skyscrapers, the buildings, and in 1889, he designed the Oak park home in Illinois. In this house he took his inspirations and his belief on uniformity and integrated it into the floor plan. Through his expressions in this home, he was the first to develop an open floor plan for a modern home and in several other homes for clients. Frank had a belief in relation to architecture that structure and space could create and convey cultural values and this led him to create entirely different and new types of architecture. 

Ahead of everyone else in the architectural business, Wright came to the recognition  that space and structure could be powerful tools and they could convey and create cultural values. Wright loved consistency, continuity, and uniformity. For example, in his most famous build, (the Falling Water house), it works almost seamlessly with the environment. The colors of the home work together with the surroundings and the water fall further strengthens the relationship of the house and its environment; in other words, it just feels natural. Furthermore, he brings continuity to the space with the interior space; it blends the normal comforts and other aspects we love about a home with the colors, and textures of the surrounding environment outside of the home. These ideals of continuity, consistency, and uniformity that Frank Wright expressed in his architectural business revolutionized the way architects today see a space and how they can emphasize the constant communication between all aspects of a build. 

Charles and Ray Eames were two very important icons in the design space of the 20th century. In their space, the eames revolutionized the furniture and art industries with modern chair designs that combined great looks with comfort and flexibility as well as through their art which was abstract and showed the blending of colors. Together, the Eames were able to achieve several designs that have caught the attention of the public and those designs have inspired many other designers to design many similar chairs; chairs that we see being made today. 

Going back to the beginning of their career, Charles Ormond Eames Jr. (1907-1978) and Bernice Alexandra kaiser Eames (1912-1988) were married in 1941. During their time together in the Eames office, Ray and Charles worked together as creative partners not only in Fine art and furniture design but graphic design and film as well. The design office that they ran together functioned for more than 40 years from 1942 to 1988 in Venice, Los Angeles, California. Throughout the years in the office, the Eames’ office brought many notable designers such as: Gregory Ain, Harry Bertoia, Peter Jon Pearce, Deborah Sussman, Don Albinson, and Annet Del Zoppo. Over the years, the Eames developed a belief in “learning by doing” and before introducing this idea to their office, they explored the constraints and needs of this idea extensively. 

During their early developments of furniture, they experimented with plywood in attempts of molding it into real functional furniture, but the process was extensive and very difficult. During World War II, Charles and Ray Eames used this knowledge that they had learned from working with plywood to develop a splint for soldiers in part of the U.S. War effort. Before their contribution using this design, the army had used metal splints which would actually put the injured into more pain as the metal reflected the energy exerted by medics when being carried on stretchers back into the injured limb. With the design of the plywood splint; this would help to solve this issue and would absorb most of the energy being exerted and not reflect it as much as the metal splints. 

Many of Charles and Ray’s designs that they designed with their team included plywood as they took their knowledge from the use of plywood in WWII to their design for furniture. At first, this idea sounds very out of the ordinary, and during this timeframe it was; but the idea was to have the chair have conformity with the design of an individual’s back, which is what made them so comfortable. Along with their earlier molded plywood work, the Eameses pioneered other technologies such as using fiberglass as a material for mass producing furniture which would go on to become widely popularized and used in many builds of modern furniture today.

Task: Write 2 pages about the impact that Jacques Cousteau had and how he was revolutionary in society (global, local, and/or U.S.)

Jacques Cousteau

Jacques Cousteau was one of the most important figures during the late 20th century that helped to revolutionize the impacts of humans on Marine life. Cousteau was a pioneer to scuba diving gear and he held the titles of a filmmaker, inventor, marine explorer, and conservationist. He taught millions of people about the importance of the Earth’s oceans and marine life, and inspired others to come to their protection. Through Cousteau, many others have taken action towards conserving marine life as well as conducting numerous studies about life under the ocean. 

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910 in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France and his parents were Daniel and Elisabeth Couastea. Starting out in his career, Cousteau documented his underwater research through a series of books and his most successful being “The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure” which was published in 1953. Additionally through his research on marine life, Cousteau directed films as well which was notably a documentary adaptation of the book “Silent World”. For his first underwater Documentary film (or rather the first underwater documentary) called Par dix-huit mètres de fond (18 meters deep), he revolutionized film with the use of a depth-pressure-proof case for his camera that was developed by a mechanical engineer named Léon Vèche. 

In his second contribution to underwater exploration and film, in 1943, Cousteau made the film Épaves (Shipwrecks), where he utilized two of the first Aqua-lung prototypes or underwater breathing apparatuses. The prototypes that were used in this film were constructed by the Air Liquide company in Boulogne-Billancourt under the following direction of Émile Gagnan and Cousteau. Also during the 1940s, Coustead is credited to have improved the Aqua-lung design which eventually produced the open-circuit scuba technology which is still used today. 

Moving onto his last contribution that still remains impactful, Jacques Cousteau was an advocate for conservation of marine life. In the beginning of his career, Cousteau would conduct films and underwater explorations that would be considered largely unethical in today’s standard concerning marine life. By the end of his career in Marine biology and Films,  Coutseau discovered that the human activity that tampered with marine life could be quite detrimental. As Jacques came to this realization, he became a strong advocate for the Marine Conservation movement, which he pioneered. Decades later, Jacques’s efforts at conserving marine life around the world have paid off, as many organizations and companies have been formed to help in the conservation of marine life. 

As one of the most important figures in American history and history around the world, Neil Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who was the first man to walk on the moon. Neil impacted the world by raising the expectations, dreams, and hopes of everyone on Earth. Due to the great achievement that Armstrong made; he has further strengthened the belief that humans can achieve great things; that we can learn to find our place in the world and that we can reach our goals, and change the world. 

Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 to Stephen and Viola Armstrong near Wapakoneta, Ohio. Starting from a young age, Neil had expressed his interest in aviation and his love for flying. When he was around the age of 6 years old, he experienced his first airplane ride in Warren, Ohio and during his time in attendance of Blume High school in Wapakoneta, Ohio, he took flying lessons at the Wapakoneta airfield where he earned his student flight certificate on his 16th birthday, before he had even received his driver’s license. Furthermore, Neil was also an active boy scout and earned his eagle scout rank in 1947; along with this, at the age of 17, he began to study aeronautical engineering at Purdue University situated in West Lafayette, Indiana. 

During his late teens and early 20s, Neil Armstrong joined the navy on January 26, 1949 where he took flight training and became a pilot assigned to the Fleet Aircraft Service Squadron 7. Later in 1951, Armstrong was called to action in the Korean war where he conducted a series of escort missions for cargo planes and ships as well as a bomber. After his service in the navy, Neil returned to Purdue University where he graduated in 1955 where he then went on to become an experimental research test pilot for the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland. During his time as a pilot, Neil was one of the first to fly in an X-15 which was the first jet to be able to achieve mach 4, 5, and 6 speeds. 

Progressing into his career with NASA, Armstrong joined the space program in 1962 after flying more than 2,450 hours. Years later, after extensive work, Armstrong became the commander of Apollo 11 on December 23, 1968 as Apollo 8 orbited the moon. A year later on July 16, 1969, Armstrong and Apollo 11 flew to the moon and changed the world.

Known as one of the most acclaimed architects of the 20th century, and for his use of very bold postmodern and unusual fabrication; Frank Genry is one of the most impactful architects of his time. Gehry has designed some of the most famous architectural buildings around the world and has stood as a role model for many architects today. Along with a number of his buildings and his private residence; they have become world renowned attractions, as their designs are magnificent and quite different from other architecture.

 Starting with Gehry’s early life,  he was born on February 28, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; being given the name Frank Owen Goldberg to parents Sadie Thelma and Irving Goldberg. At a young age, Frank expressed his creative imagination to which his grandmother encouraged. With him during his youth, she and Frank would construct small cities out of scraps of wood that she received from her husband’s hardware store. Also during this time, he used materials such as: corrugated steel, unpainted plywood, chain-link fencing, and other everyday materials that would normally be at a hardware store. 

Progressing into his early adult life, Gehry, along with his family, moved to California in 1947. Here in California, he settled in Los Angeles where he got a job as a truck driver while attending college; Gehry also tried chemical engineering, and radio announcing which he wasn’t particularly talented in or having much interest in either. Gehry set the example of finding our own hidden talents and expressing them how we desire despite the societal norm.