Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Millie Quiz

In case you're having computer issues or can't find the quiz, here's a copy of the Thoroughly Modern Millie quiz especially prepared for you:

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE Extra Credit Questionnaire
(Questions hand-selected by: Dayna Campbell , Meghan Concannon, and Mrs. Petrino)
1. What year does the show take place in? (Hint: it’s in the opening song)
2. What is one of the "mysteries of the orient?"
3. What happens to the orphans at the Hotel Pricilla and where do they go?
4. What did Mr. Graydon win his trophy for? What does Millie think he won it for?
5. What is Millie’s profession?
6. What is the song "Gimme Gimme" about?
7. What is the name of the Chinese man who is in love with Miss Dorthy?
8. What kind of woman does Mille want to be? How is this related to the decade in which the show is set?
9. Who pretends to be the new orphan in town?
10. Name one famous historical figure that is referenced in the show (Think about Muzzy’s party).

Have fun at the play. Hope to see you there.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Blog #7 - Free Speech During War - Allow It or Suppress It?

During the Great War, the United States went to great lengths to stop people from expressing their views on the war and the draft. Historian Howard Zinn has written at length that part of this suppression was done to keep Americans from expressing their anti-war sentiments/feelings:
  • Why should we get into a war that we have no interests in? This is only about European colonialists, not U.S. interests...

  • Why should I be drafted to go protect France or Belgium? (only 73,000 volunteered in the first 6 weeks after Wilson declared war on Germany in April 1917);

  • Why should we spend millions and millions of our tax money to do this?

  • Why should we join a war that current French soldiers are beginning to mutiny against?

  • Why should we break away from our tradition of isolationism? It's served us well for this long....

So Wilson and Congress together got tough on this kind of talk and anti-draft interference w/ the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. The Supreme Court affirmed that we do NOT have the right to free speech as long as it creates a "clear and present danger" much like yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded theatre.

A speech like this one by Eugene Debs is the kind of thing that got him in trouble and thrown in the big house:

"Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder. ...the
working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme
sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish their
corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It
is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they
alone make peace. They are continually talking about their
patriotic duty
. It is not their but your patriotic duty that
they are concerned about
. There is a decided difference. Their
patriotic duty never takes them to the firing line or chucks them into the
trenches." (emphasis added)

*Debs was sentenced to jail for this speech and while in jail ran for President under the Socialist Party for which he received almost one million votes in 1920!

But my question still remains: is questioning what your country does during a war o.k.? Should asking questions about how the war is conducted, about the tactics being used (torture, waterboarding, etc.), about how the goals are being met (or if they're being met at all), or is it all worth the sacrifice of all the young men and women's lives?? Is this line of questioning during war time o.k. or does it make you unpatriotic? Why?

Minimum of 200 word response - due Wednesday, November 14th.