Some of my text boxes and citations.


2) What are the consequences for graffiti?
There are always consequences for wrong doings in american society and Graffiti is not left out. Graffiti is essentially vandalism. Most artist put the work on the side of a public or private building. Some go as far as putting it in museums. Shepard Fairey was arrested on the day of his first solo exhibition for defacing a Mass Pike building . He didn’t make it to his exhibition that night. The night of the arrest one of the partakers of the event, a graduate student told the Boston Globe "makes him even more of a hero to me," since it proves he is willing to be locked up for his art.
"Artist imitates art.(NEWSMAKERS)(Shepard Fairey )(Brief article)." Maclean's. 122. 6 (Feb 23, 2009): 10(1). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Bristol Community College. 19 Nov. 2009 .

1) What are the origins of?
"For as long as people have been able to write on walls, they have been writing on walls." Before we had a writing language or words the cave men were depicting things on the walls of caves with paints they crafted from different forms of natural resources. Graffiti as an art form can be traced back as far as 1851, on the ruins of Pompeii. The Romans would actually write on the walls of towns and villages that they had conquered. Til this day Romans still consider the art form "Urban Art" Where as Americans don't quite share the same view. Graffiti can be traced back in America to the 1960’s on the west coast where the majority of trends begin. Back then graffiti was mostly a non-violent way to make political attacks. From the 60’s the trend grew rapidly. In the 70’s Tracy 168 blew up in the scene. From then on it has really grown around the world. No matter the reasoning behind it, people have been freely expressing themselves at a cost since the outbreak in the 60’s. (Sheri Cyprus "What are the origins of graffiti?" 28 Oct. 2009. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-origins-of-graffiti.htm (Killian Tobin 1995. http://www.graffiti.org/faq/tobin.html
Dedeyan, Nathaly "Where Did Graffiti Begin?." Where Did Graffiti Begin?. 24 Dec. 2008 EzineArticles.com. 19 Nov. 2009 .

3) Why do people do it?
As previously stated, one of the main reasons some artists use graffiti as expression is to act out politically. (See image.) Others over the years have used it in such ways as territory markers for gangs or others as acts of rebellion.
Dedeyan, Nathaly "Where Did Graffiti Begin?." Where Did Graffiti Begin?. 24 Dec. 2008 EzineArticles.com. 19 Nov. 2009 .

4) How has graffiti changed?
Graffiti as a whole has greatly changed overtime. As stated it started with the cave men as a form of communication, then the Romans used it as "turf markers", then it was the Americans who used it to lash out politically. As of now, graffiti has mostly become nothing more than a new art form. It isn't as much of an act of vandalism as it used to be. Some artists such as Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Blek le Rat and Mr. Brainwash hold shows in museums and put their art on canvas' as opposed to walls. Although they started as your normal everyday vandals, they have since takena a different route. On a different note there are organizations like GRL (Graffiti Research Lab) that take a completely different approach to the scene. These people actually have taken a technological stand point on graffiti, these people aren't your typical aerosol and roller type of crowd. They get very much more in depth. They do things like broadcast their art on the side of a building via a projector so when all is said and done they don't leave a permanent mark. (Sheri Cyprus "What are the origins of graffiti?" 28 Oct. 2009. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-origins-of-graffiti.htm (Killian Tobin 1995. http://www.graffiti.org/faq/tobin.html
Dedeyan, Nathaly "Where Did Graffiti Begin?." Where Did Graffiti Begin?. 24 Dec. 2008 EzineArticles.com. 19 Nov. 2009 . (http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=76#video)

5) Isn't graffiti vandalism?
Yes and no. Some great graffiti artists have gone from the streets to museums and from walls to canvas. Although the majority of the art is illegal. There is a research group called Graffiti Hurts that is dedicated to the awareness of all of the bad that comes from graffiti. These people believe that graffiti actually leads to more delinquent acts in neighborhoods where graffiti is present, that it leads to the morality of communities drop and people begin thinking that being delinquent is okay to do. I personally don't agree with people vandalizing other peoples of government property but that is not to say the art is not amazing.http://www.graffitihurts.org/getfacts/fastfacts.jsp

The Oil We Eat.

Michael Purcell

English 11

Holly Pappas

The Oil We Eat Summary.

In the essay The Oil We Eat by Richard Manning there is a very good topic that is presented that really gets into a problem that we are all suffering from in today’s society. In this essay Richard talks about things such as the relation between Hydrocarbons and Carbohydrates, how we are misusing our resources and how we are ruining our planet by doing such.

I am one semester into my college career and already this has been a topic that has been brought up in multiple classes I am taking. Richard talks about how we are ruining our carbon footprint and how we are ruining out biomes. He talks about how people have become greedy and how wealth has taken its toll on the destruction of our ecosystems. Next to Hydrocarbons, Carbohydrates are one of the most important resources in the world today Richard gives examples of how many civilizations have actually lived off of corn, wheat and rice. These have been important pieces to the equation of longevity in different cultures since people learned to farm. There is a lot of discussion in this essay regarding energy. Manning talks about how much of it is truly lost in the inefficient agricultural industry today, how we plow away the plains to plant wheat for our bovine, when they could have actually been eating the natural grasses that were already there.

All in all, I completely 100% agree with Richard. I believe we are using our resources very irresponsibly. If we keep this up our future generations will be in tough shape in their years to come. The way food is grossly manufactured with all sorts of additives and whatnot will make our populations all very unhealthy. With the decline of nutritious natural foods there will be nothing left to do but to manufacture even more unhealthy food. Let's hope that people start capitalizing on the mistakes we have been making for hundreds of years.

Pictureeeeee!

Graffiti.