Dixie Chicks "Not ready to make nice" - SPECS AND SLIMS

Subject Matter – The experience that the song “Not ready to make nice” is about the Dixie Chicks not wanting to apologise to the President of the United States (President George W Bush at the time) after the lead singer Natalie Maines mentioned during a performance that they were ashamed that the President was from Texas.

Purpose – The purpose of this song was to express their feelings and thoughts over the debates with what they had said to the President, the banning of their song from country radio stations, and their freedom of speech.

Emotion – The predominant emotion represented in the song is anger. The mood stays constant throughout the song. The Dixie Chicks want to seek that the listener of their song would feel that they don’t feel as though they need to apologise and that they feel strongly about how angry they are about comments people have said.

Craftsmanship – The techniques used in the Dixie Chick’s song are rhyme and imagery. The singers achieves their effect by wearing white dresses to represent them being sweet, and then being smeared in black paint, to represent them going over to the ‘dark side’. This shows that people perceive them as girls that have turned from good to bad.  

Structure – In the song, “Not ready to make nice”, there are 8 stanzas, and there are clear chorus and verses. 4 of the stanzas have 4 lines in them, 3 stanzas have 8 lines in them, and 1 stanza has 9 lines in it. The 5^th stanza in this song is the bridge.    

Language – The language used is appropriate in this song as it is trying to convey a message of anger because they can’t speak their mind without being ridiculed by strangers. “It’s a sad story when a mother will teach her daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.”  

Imagery – One example of imagery is when she sings, “I made my bed and I slept like a baby,” which gives the listener the image that she is a normal innocent person that makes their bed and has restless or good sleeps like anyone else. The imagery given off in the music video is showing them covering themselves in black paint and having black paint wiped all over them. This gives off the impression as though they are angels that have turned bad as people are seeing them as these perfectly angelic women, but after the comment, they are suddenly seeing them as bad people.  

Movement – I don’t feel that this poem has any significant sound features. It is a good song however it is not a musical.

Sound – In stanzas 1, 2 and 8, the last word of the first 2 sentences rhyme with each other. In stanzas 3, 6 and 7, the last word in every second line rhymes with each other.  

Summary – I feel that the impact of this song for me was that people should stop pressurising and threatening the Dixie Chicks for making one comment about the President. They are just people, but when strangers are criticising them, they shouldn’t be forced to apologise and be hated. I feel that they are right to not apologise, and just stand up for what they believe in. 

"Not ready to make nice" Dixie Chicks

1. How effective is the headline? I feel that the headline “Chicks in the Line of Fire” is a very effective headline as it informs the reader that the people in the article are in trouble, and using Chicks is clever, as it shows that women are in trouble, but because the article also relates to the Dixie Chicks.
2. The Journalist has chosen not to include an extensive byline. Do you think this is a good decision? Explain your answer. No, I do not feel that the journalist’s decision to exclude an extensive byline is a good idea, because the byline usually expands on the headline and what will be included in the article, however, the byline the journalist used was just informing that even as a baby, Natalie Maines is a rude person.
3. How does the introductory paragraph help your understanding of what the article will be about? The introductory paragraph helps me understand what the article is about because of how it mentions who this article is about, what it is about, and why the person had done what they did. The introductory paragraph introduces Natalie Maines and how she had joined the Dixie Chicks. It then goes onto what she had said about President Bush, and how she doesn’t feel as though he deserves any respect for sending over troops to Iraq.
4. What kind of tone do you think the journalist is trying to achieve? Provide examples to explain your answer. I feel that the journalist is trying to achieve a tone of sympathy for the Dixie Chicks as though they have done nothing wrong and people shouldn’t be harsh towards them. “…group received death threats and was banned by thousands of country radio stations, many of which still have informal bans in place.” I feel that by mentioning the Dixie Chicks had received numerous death threats and their songs banned from country radio stations, this makes the reader feel sorry for them.
5. What do you think the journalist’s purpose was in writing this article? Provide examples to help prove your answer. I believe the journalist’s purpose to write this article was to try and get the readers to connect with the Dixie Chicks and really feel for them and be empathetic for all the criticism and controversy they have received. “…was to appear nude on the cover of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY with slurs (SADDAM'S ANGELS) scrawled on their naked bodies.” This gives the reader a message that they have been ‘targeted’ just for saying what was on their mind about them feeling ashamed that the President was from Texas. The journalist’s purpose was probably to show how much criticism the Dixie Chicks had received, and that with the use of direct quotations (see below) she has been trying to dial down the hatred they have received.
6. The journalist makes considerable use of direct quotations throughout the article. How does this affect your understanding of the article and influence your opinion of the band members? Use evidence to support your claims. The use of numerous direct quotations affects my understanding massively as it is coming from their own personal views and you can learn a lot more from the person than from someone just explaining how they feel. "If people are going to ask me to apologize based on who I am," says Maines, "I don't know what to do about that. I can't change who I am." This direct quotation teaches me that Maines is a strong fighter for what she believes in and she would never back down if she is passionate for the cause; I feel that is a great characteristic for someone.
7. How effective do you think this article is in achieving the journalist’s purpose? Explain your answer in full please. I feel that this article “Chicks in the Line of Fire” has been very successful in achieving the purpose of showing sympathy towards the Dixie Chicks. With using various direct quotations, an effective introduction paragraph and using the tone of sympathy for writing, the journalist has effectively represented the message of the Dixie Chicks across, and how we should feel sympathy for them and what they have gone through.

SPECS AND SLIMS – An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

Summary • Describes a war • He is talking about how he can predict his death Purpose • To inform the reader about how he only has a neutral feeling towards the war, he doesn’t hate, nor love anyone that he is fighting and guarding • He wants to say how war has affected how he is seeing life, and that it has lead him to be able to see when he will die Emotion • Sadness • Sympathy Craftsmanship • William Butler Yeats has used many techniques to carry across the message of war to the reader • He achieves these effects well because of the different words and techniques he has incorporated into this poem. Some specific techniques Yeats uses in this poem are imagery, euphemism and rhyme. Imagery can get the reader to paint a picture in their mind and imagine that they are there. Euphemism makes the poem more subtle, for example instead of saying death, he says fate (1st line) Structure • 16 lines in the poem • 1 stanza Language • 1st person • Emotive • Formal • Euphemism (1st line) • Last 4 lines of the poem – William Butler Yeats uses a chiasmus Imagery • Example – Line 2 “Somewhere among the clouds above;” shows an image of him flying in a plane • All the lines represent war and death Movement • There was an ab ab rhyming pattern • No significant sound features Sound • Rhyme • Example – Line 12 “Drove this tumult in the clouds” suggests planes flying over, and you can hear the jet engines Summary • This poem makes me feel angry about war because of all the emotive language about a soldier who has no emotion or feeling for going to war • It also makes me feel sad and sympathetic towards the soldier because he can detect when he will die and that his best mate had been killed in action • I feel this poem was successful in carrying the message of war and death across • I feel that it does achieve the poet’s purpose of informing people about war, because of all the different techniques he has used to get the reader to feel more like they are in the shoes of the solider