First looking at the graphic of the famous cartoon character, Charlie Brown, I thought it was somehow ironic in a way. Charlie Brown is usually known as being a bystander in his daily life who would get excluded, forcing him to keep to himself. He is always trustworthy and finding the best in the worst kinds of people. For instance, Charlie would always put his trust into Lucy to hold the football when he would try to kick it. However, she always snatches it away from him causing him to fall and yet he continually goes back believing that she will hold the football for him. Charlie Brown has always been not just the bystander, but also the powerless follower within his group. Yet I did not quite grasp the understanding of how this cartoon character relates to the tragedy of what occurred in Paris. The tragedy is known as the Charlie Hebdo shooting, where eleven people were disgustingly murdered. But once I started to do more research, I began to understand why the cartoon is representing Je Suis Charlie. Charlie is portrayed as a weak, disappointed, maybe even scared indidvidual. His frown, wrinkles, hair, and his gut suggests that he could be representing a journalist or writer who is crying for help. After having a massacre over an issue far greater than a propaganda article, journalists are viewing the expression, Je suis Charlie as a pleading cry for the freedom and speech.
Al Qaeda is a radical Islamic Organization that is associated with numerous attacks and bombings to disorder economies of Western nations along with their influence. By taking the lives of those 12 civilians, it affected their families by taking away their incomes in order to support them and affected their coworkers. Al Qaeda has been responsible for tragedies that will be carried throughout history but with different motivations and beliefs. The attack on the World Trade Center was more of a spotlight motivation rather than a religious belief. I believe that Al Qaeda is afraid of defeat and that the entire Islamic Organization was formed for nothing. This is a powerful organization that can be capable of really anything, but why? What do they really want? Killing innocent people for a celebrity moment is complete and utterly stupid. By having their celebrity moment makes sure that they are well known around the world and know that they are using fear as power.
Yet, I don’t think this organization has any power. If a few low key journalists can have the power to intimidate Al Qaeda through a weekly newspaper article, it just shows how weak they truly are. Charlie may come off as a weak and hopeless character, yet the phrase Je Suis Charlie shows more of an independent and strong portrayal of the journalists who wrote from their perspective and how they felt.
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
qdoba, you didn’t request feedback on this post, so my remarks will be brief. First drafts are shredder fodder, as you know. Even the best must be torn down and replaced.
You’re doing a fair job of addressing both the subject matter and your evolving relationship with it, qdoba. Now is time to tighten up the observations and confirm that they’re all relevant. If you suggest in your very first sentence that the drawing is ironic, be sure to redeem that conjecture later: it is ironic or it isn’t, you later concluded. The best idea in your first paragraph is that Charlie represents dismayed journalists themselves. Consider a rewrite that revises your own history somewhat to suit the narrative. When you first saw the Charlie Brown character in the header, alongside the slogan, you thought he might represent those slain cartoonists, or one of the survivors aghast at the carnage. Once you make that claim, you could back up to the irony that a happy-go-lucky cartoon kid who never grew up in 60 years is the emblem for a sadder but wiser adult. See what I mean?
Your observations on Al Qaeda are almost irrelevant, but they don’t have to be. What the Free Dictionary says is certainly irrelevant, unless you make it matter. Did these extremists intend to “disrupt Western economies” when they shot up the cartoon room? The move was not economic, was it? It was retribution for depictions of Muhammad, in other words, outrage at a blasphemy. Your phrase “celebrity moment” is brilliant. But if it’s true, then decide what IS the value of such a public monstrosity, not what the value ISN’T.
Was Al Qaeda intimidated?
You’re onto something very powerful here, qdoba. The power struggle between a free and independent press that isn’t afraid to offend others, matched against a group so radical that it will eliminate anyone who expresses a contrary view is certainly worth investigating. You owe yourself a rewrite.
Make some choices. Is Charlie a surviving journalist? Great. Is Al Qaeda easily intimidated? Great. Ask fewer questions and explore the outcome of your premises.
Grade Code 9D4.
Grades are decoded at Professor Conferences.
For an appointment, see the Conferences page.
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This is not the grade you want, qdoba. Revisions highly recommended. Leave a feedback request when you’re ready.
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Feedback requested.
Request declined. —DSH
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Qdoba, I have already left you substantial feedback. The next step is yours. Make significant revisions to your first draft before you ask for feedback again. This is still your first draft.
Awaiting your reply.
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Regrade please
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Much better than your original.
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