Inquiry Contract Progress

While I researched Stem Cells today in study hall, I started to learn more about the different levels of potency stem cells can have and what actually defines a stem cell. The two properties, which help to define a stem cell, are the abilities to differentiate into more specialized cells and the ability to go through many cell divisions without becoming differentiated. The potency of stem cells is also categorized into five different levels. The top most is a stem cell which is “totipotent,” meaning the cell can produce most any cell, including becoming an organ. The next level is “pluripotent” which is generally descended from the totipotent cells and can still differentiate into nearly any cell. After pluripotent comes “multipotent,” and this refers to the ability of the cell to divide into several different types of cells, but only those, which are closely related. Next are the “Oligopotent” cells, which are only able to transform into a few new cells, but are still not specialized. Finally are the “unipotent” cells, which can only produce cells of their own type but can actively renew themselves.

Inquiry Contract Progress

Yesterday when I researched about the stem cells i learned more about the differences between the adult stem cell and the embryonic stem cell. The embryonic stem cell is taken from an "inner cell mass" of the blastocytes (thus destroying them) and they can then be used to create any other type of cell. With adults stem cells, however, the stem cells are extracted from adult tissue and, together with a different type of cell which can differentiate (become different types of cells) can be used mainly for repair by replenishing specialized cells. This helps to throw the Stem Cell debate in a new light because, while the adult stem cells may not kill the person it came from, they are not as seemingly useful as the embryonic stem cells. This seems to give more credit to those who are proponents of the embryonic stem cell research but at the same time, the life of the embryo needs to be considered.

IC Progress

Over this weekend, I did not do much in regards to my Inquiry Contract because a distant uncle came and I spent much of my time with him. However, I did ask my uncle, my dad and my mom what their views were on Stem Cell Research. None of them knew an extreme amount about it, but from what they knew they had differing views. My dad believed that, while the end results were good, any other possibility for stem cell harvesting should be taken so that the lives of those embryos were not lost. My mom and uncle, however, believed that Stem Cell research was a good thing, even though it resulted in the death of the embryos. So while I did not do much research, I was able to look into different people’s perspectives on the subject, which was fairly interesting.

Inquiry Contract Progress

Today for work on my inquiry contract, I read a few articles about stem cell research (both embryonic and not) to start to educate myself about it. One of the interesting things I found out was the fact that there is actually research going into adult stem cell extraction, cells of which can be extracted and then used to treat things such as leukemia. Not only have these treatments been successful, but the usage of the stem cells was much less controversial because it came from adults and as such did not destroy a fetus and future life when harvested. I have also seen a relatively interesting argument in which people argued against stem cell research because they pointed out that such advanced scientific research often leads to terrible discoveries, such as the nuclear bomb. Though I did not find a large amount of information tonight, what I did find was interesting and helped shed a little bit of light on the stem cell research debate.

Inquiry Contract Progress

I heavily considered switching my topic to examining the idea that gun control (or rather more specifically taking guns away from a population) would decrease the amount of violent acts that occurred, but I decided that I would not be able to truly do that topic without ranting, for I already know my rather strong position on that argument. Because of this I am sticking with the idea of stem cell research (mostly the embryonic stem cell research) and its positive or negative effects, both on society and on the embryos they harvest the stem cells from. Tomorrow our Inquiry Contract Proposal paper is due meaning we have to tell why we want to do the topic we chose and explain how much we know about the topic already. I still like the idea of researching embryonic stem cell research because it is something I know little about and I can write about it without ranting.

IC Work Blog

After thinking about the project I have decided to do my Inquiry Contract unit on Stem Cell research. I have decided to do this because I do not know that much about the subject itself and as such I have not been able to form any real concrete opinions about the idea itself. I hope to be able to learn about the process of Stem Cell Research and what makes it so controversial (I know that it involves embryo’s and harvesting cells from them but I don’t know much more than that). After learning about the process and why it is controversial I should be able to form an opinion on the issue which would help advance me as a person and also serve the purpose of the Inquiry Contract, though I do not yet know what that position will be, because I need more information on Stem Cell Research before I decide.

The Laramie Project Response

While watching the Laramie Project, I kept trying to think about many of the readings we had and how they related to the actual movie itself but it was fairly hard to do. This was because of the amount of emotional impact the movie had (because it stressed the fact that this was a true event) and how a single misdeed by two of its citizens against another could so drastically rock a town. Though it was a little less impressive because I knew everyone in the movie was an actor, the fact that they developed their lines straight from interviews lent the movie a little more impact. Throughout the movie they also stressed the idea of “live and let live,” meaning that people should be allowed to live the lives the way they want to, in this respect, leading the life of a homosexual. Most of the townsfolk seemed tolerant of homosexuals and even if they did not approve they were still shocked and appalled by the actions of the two boys. This idea finally came to a head when, even though he had lost his son, Mr. Shepard granted the request of one of the defendants to not have the death penalty sought against him. The whole movie was brought together very well, but I was not able to think about many of the ideas we had discussed in class because of the emotional draw of the movie.

Analysis of Yoshino

Exigence- His observations of people forcing himself or herself or being forced to adapt into the “mainstream,” and his dislike of this phenomena.
Purpose- To discuss the issue so that the people reading it can be enlightened about the problems in society and to try and come up with a solution to the problems.
Audience- Those who are either part of the mainstream and thus unaware of the discrimination or those who are forced to conform but don’t truly realize it.
Logic- Throughout the passage he discusses the fact that people will assimilate into other cultures and change themselves to the more mainstream ideal just to fit in better and have a better life, even if it isn’t right. He also talked about the idea that no one is truly “mainstream.”
Credibility- Personal experience as a gay person and the several stories he shared about people being forced to change who they were to fit in more.
Emotion- Uses personal stories (both his own and others) to create a connection with the audience that is hard to break.
Imagery- Creates the image of the “mainstream American” then tells of how people try to conform to it yet no one is truly completely mainstream.
Figurative Language- Comparing his argument to the many personal stories he told us about. He also used several other examples.
Diction- I was able to understand all the words he used and because I believe I don’t have an exemplary vocabulary I believe that he used fairly simple words that would allow most people to understand his points.
Syntax- His point always came across well, usually due to long sentences that fully outlined his beliefs.

Yoshino and Covering

When Kenji Yoshino expresses the sentiment that “the mainstream is a myth” in his passage The Pressure to Cover, he is not saying that there is no such thing as mainstream, but rather, that there is no one who is truly part of the mainstream. Because the mainstream is continually shifting, people will invariably have some part of them, which does not fit with the mainstream. Though there are people who fill nearly fit perfectly in with the “mainstream crowd,” no one will ever truly fit completely. I agree with his reasoning and found it to be fairly persuasive, especially when he stated that the word mainstream can be used in reference to a particular identity, but cannot be used generically. This definition agrees with my definition because, as he said, mainstream can be used for specific characteristics. To use his example, being straight is more mainstream than being gay, but just because you are straight doesn’t mean you are completely mainstream. Throughout his piece, Yoshino makes valid arguments that are intended to help bring about social change helpful to all, which is something the world should definitely be focusing on.

Former Klansman Article

The passage recounts the life of a former clansman (Ellis) who describes both his inception into the clan and his resulting actions in the Klan but also the process that began to reform his ideas and led to his leaving the Klan. Ellis first began to feel the need to join the Klan when he was forced to become the man of the house after his father’s death. He worked hard to try and improve his position but he never could, leading to a hatred of those he made into scapegoats (Catholics, Jews and Blacks). After awhile in the Klan, he began to realize that the people in power were constantly using the Klan to help them achieve their goals, which Ellis did not like. Ellis is also then asked to be a part of a committee designed to improve the areas schools. During this time he is forced to work with those he had hated and came to realize that they too were in fact people.
Though the method of forced interaction with people he hated worked with Ellis, it would probably not work well on a larger scale. In larger groups, people would become more obstinate about their beliefs and would be even less open to change when they feel that people are trying to forcefully change their beliefs.

Linda's Freedom

Near the end of the book, Linda finally obtains her freedom, which made all the times she had to run and hide worth it. The way she obtains her freedom, however, is not the way she desired, though she would in no way reject the freedom. She receives her freedom from the new Mrs. Bruce who buys Linda from her former mistress. Though Linda is grateful to be set free, she has mixed emotions about her newfound freedom. She does not like the fact that someone other than her original master set her free because she does not like feeling indebted to someone, least of all someone like Mrs. Bruce who had already been incredibly kind to her while she was a slave. Though she did not like having someone else pay for her freedom, she was still grateful to Mrs. Bruce and happy with her freedom.

Linda's Credibility

Throughout the novel Linda constantly utilizes her honesty and modesty to establish credibility with the readers. She tries to tell the truth to the reader, which not only serves to enhance the feelings the reader gets from the novel but also makes the reader believe her more when she talks about things the reader might doubt. A great example of her use of modesty and honesty is when, in Chapter 29, she describes her escape and, instead of emphasizing her courage and daring for undertaking such a dangerous job, she talks about the kindness, love and support of Uncle Philip, Peter and her Grandmother. Also, even though she is about to lose her grandmother, she still worries more about Fanny. These kinds of actions not only show the value of community that the slaves held, but also serve to establish credibility with Linda which she could then use later on.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

The book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl carries a strong message, which is due to two major factors. The first is the fact that the book is not fictional, meaning the whole thing is true. This makes it have a larger shock factor because, if it was fiction, people could easily brush it off as being something the writer just thought up. Being fact, however, makes people wonder how things like this really happened and as a result, draws them in even more into the book. The other factor that makes the book stronger is that the author who released it did not clean up any of the language/spelling or censor any scenes. It was released as the slave wrote about it because the author knew that a book directly from a slave’s point of view would have a larger impact than something that was altered. These two factors both lent an incredible amount of strength to the piece that made it much more interesting to read.

Extending the Critical Context #11

Though I cannot remember any specific times where I have been in a confrontation about race, I have overheard and been in several discussions involving the minorities present in America, and the disadvantages they have. Often times, the debate was over whether or not racism itself still existed within the United States. Both sides would agree that there are racist people out there, but would disagree on whether or not racism extended further than that. The debate never seemed to reach as far as the ideas posed by Wachtel did. Many people agreed with the idea that the opportunities were there but more could be done to improve minorities chances, and several times the idea came up of exactly what Wachtel said, “That’s not my problem.” No one ever stepped up and said “Racism is not the main problem, indifference is.” That might be why most of these debates never got very far, and why, in society as a whole, the plight of minorities isn’t advancing very far.

The Socialization Process

The Socialization Process is the system by which an individual adopts the beliefs and perceptions of the culture that surrounds them. This generally happens during childhood when the child will adopt the beliefs of the parents without questioning them. Though this is a significant contributor to the spread of prejudices, it is not the only thing that leads to the creation of said prejudices. While the environment is indeed very influential on a person, the environment does not always form the beliefs of that person. Other factors, such as the threat the person feels from a particular group can lead to them establishing their own prejudices, which they could then pass on via the Socialization Process. So while this process may indeed, and often does, instill the beliefs of their surroundings into a person, it does not always do so and does not determine what the person will believe.

Thomas Jefferson

Through our Advanced Placement United States History Class we have learned that Thomas Jefferson was the ever-famous Founding Father who wrote our Declaration of Independence and aided in the creation of the Constitution of the United States. This has led to him being constantly known as a great and selfless man who promoted the rights of the common man, when in reality he held slaves and even professed to believe that African Americans were inferior to Caucasians. This is a great shock to many who always believed that the Founding Fathers were perfect men. Jefferson was also a proponent of the idea of not outright abolishment of slavery, but gradually getting rid of it and shipping the freed slaves out of the country. This is a very stark contrast to the picture we were shown which shows people of many different backgrounds all sitting together, seemingly happy gathered around this very mans grave. This is not necessarily the future Jefferson would have envisioned, but it is what his historic documents have led to, a diverse and rich America.

Speeches

The speeches today varied greatly from person to person, but each one had its own aspects, which lent itself to the argument the person was making. In Katie Griffin’s speech, her use of another person’s personal story helped to draw the audience in by creating an emotional connection to the charity. Other speeches, such as the one done by Josh Matthew’s, helped to pull the audience in by expressing many shocking statistics that were meant to win over the audience with shock value. Of both these kinds of speeches, I found the personal stories to be much more influential because of the deep emotional connection it created, rather than the credibility offered by simple statistics. One of the more memorable speeches was done by Steve Dobbs, who helped support his charity by questioning the definition of success and saying that his charity helped fulfill a different version of happiness and success. Perhaps Breanna Elzer, who not only hooked the audience with an initial personal story from a different person, but also “rehooked” the audience by telling her own person story, did the best speech. All speeches, however, had their own pros and cons.

Willy Loman and Individual Opportunity

Throughout the book, Willy Loman constantly elaborates upon his belief that hard work and things such as a “smile and a shoeshine” can help lead to much needed success. He believes in the idea that hard work will lead to success and that his sons have not reached success because they have not worked hard enough. This brings up the interesting point regarding his own lack of success, but Willy does not concern himself with that fact because his delusions lead him to believe he is still a successful salesman. The author of the piece uses Willy and his sons to demonstrate his belief that equal individual opportunity does not truly exist. Biff serves as a demonstration of that, because he has constantly worked hard holding many jobs but has never found what he truly wanted to be and has not earned a substantial amount of money. Through the book, the author carefully uses the characters naïve beliefs in individual opportunity to mock its very existence.

Cora Tucker vs. Willy Loman

Cora Tucker was a woman who constantly valued her community and how others around her were treated. She did not care much for the regular version of the materialistic American Dream and instead focused on a view that, if she can help others and change the world in some small way, then she was successful. She never reached any real materialistic success and lived in a small house by the railroad tracks that shook when the train went by but was still a very successful person. This goes directly against the beliefs of Willy Loman, who believes staunchly in the materialistic American Dream and thinks that the American Dream can be achieved with a "smile and a shoeshine." However, Willy lives in a delusional world and ignores his life as it crumbles around him. The end result is his suicide and he ends his life without achieving materialistic or spiritual/personal success.

Dress for Success

My choice for the persuasive speech we must prepare for AP Literature is Dress for Success. Dress for Success is a non-profit organization that is designed entirely to help people further their own life goals. The work this organization does is invaluable because it allows women to wear more presentable clothes while being interviewed, and many employers look upon the dress of their employees when deciding who to hire and who to not hire. As stated before, Dress for Success is a non-profit organization that could use more help in the way of donations, either of proper suits for interviews or money to buy said suits. The work they do help women to lead productive lives in the work environment and become independent and supportive of themselves and their families.

Cora Tucker

Core Tucker was an extraordinary women who did great things in her time. Though she was never a wealthy person by any means, which would make her unsuccessful by Horatio Algier’s definition, she was still a very virtuous person who fought for what she thought was right. This kind of determination and attitude that she could fix what was wrong led to her to be a very successful person, in a different way. Her outspoken attitude lent itself to the reform of politics in her area and put her in the spotlight, which often left her open to criticism. Through her work, many changes were wrought, including changing the racist demeanor of her local area by getting changes forced upon the area that required the hiring of African Americans. Successes such as this is what made Cora Tucker the great and successful person she was.

Self Reliance

Emerson's version of success is not measured in monetary gains or the power you have over others but rather how little power others have over you. He believed that to be truly successful you would have to shake the influence of others and learn to think for yourself so that you could not be controlled. Those that think for themselves instead of conforming should be informed and we should learn to pay more attention to what the voice inside of us says. I believe that this could be one measure of what success is, but should not be the only measure. It is rather easy for Emerson to just say that success is thinking for yourself, it is another to actually shake the influence of others. Friends, family and peers will almost always have an influence in your life, and being able to fully shake that and do what you believe is right would be incredibly hard, but if you believe in what Emerson says, that is what you must do to be truly successful.

Class in America Blog

While the essay does not say that the wealthy are exploiting the poor that is the general idea I got from the essay. The idea that the wealthy just keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, and they do this because the rich use the poor for cheap layer and the poor cannot avoid this because they are trapped within their class. Though the rich are not expressly exploiting the poor, they are inadvertently doing so by not raising wages of their workers and continually passing their money down an inheritance line, where their kids will have better opportunities for success and will thus stay in the rich class, whereas the poor kids will not have the same opportunities. This data is fairly one sided and shows the increasing differences within the classes in the United States. It states the ever increasing affluence of the wealthy and shows the great advantages they have over the poor while highlighting all the disadvantages that the poor have. Though it is an unpleasant situation and one that could not be easily rectified, it is a current problem within our nation.

Harlon L. Dalton vs. Stephen Cruz

After reading the two passages of reading that were assigned to be read by Tuesday, October 6, and reading the story by Horatio Algier, clear differences were illustrated between the beliefs of Cruz, Algier and Dalton. It was made clear that Algier believed deeply in the American Dream and believed that good traits such as dedication, hard work and compassion for your fellow man would lead to achieving the America Dream. Many, however, would disagree with him, including Cruz, who at first believed in the American Dream and thought that he was succeeding due to his abilities but soon realized that many of his successes were due to his status as a minority. Dalton also disagreed with Algier, saying that the American Dream could not be realized most of the time due to three main reasons. The first was that Algier's stories went off the assumption that everyone was judged solely on their own merits. The second was the illusion in Algier's stories that everyone has the same opportunity to develope those merits, and the third was another assumption that "ultimately, merit will out (p. 279)." He believes that the illusion of the American Dream is harmful to society, which directly goes against Algiers beliefs. These three different opinions offer varying view points on the American Dream and its role in society.

Horatio Algier- Ragged Dick

Within the story, “Ragged Dick,” Horatio Algier constantly stresses the fact that hard work, dedication and honesty will lead to a better life. This is not explicitly stated, however, which makes this an implicit argument. In the story, a young hard working man had begun planning out his future and had set realistic goals about how much he could make, but a turn of fortune, in which he rescued a young child from drowning, made him much more successful. His drive to rescue the child and later modesty about the event led to the father offering him a high paying job in a counting room. The description of the characters modesty, hard work attitude and kindness followed by his success leads to the idea that the American Dream truly does exist and that those who work hard and have traits such as Dicks can be successful. These kinds of stories are truly why Horatio Algier is known for his “Rags to Riches” stories.

Rhetorical Triangle- Color Plate G

Exigence-The need to demonstrate that the VUE was environmentally friendly so that more people would be interesting in it.
Purpose- To show that the Saturn VUE wouldn't hurt nature.
Audience- Those who are concerned about how environmentally friendly a VUE is.
Logic- Cars that do not harm the environment are better and may sell better.
Credibility- No real demonstration of credibility.
Emotion- Appeal to love of environment.
Organization- VUE slightly off center with many animals and trees surrounding it, has a key of all the animals in the left hand sides.
Imagery- Uses many different animals, from small creatures to large ones to help give the message that the VUE will not hurt the environment.

Visual Arguments

Our society is quickly becoming a visual society, which means we are subjected to more and more compelling stories, day after day. Before, people would read newspapers which would provide a story, which also generally contained the bias of the writer. Many people, however, were used to this kind of bias and it was much easier to ignore within the confines of a written piece. Nowadays, we are subjected to image after image, whether it be of terrible deeds done by groups such as the LRA, or a political comic poking fun at the amount of pork in the last Stimulus Bill. These kinds of images are much harder to reject because images can easily appeal to our emotional side and, though they are generally not explicit arguments, they lead us to think of the argument from the point of the view the images creator wants us to think of. Though they are only images, and can easily be ignored, visual arguments can be much more persuasive than written ones.

Pathos AP Lit Blog

When constructing an argument, many disputants attempt to appeal to their audience’s sense of pathos, that is, the audience’s emotions. This can often be very effective, and can lead to an emotional connection that is hard to break. This only works, however, if the audience is sympathetic to that side of the argument, otherwise, they may have a negative reaction. The only responsibility lies with the fact that appeals to pathos should not confuse an issue; it should help to make the issue clearer. The media and the government, both of which generally utilize the appeals correctly, often utilize appeals to pathos. If talking about abortion, pro-choice people will tell stories of mother’s health being at risk, or if they talk about taxes, people will talk about how strenuous they can be on the poorer people in our society. The problem lies with the fact that so many media agencies appeal to our sense of pathos that it can confuse people, with all the different stories and distortions of truth they are told. Though appeals to pathos can often be effective, it should always help to clarify and issue, and if too many sides attempt these appeals then the audience can eventually grow confused.

Analyzing Skateboard Argument Evidence

In “Half-Criminals” or Urban Athletes? A Plea for Fair Treatment of Skateboarders, David Langley uses a great deal of evidence to try and convince the reader that skateboarders are not menaces to society and should be treated better by officials. The most compelling piece of evidence is the fact that he himself is a skateboarder who has, along with his friends, frequently suffered many injustices just because he skates. These include having a friend receive a $50 ticket for skateboarding in an area that even said it was ok to skateboard in during Holidays. He also uses very effective analogies when he says skateboarding is as natural as surfing, in that people are adapting to their environment. He appeals to people’s senses of emotion by continually giving examples of skaters being harassed and even says that cities have tried to accommodate skaters, but are not succeeding. To further emphasize his point, he offers what he considers reasonable and safe solutions to the problem, which shows the reader that he really wants to find a solution. His argument accurately fills out every portion of the STAR method of looking at evidence. The evidence is accurate (mainly because it is based off his opinion or memory), it is relevant to his argument, he provides more than enough evidence (though some statistics may have been helpful) and, according to him, the evidence he presents is representative of what happens to a majority of skaters.

Toulmin's System

Real world arguments actually seldom prove anything to be 100% true, because what you are arguing about could be subjective based on the disputant or things could fall into different groupings, as the example provided on page 87 of the book does. Though, real world arguments seldom actually prove anything, they do serve as a good advocate for one cause or another. Normally, you can only hope to strengthen your side of the argument or weaken your opponent’s side and garner supporters for you cause, but not actually prove either side to be right or wrong. This in and of itself is enough of a reason to learn Toulmin’s “courtroom model” of arguing (“Writing Arguments”). Toulmin’s system assumes that a neutral third party will render all verdicts in regards to the argument and that all assumptions are contestable by an opposing side, which forces the disputants to tailor their arguments to their audience, thus garnering more support. Though it is very difficult to ever prove something in a debate, using a system like Toulmin’s allows you to make a better case for your belief and possibly garner more supporters.

Pseudo-argument

A pseudo-argument is an argument, which is based on the opinions of the people involved and often means that the people are fanatically devoted to their side of the argument and unwilling to change their views based on the strengths or weaknesses of their opponents argument. This is why it is a pseudo- argument, because there is no collective inquiry or potential for intellectual growth through the debate. This seems to be what many of my arguments are whether they are with friends or with parents. The most common kind of pseudo-argument I have is with my parents and involves my curfew (both during weekdays and weekends). My parents always thought there should be a set time to be home and that I should always call to tell them where I am, whereas I believed that, as long as I had my phone with me I should be allowed to do what I want. They thought that getting home at a specific time would help develop a habit which would lead to getting homework done faster and better, and they would always know exactly where I was. I believed that it didn’t matter where I was, as long as they were able to contact me (via the cell phone) and that the time I got home didn’t matter, as long as I finished my homework. This kind of homework almost always ended with my parents winning because they could easily threaten to take away my car privileges altogether, but this kind of argument still exemplifies what a pseudo-argument is.

Biotech Food

From it’s emergence, biotech foods have been debated constantly with proponents saying that the biotech product is no different than the natural, and the opponents saying that we don’t know the dangers of these biotech products.
So far, the companies and the FDA have both determined the biotech foods on the market to be harmless to people and to have several advantages. This clearly shows the advantages that the biotech food would bring to the table (no pun intended), yet the opponents continue to say that there should be labeling for what are biotech foods and what aren’t. Not only would these labels scare the public, for the public often thinks of such labels as warnings, but it would be very costly to the company and this cost would then be passed onto the consumer with increased prices. Though labeling all biotech foods would be a bad and costly idea, it would still be advantageous to have certain foods labeled, but only if they had different nutritional facts than the natural product. This does not mean that it has to be labeled for being the smallest amount off, but rather, if it is a significant amount off, or an amount that could affect someone’s health, then the product should be labeled. If it would have no real effect then the biotech food should not have to be labeled.

Genre of an Argument

The genre of certain arguments can greatly influence the message that the argument portrays. From the image on page 24 the reader gets the general idea that genetically modified foods are very possibly bad for you and can have harmful effects, which serves as a good warning to most readers. The cartoon, however, has a much more penetrating message because it shows what genetically modified food could do for us (help solve world hunger) and contrasts this even more with the idea of the starving little child who would give anything for food but is having the food withheld by a self righteous “reason resistant” person. This kind of contrasting makes the comic much more effective than the image on page 24 because people are constantly bombarded with advertisements like the one on 24 that tell them why something could be wrong or bad for them but that is all it does, is tell them in a boring way that many people become immune to. The comic, on the other hand, attracts the attention of the general viewer because many people enjoy comics and the image of the starving child draws their attention and makes them feel more sympathy, while the mockery of the “reason resistant” person helps to fuel the dislike the reader feels for that same group. These two images clearly show how the genre of an argument can determine how effective the argument is.

Implicit vs. Explicit Argument

As defined by the book, “Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings,” an explicit argument “states directly a controversial claim and supports it with reasons and evidence,” while an implicit argument “doesn’t look like an argument. It may be a poem or short story, a photograph or cartoon, a personal essay or an autobiographical narrative. But like an explicit argument, it persuades its audience towards a certain point of view.” These definitions help the reader to understand the context of the Veterans day picture and the poem Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, neither of which are explicit arguments. Though they both seem to be relatively innocuous entries into the textbook, they really say a great deal. With regards to implicit arguments, both have a great deal to say. The poem, for example, is a stinging and bitter rant against war and the horrors men face while fighting a war. The point is further driven home when it is revealed that the author, Wilfred Owen, himself died in the midst of World War I. The picture, on the other hand, offers a far different picture. It shows a young strong looking marine embracing and older veteran of another war, showing the comradeship of the two different generations of soldiers. Though the artificial hand of the younger soldier does come as a shock, it serves to remind the viewer that war itself is a very shocking thing and never to be taken lightly. Though neither item actually state an explicit argument, the amount they have to say is no less than if they were explicit.

Memory

A week after this school year started I was at DePauw helping my brother move into his new dorm with some friends of ours. This mainly consisted of the parents moving things in and setting up beds and dressers while we screwed around doing nothing, sometimes going out onto the campus. In the beginning, when I walked around by myself a little, so many people started asking if I had found my dorm yet I got tired of giving the long winded response which consisted “I’m not going to DePauw, I’m still in high school, but my brother is going here,” and instead took to just saying “yes.” Eventually, while unpacking some of Phil’s things, we found a nerf side by side break action shotgun he had shown us that he had gotten from Walgreens for five dollars. This served to bring us back down to the maturity of eight year olds as we ran through the dorm grabbing the gun from each other and shooting each other, to the ire of our parents, who eventually told us to put it down. This led to us walking around the dorm pointing out all the dirty spots and speculating to why they were there or who would have to clean them (such as the “AIDs spot”- a black splotch in the bath tub that Phil was assigned to clean). Eventually our parents kicked us out and sent us over to the Union to pick up books and computer information for Ian and our friends, which managed to entertain us for awhile as we poked fun at the selection of books they had or various other entertaining things. Though it was a simple day, it was one of the most fun i’d had in awhile.

Random Blog

After each reading within this class, we always have a class discussion, just to make sure everyone understood the reading as they were supposed to. This is a very helpful idea because, without it, I wouldn’t have understood nearly as much about these readings as I do. For instance, I would not have been able to draw the connection between “The Great Gatsby” and “The Great Death,” because, although I could have recognized the meaning of Gat, I would not have been able to see that was the aim of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Another benefit is some of the ideas we are told, such as the idea that the chair is only the chair, in so much as we ascribe the word chair to mean the four legged object which we usually sit on.
These in class discussions prove very helpful to the classes understanding of the literature that we read, which is why I enjoy this class, and the books we read, a lot more than the books I read in seventh grade.

Changing Language

Often time language constantly evolves whether it’s an individual’s dialect or a community’s vernacular. It is constantly changing due to the introduction of new ideas which lead to new words or the introduction of a new group of people, such as when the people who spoke Spanish mixed with those speaking English to form the Chicanos.
On a personal level, I have seen my language continually change, as I grow older. This was mainly due to the way that slang constantly changes. When I was in second grade, the word tight seemed foreign to me, but by the beginning of third grade I was constantly using it to describe things that I liked. Throughout my life these kinds of slang words have been coming at me and have slowly been becoming part of my vocabulary. This is even more evident in society when these kinds of slang words become prevalent among many different people. These changes can be seen in current music where many of the words are pure slang.
Language continually changes over time, and has been changing ever since the first language came about. It is still and will continue to change as long as humans have an actual language to communicate with.

Red Sky in the Morning Blog

The author of “Red Sky in the Morning,” witnessed a relatively innocent event, which led to a profound realization on her part. There are many people who have had such moments within their lives, though they may not realize it. Though my realization was a fairly basic one, it still changed my life permanently.
My realization began in first grade, when I came home one day from school and found my first dog, Lucy, lying on her doggie bed. At first my brother and I went to pet her but soon realized she was unnaturally cold, which is when my mother came down and led us away until my dad came home. It was then that we realized Lucy had left us. Though this has happened to many people, it was this moment when I finally realized what death truly meant. Because I was only in first grade I had not yet watched much of the news, or read the newspaper or even had a relative die so I did not know what it truly meant. It took Lucy’s death to show to me what death truly was.
Though many people have shared my moment, and there are undoubtedly some people who came to the same realization under the same conditions, it still changed my life profoundly. Since then, several dogs and several family members have passed on too, one of which affected me more deeply than Lucy’s death, but it is her death that I will always remember because of the great truth it revealed to my young mind.

Lines 81 to 119, act I scene I of Hamlet

Marcellus: Whoever knows, sit and tell me
Why does this watch
who watches over the land
And why are cannons made
And foreign weapons bought
Why do shipwrights whose hard task
Does not give them Sunday off
Why does this sweaty haste
Join the night and day laborers
Who can inform me

Horatio: I can explain it
The rumor is: our last king
Who you just saw
Was, as you all know, picked to fight
By Fortinbras of Norway
Challenged to combat, when our valiant Hamlet
As this side of the world knew him
Killed Fortinbras, who, by agreement
Which was made true by law and heraldry
Did give up, along with his life, all his lands
Which he controlled, to the winner
Hamlet had an agreement, that to be returned were
the lands of Fortinbras
Had Fortinbras won, by the same agreement
And by the terms of which the agreement was designed
His land went to Hamlet. Now, young Fortinbras
Of hot anger
Did in the skirts of Norway
Enlist a group of ruffians
Paid in food, to engage in an activity
That’s purpose is to
As it appears to us
Recover the lands lost by war
And those compulsatory agreements, with regards to those same lands
That his father lost. And I believe that this,
Is the main motive of our preparation
The source of this watch
The source of our watch and chief reason
Of this speed and commotion

Feed Blog

I found Feed to be a very interesting novel, but it also seemed very bleak and pessimistic about our future. Everyone seemed to lack emotions, or rather, had very few emotions. Things that had been intimate were now casual things to which no thought was given. Many people expressed indignation, surprise and even anger at the fact that Titus left Violet. While I was fairly surprised at this turn of events, I was not “mad” at Titus for what he did, for I feel that any other person from that time would have done the same thing. They grew up in a society where they were taught to never be attached to someone. Their parents weren’t even together when the kids were first conceived. Sex was viewed as something purely for pleasure and never symbolized anything permanent. With most people in that society, her going into this recession of health would have symbolized the end of that relationship, and they would have moved on. Since will was a part of that group that would move on, he did as he was programmed to do, he moved on to find the next source of pleasure and fun. Violet thought everything should have meaning and that they would be together forever. Even in today’s culture that would be considered rushing, considering they had only been going out for a few months. In this time and day people often go out for a year or more before they decide to even be engaged, but Violet was only with Titus for a few months before she decided that they should be together. This kind of pressure and clinginess is what drove Titus away, he couldn’t stand being with her anymore because everything had to have a second layer of meaning, everything had to relate to them being together forever. She drove him away with her clinginess, so I believe that Titus should not be criticized for leaving her. I also believe that during this whole novel M.T. Anderson scorned free markets and covertly attacked corporations for what they do to the people. I found this to be absurd for the companies have done no true wrong. They’ve done what every person does, they have acted in their own self-interest by marketing to everyone they can. If those people are too weak to deny themselves what the company offers then it is their fault. The company merely provides the goods, it is the people who are too weak and give in and buy whatever the company says. I feel that this also relates back to the housing crisis, in that everyone has criticized the bank for giving out their loans, but have taken none of the blame on themselves or the government. How about criticizing the government for forcing through the CRA in the 1970s? Or the government for revising it in the 1990s to practically force banks to give loans to “disadvantaged people.” More so than the government, however, it is the people’s fault. Those who took mortgages (adjustable rate mortgages normally), failed to pay them, had their house foreclosed then proceeded to claim, “Oh the big mean bank took advantage of me!” No, you were gullible enough to take mortgage you couldn’t afford, just like in the book many people blame the companies without looking at themselves.

Black In America

Throughout the film statistics were constantly thrown at us showing how African Americans are more likely to go to jail or flunk out of high school or college. These are very sad statistics to hear, but I believe that a lot of these problems are self-inflicted problems. As it even said in the film, many African Americans do not do well in school because it is not considered black to get good grades when many of them are capable of achieving those good grades. Fixing errors in ideology such as this would lead to more African Americans graduating and being able to get better jobs instead of leaving high school and turning to a life of crime for money.
I am not saying that it is purely due to this ideology that African Americans seem more disadvantages, for I realize that there is still racism around today, but that small remainder of racism seems to be fading fast, as shown by the election of Barack Obama and the appointment of several other African Americans to high ranking positions within the government. To me, it seems to be not so much racism that holds African Americans back, but rather several mentalities, which have became ingrained within their culture. If these cycles were to be broken I believe that many of the startling statistics presented within the film would drop to much lower levels. Another of these problems is the amount of kids who grow up without father figures because the fathers don’t marry the mother before having the kid. A lot of the time this causes the dad to be distant and not have an influence on his sons’ life, which, though maybe not consciously influences the son who acts the way his dad did.
Finally, though many may disagree, I believe that affirmative action also has a negative effect upon the African American community because young students who might not be qualified for a certain college still get in. Not only does this mean that the college may be too hard and that they may fail where they would succeed at another college but it also would implant a doubt in their mind and in others minds. As the many who worked for a music company said, even if you do a good job, in the back of people’s mind will always lurk the suspicion that, “oh, he got the job because he is black,” so that a persons work may never be totally validated.
I realize that some of my opinions may come across to some people the wrong way and that I can never truly understand what African Americans in this country go through, but I still believe that many of the problems today are not due to racism, but rather due to flaws that became ingrained within the culture.

Epistolary Novel

I believe that reading an epistolary novel is a good experience. It is very different than a normal novel, but I believe that it is different in a good way. I did not think I would enjoy this novel very much because the last book that I read that was an epistolary novel was Dracula by Bram Stoker. Instead, this book has been very interesting to read and what makes it even better is that, even though it is a fiction book it has many references to things that happened in the past that it forces you to look closely. You must also scrutinize the book carefully to be able to pick up on what happens to all the characters. A simple news article or mail between “The Green Hornet” and “The Shadow” could have a large impact on the novel, or it could just be a funny side comment such as Ms. Aubaugh actually turning out to be a Nazi spy.
You had to pay close attention to many things throughout the novel in order to pick up on all the small details that were revealed, such as Joey Margolis mailing Hazel MacKay about Charlie Banks’ brother and saying something along the lines of “he probably feels guilty.” Though this is a very small comment, it is very important to the book because it reveals that Harlan Bank’s death might have been a result of something irresponsible that Charlie Banks did. These small details are sometimes hard to catch, but it makes the novel much more interesting than a normal novel, which would generally come out in some other way or just blatantly announce in some fashion that Harlan’s death was possible due to something that Charlie Banks did.
I believe that the book has been enhanced due to its epistolary style, because you have a wonderful plotline that is full of intricacies that you must be able to see and whenever you see something that hints at a joke or a fact that would come back later in the book you will either get a laugh or start to wonder about how this little detail will affect the characters later on. I think that the epistolary style also makes connecting with the characters of the novel easier because you get to see their true emotions expressed within the letters that they write. You are not told by the author “Joey felt sad,” but rather you see Joey write a letter in which he expresses the grief he feels.
I really enjoy reading this book, and I feel that the epistolary style is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. The characters seem so much more real and you are able to connect much easier than with other novels and I’m happy that the author chose this style of writing.