At DePauw for weekend, posting Thursday

After writing his first real story, Wright is quick to share it with a neighbor of his. Though she didn’t understand why he was sharing it with her, he still felt good inside and pleased with himself. This is because this writing symbolized much more than a mere story. It was a piece of work he had poured himself into, a story that took him away from his reality and something he could reasonably be proud of. Since he had not done very little in his life that he was truly proud of, this stood out and made him treasure the story much more than others would. More than this, however, was the idea behind the story that it was his story and that no one could truly take it from him. They may disagree with the story and could share in the story, but no one could ever take it from him. Regardless of whether she understood the story or his intentions for sharing it, Wright was still justly proud of his creation.

The Mom's Stroke

At first both Wright and his brother were filled with fear over the unknown disease that struck their mother, but they soon reacted. This was done with Wright working hard to help his mom and listening obediently to what he was told to do, as well as picking up jobs to help pay for treatment. This was his immediate reaction to the mother’s sickness, but it had longer reaching effects for him. He said that he eventually became emotionally detached from the issue because he did not want to deal with that kind of rise in hope and then dashing of hope over and over again. He also said that he was never able to have the same connection with his mom as he had pre-stroke. Though there were obvious immediate issues it raised with him, the more over reaching effects were the ones that occurred further on in his life, when he had more time to process the problem.

Experience vs. Attitude Towards Jews

At one point in the book, Wright begins to describe the ways in which he would entertain himself during the long days when his mom was at work. This included the act of running with other children to different Jews within the community and making fun of them, either through names or through malicious chants. He explains this behavior by saying that it is part of his heritage to have this kind of attitude towards the Jews and make fun of them in this way. From this context, he seems to be doing to the Jews what white people would do to him, however he has not had to experience that kind of treatment (at least not as far as the book has described) so he may not know how it truly feels to be made fun of for differences in race, creed or religion. Once he begins to experience more racial pressures in his life, I think he would begin to regret those acts and realize how wrong they were, but for now they were just a way to entertain him on long days.

Chapter 1- His Hunger

Wright’s hunger not only represents the fact that his family was unable to garner enough money each week to pay for adequate meals for Wright and his brother, but also served to show his longing for something more. Wright had not only recently lost the support of his father, and thus a figure that, while he despised, also used as a model, but he had also lost his version of innocence when he murdered the little kitten in a fit of calculated rage against his father. Though this egregious act was supposed to incapacitate his father’s power, it turned on him when his mother began to slowly extract feelings of remorse from Wright himself. Thus Wright was not just a normal hungry boy looking for a meal to sate his appetite, but was also experiencing a far deeper hunger, a longing for his life before everything went to hell.

The Necessity of School

In the essay, the other offers the idea that we don’t actually need school. That is not to say that we do not need education, but rather that we do not need the rigid seven hour a day, five day a week, nine month a year compulsory schooling states require. Though many would bring up the idea that it gives the students the necessary abilities such as the three R’s, he rebuts this by saying that there are plenty of home-schooled people who know that stuff just as well, if not better. Instead, he says that schools are designed to train people to listen to directions, be grouped up and taught only so far as they need to be taught before being dropped into whatever job they go to. It is not meant merely to educate them, but to form them into a body of people more responsive to authority and resigned to whatever task they eventually take. Though I believe that it is true that schools may currently be influencing people in this way, I don’t think that is what schools are trying to do and I still believe that schools are necessary. It gives a place for adults to leave their kids while they go to work and know there kids will be in responsible hands. It gives a place for the kid to gain an education if the parents do not have enough time to home school them, as most do not. Finally, it aids the child in social development and the development of friendships. Without the social interaction, the kid would be socially handicapped throughout his whole life. It is due to these factors that school, while imperfect, is still necessary.

Non-Academic Knowledge

Though I don't believe that I value non-academic education in the sense that I think about it and appreciate, I do believe that it comes in use and is valued in that sense. For instance, no one at school ever told me “Don’t put your hand over a hot stove and don’t lean way over boiling stuff.” That kind of information, rather, came from either common sense or from personal experience. On a more subtle and less stupid level, non-academic education can be very valuable teaching different skills such as how to work together in teams better, how to better manage time or just teaching random abilities like how to play golf better. Without non-academic education I would not know nearly as much as I do about things such as set building in tech or how to steer properly in snow and control skids. It is through outside studies and personal experiences that we come to learn these types of things, and they can sometimes be just as important as normal education is.

Rhetorical Devices Presentation

I thought that the presentations today were very interesting for the most part, and displayed a wide variety of rhetorical devices. Two of the pictures I found the most interesting were Katie Griffin’s picture of the garden shop which had a spade as its sign and Jordan’s who had a picture of a shelf with kitchen ware on it. Katie’s was interesting because she was able to provide a personal story with it, about how it was effective because it had been able to draw her into the store and I also just found the idea of a giant spade being used as a sign entertaining. Jordan’s was interesting because no one else really used rhetorical devices that truly related to their own home. She was able to argue that the shelf was a rhetorical device because it made her family seem like the more classic family that cooks a lot and eats together, when she said the truth was the direct opposite. Both these pictures/presentations caught my attention, both due to the devices used within them and the personal stories behind them and they did a good job in presenting the pictures.

Framing Class

Though it is true that commercials can be very influential on people in a subliminal manner, I don’t think that the commercials themselves should be blamed. Kendall says that the media depicts certain classes in certain ways and that this then influences our perception of them. Though it is true that this can happen, and that people can begin to believe certain stereotypes such as the lower class tending to be dirtier and less hygienic, I think many of these stereotypes have already been put in place in our minds before the media even got a chance to do it. The media also uses this to push products, by stressing that proper households or proper people should have this product, or else your life will somehow be lacking. Though this kind of advertising can be influential upon people to buy products so they are part of this “middle class,” the media should not be punished or even scolded for this. They are merely doing what they are designed to do and what everyone wants to do: make money and advance themselves in the world. For just acting upon instincts they should not get in trouble, rather, it is the job of the viewer to realize that and spend their money wisely. If they so choose to go out and spend all their money on something they don’t need and don’t afford that is there fault and they should be held responsible for it. No company is holding a gun to a persons head and saying “buy this or else.” For this reason, people need to learn to be more responsible with their money and not blame the commercials and advertising for drawing them in.

Mickey Mouse

Within the Reading “Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co.” by Todd Gitlin, he posits that America’s rhetorical output leads to a near dominance of other cultures because the well-known American icons are dominating their own culture. This is reinforced by the imagery he brings from the wine cellar in France, which does not have as many pictures of their own famous people, as they do of American icons such as Clint Eastwood. Several cultures understand this, and a few, including France resent this, but there is not much they can do to stop it. France had called America’s influence Cultural Imperialism, yet at the same time honored several American stars with French art awards. I believe that it would be very hard to stop the intense influence that America has because it is appealing to people on a level that makes them want what is being offered, even if they know what is happening and resent it. While I like other countries adopting American culture, I also dislike the fact that they are losing their own culture. This loss of culture is a sad thing to see, but one that cannot currently be stopped, leaving many other cultures open to the influence of American rhetoric.

Media Icon

After Martha Stewart had fallen out of favor due to her months served in jail for lying about stock sales, people looked for a new icon to follow. Though it would be hard to find someone as all encompassing as Martha Stewart, I think people attempted to find those most similar, which was why I began to see a lot more of Rachel Ray. Though she was much more hyper and out there than Martha Stewart she still brought about the same kind of desire to create great things for the home. However, she went about this in a much different matter, whereas Stewart would stress how the absolute best would take a long time, Ray would give tips on how to make quick good things and didn’t seem to care as much about the amount of work that went into it. Though she was not quite as large as Stewart, Ray was able to rise to a larger status due to Stewart’s incarceration and was able to attract a large amount of followers.

Sexism in Ads Blog

Kilbourne believes that it is very dangerous to depict not only women, but also men, as sex objects because it leads to people viewing the opposite gender as an object to be used, instead of an actual person. This then makes it much easier for the person to be hurt emotionally, or more often, physically. This disconnect makes people feel like they are not hurting a person, so much as they are using an object for their own gain. Though I do agree that this could be a side effect, I disliked the way in which Kilbourne made it seem like ads made everyone feel that way. She made it seem like sexual abuse was always happening and that these ads forced people to act that way instead of going after the fact that, while semi-influential, the ads are not forcing the attacks. Kilbourne thinks the objectification of women is more troubling because women are often viewed as the weaker of the two sexes and more likely to be abused, thus the images rub off on men and persuade them to attack women more often. I agree that it is more troubling because women are attacked more than men, but I don’t think it is necessarily due to all males being shit like she seemed to think and I further disliked the assumptions she would make in regards to commercials being wrong if genders were swapped. Though I think she did have a good point about the effect of commercials and the images they conveyed, I felt that she made many assumptions (mostly in regards to the commercials) and that she seemed like she was out to make all men look like shit throughout the whole thing.