Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Suheir Hammad Blog #8

Suheir Hammad's Poem was very touching because it put us almost in the scene like we were there using pathos, ethos, and logos. While explaining a scene where she asked a women if she needed help she said "..I put my hand to my head and my head to the dead Iraq children" (1.23 Hammad). This shows ethos and logos because it shows how she is very intrigued with this issue and wants to help in any way that she can. She affects her audience because of her strong points and it gets the audience going and they take her side. She used many examples of pathos but this one really jumped out to me "a women crying in a car parked and stranded I offered comfort a hand she did not see before she said "were gonna burn them so bad"...(Hammad 1.18). This goes to show that at the time it was scary and this is a great example of pathos because it puts a scary image in my head. She had a strong argument that just because she is from the same place as the terrorist doesn't mean she is just like them and she stated she dislike Bin Laden. She is very strong at stating her point and her opinion and it definitely made me side with her. In my opinion us Americans shouldn't assume she had a connection with the attack just because of her nationality and that's what makes her so mad and that's the point she is trying to cross to us. And I definitely side with her, she had a very strong argument.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Importance Of an Exploratory Essay

While reading these two chapters I noticed that there are many important elements to writing an exploratory essay. One that caught my eye was "Contrasting Angle Of vision in Two Texts". This is because we all do this and don't really notice it. One side will be against and one will be for it. For example it says "select details that support your intentions; omit or de-emphasize others" (Ramage, Bean Johnson 54). This is basically saying that do what you have to do to prove your side right. Sometimes this will get interesting because of the things people say. It is doing what it takes to persuade your side right.

In chapter 5 I found the section "What Makes College-Level Reading Difficult" pretty interesting. This is because awhile back in one of my classes we were learning that students aren't prepared for college says professors but the teachers think we are. Now here is more things that is siding with the professors. It says college level readings are more difficult because we have lack of background knowledge. "Writing usually make assumptions about what their readers already know" (Ramage, Bean, Johnson 95). I totally agree with this, most writers will ramble on about a particular subject thinking we know it. They should explain a little bit about it then go on with what they have to say about it.

The last element I found interesting was "Strong Response as Reflection". This is basically saying that "this invites you to connect the reading to your own personal experiences, beliefs, and values" (Ramage, Bean, Johnson 108). This is true because the instructor is interested in how the story affected you personally. This allows you to be open-minded and musing.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Bro Code Blog #6

While reading Chapter 3 a it is describing how big of a barrier men have to not cross the line from masculinity to femininity. This sentence really stuck out to me "as young men we become relentless cowboys, riding the fences, checking the boundary line between masculinity and femininity, making sure that nothing slips over" (Kimmel 47). This is kind of a dumb statement in my opinion, I don't understand why other guys give their friends a hard time. Us girls don't say anything so why would their friend make fun of them and try to be cool. I chose this because basically how you act when you are starting to become a "man" reflects on how popular you will be just because of how cool you act. It doesn't really make much sense, although it is very true I see it all around. The second hot spot I found was when it said "the guy code and boy code demands a lot--that boys and young men shut down emotionally that they suppress compassion and inflate ambition" (Kimmel 55). In my opinion this whole idea that the guy has to play the hard ass role is dumb. If he wants to show emotion he can. Guys shouldn't have to be serious and ACT something or not let something show just to fit in. This is the problem though, this is how it's been so now the younger guys coming up have to meet these standards and it's becoming a problem. To where sometimes if people make fun of the boy just because he's different it leads to bad things like death and other terrible things.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

'What Women are Really Here For' Blog #5

While watching the Haskins video on hot spot I found was when the husband was trying to make breakfast and she made the comment "spent five years trying to land this guy, the mother fuc*** can't even make breakfast" (28 seconds Haskins). I found this hilarious because honestly no guys can really cook, and if they can it's a shock. Guys tend to cook with way too much grease and she said that perfectly. So girls need to go for someone who can cook so they don't have to do it ALL. The second hot spot I found while watching this video clip was when she was explaining how men change once they get married and she said "he was so cool, then he married you and now he's slightly dumber than a dog" (1:01 Haskins). I agree with this statement because when you first meet the guy you are always wanting to be impressed by the dress, smell, money, and the cool ride. But you don't know how they will be on the inside. So us women need to think before we move too quickly just on the looks.

While watching the bitch video one hot spot I found was when she was explaining what the manic pixie dream girl was she said "we are the inspiration for the troubled, tortured man" (bitch 4:34). I totally agree with this statement usually us women are used for pleasure for the man. They come home and we are expected to bow for them and do what they want. Cook dinner, clean the house and get the kids in the bathtub. When in reality us women work forty hour work weeks too!! The next hot spot I found interesting was when she said males find the manic pixie dream girl to "help them out of their depressed, uptight and dooming state, so they can be happy functioning members of society again" (Bitch 1:35). Not all men do this but the ones that do need to get a grip on themselves. Because us women aren't here to cater them and help them get out of something they got themselves into. Also at the same time us women need to step up and say no.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Contrasting Men and Women, Blog #4

While reading the article by August it's mostly about things being bias toward men. A couple things that resonate with my personal experience was when this topic came up August says "when the suspect is unknown, he or she is usually presumed to be a he" (August 137). This is so true because when we got our dirt bikes stolen when I was younger, the cops showed up to our house and basically told us it was a man for sure. But come to find out it was a man but also a women was helping him do the vandalism. So therefore it isn't always the man, but I totally agree with that statement. An example where this idea contradicts my personal experience is when August says "as evidenced by the awarding of child custody to mothers in 90% of divorce cases" (August 136). I disagree with this statement because when my parents were divorced my dad saw me for a week then I went to my moms for a week. Also in many other cases I have seen similar to the same thing. In some parts of August's arguments i'm convinced but by others I am not, it's about half and half.

While reading the article by Tannen it's about how women are not unmarked. One example where I agree totally with this and by personal experience is while Tannen was at a small conference she said "instead of concentrating on the discussions I found myself looking at the three other women at the table" (Tannen 140). Most women are guilty of this and I know men are as well. Because women are usually judged by their appearance, while men aren't and they don't get studied. Women are responsible for doing their hair, makeup and dress good while their shoes match well. An example where this contradicts my personal experience is when Tannen said "the women who wore flat, laced shoes arrived first" (Tannen 143). This isn't true because my mom wears heels all the time and it doesn't affect her any different than when she wears flats. Tannen's arguments convinced me because I had a hard time finding anything that contradicted my personal experiences, most everything he said was true.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Homework #3

One "hotspot" I found while reading was what Terry Williams writes for. He said "I write to imagine things differently and in imagining things differently perhaps the world will change.." (Williams 68). I found this interesting because sometimes when I write I enjoy writing about my day or things I would like to change because it's a stress relief. Williams kind of relates to this in this sentence. Most of the reasons Williams writes are very similar to the reasons I write, which is pretty neat. While writing my mind kind of opens up and lets all of my ideas and thoughts of the day kind of pour out onto paper and it's interesting to go back and read what you've written in the past. Like in journals and things like that, in my opinion it makes you a better person because you write down your faults of the day and fix those in the next day.

A second "hotspot" I found while reading the text was when Linda was asked to reflect on one of her earliest memories with language and one of her responses were "I can't remember when I learned to read..but I do remember being tortured by those cursive exercises" (Linda 64). The reason this is a hotspot to me is because this goes with what I experienced. I have no idea when I began to read but I do remember being tortured to sing the color songs everyday in class and remember those. The reason I think this is and I may be wrong is because reading is something everyone needs to know and basically if you don't know how to read then you can't really do much in life. Outside of people with disorders and other disabilities.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Whitney Daugherty Homework #2

The excerpt from Mos Def's "Dollar Day" was very interesting, the way he used rap to express his feelings was very neat. In my opinion when people put things into raps or songs it's a lot easier to remember and understand. The way he rhymed made it more interesting and gave it a beat which is easier to read. His point was to make a strong political message about president Bush and the war in Iraq. He reflects on it by saying "killions to waste on war" (Def 21). He is trying to get his audience to be about it and not talk about it and he aims towards teenagers and young adults so they can better understand it. At the end he tells his audience "Don't talk about be about it" (Def 21). Which is basically giving them a heads up about what is happening. I found this interesting because me as a young adult it caught my eye and I feel like I should pass it on.

While reading chapter one in the Pearson book I came across concept two and thought it was interesting. The concept is "good writers address problems rather than topics" (Ramage, Bean, Johnson 10). Basically what they are saying is that instead of a thesis statement it is better to have a thesis questions. A thesis question is better because it propells the writers thinking. As a reader I would rather have a question at the end of the introduction than a statement because I will be trying to answer it through out the time i'm reading the essay. This also makes it easier for the writer because it has the readers attention and has them curious toseek the problem. The reason I found this interesting and I chose to write about it is because I have honestly never thought about this idea and I totally agree with everything Bean, Johnson and Ramage had to say. A question would better catch my attention rather than a statement anytime.

Tan's Backround of English

Amy Tan is focusing on the different ways to use the English language and how we use it differently depending on who we are communicating with. There are many things to focus on throughout her writing. One being if it's open or closed prose, who's the audience and genre conventions. The kind of prose she was using is open; I came up with this because her thesis is exactly what she follows throughout the rest of her essay. One of Tan's statements were "I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others" (Tan 113). She follows this throughout the rest the essay by relating back to how she talks with her family and how she thinks about what kind of English to use at the time. While talking with her mother she caught herself saying "not waste money that way"(Tan 113). As you can see she relates back to the different variations of English. Another thing to focus on is who's the audience? In this it's us (as in the reader). Because she used personal pronouns as in "you". For example she says "you'll have some idea of what this family talk I heard sounds like.." (Tan 113). Finally, the genre conventions of the essay. Tan doesn't use this because she has seperate paragraphs at the beginning and the end that talk about the same things. At the beginning she is talking about how she communicates in English with her mother. For example while walking down the street she says "I was conscious of the kind of English I was using with her (as in her mother)" (Tan 113). A few pages later she then says a similar sentence "lately, i've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother and I speak" (Tan 114).