Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Argument Response: Stay Tuned!
I'll be posting a sample response to the Penrod's "The Smart Kids"; look for it here.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
why prop 8 won
I agree with the author regarding Prop 8. One would think since this country has the open - mindness to vote for President Obama; that this country would also allow same-sex marriages to take place.
Equality Now.
Equality now went over the way women today are getting way more help than in earlier years. Men are stepping up to the responsibility of their families and making a greater contribution. Jessica Frances Kane talks about how she has become equal or even less of a part in raising her family. To me as long as you are doing your best it does not matter how much the father or mother contribute. The main thing is you are raising your family in a healthy manner. The little things she worries about need to be discussed in counceling or with her husband. It human to feel left out and worried but, it is essential to build a bridge and get over it. Men and women are a team and should both play at 110% for their family.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Men are from Vengence
In the article, “Men are from Vengeance” by William Saletan, there is an emphasis on whether men are more vengeful than empathetic. There is a lot of scientific research and statistic done in this article to support Saletans view on the more vengeful side of men and their lack of empathy. William Saletan uses various patterns of comparing and contrasting men to women in order to portray whether men in fact do have less empathy and more “schadenfreud”, which is taking joy in the suffering of someone who is disliked. Saletan additionally puts men in particular situations to measure how much compassion men have and to what degree to prove his central point. In the article it is evident that men are less empathetic than women and there is no wrong in stating so.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Rough but ready
In his article “Men Are From Vengeance”, William Saletan attempts to reassure the audience that men simply are not just acting with retaliation as a result from a lack of empathy, men first try to utilize empathy, but when the truth is apparent, justice is best served with “an eye for an eye”. I completely agree with his argument...or is it an argument? It seems to me that Saletan is stating that men actually think before getting even. Because it seems to me that it is just an assumption by people...especially women, that men simply just act on retaliation. The title states "Men Are From Vengeance", therefore the title gives proof to the statement of men are expected to act on retaliation. Empathy plays a major role in whether or not someone "gets what is coming to them". In defence of men, there is a thinking process that happens before one decides to say torture someone else...its because they deserve it.
Thesis to Prop 8
In Kim's article, "Marital Discord: Why Prop 8 Won", he highlights why the campaigning against prop 8 failed. A main reason why it did fail was because the the campaigning did not aim towards the people, mainly the reason but without people supporting it, it has no reason. And another reason is that there was no direct approach with the reason, rather they tried to come around it with a akward angle.Kim doesn't show his full support to the fact that the homosexual part of the world and that they are greatly discriminated. People need to realize that it really does not matter who other people like. He also fails to recognize that the youth of America is still strongly outvoted at the polls by the elderly who are not for same sex marriage. Religious and moral elements are the same if not a bigger factor to why proposition 8 was passed.
Blog 3 - Thesis Statement
With the evergrowing controversy regarding homosexuality and gay marriage vs traditional lifestyles and conservative views, we look to our society more often as a template for what's right and wrong. Often we are placed in a senario, feeling as if our back is to the wall when it comes down to accepting or not accepting the choices of our children.
This is my opinion of Keri Fisher's article, Little Boy Pink, as she describes her very own issues with the acceptance of the possibilty that through her sons display of crossed gender roles, she might have to accept that he might be gay. She argues that his display of femininity is possibly caused by him having all female playmates. With having experienced this gender reversal role as a pre-school teacher, I also view this role reversal as normal. Children experience things differently. If a boy playing a female dominant role is determined controversial in our society, and determines that he will be gay, then on the other hand, what's to say that a girl playing a male dominant role won't be either? All in all, I believe that it comes down to Fisher dealing with acceptance.
This is my opinion of Keri Fisher's article, Little Boy Pink, as she describes her very own issues with the acceptance of the possibilty that through her sons display of crossed gender roles, she might have to accept that he might be gay. She argues that his display of femininity is possibly caused by him having all female playmates. With having experienced this gender reversal role as a pre-school teacher, I also view this role reversal as normal. Children experience things differently. If a boy playing a female dominant role is determined controversial in our society, and determines that he will be gay, then on the other hand, what's to say that a girl playing a male dominant role won't be either? All in all, I believe that it comes down to Fisher dealing with acceptance.
Thesis
On Little Boy Pink I think the thesis was it's ok for boy to dress in pink. Some boys go through a stage that as parents we fell is not correct. Getting professional advice can help a parent cope with understanding their child better. Keri Fisher's argument of it just being a stage came from her research with doctors. She argues that since they aren't hurting anybody it is ok. My son loves playing with girly stuff and though it doesn't feel right at times I know he is innocent and finds nothing wrong with it so I accept it that way.
Thesis Statement/Position
In Richard Kim's article, "Marital Discord: Why Prop 8 Won", Kim highlights bad campaigning and a non tactical approach to preventing Proposition 8 from passing, as the main focus of failure amongst of why Prop 8 passed. Although i agree that any great marketing or campaigning scheme can claim you victorious, I feel that Kim fails to support the obvious that the gay community is still simply discriminated. He also fails to recognize that the youth of America is still strongly outvoted at the polls by the elderly who more often times than not, are not for same sex marriage. These religious or moral elements are the same if not a bigger factor to why proposition 8 was passed.
Equality Now
In 'Equality Now', Jessica Francis Kane argues that every time a mom accepts help with her household duties from her husband, she trades her importance of being the 'sole care giver' for the guilt and shame of not meeting the expectations of a mother. Kane suggests that when children view their parents as interchangeable, the mother still is has the implied purpose of being supremely responsible. Even with all the leaps and bounds made towards equality among parental roles, Kane insists that there still is an enduring double standard yet to be broken.
Kane's argument is quite true when applied in her personal marriage and home-life, but it is unfair to say that all mothers carry the heavier load of responsibility at home. Though I agree that the typical married American woman is stereotyped as the 'do-it-all mother', every household is unique and fashioned differently. There are many wives who work full time and are the main providers for their families, while the husbands stay home and run the children show. Does this mean that these women must too feel guilty for breaking the motherly mold? It must be not only understood that every family is structured differently, but now also acceptable.
**Kristina Ripperdan**
Kane's argument is quite true when applied in her personal marriage and home-life, but it is unfair to say that all mothers carry the heavier load of responsibility at home. Though I agree that the typical married American woman is stereotyped as the 'do-it-all mother', every household is unique and fashioned differently. There are many wives who work full time and are the main providers for their families, while the husbands stay home and run the children show. Does this mean that these women must too feel guilty for breaking the motherly mold? It must be not only understood that every family is structured differently, but now also acceptable.
**Kristina Ripperdan**
Blog 3: Thesis Statement
In "Little Boy Pink," by Keri Fisher, Kerri talks about her son dressing up in girl clothes and how its fine that he does. She tells how he asked her, at the age of two, if he could dress up as a ballerina. In the article, Kerri tells how she has talked to a doctor and another mother that son had done the same thing at Declan's, Kerri's son, age. Kerri believes that what Declan is doing is not a problem, that it is just a phase, and has nothing to do this his sexuality or weather or not he is gender confused. I would have to agree with Kerri, it is fine for a boy to play dress up, even if he is dressing up as something that seems "girly." If a child is having fun, and not hurting anyone, I don't see what the problem is, and I don't see why a parent would want to tell them that they are wrong or in trouble. I think that the child, boy or girl, should be allowed to have fun and be supported by their family, not confused about whats wrong and right to other people.
~Megan F.
~Megan F.
Pick a Sex, Any Sex
In the article Pick a Sex, Any Sex, Jeanne Sager explores the technology and knowledge available today for couples wanting to choose the gender of their unborn child. “Sonograms may be responsible for taking the big surprise out of the delivery room for millions of moms and dads, but an increasing number of parents already know what they’re going to have. They picked their baby’s sex before making the actual baby” (Sager). This new expertise is exceptionally beneficial for couples who have a strong partiality for a male or female child, but should this decision be made in the laboratory or should parents let nature take its course.
By goly it's a thesis statment....I think.
While it seems like a big upset to most, seeing a boy play with barbies or dress up in girls clothing isn't that offsetting. In most cases, the actions by boys can be quite naturally. In the article "Little Boy Pink", Keri Fisher argues that raising a child who has developed a 'girlish' side of behavior does not mean they will turn out to be gay or bisexual. In doing so, she supports her argument with background stories of another parent and a doctors point of view.
~By Michael~
~By Michael~
Thesis Statement
In the article "Singing the Pink Blues," author Margot Mifflin compares how children are targeted in different ways by toy manufacturers based on their gender, claiming that boys are pushed to play aggressive manly games, while girls are taught to play dress-up and put on make-up. Although Mifflin makes some striking points, to imply that the types of games kids played with at a young age is the root of a sexist society is irrational.
Men Are From Vengeance
For my rhetorical analysis essay I chose William Saletan's article "Men Are From Vengeance". In the following article Saletan argues that men are less empathetic than women when it comes to the act of punishing the innocent and guilty. Saletan forms his position through the use of several literary devices such as; contrast, statistics and studies, and a underlying appeal to ethics.
The most prevalent device found throughout his writing is the use of studies, polls, and surveys to prove his argument through factual information. For example, one study provided in this article involved actors playing a game where some were playing fairly others playing fairly. At the end of the study both the actors playing fairly and unfairly were administered electric shocks. Both women and men showed "empathy-related activation in pain-related brain areas". However when the same shocks were applied to those who played unfairly, men showed and increase in activity in "reward-related" areas of the brain. Studies such as these are very effective in solidifying his position that men are less forgiving than men when it comes to punishment.
Although it is not as easy to see contrast works together with his use of examples to further develop his argument. In the following, "...the reason that registered the biggest gender gap by far was that 'was that some innocent people being put to death.' Thirty five percent of the men picked that reason; only twenty one percent of women did", the author contrast how different men's thinking can be versus women's.
Lastly and perhaps the most hidden device used is his appeal to ethics. This is not directly stated it implied through the questions asked throughout several polls. Several of the issues discussed in these polls relate directly to the war in middle east and torturing suspected terrorist. Indirectly the author is asking his audience whether these ideals are moral.
This article both informs it's readers about the thinking of men and allows to re-think there previous beliefs on societies empathy toward others.
The most prevalent device found throughout his writing is the use of studies, polls, and surveys to prove his argument through factual information. For example, one study provided in this article involved actors playing a game where some were playing fairly others playing fairly. At the end of the study both the actors playing fairly and unfairly were administered electric shocks. Both women and men showed "empathy-related activation in pain-related brain areas". However when the same shocks were applied to those who played unfairly, men showed and increase in activity in "reward-related" areas of the brain. Studies such as these are very effective in solidifying his position that men are less forgiving than men when it comes to punishment.
Although it is not as easy to see contrast works together with his use of examples to further develop his argument. In the following, "...the reason that registered the biggest gender gap by far was that 'was that some innocent people being put to death.' Thirty five percent of the men picked that reason; only twenty one percent of women did", the author contrast how different men's thinking can be versus women's.
Lastly and perhaps the most hidden device used is his appeal to ethics. This is not directly stated it implied through the questions asked throughout several polls. Several of the issues discussed in these polls relate directly to the war in middle east and torturing suspected terrorist. Indirectly the author is asking his audience whether these ideals are moral.
This article both informs it's readers about the thinking of men and allows to re-think there previous beliefs on societies empathy toward others.
Thesis Statement
"Men are from vengence" by William Saletan presents a contrast between how men and women percieve crime and punnishment by using an easy to follow, repetitive format that makes it easy to digest the facts. Men do tend to feel a harsh punishment is the correct path to follow when women tend to lean the other direction and feel empethy for person being judged. In some cases men did feel more lenient but still wanted justice. The Hart poll is about criminals up for the death-sentence and how they would have to take a blood test to ensure they are actually guilty, but would not ensure the quality of the defending lawers. 60% of women thought it wasn’t enough when 50% of men agreed. In this poll women wanted to save the provable innocent which shows his point that men wanted a more harsh punishment.
Thesis Statement on "Alpha Effect"
In his article, “Alpha Effect” Thomas turns on its head the traditional views held by many people. The way of new generation of American school girl growing up free of gender stereotyping. They see no need to become feminists themselves because they know they are smarter than boys. I agree there is a dramatic change in the way young women see themselves and their future place in the world. Some parts were very interesting and I can clearly see how girls’ thinking has changed over the years.
"Roar!" I am man
In "Men are from Vengeance" William Saletan insinuates the notion of how men are singularly more spiteful. To help conclude his findings he relates his point across with surveys and statistics. Acting upon help of research based organizations, he pulls up multiple projects that span across this decade. This current data helps Saletan indicate how society is still primitive in a modern age. Saletan carefully words his point across siding along the lines of the behavioral studies. In one study he expanded on of how Americans reacted to September 11th tragedy. In the 2002 Pew Research Center survey, a majority of the men sided with the idea of destroying the source while women mostly sided for defense. As a male the idea of taking revenge first takes root before learning to forgive. Saletan illustrates that men sees the scales of crime and punishment are inequal. With his careful layout of compare and contrast he promply conveys you an image of what drives men to their ruthless choices. As he bluntly put it, "Are men more vengeful? Yes."
thesis statement
In "Men are from Vengeance" William Saletan stands by his arguement that men in ou society are much more drawn to taking vengeance on those said "evil doers" that plague the world around us. I too agree with the statements made in the article, because, time and time again the presence of violence and brutality can be found in the mans world. whether it be in athletics, like football or mixed martial arts, or in the excess amount of violent, "shoot-em-up" movies and games that at a young age boys are told to be interested in.
Thesis Statement Prop 8
In the article "Marital Discord: Why Prop 8 Won" by Richard Kim he argues that there was not much turnout against Prop 8 in California because those who claimed they supported it, did not do enough to persuade the public against the proposition. My feelings here are mixed, I agree that more could of been done to get their point of view known to the public. On the other hand however I still believe that this topic was highly controversial and not enough people have really taken it seriously and tried to see the issue from the other side of the fence, that being those of our country that have been denied the right to marriage because of marriage laws dening them equal rights due to the sex of their partner.
Blog 3
I am doing my essay on the article "Little Boy Pink" by Keri Fisher. The article argues that when preschool aged boys play dress up it doesn't mean they are going to be cross gendered. The author gets opinions from doctors stating that it is normal for children to cross dress and they are just learning about gender differences. I agree with the authors argument because preschool aged children are in the biggest learning stage of their life and they are experimenting with lots of things that are new to them. So my thesis statement for my essay is: Little boys can do girly things, such as, dressing up, putting make up on, buying pink things, and baking cookies, without worrying that he will be cross gender when he gets older.
Thesis Statement
In “Little Boy Pink” by Keri Fisher, she argues that it is acceptable for young boys between the ages two and six to dress up in girls clothing without the understanding that what they are doing is not conceived “right” in today’s society, and I agree because young children do not know any better and at that age they are in the experimental process. Her argument, that it is acceptable for young children to dress up in cross gender clothing is acceptable, and is supported by new research showing that some boys are more interested in dressing up as feminine characters, but does not mean that they are gender confused.
In the Article "Pick a Sex, any Sex" by Jeanne Sager she uses compare and contrast to get her point across, but at the same time she uses an appeal to the readers ethics to make her real point. By comparing and contrasting different methods of being able to choose the sex of your baby she shows how great of lengths people will go to just to guarantee they have a boy or girl. Overall though her tone and diction throughout the piece suggest that she is more a believer in the natural way and thinks the surprise of what sex your baby is should be just that, a surprise, and in the delivery room. That's how it has always been, and from her point of view choosing a babies sex before it is conceived is against her ethics because she believes that having a baby is something special and a miracle of nature not a scientific marvel.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Equality Now Blog II Thesis
Husbands should be helpful, in fact they should do all the parenting and housework. This was the dream of a generation of women ( Gen X), according to author Jessica Francis Krane. In her article Equality now. Today’s men do it all. Where does that leave the women? I don’t think in general terms, fathers do it all now, nor did mothers do it all in the past. She thinks other women leave their careers to be full time parents because they can’t get rid of the fantasy women should be the primary care giver. She might be right there is nothing biologically that says women are better parents than men. I think it’s just a matter of opinion. She wants to be the independent mother who’s husband does everything, but on the other hand she doesn’t like the comments her daughter and mother in law make that leave her feeling guilty. She will have you feeling sorry for her, but I think she has things just the way she wants or she would change them.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Marital Discord: Why Prop 8 won
This essay illustrates how the defeat of prop 8 rested on the actions or lack of actions by the gay community. Too little too late according to the author seemed to the the downfall of Prop 8 supporters. Analyzing Causes and Effects is the stragety the author used. This will also underscore the stragety that I will use in my Ancillary assignment.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Little Boy Pink.
I read the article, Little Boy Pink about a mother whos son has a bit of a feminine side. I believe that the strategy that affects how the essay communicates to its audience the most is her tone. It's difficult to get across explaining your son loves to dress up girly, but not make him sound gay, or make you sound disapproving, when you're not. Her tone isn't concerned and in wonderment about what to do with her son, it's more understanding and allowing in letting her son dress up and wear nail polish. Her tone helps set a mood for her audience, she allows the audience to laugh at what she's saying instead of making it awkward. Her tone definitely sets up, as tone normally does, the whole article. More so in this because she's getting her point across strongly, but not forcibly. It's very light and understanding. It makes it easy for the reader to understand as well instead of arguing her stance in allowing her son to wear pink.
I chose between diction and tone, because I felt it was her words that really helped express her view and her situation. It sounds obvious, but her words give a visual image of her son dressing up and prancing around, and her tone behind the words make it sound like she's on the sidelines approving of it, and obviously not being disapproving.
I can't think of any questions right now..
I chose between diction and tone, because I felt it was her words that really helped express her view and her situation. It sounds obvious, but her words give a visual image of her son dressing up and prancing around, and her tone behind the words make it sound like she's on the sidelines approving of it, and obviously not being disapproving.
I can't think of any questions right now..
Thursday, February 12, 2009
little boy pink.
After reading a few of the articles that were posted online for us, "Little Boy Pink," caught my eye. The article is about a loving mother who acknowledged the fact that her son is more on the feminine side and she is absolutely not concerned about it. Young children such as Declan, the little boy in the article, are at the stage where they are learning about themselves. So dressing up in princess costumes and hanging out in the kitchen with his mother is considered fun for him. So if he's happy with that then why not? i just thought it was an interesting read and it reminded myself a lot of this little boy i used to watch for.
The author uses certain strategies to prove her argument. She's not at all worried for her young son to be a little more girly then than the average boy. She uses strategies such as quotes and parentheses throughout her article to give us, the reader, a more descriptive narrative.
The author uses certain strategies to prove her argument. She's not at all worried for her young son to be a little more girly then than the average boy. She uses strategies such as quotes and parentheses throughout her article to give us, the reader, a more descriptive narrative.
Looking Good So Far!
I've been glancing through many of your new blogs, and it looks like most of you are understanding the nature and point of a blog and getting where you need to go in terms of beginning the analytical process. Good job! I'll be commenting on more of them soon.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Equality Now
After reading the selection of topics to write about for the first ancillary assignment, and ultimately the rhetorical analysis, I chose 'Equality Now'. I thought the article was quite comical in that a woman with a wonderful, helpful, and supportive husband, two children, and a job of leisure could find so much to complain about in being a housewife. Issues like jealously over her daughter's affection for father and having a husband who cooks all the meals are two examples of grievances of Kane's everyday life. Her main rhetorical strategy was exaggeration, which she relied on heavily in order to make her struggles believable and, overall, gain the sympathies of her audience, housewives with young ones.
*Kristina Ripperdan*
*Kristina Ripperdan*
Its best to get even
Men and women all have the same feelings and same sensors in their brain. How men and women differ, is how they are able to control and deal with the emotions. Men want to "get even" and women are a little more forgiving. The author of "Men Are From Vengeance" William Saletan clearly depicts that men are understanding and still maintain empathy until someone deserves whats coming to them. He paints the picture that men are just plain more cold blooded than women are. I chose this article because not only do I agree with swapping "an eye for an eye", but also because the author to me seems fairly basic in the writing style so its makes it harder to pull out his complex strategies.
Ha ha!.....Boys in Pink.
Well by the obvious title, if not recognized, I chose the article Little Boy Pink for the following reasons:
1. It made me laugh the moment I read the intro.
and 2. The article itself made me reassure myself that I can possible type up the assignment without giving as much opinion(All the others would have had me shouting for some of my feedback). Though I do want to ask, if it's possible to learn better ways into getting into the habit of writing with little or no opinion at all. It would be a great help, as o being used to my high school standards. Pressing on, this ancillary made me really think on my toes because we had to analyze than actually give your opinion. At lest that's what I tink were supposed to do...I hope I'm not taking the assignment the wrong way but
ANYWAY
I prepped myself for this essay by overlooking the article quite a number of times I was able to catch (to what I think it would be) the author's stratgey. Keri Fisher used quite a bit of quotes throughout her article and the tone she had set; straightforward and enlightening. She had raised what would possible be quite a startling issue into something that can be viewed as "it's only a phase for children" or something along those lines. Either way it was a interesting article.
~Michael Jago~
1. It made me laugh the moment I read the intro.
and 2. The article itself made me reassure myself that I can possible type up the assignment without giving as much opinion(All the others would have had me shouting for some of my feedback). Though I do want to ask, if it's possible to learn better ways into getting into the habit of writing with little or no opinion at all. It would be a great help, as o being used to my high school standards. Pressing on, this ancillary made me really think on my toes because we had to analyze than actually give your opinion. At lest that's what I tink were supposed to do...I hope I'm not taking the assignment the wrong way but
ANYWAY
I prepped myself for this essay by overlooking the article quite a number of times I was able to catch (to what I think it would be) the author's stratgey. Keri Fisher used quite a bit of quotes throughout her article and the tone she had set; straightforward and enlightening. She had raised what would possible be quite a startling issue into something that can be viewed as "it's only a phase for children" or something along those lines. Either way it was a interesting article.
~Michael Jago~
MEN AND VENGENCE!!!!
men in general are all aggressive, whether it is little or alot, when a mna wants to take vengence, he gets it. "Men are from Vengeance" states the difference between men and women when in comes down to getting back at what they did, especially when it comes down to extreme crimes like rape or murder, men want so much revenge that it will eat them alive and they will go by any means necessary to get it. The main strategies that William Saletan uses throughout this article are both compare and contrast, as well as statistics. Aletan also uses statistics to show evidence to his beliefs on his findings. Throughout the essay, he refers to several studies, surveys, polls, and data taken about the subject, so that he can give the audience some figures to look at and to ponder on.
Little Boy Pink
The article I chose was called, "Little Boy Pink". It was about a boy whose mother was concerned about him cross dressing and liking girly things. But later she finds that she has nothing to be concerned about. Through out this article the author uses many strategies. The main one I will be focusing on is Characterization. The author describes many qualities about the little boy. She describes the boy as wearing gilry clothes and picking out girly items at the store such as pink sheets. She also goes into detail about how the boy likes to be in the kitchen, just like the girls. All these characteristics help make the authors point or argument.
I choose this article because it was one that kept me interested and brought back a memory of my childhood. I am a big sister and loved to dress up my little brother and put make up on him.
I choose this article because it was one that kept me interested and brought back a memory of my childhood. I am a big sister and loved to dress up my little brother and put make up on him.
Little Boy Pink
In preparation for writing my essay and ancillary assignment I read a few of the essays and choose the one I liked the most. Then I went, read, and wrote some notes on the prompt for paper one to make sure I could meet the requirements for the paper. I then went and wrote the grading rubric for the paper, so I could make sure add everything I needed for the paper. After which I went through and reread the essay and then broke it down into small paragraphs and wrote notes on it. From there I went and look at and read each strategies on the rhetorical strategies link on the website. As I read each one I wrote down which one I thought the writer had used in her article. I think the writer, Keri Fisher, used many kinds of strategies. I think the strategy that was used best was how she went to a Doctor and asked questions about her 2 year old son, and other young children, cross dressing. And going to another mother whose son had done the same thing when he was younger. I choose this article because it reminded me of when I was younger growing up with my niece and nephew. My nephew is 2 years younger than me, and my niece is 5 years younger than me. The three of us grew up hanging out with each other everyday, which meant the my nephew was with his mom, sister, aunt and grandma most of the day. But as far as I can remember he has never crossed dressed in any of our clothes.
~Megan F. 3906
~Megan F. 3906
Tiaras, Tights and Taffeta...Oh Boy!
In the article by Keri Fisher, she examines her son Declan and his desire to play dress up with his older sister and his display of nurturing roles. Her intended audience are parents, caregivers, day-care providers and all who have issues regarding someone in their lives who exhibit what we in our culture describe as homosexual traits and behaviors. The strategy that the author uses is definitely pathos driven, pulling at the heart strings of her audience, who may be dealing with concerns as regards to the future sexual orientation of their children. Her intentions are to grasp her readers with diction in her intro. Unknown to exactly who is speaking, the author uses quotes. The audience is left to determine who might be speaking but more so with the knowledge that these quotes are spoken to a boy who is demonstrating "girly girl" behavior, by wearing a dress and nail polish; with a tone of acceptance, not discipline. As we read on, the author reveals strength in her ability to grab her readers by using entertaining instances, and the use of verbiage to share pleasure and pain among her readers.
I read all the choices for this paper, and all seemed well written. This one grabbed me as I have dealt with this situation as a mother of two boys, a pre-school teacher of three and four year olds, and as an in-home daycare provider. I thought her topic was hilarious, in that she conferred with a doctor. As if something was wrong. The authors strategy is apparent, but there is also a sense of her needing confirmation, with a hint of still not being sure, by the way she keeps reiterating her feelings; by expressing, "its fine, I can deal with this." With the undertone of her own apprehensions along with a medical professional accepting this as normal; we the readers can relate and engage in her love, care, and concern for her child.
I read all the choices for this paper, and all seemed well written. This one grabbed me as I have dealt with this situation as a mother of two boys, a pre-school teacher of three and four year olds, and as an in-home daycare provider. I thought her topic was hilarious, in that she conferred with a doctor. As if something was wrong. The authors strategy is apparent, but there is also a sense of her needing confirmation, with a hint of still not being sure, by the way she keeps reiterating her feelings; by expressing, "its fine, I can deal with this." With the undertone of her own apprehensions along with a medical professional accepting this as normal; we the readers can relate and engage in her love, care, and concern for her child.
Little Boy Pink
The audience for this essay is for parents (mothers) who are struggling with these issues. The reason I chose this topic was because my son is the only boy in my family. He is 6 years old and he as cousins ages 8, 7, 3 and a sister age 4 (all girls). All of them love to pay with girl stuff. His favorite color is pink, but at school it is red. I was able to identify with this essay. Now, I tried not to let it go that far for the fear of that boy shouldn't be wearing tutus. My father being a Hispanic would always and continues to tell me it's not right. But I know he is just a child and is playing innocent play. Mrs. Fishers tone is that of course she was concerned, but after seeking help she was able to accept that it is just child play. This article had medical research in it, to educate the audience about it.
Little Boy Pink
I really enjoyed reading this article. The emotion portrayed through Keri Fisher's tones and diction was very easy to pick up as she explained the happenings of her son, Declan. The strategy that she laid out for people to see and be influenced by are mainly her emotion; her straightout, plain, raw emotions of what she felt by the choices of her son. To boost her point of view along she also added the medical perspective of Dr. Robert Linderman. Though I do believe there may be some things within her writings that I may not have caught onto or fully grasped, I understand a sense of the feelings that she wanted to express to her readers, whether they be mothers to those sons, those sons themselves, or an normal curious person.
"Pick a Sex, Any Sex"
I chose to do my Ancillary assignment on the essay “Pick a Sex, Any Sex” by Jeanne Sager. I think that the strategy that most affects how the paper communicates with its audience is its appeal to authority. There are numerous times throughout the essay that the author gives the information on companies that help couples who would like to pre-determine the sex of their child. Along with the information on the companies, the author gives the accuracy rate and the cost of the method. In many cases, she describes the different processes and what the couple needs to do (according to the research) to have a baby with of the desired sex. She also gives information on what different companies do to pre-determine the sex of the child. The writer gives techniques that are used that vary in scientific reliability and cost. They span from the position a couple uses when actually conceiving the child; which is of no cost but not very scientifically reliable – all the way to in-vitro fertilization with pre-implantation genetic determination; which has a 99.9 accuracy rate but costs a staggering $14,000.
I chose to focus on this strategy because it is very prominent in the essay and I feel it speaks to how the author wanted to convey the information. She wanted to make sure that those who read her article are informed with the information and where it came from, even if the information is an “old wives’ tale”.
I chose to focus on this strategy because it is very prominent in the essay and I feel it speaks to how the author wanted to convey the information. She wanted to make sure that those who read her article are informed with the information and where it came from, even if the information is an “old wives’ tale”.
Women who Think
In Women who Think the strongest strategy she uses is irony. She communicates this by showing the not so obvious sexually dividing toys seem to always have a secret agenda. Even when advertised as something unisex orientated. I chose this article because I have three young children and found it interesting how deeply concerned she was about her daughters equal rights and proper exposure to a woman's role in life.
The second part of the title Singing the Pink Blues drew my attention after watching the video in class today about how women are oppressed by the media. Which relates to this articles point of view and how the oppression of women begins at an early age before they can hardly walk.
I am a little confused about the order in which i start analyzing the text. Do I stick with the strategies and jump around the text in the essay or go in order of the text and use the strategies when needed?
Kill that $*#&$@!
Men are from vengeance. Does this suggest that men are born vengeful? Or learn to become law giving cowboys when the scales are tipped? What ever the case maybe men are not the only ones. Women on the other hand can hold a grudge all on their own. With the author William Saletan at the wheel of this essay, he plans to feed you the idea's of how vengeful people are through drowning you in statistics. With his careful layout of compare and contrast he try's to seemingly convince you of what drives men or women to lead to their empathic or "schadenfreude" choices. Which leads to his cliche wording of how women tend to have the bleeding hearts while us, the men, are still being compared to neanderthalls. Examples of how we reacted to 9/11 was that men sided with the idea of destroying the source while women sided for defense. Yet through all that he pointed out some decent arguements which provided a sound support for his purpose. If you hit me, Imma *$#! you up is the best way to explain it.
Why Prop 8 Won
In ancillary 1, I wrote about Martial Discord: Why Prop 8 Won. This article was originally written by Richard Kim in The Nation. It appears that Mr. Kim's most affective strategy was his use of punctuation in communicating to his audience. My plan is to focus on the exact same strategy as my primary source of information. The reason I chose this particular article was because it was the most intriguing to me. I like to seek and learn of truths that have been twisted or covered up. Though I consider myself a novice reader I get the sense that this is a powerful article by Richard Kim. I don't have any questions about the analytical process or identifying strategies. I'm convinced that it takes desire, practice, and a mental toughness to get through it.
Equality now
I decided to do my entry on "Equality Now", which is about a mother who talks about how she got what she wanted, but a little to much, and how these days men are sometimes the mother figure in the house. She compares and contrasts herself and her husband, and how her husband is more of the mother figure in the family. She also shows her emotion and she is up set that her husband dose a better job with the household. She shows that she wants to be needed in the house and not just the mom. For Example she says how sometimes when her daughter falls she cries for her mom, but she mostly cries for her dad, and this shows how she wants to be needed in her family. But the main reason why I chose this paper is because it shows how people always want to be needed in some way or another in life.
Marital Discord:Why Prop 8 Won
In this article, I noticed a lot that the main strategy used by the writer was comparing and contrasting between two different walks of life. This was done easily because this is a widely known 2 sided issue that has been disscussed for the past several months. What the writer, Richard Kim, also did was used facts to help make what he said believable which in writing is key if you want people to believe what you write on paper or online. I believe the point that he was trying to make was in previous polls where people opposed to Prop 8 had shown up and spoken out when the votes didn't count just yet, disappeared in the actual election. And that groups of people that claimed to stand up for peoples rights, allll people, did not show support for the gay community. This made the reader think, then who really does support this Prop and why did it fail when it seemed as though so many people supported it before the actual election? That was his point when writing, that people claimed one thing and did another when it came down to it. So in turn it makes you think, who can you really rely on when you need something or believe in something and need support?
Rhetorical strategy used
The article Men are from Vengeance by William Saletan was about the punishments criminals get and how men and women agree or disagree with the actions. One major rhetorical strategy Saletan used was Repetition. In each paragraph the author followed an outline stating the poll, the result and the points the men and women varied by. This strategy was applied by the author to help the reader digest the information given. It made it easy to follow. The reader didn’t have to decipher individual paragraphs but just the facts. Without having to decide the author's format the reader was left with more time to absorb the actual meaning of the article and the information it presented For this type of subject matter Saletan did a good job of choosing the rhetorical strategy that got his point across.
YOU ALWAYS WANT WHAT YOU CAN'T HAVE...
EQUALiTY NOW?
In this article the author seems to have the cliché motto of "the grass is always greener on the other side," however; maybe it's more of realizing that there is always beauty in the landscaping of every neighbor's yard. The author, who is a mother, decides that maybe she has received more help from her husband than what she had wanted, although back in her (the author’s) mother's day and age, the help she gets from her husband is something women prayed for. She uses an appeal to emotion, she tries to lure in the reader by making them understand how she “feels”. The mother says “Sometimes when my daughter falls, she cries for me. But often she cries for Daddy. What astonishes me is that I wish she wouldn't. I thought I'd always be the one she'd come to for that kind of comfort, a sudden hurt needing soothing.” For most this is an emotion of being needed, not just by a child but in general. I chose this paper because I believe the feeling of always wanting more than what you have is something everybody goes through in life, so it’s a pretty relatable topic, but I also believe that maybe people shouldn’t admire other people’s “grass” when their’s just needs a little water.
I think I could be completely off on this assignment. I have a tendency to look at situations abnormally, but I’m hoping I nailed it.
In this article the author seems to have the cliché motto of "the grass is always greener on the other side," however; maybe it's more of realizing that there is always beauty in the landscaping of every neighbor's yard. The author, who is a mother, decides that maybe she has received more help from her husband than what she had wanted, although back in her (the author’s) mother's day and age, the help she gets from her husband is something women prayed for. She uses an appeal to emotion, she tries to lure in the reader by making them understand how she “feels”. The mother says “Sometimes when my daughter falls, she cries for me. But often she cries for Daddy. What astonishes me is that I wish she wouldn't. I thought I'd always be the one she'd come to for that kind of comfort, a sudden hurt needing soothing.” For most this is an emotion of being needed, not just by a child but in general. I chose this paper because I believe the feeling of always wanting more than what you have is something everybody goes through in life, so it’s a pretty relatable topic, but I also believe that maybe people shouldn’t admire other people’s “grass” when their’s just needs a little water.
I think I could be completely off on this assignment. I have a tendency to look at situations abnormally, but I’m hoping I nailed it.
Men Are From Vengeance
i decided to do this entry and my paper on the atricle "Men are from Vengeance", which states the difference between men and women when it comes down to taking vegeance on those who have commited horrendous crimes. I think the main strategies that William Saletan uses throughout this article are both compare and contrast, as well as statistics. he shows the differences between men and women and in their ethics towards things like the death penalty and revenge for the attacks on 9/11. he shows how men tend to be more for those criminals paying the price for the crimes they have commited, whereas women show more empathy towards the convicted. Saletan also uses statistics to show proof to his findings. throughout the essay, he refers to several studies, surveys, polls, and data taken about the subject, so that he can give the audience some figures to look at and to ponder on.
Equality Now
Today’s men do it all. Where does that leave women?
By: Jessica Francis Kane
This author uses pity mostly to convey her point, so pathos would be the key strategy. She uses contrasts and comparisons quite often between herself, women like her and her family. She is resentful of how well of a job her husband is doing with the household. She laments when her daughter could not yet talk and could not tell her about the fact she doesn’t cook or that she wants her daddy. I chose this article because her opening statement and paragraph tells the reader how she and her generation or peers won, they are now equals in the raising children game. She then spends the rest of the article describing how she feels guilty and ashamed of winning the game where husbands do an equal share of the work. Her main point might be that for all the downsides of her daughter not viewing her as the favorite she does view her father in a more nurturing role and she gets to keep her options open.
By: Jessica Francis Kane
This author uses pity mostly to convey her point, so pathos would be the key strategy. She uses contrasts and comparisons quite often between herself, women like her and her family. She is resentful of how well of a job her husband is doing with the household. She laments when her daughter could not yet talk and could not tell her about the fact she doesn’t cook or that she wants her daddy. I chose this article because her opening statement and paragraph tells the reader how she and her generation or peers won, they are now equals in the raising children game. She then spends the rest of the article describing how she feels guilty and ashamed of winning the game where husbands do an equal share of the work. Her main point might be that for all the downsides of her daughter not viewing her as the favorite she does view her father in a more nurturing role and she gets to keep her options open.
Little Boy Pink
The strategy that most affects the essay communicated with the audience is emotion. The author of the essay expresses an emotional tie towards other parents or guardians with little boys dressing up in girl clothing. She goes on to write about how it affected her, thinking that her son would grow up to be homosexual or a cross dresser. However, further into the readings, the mother conveys a sense of pride that her son is being creative and has a sense of imagination. Explaining further on after gathering outside evidence that it is okay for little boys to play dress up, also reassuring any other parent or guardian going through the same process that it is quite normal. Afterward, explaining that whether her son does express that he is a homosexual, she will still love him the same and jokes about presenting video recorded evidence of his love for dressing up regardless of his sexual orientation.
I chose this piece because it popped out to me. I have previously gone through three other essays of choice but after reading through them, I did not find them interesting enough to finish or write about. I also thought that this reading was cute, and that it gave parents and guardians present to future an inside look as to why it is okay for little boys to play dress up and to get rid of the worry that their son will grow up to be a homosexual.
I chose this piece because it popped out to me. I have previously gone through three other essays of choice but after reading through them, I did not find them interesting enough to finish or write about. I also thought that this reading was cute, and that it gave parents and guardians present to future an inside look as to why it is okay for little boys to play dress up and to get rid of the worry that their son will grow up to be a homosexual.
We're here we're uh straight
The easiest strategy I could find to discuss in this essay is diction, the authors choice of words. This is an essay about homosexuality and the "return" to heterosexuality. The author states how homosexual men and women who didn't start that way, but somehow ended up that way (like a straight man out of the blue realizing that he's gay) are not changed because of their sexuality, but simply are the same people who decided to change their sexuality. In a society where homosexuality is frowned upon, there are many movements and organizations, like churches that strive to bring people back to heterosexuality. But why? Why is it so hard to accept the fact that a human being can just be attracted to another human being? The authors diction helps the audience understand and embrace these questions because she uses correct terminology side by side with slang terminology. Using words like "gay" and "bi" interchangably with words like "homosexuality" and "heterosexuality" lets the reader really relate to this topic. Doing this, she makes young adults the target audience. Struggling with sexuality is most common in young adults who are generaly trying to find themselves, period. There is the common joke that always starts off, "Well, there was this one time in college..." So here, the target audience are young, SINGLE adults.
Other strategies used are tone and ethics. The author uses a sarcastic tone periodically throughout the essay, making fun of "conversion movements" and their choice of name for themselves (Exodus International). And the author strongly points out ethics throughout the paper because homosexuality is constantly dubbed as "unethical." But unethical for who? For christians? Isn't the term "Christian" just another label?
These are the topics I will mainly focus on in my paper
Other strategies used are tone and ethics. The author uses a sarcastic tone periodically throughout the essay, making fun of "conversion movements" and their choice of name for themselves (Exodus International). And the author strongly points out ethics throughout the paper because homosexuality is constantly dubbed as "unethical." But unethical for who? For christians? Isn't the term "Christian" just another label?
These are the topics I will mainly focus on in my paper
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Men are from Vengeance
I chose to write about the article "Men are from Vengeance" by William Saletan. The way I prepared for my paper was by reading it once through, analyzing each paragraph as I'm reading. Then I picked the three strategies that constantly sat out through the article to support his ideas and the objective he was to trying to get across. The main strategy that was used throughout the article was comparing and contrasting. Saletan illustrated many of his views through this strategy. I chose this strategy because throughout the entire article, Saletan compared men to women to reveal how vengeful men truly are and to what degree, as opposed to women who have more compassion. This strategy, along with a few others used, succeeded in emphasizing the research that was provided to support the arguement of men being more vengeful than women.
The Alpha Effect
I choose the alpha effect for my ancillary 1 by Evan Thomas. It was basciacally an explanation of a dramatic change in the way young women see themselves and their future place in the world. i will be focusing that the new generation of American schoolgirl growing up free of gender stereotyping in my paper. The reason i choose this is because the widespread belief that girls limited by her sex; but i believe she is a person first and then a woman. Part of it is based on the ever-increasing number of strong female role models for young women — from Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice in politics.
Singing the Pink Blues
In Ancillary 1, I chose the article "Singing the Pink Blues" by Margot Mifflin. In preparation for my paper, I just read the article over and over again, each time writing down the strategies Mifflin was using on each page or paragraph. After writing them down, I looked them up to find out the exact definition, then went back to the article to see if I can find more examples of that specific strategy in any other part of the article, so I can work it in to my essay. I ended up choosing the three rhetorical strategies I saw the most, which were repetition, punctuation, and comparing and contrasting. The rhetorical strategy that most affected how the essay communicates to its audience was her use of punctuation. Mifflin's use of punctuation in this article included dashes and parentheses, and in the parentheses she would write a comment on her last sentence, or even place it right in the middle of a sentence. Before the parentheses she would write something about the toys or the makers, then inside the parentheses write something sarcastic like "But she's an action figure -- what can she do?" It was her way of putting her own personal comments into her article, and also if she named a game or toy, she used the parentheses to explain what that game was about and how it's played. I chose this strategy because I felt it helps clarify things much more for the audience, and that's what you need--your audience to understand exactly what you're writing about and how it works, especially if you're arguing against something, like toy makers still practicing segregation for instance.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Avengers by Nature?
This is about the article written by William Saletan titled, Men Are From Vengeance. In this article Saletan discusses how gender is related to a persons sense of empathy and vengeance, based upon studies and other related polls.
What made this article so interesting is the fact I've never thought of revenge as a gender based characteristic. However, this article goes on to discuss a unique study in which actors played a game. Some actors played fairly while others did not. At the end of the game electric shocks were sent to the actors that played fairly and those who did not. The results were quiet surprising to me. To my surprise unlike women, men's empathetic responses were significantly less when electric shocks were given to those who played unfairly.
Perhaps even more shocking were the results given from a survey by the Washington Post/ABC. The survey asked if murderers deserve the death penalty as a fair punishment for the life they took. I thought surely gender would not play a noticeable factor in this survey, but I was wrong. " A plurality of women rejected this notion; two of every three men endorsed it." As stated by William Saletan, men had significantly more support to this idea.
Although some could argue there isn't enough conclusive evidence to consider empathy a gender-related emotion, this article has left me to question my own way of thinking. I thought my views that it's only fair that a killer should have to pay with his life, was something people would agree with or disagree with, whether they're female of male. But maybe there is more to this sense of revenge, this since of justice?
What made this article so interesting is the fact I've never thought of revenge as a gender based characteristic. However, this article goes on to discuss a unique study in which actors played a game. Some actors played fairly while others did not. At the end of the game electric shocks were sent to the actors that played fairly and those who did not. The results were quiet surprising to me. To my surprise unlike women, men's empathetic responses were significantly less when electric shocks were given to those who played unfairly.
Perhaps even more shocking were the results given from a survey by the Washington Post/ABC. The survey asked if murderers deserve the death penalty as a fair punishment for the life they took. I thought surely gender would not play a noticeable factor in this survey, but I was wrong. " A plurality of women rejected this notion; two of every three men endorsed it." As stated by William Saletan, men had significantly more support to this idea.
Although some could argue there isn't enough conclusive evidence to consider empathy a gender-related emotion, this article has left me to question my own way of thinking. I thought my views that it's only fair that a killer should have to pay with his life, was something people would agree with or disagree with, whether they're female of male. But maybe there is more to this sense of revenge, this since of justice?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
He's just not that into you
Okay so this is going to be a post about a book/movie/real life/soap opera. I am a huge fan of Greg Behrendt and his book and soap opera's deal with men not being able to man-up and tell a girl he's just not that into her. What better way to talk about rhetorical analysis then to relate it to something we ALL struggle with. Relationships, whether you are in one or not, are a constant struggle. Too many, an easy way to describe rhetorical analysis is to describe it as "reading in between the lines." The book "He's just not that into you" is geared toward explaining to women why men do the classic cop outs like dissappearing after a perfect date, or telling you they really like you but don't want to be your boyfriend/husband, or only wanting to see you when they are drunk or high. It's because they are just not that into you. Now this deals with rhetorical analysis because some men will use every tactic they can to make you THINK they still want to hang around you. Its our job to read between the lines. For example, the book gives a scenario where two people that work for the same firm meet at a business meeting and hit it off really well. The man was just about to ask for the womans phone number when all the power went out in the building and it was complete and utter chaos. Was this man still interested in getting her number? Did the power also go out in his head? No. They work for the same firm, meaning her phone number must be in a data base somewhere. Did he think to look for it? No. Here is this womans problem. She needed to read between the lines. If this guy left the building without even thinking to see if she was okay, how on earth did she think he was going to ask her for her number before leaving? Reading between the lines would have saved this girl alot of heart ache. Another example is when your man only comes around at 2 in the morning when he's wasted. He'll say the typical, "I love you baby." Or "I missed you I wish you would have been at that bar with me tonight," even though he never even told you he was going to the bar? Alot of men will make you think you are on their radar but when he is only coming around when he's shit-faced or higher than a freakin kite, how can that be true love? Its not. He's just not that into you. Anyway, we can use this in every day life because rhetorical analysis is all around us. We just need to learn to pick up on it and read between the lines!
p.s. great book if anyone is interested in reading it.
p.s. great book if anyone is interested in reading it.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Twilight Fans . . .
Yes, I share your addiction. I've got my husband reading the series. And I went to see the movie in the theatre -- twice. This might not seem at all odd to you, but consider that I "go" to the movies about, oh, once a year. And who am I rooting for? Why, Edward of course. I also just finished a vampire series (not as compelling as Twilight, (video)but fun its own right) called The Vampire Diaries, so if you've suddenly developed a hankering for tween/teenage "vampire porn" as I hear it referred to these days, jump on in. I happen to love adolescent fiction -- it's quite interesting to me.
I've actually spent quite a bit of time analyzing the Twilight series with a few colleagues of mine. Perhaps I'll post some of these insights and see what you think. And if you don't like Twilight? Well, I don't have anything to say about that . . . that's fit to print.
I've actually spent quite a bit of time analyzing the Twilight series with a few colleagues of mine. Perhaps I'll post some of these insights and see what you think. And if you don't like Twilight? Well, I don't have anything to say about that . . . that's fit to print.
A BREAK FROM YOUR MEMORY...
The story of Beowulf is marked by rhetorical bookmarks throughout. These markers are strategically placed by the author in order to give the narrator of old a break from his memory. The person telling the story used these rhetorical markers as a break in the story and his thought process. Today’s rhetorical marker is for written story and still achieves what its purpose was, to inform the reader a little more. Another advantage to the rhetorical marker is the fact that it was useful for getting a little more background and also in explaining more about what was really happening in the story. An example in Beowulf is the story about Beowulf’s swimming match. The Danes and Beowulf were sitting around the table in a dining hall after Beowulf’s arrival talking of his known performances. The story that follows this is not part of the action and could be completely deleted from the book; it is utilized to demonstrate Beowulf’s strength and pride. Beowulf was contending in a swimming match with his friend, Breca, and ended up showing his strength and braveness in succeeding at this match. Beowulf says, “It befell me that I slew with my sword nine sea-monsters. I have not heard tell of a harder fight by night under heaven’s arch, nor of man more hard-pressed in the sea streams.” Beowulf, apparently, was not a modest man. He tells of his accomplishment with pride. And so, this shows the Danes that he will be an honorable foe to help them in their fight against Grendel. Another case is the emphasis on family lineage. When Beowulf first appears at Heorot, the first thing Hrothgar asks his messenger about was the family lineage. Though, not crucial to the story, this information gives the reader more insight into how central family history was to the people of this time. The minute Hrothgar realizes who Beowulf is, he invites him right in.
The Notebook
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams play two teenagers from completely different worlds. They start out just having a summer fling, little do they know that this is the beginning of the most incredible love story of all time. They have their fun, but near the end of summer vacation they both go their separate ways, heartbroken, because Allie's parents didn't think they were right for each other. Allie was of a higher social class, while Noah was a simple country boy. He wrote her everyday for a year, but her mother hid the letters. As they grew up, Allie was engaged, and Noah was still the same heart broken country boy. Before getting married, Allie goes to see Noah, and realizes she's still in love with him. She ofcourse chooses Noah over her fiance, and now they live in an elderly home. Unfortunately Allie has Alzheimer's, and she doesn't even remember Noah. He sticks by her side and reads her their love story everyday just so she can remember, even if it's only for 5 minutes.
Although it's just a movie, it leaves with so much to think about. How far would you go for someone you loved, even if it just started out as a summer fling. Would you build your dream house with your other half in mind, or would you forget all about him or her because they walked out of your life years ago? Noah's character never forgets, and always had hope that Allie would come back to him. In a way he believed building that house might even bring her back, if built the blue shutters and a room overlooking the river. He did all he could because he loved her, and would have done anything he could possible think of to get that one person that meant the world to him, back. On the other hand, Allie forgot. She moved on and lived her life after a few months of being heart broken. She was almost going to get married to another man, although deep down inside she knew she still loved Noah. The only reason she remembered him was because she saw a picture in the newspaper. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure every once in a while, she would remember that summer fling, but she never did anything about it when she was old enough. There are two types of people in this story; one that does anything and everything to please someone, and the other who enjoys their time, but don't fight for what they want. This movie made me think that there's some people that just do too much for others, and should probably focus more on themselves for a while. The other needs to learn how to fight for what they believe in, and give a relationship their all, instead of leaving as soon as their told to leave. I think she didn't try hard enough; she really didn't try at all. Why didn't she ever try to contact him, but instead sat around waiting for his letters?
Although it's just a movie, it leaves with so much to think about. How far would you go for someone you loved, even if it just started out as a summer fling. Would you build your dream house with your other half in mind, or would you forget all about him or her because they walked out of your life years ago? Noah's character never forgets, and always had hope that Allie would come back to him. In a way he believed building that house might even bring her back, if built the blue shutters and a room overlooking the river. He did all he could because he loved her, and would have done anything he could possible think of to get that one person that meant the world to him, back. On the other hand, Allie forgot. She moved on and lived her life after a few months of being heart broken. She was almost going to get married to another man, although deep down inside she knew she still loved Noah. The only reason she remembered him was because she saw a picture in the newspaper. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure every once in a while, she would remember that summer fling, but she never did anything about it when she was old enough. There are two types of people in this story; one that does anything and everything to please someone, and the other who enjoys their time, but don't fight for what they want. This movie made me think that there's some people that just do too much for others, and should probably focus more on themselves for a while. The other needs to learn how to fight for what they believe in, and give a relationship their all, instead of leaving as soon as their told to leave. I think she didn't try hard enough; she really didn't try at all. Why didn't she ever try to contact him, but instead sat around waiting for his letters?
Just Friends
In the humorous movie "Just Friends", actor Ryan Reynolds plays a character who was overweight and unpopular in high school and additionally in love with his best friend Jamie, who was one of the more sought out cheerleaders and always just his friend. Many years after high school Ryan Reynolds character becomes a rich, successful business man in Hollywood and transforms his chunky look into a well-fit, desirable hunk. When he finally returns to his home town, he realizes that this time around, he may have a shot with Jamie somewhere outside of the "friend zone". In his attempts to win over his former high school love, he continuously brings ostentatious things into the picture to impress Jamie, but instead he is conveyed as being arrogant and self-loathing. Finally after trying so hard to wheel Jamie in with his talks of Hollywood and driving an extravagant porche, he finally lets loose and acts more like the small town guy he always was and after few obstacles Jamie fell in love with him and in result they ended up being together.
The analysis for this movie is materialistic objects cannot win people over or make them more desirable to others. This movie reveals this fact by showing all the flashy cars and fame that Ryan Reynolds had could not win the love and affection of the girl. Therefore, being a more down to earth, humble person is more valuable than any material object.
The analysis for this movie is materialistic objects cannot win people over or make them more desirable to others. This movie reveals this fact by showing all the flashy cars and fame that Ryan Reynolds had could not win the love and affection of the girl. Therefore, being a more down to earth, humble person is more valuable than any material object.
Still Needing the F Word . . .
little miss sunshine
The movie Little Miss Sunshine captivates and amuses its audience with a story of a dysfunctional and completely neurotic family trying to help their younger daughter pursue her dream to be in a beauty pageant. With a father who unsuccessfully strives to be a life coach, a homosexual uncle who attempts suicide when his boyfriend leaves him, a heroin-addicted grandfather, a brother who takes a vow of silence until he becomes a jet pilot, and a mother who struggles to keep them all together while dealing with bankruptcy, little Olive Hoover gives them hope and a chance for a change when she convinces the family to come with her on a road trip to become the next Little Miss Sunshine. This movie delivers a dark, yet comical look into the adventures that this family encounters on their way to the pageant. They attract many setbacks and a lot of bad luck along the way, but this family learns that leaning on each other is the only way that any of them can pull themselves out of the depressive state that they had fallen into. Instead of a cookie-cutter story line and happy ending, this film produces a different and very real look into the lives of a random New Mexico family looking for something worth living for.
Blog Invites
I have reissued these to everyone who still had an "open" invitation (meaning you hadn't yet accepted it.) If you still don't have an invite . . . I don't have the right address for you. We need to get this cleared up quickly so no one has to spend much more time on the technicalities, but in the meantime, you can send the blog to me via email if you cannot post it, and I will post it for you -- this time. I'm also going to email this message to you . . .
The Lord of the Rings
I chose to do my Rhetorical analysis on the Lord of the Rings, because this movie series dives so heavily into the internal and external battle with human nature and the ever cliche battle of good and evil.
Throughout all three movies, the audience watches as Frodo struggles to keep his wits about him and keep his mind from heading down the path of darkness. As we know, whether you have read the books or watched the movies, Frodo is able to end the deadly grasp evil had on him by throwing the ring (symbol of evil) into the fires of Mount Doom, saving the world from collapsing on itself, yet again.
Throughout all three movies, the audience watches as Frodo struggles to keep his wits about him and keep his mind from heading down the path of darkness. As we know, whether you have read the books or watched the movies, Frodo is able to end the deadly grasp evil had on him by throwing the ring (symbol of evil) into the fires of Mount Doom, saving the world from collapsing on itself, yet again.
Obama Cabinet appointees
I am confused at the situation regarding the recent developments in Washington. President nominated several candidates for positions on his staff; and so far 3-4 nominees have had to bow out due to "illegal or not so savory" histories.
Being the "first" in the top position - wouldn't Obama - shouldn't Obama be more careful with his words and actions. All eyes are on him.
Being the "first" in the top position - wouldn't Obama - shouldn't Obama be more careful with his words and actions. All eyes are on him.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Cosmo Kramer's Outburst
For my rhetorical analysis I decided as many of us have to use something other than a piece of literature to pick apart. My example comes from the famous Michael Richards, also known as Cosmo Kramer from the hit sitcom Seinfeld. If some of you are unaware, Richards is also a stand up comedian and is now infamous for verbally lashing out, using the “n word” against an African American who was heckling Richards at one of his shows for not being funny. I decided to use Richards first apology on The Late Show with David Letterman, because I think it’s interesting to not only pick apart his words but because he is an actor his facial expressions and body language as well. Keep in my mind I feel his apology is not very sincere but merely an attempt to save what career he might have left.
The rhetorical situation would be Richards onstage outbursts that has resulted into an apology on behalf of his behavior which would be the artifact. His message is clear, he wants to convey to the audience that he is sincerely sorry for his inappropriate behavior and unacceptable comments. First Richards is laughed at by the audience to lighten the situation but Richards maintains a grimace look on his face to display the disgust he still has for himself. He proceeds to speak with a stutter step in his voice trying to give the effect broken up and shocked emotions. He avoids using words like racism, and instead uses words like “hate” and “rage” to convince his audience that it was simply an emotion and not something that he actually is. Richards furthers his efforts by showing his remorse for Hurricane Katrina and all of its African American victims. He tries to steer the audience away from his actions and show that he cares for the people he hurt. At the end he simply says he can only do personal work to fix this saying the damage is done and that he cannot do much more.
The rhetorical situation would be Richards onstage outbursts that has resulted into an apology on behalf of his behavior which would be the artifact. His message is clear, he wants to convey to the audience that he is sincerely sorry for his inappropriate behavior and unacceptable comments. First Richards is laughed at by the audience to lighten the situation but Richards maintains a grimace look on his face to display the disgust he still has for himself. He proceeds to speak with a stutter step in his voice trying to give the effect broken up and shocked emotions. He avoids using words like racism, and instead uses words like “hate” and “rage” to convince his audience that it was simply an emotion and not something that he actually is. Richards furthers his efforts by showing his remorse for Hurricane Katrina and all of its African American victims. He tries to steer the audience away from his actions and show that he cares for the people he hurt. At the end he simply says he can only do personal work to fix this saying the damage is done and that he cannot do much more.
Star Wars
The Star Wars Trilogy's are my favorite movies of all time. The most intriguing character was Annikan Skywalker who inevitably became known as Darth Vader. He was manipulated into joining the dark side of the force. What I noticed most was that it was his greed for power and unwillingness to except certain truths like death that was his undoing. He made his weakness known to the emperor and got pimped out like a street whore and soon sold his soul to the devil by betraying his friends and himself. I found this to be one of the greatest good versus evil movies ever made.
I relate to this movie and the character very well. I was once manipulated into joining a dark side better known as gangs and drugs. My greed and weaknesses were the same. And so was my fall. The ungodly spirits that are roaming the world looking for people to devour like a roaring lion found me just like it did with Annikan. The only difference between Annikan and I is that I got out of the game before death or life in prison could engulf me like so many that I've acquainted in my lifetime.
I relate to this movie and the character very well. I was once manipulated into joining a dark side better known as gangs and drugs. My greed and weaknesses were the same. And so was my fall. The ungodly spirits that are roaming the world looking for people to devour like a roaring lion found me just like it did with Annikan. The only difference between Annikan and I is that I got out of the game before death or life in prison could engulf me like so many that I've acquainted in my lifetime.
Letters from Iwo Jima
What a movie this was. Letters from Iwo Jima. The writer of this movie wanted to touch viewers with both sides of this conflict. Everyone at one point feels like they are the true fighters of their county and I believe they are. I have served in the military and the honor that you can get by serving is tremendous just like many others who serve for their country. The writer of this movie wanted people to know that it wasn't just our letters (American) it was also the Japanese who where writing to their loved ones as well. Both countries had family men in the front line. They were brothers, sons, friends. And it didn't matter if they were Americans or Japanese. Combat isn't something nice. Combat is a nightmare for those who fight for their country. This movie touches deep because it was reality for those who fought in this conflict or any other conflict.
Click
Adam Sandler, in the movie Click played a workaholic fed up with the unadorned things in life. Spending time with his children and talking to his wife were boring to him, until he stumbled on a universal remote. This remote gave him the ability to fast forward the seemingly dreary parts of his life to the things he thought brought him true enjoyment. Like instant job promotion without doing the work, or make up sex with his wife after fast forwarding the argument with her. Until one day his children were all grown up. With little recollection of their childhood he realized that his simple and boring moments in life were not so simple, but memories and experiences that made his life worthwhile. In the end of the movie he was given an opportunity to rewind and start all over throwing away the dreaded universal remote. Obviously, he took that opportunity and changed the way he viewed his family and his life.
This movie really helped me to cherish my family, even through the exhausting moments. It helped me to enjoy my children while they are young. To make the most out of my life and every moment in it. Life somewhat has a feeling of being fast forwarded years past by before you even realize they are gone. As many old people say "I could remember it like it were yesterday", they may wonder how yesterday went by so quickly
This movie really helped me to cherish my family, even through the exhausting moments. It helped me to enjoy my children while they are young. To make the most out of my life and every moment in it. Life somewhat has a feeling of being fast forwarded years past by before you even realize they are gone. As many old people say "I could remember it like it were yesterday", they may wonder how yesterday went by so quickly
13 Going On 30
In the movie "13 Going On 30" the movie starts off with Jenny in middle school and waiting to become a part of "six chicks," which was the six most popular girls school. Jenny throws a party and thinks the six chicks are coming to the party just to come, when they are really coming just to get a paper Jenny wrote for them. When Jenny finds this out, she goes into her closet and wishes to be "30, flirty and fabulos." When she wakes up she is 30 and living in New York City. She has a famous hockey player boyfriend and works for her favorite magazine. She finds her old best friend, Matty, also live in New York. When she goes to see him, he tells her how they stopped being friends after her 13th birthday and that she became the head of the six chicks. But as she goes on, she discovers that the person she became is sneaky, a lair and cold hearted. She then starts to change her ways, and begins to act the girl she was before being thrown into the future. She then falls in love with Matty, but he is getting married to someone else. The day of the wedding, she goes to her parents house and ends up in the same closet where she had made the first wish. She then makes a second wish to be back at her 13th birthday. She opens her eyes and is back at her birthday. The very last scene is Jenny and Matty are happily married.
13 Going On 30 uses many rhetorical devices, one of which is Alliteration when they have Jenny say, "30, Flirty and Fabulos." Flirty and Fabulos both start with "f's." It also uses irony, because she gets what she want, but it turns out that she ends up hating herself for it. This movie uses more pathos than anything, it applies to girls and their feeling on how they want to be that popular girl, and that every girl wants to be. But it also shows how at the same time girls want to just be themselves, have fun, and not care what anyone thinks.
13 Going On 30 uses many rhetorical devices, one of which is Alliteration when they have Jenny say, "30, Flirty and Fabulos." Flirty and Fabulos both start with "f's." It also uses irony, because she gets what she want, but it turns out that she ends up hating herself for it. This movie uses more pathos than anything, it applies to girls and their feeling on how they want to be that popular girl, and that every girl wants to be. But it also shows how at the same time girls want to just be themselves, have fun, and not care what anyone thinks.
Transformers
The movie Transformers is based on a cartoon that was aired in the early nineties. The cartoon was about a race of aliens that could transform from a robot into vehicles. The movie starts out with a teenage boy named Sam Witwicky, reporting about his ancestor who was an explorer. During his commentary he tries to sell some of the articles his grandfather carried during his journeys in order to buy his first car. Once he buys his beat up Camaro it comes to life and his adventures begin. This alien car, also known as Bumble Bee, is part of a group called the Autobots. The Autobots need Sam’s help in order to save the human race from the fate that doomed the Autobots. The Decepticons is a rival alien robot race that destroyed their planet through destruction and war. Both groups are after this device called The Allspark. This cube shaped device is what provides the energy to enable machines to transform into robots and come to life.
Throughout the film Sam Witwicky stays loyal to Bumble Bee and helps him save the world from the Decepticons. The new found confidence Sam gained because of Bumble Bee helped him impress his dream girl, among other things that all added up to him being a better person. Though on the surface this film seems just like an action packed movie it actually shows examples friendship, loyalty and the coming of age of a teenage boy.
Throughout the film Sam Witwicky stays loyal to Bumble Bee and helps him save the world from the Decepticons. The new found confidence Sam gained because of Bumble Bee helped him impress his dream girl, among other things that all added up to him being a better person. Though on the surface this film seems just like an action packed movie it actually shows examples friendship, loyalty and the coming of age of a teenage boy.
More of a physical point of view
To share my view of rhetorical analysis, I'd like to use an example away from writing. From what I understand, rhetorical analysis takes an experienced reader to try to pick out piece by piece what the writer is hiding or bringing attention to in the text. Therefore the reader has the responsibility of making sense or finding the underlying yet obvious point of the text or reading. So from this point of view I'd like to say that the reader must be greatly experienced and the writer or author does not necessarily need to have any training or knowlegde to be able to allow the reader to produce a sucessfull rhetorical analysis.
For example, take a Doctor. They are called upon to solve or figure out a problem that a person may have, so I'll use a Doctor as the reader. For the author ill use the example of a patient. Now, the patient knows that they have a problem and they can give you all kinds of clues and answers to what the problem is, even tell you how and where the problem is. Therefore its like the patient or the author is basically putting the structure down and underlying in writing terms, "symbolic artifacts" about what is going on. Now, it is the readers (Doctors) responsibility to figure out the problem by asking the questions and finding the answers to the underlying problem or point. A lot of the patients words and actions, or an authors performance dictates the amount one may arouse or entertain a Doctor or reader. So only based off what the patient tells the Doctor initally, the Doctor must to come up with an answer to the problem. Or in this case, compose a rhetorical analysis.
For example, take a Doctor. They are called upon to solve or figure out a problem that a person may have, so I'll use a Doctor as the reader. For the author ill use the example of a patient. Now, the patient knows that they have a problem and they can give you all kinds of clues and answers to what the problem is, even tell you how and where the problem is. Therefore its like the patient or the author is basically putting the structure down and underlying in writing terms, "symbolic artifacts" about what is going on. Now, it is the readers (Doctors) responsibility to figure out the problem by asking the questions and finding the answers to the underlying problem or point. A lot of the patients words and actions, or an authors performance dictates the amount one may arouse or entertain a Doctor or reader. So only based off what the patient tells the Doctor initally, the Doctor must to come up with an answer to the problem. Or in this case, compose a rhetorical analysis.
The Family Man
In the movie, The family Man, Jack Campbell has the so called perfect life. He is very wealthy with nice cars and fame. But he was without true love. The movie then takes Jack back to a life when he had true love with an old girlfriend. During this change he can still remember his wealthy life and not his past years where he is now married to his old girlfriend and has two kids. In this new life he didn't have the wealth and extravagant lifestyle. However, he learns that what matters most is not wealth and fame, but true love.
Through rhetorical analysis, I think that this movie is trying to state that no matter how much materialistic things or fame one may have, love is what makes your life complete. True love brings you the most satisfaction and happiness in life.
Through rhetorical analysis, I think that this movie is trying to state that no matter how much materialistic things or fame one may have, love is what makes your life complete. True love brings you the most satisfaction and happiness in life.
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!
Howard Beale is a struggling news anchor in the movie Network (1976). When Howard finds out that the television network is canning him, he goes on the air saying on his next broadcast he will kill himself. He is obviously fired, and his employing network gives him a 'farewell' broadcast, on the condition it is sincere and not another outburst. On live television Howard explains how life is grossly unfair, and in his words "bullshit". The network executives realize that Howard's outbursts are getting extremely high ratings, and in turn they give him his own show.
On his own show, he immediately starts off with a rant. Addressing the people watching tv directly, not simply reading a prompt like most anchors, he explains the current state of affairs. How bad the economy is doing, how high crime is, how everyone is afraid to go out. He starts yelling at the audience, taunting them, "Go out to your windows and shout 'I'M MAD AS HELL AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!". Obviously this has a profound effect on the audience, because the next scene is all the people sitting in their living rooms, and getting up to the windows to yell.
I find it hard to believe that this particular speech given by a fictional character in a satirical film from 1976 has significance to our current state of affairs today. I'm not sure if the writer of the script intended his page-off character to have such lasting words.
On his own show, he immediately starts off with a rant. Addressing the people watching tv directly, not simply reading a prompt like most anchors, he explains the current state of affairs. How bad the economy is doing, how high crime is, how everyone is afraid to go out. He starts yelling at the audience, taunting them, "Go out to your windows and shout 'I'M MAD AS HELL AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!". Obviously this has a profound effect on the audience, because the next scene is all the people sitting in their living rooms, and getting up to the windows to yell.
I find it hard to believe that this particular speech given by a fictional character in a satirical film from 1976 has significance to our current state of affairs today. I'm not sure if the writer of the script intended his page-off character to have such lasting words.
V for Vendetta
Rhetorical analysis is defined as ones audience, stance, and genre. Where something as a whole is divided to easier to understand parts and has more of a meaning to it then meets the eye. Rather then watch a movie or read a book and keep focus on the part that is being showed instead of the true meaning of it. Many movies and books go deeper then what is showed, for example V for vendetta
The film V for Vendetta is all about words retaining there power, where most people just watch it because of the cool fighting seens that occur instead of the true meaning behind Guy Fawks. Giving power to words and symbols through people is the true meaning. A tyrant of the government establishes control of a country through the means of fear, and people who try to speak out aginst him or his ideas are imprisoned, thus taking the power of words away. A tatical Assassin named V wants to see freedom return to this country by bringing out the courage of people and bringing back the power of certain words like freedom, fairness, and justice. so the words are more than words, they are perspectives. during one part of the film v says "People should not be afraid of their govenments, governements should be afraid of their people" because people should have power on what happend to their country, not one man.
The audience is all the people who watch and have a snese of going deeper then what is shown, instead of the people who wanna see some blood and violence. and the stance is more in exposing people to the unheard or unseen. People do not wanna be kept in the dark while someone is running a country that is completely misleading. Words need to keep their meaning so people have the power
The film V for Vendetta is all about words retaining there power, where most people just watch it because of the cool fighting seens that occur instead of the true meaning behind Guy Fawks. Giving power to words and symbols through people is the true meaning. A tyrant of the government establishes control of a country through the means of fear, and people who try to speak out aginst him or his ideas are imprisoned, thus taking the power of words away. A tatical Assassin named V wants to see freedom return to this country by bringing out the courage of people and bringing back the power of certain words like freedom, fairness, and justice. so the words are more than words, they are perspectives. during one part of the film v says "People should not be afraid of their govenments, governements should be afraid of their people" because people should have power on what happend to their country, not one man.
The audience is all the people who watch and have a snese of going deeper then what is shown, instead of the people who wanna see some blood and violence. and the stance is more in exposing people to the unheard or unseen. People do not wanna be kept in the dark while someone is running a country that is completely misleading. Words need to keep their meaning so people have the power
Priorities for Fixing the Financial Crisis
In an article written by Jeffrey D. Sachs (Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University), he describes what led to the financial crisis we currently are in, citing banks that leant Trillions of Dollars for home purchases and consumer loans to people ill equipped to pay them back. One thing he fails to mention is how many of these consumer loans were piggybacked onto the equity in home mortgages due to the skyrocketing home prices. He has it right that the easy lending practices and speculators drove prices increasingly higher till it peaked and crashed. The Government however, played a big role in the housing crises as well. In the 90’s, under increasing pressure from the Clinton administration, Fannie Mae the largest underwriter of home mortgages was pressured to expand mortgages to low or moderate income people. This was the start of the housing crisis.
He then lists the four cascading threats to the economy. First, the sharp decline in consumer spending for housing, cars and other durables, is creating a direct effect of the sharp decline in lending. Second, many homeowners will default on their mortgages and other loans as mortgage values fall. Third, the banking sector will cut back severely on its lending as it has to continue writing off bad debt. Fourth, the retrenchment of lending threatens even the shortest-term loans which banks and other institutions lend to each other for working capital.
He then lists the gravest risks to economy in severity. The fourth threat, being the worst, if short term commercial paper collapses, it would be difficult for solvent companies to attract working capital. The third threat is the impairment of bank capital. As banks write off their bad loans it could cause a severe recession, not a depression. The second threat, the financial distress of the consumer, will cause many to lose their homes and file for bankruptcy. Consumers as a group will become net savers again after years of heavy borrowing. That trend will not be bad in the long run but will in the short term. The first threat is the cutback in sales of homes. The inventory now is large, housing demand is off and consumer spending on durable goods is way down.
Mr. Sach’s cure essentially is the Government. But hasn’t congress already allocated 700 billion to the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP)? The new administration is talking another Trillion dollars. Lets face it the government has no business owning business. We all know out of all this stimulus money, billions will be earmarked to pet projects. If they would spend it on real infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, or schools, it could create millions of jobs. But that would mean subbing the projects to Contractors and also cutting the red tape so these projects get done before we are out of the recession.
He then lists the four cascading threats to the economy. First, the sharp decline in consumer spending for housing, cars and other durables, is creating a direct effect of the sharp decline in lending. Second, many homeowners will default on their mortgages and other loans as mortgage values fall. Third, the banking sector will cut back severely on its lending as it has to continue writing off bad debt. Fourth, the retrenchment of lending threatens even the shortest-term loans which banks and other institutions lend to each other for working capital.
He then lists the gravest risks to economy in severity. The fourth threat, being the worst, if short term commercial paper collapses, it would be difficult for solvent companies to attract working capital. The third threat is the impairment of bank capital. As banks write off their bad loans it could cause a severe recession, not a depression. The second threat, the financial distress of the consumer, will cause many to lose their homes and file for bankruptcy. Consumers as a group will become net savers again after years of heavy borrowing. That trend will not be bad in the long run but will in the short term. The first threat is the cutback in sales of homes. The inventory now is large, housing demand is off and consumer spending on durable goods is way down.
Mr. Sach’s cure essentially is the Government. But hasn’t congress already allocated 700 billion to the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP)? The new administration is talking another Trillion dollars. Lets face it the government has no business owning business. We all know out of all this stimulus money, billions will be earmarked to pet projects. If they would spend it on real infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, or schools, it could create millions of jobs. But that would mean subbing the projects to Contractors and also cutting the red tape so these projects get done before we are out of the recession.
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls was a television series that focused on the life of a single mother raising her teenage daughter. Lorelai, the mother and Rory, the daughter spoke rapidly and frequently would give an allusion that members of the audience may or may not pick up on.
The series first started with what is now referred to as a “Gilmore-ism” in the first scene. Lorelai is getting hit on by a young man who says he is just passing through town. Her response is, “You’re a regular Jack Kerouac”. Her response has a double meaning, the first being that if the young man did not know to what Lorelai was referring to, he did not stand a chance with her. Another meaning would be that the young man said that he was just passing through town and Jack Kerouac is best known for his novel On the Road; a novel which is based on Kerouac’s travels across the United States.
Later in the same episode, Lorelai dumps out her purse which is filled with an enormous amount of make up. In response to the hefty amount of make up that her mother carries with her, Rory says, “God! RuPaul doesn’t need this much makeup!” RuPaul is a drag queen from the 1990s, he was later hired my MAC cosmetics and became the first drag supermodel. Rory is saying that even a model for a cosmetic company does not need as much makeup as Lorelai.
In season six, Sookie, who is the best friend of Lorelai’s and works as a chef, says, “Needs more garlic. Come on. Godfather it up for me”. She is referring to the movie the Godfather. The Godfather is about an Italian mob family, who is of Italian heritage. Italian food usually has a lot of garlic which brings us back to Sookie wanting more garlic added to the dish that she is preparing.
Later in the sixth season, Lorelai is having a fight with her boyfriend Luke. During the fight she says, “Oh my God! Enjoy Wisteria Lane, you major drama queen!” She is referring to the nighttime television show “Desperate Housewives”. The women on this show are famous for being dramatic women who bicker about various different issues that are of no importance. Lorelai is telling Luke that he is trying to fight with her about issues of little importance.
In the last episode of the series, Rory and her best friend, Lane are reminiscing about how much the two of them have accomplished in the years they have been friends. Rory says to her friend, “We’ve come a long way baby”. This is a reference to the Virginia Slims cigarette ads from the 1960s to the 1980s. The cigarettes were marketed during a feminist era where women were accomplishing great strides in the world. Rory is saying to Lane that the two of them have accomplished great things in the lifetime of their friendship.
Gilmore Girls was a show that had the viewers constantly on their toes. With the swift dialogue and the many references to pop culture and other random things, it made the viewer constantly searching in the stores of his or her memory for what the characters are referring to. Each episode can be watched multiple times while looking for the allusions that are lurking underneath the conversation.
The series first started with what is now referred to as a “Gilmore-ism” in the first scene. Lorelai is getting hit on by a young man who says he is just passing through town. Her response is, “You’re a regular Jack Kerouac”. Her response has a double meaning, the first being that if the young man did not know to what Lorelai was referring to, he did not stand a chance with her. Another meaning would be that the young man said that he was just passing through town and Jack Kerouac is best known for his novel On the Road; a novel which is based on Kerouac’s travels across the United States.
Later in the same episode, Lorelai dumps out her purse which is filled with an enormous amount of make up. In response to the hefty amount of make up that her mother carries with her, Rory says, “God! RuPaul doesn’t need this much makeup!” RuPaul is a drag queen from the 1990s, he was later hired my MAC cosmetics and became the first drag supermodel. Rory is saying that even a model for a cosmetic company does not need as much makeup as Lorelai.
In season six, Sookie, who is the best friend of Lorelai’s and works as a chef, says, “Needs more garlic. Come on. Godfather it up for me”. She is referring to the movie the Godfather. The Godfather is about an Italian mob family, who is of Italian heritage. Italian food usually has a lot of garlic which brings us back to Sookie wanting more garlic added to the dish that she is preparing.
Later in the sixth season, Lorelai is having a fight with her boyfriend Luke. During the fight she says, “Oh my God! Enjoy Wisteria Lane, you major drama queen!” She is referring to the nighttime television show “Desperate Housewives”. The women on this show are famous for being dramatic women who bicker about various different issues that are of no importance. Lorelai is telling Luke that he is trying to fight with her about issues of little importance.
In the last episode of the series, Rory and her best friend, Lane are reminiscing about how much the two of them have accomplished in the years they have been friends. Rory says to her friend, “We’ve come a long way baby”. This is a reference to the Virginia Slims cigarette ads from the 1960s to the 1980s. The cigarettes were marketed during a feminist era where women were accomplishing great strides in the world. Rory is saying to Lane that the two of them have accomplished great things in the lifetime of their friendship.
Gilmore Girls was a show that had the viewers constantly on their toes. With the swift dialogue and the many references to pop culture and other random things, it made the viewer constantly searching in the stores of his or her memory for what the characters are referring to. Each episode can be watched multiple times while looking for the allusions that are lurking underneath the conversation.
Remember the Titans
Many of us have seen the movie Remember the Titans. To a child it just appears as a football movie, but it has a clear defined message that shines through. In this film segregation and intergration were topics at hand. The movie demonstrated the challenges people went through just day to day.
Remember the Titans was set in 1971. T.C Williams was a brand new high school that was to be opened in the fall but it was unlike many others, it was going to have white students as well as black students, one of the first of it's kind in Virginia. To have this new intergrated school open, one high school that accomadated only white students close and another that only had black students closed and it created this new high school where the two would come together.
While this may seem like a small issue that is easy to overcome for us in this day and time, this was a major issue. To demonstrate how big of a deal it was the creators of the movie illustrated on the screen how people of each race treated each other. In one scene, a player on the football team told one of his new black teammates to wait his turn while getting water and this caused a fight. In another scene, the football players of the white high school were having a meeting with their coach and when they all learned that their new coach was going to be black the said they were going to boycott the season unless their coach was reinstated as the new high school's head football coach. Lastly in another scene of this nature, one of the white players wanted to go out to eat after a victory and two of his teammates he was with said they could not enter the resturant because of the color of their skin and later in the scene got kicked out of the resturant and got upset with their teammate. In these scenes, the director and other creators were really trying to illustrate how brutal people were to each other in this time. With hopes that each scene would resonate with the viewers and one might grab their attention and make them think "Wow, thats really what it was like".
As the movie continues, it slowly transforms to what the directors big picture lesson is. The boys on the team start to become much closer and grow together as a family. While people at school do not accept these actions, as well as their parents, they keep helping each other. In one scene, one of the boys gets into a fight at school, and boys of each race help him out of the jam he gets himself into. In other scenes, they hang out with each other outside of school, like going out after a game and even playing basketball with each other. This starts to become "normal" to them while everyone else looks down upon it. By doing this the director transitions the movie and the big picture of, it really doesn't matter what somebody looks like, not matter the skin color, we all are equal and can all be together. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie because this makes the whole community come together and everyone supports one another.
By the end of the film, the whole community supports each other and the football team is to thank for it. They brought together everyone because they were the first to accept each other and they worked together and got a phenomenal outcome. They sent the message to their families who passed it along to everyone else who wasn't touched by it yet.
Most times in movies directors use this sort of build up to get the message across in the very end in a big way and in Remember the Titans, the message is that all are equal, we all just have to work together and interact to actually see that and make it happen. The build up, and visions of actual things that happened in this time made it so much more believable for the viewer and easier to see the directors vision and point he really wanted to make.
Remember the Titans was set in 1971. T.C Williams was a brand new high school that was to be opened in the fall but it was unlike many others, it was going to have white students as well as black students, one of the first of it's kind in Virginia. To have this new intergrated school open, one high school that accomadated only white students close and another that only had black students closed and it created this new high school where the two would come together.
While this may seem like a small issue that is easy to overcome for us in this day and time, this was a major issue. To demonstrate how big of a deal it was the creators of the movie illustrated on the screen how people of each race treated each other. In one scene, a player on the football team told one of his new black teammates to wait his turn while getting water and this caused a fight. In another scene, the football players of the white high school were having a meeting with their coach and when they all learned that their new coach was going to be black the said they were going to boycott the season unless their coach was reinstated as the new high school's head football coach. Lastly in another scene of this nature, one of the white players wanted to go out to eat after a victory and two of his teammates he was with said they could not enter the resturant because of the color of their skin and later in the scene got kicked out of the resturant and got upset with their teammate. In these scenes, the director and other creators were really trying to illustrate how brutal people were to each other in this time. With hopes that each scene would resonate with the viewers and one might grab their attention and make them think "Wow, thats really what it was like".
As the movie continues, it slowly transforms to what the directors big picture lesson is. The boys on the team start to become much closer and grow together as a family. While people at school do not accept these actions, as well as their parents, they keep helping each other. In one scene, one of the boys gets into a fight at school, and boys of each race help him out of the jam he gets himself into. In other scenes, they hang out with each other outside of school, like going out after a game and even playing basketball with each other. This starts to become "normal" to them while everyone else looks down upon it. By doing this the director transitions the movie and the big picture of, it really doesn't matter what somebody looks like, not matter the skin color, we all are equal and can all be together. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie because this makes the whole community come together and everyone supports one another.
By the end of the film, the whole community supports each other and the football team is to thank for it. They brought together everyone because they were the first to accept each other and they worked together and got a phenomenal outcome. They sent the message to their families who passed it along to everyone else who wasn't touched by it yet.
Most times in movies directors use this sort of build up to get the message across in the very end in a big way and in Remember the Titans, the message is that all are equal, we all just have to work together and interact to actually see that and make it happen. The build up, and visions of actual things that happened in this time made it so much more believable for the viewer and easier to see the directors vision and point he really wanted to make.
Finding Nemo
The theme of the children's movie, 'Finding Nemo', is a message that is relatable to all people, in one way or another. The beginning of the movie opens up by revealing a clown fish named Nemo who was born with a birth defect that was caused by the predator that killed both his mother and all of his other unborn siblings. Nemo's father, Marlin, however, survived the attack and was forced into the unfortunate situation of raising his son as a single parent, while still being haunted by the fears of the unpredictable and dangerous ocean. Despite the cautious restrictions of his father, Nemo ventures to the treacherous 'drop-off' with his school buddies and gets taken by a scuba diver collecting fish for his fish tank. Marlin, realizing the high chance of never seeing his son again, must now quickly face his haunting fear of the big blue in order to rescue Nemo. Through the help of his happy-go-lucky friend Dori, Marlin finds his son Nemo and overcomes his fear of the unknown, uncertainties of life.
Like Marlin, all people are affected by unfair, adverse, and uncontrollable circumstances. The initial reaction to these conditions is to build protective walls fearing that vulnerability will lead to even more pain and heartache. However, in reality, no one can control their life even with barriers through caution. The challenge, as faced by Marlin, is to enjoy the good, pleasant things in life and to grow and mature from the trials.
Like Marlin, all people are affected by unfair, adverse, and uncontrollable circumstances. The initial reaction to these conditions is to build protective walls fearing that vulnerability will lead to even more pain and heartache. However, in reality, no one can control their life even with barriers through caution. The challenge, as faced by Marlin, is to enjoy the good, pleasant things in life and to grow and mature from the trials.
Tortuga is Reckless?
Rhetorical analysis is defined in lay-man’s terms as a breakdown of something whole into smaller easier to understand portions. Then those portions are basically picked apart and, of course, analyzed; analyzed in ways such that the piece can be better understood in the intentions of the author or speaker. Did the speaker intend to persuade their audience to their point of view? Did the speaker intend to inform the audience rather than persuasion of a topic itself?
Humans themselves are very deep intellectually even if they do not know or understand that. To me rhetorical analysis is a skill used to further apprehend the workings of a human’s mental abilities.
This may not seem serious but even an amateur video group, that creates webcasts of a sort to explain their opinion in very odd methods, can have a deeper meaning in the videos that they create. RecklessTortuga is the name a YouTube group that creates videos, most that involve the difficulties or irritations of the people of today and racism.
A video that they made in light of Obama becoming President-Elect is titled “Racism in the Media”, a parody of how some newscasters seem to gravitate any and all questions towards certain ethnic groups. It’s easy to know what I mean by ‘certain’ ethnic groups. In this video the news reporter, Lynda Wahker, continues to direct all questions to the single African American located in the group; a mockery of what some new s stations have may indirectly appeared to be doing. Racism is not the only subject they touch upon, they too make light on the past surges of foreclosures on homes across the United States by stating beneath that Apple bought the White House after it was foreclosed on.
This video along with many others are not there to accuse people but to present in a more round-about way how ridiculous the current situations may be. Their goal was not to persuade people to agree with them.
Call it what you will, a gag video, a parody, or other such synonyms, this video is still something that can be rhetorically analyzed further if enough effort was poured into it. A silly topic this may be yet it is something often overlooked as nothing significant to be intellectually evaluated in the slightest. In my opinion this is how I perceive rhetorical analysis to be.
Humans themselves are very deep intellectually even if they do not know or understand that. To me rhetorical analysis is a skill used to further apprehend the workings of a human’s mental abilities.
This may not seem serious but even an amateur video group, that creates webcasts of a sort to explain their opinion in very odd methods, can have a deeper meaning in the videos that they create. RecklessTortuga is the name a YouTube group that creates videos, most that involve the difficulties or irritations of the people of today and racism.
A video that they made in light of Obama becoming President-Elect is titled “Racism in the Media”, a parody of how some newscasters seem to gravitate any and all questions towards certain ethnic groups. It’s easy to know what I mean by ‘certain’ ethnic groups. In this video the news reporter, Lynda Wahker, continues to direct all questions to the single African American located in the group; a mockery of what some new s stations have may indirectly appeared to be doing. Racism is not the only subject they touch upon, they too make light on the past surges of foreclosures on homes across the United States by stating beneath that Apple bought the White House after it was foreclosed on.
This video along with many others are not there to accuse people but to present in a more round-about way how ridiculous the current situations may be. Their goal was not to persuade people to agree with them.
Call it what you will, a gag video, a parody, or other such synonyms, this video is still something that can be rhetorically analyzed further if enough effort was poured into it. A silly topic this may be yet it is something often overlooked as nothing significant to be intellectually evaluated in the slightest. In my opinion this is how I perceive rhetorical analysis to be.
"Judgment"
Rhetorical analysis...what? What is that? Well if I were to guess, it would have to do with carefully looking at someone else’s writing or speech, depicting it piece by piece if I can say. For example such as finding out who the author’s intended audience? Is he or she for or against the proposed argument? Does the speaker have credible background? Questions like these and many others are asked to help better understand the author or speaker.
People have raised awareness about certain topics or issues whether it involves racism, global affairs, economic situations, poverty, political affairs, any such matter that could be considered a problem. And these issues can be raised in many different ways, in which one interesting way would be through music. One band that goes by the name of Story of the Year creates music along the genre of alternative rock, in which some of their songs appeal to common issues in which the world faces today. One of their songs, “‘Is This My Fate’, He Asked Them” appeals to how people judge one another, but in this case, being gay and lesbian. By far, religions such as Christianity does not accept the fact that love should not be towards the same sex, rather let it be between a male and female. However, many people view that love can be shared between anyone among everyone let it be that they are male or female. In which these lines in the song the speaker sings,
“Do you really f---ing think, that it's a choice, a way of life played by discrimination?
You're narrow-minded, quick to judge, with bible belt tunnel vision…. I can't believe that this is still a question, that needs an answer a bigot's eyes, judging lives, based on the sex of who you f---.”
The speaker’s words appeal to those who can’t find acceptance in homosexuals. People should not be looked down upon simply because they prefer a particular sex than what most people find normal or for what their race, beliefs or anything else.
People have raised awareness about certain topics or issues whether it involves racism, global affairs, economic situations, poverty, political affairs, any such matter that could be considered a problem. And these issues can be raised in many different ways, in which one interesting way would be through music. One band that goes by the name of Story of the Year creates music along the genre of alternative rock, in which some of their songs appeal to common issues in which the world faces today. One of their songs, “‘Is This My Fate’, He Asked Them” appeals to how people judge one another, but in this case, being gay and lesbian. By far, religions such as Christianity does not accept the fact that love should not be towards the same sex, rather let it be between a male and female. However, many people view that love can be shared between anyone among everyone let it be that they are male or female. In which these lines in the song the speaker sings,
“Do you really f---ing think, that it's a choice, a way of life played by discrimination?
You're narrow-minded, quick to judge, with bible belt tunnel vision…. I can't believe that this is still a question, that needs an answer a bigot's eyes, judging lives, based on the sex of who you f---.”
The speaker’s words appeal to those who can’t find acceptance in homosexuals. People should not be looked down upon simply because they prefer a particular sex than what most people find normal or for what their race, beliefs or anything else.
Monday, February 2, 2009
HOOK
The movie Hook appeals to the kid in all of us as well as teaches a valuable lesson. In the beginning of the movie Peter Pan has grown up and has become a grumpy old man. He works to much which leave no time for him to play with his kids. All his children want is to play with their dad and have fun. I think we can all relate to this. We all go about our very day life and don't really think about what we are passing up. Friends, family and loved ones get the sort end of the stick.
Peter's family convinces him to take a vacation to London where he grew up. When they get there captain hook who is peter arch enemy comes and kidnaps Peter's kids. Peter is forced to face his past which he has completely forgotten. It is up to peter to go to neverland to save his kids. Once peter has spent some time in neverland he realizes that he has more fun playing make believe and finds the kid inside himself. We all have the kid inside us, it's just waiting for you to let it out. Let yourself have fun, pretend and just be goofy.
Peter ends up saving his kids and when they get back to London he is a changed man. He plays with his kids more and pays more attention to the little things in life. We all could learn a thing or two from the idea that it is alright to be silly and not worry about how we look or what people will say about us. If you watch kids play they don't have a care in the world and it is very freshing to let yourself go in this way. This movie shows us that it is better to find a way to balance our responsibility's while still making the most of life.
Peter's family convinces him to take a vacation to London where he grew up. When they get there captain hook who is peter arch enemy comes and kidnaps Peter's kids. Peter is forced to face his past which he has completely forgotten. It is up to peter to go to neverland to save his kids. Once peter has spent some time in neverland he realizes that he has more fun playing make believe and finds the kid inside himself. We all have the kid inside us, it's just waiting for you to let it out. Let yourself have fun, pretend and just be goofy.
Peter ends up saving his kids and when they get back to London he is a changed man. He plays with his kids more and pays more attention to the little things in life. We all could learn a thing or two from the idea that it is alright to be silly and not worry about how we look or what people will say about us. If you watch kids play they don't have a care in the world and it is very freshing to let yourself go in this way. This movie shows us that it is better to find a way to balance our responsibility's while still making the most of life.
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Retarded Campaign Ads of 2008
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yPW00i5CH6E
What i decided to do was look up the past campaign ads of some our democratic and republican candidates. From what I've seen they criminalize each other in what ever policies they enforce. Either it is using themes of limiting freedoms or savagery they use rhetorical tools to criticize each other. Either its for or against people who are liberal or conservative they both in turn make each look sinister. In any case its just retarded how our government tries to appeal to us. I say just do your job and cut the political bull crap. A nation should run as a whole and not in pieces.