Thursday, July 31, 2008
Whale Rider
The movie “Whale Rider” to me is both sad and happy. It is sad because we see throughout the movie how Paikea is being treated by her grandfather Paka. I think that Koro was trying to keep his old traditions but he did it strictly. Koro did not permit Paikea to train to become a whale rider. At the same time the story is happy because we see how there is change. For instance, at the end of the story we see how Paikea proves to her grandfather that she is the whale rider and that she was willing to take her tribe from darkness to light. Also, another good change that we see in the movie is that Rawiri, Paikea’s uncle changes his lifestyle. At the beginning we see how he didn’t really have a purpose in life, but after he teacher Paikea to use the taiahia, the stick, he changes dramatically. In contrast with the essay “Territorial Behavior” there are many things that we see the movie relates to. The essay talks about three forms of territory, tribe, family and personal. Both throughout the essay and the movie we see that the tribe territory is distinguished by its flags, banners, chants and dances. The family territory is differentiated by artwork, gardens or the breeding grounds. Finally, the personal territory is notable by how any one person handles their space.
Sex, Drugs, Disasters and the Extinction of Dinosaurs
This essay on “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” written by Stephen Jay Gould is very peculiar. This author was trying to bring together three different factors that are very important in the world we live in today. Sex, Drugs and Disasters are all things that we face in our everyday routine as we live our lives. Jay was trying to attach the extinction of Dinosaurs to notions that are evident in our culture. To begin with “Sex” could have not been the reason as to why there was an extinction of Dinosaurs, nor could it have been “Drugs”. The only theory that can be proved as to how Dinosaurs were extinct is “Disasters.” The fact that there is no evident proof that demonstrated that sex and drugs could have been the reasons as to why Dinosaurs were extinct is proof that scientists base their ideas on things that can be proved. Though I don’t believe that the reason Dinosaurs were extinct was due to a meteor I do feel confident that scientists base all their thoughts on proof and only proof.
Cultural Baggage
“The race of none.” This is what Barbara’s essay “Cultural Baggage” relies on. The essay basically explains how she began to notice that she had no real values and traditions from her ancestors. We notice that the author believes that just because something was done in the past it doesn’t mean it should be carried on; instead new generations bring new things. Personally, I don’t agree with Barbara because I think that it is important for everyone to know where they came from, their roots. It is true that as time passes and new generation rise old traditions are forgotten. We shouldn’t forget what our previous generation has taught us; instead we can change it slightly so that it fits to our lifestyle today. Our values and our customs come from what we have learned from our ancestors, we should keep them close to our heart so that we never forget where we came from.
A Fable for Tomorrow
“A Fable for Tomorrow”, by Rachel Carson was a story that brought many controversial topics among people. In her essay, Rachel describes a perfect American town that seems to be at peace. In this town everything is in harmony and everything is prosperous. The story mentions that after some time everything changes. An evil spirit had overcome the town and horrible things were happening. Rachel ends her essay by saying that all the catastrophes that she had mentioned had not happened in that city, but that it was a combination of disasters that were occurring in different cities all over the world. This essay can be related to the world we live in today, and how we live in it. We are responsible for awful events that have happened in the world. We are the cause for millions of deaths due to illnesses. Thousand of people die daily due to the fact that they have nothing to eat. In a way we are causing this beautiful and prosperous world we live in to disintegrate. We should all try to keep our world in peace like that perfect town that Rachel Carson describes in her essay.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Sexism In English: A 1990's Update
By far the essay “Sexism in English: A 1990’s Update” by Alleen Pace Nilsen is my favorite essay in the entire book. Reading this essay really opened up my eyes to the English language and society in general. This is because I can not believe that even today in the 21’st century there are people that believe that woman are worth “less” then men. I was aware that in Afghanistan woman are looked at as inferiors, thus there is a proverb that says “If you see an old man sit down and take a lesson; if you see an old woman, throw a stone.” This statement is sexist to all women.
Alleen found three general statements that she concluded show that the English language is sexist. Her first was, “Woman Are Sexy; Men Are Successful.” All through my life I have heard of women being valued by what they look like, instead of by what they bring to the table. Also, I have heard of cases were women get jobs because of what they look like. It is true that woman have acquired sexual connotations rather then acquiring businesslike connotations. For instance, as Alleen mentions a callboy is someone that calls actors up on stage, on the other hand a call girl is another word for a prostitute.
Another point that Alleen found that demonstrates that the English language is sexist is that, “Woman Are Passive, Men Are Active.” I do not agree with this statement because now a days woman can do anything that men can do. Names play an important role in this factor because, for instance, names like Stella and Esther mean “star” while names like Rex mean “king” and Neil means “champion.” This is proof that not only English language degrades women but that also the world and people have a tendency to belittle women.
The third and last point that Nilsen pointed out was that, “Women Are Connected with Negative Connotations; Men with Positive Connotations.” This I would say is one of the strongest points that Alleen pointed out because it is true that men are associated with positive connotations. For example, this is true in the army. Men that go to the army find themselves doing work that they believe woman should do, but to try and pay the men extra, titles of jobs change. For instance, a waitress who’s a man is known as an orderly. A nurse who is a man is known as a medic, and like this there are many names that change to try and make the men feel better.
It is clear that the English language is sexist, but not only is language sexist, rather people are sexist too. English language is the way it is today because no one has done anything to change it, it is true that it is easier to come up with new words rather then changing the old ones, but I believe that we can do anything, and if language hasn’t changed it’ because we haven’t really done anything to change it. Woman shouldn’t let themselves be degraded nor should they feel less then men, we are equal to them and anything that they can accomplish we can get done too.
Alleen found three general statements that she concluded show that the English language is sexist. Her first was, “Woman Are Sexy; Men Are Successful.” All through my life I have heard of women being valued by what they look like, instead of by what they bring to the table. Also, I have heard of cases were women get jobs because of what they look like. It is true that woman have acquired sexual connotations rather then acquiring businesslike connotations. For instance, as Alleen mentions a callboy is someone that calls actors up on stage, on the other hand a call girl is another word for a prostitute.
Another point that Alleen found that demonstrates that the English language is sexist is that, “Woman Are Passive, Men Are Active.” I do not agree with this statement because now a days woman can do anything that men can do. Names play an important role in this factor because, for instance, names like Stella and Esther mean “star” while names like Rex mean “king” and Neil means “champion.” This is proof that not only English language degrades women but that also the world and people have a tendency to belittle women.
The third and last point that Nilsen pointed out was that, “Women Are Connected with Negative Connotations; Men with Positive Connotations.” This I would say is one of the strongest points that Alleen pointed out because it is true that men are associated with positive connotations. For example, this is true in the army. Men that go to the army find themselves doing work that they believe woman should do, but to try and pay the men extra, titles of jobs change. For instance, a waitress who’s a man is known as an orderly. A nurse who is a man is known as a medic, and like this there are many names that change to try and make the men feel better.
It is clear that the English language is sexist, but not only is language sexist, rather people are sexist too. English language is the way it is today because no one has done anything to change it, it is true that it is easier to come up with new words rather then changing the old ones, but I believe that we can do anything, and if language hasn’t changed it’ because we haven’t really done anything to change it. Woman shouldn’t let themselves be degraded nor should they feel less then men, we are equal to them and anything that they can accomplish we can get done too.
Why We Crave Horror Movies
Stephen King’s cause and effect essay answers a question that at one point or another of our lives we have pondered about. King mentions a number of reasons as to why people enjoy this type of genre of movies. As Stephen mentions everybody is crazy in someway or another. I agree with this type of reasoning because it is true that people have rhetorical conversations at times, or because at times when no one is looking we make funny faces. The peculiar thing is that as King mentions later on in the essay there is a border in between the type of insanity that gets one taken away to an asylum or the type of insanity that gets one looked at as being weird or funny. King is trying to say that as long as our type of insanity does not hurt anyone then we are left alone to proceed being insane.
Stephen King’s first argument is something that I would say everyone has to agree with. When we go to horror movies we are proving people and ourselves that we can bear the horrific events that we will watch; it is as King says like “riding a roller coaster.” Another reason we go to the movies is to have fun. The movies are a type of entertainment that keeps us away from the outer world. Just with the 2 hours that the movie takes we relax and concentrate on what we are watching rather then problems that we are having in the outer world.
I agree with King’s mentality that we are exercising a muscle when we watch these horror movies. The human being has a set of emotions that we all feel should be exercised. For instance, we all love, we all hate and at times we feel sad. The only emotion that we don’t exercise is the feeling of hurting someone else, because as I stated that crosses the border from sanity to insanity. When we go to the movie theatres and we watch these horror movies, and we watch people being menaced we enjoy it. We enjoy it because our sick fantasies are being realized, and as one of the viewers our instincts are being set free.
Lennon and McCartney’s slogan for, “all we need is love” is one that I am sure everyone agrees with, but as King says “the gators must be fed.”
Stephen King’s first argument is something that I would say everyone has to agree with. When we go to horror movies we are proving people and ourselves that we can bear the horrific events that we will watch; it is as King says like “riding a roller coaster.” Another reason we go to the movies is to have fun. The movies are a type of entertainment that keeps us away from the outer world. Just with the 2 hours that the movie takes we relax and concentrate on what we are watching rather then problems that we are having in the outer world.
I agree with King’s mentality that we are exercising a muscle when we watch these horror movies. The human being has a set of emotions that we all feel should be exercised. For instance, we all love, we all hate and at times we feel sad. The only emotion that we don’t exercise is the feeling of hurting someone else, because as I stated that crosses the border from sanity to insanity. When we go to the movie theatres and we watch these horror movies, and we watch people being menaced we enjoy it. We enjoy it because our sick fantasies are being realized, and as one of the viewers our instincts are being set free.
Lennon and McCartney’s slogan for, “all we need is love” is one that I am sure everyone agrees with, but as King says “the gators must be fed.”
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Neat People vs. Sloppy People
The comparison and contrast essay, “Neat People vs. Sloppy People” written by Suzanne Britt is amusing. Suzanne describes neat people as mean and uncaring human beings; on the other hand according to Suzanne sloppy people are too caring and sentimental. It is obvious that her way of writing was made to amuse readers, to make a comical remark. My understanding of this essay is that Suzanne Britt herself is sloppy, and that is why she resorts to talking well about sloppy people rather than neat people.
Though the purpose of this essay was to entertain readers I do not agree with what she thinks about both classes of people; in my belief it is the other way around. The peculiar thing is that though I do not agree completely, I would have to say that to an extent some of the things that the author says about both forms of people are true. For instance, I myself am a neat person, almost safe to say perfectionist. I find pleasure when everything is organized and put in place. Suzanne makes some comments about neat people that are somewhat true. For example, I agree when she says that neat people like results. Also, just like Suzanne mentions I sometimes find myself dealing with the two unvarying principles: never handle anything more then once, and throw everything away. On the contrary, I don’t believe that neat people are bums and clods at heart. Personally, I grow great sentimental value to the things that surround me. Also, I pay attention to micro and macro details.
Sloppy people on the other hand, according to the author, are great human beings that can’t dare to part with anything because they have grown attached to it. When Suzanne says that sloppy people live in Never-Never land, I agree with her. Sloppy people in my opinion are lazy, but some sloppy people have such a perfect plan designed that they believe can never be reached, thus this give up and don’t try. I do not agree with Suzanne when she mentions that sloppy people give attention to every little detail. I can’t believe that someone who is sloppy can give attention to one thing at a time when their kitchen cabinets, for example, are filled with receipts and mail and a bunch of “junk.”
To conclude with, Suzanne’s Britt essay comparing both sloppy and messy people is an essay that merely entertains the reader. The essay is somewhat reversed in a way, because sloppy people are bums at heart, while neat people are caring and moral. Both forms of customs are completely different but neither is a wrongful way of acting. Nobody can change someone to better suit them. If a person is sloppy they will keep being sloppy forever unless they internally decide they have to change. In the same manner, if a person is neat they will always be neat.
Though the purpose of this essay was to entertain readers I do not agree with what she thinks about both classes of people; in my belief it is the other way around. The peculiar thing is that though I do not agree completely, I would have to say that to an extent some of the things that the author says about both forms of people are true. For instance, I myself am a neat person, almost safe to say perfectionist. I find pleasure when everything is organized and put in place. Suzanne makes some comments about neat people that are somewhat true. For example, I agree when she says that neat people like results. Also, just like Suzanne mentions I sometimes find myself dealing with the two unvarying principles: never handle anything more then once, and throw everything away. On the contrary, I don’t believe that neat people are bums and clods at heart. Personally, I grow great sentimental value to the things that surround me. Also, I pay attention to micro and macro details.
Sloppy people on the other hand, according to the author, are great human beings that can’t dare to part with anything because they have grown attached to it. When Suzanne says that sloppy people live in Never-Never land, I agree with her. Sloppy people in my opinion are lazy, but some sloppy people have such a perfect plan designed that they believe can never be reached, thus this give up and don’t try. I do not agree with Suzanne when she mentions that sloppy people give attention to every little detail. I can’t believe that someone who is sloppy can give attention to one thing at a time when their kitchen cabinets, for example, are filled with receipts and mail and a bunch of “junk.”
To conclude with, Suzanne’s Britt essay comparing both sloppy and messy people is an essay that merely entertains the reader. The essay is somewhat reversed in a way, because sloppy people are bums at heart, while neat people are caring and moral. Both forms of customs are completely different but neither is a wrongful way of acting. Nobody can change someone to better suit them. If a person is sloppy they will keep being sloppy forever unless they internally decide they have to change. In the same manner, if a person is neat they will always be neat.
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