Possible "working claims" (Blog #9)

1) Possible Thesis #1: “Magazine ads and commercials can ultimately influence how women see themselves and how they behave and can lead to harmful behaviors such as eating disorders.”

2) Possible Thesis #2: Spray tanning, flippers, makeup and fake nails all at the age of two years old. Shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and dance moms have taken beauty and talent pageants/ competitions to the extreme. These shows held on national television have led young kids to believe it's ok to be "sexy" and grown up looking at a far to young age. 

3) Possible Thesis #3: T.V. advertisements, billboards and magazines are influencing sexual behavior in teenagers about how "sex sells" by the way products are marketed. 

"Is Google Making Us Stupid?" (Blog #8)

As I am finishing the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr I found this reading to be extremely long but very true. Carr goes on and on and uses way to many examples in his article to make his main points. Carr talks about how Google is consuming our brain's to get information with the click of a button or by skimming a few words of a text. The internet has made complex research super "simple" for people to learn about certain things. My favorite analogy that Carr uses is when he says, "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski." To me he is saying that before internet was available to people, someone would have to read in textbooks and books to find out information. The information would be in pages and pages of text. But today in society there are so many websites that give you all the answers to your questions and all the information that you are looking for. 

Although this article was long, I found it interesting to read all the examples Carr uses even though he could have eliminated a few. Its so true that in the days back when there was no technology to just feed you the info and answers, you actually had to search and read what it was that you needed to know. Today when you get on the internet and read articles from any site you get on, there are ads, pop up videos and pictures that detour the readers eyes off the page. Distractions take the readers attention off the text and they loose complete focus and attain nothing. Overall this article was enjoyable even though some stuff was hard to read and understand as Carr went on with some examples. 

Staying Close (Blog #7)

I chose to read "Staying Close" by Ginny Taylor, because I was drawn to the title in what I thought would be about sticking close to someone In listening to this article it was really about true love. These past few months I have really thought about what love truly means to me. Just recently my best friend got engaged and I have been doing some deep thinking to myself. What do the vows "I, (Bride/Groom), take you (Groom/Bride), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."

Taylor has a strong faith that during the toughest times in her life that love has the chance to grow deeper and stronger in a marriage. Being married to her husband Scott for 22 years, Taylor becomes very ill with Stevens Johnson syndrome. Being an independent women she quickly discovers how hopeless she felt after becoming very ill.  Stepping up to the plate Scott played the role of "mommy" and took his kids to and from school got groceries and became his wife's caregiver. Felling negative with her conditions she felt like she had hit "rock bottom." Scott was their to pull her along and tell her to keep pushing through each day. With Ginny having her husband their to help her she felt so consumed in love and never looked back.

This I believe article made me realize how love is not some word you throw around. On your wedding day you say the words "for better or for worse." Before you say the words I love you and before you tie the knot with a significant other... think about the vows and commitment you make to one another. After your wedding day life is not "pretty" every day. You have bills to pay, expenses to pay for, each other to care for when one is sick. Real life is not a step ford wife cooking and cleaning all day and the husband all masculine with a big job title. And I feel sorry for those who even think or live that way. Your not truly living in love and a true marriage until you go through the "tough" together. There is so much to the meaning of the four letter word "LOVE," so think about what it means to you before you decide to say it to your significant other(s). 

"Facebook In a Crowd" (Blog #6)

Facebook In a Crowd by Hal Niedzviecki, was a very interesting way to truthfully put modern day society. Hal talks about his Facebook and how many friends he has and how many are acquaintances and how many people he actually knows that he had "accepted" as a friend. He then tries a little experiment to see who really hides behind the computer and who knows how to still be social face to face. He attempts to use the "create an event" page on Facebook to see how many people would actually show up and get together with him at a bar for a little social event. Out off all the maybes and yes responses he got on Facebook... only one showed up.


This article makes me realize how a lot of people these days do not really want to meet up and hangout. Most people use sites like Facebook and their cell phones to text and "catch up" with people. To me it is actually pathetic and sad how poorly people make excuses to not make plans to hangout. How we communicate now days is done through technology devices. Sure, do not get me wrong for some still know how to handle their technology and smart phones and know how to be social in the real world (like me) but some people just need to learn or RE-learn how to navigate both.

I feel like some people hide behind Facebook and are totally not who they come across to be. Just this past few months every time I find the time to catch up with family and close friends I go in and delete people I could really not give a rats ass about and start to "delete the duds" as I like to call it! I really just use Facebook to keep up to date and talk to my close friends who live in different states and family who live all over the world. 

iPod World, or What Have I Been Missing? (Blog #5)

I just finished up reading "iPod World: The End of Society?" by Andrew Sullivan. As I finish collecting my thoughts on this article I am thinking to myself how much society has changed with technology in the past decade. Sullivan sums up what he thinks about this "iPod world" we live in today. He talks about how iPods have made society tune out the world and how people forget to stop and remember the beauty around them. Sullivan calls people who own iPods "little white box worshipers." He is so right with the points he makes. What has society really come to with new inventions? Are things like iPods hurting us?  Or are they helpful to some people? 

Today we are constantly surrounded by technology and new innovations to improve and enhance every day life. Things like iPods, iPhones, iHomes, MacBook’s, 3D T.V'S and iPads. The list goes on and will continue to grow forever. As I look at this list I own five out of the six things. I own them because I use them for work and school and on a daily basis, but do I "really" need them? No, but I have them because I worked hard to buy them as a necessity. I feel like some people own them because it is the "in" thing to own. For some like to have their own "peaceful" time so they use their iPod to tune out the world. But for others like me I enjoy owning them, because I can balance enjoying and stopping to smell the roses every once in a while. I think that these items have made American's tune out the world. Most people do not see much beauty in the scenery around them, because they have so many distractions in front of them now days. I think this article can go both ways in his arguments depending if you are an avid iPod user or if you just do not really care for them at all. 

Malcolm X (Blog #4)

Between the two readings I read I choose to blog and write about Malcolm X. Malcom X tells the story of what his life was like behind bars in federal prison. His education really started in Charlestown Prison where X became envious of a man by the name of Bimbi. Bimbi was full of knowledge and took head of all the conversation's they ever had. X was basically fascinated with this man and so this is when he began to take charge of his education and help better himself. While behind bars X got a hold of a dictionary where he began page by page coping everything that was in it. He soon had a whole tablet filled with words from the dictionary. He became his own teacher and became consumed with learning about the words he was writing down. X says at the end of his article, "In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college." He took a negative situation and turned his life around while he was in prison.

This article made think about all the times I had been influenced by a teacher or student to take action in my education. I do not like to admit it but I had always disliked school up until college. Today I now tell myself "You have to prepare your education today so you will have a future." Being in college now makes me appreciate every aspect of learning. I take my work more seriously and try to obtain as much as I can everyday. Knowledge is a powerful tool and everyone in the world should get the opportunity to education. Learning is so important and I think a lot of people take it for granite and do not realize how lucky they they are to get to learn and have the privilege to go to school. I loved this article from Malcolm X and I really enjoyed learning about his journey through self taught education.

Shitty First Drafts (Blog # 3)

As I finish reading "Shitty First Drafts" by Anne Lamott I realize how important writing a shitty first draft really is. I have always felt that I had to write my best from the very beginning of a writing assignment or paper. Felling like from the moment my fingers hit the keyboard or my pencil hitting the paper, all I have ever thought is this paper has to be "perfect." Of course their is always room for improvement, but now reading this article I finally feel like I can let my creativity run and set my mind free. I can actually have verbal throw up and just write what I fell without having to feel like my first draft has to be perfection. Instead of getting writers block and staring at my computer or piece of paper with a blank and unpleasant look on my face, I can actually enjoy writing more with knowing it is ok to write a bad first draft. 

Lamott says in her article that "very few writers know what they are doing until they've done it." I love this line because everyone has their own "it". And that "it" is discovered when their first draft is done and their 2nd and 3rd drafts are complete. After completing the steps the writer can then define that "it" as their final piece of writing that they are satisfied and happy with. Lamott talks about her process of writing and that even the most successful writers don’t just sit down and start writing. Most writers have a “shitty first draft.”

You have to start somewhere when writing, and a good start is to just write whatever “visions” and “voices” come through to you, as Lamott says. I loved this article and am going to take this one to heart as I continue to write in this class. I feel like I will find myself writing a lot better and become more creative if I just let go and write from my soul. 

The Price of Reading (Blog #2)

In the article, "The Price of Reading is Eternal Vigilance," the author Anatole Broyard who is 53 years old is just learning how to read as he analyzes that, "most people read badly." He explains that reading goes beyond just skimming your eyes across the words on the page, but to occupy the book and "stop around" in it. Broyard also goes into detail that there should be a voice between the text and the reader.

To me the author used a lot of great imagery sentences and words to get the reader to imagine what Broyard was going through as being a new reader. Using words like "as soon as I open it, I occupy the book, I stop around in it," " Make them feel your presence. Shine your intelligence in their eyes." These sentences really jumped out at me as I read the article and I started to create this picture in my head of what it was like for him. As Barbi wrote in her blog post on this article, I agree too that the author uses a lot of medical terms. Bryoard begins to talk about how he feels about being around books and used words like fear of "cracking the spine" of the book, "sterile," and making sure his "hands were clean" before taking out the book. It was very interesting to me that he would use medical terms to describe his situation, but it made an interesting twist to the reading.

This article reminds me a lot of myself. I have never liked to read and still to this day hate reading. It takes me forever to understand the concepts of what I read. As I think to myself I wonder if this is because I don't make the reading understandable to me. I feel like most of the things I read I just skim over and let it cross my eyes once. I love the passage in this article when the author talks about stomping around in the book and scribbling out words to make whatever he is reading “his own version,” just for him to understand. I think what I need to start doing is "talk back" to the book and make what I am reading my own version. This way I can start to communicate with myself what I am reading. Overall I agree 100% with what the author has to say in this article.